Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar in his maiden public speech Monday, after being elected to the post said the recent trend of publicly targeting judges was “pernicious” and “unfortunate”. “Dignity of judges and respect for the judiciary is inviolable as these are fundamentals of rule of law and constitutionalism,” the Vice President said in his speech, as reported by news agency ANI.
“Recent unfortunate, pernicious trend of targeting individual judges in public domain calls for exemplary containment. Members of the Bar and the media have a role to play in this…. dignity of judges is key and among the fundamental parts of the rule of law and Constitutionalism,” he added.
Dhankhar made the remark at a felicitation event organised by Supreme Court Bar Association in his honour at the Supreme Court Auditorium in New Delhi.
During his speech at the event, he also vouched for a fair and independent judiciary and said, “Spinally strong, fair and independent justice system is the safest guarantee for blossoming and flourishing of democratic values.”
He expressed gratitude for the powerful ethics and professionalism taught by bar members while he used to practice at Rajasthan High Court.
“Former Chief Justice R M Lodha, former Supreme Court Judge Justice GS Singhvi, Justice Tibrewal and Justice Vinod Shankar Dave played critical roles in my evolution. I shall ever be indebted to them. Even younger members of the Bar at that time, two of them are here Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Dinesh Maheshwari exemplified wholesome court craft and professional decorum. I got from them much more than possibly I did,” the VP said.
“We all need to remember reflections of United States Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story who in 1829 said ‘The law is a jealous mistress and requires long and constant courtship’. It is not to be won by trifling favours, but by lavish homage,” the Vice President said, as reported by ANI.
Dhankar, is also a senior advocate and has practiced before the Supreme Court for more than two decades.
(With ANI inputs)