Justice Antony Dominic, Chief Justice of Kerala High Court retired from office today..Justice Dominic who enrolled at the Bar in 1981 was elevated to the Bench in 2007. Justice Dominic began his practice at Munisff’s Court and the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) before starting to argue before the High Court in 1986..He served as an Additional Judge in 2007 when he was elevated to the Bench and was soon appointed as a permanent judge in 2008. Justice Dominic served as the Acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court for a year in 2017 before he took charge as the Chief Justice of that Court in February this year..In the farewell function organised today in the High Court, Justice Dominic also gave a veiled response to the allegations leveled by another judge, Justice Kemal Pasha, who had retired last week..Stating that people can judge him now and he cannot respond to the same, Dominic J. said,.“I have judged many cases…I had laws to lead, I had precedents to guide and above all conscience to answer. On this day I can offer you a heart filled with gratitude… Time makes me stand before you to be judged, you can judge me but I cannot present my case, argue or articulate.”.Stressing that the institution is greater than individuals, he said,.“Every river has a name. But no river has the same water flowing the next minute. Still, we call the river by the same name. And a river always flows to have a confluence with the ocean… .Every institution has an identity but never the same people. As the water in a river changes, so do people in an institution. But we still call it by the same name. And this institution always runs to have a confluence with the ocean of justice. I am a droplet, a ripple or at best a wave in the water that has already moved away.”.In what could be considered as a veiled response to the allegations made against him by Justice Kemal Pasha, Justice Dominic then said that he identified his own weakness – that he is not a politician..“Like every well-meaning, rule-bound judge, I too have realised my limitations. For a judge’s strength lies in knowing his weaknesses. I understood I am not a politician.”.He stated that the decision of judges should reflect the law and not set policy. Deciding policy is a judicial fallacy in a democracy, he said..“I understood that the judiciary is a passive branch of the State and I understood that my decisions should reflect the law. They never should seek to set policy. If ever a judge believed that he could decide according to his policy, it is a judicial fallacy. Democracy demands that judges confine themselves to a stipulated sphere of influence.”.Justice Dominic cautioned that judges should not play the role of legislators and should leave that job to the elected representatives of people..“In a world governed by a proper conception of their [..], judges do not play at being legislators. They leave that job to the elected.”.He once again made a veiled reference to ‘people who cannot control their emotions and persist with their notions’..“I know sometimes people cannot control their emotions, they persist with their notions as if they were the facts. They lose the […] but blame others. Their defence is that they follow their conscience. My sympathies are with them. For to err is human and as is often said, ‘with great ignorance comes great confidence’.”.Interestingly, he also “served a caveat on his colleagues”, stating,.“Even righteous indignation and holy horror are impertinent intruders in our affair of justice. Emotional justice has no standing in the forum of right reason…”.Justice Kemal Pasha who retired on May 24 had, in his farewell speech, made some strong remarks against the High Court Collegium’s recommendation of five lawyers for elevation to the Bench. In his speech, Justice Pasha went on to say that he had learnt from the media that certain names from the Bar were recommended for elevation..Subsequently, Justice Pasha had spoken to the media raising questions on change of bench in a sensitive case thus bringing to fore the controversy surrounding the power of the Chief Justice as Master of Roster very similar to the controversy that had thrown the Supreme Court into turmoil earlier this year
Justice Antony Dominic, Chief Justice of Kerala High Court retired from office today..Justice Dominic who enrolled at the Bar in 1981 was elevated to the Bench in 2007. Justice Dominic began his practice at Munisff’s Court and the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) before starting to argue before the High Court in 1986..He served as an Additional Judge in 2007 when he was elevated to the Bench and was soon appointed as a permanent judge in 2008. Justice Dominic served as the Acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court for a year in 2017 before he took charge as the Chief Justice of that Court in February this year..In the farewell function organised today in the High Court, Justice Dominic also gave a veiled response to the allegations leveled by another judge, Justice Kemal Pasha, who had retired last week..Stating that people can judge him now and he cannot respond to the same, Dominic J. said,.“I have judged many cases…I had laws to lead, I had precedents to guide and above all conscience to answer. On this day I can offer you a heart filled with gratitude… Time makes me stand before you to be judged, you can judge me but I cannot present my case, argue or articulate.”.Stressing that the institution is greater than individuals, he said,.“Every river has a name. But no river has the same water flowing the next minute. Still, we call the river by the same name. And a river always flows to have a confluence with the ocean… .Every institution has an identity but never the same people. As the water in a river changes, so do people in an institution. But we still call it by the same name. And this institution always runs to have a confluence with the ocean of justice. I am a droplet, a ripple or at best a wave in the water that has already moved away.”.In what could be considered as a veiled response to the allegations made against him by Justice Kemal Pasha, Justice Dominic then said that he identified his own weakness – that he is not a politician..“Like every well-meaning, rule-bound judge, I too have realised my limitations. For a judge’s strength lies in knowing his weaknesses. I understood I am not a politician.”.He stated that the decision of judges should reflect the law and not set policy. Deciding policy is a judicial fallacy in a democracy, he said..“I understood that the judiciary is a passive branch of the State and I understood that my decisions should reflect the law. They never should seek to set policy. If ever a judge believed that he could decide according to his policy, it is a judicial fallacy. Democracy demands that judges confine themselves to a stipulated sphere of influence.”.Justice Dominic cautioned that judges should not play the role of legislators and should leave that job to the elected representatives of people..“In a world governed by a proper conception of their [..], judges do not play at being legislators. They leave that job to the elected.”.He once again made a veiled reference to ‘people who cannot control their emotions and persist with their notions’..“I know sometimes people cannot control their emotions, they persist with their notions as if they were the facts. They lose the […] but blame others. Their defence is that they follow their conscience. My sympathies are with them. For to err is human and as is often said, ‘with great ignorance comes great confidence’.”.Interestingly, he also “served a caveat on his colleagues”, stating,.“Even righteous indignation and holy horror are impertinent intruders in our affair of justice. Emotional justice has no standing in the forum of right reason…”.Justice Kemal Pasha who retired on May 24 had, in his farewell speech, made some strong remarks against the High Court Collegium’s recommendation of five lawyers for elevation to the Bench. In his speech, Justice Pasha went on to say that he had learnt from the media that certain names from the Bar were recommended for elevation..Subsequently, Justice Pasha had spoken to the media raising questions on change of bench in a sensitive case thus bringing to fore the controversy surrounding the power of the Chief Justice as Master of Roster very similar to the controversy that had thrown the Supreme Court into turmoil earlier this year
