I think this forum focuses on the delivery of quality justice—whether it is the delivery of justice by judges, or the contribution of lawyers to the justice delivery system.

You know, when we talk about the justice delivery system, it is not just the judiciary. The judiciary is one part of the justice delivery system. You have the legislature, which enacts the law; you have the executive, which executes the law; you have the judiciary, which interprets the law; and then you have society at large, which also does justice and also does injustice. Say, for example, when there is injustice within the family—who is responsible for it? It is a member of the family.

Now, so far as the judiciary is concerned, again, it is not the judges alone. I, for myself, do not have any hesitation in admitting that the best judgments have come when the lawyers have been well prepared and when they have argued their cases well. Of course, the judge has a very important role to play. The judge has to play a balancing role when two parties are not equally poised—when there is a junior lawyer pitted against a senior lawyer—then the judge has to do a balancing act.

A judge has to keep himself or herself updated. All this while, we have been talking about Justice Venkatachaliah earlier, and also Justice Mukherjee. By bringing out the first shift, by honoring them, this sends out a message across society, across the judiciary. It highlights how judges should function.

As I said inside, he was a man of integrity—but then all judges have to be persons of integrity. Apart from that, his tremendous erudition, which all judges should try to emulate. They should keep themselves abreast, read up the law, read judgments written by their predecessors. He was an example of humility, courtesy, grace, and unflinching independence.

Now, when we talk about the qualities of a judge, what are the qualities of a judge? Impartiality, independence, integrity—of course integrity goes without saying—then erudition, patience to hear, and the intelligence to get at the problem. The judge has to keep himself or herself updated in current affairs.

In our judicial system, the judiciary is said to be the guardian of the Constitution. It holds the government to the limits of its power. It prevents and stops the government from committing excesses. But then again, the judiciary cannot take over governmental functions. So the judiciary has to impartially decide.

Now, in order to do complete justice, the judges also have to know about the functioning of the government, about the administration, so that they can effectively render justice. And the job of a judge is a balancing act—between holding the government to the limits of its power and constitutional limitations, preventing arbitrariness, and at the same time ensuring that the constitutional, social, and economic obligations are not impaired in any manner.

This is basically what is expected from the judiciary, and this is the message of the SKOCH Group in instituting an award of this kind. It is excellence in every sphere—whether it is administration, whether it is legal practice.

But so far as we judges are concerned, we have only done our duty. We have lived up to the oath of office we had taken. I do not think I have done anything more.

Thank you.

Participants at the India Law Forum - Intersection of Law & Life