By IANS,
New Delhi : Almost 95 percent of court cases are those where results are known and it is not difficult to decide them but five percent are “hard” cases posing a challenge to the judge as their outcome may have many ramifications, outgoing Delhi High Court Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri said Friday.
“If those cases (5 percent) relate to vulnerable groups and marginalised persons, justice has to be pregnated with mercy,” said Justice Sikri, who has been named chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and is likely to be sworn-in Sunday.
“Judges are not moral or intellectual giants, prophets, oracles or calculating machines. They are all human workers. But here intuition also plays an important role. I can say with some sense of authority and experience that judges are able to develop extraordinary intuitive powers, which normally lead them to right directions,” he said.
Justice D. Murugesan of the Madras High Court is likely to take oath as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court Sep 26.
Sikri was given a warm farewell by his colleagues on the bench and bar members.
Speaking about his experience on the bench, he said that a lot needed to be done for improving the administration. “I can only say that I have tried to contribute whatever I could in my humble way.”
Justice Sikri, who was appointed as Acting Chief Justice Oct 10, 2011, said he had spent 35 years in the profession (22 years as lawyer and 13 years as judge) and attributed all his success to his family members’ support.
In the full court reference, he emotionally addressed judges and lawyers, saying: “I loved this court and everyone associated with this court room from the core of my heart. In return, I have received much more love and affection of all of you.
“It is not easy to leave this place where I will not be able to return at all in this life of mine, in my capacity as a lawyer or as a judge. It is this feeling that makes me sad and makes my heart heavy.”
Justice Sikri remembered his days when he started practicing in the high court and said that getting offer to become judge “was not an easy choice”.
“I do not live in the laboratory; I had no absolute way of knowing what effect my conduct will have. I think that I had been reasonably well as a lawyer and was not sure as to how I would perform after becoming judge. Then I thought that to live my life for the outcome is to sentence myself to continuous frustration, going by karma theory which Bhagwat Gita preaches.”
“I told myself that my only sure reward is in my actions and I was confident that in so far as action is concerned, I will not fail myself,” he added.