Supreme Court judge S Ravindra Bhat retires
New Delhi (PTI): Supreme Court judge Sanjay Kishan Kaul on Friday praised his outgoing colleague Justice S Ravindra Bhat for contributing tremendously to the judiciary.
Heading a ceremonial bench to bid farewell to Justice Bhat on his last working day as a top court judge, Justice Kaul said Justice Bhat was precise and succinct in his judgements and has contributed a lot, especially in cases of constitutional issues.
Justice Bhat was elevated as a judge of the apex court on September 23, 2019 and is retiring after a tenure of over four years.
"He (Justice Bhat) has been a person who has contributed tremendously to this court, to each court where he has gone," Justice Kaul said.
"So, in the usual way, we have all assembled here. We all contribute and go out of this court," said Justice Kaul.
He also recalled his association with Justice Bhat, which dates back to 1979.
Justice Bhat's tenure as a judge has seen a lot of "jurisprudential developments" and he has done so from his mind and heart, Justice Kaul said.
"This is a process. I am sure he will find some more time for things which are of passion to him," he said, adding, "This is an occasion when the Bar should be bidding farewell to one of the very, very great and honourable judges of this court".
Justice Bhat said his career as an advocate and later, as a judge has been extremely rewarding.
"I wish to record my gratitude to all my colleagues who have shown nothing but great warmth and cordiality and to the members of this great bar for the cooperation and the daily quest for justice," he said.
"And I wish that everyone adopts an approach of enquiry, fierce independence, empathy and compassion. I think these are hallmarks of not only a judge but every good human being and every legal practitioner," he added.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also highlighted Justice Bhat's immense contribution to the judiciary and wished him on his last working day.
Supreme Court Bar Association president and senior advocate Adish Aggarwala wished Justice Bhat good luck on behalf of the body.
Several other advocates also wished Justice Bhat on his last working day.
During his over four-year tenure, Justice Bhat was part of several landmark verdicts. He was also part of the five-judge Constitution Bench that refused to accord legal recognition to same-sex marriages earlier this week.
In the same-sex marriage case, Justice Bhat, who authored an 89-page judgement for himself and Justice Hima Kohli, had disagreed with certain conclusions arrived at by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud in his separate verdict, including on applicability of adoption rules to queer couples.
He was also part of a five-judge Constitution Bench that had upheld last year the 10 per cent reservation introduced in 2019 for economically weaker sections (EWS) in admissions and government jobs that excluded the poor among the SC, ST and OBC categories.
Born on October 21, 1958 in Mysuru, Justice Bhat obtained his LL.B degree from the Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi, in 1982. He enrolled as an advocate with the Delhi Bar Council in 1982.
He was appointed as an additional judge of the Delhi High Court on July 16, 2004 and as a permanent judge on February 20, 2006.
He was appointed as the chief justice of the Rajasthan High Court on May 5, 2019, before moving to the Supreme Court.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
