The legal fraternity expressed grief over the demise of former Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir at a hospital in Kolkata today, saying it was "very unfortunate" and a "sad loss".
Reminiscing about the former CJI, former Attorney General and senior advocate Soli Sorabjee said that Kabir was an "erudite" judge who heard counsel patiently even when they spoke about irrelevant things.
"As a judge, he was erudite, heard counsel on both sides patiently and did not lose his temper even counsel talked about irrelevant things. His passing away is a sad loss," Sorabjee said.
Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President R S Suri expressed similar view about Kabir and said, "He was a very fine judge who made every lawyer very comfortable whether he was senior or not and no one could ever hold a grudge that he was not heard."
Terming Kabir's death as "very unfortunate", Suri said that though many people said the judge looked as if he was only listening and not passing judgements, when an actual count was taken it was found that he had delivered "more judgements" than most judges of the apex court.
"He was the common man's judge. He was very insightful. There were some controversies towards the end of his career, but for the average litigant he was an excellent judge. I wish more people were like him," the SCBA president said.
68-year-old Kabir, who was suffering from a kidney ailment and related complications, died at 2.52 PM, a senior hospital official told PTI.
He is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son, his son in-law Leon D'Souza said.
Kabir was appointed as the Chief Justice of India on September 29, 2012. He retired on July 19, 2013.
Born on July 19, 1948, Kabir was enrolled as an advocate in 1973 and practised in the district court and the Calcutta High Court.
He was appointed as a permanent judge in the Calcutta High Court on August 6, 1990.
Kabir was thereafter appointed as the Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court on March 1, 2005 and was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of India on September 9, 2005.
Seven years later, he was appointed as the 39th Chief Justice of India, a post he held for 292 days.
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