New Delhi: Former Supreme Court judge, Justice Deepak Gupta on Thursday said he has great expectations from young lawyers and expressed hope that they will continue to fight for independence of the judiciary.
Justice Gupta, who was speaking at a function organised by Supreme Court Young Lawyers Forum, said young lawyers must be given a platform so that they can reach their optimum potential.
"You have to give junior lawyers a patient hearing. Junior members should never feel that justice is being denied to them because they're juniors," Justice Gupta, who superannuated on Wednesday, said.
He said junior lawyers must strategise and analyse when they should take independent practice but warned it should not be too soon to be left without any cases and not too late to end up being the "permanent junior."
"You have to learn court craft and be confident. You can only be confident if you're well-prepared. Know exactly when to dive into independent practice. Don't leave too early and don't leave too soon," he said.
Justice Gupta said he has special empathy for juniors and they must be given a chance to grow and explore and that can only happen if you give them chance to argue.
"I have great expectations from the young members of the bar. I know they will continue to fight for independence of the Judiciary," he said.
The former top court judge said the junior lawyers must sit in the court rooms and not in bar rooms to learn the art of arguing the case and shared his experience how he got a case to argue because of the fact that he was present inside the court room.
Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice S Ravindra Bhat also spoke at the function organised online through Zoom Webinar by the Supreme Court Young Lawyers Forum to bid farewell to Justice Gupta.
Justice Chandrachud referred to the name of the lawyers body which has organised the function and said that the chief guest, Justice Gupta, 65, has the qualification to be spoken about as the young person here and wished him well for the future.
"Justice Gupta is fit for this honours (young)...As he belongs from Himachal Pradesh, beautiful part of the country," he said.
Justice Chandrachud referred to himself and Justice Gupta as early birds in the Supreme Court and said that they used to share coffee at 10 am and they used to discuss varied subjects including those confronting judiciary as well.
He referred to judgements and orders including setting up of POCSO courts in country and security of children in children homes during pandemic COVID-19 , to which Justice Gupta was part.
"Justice Gupta never became a stuffy judge,' Justice Chandrachud said, adding that he has learnt to share the blessings of the elders with others.
Justice Bhat also referred to some orders passed by Justice Gupta as the judge and said that once he imposed a penalty of Rs 100 crore on a builder for violating norms and laws relating to environmental protection.
Justice Bhat asked junior lawyers to take advantage of technology like video conferencing in present situation of the pandemic and said, "when we can't do everything then we must do something".
Senior advocate and former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi shared his experience of appearing before Justice Gupta's bench and said that he was a very good judge and he would like to welcome him back as an arbitrator as well.
Judges cannot hide their heads like an Ostrich and say nothing is happening to the judiciary as integrity of the institution cannot be put at stake, under any circumstances, Justice Deepak Gupta had said on Wednesday.
Justice Gupta, who superannuated on Wednesday became the first judge in the history of the Supreme Court to be given farewell through video conferencing due to the lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, said that judges have to identify the problems and deal with them.
Justice Gupta, who hails originally from Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh obtained his law degree from Delhi University in 1978 and later in 2004, he was elevated as a judge in Himachal Pradesh High Court.
During his tenure as an apex court judge, he has been part of several notable judgements and orders including 2017 verdict, in which it was held that sex with minor wife despite consent is rape and prison reforms, air pollution, sealing, welfare of widows in Vrindavan.
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