Justice A K Sikri retires as SC judge

Justice A K Sikri, who was part of a high-powered committee headed by the prime minister which decided to oust senior IPS officer Alok Kumar Verma as CBI director in January, on Wednesday retired as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Three days after his vote on January 10, as a representative of CJI Ranjan Gogoi on the panel also, helped decide Verma's removal, a controversy had broken out over his nomination for president/member in the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal.

Stung by the controversy, Justice Sikri withdrew his consent to the government offer.

He later said he wants the controversy to "die".

On Wednesday, during the farewell function organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association in the apex court lawns, Justice Sikri said every judge should possess "some element of femininity" to do complete justice.

He got emotional and thanked the judiciary and lawyers for their help throughout his career.

His eyes were moist earlier in the day too when he sat on the bench along with Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S A Bobde as lawyers thanked him and wished him.

"Thank you all," he told the lawyers, wiping his tears before rising from the dais.

During the function in the evening, Justice Sikri said, "By nature, a part of me is feminine. Going by the quality this gender possesses, I am of the opinion that every judge, in order to do complete justice, should possess some element of femininity."