Justice Kirubakaran, famous for razor-sharp queries, retires

Justice Kirubakaran, famous for razor-sharp queries, retires

Srikkanth.D@timesgroup.com

Chennai:20.08.2021 

Be it his judgments or observations, Justice N Kirubakaran always had a lot to say — and most made headlines more often than not. His last day at office as judge of the Madras high court was no different.

At his farewell event on Thursday, Justice Kirubakaran, feted for his people-oriented judgments, sought regional benches of the Supreme Court and closure of Tasmac shops partially so that total prohibition would become a reality one day.

Justice Kirubakaran is best remembered for his relentless battle against the state’s liquor policy and strove to streamline legal education and practice. It was due to his series of rulings that the procedure to verify antecedents of lawyer-aspirants before enrolment was put in place. He had zero-tolerance when it came to encroachments and land grab by individuals and even corporates. He evolved a unique courtquery system of shooting dozens of questions to bureaucrats in order to unearth irregularities or set right anomalies.

In his farewell speech on Thursday, Justice Kirubakaran was earnest in his appeal to the legal fraternity, generous in complimenting his brother judges and his staff with the right dose of humour throughout.

Thanking his parents, Justice Kirubakaran became emotional and apologised to his wife and daughter for not having had enough quality family time throughout his career. He also recalled the guidance from his senior – the late Habibullah Basha, former advocate general of Tamil Nadu.

Candid in his self-introspection, Justice Kirubakaran said he was not a famous lawyer and that his elevation to the bench was to give representation to the vanniyar community. “However, I was never swayed by any considerations after I became a judge,” Justice Kirubakaran said.

He also heaped praise on the Supreme Court judge-designate Justice M M Sundresh for his guidance throughout his career. He even let down his guard, albeit intentionally, referring to Justice Sundresh as ‘machan’, triggering giggles from the audience. He also noted professional and emotional support from Justice M Sathyanarayanan, who is now NGT member in Pune from where he flew down to attend the function.

“Though I am demitting office today, I have failed in my endeavour to streamline legal profession and education and close down Tasmac,” Justice Kirubakaran said and appealed to the legal fraternity to work towards restoring the image of the lawyer community, which he felt has taken a beating over years.

As for the criticism that he often indulged in ‘judicial overreach,’ Justice Kirubakaran said he acted by his conscience. “Sometimes, I might have conducted a (judicial) kangaroo court, which is necessary in the interests of justice.”

Stating that New Delhi and Mumbai are power centres in judiciary, the retiring judge appealed to the union government to amend the Constitution and set up regional benches of the Supreme Court to serve people from every nook and corner of the nation.