‘Hope SC champions constitutional liberties’ Justice Oka says on his last working day

The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. Karnataka Today Your daily dose of news highlights from Karnataka First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Updated - May 23, 2025 01:14 pm IST - NEW DELHI Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay S Oka. | Photo Credit: PTI Supreme Court judge, Justice Abhay S. Oka, on his last working day, highlighted the role of the Supreme Court as the guardian of constitutional liberties. “I believe that this is one court which can uphold the constitutional liberties... I hope with the collective efforts of the giants sitting here, this court will continue to uphold liberty because that was the dream of the framers of the Constitution,” Justice Oka said on Friday (May 23, 2025). 'No rule one must spend a year in jail for relief': Supreme Court grants bail in money laundering case SC rules ISKCON-Bangalore owner of Hare Krishna hill temple Supreme Court strikes down retrospective environmental clearances It is not a court’s duty to tell media to delete or take down content: Supreme Court Supreme Court restrains DDA from shifting deer remaining in Delhi's Deer Park He was speaking after sitting on the traditional Ceremonial Bench headed by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai assembled in honour of the retiring judge. The Ceremonial Bench was held immediately after Justice Oka delivered 11 judgments on Friday. He could not attend court on May 22 as he had to rush home to native Maharashtra after his mother suddenly passed away. Chief Justice Gavai hailed Justice Oka as an outstanding judge and an exemplary human being. Chief Justice Gavai said Justice Oka’s contributions on the apex court Bench ranged from environmental protection and that development did not come at the cost of ecological balance to holding government accountable to the people they serve; in safeguarding the freedomof expression even if the voices were inconvenient or unpopular or in upholding the dignity of labour and the rights of most marginalised. Justice Oka had rendered a series of judgments interpreting the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to protect the basic rights of accused and the right to fair investigation and trial. “The job of a judge is not to be popular,” Justice Oka said. Justice Oka’s interventions had moved authorities and law officers into action to lessen the impact of air pollution during the smog-covered winter months. Chief Justice Gavai described Justice Oka as a “professor of law and ethics in the courtroom”. “I always believed that a judge has to be very firm, very strict, and a judge should not hesitate to offend anyone… It was indirectly said today that sometimes I was very harsh. But I was harsh for only one reason. I wanted to uphold the principles laid down by our Constitution, and my heart is full,” Justice Oka told the assembled crowd of lawyers and litigants in the Chief Justice’s courtroom. judge / Supreme Court Terms & conditions  |  Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.