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New Delhi, Nov 21 (IANS) Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai, who is retiring from the country’s highest judicial office on November 23, on Friday reflected on the “indigenous interpretation” adopted by the Supreme Court in its recent opinion on presidential reference, highlighting the top court’s preference for Indian precedents over foreign jurisprudence.
Responding to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s comment that “a fresh wind of Indianness has started blowing in the judgments”, CJI Gavai said: “In yesterday’s judgment, we did not use a single foreign decision and we used the indigenous interpretation.”
SG Mehta, the Centre’s second-highest law officer, said the five-judge Constitution bench has carefully distinguished the American and British systems from India’s constitutional framework.
The Solicitor General said, “Your Lordships said we have our own jurisprudence, and the judgment answered everything in just 110 pages. This is a new thing. The judgment should be a judgment and not an article for law review.”
The exchange took place during formal bench proceedings in Court Room No. 1 of the Supreme Court, which was CJI Gavai’s last working day before his retirement.
Justice Surya Kant, who will take charge as the 53rd Chief Justice of India on November 24, praised Justice Gavai for setting “high standards” and praised his “unwavering devotion to the rule of law”.
Following the established tradition of appointing the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court as the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Justice Gavai had earlier recommended Justice Kant as his successor.
In a light-hearted moment that brought laughter in the packed courtroom, a lawyer tried to shower flower petals on CJI Gavai as a mark of respect. As he opened a packet and prepared to scatter the petals, Justice CJI Gavai quickly intervened from the bench: “No, no, don’t throw… hand it over to someone.”
–IANS
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