The Confederation of Indian Bar, in association with APN News is organising a farewell function to honour Justice Deepak Gupta, who retired as Judge, Supreme Court of India on 6th May, 2020. The farewell function for Justice Gupta, the first ever apex court judge to give his farewell address via video conferencing, will be held on Tuesday 12th May, 2020 from 11.30AM to 12.30 PM.
A galaxy of speakers will address the function and will include:-
· Mr. P. H. Parekh, Senior Advocate and President, Confederation of Indian Bar
· Mr. Pradeep Rai, Senior Advocate
· Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of India
· Mr. Soli Sorabji, Former Attorney General for India
· Ms. Rajshri Rai, Managing Director, India Legal.
The Farewell Funciton will be aired live on two national TV Channels i.e. APN News (Tata Sky – 542) and Nepal 1 (Tata Sky – 1956) which will have facility to connect any number of persons and interact without any limitation of numbers. The farewell function will be aired live in more than 107 countries.
Justice Deepak Gupta
Justice Deepak Gupta retired from the office of Judge of Supreme Court of India on 6th of May, 2020.
Judge’s Background:-
He is the son of Himachal Pradesh High Court advocate M.R Gupta. Justice Gupta graduated in 1978 from Campus Law Centre, Delhi University.
He practised constitutional, civil and corporate law matters in the Himachal Pradesh High Court for 26 years.
He also served as the Counsel for Himachal Pradesh’s Road Transport Corporation, Housing Board, and New India Assurance companies.
He was an elected member of the Himachal Pradesh High Court Bar Association in various capacities – Secretary (1982-1983), Vice President (1993-1994) and President (2002-2003).
In October 2004, Justice Gupta was elevated as a Judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. He served as the President of Himachal Pradesh Judicial Academy, and Chairman of Himachal Pradesh’s State Legal Services Authority for nearly four years. He was in charge of digitisation initiatives of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, overseeing the computerisation of courts and developing e-court modules.
Justice Deepak Gupta was appointed as the first Chief Justice of the Tripura High Court on 23 March, 2013. Then he was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court on 16 May, 2016.
Famous Judgements:-
The Home Secretary (Prison) vs H. Nilofer Nisha, dated 23.01.2020
Justice Gupta held that a High Court cannot use its power to issue habeas corpus to order the release of prisoners, unless they are being illegally detained. Justice Gupta traced the contours of habeas corpus and held that “habeas corpus is available as a remedy in all cases where a person is deprived of his/her personal liberty. It is processual writ to secure liberty of the citizen from unlawful or unjustified detention whether a person is detained by the State or is in private detention.”
Sujit Tiwari vs. State of Gujarat, dated 28.01.2020
Justice Deepak Gupta granted bail to the accused on the ground that there is a possibility that he may have been unaware of the illegal activities of the co-accused. The decision assumes significance as the law under which the accused was charged – The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 bars grant of bail unless certain stringent conditions are met. As per these conditions, the Court, on a preliminary examination of facts, has to be satisfied that the appellant is not guilty of the offence and secondly, that he is not likely to commit any offence when on bail.
Rojer Mathew v. South Indian Bank Ltd., dated 13th November, 2019
Justice Deepak Gupta authored a part-dissent in the notable Tribunals case. On the question of whether Section 184 of the Finance Act, 2017 excessively delegated legislative powers to the executive to frame these, Justice Gupta disagreed with the majority. On this issue, he held that although non-essential functions may be delegated, even within such delegation, Parliament had to retain a certain amount of control over the executive. Thus, in such cases, he held that the rules had to be eventually tabled in the Parliament.
Independent Thought vs Union of India, dated 21st September, 2017
Justice Deepak Gupta held that a husband may be charged with rape for having sex with a minor wife. They read down exception 2 to section 375 of the Indian Penal Code. A minor wife cannot consent and is shielded by the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
He has been part of various benches wherein constitutional questions and interpretation were involved. Some of the cases are:
· Exception to Rape within Child Marriages
· Constitutionality of Abortion Laws
· Elevation of Justice Kureshi
· Aadhaar Ordinance
· Puducherry Lieutenant Governor
· Tribunals and the Finance Act
· RTI & Judicial Independence
· MLA Bribery Case
· Electoral Bonds
· VVPAT
· Narendra Modi’s Biopic Release
· Sexual Harassment & the CJI
· Foreigners Tribunals
· POCSO Implementation
· Aadhaar – Social Media Linking
· Maratha Reservation
The Farewell program shall be aired on various social media platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many websites :
YouTube : /apnnewsindia
Facebook : /apnnewsindia, /indialegalmedia
Twitter : @apnnewsindia, @indialegalmedia
Websites : www.apnlive.com, www.indialegallive.com
Members of the Bar may also participate with their wishes and comments which will be aired live. Send your messages with your name on Twitter @pradeepraiindia and @apnnewsindia. Contact : 9953910094
-India Legal Bureau