'Judge Can't Perform With The Intention Of Pleasing People': Justice Hemant Gupta On His Farewell Function

The Supreme Court Bar Association organised a Farewell Function in honour of Justice Hemant Gupta. The farewell function saw various members of the bar, such as the Attorney General for India R. Venkataramani, President of the SCBA, Senior Advocate Vikas Singh and Vice President of the SCBA, Sr. Adv. Pradeep Rai pay their respect to Justice Hemant Gupta. The ceremony was commenced by Sr. Adv. Pradeep Rai tracing Justice Hemant Gupta's journey. He said–

"Justice Hemant Gupta is the son of Hon'ble Jitendra Vir Gupta...he (Justice Hemant Gupta's father) was arrested in 1992 when RSS was banned because he was the chief of RSS. Later when the ban was lifted, the FIR was quashed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Justice Hemant Gupta has been a fearless judge. He may have opinions which many may not agree with. But he speaks what he believes in."

Attorney General for India R. Venkataramani stated–

"I don't think we can bid farewell to any judge any point of time. Their moments are cherished, they enter with great expectations from us."

Senior Advocate Vikas Singh also spoke about Justice Gupta's beginning days and said–

"He didn't have a place to start practicing as his father had been elevated and was living in an official bungalow and he didn't want to work from there. So he got a small place in his family home. Those are the humble beginnings of Justice Gupta. Justice Gupta has been a part of 35 benches and has authored 190 judgements."

This was followed by Chief Justice Lalit's address who fondly recalled his first time interacting with Justice Gupta about 12 years back when he had appeared before Justice Gupta who was then a judge at the Punjab and Haryana High court. He added–

"It was a service jurisprudence matter. I thought I had mastered everything. But he was more than ready. I thought that how could a judge who has 70 odd matters before him could have the expertise and the will to go into every small detail. That's what makes him a man who has the capacity to go into everything to make the best of whatever is presented before him."

CJI Lalit also praised Justice Gupta's pro-technology approach. He recalled–

"I still remember when I was sharing bench with him and Justice Indu Malhotra, he was the only one who had a laptop before him. He was completely digitised. No wonder his court has always encouraged going paperless."

While contemplating commonalities between himself and Justice Gupta, CJI Lalit said–

"His grandfather was also a lawyer, like mine. His father was a judge, like mine. He is a judge. His next generation is a lawyer. So we have some things in common but that commonality ends there. He is far far greater than any of us, including me. Whatever he has done, any judgment would be ready in 2 weeks time. He's a man who would find time to write judgements immediately. 20 years of hard work means a lot. He will always be with us through his contribution but let him have some time with his family and his favourite sport golf."

Finally, Justice Hemant Gupta addressed the gathering and stated that he was quite relaxed as he didn't have any files to read or any judgements to dictate. He said that he was satisfied for having performed to best of his abilities, without fear or favour, any role that was assigned to him. He added–

"Whatever matter has come before me, I have not shied away from deciding, whatever may be the subject. I remember there was a voluminous matter of Kandhar hijacking. The court room was full of records but I decided to take it and heard for long, probably 15 days."

Justice Gupta also highlighted that the role of a judge was not to make people happy. He said–

"A judge cannot make people happy, that's not the role assigned to him. That role is assigned to other people in public life. One cannot discharge this role with intention of pleasing people. I was harsh in court, blunt. But whatever orders were warranted as per my understanding were passed. Most important is my inner satisfaction that I have given the best to the institution. I have no regrets. I have tried my best to discharge my duties with utmost humility and sincerity, though sometimes I lose my cool. Noone is perfect. I cannot stake any claim to perfection. In my shortcomings, when I erred, it's been unintentional."

While bidding farewell, he stated that he had played his "two innings, one at the bar and one at the bench" and hoped to play a third inning whose nature was still undecided. He thanked his staff and his team of law clerks and also expressed his gratitude to his family, his wife and the support of his friends and colleagues both on bench and bar. 

Justice Gupta was elevated to the Supreme Court on November 2, 2018. Before that, he was the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. His parent High Court is Punjab & Haryana High Court, where he was appointed as a judge in 2002.