Justice AP Shah was denied promotion to SC despite a laudable record.
The country was deprived of dispensations by a bold, searching and humane judge on Thursday when repeatedly superseded chief justice (CJ) of Delhi AP Shah retired.
Shah, who delivered many laudable judgments, such as legalising gay sex and bringing the CJI’s office in the ambit of the RTI Act, and was yet denied elevation to the Supreme Court (SC), left with a heavy heart. He will start a new life serving at Baba Amte’s ashram in Maharashtra.
Speaking to the media after his last day at work, Shah, who retired after a tenure of nearly 21 months as CJ, said, “I am hurt and it’s for the people to judge why I was denied the opportunity to serve the Supreme Court.
“I cannot pretend that I am not hurt. A sense of hurt is always there. These things happen in life.”
He would have had another three years as a judge had the SC collegium headed by CJI KG Balakrishnan selected him on merit and seniority. Rather, the collegium found the controversial Karnataka CJ PD Dinakaran more suitable for the top court.
Dinakaran has been dropped from the list of desirable judges to adorn SC since impeachment proceedings have been initiated against him.
As a parting gift to his “brother judges”, Shah said the Delhi HC was the “best” in the country because of the quality of advocacy it has to deal with. Many jurists criticised the denial of promotion to Shah. Former CJI JS Verma said his exclusion was “beyond reasonable understanding”.
“I have no hesitation in publicly stating that he is one of the finest judges in the country at present,” another concerned judge said.
In a signed piece, noted constitutional lawyer Fali S Nariman said it’s because of the “vagaries of the present system of appointment of judges” that Shah was denied elevation. “He is a role model for judges and if he could not make it to SC, allow me to say that the collegium system has not worked,” he said.
Nariman said it was an open secret that despite Shah’s sterling record as a high court judge in Mumbai and as CJ in Chennai and Delhi, he was overlooked because one of the members of the collegium thwarted his candidature in the give-and-take that happens behind closed doors.
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