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| Full Court Reference to condole death | | ‘Justice Sethi, a strong pillar of justice system, crusader against corruption’: CJ | | Jammu, Feb 01
Full Court Reference to condole the tragic and untimely demise of Justice RP Sethi, a judge of J&K High Court and Judge of Country’s Apex Court was held here today under the Chairmanship of Chief Justice BA Khan of J&K High Court.
In the condolence speech, Chief Justice BA Khan said that each creation has to taste death and death is the only reality of the life that comes at appointed time, yet it becomes difficult to reconcile. Justice Sethi, who dominated the legal scene for years is no more, he said adding that the great Judges have impacted the Judicial scene from time to time, but there may be very few, who have carved a position in the public eyes.
Justice Sethi would be recorded in this category of judges and his contribution to various branches of legal lexicon, which was more justice oriented, would be remembered for long and would perhaps, guide administration of justice for years to come, he believed in administering justice which would do away with all inequalities and inequities, be those arising from race, sex or opposition. He indeed was a “People’s Judge” and commanded great respect for his courage, fairness and uprightness, the reference said.
Justice RP Sethi was born on July 7, 1937 at Mirpur (now in PoK) and having settled in life after witnessing death and destructions of partition, Justice Sethi graduated from MAM College Jammu and obtained his LLB from Aligarh Muslim University in 1961. He joined the Bar at Jammu thereafter and setup a lucrative practice sooner than expected. His depth and brilliant handling of prestigious cases lifted him to the talk bracket at the Bar. He functioned as Public Prosecutor and Additional Advocate General for sometime. He was elevated to the Bench of J&K High Court as Additional Judge on May 30, 1986 and made permanent Judge on July 31, 1987.He was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on October 18, 1993 where he remained for about 6 years. His contribution and performance at Punjab and Haryana High Court was recognized and appreciated by the then Chief Justice of India, Justice Venkatachala, who picked him up for appointment as Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court, which was then CJI’s Parent High Court. Though Justice Sethi was initially unhappy with the change, he made all out efforts to initiate reforms at the Karnataka High Court for which he was remembered by the Bar and Bench of that Court even now. Due to his outstanding performance there; he was elevated to the Supreme Court on January 8, 1999. He retired from there on July 7, 2002 and returned to his hometown Jammu. He was in or around this time that he was afflicted by the killer ailment, which he bravely and determinedly faced and put in the last few years. He was appointed as founder Chairman of State Accountability Commission and quit this position in 2006. He turned to writing and authored books on criminal law and J&K Constitution.
Chief Justice Khan further said that at personal level, “I and cherishing a treasure of memories left behind by Justice Sethi. I had privilege of looking at him so closely on either side of the fence, firstly as a lawyer appearing before him and his bench partner.” We had a mutual respect and love for each other. Justice Sethi was one of the strong pillars of justice system, crusader against corruption, a man of courage and conviction a great judge and legal luminary and a celebrated author. His death has left a huge wide, which would be hard to fill up for a long time to come. After reference, the Court work, both at the High Court and Subordinates Courts, in the state remained suspended for the day.
In the reference, all the High Court Judges, Advocate General, President Bar Association, Members of Subordinate Judiciary and Members of Bar Association were present.
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