Retiring Supreme Court Justice AS Oka on Friday said that the apex court is currently a Chief Justice-centric court and that needs to change. .He said that the Court consists of the 34 judges from different parts of the country and that should reflect in its functioning as well."Supreme Court is a chief justice centric court and it needs to change. Supreme Court has about 34 judges from different parts of the country and that should be reflected," he said.He also suggested that the Artificial Intelligence (AI) should be employed for listing of cases filed before the Supreme Court and manual intervention should be reduced."People complain any cases are list in next day and why cases are pending after so many days. We cannot have better listing unless we reduce manual intervention to minimum. Use of AI can help in rational listing," he said.Currently, the CJI as the master of roster is responsible for allocating cases to different benches. This has often come under criticism since cases are sometimes listed only before select benches..We cannot have better listing unless we reduce manual intervention to minimum. Use of AI can help in rational listing.Justice AS Oka.Justice was speaking at the farewell function organised for him by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), an event which saw lawyers turn up in huge numbers to bid farewell the judge. Justice Oka is set to demit office tomorrow and today was his last working day at the top court.In his farewell speech, Justice Oka said that a Supreme Court judge has to always think about common man. "Sitting in Supreme Court we cannot think of only Supreme Court. We need to think of common man. CJI (Sanjiv) Khanna brought in transparency in the system," he said.Justice Oka also revealed that in his judicial career, neither he nor his colleagues on the Bench ever delivered a dissenting judgment until two days back when it happened in the top court."During my entire tenure I never delivered dissenting judgment. Neither my colleagues dissented. Only exception happened two days back," he revealed..When you are a judge, nobody controls you except the Constitution and the law.Justice AS Oka.He also said how a lawyer joining the Bench has to sacrifice his income but also reminded that the work satisfaction would be immense."When you join judiciary, you may not get that income. But the work satisfaction cannot be compared. When you are a judge, nobody controls you except the Constitution and the law," he stated. He also thanked his family members for their unwavering support."When I was elevated as a Bombay High Court judge, my father immediately quit (law) practice. He was at the height of his profession but he never stepped inside Thane District court. My wife and my father have sacrificed a lot for me," he said..He also expressed gratitude towards the bar members who turned up in huge numbers to bid farewell to the judge."I never expected to see the hall so full. People standing, even balcony is full of people. Even though I am demitting office I will continue to work for the cause of justice," he said..A judge who showed spine: Lawyers pay tribute to Supreme Court Justice AS Oka.Justice Oka's last working day at the Supreme Court was marked by a cavalcade of lawyers expressing their deep appreciation for his stance on civil liberties and for delivering justice without fear or favour.Notably, Justice Oka had returned to work a day after attending the final rites for his mother, who passed away on May 21. He had also delivered 11 judgments on his final working day..[Read live coverage of the event below].A judge should not hesitate to offend anyone: Supreme Court Justice AS Oka on last working day
