Could not imagine I would return here as Supreme Court judge: Justice Mohana at Madras HC

Supreme Court Justice V Mohana on Monday said it was unimaginable to her as a student that she would one day deliver a lecture at the Madras High Court after taking office as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Justice Mohana was felicitated by the Madras Bar Association in the presence of the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court SA Dharmadikari, on the occasion of the inauguration of endowment lectures to commemorate legal luminaries MK Nambyar, VP Raman, R Krishnamurthi and M Subramaniam.

Justice Mohana described the occasion as nostalgic and overwhelming. She recalled that she had first come to Chennai on November 11, 1988, to enrol with the Tamil Nadu Bar Council.

“It was just unimaginable that, as a student, I would have ever thought that I would be coming and standing before you, and inaugurating an endowment lecture series,” she said.

Justice Mohana said Tamil Nadu, particularly Coimbatore and Madras, had played a central role in her formative years and professional growth.

“From the beginning, till recently, last month in May, the maximum number of work that I have done is all from Tamil Nadu. I am very proud to say that,” she said.

She added that she owed her growth, development and encouragement to the Coimbatore Bar, the Madras Bar Association and the Madras High Court.

Justice Mohana said the Madras Bar Association had rendered yeoman service to legal development and research, and had produced “giants at the Bar as well as the Bench.”

She urged the association to continue its legal development and literacy programmes in a manner that benefits the legal world and the country.

She also expressed hope that the lecture series would benefit the Bench and the Bar, especially younger members of the legal profession, and spoke of the legal luminaries after whom the series was named.

Referring to MK Nambyar, Justice Mohana said he was an example of how a trial lawyer could rise to become a constitutional visionary. She noted that Nambyar had advanced constitutional principles in AK Gopalan which were not accepted at the time, but were later recognised and continue to be followed. The seeds of the basic structure doctrine were laid down by Nambyar, she observed.

Justice Mohana went on to describe VP Raman as one of the most brilliant minds of the legal world. She noted that he was a gold medallist, the youngest Public Prosecutor of the Madras High Court, the youngest Advocate General and the first South Indian to be appointed Additional Solicitor General.

On R Krishnamurthi, Justice Mohana said he was a leader of the Bar and a gentleman lawyer, who had served as Advocate General under two different dispensations. He treated everyone equally and was kind to the entire Bar, she recounted.

Justice Mohana added that M Subramaniam was a brilliant and methodical lawyer who believed that advocacy was not only about arguing cases in court but also carried a social responsibility.