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| CJ pays rich tributes to DD Thakkar, makes obituary reference speech | | | JAMMU, Feb 08
A full court reference to condole the demise of late D. D. Thakur was held in the Chief Justice’s Court at High Court Complex at Janipur Jammu today. Besides, Chief Justice, Justice B. A. Khan, Justice Nirmal Singh, Justice Y. P. Nargotra, Justice Hakeem Imtiyaz Hussain, Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice J. P. Singh, Advocate General, President Bar Association alongwith all members of the Bar, Principal District Judge Jammu with the officers of subordinate judiciary, Registrar General, Principal Secretary to Chief Justice and other officers of High Court Registry were present on the occasion.
The Advocate General and President Bar Association Mr. V. R. Wazir paid high tributes to Thakkar .
Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Justice B. A. Khan while making obituary reference speech said that only a week has gone by and when our wounds of Justice R. P. Sethi’s death were still fresh we have lost one more stalwart in the legal community, Mr. Devi Das Thakur whom we all fondly called “Thakur Sahib”, a brilliant Advocate, an eminent Judge of this Court, a legal luminary, a jurist, an able and honest administrator, a former Governor and Deputy Chief Minister of the state. The two deaths have occurred in rapid succession indicating some connectivity between the two in the operation of affairs of nature. My presiding over of their obituary Court Reference makes it all the more coincidental.
Chief Justice said that Thakkar had seen and fought death for the past several years. He had defied it all this time by his will power and sheer determination. Very few people must have put up such a valiant and stiff resistance to the Angel of death on the way as he did. That he had to give up ultimately proves, if any proof was needed, that death knows no resistance and ultimately has the last laugh. No one knew this fact of life better than Thakur sahib himself, which is reflected and expressed by him in the Introductory Chapter of his autobiography “My Life” in which he records.
“All lives on this planet are ephemeral, if there is an essential feature of the world it is birth and death… Countless have come and gone. Many of them were prophets and great thinkers who gave light and wisdom to the mankind but even they did not escape the rule that every one born is destined to die”.
While writing this, Thakur sahib was on the one hand preparing for death and on the other fighting it out to the last which he did with exemplary courage, determination, dignity and grace. His failing health for years on did not extinguish his will to live and lead a life on his own terms. At no stage did he show any signs of any helplessness or defeat. He ultimately lost this battle on February 3rd, 2007 but after a great defiance, which very few mortals would muster the courage to do.
He said Thakkar’s first love was the practice in law. He had a passion for it and preferred it to any other activity or venture he undertook in life. He was a crafty and brilliant counsel. His art of advocacy, his power of persuasion, his awe-inspiring argumentative capacity backed up by his assertiveness had very few peers in his class. He could make out a case from nowhere and carry the court with him by powerful advocacy and by his inimitable style, wit and grace. He was a finest legal mind and his sharp intellect tempered with wit and repartee catapulted him to the top bracket of lawyers at the national legal scene in no time. It was indeed a pleasure to hear him and to see him cross swords with top legal brains of the country like Fali S. Nariman, Soli. J. Sorabjee or, for that matter, Mirza Afzal Beigh from whom he always earned respect and admiration at the end of the day. Every Bench respected him, whether in any High Court of the country or the Supreme Court. His presentation and delivery was matchless and was to be witnessed to be believed. He had the capacity to hit back also, though, of course, within the boundaries of Court decorum. I recall when he was involved in a hot exchange with Justice Desai while opposing the review of the Supreme Court |
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