The outgoing Supreme Court judge Justice S Abdul Nazeer was lauded by the Supreme Court Bar Association on Wednesday for his concurrence with the majority view in the landmark Ayodhya land dispute case. According to Bar and Bench, SCBA president Vikas Singh said Justice Nazeer “agreed with the majority view and that shows his attitude that nation comes first and an individual like him comes last”, calling him a “true embodiment of secularism”.
Singh made the remarks during the farewell event organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association on Justice Nazeer’s last day as a judge of the top court.
Speaking at the event, the outgoing Supreme Court judge underscored the lack of adequate representation of women in the judiciary and said that calling the Indian judiciary immune from gender inequalities was far from the reality. He stated that while the apex court “has come a long way since its inception”, there was room for improvement.
“Supreme Court has always strived for excellence and I humbly acknowledge that it has come a long way since its inception. I am certain under the guidance of CJI Chandrachud this apex institution is all set to face challenges of today’s dynamic scenario,” he said.
“There is always room for improvement and changes. For instance, if I were to say Indian judiciary is immune to gender inequalities that exist within our society, I can’t be farther away from the reality. The representation of women in the judiciary is still very low,” he added.
Elevated as a Supreme Court judge on February 17, 2017, Justice Nazeer was part of several benches which delivered landmark verdicts including those on the politically sensitive Ayodhya land dispute, instant triple talaq and the one that declared right to privacy a fundamental right.
The outgoing judge ended his speech with a Sanskrit shloka.
“I end with this shloka that resonates most with me – dharme sarvam pratishthitam tasmaad dharmam paramam vadanti. It means everything in this world is founded on ‘dharma’, hence, it is the ultimate supreme. Thank you, Jai Hind!” Live Law quoted the judge as saying.
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