Judge needs to withstand pressures; stand up against obstacles: Justice NV Ramana

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 1

In the eye of the storm over Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s allegations against him, Justice NV Ramana on Saturday said a judge needed to be fearless; withstand pressures and stand up against all obstacles.

“It is an important quality for a judge to withstand all pressures and odds and to stand up bravely against all obstacles,” Justice Ramana said in an online condolence meeting to pay homage to former top court judge AR Lakshmanan who died on August 27.

“There are innumerable qualities that a person needs to live what can be called a good life: humility, patience, kindness, a strong work ethic and the enthusiasm to constantly learn and improve oneself. Most importantly, particularly for a judge, one must be steadfast in holding on to their principles and fearless in their decisions,” he said.

In his letter to CJI Bobde, Reddy had alleged that “Justice Ramana has been influencing the sittings of the High Court, including the roster of a few Hon’ble judges and instances of a few matters important to Telugu Desam have been allotted to a few judges.” The contents of the letter were made public at a press conference addressed by the Principal Adviser to the AP Chief Minister last week.

Justice Ramana – who is likely to be the next Chief Justice of India after Justice SA Bobde demits office in April 2021 – said, “The greatest strength of the judiciary is the faith of people in it. Faith, confidence and acceptability cannot be commanded, they have to be earned.”

Last month, Justice Ramana had expressed serious concern over judges becoming soft targets of criticism and subject of juicy gossip on social media.

“Judges are self-restrained from speaking out in their own defence... Today, judges have become soft targets of criticism and especially with social media advent, judges have become subject to juicy gossip,” Justice Ramana had said at the launch of a book authored by Justice R Banumathi (retd).

Quoting Justice Lakshmanan, Justice Ramana on Saturday said, “We, the members of the judicial hierarchy have inherited the legacy of dedicated collective endeavour by the bench and the bar in establishing an unbroken tradition of high efficiency, perfect integrity and fearless independence.”

He said Justice Lakshmanan epitomised all the required qualities of being one of the best judges this country has seen.

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