CJI gave message Indian judiciary is relevant, vibrant, alive to citizens’ right: SCBA Prez

New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI)Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana gave a clear message to the country and the outside that the Indian judiciary is “relevant, vibrant and alive to the rights to our people” and will always be there to uphold the Constitution, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Vikas Singh said on Friday.

Singh, speaking at the function organised by the SCBA to bid Justice Ramana adieu on completion of his over 16-month-long tenure, referred to the keen interest of the outgoing CJI in politics and said it was the loss of politics and the gain of the judiciary and he would have become the Prime Minister.

“He was keen to join politics, and with his intellect, and with his ability, personality, charisma, I personally feel that it was a loss of politics because if he had been there, he probably would have been the Prime Minister of India today,” he said.

The SCBA leader said Justice Ramana gave a very different perception of the judiciary in his entire tenure as a CJI.

“His tenure made it absolutely clear within the country as well as outside the country that the Indian judiciary is relevant, vibrant, alive to the rights to our people, always there to uphold the Constitution and its values, and it is always there to protect the civil liberties of our people of our country,” the SCBA president said.

He added that Justice Ramana “really gave importance” to “we the people” written in our constitution because ultimately the Constitution was drafted as a document given by the people, it was for the people, and the judiciary is meant to always interpret it in such a manner that people are always considered as first and their liberties are also always kept as most important.

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta also spoke at the occasion and said that a judge writes judgements all through his life, but the Bar renders its verdict on the retirement of the judge and the packed auditorium here says all.

The law officer said that Justice Ramana worked in a mission mode to ensure that the appointments were made not in the Supreme Court, the high courts, but also the tribunals.

“One-third of the total strength of judges in higher judiciary in India is filled up by the present collegiums,” he said.

Mehta said Justice Ramana delivered judgements in a language that was understood by the common man and there was no “pretension of being learned orbiting philosophically about the law”.

Earlier during the day, Mehta hailed the achievements of the CJI and said he has performed his duty as the 'karta' of the legal fraternity, as he did for his biological family. PTI UK SJK SJK RKS RKS