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Justice S Ravindra Bhat of the Supreme Court retired from service on Friday after a tenure of over four years at the top court.
Justice Bhat was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on September 23, 2019. He received the customary farewell in court and from the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on his last working day. In his speech at the SCBA farewell, Justice Bhat began by expressing his deep gratitude for the privilege of serving as a member of the bench of the Supreme Court. He said, "I count myself to be among the lucky people to have ended my career here, as a member of the bench of the highest court of the country." During the ceremonial bench earlier in the day, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said that Justice Bhat is very precise and succinct in his judgements and has taken up very difficult issues. Justice Kaul praised Justice Bhat for contributing tremendously to the judiciary. Heading a ceremonial bench to bid farewell to Justice Bhat on his last working day as an apex court judge, Justice Kaul said, "He (Justice Bhat) has been a person who has contributed tremendously to this court, to each court where he has gone." Justice Bhat said his career as an advocate and later as a judge has been extremely rewarding. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also highlighted Justice Bhat's immense contribution to the judiciary and wished him on his last working day. During his over-four-year tenure, Justice Bhat was part of several landmark verdicts, including the five-judge Constitution bench that recently refused to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriages. He was also part of a five-judge Constitution bench that last year upheld the 10 per cent reservation introduced in 2019 for economically weaker sections (EWS) in admissions and government jobs that excluded the poor among the SC, ST, and OBC categories. Justice Bhat was born on October 21, 1958, in Mysuru, and obtained his LL.B. degree from the Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi, in 1982. He enrolled as an advocate with the Delhi Bar Council in 1982. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court on July 16, 2004, and as a permanent judge on February 20, 2006. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court on May 5, 2019, before moving to the apex court. (ANI)
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