I Did Not Become Judge In A Failed State Like Pakistan, But In Bharat Where Constitution Is Protected By Its People: Justice PN Prakash
Justice PN Prakash, judge of Madras High Court on Wednesday retired from service. In his farewell speech, he said that he became a judge only because of the Constitution that the people of the country had protected since 1950.
Justice Prakash enrolled as an Advocate in 1984 and after completing 29 years of experience at the bar, he was elevated as an Additional Judge of the Madras High Court in 2013, He was later made a permanent judge of the High Court in 2015. Since then, he has made an incredible mark of his presence among the members of the bar and the bench. Before being elevated as a Judge, he had held the position of Public Prosecutor for various government agencies.
Justice Prakash said that five factors go into the achievements of a person which are- The Circumstances in which a work is done, the second factor is the physical effort put for that, third factor is the concentration with which we do it, fourth factor is the tool with which we do it, fifth factor is as a believer it is divine grace and for a non-believer it is mere confidence or default. He further spoke about how these five factors influenced him as a judge.
He further said that “I did not become a judge in a country like Ukraine where judges are forced to carry arms to defend their country. I did not become a judge in a failed state like Pakistan where my hero Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary had to fight Musharraf every other day and issues habeas corpus. I became a judge in this country called Bharat which has a constitution which has survived from 1950 to 2023, drafted by Dr. Ambedkar and his glorious team and the people of India who have protected this constitution. Had this constitution not been there, I would not have become a judge at all.”
The Judge further praised his companion judges at the High Court and thanked them for all the cooperation they had given him in his 9.5 years stint at the High Court. He even praised the Registry and acknowledged the dedication with which the staff and the sanitary workers at the High Court were discharging their duties.
He said “65% of our staff are women, you want to see how committed they are, go and stand there at stop gate at 9:30, you will find this women staff sprinting from forestation to sign the attendance register at 9:45. They are all homemakers; they have to send their children to school and make everything at home...and then rush to the court to attend to the advocates. What a commitment they have.”
He also praised the members of the Bar and said that they approach the Court with clear submissions and that they come to the point in no time.
At last, he said “I am not retiring. I am evolving. I was a lawyer. I became a judge and what is going to be my third inning, I have several options before me.” He said he can work for prison reforms or teach law to poor students.