Justice NV Ramana will soon take over as the Chief Justice of India. He also received the seal of approval from the President. Leaving aside seniority, there are many achievements that justice Ramana deserves given his judgments and speeches. Many of his judgments have been given to ensure that the rights, responsibilities, social justice, constitutional protection and prestige of the judiciary are upheld. This is also understandable if one examines some of the points in his speeches made on several occasions.
Are there leaders like Damodaram Sanjeevaiah now?
Recently, Justice NV Ramana had addressed students of the Damodaram Sanjeevaiah National Law University during their Graduation Ceremony in Visakhapatnam. He had addressed the event in a virtual manner. In that speech, he said that he wanted to learn more about ‘Damodaram Sanjeevaiah’s life, values and services. It is really sad that in our present society, there are no leaders like Sanjeevaiah who have provided dedication, social responsibility, corruption-free and transparent governance. On this occasion, the law students were told about an incident. Opponents of Damodar Sanjeevaiah have made several allegations while Jawaharlal Nehru was examining the issue of making Damodar Sanjeevaiah the CM. Attempts were made to stamp corruption.
With this, Nehru sent his loyalists to Damodaram Sanjeevaiah’s hometown to look into the complaints against Damodaram Sanjeevaiah. The man saw an old woman in a hut at the end of the village and spoke to her. Until then the man did not know that she was Sanjeevaiah’s mother. Not just that, when the person questioned the woman as to what her son would buy for her if he was the CM, the lady said, “If my son is the CM, he will buy me a coal stove.” The woman’s reply left the man speechless. The man said the same thing to Nehru. Damodaram Sanjeevaiah was made the CM by Nehru the very next moment. At the time of his death, Damodaram Sanjeevaiah’s assets were just his clothes, a plate, a glass. Do we have such leaders now?
Raising standards is the solution to pending cases
Speaking on the same platform, he said that there are 1500 law institutes in the country, with 1.5 lakh students annually enrolling in law from 23 national law universities, but there are 3.8 crore pending cases in the country. He said the solution was to raise the standards and that the judiciary was doing its part. The judiciary is trying to bridge the gap between events, practices, theories and rights. He said that social justice was possible only when practical education was made available along with standardized education to all sections. In Madras, former Supreme Court judge Justice Lakshmanan made some key remarks while speaking at the mourning function. Let us not forget that faith and honesty do not come by force and that there is no greater wealth than values. Justice Lakshmanan said that we have an independent system of efficiency, commitment and fearlessness and that those words should be remembered.
The lives of judges are not flowers
Speaking on another platform, NV Ramana said that those entering the legal profession should take as an ideal the comments made by Mahatma Gandhi that those who have to fight for justice and virtue should be silent and not respond at that time. He urged the people to be committed to strengthening the powerful independent judiciary which has become urgent at the present time. For meaningless propaganda in the present circumstances, those who are key in the judiciary are becoming victims of unnecessary criticism. The judge commented that life was not a flower pot and that expensive life in luxury buildings was a myth. He said that there are many limitations to expressing one’s own views, but at the same time facing criticism and becoming a target is becoming a challenge. He was speaking at the launch of a book titled ‘Judiciary. Judge and the Administration of Justice’ written by former Supreme Court Judge R Bhanumathi.
Many historical judgments
Not only this. In one case, he commented that women should be paid for household chores and that women’s chores should not be underestimated. It has caused a stir around the world to say that housewives should consider providing food and shelter for their household as a job. In addition to this, the Supreme Court has also come under the purview of the Right to Information Act, the restoration of 4G services in Jammu and Kashmir, and the judgments in labour rights cases relating to Tamil Nadu.
