Justice Gautam Patel demitts office after eleven years as Bombay HC judge.
Justice Gautam Patel demitts office after eleven years as Bombay HC judge.
Justice Gautam Patel bid tearful adieu and demitts office after eleven years as Bombay HC judge.
In his farewell address, Justice Patel in his inimitable way equated the Bar and the Bench with the two trees he would see from his chambers on the third floor of the High Court building.
He said that these two trees are like the Bar and the Bench. They cannot do without each other. Each should support the other and as long as they are together, we are in good hands,” he said recounting his conversation with Justice GS Kulkarni of the Bombay High Court.
Justice Patel also reminisced how he had fallen in love with his chamber on the very first day as a judge even though it was in shambles and needed to be refurbished.
He added further that he loved it most of all because of the two trees that are outside it. Where leaves and branches are intertwined. One tree loses all its leaves several times a year.
The other is as perennial as the grass. Their roots are so jumbled up that one does not where one is and where the other is. The branches are full of magic; you see squirrels. Every year, a pair of kites builds a nest for its hatchlings there.”
He went on to use the imagery of the two trees at dusk to convey his emotions to the audience.
“And as the sun goes down, the light that comes through the leaves shimmers and dapples through the walls right into the chambers through my glass doors. These are moments of magic in the High Court,” he said.
Justice Patel recalled how he and Justice Kulkarni would “linger” by the pair of trees and engage in conversations in the evenings, likening the two trees to the Bar and the Bench.
“Justice Kulkarni – who I miss since he is not here today – and I were standing looking at the trees. He said, ‘where is one, where is the other?’ I said, ‘this doesn’t matter because every morning and every night it would remind me of the one thing. These two trees are like Bar and Bench. They cannot do without each other. Each should support the other and as long as they are together we are in good hands.”
He also appreciated the High Court Bar for calling on him and telling him whenever he was wrong. This, he said, was very reassuring, because “there was at least one friend” who could tell him that he had set a foot wrong and direct him to the right path.
He also went on to add that he doesn’t believe that anything that he has done would have been possible without the constant help of every one of the members of the Bar, from the senior most to the junior most. He did what he could to assist juniors. From seniors, he got guidance. There was always a band of friends. They happened to be lawyers, but first friends, to whom his debt is truly unrepayble.
On the present heritage building of Bombay High Court, Justice Patel made an appeal that it should not be forgotten when a new court building is constructed in Bandra East.
In conclusion he said that this building you all know has a special place. There is no other building like this on the planet. It is not something we should forget. He doesn’t now where the future will take this institution of the Bombay High Court but he will beseech everyone please do not let go of this institution.
As a unique suggestion, he said that a stone should be taken from the present building and laid as a foundation stone at the new place.
“At least keep something here. When you do set up another institution, wherever it is, do just one thing. You carry forward these 150 years of justice delivery. Take a stone from this building and lay it as a foundation stone there. Keep that bridge alive. This connection of both sides I have never lost.”
He isn’t aware where the future will take this institution of the Bombay High Court. He will beseech everyone please do not let go of this institution.
Justice Gautam Patel
Earlier in the day, Justice Patel expressed his gratitude for the full court reference that was organised for him. As a first, the reference was held on the same day as a judge’s farewell.
He is grateful for this honour and privilege. This has never happened before. He think I will ever be able to repay this debt of gratitude. How one acquits oneself in this enterprise of the cause of justice is something that we can never assess ourselves,” he said.
While ending his speech with a tear in his eyes, Justice Patel said,
He will resist the temptation to look at you and say “seriously?” But allow him this, his final act. Allow him to stand and give his final bow.
Justice Patel is a graduate of St Xavier’s College and Government Law College, Mumbai.
He started practice in 1987 in Mumbai, working on commercial, corporate and civil litigation. He appeared in a large number of environmental public interest litigation cases including those relating to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, protection of mangroves, town and country planning issues, Melghat National Park, the Mill Lands, protection of open spaces, etc.
In 1994-1995, he received the First international Fellowship in environmental law from Pacific Energy & Resources Center, Sausalito, California. This included course work at the University of Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law and an internship with the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund.
He served as the Honorary Secretary of the Bombay Bar Association for two terms from 1999 to 2005 and served on the Association’s Standing Committee till his elevation as a judge.
From 2008-2011 he was a part-time lecturer in Administrative Law, Constitutional Law and Environmental Law at Government Law College, Mumbai.
Justice Patel also wrote a weekly newspaper column in the Mumbai Mirror for three years and contributed articles to articles and reviews to the Economic & Political Weekly, TimeOut Mumbai, the Mumbai Reader etc.
He was elevated as the judge of Bombay High Court on June 21, 2013.
Amidst the full court reference, Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya said Justice Patel’s style of writing judgment was unique. He hoped that Justice Patel would now get more time to pursue his other passions like writing.
According to Chief Justice Upadhyaya, before the full house, Justice Patel got emotional, but because of his attachment to this building, to this institution. He says he will enter into teaching again. It will be in the interest of students and lawyers.
Advocate General Dr. Birendra Saraf said that Justice Patel would hold proceedings with gentle humour and satire and proved that law need not be serious and dry.
On behalf of the State of Maharashtra,” Saraf asserted that at times, an argument we made with conviction was taken down by the judge with just a “Seriously?” and a laugh. That took down the argument. He has given the prime years of his life for dispensation of justice. Every litigant who came to your door got justice.
He is thankful to him on behalf of the State of Maharashtra Saraf signed off.
News Edit K.V.Raman
