SC Judge Justice MR Shah ‘Couldn’t Hold Back Tears’ At His Ceremonial Bench Proceedings

Justice Mukeshkumar Rasikbhai Shah (commonly known as MR Shah), who retires from the Supreme Court on Monday, broke down while sitting as part of the ceremonial bench in the court of Chief Justice of India (CJI).

The ceremonial bench saw various members of the bar including AG Venkatramani, SG Mehta, Sr Adv Pradeep Kumar Rai, ASG SV Raju, and ASG N Venkatraman bidding farewell to Justice MR Shah by sharing memories with him and expressing their gratitude to him.

CJI DY Chandrachud also joined the members of the bar and stated,

“Justice MR Shah and I go way back…We sat together at the most difficult times during COVID. It was a true pleasure to sit with him- whether it was criminal cases or newly emerging law on GST. He was always ready for a challenge. If I sent him a judgment to write, it would be on my table in 48 hours…So many ways I’ve relied on him for his worldly knowledge on judiciary…”

In his parting speech, Justice Shah also addressed his efforts to encourage young lawyers to argue their cases instead of being adjourned or mentioning counsel.

“People say I treated juniors and seniors alike, but i think I encouraged juniors more and I wanted them not to be adjournment or mentioning counsel and rather be an arguing counsel,” Justice Shah stated.

He further expressed his appreciation to the bar, the registry, and the support staff for their contributions to the justice system.

As he concluded his address, Justice Shah quoted the song Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan from the movie Mera Naam Joker,

“Kal khel me hum ho na ho…Gardish me taare rahenge sada. (Whether I’m there or not in the game tomorrow, there will be stars in the sky forever)”

Justice MR Shah was born on 16 May 1958. On July 19, 1982, he was enrolled as an advocate and practiced in the Gujarat High Court and Central Administrative Tribunal in Civil, Criminal, Constitutional, Taxation, Labour, Service and Company matters and specialized in land, constitutional, Education, Excise, Custom matters. On 7 March 2004, he was appointed as an additional judge of the Gujarat High Court, and on 22 June 2005, he was appointed as a permanent judge. On August 12, 2018, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Patna High Court. On November 2, 2018, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of India as a judge.