New Delhi: Chief Justice of India N V Ramana hailed the contribution of Justice R Subhash Reddy, who demitted office on Tuesday after serving for over four years in the Supreme Court, saying he upheld and protected people's liberties and has compassion and consciousness about social realities.
Justice Reddy, who was elevated to the apex court on November 2, 2018, has the distinction of being the first judge from Telangana, and after his retirement, the total strength of apex court judges would come down to 32 against the sanctioned strength of 34.
Attorney General K K Venugopal, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Vikas Singh and others also spoke at the occasion.
“It is a sad day that Justice Reddy is going to retire. He had an extensive career before Andhra Pradesh HC and the Supreme Court. It was not surprising when he got elevated,” Venugopal said during the virtual proceedings.
“It is a sad moment when a judge retires, especially someone who has been so popular amongst the Bar. He has all qualities that Bar wants in a judge. He gives respect to members of Bar, he is not persuaded by public opinion and goes by the brief,” SCBA President Vikas Singh said.
While addressing the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) members and SC judges in a function organised virtually, Justice Reddy said that there is a decline in efficiency and quality of justice as there has been a rapid change in values and morals and need has been replaced by greed.
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Justice Reddy said that human values have deteriorated leading to rising cases and crimes and every year the cases swell and the court gets overburdened, not being able to meet the expectations of the public.
Citing AG KK Venugopal's suggestion, Justice Reddy said that a court of appeal above the HC which gives a final verdict in civil and criminal matters can be helpful.
"Time-consuming traditional procedures prescribed in the 19th century in a pre-industrial society needs to be modernised. Many studies have shown the positive benefits of a strong and efficient judicial system. The degree of judicial independence has been related to economic growth. Better performing courts have been shown to lead more developed credit markets. Justice delivery system plays an important role in assessing the development of a nation," said Justice Reddy.
Talking about his journey today, Justice Reddy said that he started his schooling in a single teacher school in his native village and it was difficult for him to compete with convent schools' students or urban areas students but his parents and his uncle took utmost care of his education.
(With inputs from agency)
