I Am Hurt at Not Being Elevated to SC: Delhi HC CJ

New Delhi | Feb 11, 2010

Delhi High Court Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah,  who scripted landmark judgements like legalising gay sex and bringing CJI's office within the ambit of RTI Act,  today said he was "hurt" at being bypassed for elevation to the Supreme Court. "I cannot pretend that I am not hurt. A sense of hurt is always there. These things happen in life," Justice Shah lamented during an interaction with reporters on his last working day. Justice Shah, who has been described as the most deserving judge for the Supreme Court by some of the top jurists, said it is for the people to decide why he was not elevated. "I think it is for the people to judge why I was denied...  It really hurts as a human being," Justice Shah said. The Supreme Court collegium had bypassed Justice Shah, one of the senior-most High Court Chief Justices, for elevation while recommending to the Centre names of other judges who were junior to him in October 2008. The government, however, refused to accept collegium's decision and returned the file. But it had to finally accept  the recommendation after the collegium refused to give in. Justice Shah, who took over as the Chief Justice of the  Delhi High Court on May 11, 2008, will be retiring on  Saturday after a tenure of around 21 months.  Justice Shah, who had given a path-breaking verdict by legalising gay sex, said he was a bit apprehensive of the  people's reaction to the verdict. "On that day, I did not switch on my TV till 8:30 pm as I was not sure about the kind of reaction the judgement would provoke," Justice Shah said adding  even he had earlier thought that gay sex cannot be legalised in the country. "While attending a workshop in Mumbai,  I met some gay activists and I had said at that time that it was difficult for the court in India to  strike down criminal provision on gay sex.  But ultimately the case would come to my way and I would decide the matter," Justice Shah said. The most controversial judgement pronounced by  Justice Shah was pertaining to whether CJI's office  comes within the ambit of RTI Act and he decided  against the consistent stand taken by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishanan. The Judge said the CJI's office comes within the purview of  transparency law and the higher judiciary should not shy away from public scruitny. He had also directed the Delhi government to appoint  special educators for students suffering from various disabilitie and also ordered three percent reservation for the disabled in jobs in PSUs. Justice Shah expressed unhappiness over PILs being misused for publicity. "PILs are vastly misused. The purpose was to protect the interest of general public and the right of poor (which)  was neglected...These are all perversions of PILs. We must address the problems of the weakest section of the society ," he said. With regard to corruption in the judiciary, Justice Shah said that there is corruption but it is minimal at higher level. "I will not tell you the truth if I say no corruption is not there in the judiciary. It is a reality, corruption does exist, but minimal  corruption is there in higher judiciary," he said. Over the media guidelines while covering sensitive cases in the court, he said the court has nothing to do with this, adding, "There has to be some self-regulating mechanism for media." It was an emotional day not only for Justice Shah but also for the staff and lawyers as they bid adieu to him. Justice Shah remained busy meeting with the court staff,  media, the lawyers from High Court bar since he entered the court premises at 10 am. He brought several reforms in the High Court, including  setting up the first Arbitration Centre in India and launching two e-courts.