JUSTICE PD DESAI MEMORIAL LECTURE 2020 15 February, 2020 | Gujarat High Court THE HUES THAT ARE INDIA: FROM PLURALITY TO PLURALISM DR DHANANJAYA Y CHANDRACHUD JUDGE, SUPREME COURT OF INDIAOn occasions such as this when a lecture series commemorates the memory of a distinguished personality, it is conventional, to begin with, words of tribute. But for me personally, the opportunity to speak on this occasion has a deep personal connect. For me, this is a homage to the Master. Justice Prabodh Dinkarrao Desai had the unique distinction of being appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Gujarat when he was barely thirty-nine. Over a distinguished career, he functioned as the Chief Justice of three High Courts in succession, those of Himachal Pradesh, Calcutta and Bombay between December 1983 and December 1992. That a person who was appointed as a Judge of the High Court so young and yet was overlooked by destiny or the powers that be (whichever way one looks at it), must remain in contemporary times another aberration in the process of judicial appointments. When the call for higher judicial office came, Chief Justice PD Desai preferred to retire from the Bombay High Court: so fiercely was he protective of his own independence and integrity. There are vivid memories of my experiences as a young member of the Bar who frequented his Court with an occasional brief but unfailingly each day as a keen admirer of his court-craft and yearning for justice. Administrative Law flourished under his nuanced understanding just as Labour Law became the source justice to usung citizens. This was a unique amalgam: in Administrative Law, Chief Justice PD Desai found an ally for the rigor of his intellectual discipline. In Labour law, he found a bond for his compassion. The Bombay High Court assembles at 11:00 am. Three-quarters of the first hour in his Courtroom was a sight to witness. As young lawyers, we would remark that the Darbar had assembled in PD's Court. This was when he would list cases for mediation before him. The Judge would use everything under his command, from persuasion to authority to bring about just solutions. Chief Justice PD Desai could brook no excuse for unprepared Counsel. His Court had no place for the incompetent and he could never tolerate a fool. But ironically, this strict disciplinarian was benevolent towards young juniors. Their immaturity was a challenge for him to overcome in finding true justice. Grooming them was his passion. I had a unique opportunity to interact with him when he was a member of the Enquiry Committee set up as part of the impeachment process of a Judge of the Supreme Court. I was to return home from New Delhi by an evening flight after attending a hearing in the Supreme Court. To me was tasked with the duty of delivering a sealed cover of the report to the residence of the Chief Justice. When I reached his residence at 09:30 in the night, he was waiting in his drawing-room. He went inside the house and returned with a glass of tender coconut water. He was a different person, unfailingly kind, but distinctly proper. Chief Justice PD Desai was a worthy successor in the traditions of the Bombay High Court, a court set in the post-independence histories of remedying injustices and sufferings. Towering behind the Chief Justice in the Chief Justice's Court, are the portraits of Chief Justice Chagla and Sir Lawrence Jenkins. Looking over the shoulders of the Chief Justice, they would, I believe invoke the message of the life of this great Judge to say: ―this was indeed a Judge in the path that we set‖. You will agree that I have a special reason for paying this homage in recognizing the role played by Chief Justice PD Desai in strengthening the institutional position of the High Court and of the judiciary in the nation. This is a personal homage to someone who shaped the course of my career. As a young boy, I remember having a toy called the Russian doll. They are also called Matryoshka dolls, dating back to 1890. The wooden doll has within it another smaller wooden doll and this continues for ten iterations. When nested together one after the other, the doll is complete. However, if a single iteration is missed, the final form does not take shape. There is a deep lesson that the toy symbolizes – every iteration depends on and supports each other to take the final form. The doll is complete only when the inherent value of each part is recognized. In many ways, the ...
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