Attaining the age of 65 years, Justice M. R. Shah retires from the Supreme Court of India
Leaving a seat vacant, Justice M. R. Shah retired from the Supreme Court of India on May 16th, here’s what happened at his farewell ceremony today
New Delhi : Justice Mukeshkumar Rasikbhai Shah, popularly known as Justice MR Shah, obtained his legal education from Gujarat University. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Gujarat High Court in 2004 and in 2005, he was a Permanent Judge. After being elevated as the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court in 2008; he was then transferred to the Supreme Court of India in 2018. He has been an asset to the Apex Court and the entire legal fraternity by authoring over 700 judgements including the Chebrolu Leela Prasad Rao v. State of Andhra Pradesh verdict in 2020 and the famous case of Arup Bhuyan v. State of Assam & Anr in 2023.
Today, during his farewell speech, the 65-year-old judge got teary-eyed and said: “Jo kal the, woh aaj nahi hai. Jo aaj hai woh kal nahi honge. Hone na hone ka kram issi tarah chalta rahega. Hum hain, hum rahenge, yeh bhram bhi sada chalta rahega”. He also quoted a popular song ‘jeena yaha, marna yaha’ from the 1970s. He added how he would like to “not retire” and start a “new innings of life” now.
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) D. Y. Chandrachud in his farewell speech to the outgoing judge quoted Pakistani poet Obaidullah Aleem. He said, “Aankh se dur sahi dil se kahan jayega, jaane wale tu hamein yaad bahut ayega”. He also called him an “ally and friend” during his farewell ceremony today.
Justice M. R. Shah’s retirement has brought the number of total judges in the Supreme Court of India to 32 with a total of 2 seats lying vacant.
