Siddaramaiah meets Deve Gowda, inquires about former PM's health
Bengaluru, Sep 19: Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Monday called on former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda at the latter's residence here to inquire about his health.
Soon after the Legislative Assembly session for the day ended, the former Chief Minister, along with his party legislators R V Deshpande, B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, and Ajay Dharam Singh, among others, drove to the 89-year-old leader's Padmanabhanagar residence here.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Siddaramaiah said he was visiting Gowda's residence after six years.
"I last visited him in 2016 as the Chief Minister to discuss the Cauvery water disputes case. Now, I found out that he was not in good health, so I visited to inquire about his health," he said.
Making it clear that no political discussions took place between them, the Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly said Gowda complained of knee pain and hence was unable to walk freely, and was using a walker.
"He (Gowda) said rest are all normal, including intake of food....he also said that he watches Assembly proceedings on TV... his memory power is very good."
To a question about the visit being seen as a "shishya meeting his political guru", Siddaramaiah said, "...he (Gowda) is a senior politician in the country and in the State too. I had come to inquire about his health. We are in different parties, party politics are different, humanity is different and it is important."
The duo has been considered as political bete-noires since 2006, when Siddaramaiah quit as Deputy Chief Minister and subsequently joined the Congress, after being expelled from the JD(S).
However, the hung verdict in the 2018 Assembly elections had forced both the stalwarts to swallow their pride and join hands to fight for survival, resulting in the formation of Congress-JD(S) coalition government in the State under the leadership of Gowda's son H D Kumaraswamy.
Following the collapse of the coalition government in 2019 due to internal squabbles, the animosity between the two again surfaced and they publicly criticised each other for the downfall of the partnership.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
CJI's advice to aspirant: Join the bar, become a lawyer, don't hanker for judicial services post
New Delhi (PTI): She came to the Supreme Court seeking a re-evaluation of her paper in the examination for joining judicial services as a magistrate. What she got instead was a rejection — and a candid confession by the Chief Justice that he too had wanted to join the judicial services in his youth but was advised by a senior judge to become a lawyer instead.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi on Friday dismissed a plea filed by Prerna Gupta, the judicial services aspirant.
As Gupta pressed her case, the CJI intervened and said, "Let me share my personal story and I hope you will go happily as we cannot allow your petition."
He recounted his time as a final-year law student in 1984 when he wanted to become a judicial officer. As per requirement, he cleared the written test and was set to appear for an interview.
Judicial services is one of the two routes to become a judge after initially joining as a magistrate in lower court and thereafter rising through the ranks to become judge in a high court and possibly the Supreme Court.
The other route is to join the Bar, which means becoming a lawyer, and after building a reputation be picked from the Bar to become a judge at a senior level.
By the time the CJI's exam results came out, he had started practising at the Punjab and Haryana High Court when he was called for the interview.
The senior-most judge on the interview panel happened to be a judge before whom he had recently argued two significant matters.
"One of the matters was Sunita Rani vs Baldev Raj, where he had allowed my appeal in a matrimonial case and set aside the decree of divorce granted by the District Judge on the ground of schizophrenia," he noted.
Before the interview could take place, the judge called the young Surya Kant to his chamber and asked, 'Do you want to become a judicial officer?'
"I said 'yes.' He immediately said, 'Get out from (my) the chamber.'"
The courtroom fell silent as the CJI Justice described his initial heartbreak.
“I came out trembling. All my dreams were shattered. I thought he had snubbed me and that my career was over,” the CJI said.
However, the story took another turn the following day and the judge summoned him again, this time offering a piece of advice that would change the trajectory of his life.
“He said, ‘If you want to become (a judge), you are welcome. But my advice is, don’t become a judicial officer. The Bar is waiting for you,’” Justice Surya Kant recalled.
The CJI said he decided to skip his interview and didn't even tell his parents at first, fearing their disappointment, and instead chose to dedicate himself to his practice as an advocate.
“Now tell me did I make a bad right or bad decision,” the CJI asked and the litigant lawyer left the court with a smile on her face despite her case being dismissed.
Encouraging the petitioner to look toward the future rather than dwelling on the re-evaluation of a single paper, Justice Surya Kant said, "The Bar has much to offer."
