CJI moved at his felicitation ceremony

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Chief Justice of India Justice Altamas Kabir was so much moved with the warm felicitation given to him here that he refused to take out heaps of garlands around his neck when Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda wished to help him after his face was fully covered with garlands.

Kabir, whose face was fully covered with garlands after several people garlanded him and there was no space for another one with a long line of people waiting to garland him, told the chief minister it was okay when Munda wanted to extend a helping hand.

"Once I had been to Garwha and 400 people were waiting to welcome me. I was so overwhelmed with their gesture and my face was covered with garlands. I had to take out four/five times then.

"And I witnessed it here today. I am overwhelmed with the love and kindness," the CJI said after he allowed a helping hand in removing garlands. This was the first visit of Justice Kabir to any state after he became the Chief Justice of India.

Justice Kabir called upon the judicial fraternity to be the moving wheel of the law, adding judicial excellence did not mean only one side of the fence as the other side of the judicial family (Bar) has also helped in delivering justice and some of the best judgements were enabled from members of the
bar.

Pointing out that some lawyers charge astronomical fee and some clients could afford it, Justice Kabir expressed concern over the poor meeting their legal expenses.

"What about persons at the grassroots, who can't afford? Legal help should be given to them. So that justice is given to the rich and the poor, (making) justice access to all," he added.

Supreme Court judge Justice Aftab Alam said unless one really knew one's work and knew about various stages of the cases one could not do a decent work. "Unless it is a part of your waking life, you can't do a good work, leave aside judicial excellence... sensitize yourself, a judge not having compassion has no business to sit on the chair," Justice Aftab added.

Saying that all the judges were working hard to deliver justice in a speedy way, Supreme Court judge Justice Gyan Sudha Misra emphasised on striking a balance between quality justice and quantum justice.

She said the justice delivery system is a combination of the efforts of all who were connected with the system.

Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice P.C. Tatia said there were nearly 80 lakhs of the three crore pending cases in the country which were more than five years old.

Justice Kabir had earlier also served as the Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court. Besides Munda, the other dignitaries who were present at the ceremony were Supreme Court judges Gyan Sudha Misra, S J Mukhopadhaya and Aftab Alam and Madras High Court Chief Justice M Y Eqbal, Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice P C Tatia and a host of judges in Jharkhand and legal luminaries.