Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud Named Faiz Ahmad Faiz For Outgoing Judge, “Friend” For 47 Years Sanjay Kishan Kaul » Today Latest Stories
Justice SK Kaul and Chief Justice Chandrachud were college friends. (File)
New Delhi:
Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, retired yesterday, completing six years on the bench. At Justice Kaul’s farewell ceremony, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud held poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz farewell to his friend for over 47 years.
“Warriors are dangerous, the sky is dry. You have lost the roots of the spring.”“I first met Justice Kaul at St Stephen’s College. We were in the first group after the Emergency and our innumerable conversations in the canteen and our shared love of theatre. We were friends.”
Recalling his college days with Justice Kaul, the Chief Justice said, “He (Justice Kaul) contested the student elections and we supported him completely. As I was strong in studies, I was given the task of preparing his manifesto. In those days, Sanjay used to do this. it’s a red Standard car. One day, he met with an accident and we thought we could get votes to sympathize with us but it didn’t happen.”
Three years later, after graduating from St Stephen’s, Justice Kaul and Chief Justice Chandrachud were fellows at the Campus Law Center of Delhi University where they completed their law degrees.
“During LLB, Sanjay’s notes were well known but he did not write his notes in the exercise book because he was worried that the person would not return the notes. He would ask the person which class he had placed and give them the notes,” he said. Chief Justice of India said.
“I am lucky that Justice Kaul chose law, it was not his first choice. His love of travel wanted him to choose Indian Foreign Service but Chief Justice of India BN Kirpal forced him to do law,” he said.
During his tenure as a judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Kaul delivered a number of landmark judgments which reflect his shrewdness, keenness and devotion to the principles of the Constitution, the Chief Justice said.
“In Maqbool Fida Husain v Raj Kumar Pandey, where MF Husain’s painting ‘Bharat Mata’ was challenged as obscene, Justice Kaul passionately defended artistic freedom,” he said.
A lover of golf, theater and music, Justice Kaul was part of several landmark judgments of the Supreme Court including the one on privacy and civil rights and upheld the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution which provided special protection for a long time. the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
“I had the privilege of being in the same class with Justice Kaul. We shared our views openly and did not speak abusive words, although we had strong opinions we resolved the issues with high standards of compassion. I will cherish the memories we shared from the judge’s bench,” he said.
Justice Sanjay Kaul was also among the five judges who refused to legalize same-sex marriages, saying there is “no unqualified right” to marry except those recognized by law.
