“Judges with compassion can be counted on fingers”, SCBA President MN Krishnamani in his Law Day address

The National Law Day was celebrated in the Supreme Court lawns yesterday evening in a function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). Union Minister for Law and Justice Kapil Sibal was the Guest of Honour for the function while Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam was the Chief Guest..Every year, November 26 is celebrated as National Law Day to commemorate the adoption of Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly on that day in 1949. The practice of celebrating Law Day was started in 1979 when the SCBA under the leadership of Dr. LM Singhvi declared November 26 as National Law Day..Interestingly, the function yesterday witnessed some scathing remarks by SCBA President and Senior Advocate, MN Krishnamani in his address to which the Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal and Chief Justice Sathasivam took objection..Referring to the great Supreme Court judges of the past, Krishnamani in his speech said that those judges displayed the quality of compassion and,.“Today, judges with compassion can be counted on fingers”..Hailing Justice VR Krishna Iyer’s contributions to law, Krishnamani also sought for a portrait of Justice VR Krishna Iyer to be installed in one of the courtrooms citing the precedent of Justice HR Khanna’s portrait being unveiled while Justice Khanna was alive. Krishnamani also came down upon the Collegium system of appointment of judges which he dubbed a failure..Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal, however, made it clear that he would “distance himself from the statements made by Krishnamani”. He said that he believed that the,.“Supreme Court judges of today are as compassionate as those of the past, and we should not point fingers at judges as they are humans and could make errors.”.Chief Justice P Sathasivam also seemed to disapprove of Krishnamani’s remarks and spoke about the steps taken by the Supreme Court to address the problem of sexual harassment in the court precincts. Referring to the incident of alleged sexual harassment of a law intern by a retired Supreme Court judge as an “alleged aberration which has come to our notice”, he said that justice will be done in the matter. He also detailed the steps taken by him to address the problem of pendency of cases in Supreme Court. He further asked the media to carefully consider the facts before reporting any news which might be derogatory to the image of the Supreme Court, as it could have ramifications “not only at the national level but also at the international level”..Subsequently, the SCBA felicitated the lawyers who had completed 50 years of legal practice and the rank holders in the Advocate on Record exam..Image of Justice VR Krishna Iyer taken from here