NEW DELHI: In a rare coincidence,
Justice Hrishikesh Roy
ended his career as a
constitutional judge
with verbal bouquets from everyone on Friday in the Chief Justice of India’s courtroom, where in 1982 he took his first step as a lawyer struggling to seek a passover for a case.
Everyone –
CJI Sanjiv Khanna
,
Justice Sanjay Kumar
, attorney general R Venkataramani, solicitor general Tushar Mehta, SCBA president Kapil Sibal and SCAORA president Vipin Nair – had a word of praise for his ever-smiling demeanour on bench and the constant encouragement for junior advocates in arguing a case.
Justice Roy was one of the four illustrious products from senior advocate J P Bhattacharjee’s chamber, the other three being former SC judges M K Sharma and Amitava Roy and former CJI Ranjan Gogoi. “We four had similar methods for preparing a case before a court,” Justice Roy said on his last day in SC.
“On the first day in CJI Y V Chandrachud’s court, my senior M L Lahoty had asked me to take a passover in a case. There was a huge crowd of advocates for an important case preceding my case. I struggled through the crowd and reached the front row to seek a Passover. But my vocal cord failed me. I struggled to make the request to the CJI,” he said.
Apart from his legal acumen, he was known for his lighter vein comments to diffuse tense debates inside the courtroom, especially in sensitive and important issues before constitution benches. So much so that, CJI D Y Chandrachud always gave him the opportunity to speak the last word, which invariably was a joke rhyming with the issue.
CJI Khanna modified Sibal’s statement that Justice Roy was a complete judge. The CJi said Justice Roy was a complete man, as apart from legal knowledge, reasonableness and a sense of justice, he was an allrounder being a voracious reader and golfer. Justice Kumar said Justice Roy was a champion hockey player and a footballer for DPS during his school days. Justice Roy was appointed a judge of Gauhati HC in Oct 2006 and as judge of SC on September 23, 2019.
