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Justice C Chandrasekharan Sudha on Thursday bid farewell to the Delhi High Court on her retirement after a judicial career spanning over three decades, reflecting on the experiences that shaped her journey from a young lawyer in Thiruvananthapuram to the Bench of the Delhi High Court.

“Some experiences encourage us. Some test us. Some make us stronger. Each of those experiences, in his own way, contributed to the person and the judge that I became,” Justice Sudha said during her emotional farewell address.

Justice Sudha, who began practising as a lawyer in January 1989, entered the district judiciary in April 1995 and served there for over 25 years before being elevated as a Judge of the Kerala High Court in 2021. 

She was later transferred to the Delhi High Court, where she said she was given a “larger canvas” as well as the “space and freedom” to work upon.

Looking back at her professional journey, Justice Sudha said every institution and every stage of her career had taught her something, with some experiences encouraging her, others testing her and some making her stronger.

Justice Sudha was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Kerala High Court in October 2021. She was subsequently transferred to the Delhi High Court on October 28, 2025.

In her farewell address today, Justice Sudha became emotional while recalling her parents and her late husband, whom she described as her “rock”.

Justice Sudha said her parents had always impressed upon her the importance of education and becoming financially independent. “My father taught me to aim for the stars, and my mother taught me to keep my feet firmly on the ground,” she said.

Remembering her parents, she said they must be watching her from their “heavenly abode”, happy and content with how she had conducted herself. “Though they are no longer with me, I'm sure they would still be watching me from heaven. And so, thank you for everything you did to make me the person I am today,” she said.

Justice Sudha recalled that she chose law after graduation, following the footsteps of her paternal grandfather, who had served in the judiciary during the 1940s and 1950s.

She enrolled as a lawyer in January 1989 and began practising in the district courts at Thiruvananthapuram. Recalling her early years in the profession, she said her senior had taught her not merely the law but also the discipline required of a lawyer.

She said she was never “spoon-fed” and was instead entrusted with briefs and expected to prepare herself to conduct trials and argue matters. Her senior, she recalled, taught her never to interrupt the opposite side, never to raise her voice and “never ever to display emotions in court, irrespective of the outcome of the case.”

Justice Sudha said her association with Delhi began in 1991-92 when she came to the city after her marriage.

Recalling her first impressions of the Delhi High Court, she narrated an incident when she and her husband were travelling on the road outside the Court and a policeman stopped them, while a judge's car passed them and entered the Court complex. “Little did I think, not even in my wildest dreams, that I would one day be doing the same and be a part of the Bench of this Court,” she said.

Describing her journey in the district judiciary as “challenging and eventful”, she said it was “not a bed of roses”, but neither was it a journey filled entirely with thorns. She said she had enjoyed those years immensely, even though her judicial career often required her and her husband to live miles apart.

Justice Sudha became visibly emotional while recalling her husband, who died suddenly in 2015. “My beloved husband was my rock. I lost him suddenly and unexpectedly in the year 2015. Not a day goes by without my remembering him,” she said. “I miss him terribly today, and sincerely wish that he had been beside me on this occasion. He would have been immensely happy and proud to see me sitting here today,” she added. She said the “huge void” left behind by her husband's death continued to remain, but life had a way of placing challenges before people and one had to find the strength to carry on.

Justice Sudha also reflected on her tenure in the Kerala High Court, where she had the opportunity to deal with matters across several branches of law and write Full Bench judgments within months of her elevation.

She expressed gratitude to the Judges of the Delhi High Court for welcoming her and making her feel that she belonged to the institution despite having come from another High Court and another State. “At no point was I made conscious of the fact that I had come from another High Court or another State,” she said.

Justice Sudha also thanked the Delhi Bar and members of the Court staff for their support, including her private secretary, courtmaster, personal assistants, chauffeur, PSOs, registrars and law researchers.

She expressed gratitude to the Supreme Court Collegium, headed at the relevant time by then Chief Justice BR Gavai, for considering her request and giving her the opportunity to serve at the Delhi High Court.

Towards the end of her speech, Justice Sudha became emotional once again while speaking about her son. She recalled that her husband had passed away while their son was still in college. “We lost him while my son was still in college. Overnight, my son became a man and has stood by me throughout,” she said.

Justice Sudha said there were times when, despite putting up a show of strength and courage, she would falter. “Many a time he has pulled me up, but on some days, despite the show of all strength and courage, I falter,” she said.

Ending her address, Justice Sudha said that the Delhi High Court had received her warmly, trusted her readily and given her every opportunity to contribute “without ever making me feel that I was an outsider.”

As she stepped down from the Bench, she reflected on whether her retirement marked the time to “draw the curtain for all times”.

“I think the answer is best answered in the words of Robert Frost: 'The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep,'” she said.

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