Justice V Giri cites personal reasons for resigning from Kerala HC looks forward to practicing in SC

Justice V. Giri, a permanent judge of the Kerala High Court, resigned from his position on Monday. Justice Giri, an alumnus of ILS, Pune and one of the youngest judges in the Kerala High Court, was insistent that his reasons for resigning were purely personal, and that he “just felt practice was better at this time”. Speaking to Bar & Bench, Justice Giri confirmed that he would now be practicing in the Supreme Court, since as a permanent judge, he cannot practice in the same court in which he served..Justice V. Giri, a permanent judge of the Kerala High Court, resigned from his position on Monday. Justice Giri, an alumnus of ILS, Pune and one of the youngest judges in the Kerala High Court, was insistent that his reasons for resigning were purely personal, and that he “just felt practice was better at this time”..Speaking to Bar & Bench, Justice Giri confirmed that he would now be practicing in the Supreme Court, since as a permanent judge, he cannot practice in the same court in which he served. When asked whether his experience on the Bench would now serve him well at the Bar, Justice Giri replied, “Well, it is a question I have thought about intensely, and I personally believe that one advantage I now have is the propensity to now look at the matter from both sides. Having been a judge, I also know how harassed one can get when there are an enormous number of cases to get through, so I may structure my argument accordingly, and be more circumspect.”.Justice Giri, while refraining from commenting on the reasons for non-involvement of the younger generation in judicial services, provided his personal opinion on the most important changes required within the judiciary. Speaking with the benefit of more than two years as a judge, he said, “There are two important things I would mention if someone were to ask me what needs to be provided or changed within the judiciary. Firstly, members of the higher judiciary must be given better facilities for research. There is such a big workload to get through, that there should be more facilities for searching case law, and more paralegal support..“Secondly, there must be a law clerk for every member of the higher judiciary. Every judicial officer discharges a tremendous amount of work, and this could be eased if we hired law clerks as is the practice in the United States. There, judges get extremely talented youngsters who are paid well, and they stay for as long as they want, to obtain more experience. That is what the judges in India also need.”.Justice Giri is the first permanent judge of the Kerala High Court- and the second High Court judge this year- to resign from his post. Judge Neeraj Kishan Kaul of the Delhi High Court had also stepped down in August to pursue private practice. In 2007, Bangalore based Senior Advocate, Ravi B. Naik was appointed as a judge in the Karnataka High Court. In 2008, he stepped down and continued with his practice. Perhaps this is an indication that the CJI’s worries regarding the disinclination of younger lawyers towards judicial service are not groundless?