Bar bids adieu to Justice Jasti Chelameswar in open court

Justice Jasti Chelameswar sat as a Supreme Court judge for the last time today, and in absence of a farewell function, three members of the Bar decided to pay tribute to the judge in open court..Keeping in line with tradition, Justice Chelameswar sat in the Chief Justice’s court alongside CJI Dipak Misra and Justice DY Chandrachud, where 11 matters were listed before the Bench..This Bench sat at 10.35 am for a fairly brief period of time. Just before the Bench was to rise, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, Senior Advocate Rajiv Dutta, and Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan gave short farewell speeches to Justice Chelameswar..Prashant Bhushan thanked Justice Chelameswar for his great service in upholding the democracy and said,.“On behalf of the Bar, I would like to say that it was a pleasure and honor to have appeared before you…future generations will remember your contribution to democracy and to the country.”.Rajiv Dutta thanked him for “upholding the ideals of the institution“. Gopal Sankaranarayanan expressed his gratitude towards the judge for the grace he has shown towards junior members of the Bar, and said that it would always be remembered and appreciated..While the courtroom was packed, senior members of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) were not present on Justice Chelameswar’s last working day. The judge had earlier refused an invitation to the customary farewell function hosted by the SCBA for retiring judges..The Bench sat for nearly twenty minutes, and in the solemn setting, Justice Chelameswar folded his hands as a gesture of gratitude before he left the courtroom..Yesterday, on the eve of Justice Chelameswar’s last working day and on his last day presiding over Court number 2, veteran lawyer Shanti Bhushan and Senior Counsel Dushyant Dave had rendered their tributes to “one of the greatest judges produced by the Court.“