Justice MR Shah, “I will start new innings,” on his last day as a sitting judge of the Supreme Court

In the Supreme Court today, a ceremonial bench was organized in honor of Justice MR Shah, who is set to retire from his position as a Supreme Court judge. A ceremonial bench was headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. Justice MR Shah, while giving his final speech as a sitting judge in the Supreme Court said, “I am not a person to retire. I will start new innings. I pray that almighty gives me strength for my new innings.” The ceremonial bench witnessed various members of the BAR including ASG SV Raju, SG Mehta, ASG N Venkatraman, AG Venkatramani, and Sr Adv Pradeep Kumar Rai. All bid farewell to Justice MR Shah by sharing their memories of togetherness with him as well as expressing their gratitude towards him. Justice Shah in his speech expressed gratitude to the Bar members for their kind words and sentiments, “I do not know if I deserve it or not but I accept it as a parting gift.”

CJI also expressed his gratitude and said, “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 have relied on him for his worldly knowledge on judiciary…” Justice Shah also said, “During my tenure, if I have hurt anyone’s feelings, I extend my unconditional apology. It was not deliberate. I always treated my work as worship…I am overwhelmed by love and affection shown by you. I’m thankful to all members of the Bar and the registry. I am also thankful to my support staff and residence staff,” addressing CJI’s kind words. Justice Shah got teary-eyed and broke down while concluding his address and quoted this Raj Kapoor song, “Kal Khel mei hum ho na ho, gardish me taare rahenge.”