India News | Full Court Reference: SC Pays Homage to 3 Former Top Court Judges

New Delhi, Feb 15 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday held a full court reference to pay homage to three apex court judges -- Justices N M Kasliwal, P B Sawant and Surinder Singh Nijjar --- who passed away recently.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana, other apex court judges, and Attorney General K K Venugopal were among those who paid homage to the former judges at the reference held in the auditorium of the new apex court premises.

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A full court reference is held for departed judges of the apex court and senior advocates as a mark of respect and remembrance for their service to the court and the legal profession.

"My Brother and Sister Judges join me in conveying our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of Justices Kasliwal, Sawant, and Nijjar. We pray to the Almighty to give them strength to bear this irreparable loss with fortitude," CJI Ramana said in the full court reference.

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Attorney General K K Venugopal and Supreme Court Bar Association president and senior advocate Vikas Singh also paid homage to the former judges.

While Justice Kasliwal left for heavenly abode on January 10, 2021, Justice Sawant passes away on February 15, 2021, and Justice Nijjar breathed his last on March 26, 2021.

Justice Kasliwal was born on April 4, 1928, and was appointed as Additional Judge of the High Court of Rajasthan on June 15, 1978, and soon after became a permanent Judge on November 23, 1978.

After his experience on the bench in Rajasthan, he was transferred and appointed as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh on March 29, 1989. Soon after, he was elevated as the Judge of the Supreme Court of India on October 6, 1989.

Justice Sawant was born on June 30, 1930, and was appointed as an Additional Judge in the High Court of Bombay on March 29, 1973, and was subsequently sworn in as a permanent Judge on March 29, 1975.

He was elevated to the Supreme Court in 1989 and retired on June 29, 1995.

Justice Nijjar was born on June 7, 1949, and was elevated to the Bench of High Court of Punjab & Haryana as an Additional Judge on April 8, 1996.

He was elevated to the Supreme Court on November 17, 2009, and retired from the apex court on June 6, 2014.

While paying homage to Justice Kasliwal, the CJI said "during his nearly four-year-long tenure at the Supreme Court, he played a vital role in the evolution of our country's jurisprudence. He was part of a number of five Judges' Constitution Bench decisions and put forth several principles which are foundational to the effective dispensation of justice.

"He was also part of the decision in Abdul Rehman Antulay v. R.S. Nayak, which is a seminal ruling in safeguarding the rights of an accused. It was held that the right to a speedy trial is implicit in the right to life enshrined in Article 21, specifying that the right is applicable to all stages of the investigation. This specification is pivotal to the rights of under-trials," Ramana said in his speech.

While paying tribute to Justice Sawant, the CJI said he was a part of several landmark decisions of the Supreme Court including the famous Mandal Commission judgement and judgement of the Constitution Bench in the matter of S R Bommai Vs. Union of India'.

He also delivered the landmark judgements of 'BCCI Vs. Union of India' which declared airwaves as a public property.

"In addition to this, he was also a member of the constitution bench that decided Indra Swannery V/s Union Of India, whereby he described socialism, secularism, and democracy as the trinity of the goals of our constitution. He retired on June 29, 1995," the CJI said.

About Justice Nijjar, the CJI said his illustrious tenure as a Judge is marked by numerous landmark judgments including 'Bharat Aluminium Co. Vs. Kaiser Aluminium Technical'; 'Iridium India Telecom Limited Vs. Motorola Incorporated'; 'Enercon India Vs. Enercon Gmbh'; 'Reliance Industries Ltd. & Ors. Vs. Union of India' and 'Swiss Timing Limited Vs. Organising Committee, Commonwealth Games, 2010'.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)