Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal on Tuesday said that it did not matter whether he lost or won a case in the court, but what really mattered was the confidence in the institution, the confidence of being heard.
Sibal made these remarks before the Bench of Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice B.V. Nagarathna, while representing Abdulla Azam Khan, son of SP leader Azam Khan, in a case related to setting aside his election from Suar constituency in 2017 on the ground that he was underage.
Sibal said the confidence in the institution could be sustained, if the rules of the game were followed by both the bar and the bench.
He said if a litigant felt that he has been given a hearing and that the law was rightly applied without fear and favour, his confidence in the judiciary would not be shaken, even if the decision went against him.
The Senior Advocate also expressed disappointment, stating that this confidence in the institution was slowly eroding.
He said that he had ‘great regard’ for the Bench, but sometimes, after realising what was happening at the other end, he got disturbed, since he had given his life to the court.
The Senior Advocate further said that the marriage between the bar and the bench could neither be broken, nor could there be any separation.
Justice Rastogi then expressed that the bar and the bench were like two wheels of a chariot, however, the ground reality was that the two wheels were moving in different directions, while the chariot remain somewhere in the middle.
The Supreme Court Judge then told Sibal to introspect as to how to sustain in such a situation and ensure that the faith of common people was restored. He further told Sibal that the Bench was also concerned about this institution, since it gave them a lot.
Justice Nagarathna then expressed that after a hearing, the losing side should also go back satisfied.