A retiring Supreme Court judge on Friday told his colleagues in his farewell speech on the court lawns that they cannot project a “fractured face” and make the public lose faith in the highest judiciary.
Justice Amitava Roy was speaking at the end of his last working day as judge of the Supreme Court. He is due to retire on March 1.
Justice Roy’s words echo a recent concern expressed by Justice Kurian Joseph, who said in open court that the institution would collapse unless the Supreme Court functions as “one”.
Four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court held an unprecedented press conference on January 12 accusing recent Chief Justices of India of selective allotment of sensitive cases to “preferred Benches”.
In his speech, Justice Roy said “extra-legal elements are waiting to take over and spell the destruction of the institution” unless the judges get their act together. “That would mean our extinction...,” he said.
Justice Roy was one of the members of the two-judge Bench which delivered the judgment in former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa disproportionate assets case.
