"You have been citizens' judge, you stood up for them to uphold their rights and Constitution...when you took over, I was sceptical of what the court had gone through but you exceeded our expectations," former SC Bar Association President Dushyant Dave told outgoing CJI N V Ramana.
Dave broke down while speaking before the ceremonial bench presided over by Justice Ramana, along with CJI designate Justice U U Lalit and Justice Hima Kohli.
Justice Ramana is superannuating on Friday.
With a choked voice, Dave said that the CJI ensured that checks and balances between the judiciary, executive and legislature are maintained.
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Senior advocate Kapil Sibal said, "We are going through very turbulent times...even in turbulent times, you have ensured that the dignity and integrity of the court is maintained. The government is called to answer. The vision of the nation is kept in mind in the course of your judicial determination."
Paying his tribute, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the CJI that he has been an excellent 'karta' of a larger family.
Attorney General K K Venugopal appreciated the CJI for his "outstanding persuasion" with which he was able to clear appointments of judges in more than 224 vacancies in High Courts and over 100 in tribunals.
SCBA President Vikas Singh, woman lawyers senior advocates Mahalakshmi Pavani and Vibha Dutta Makhija also praised the CJI for treating the Bar with respect and undertaking work for the women members of the judiciary.
In his speech, the CJI said that he was demitting office with utmost content. "The pendency issue is the challenge before us and I admit listing is an area where I could not give much attention," he said.
He maintained that the only way is to improve the functioning of the system and we need to deploy modern technologies and artificial intelligence.
"In my 1.5 years, only 50 days of full hearing could be conducted. I worked to the best of my ability," he said.