Justice Madan B Lokur, who was the part of four judges to hold the controversial January 12 press conference against the then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, was given a farewell on Friday by the lawyers of the Supreme Court.
Justice Lokur, who is set to retire on December 31, on Friday had the last working day in the apex court which will go for the winter break and christmas holidays.
Though it was a last regular working day for him on the judicial side, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said Justice Lokur will participate in several important decision making matters that will be coming up in the next two weeks.
Among the matters that would come for the deliberations, the Chief Justice was hinting about the elevation of some judges to the higher judiciary for which the collegium can meet during the winter break.
Justice Lokur, now the second senior-most judge, had participated in the presser led by Justice J Chelameswar (since retired) in which Justices Gogoi and Kurian Joseph (since retired) also took part and levelled several allegations against the then CJI Misra over the issue of allocation of sensitive cases.
Speakers including the CJI and Attorney General K K Venugopal praised Justice Lokur who dealt with the cases on different aspects of law -- constitutional law, juvenile justice, Alternate Dispute Redressal mechanism.
He also played an active role in the pursuit of judicial reforms -- computerisation of courts, judicial education, legal aid and legal services.
Justice Lokur was a part of the bench which adjudicated a writ petition, Nipun Saxena vs UOI, on privacy and identity of victims of sexual harassment wherein the court took the view that privacy and reputation of victims should be protected while issuing special directives in this regard.
He had taken a tough stand in the Delhi sealing matter and had severely reprimanded Delhi BJP president and MP Manoj Tiwari for breaking the civic agency's seal on a premises here in September.
Justice Lokur has been a flag bearer in environment jurisprudence. In his role as a judge, he has passed significant judgements in cases like MC Mehta, Common Cause and Goa Foundation, the CJI said.
Praising Justice Lokur, the CJI said he has extraordinary abilities coupled with a towering intellect, full commitment towards upholding constitutional values, human ideals and an overall empathy towards the indian society.
"It is emotional for me as I will continue to have him (Lokur) as my friend but for various reasons I feel my right arm has been taken away.
"All these years I have been depending on him. That would come to an end because of the virtue of the office I am holding and the virtue of the office he is demitting. There can be no debate that Justice Lokur is an outstanding judge," the CJI said, adding that Justice Lokur was a pro citizen and pro victim judge.
Justice Lokur has shown a liberal attitude in dispensing justice to the underprivileged and vulnerable groups in the society, he said.
Referring to another judgement delivered by Justice Lokur, the CJI said that in Mallikarjun Kodagli case, he recognised the need of criminal justice system in the country to be more victim oriented.
Justice Lokur had written that the rights of an accused far outweighs the rights of the victims of an offence and there needs to be more balancing in equalising their rights so that criminal proceedings are fair to both.
In the matter relating to inhuman conditions in 1382 prisons, he spoke on the importance of PIL and issued important guidelines for prison reforms.
Speaking at the occasion, Justice Lokur referred to the independence of the judiciary and bar.
He said if the bar loses its integrity, there's going to be problem, people will believe that there is something wrong with the legal system and that should not happen because as a flourishing democracy, we have to keep our legal system going and make it credible.
"Independence is again very very important. We talk about the independence of the judiciary, yes it is very important but what about the independence of the bar. I think that is equally important. Bar cannot and should not be subordinate to the judiciary or any other institution.
"I think once we are able to do that, once we are able to maintain that independence that we have, we've had from the beginning of the constitution, once we are able to maintain that independence and integrity, other things will follow," Justice Lokur said.
He said there was a need to think about things like judicial reforms and highlighted the increase in pendency of cases in high courts and district courts.
"I was surprised yesterday to find that the number of cases that have gone up in the district courts, it used to be in the region of 2 crore 68 lakhs. I was really shocked to find out that the number has gone up to 2 crore 91 lakhs. That's a huge number, the number of cases in the high court has gone up to about 40 lakhs so we are really facing a bit of a problem," he said.
Attorney General K K Venugopal conceded that he had some disagreements with Justice Lokur in the courts role and also confessed that many schemes were made workable because of Justice Lokur's constant vigil.
He said that in swaraj abhiyan case, Justice Lokur gave directions for implementing National Food Security Act and his intervention has gone a long way in ensuring basic needs of a large sections of the population.
"And, his interventions have gone a long way to ensure that the next generation will be able to enjoy Taj Mahal in all its magnificent glory," the law officer added.
Justice Lokur was part of the Supreme Court bench which in August said that there will be no "second chance" to preserve the Taj Mahal, asking the authorities to take a larger perspective on issues of pollution and green cover to prepare a vision document on protecting the monument.
Before the farewell function, Justice Lokur as the custom of the apex court, was part of the bench headed by the CJI and heard 47 matters.
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