After a nearly seven-year-long tenure, the second-most senior judge of the Indian Supreme Court, Justice Jasti Chelameswar, will demit his office on Friday, as he turns 65. His official last day of work, however, was May 18, before the court shut for the summer.
Among many landmark judgements, the one event that perhaps cemented the name of Jasti Chelameswar in the minds of the people was an unprecedented judges press conference led by him on January 12. Justice Chelameswar, Justice Gogoi, Justice Kurien, and Justice Lokur had announced that the administration of the Supreme Court was not in order and released an undated letter that they wrote to the Chief Justice of India, Justice Dipak Misra. They raised issues that included the allocation of sensitive cases and the recommendation of judges for appointment to higher judiciary.
Responses poured in for his retirement, with many thanking him for his service.
You have set an example in this tough time. Thank you Justice Chelameswar https://t.co/eMkkmz1gC5
— Shalu Nigam (@ShaluNigam) June 22, 2018
Many abuse Justice Chelameswar for heading the 4 Judges' press conference against Chief Justice of India. Whatever he made landmark judgment quashing the draconian 66A of IT Act. Whatever said and done, as a Judge Chelameswar was a humanist & patient listener to all petitions
— J Gopikrishnan (@jgopikrishnan70) June 22, 2018
As Justice Chelameswar retires from Supreme Court today.
— Deepali Dwivedi (@Deepali_Dwivedi) June 22, 2018
He will always be admired for being
rectitude & responsible towards judicial system and his obligation.
Thank you Justice Chelameswar. You shall not be forgotten. Thank you for the fight.
— V.I.V.E.K (@ivivek_nambiar) June 22, 2018
You and your three colleagues gave ordinary Indians a sudden spark of hope. Thank you for that, Justice Chelameswar.
— K.Mathur (@KMthr) June 18, 2018
Wish You Happy Retirement, Sir. https://t.co/6lU1Yx6p4C
For Chelameswar, J, colleagues & power often overlapped. By all accounts, he spoke what he understood to be truth to both, & advocated institutional introspection sans personal animosity, even though it was probably uncomfortable at times.
— Nandita Saikia (@nsaikia) June 22, 2018
There's a lesson there for all of us.
Justice Chelameswar retires today. Will be part of history books forever for forewarning us and hopefully saving and solidifying the democracy and it's institutions. #DaroMat
— Syed Maqbool (@maqbool_sm) June 22, 2018
We all wish Justice Chelameswar a sound health, long life and success in any endeavour he undertakes after retirement.He would be known for some landmark rulings delivered by him.The confrontation with CJI on administrative matters are nothing but part of service.
— Subhash Mahadik (@MahaSubhash) June 22, 2018
On his last official working day, despite being at loggerheads with CJI Misra, Chelameswar shared a bench with him, a custom and practice of the Supreme Court.
"I stood up for certain issues and values. Wherever I perceived that things were going wrong, I stood up, I raised questions... If something is good, it is to be preserved. If something is doubtful, it is to be checked and rectified, I had nothing personal against anyone in the system," Chelameswar said during his farewell event on May 19.
Known as the ‘flag-bearer of dissent’, Chelameswar has been a part of several landmark judgements. He was one of the few sitting judges to speak in favour of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) which wanted to nullify the Collegium system for appointment of judges.
He was part of the bench that struck down the draconian Section 66A of the IT Act. He also presided over the Aadhaar hearings, which he referred to a Constitution Bench to decide the question of whether privacy was a fundamental right. He was part of the nine-judge bench that which declared privacy as a fundamental right.
Justice Chelameswar is the second of the five most senior judges of the Supreme Court who form a part of the Supreme Court's Collegium. The Collegium is tasked with appointing judges to the High Court and Supreme Courts. With Chelameswar demitting his office on Friday, the sixth senior-most judge Justice A K Sikri will now be a part of the five-member Collegium. This may cause further delay to the already deferred elevation of Uttarakhand High Court judge KM Joseph.