Former Supreme Court judge, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari has said that there was no substitute for hard work.
On his last day as a Supreme Court judge, Justice Maheshwari sat on a ceremonial bench with Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice P.S. Narasimha.
He said he started his career as a trial court lawyer and was able to achieve big things in life due to sheer hard work.
He said while people were telling him that they will miss him by saying ‘Miss you,’ an expression that carried a little bit of sorrow, he has substituted it with ‘remember you’.
As per the former Apex Court judge, none of his work at the Supreme Court would have been possible without teamwork. He expressed his gratitude to the members of the bar, other judges, law clerks and everyone who helped him during his profession.
Justice Maheshwari said that there was no individual in the world who could perform alone. He added that he always used the expression ‘we’ instead of ‘I’.
Justice Maheshwari was set to retire on May 15 this year, but since the Supreme Court will go for summer vacations from May 15 to July 2, 2023, May 12 became his last day at the Apex Court.
Speaking on the occasion, the CJI remembered his days at the Allahabad High Court, when he requested Justice Maheshwari, who was then serving as a judge at Prayagraj Bench of the Allahabad High Court, to join him as senior judge at the Lucknow Bench.
The CJI said that he and Justice Maheshwari got to know each other better while working together at the Lucknow Bench of the High Court. He called Justice Maheshwari a thorough gentleman and a friendly judge, who never lost his temper.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that Justice Maheshwari had been very courteous towards everyone who appeared before him. He would address them as Sir or Madam. The SG further said that even if they lost a case in the court of Justice Maheshwari, they would leave with a smile on their faces.
President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and Senior Advocate Vikas Singh said that Justice Maheshwari was leaving the court in the peak of his career, which was a great loss to the institution. He further said that there was no age to retire, but it was not in his hands.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the lawyers left Justice Maheshwari’s court with a very warm feeling.
Attorney General R. Venkataramani said that Justice Maheshwari would ensure that everyone coming to his court was on the same pedestal. He added that each and every judge who became part of the institution, left his imprint in his own unique way.
Justice Dinesh Maheshwari was born May 15, 1958. He completed his BSc (Hons.) in physics from Maharaja’s College, Rajasthan University, Jaipur in 1977. He then went on to study law at the University of Jodhpur and obtained his Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree in 1980. He started his legal career as an Advocate at the High Court of Rajasthan and enrolled with Bar Council of Rajasthan on March 8, 1981.
After practising for 23 years, Justice Maheshwari was elevated as a judge of the High Court of Rajasthan on September 2, 2004.
He was elevated as a Judge of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad on July 19, 2014. The first-generation judge took oath as Chief Justice of the High Court of Meghalaya on February 24, 2016.
He was appointed as Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court on February 12, 2018. Justice Maheshwari was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court on January 18, 2019.