The trend of retired judges taking up post-retirement posts has drawn heavy criticism over the years.
New Delhi: Many of the 47 Supreme Court judges who have retired over the past decade went on to take up post-retirement jobs. While some were appointed as chairpersons of tribunals, one was made governor.
Of these 47, at least 26 accepted government jobs while 13 started practising law again. The status of six judges’ life post-retirement is unclear, while only two declared that they will not accept post-retirement jobs.
The idea of retired judges taking up government postings has evoked much controversy over the years, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leading the charge against the trend while in opposition. In 2012, senior party leaders Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari, now union ministers, had suggested that the clamour for post-retirement jobs was affecting the court’s judgments.
However, the current NDA administration has not exactly refrained from making job offers to retired judges, having appointed at least 12. The remaining 14 were appointed under UPA I and II.
In light of the central government’s recent decision to appoint Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel the chairman of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) hours after his retirement, ThePrint tracks the journey of Supreme Court judges after their exit from the courtroom.
Tribunals aplenty
Those who beat the trend
A few judges, however, have chosen to not accept post-retirement jobs, including Justice Jasti Chelameswar, whose career ended last month on a controversial note on account of his criticism of the government’s alleged interference in the judiciary.
His brother judge Justice Kurian Joseph has also announced that he will refrain from taking up a job after he retires in November.
Former apex court judge Justice Venkate Gopala Gowda, who retired in October 2016, had said that post-retirement jobs “amount to betraying the oath of your office”.
“A judge should not keep an eye on a post after he retires. It means he is dishonest. After you retire, you get a pension that is sufficient. How many people don’t get three square meals a day? (As many as) 74 per cent of the people earn less than Rs 5,000 a month and I get a pension of Rs 70,000 a month,” he said in an interview to Bar and Bench.
Back to the practice
Whether former apex court judges Amitava Roy, P.C Pant, M.Y. Eqbal, H.L Gokhale, Gyan Sudha Mishra, and the late former CJI Altamas Kabir took up government posts remains unclear.
Some of their colleagues, meanwhile, took their retirement as an opportunity to return to legal practice, with many involved by various bodies for arbitration.
Former CJIs T.S. Thakur and J.S. Khehar were empanelled as arbitration experts, as were Justice K.S. Panicker Radhakrishnan, Justice Deepak Verma, and Justice S.S. Nijjar, NCLT appointed Justice G.S. Singhvi as an administrator in the dispute between McDonalds and an Indian franchisee.
Some, meanwhile, went on to head committees formed to investigate issues in depth. For example, the apex court appointed Justice Radhakrishnan to head the SIT that reexamined the 1984 Sikh riots case, aided by former Supreme Court judge Justice J.M. Panchal.
Justice Panchal, who retired on 5 October 2011, was also tasked with resolving the dispute between Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra over the Mahadayi river.
The Supreme Court asked Justice R.V. Raveendran to lead the National Investigation Agency probe in the Hadiya ‘love jihad’ case, but he refused. Meanwhile, Justice FMI Kalifulla was requested by the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court to check the flow of money during the 2018 Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Bar Council elections.
Less than a week after he retired on 14 January 2010, the apex court appointed Justice Tarun Chatterjee to settle a boundary dispute between Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
Former CJI Justice R.M. Lodha, meanwhile, had the most high-profile post-retirement run in recent years, as he single-handedly attempted to reform Indian cricket’s apex administration body, the BCCI. Justice Vikramjit Sen and Justice Anil Dave were among many who went on to take administrative roles in cricketing bodies.