LAW

Former CJI Altamas Kabir—a legal luminary

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Judge Altamas Kabir, former Chief Justice of India (CJI), was popular as a “soft-spoken”, gentle person with great humour, who has delivered powerful judgements related to human rights. After his passing away yesterday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a tweet, “India and Bengal have lost a legal luminary.” As the CJI, he oversaw landmark cases such as the December 16 gang-rape case in Delhi, which changed the way the legal system deals with rape cases.

Justice Kabir died of illness in Kolkata aged 68, and is survived by his wife and two children. According to the hospital, Kabir suffered from a number of ailments, including renal disease, diabetes, hypertension, urinary tuberculosis and coronary artery disease.

Here's a brief look into his life and his impact on cases under his ambit:

From advocate to CJI, a steady rise
Kabir was born to Jehangir Kabir, who was a trade union leader and politician. His uncle, Humayun Kabir, was a popular Bengali writer and minister. Before Kabir studied law, he graduated in history from Presidency College. An alumnus of the University of Calcutta, he became an advocate with the Kolkata Bar Association in 1973. His extensive practice in criminal as well as civil cases at the district court and high court earned him a status as a permanent judge at the Calcutta High Court in 1990. Fifteen years later, he got his next appointment as Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court, and the same year he was appointed the CJI of the Supreme Court (SC). In 2012, he became the the 39th CJI, although only for nine months, between September 2012 and July 2013, after which he retired.

Part of benches of landmark cases
In 2013, he was part of the hearing of the case of the two Italian Marines who were accused of shooting and killing two fishermen from Kerala. He headed a bench that ruled that Members of Parliament (MP) can continue to participate and vote even if he or she was suspended from the party. In 2012, he ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to look into the disproportionate assets of politicians Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav.

The NEET judgement
Days before his retirement, Kabir was part of a three-judge bench of the SC, which scrapped the need for National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) to join medical courses. The decision was controversial, as people felt that this would lead to private medical institutes to frame their own tests and over-charge on admission. One of the judges, Justice AR Dave, alleged that he was “rushed into judgement” and pressurised into making a decision, as Kabir was to retire the next day. He claimed that the judgement wasn't properly discussed.

December 16 gang-rape case
Kabir is known for his effective handling of the brutal gang-rape case. He expressed solidarity with the massive protests that took place, saying, “What happened that day was not something new, but it caught the imagination of the people and led to a tremendous upsurge, and this upsurge...was fully justified. What started as a protest...it was all genuine, absolutely necessary.” He went on to order the Delhi HC to start a fast track court to deal with this case and others, which is still operational today. He also made the controversial decision to try the teenager accused in the case as a juvenile, and not as an adult, against popular demand.

Controversial tiff with another judge
Just before his formal retirement, Kabir was accused of deliberately intervening in elevating former Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court, Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya, to the Supreme Court. Bhattacharya claimed that he was “blocked” because he had “opposed the elevation of Kabir's sister as Calcutta HC judge”. Kabir hit back saying that these were baseless, insensitive allegations.

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Topics : #legal | #People

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