NEW DELHI: Facing Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy‘s complaint to CJI against him, most senior SC judge N V Ramana on Saturday said a Judge needs to take decisions fearlessly and stand up bravely to all pressures and odds.
The Andhra police had registered FIR against the SC judge’s daughters for purchasing land in Amaravati in June 2015, immediately after a bench headed Justice Ramana, in line to become the next CJI, took up a PIL seeking to expedite snail-paced trials in criminal cases against sitting and former MPs and MLAs.
The CM sent a complaint to the CJI soon after Justice Ramana led bench sought action plan from the High Courts for completion of trials against netas within a year. Reddy has been booked in over two dozen criminal and corruption cases.
Justice Ramana said, “There are innumerable qualities that a person needs to live what can be called a good life: humility, patience, kindness, a strong work ethic and the enthusiasm to constantly learn and improve oneself.” He was speaking at the condolence meeting in memory of former SC Judge A R Lakshmanan.
Without referring to the pressure intended to be caused to him through the lodging of the FIR and sending of the complaint to the CJI, Justice Ramana said, “Most importantly, particularly for a judge, one must be steadfast in holding on to their principles and fearless in their decisions. It is an important quality for a judge to withstand all pressures and odds and to stand up bravely against all obstacles.”
Advocates associations across the country have passed resolutions condemning the AP CM’s letter and termed it as a tactic to pressurise and malign the judiciary. Led by Bar Council of India, the regulatory body for advocates in the country, resolutions against the CM’s letter were passed by Supreme Court Bar Associations and several large bar associations in Delhi, Tamil Nadu Advocates’ Association, All India Judges Association, Madras HC Bar Association and NCLT Bar Association.
Virtually acknowledging the gesture of lawyer bodies for standing behind the judiciary and the judge, Justice Ramana said, “The greatest strength of the judiciary is the faith of people in it. Faith, confidence and acceptability cannot be commanded, they have to be earned…Our values are ultimately our greatest wealth, and we must never forget the same.”
Quoting Justice Lakshmanan, who passed away last month, Justice Ramana said “as judges must remember and cherish the former Judge’s words – ‘we, the members of the judicial hierarchy have inherited the legacy of dedicated collective endeavour by the bench and the bar in establishing an unbroken tradition of high efficiency, perfect integrity and fearless independence’. We should all take inspiration from his words and should strive to commit a vibrant and independent judiciary which is required in the current times.”