Justice Kurian Joseph retires, asserts 'silence of lawmen will do more harm than violence of others'

Justice Kurian Joseph, the third senior-most judge of the Supreme Court on Thursday received a farewell from the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) as he retired today.

Outlining India's diversity, Kurian in his farewell termed constitution as the common thread binding all and said, "The diversity of the country should be kept in mind while interpreting the Constitution. The silence of lawmen will do more harm to the society than the violence of others. India is a land of diversity. The Constitution is the common thread that binds us all together as Indians."

His farewell was attended by senior judges and top lawyers, including Attorney General KK Venugopal who appreciated the retiring judge for his decision of not accepting any post after retirement.

AG Venugopal said, "Justice Kurian Joseph wrote more than 1000 judgments. if a vote has to be taken, who is the nicest judge Supreme Court has ever seen, Justice Kurian would win hands down. He has such a pleasant smile. We are very sad with his parting; I hope he will be in Delhi and attending events so that we can meet him. He said he will not be accepting any post after retirement, that's great."

Justice Kurian Joseph began his farewell speech on an emotional note and recalled how his wife didn't want him to become a judge. He said, "It is an emotional occasion. My wife was not interested in me becoming a Judge. She said you are taking the crown of thorns but I said I will make a crown of roses. I hope I made a crown of flowers if not roses. I have tried my best. I have done my best."

Asserting that compassion for judges is a bounden duty and not charity, he added, "My conscience is clear and I can tell the whole world that I had done my best. Nobody can claim perfection. The compassion of the judge is not the charity of the court. It's the bounden duty under the Constitution of India. Let us understand that even the lawmakers also have Constitutional morality. "

Justice Kurian Joseph was one of the four senior Supreme Court judges who recently raised questions on the functioning of the apex court, and said that there is no need for an outside intervention to solve the issue. On January 12, in an unprecedented move, Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph alleged that the Chief Justice had violated conventions in his role as the master of the roster.