Justice Krishna Murari A Humble Craftsman, Dedicated His Life To Law And Those Affected By It: CJI Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Friday hailed the contribution of Supreme Court judge Justice Krishna Murari to the legal profession and said he conducted his court with great sense of equanimity and humility, and that he has been a "humble craftsman" who dedicated his life to law and to those affected by it.

Justice Murari, who was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on September 23, 2019, is set to demit office on Saturday.      

The CJI said Justice Murari has always been calm which is a "perfect demeanour for a judge", adding that as a judge of the apex court, he contributed to many areas of law, including service law, criminal law and constitutional law. 

Speaking at a function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) to bid farewell to the outgoing judge, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) said Justice Murari has always treated people with kindness, be it his juniors, court staff or judicial clerks.

"All his life, he (Justice Murari) has been a humble craftsman who has dedicated his life to law and to those affected by law. He conducted his court with a great sense of equanimity and humility. He treated juniors and seniors alike without differentiating between them..." Justice Chandrachud said. 

He also said that Justice Murari's colleagues have benefitted from his wisdom and experience, and that the outgoing judge had always made it a point to work amicably and courteously to arrive at just resolution of cases.

"...he shared with me something yesterday... he said I have never lost my temper with a member of a bar or litigant in person throughout my judicial career even once," Justice Chandrachud said.

"Brother Krishna Murari, I will not say that you are retiring today because you never retire when you are in the legal profession. The legal profession is a way of life where you learn with every case, every client, every fact and every law," he said.

The apex court has a sanctioned strength of 34 judges, but is currently functioning with 31 after the retirement of three judges last month. With the retirement of Justice Murari, the strength will come down to 30.

On July 5, the apex court collegium recommended to the Centre the names of Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court; and Justice S Venkatanarayana Bhatti, his counterpart in Kerala, for elevation as judges of the apex court.

Speaking at the SCBA's function, Justice Murari said throughout his career as a judge, he never had any tiff with even the most persuasive and toughest of lawyers.

Terming it a "very emotional day", he said he would not say that his journey has come to an end. Rather it would be more appropriate to say I am stepping out of one phase of life to another, he said. 

"I have said in the past and I repeat it here that this court is a guardian and custodian of not only the constitutional provisions per se, but also of the constitutional ideals and values that our forefathers had fought for and which form the very core and spirit of our Constitution and our great civilisation," Justice Murari underlined. 

"However, I would like to add a point to it. This court is not only a protector of multi-cultural ethos and diversity of our great country, rather it is in itself an embodiment of this multi-cultural and diverse civilisation that is to say, this court consists of people from across various geographical regions, languages, religion, caste, creed, all working towards the cause of justice...," he said.

Justice Murari urged the senior members of the bar to give ample opportunities to their juniors and take personal interest in their development.

He said it is of utmost important for young lawyers to argue before the courts and they should remain assured that they will be heard.           

"I seriously request all the senior members of the bar to take care of your juniors, pay them well, support them in their career and my best wishes are with all the young lawyers," he said.

Thanking his family, colleagues and others associated with him in his journey, Justice Murari said the life of a judge, owing to the work pressure, is slightly difficult and requires a great sacrifice from the family.    

Attorney General R Venkataramani, president of SCBA, senior advocate Adish C Aggarwala and others also addressed the gathering.    

During his around four-year tenure as a judge of the apex court, Justice Murari was part of several important verdicts, including the one in which a five-judge Constitution bench ruled that the Delhi government has legislative and executive powers over administration of services, except for public order, police and land.

He was also part of a five-judge Constitution bench which delivered a verdict in the Maharashtra political crisis and said that it cannot restore the then Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray as he resigned without facing a floor test in June last year.

In one of the cases, a two-judge bench headed by Justice Murari had said preventive detention laws in India are a colonial legacy with a great potential to be abused and must be used only in the 'rarest of rare' cases.

Born on July 9, 1958, Justice Murari enrolled as an advocate on December 23, 1981.

He practised in the Allahabad High Court for over 22 years in civil, constitutional, company, service and revenue matters, and specialised in civil revenue and service cases. Justice Murari was appointed as an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court on January 7, 2004, and as a permanent judge of the court on August 18, 2005.

He took over as the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh, on June 2, 2018.

-With PTI Input