I was pleasantly surprised by the request made by Manoj to retrospect and write about myself for the Delhi specific edition of Posoowa. However, what came to my mind is that life teaches one so many lessons and that’s what I wish to write about. It becomes essential though to briefly talk about myself first before I talk about the lessons learnt.
There was nothing extra-ordinary about my childhood. I grew up in a family of teachers. My father and four of my uncles at one point or the other were all in the teaching profession. I was born in Kolkata in 1946 where my father was teaching Assamese in the Calcutta University. With the establishment of a separate university in Guwahati, we shifted to Guwahati and made it our home. I did my schooling from Don Bosco High School in Guwahati and later on joined Cotton College for my Pre-University Degree (an university degree equivalent to 10+2 in those days). However, I wished to pursue my higher education outside of Assam and so, I came to Delhi and took admission in Ramjas College in Delhi University for my graduation course. In retrospect, I feel that was a wise decision since not only did I get outside exposure but also got to interact with students from various states. It also gave me an opportunity to grow intellectually and academically as also in extra curricular activities. I remember I had always dreamt of becoming a lawyer and after my graduation there was again a turning point in my life. I went back to Guwahati for my Post-graduation in Sanskrit and Graduation in Law; both of which I did simultaneously. After my MA, while doing the third year of Law, I enrolled for Ph.D.
My tryst with law had already begun and it was natural, therefore, to have such a subject for my Ph.D., “Theories and principles of atonement and punishment in Hindu Dharma Shastras”. In the said thesis, being a student of both law and Sanskrit, I tried to project a picture of the then principles of punishment and also showed similarity of the prevailing concept of principles of punishment of that era with that of the modern criminology. In my thesis I had also dealt with the concept of atonement in the realm of reformative justice which is prevalent and is being meticulously followed in the present day jail system in India. The thesis was highly appreciated by the German scholar who was my external examiner. I obtained the PhD degree in 1972 although at that time I was a practicing lawyer having joined the bar in 1970 under Bar Council of Assam and Nagaland.
In 1988, I was designated as a Senior Advocate of the Guwahati High Court which I believe, was recognition of my performance in the court. I was also appointed as Advocate General for the State of Nagaland and worked on this post from April, ‘92 to January, ‘94. While holding the said assignment, I was offered the Judgeship of the Guwahati High Court by Hon’ble Mr. Justice U.L. Bhat, the then Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court. My parents had always wished that I become a Judge; if at any point such an offer was made to me… I accepted the offer happily believing that I will continue to be a Judge in Guwahati High Court. However, destiny worked otherwise, for I was transferred to the Patna High Court immediately after assumption of the office as a Judge of the Guwahati High Court. I had a personal dilemma to deal with at that time regarding relocation of my family...To take them with me and disrupt their life or leave them behind in Guwahati while I move on with the offer on a lonely journey.
Ultimately I did join the Patna High Court. I had to stay initially at the Patna Bench and then in the Ranchi Bench. While I stayed all alone in Patna, my family continued to stay at Guwahati. I was unhappy about moving out of Guwahati but then destiny played a very crucial role as I was introduced to a new environment and exposed to a number of important commercial, labour and industrial litigations. These litigations helped me immensely in shaping myself as a Judge. As I retrospect now, I had probably earned some reputation by functioning as a Judge of the Patna High Court both at Patna as well as in Ranchi and the said reputation, it seems, travelled to Delhi, for Hon’ble Mr. Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, the then Chief Justice of India considered my case for being appointed as a Judge of the Delhi High Court. I was waiting for such an opportunity as I thought my wife would be able to join me in Delhi as she may be able to get a job worthy of her experience in Delhi. Consequently, I joined the Delhi High Court in December, ‘94 and since then I had been working as a Judge of the said High Court till my elevation as the Acting Chief Justice of the said High Court in November 06. Subsequently, I became the permanent Chief Justice of that High Court in December ‘06.
The changes and the turning points in my career have been brought about by destiny and those experiences throughout my journey have taught me many a lessons in life. One is that sincerity and devotion to duty always pays in life and that work must be undertaken as a source of joy. Secondly, forthrightness, openness and transparent conduct help one to get a firm footing in society. Love, affection, respect and kindness is always mutual and directly proportionate. If one gives them, one gets back the same in abundance. Its not that I didn’t have hurdles to cross. The nature of the majority of the litigations in Delhi was completely different from what I had to handle in Guwahati or Patna. So I had to struggle and work very hard to bring myself up to be at par with the Judges and the lawyers of Delhi. I have received tremendous support from my wife and family members and also my staff in climbing up the ladder and becoming what I am today.
When I was the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, I thought of all round development of the entire institution. I was the head of the judiciary of the State and, therefore, I had the responsibility and the obligation to see that the Delhi High Court and the Delhi judiciary are recognized as one of the best in the country. I had given my dedicated service towards making various developments and improvements in the entire Delhi judiciary. I was able to increase the strength of the Judges both at the level of High Court and in the subordinate courts, develop the infrastructure and also could persuade the Full Court to have evening shift in the Delhi district courts. I was instrumental in completion of the integrated complex of the National Law School, Delhi Judicial Academy and the Institute of Mediation and Conciliation which is now functioning from Dwarka sub-city, Delhi. I was, in fact, the first Chancellor of the National Law School by virtue of being the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. I must mention here that I was fortunate to have active support and co-operation from all my colleagues, judicial officers, staff of the various court complexes and especially the Bar. I am ever so grateful towards them all!
After becoming a Judge of the Supreme Court, I have felt that some of these developments and improvements which I had undertaken in Delhi should also be undertaken and implemented in the judiciary of the North-East and so I have been advising the brother Judges of the Guwahati High Court about some of these projects. They have accepted my advice and have gone ahead with some of these projects such as the Mediation Centre, a law school and a judicial academy under the Guwahati High Court. I have further advised them to devise some programmes towards jail reforms and also for holding various seminars and conferences on burning legal issues which need to be discussed amongst the various stake holders.
I have been fortunate to get opportunities to attend various international conferences as well where I represented our country as a speaker, particularly on ‘Intellectual Property Rights’ matters. Besides broadening my mental horizon, they gave me international exposure and have definitely helped my communication skills as I had to speak to international audiences and convince them.
I sincerely feel that in order to succeed in life one has to be sincere in his work and focused to the goals that one desires to achieve. My experience in life has taught me that a leader must have a vision and do everything possible to translate it to reality and while doing so, s/he should be able to take every one along.
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