Supreme Court judge Justice A S Oka, who is retiring on Saturday, said on Friday that judges should be firm and not hesitate to offend someone.
Sharing the ceremonial bench with Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justice A G Masih – a customary practice held whenever a judge retires – Justice Oka referred to comments that he was harsh at times, and said, “I always believed that a judge has to be very firm, a judge has to be very strict. And a judge should not hesitate to offend anyone.”
“But I was harsh only for one reason. I wanted to uphold the principles laid down by our Constitution,” he added.
Justice Oka recalled that a “great judge” had once advised him, “Please remember one thing. You are not becoming a judge to become popular. I have followed that advice to the hilt. And that is why so indirectly today it was said that sometimes I was very harsh.”
The outgoing judge said, “I believe that this is one court which can uphold the constitutional liberties. And that has been my humble endeavour. And I am sure that with the collective efforts of so many giants who are sitting here, this court will continue to uphold liberty because that was the dream of the framers of the Constitution.”
“It was my honest endeavour to do that,” Justice Oka said, adding, “And I am sure that in that honest endeavour, I may have offended two people, two lawyers.” He, however, did not name the lawyers he was referring to.
On his future plans, Justice Oka said, “Everyone talked about second inning or third inning. When I was listening to this, I always thought that while sitting on the bench, I always believed, since you are using cricketing terminology, I am taking recourse to that, I played like a one-day match. And in a one-day match, there is no second inning…So today at least I am not thinking about playing one more inning. It will take some time for me to reflect upon it.”
CJI Gavai said Justice Oka’s contributions “extend far beyond judgments” and “reflect a deep dedication to the Constitution…and the people of this country”. Justice Oka’s contributions to Indian jurisprudence are widely acknowledged, he added.
“Over the years, his judgments have shaped and strengthened the legal landscape of our country. Whether it was in the domain of environmental protection, ensuring that development does not come at the cost of ecological balance, in holding government accountable to the people they serve, in safeguarding the freedom of expression even when the voices were inconvenient or unpopular, or in upholding the dignity of labour and the rights of the most marginalised, Justice Oka’s decisions have consistently reaffirmed the core values enshrined in our Constitution,” CJI Gavai said.
He added that Justice Oka also donned the role of a teacher in his courtroom. “In many ways, he has been a professor of law and ethics within the courtroom. He constantly reminded members of the Bar that the lawyer was first and foremost an officer of the court and only thereafter a representative of the client,” the CJI said.
“Though I had no opportunity of arguing the case before him, what I could hear from the members of the Bar…he could be stern at times. You are also seen scolding lawyers on multiple occasions,” CJI Gavai said.
“But those who watched him closely knew that behind his firmness was the intention of a dedicated teacher. Like a seasoned professor guiding his students, he held lawyers by standards, not to intimidate, but to encourage. He taught the lawyers that advocacy is not just about eloquence, but about precision, ethics and sincerity,” he added.
Attorney General R Venkataramani said that Justice Oka brought a spectrum of values, namely liberty, regulation of governance and power, freedom of thought and expression, and economic and social upliftment of the deprived sections, and conveyed them through his judgments. He said that the outgoing judge will be remembered for the environmental causes that he stood for.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that Justice Oka was “tireless, workaholic” and “never seen ill-prepared.” Justice Oka, he added, would be remembered “as a judge who took a stand when required”.
Mehta said that though he and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju “were always on the wrong side, at the receiving end, but our love and respect for a judge can never depend upon the relief which we got or did not get. Thank you for being what you are.”
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal said Justice Oka “protected liberty like none else in this court.”
“The history of civilisation is a history of strangulating liberty. Empires have been lost because they strangulated liberty….and therefore a judge will be remembered only, and those are the judges in this court who will be remembered when the cause of liberty is served through this institution which is why we remember Justice (HR) Khanna, which is why we remember why ADM Jabalpur was bad, which is why we remember Keshavanand Bharti…because the thematic thread of liberty was protected by this court. And you symbolise that,” Sibal added.
