From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Sep 18: Chief Justice of India Justice N V Ramana and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday paid homage to Supreme Court Judge Mohan Shanthanagoudar, who passed away in April, and lauded the service and contributions of the deceased judge.
While Supreme Court’s Chief Justice of India, who participated in the programme organised by the Karnataka Bar Council in Vidhana Soudha on Saturday, described late Justice Shanthanagoudar as a 'peoples judge' and said the country has lost a champion of common people in the death of Justice Shanthanagoudar.
Chief Justice of India N V Ramana described his close personal relations with Justice Shanthanagoudar and warmly appreciated the late judge’s simplicity and rare sense of humour. Justice Shanthanagoudar has in a path-breaking judgement described farmers too as consumers and fought for their rights, Justice Ramana said.
The Chief Minister, who released a documentary on the life of Justice Shanthanagoudar, said the State Government would take steps to take up a project to immortalise Justice Shanthanagoudar’s memory, his life, judgements and thoughts.
“Justice Shanthanagoudar hailed from a rural background from the undivided Dharwad district and had maintained his simplicity and friendly nature,’’ Bommai said and pointed out that he had known the late judge when he was practicing as an advocate in Dharwad and had maintained the same friendly nature even as a Supreme Court judge.
The Chief Minister said Justice Shanthanagoudar during his visit to Dharwad after being elevated to the Supreme Court had visited all the Advocates Associations in the undivided district and freely mixed with his old colleagues keeping aside all protocol.
Supreme Court judges Abdul Nazir, B V Nagarathna, Abhay Sriniwas Oka, Karnataka High Court’s interim Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, State Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy, Advocate General Prabhulinga Navadgi and Bar Council President Srinivas Babu and others participated in the function.