'Not Someone To Retire, Will Start My New Innings': Justice MR Shah On Last Working Day

In the honour of Justice MR Shah, who is set to retire from his position as a Supreme Court judge today, a ceremonial bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud was organised in the Supreme Court. While giving his final speech in the Supreme Court as a sitting judge, Justice MR Shah stated that he would soon be starting his "new innings". He said–

"I am not a person to retire. I will start new innings. I pray that almighty gives me strength for my new innings."

In his speech, Justice Shah expressed his gratitude to the members of the bar for their kind words and sentiments. He said–

"I do not know if I deserve it or not but I accept it as a parting gift."

The ceremonial bench saw various members of the bar including AG Venkatramani, SG Mehta, Sr Adv Pradeep Kumar Rai, ASG SV Raju, and ASG N Venkatraman bidding farewell to Justice MR Shah by sharing memories with him and expressing their gratitude to him. CJI DY Chandrachud also joined the bar members and said–

"Justice MR Shah and I go way back...We sat together at the most difficult times during COVID. It was a true pleasure to sit with him- whether it was criminal cases or newly emerging law on GST. He was always ready for a challenge. If I sent him a judgment to write, it would be on my table in 48 hours...So many ways I've relied on him for his worldly knowledge on judiciary..."

In his address, Justice MR Shah also said–

"During my tenure, if I have hurt anyone's feelings, I extend my unconditional apology. It was not deliberate. I always treated my work as worship...I am overwhelmed by love and affection by shown by you. I'm thankful to all members of bar and the registry. I am also thankful to my support staff and residence staff."

While concluding his address, Justice Shah got teary-eyed and broke down while quoting a song by Raj Kapoor-

"Kal Khel mein ham ho na ho, gardish me taare rahenge..."