Justice Kant of high court touches judicial character issue at book launch

Can a judgment quote Bon Jovi, make you smile, and still deliver hard legal reasoning? Why not, suggests a new book which was released here today.

Titled “Shaping the Judges: Essays in Honour of Dr Balram K Gupta”, the volume compiles essays from India’s leading judicial minds, including 10 sitting Supreme Court judges. Among them, Justice Surya Kant’s piece — “Humour in Judgment Writing” — makes the case for letting wit breathe in black-letter law.

Justice Kant does not call for punchlines in place of precedent, but suggests that a well-placed dash of levity can illuminate rather than dilute the law. “Judges are not wooden robots,” he writes. “They drink the same water, eat the same food and watch the same movies.”

Speaking at the launch held at the Chandigarh Judicial Academy, Justice Kant went beyond humour to touch upon the larger process of shaping judicial character. He said judging is not merely a function, but a formation — of temperament, ethics and constitutional consciousness. “A judge, in some measure, must represent the entirety of a nation’s moral, social fabric and constitutional principles,” he remarked.

Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul and other judges of the Punab and Haryana High Court and Chief Justice of the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court Justice Arun Palli were also present on the occasion.

The book, edited and introduced by Shruti Bedi, is tribute to her father, noted jurist Dr Gupta. His decades-long influence on judicial training and ethics is palpable throughout the collection, which brings together contributions from judges, scholars and legal philosophers.

Part A “Essays and Discourses” includes Justice BV Nagarathna on judicial training, Justice DY Chandrachud on judiciary and media, Justice AK Sikri on unconscious bias, and Justice Sanjay Karol on public confidence.

Part B “Tributes and Testimonies” offers personal reflections on Dr Gupta’s legacy, with contributions from Justices GS Singhvi, Madan Lokur, Arun Monga and others.