Justice GS Singhvi retires after delivering judgment in Naz Foundation

The Supreme Court today bid farewell to Justice GS Singhvi. A farewell function was organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) in the Supreme Court lawns. He delivered the judgment in Suresh Kumar Koushal & Ors. v. Naz Foundation & Ors today..Speaking on the occasion, Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran said that “we are bidding farewell to one of the champion judges of the Supreme Court….who defended the weak as a truly activist judge.” The SCBA President, MN Krishnamani hailed him as an upholder of rule of law and said that “even today’s judgment on [Naz Foundation] reflects Rule of Law; I am in agreement with the judgment but my only question is why it took more than a year to deliver it?”.Justice Singhvi who spoke on the occasion candidly admitted that,.“I know I have faltered on many occasions in the last 6 years, I apologise for all the mistakes.”.Justice Singhvi, who completed his law in 1971 from the Rajasthan University joined the Bar on July 28, 1971 and initially practised under Marudhar Mridul. He was elevated to the Bench of Rajasthan High Court on July 20, 1990 and was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1994 and thereafter to the Gujarat High Court in 2005. He was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh on November 11, 2005..Justice Singhvi was elevated to the Supreme Court and assumed office on November 12, 2007..During his 6-year stint at the Supreme Court, he delivered a number of landmark verdicts. It was Justice Singhvi’s orders in the 2G scam, which led to the numerous charges, arrests and trials against people in power who were involved in the scam. While hearing a public suit by the All India Drug Action Network which challenged the government’s proposed policy on drug pricing, a Bench comprising Justice Singhvi and Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya had communicated to the central government that the prices of medicine should not shoot up further as the prices of medicine and ordinary lab tests were already too high..A Bench headed by Justice Singhvi had also turned down the mercy plea of bomb blast accused Devender Pal Bhullar seeking commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment on the ground of delay in deciding his mercy plea..The judgment pronounced today in the Naz Foundation case (Suresh Kumar Koushal & Ors. v. Naz Foundation & Ors) upholding the Constitutional validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code has already irked gay rights activists and liberals alike.