Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Friday heaped praise on outgoing Supreme Court judges – Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice Pankaj Mithal — for their humility, judicial temperament and contribution to the institution.
Both are due to retire during the summer vacation (June 1 to July 12), which will be partial working days in the top court. While Justice Maheshwari will retire on June 28, Justice Mithal will superannuate on June 16.
“They (Justices Maheshwari and Mithal) showed us that authority need not create distance and that high offices need not separate a person from the places and values that shaped him.
“On behalf of my colleagues on the bench, on behalf of the institution, on behalf of everyone who is present here and those who are joining us online, I thank brother Maheshwari, I thank brother Mithal for their years of dedicated service given with dignity, integrity, restraint and conviction,” the CJI said.
Justice Maheshwari thanked the members of the Bar for guiding him, pushing him to think harder, and helping him stay sharp during his tenure as a judge.
“In our culture, we often speak of ‘dharma’, but the judicial ‘dharma’ is not about religion. It is about constitutional morality. It is the unwavering commitment to the public trust. But it can only be possible with the assistance of the members of the bar…,” Justice Maheshwari said.
Justice Mithal highlighted the pendency of cases was not merely a statistical or administrative issue but one that directly affected the lives and liberties of millions of citizens.
“As I near the conclusion of my journey, one concern increasingly occupies my mind, the condition and the future of the judicial delivery system. From the vantage point of the Supreme Court, one gets a wider and sometimes sobering view of the challenges confronting the judiciary. The mounting pendency of cases is not merely a statistical issue or an administrative concern, it directly affects the lives, liberties and aspirations of millions of citizens who approach courts with hope and faith.
Every pending case represents a human story awaiting resolution, a family dispute prolonging distress, an undertrial awaiting liberty, a commercial matter affecting livelihoods, or a citizen seeking protection of constitutional rights. Behind every file lies a human life suspended in uncertainty. Delay in justice burdens not only the institutions but the society itself,” Justice Mithal said.
Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Vikas Singh announced that every retiring judge will now be made an honorary member of the association.
Born on June 29, 1961 in a small town Joura, District Morena (MP), Justice Maheshwari obtained his LLB in 1985 and completed LLM in 1991. He got enrolled as an advocate with State Bar Council of Madhya Pradesh on November 22, 1985 and was appointed as Additional Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on November 25, 2005 and on November 25, 2008, appointed as permanent Judge of the Hon’ble Court. He served as the Chief Justice of the high courts of Andhra Pradesh Sikkim before being elevated to the Supreme Court on August 31, 2021.
Born on 17th June, 1961 at Meerut in a family of lawyers, Justice Mithal obtained his law degree from Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut and got enrolled in 1985 as a lawyer with the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of Allahabad High Court on July 7, 2006. He was appointed as the Chief Justice Jammu &Kashmir and Ladakh High Court on January 4, 2021; transferred as Chief Justice Rajasthan High Court on October 14, 2022 and then elevated to the Supreme Court on February 6, 2023.
