Justice Chelameswar takes aim at senior jurists, 'one-crore-a-day' lawyers

Wrapping up an eventful career in the judiciary, Supreme Court Justice J. Chelameswar said on Friday that as he stood up to question the status quo, it was the younger generation that stood by him even as the seniors in the field attacked him from every side.

Addressing a gathering that comprised a large number of young lawyers hours after he stepped out of the Supreme Court for the last time on Friday evening, Chelameswar said, “It was pointed out to me that over the last year and half, I have undertaken to democratise the institution. It's the younger generation that has stood by me. The established and acknowledged constitutional lawyers and jurists attacked me from every side.”

Evidently aware of his reputation as a rebel judge for having questioned the lack of transparency in the collegium system, and, more recently, leading the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court in holding a press conference to questioning the way in which Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra was administrating the top court, Chelameswar said that wherever he perceived that things were going wrong, he stood up and raised questions.

“If something is good, it is to be preserved. If something is doubtful, it is to be checked and rectified. If something is bad, it is to be destroyed. I worked with that belief. I had nothing personal against anyone in the system,” Chelameswar said at a reception hosted for him by the Lawyers' Collective.

The judge, who retires on June 22, but for whom Friday was his last working day in the Supreme Court— as the court will be on vacation from Saturday up to July 1—spoke about the criticism of the decision of the four senior-most judges, including himself, to have a press conference.

“What is the law that says judges cannot hold press conferences? They shouldn't do it to defend their judgements. I knew that when I opened my mouth, I would have to go through all this, and I was willing to take it,” he said.

Chelameswar said that he has found support from the people. However, he said, what really troubled him was that former judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts called him to say, “We wish you more strength. Please speak up now!”

Taking a dig at “one-crore-a-day lawyers,” the reference being to senior lawyers, he said, “They hardly open their mouth, they hardly take a stand. Even when they do take a stand, they do it to preserve the status quo.”