The silence of “law men” does more harm than the violence of lay men, Justice Kurian Joseph said in his farewell address on Thursday.
The Number Three judge in the Supreme Court, who was termed a “compassionate, humanitarian judge” by the Supreme Court Bar Association, lawyers and fellow judges alike, retired after a tenure of over five years.
Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said in an emotion-choked voice that he was losing a “personal friend” . Chief Justice Gogoi spoke of their mutual emotional bond which overcame the geographical distances of their native States of Assam and Kerala.
Justice Kurian said he was retiring with a clean conscience. “I have served as a judge without fear or favour for anyone. I do not claim to be perfect, no one can, I believe,” he told a packed crowd on the Supreme Court lawns.
Justice Kurian was one of the four Supreme Court judges which held the January 12 conference along with Chief Justice Gogoi, who was at that time the next Chief Justice in line of seniority and Justices J. Chelameswar (now retired) and Justice Madan B. Lokur, who is retiring next month.
He said judges should practise “constitutional compassion”. “Compassion from the court is not the charity of a judge, it is the bounden duty of a constitutional court,” Justice Kurian said.
He said the Constitution was thread that holds a diverse country like ours together. “India is a land of diversity of culture, religion, language. The Constitution is the common thread that binds us all together as Indians,” he said.
