The Madras High Court on Friday bid farewell to Justice R. Subbiah, the senior most judge of the court, since he is slated to attain the age of superannuation on Sunday.
While Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and senior judges of the court participated in person, the other judges joined the proceedings through the virtual mode due to COVID-19 situation and the entire event was streamed live on the court’s YouTube channel.
Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram hailed the contributions made by Justice Subbiah during his 13-year-long tenure as a judge of the High Court and said that the latter had disposed of a whopping number of 1,44,453 cases.
Providing a breakup, the A-G said the judge had disposed 63,420 cases in the principal seat of the High Court in Chennai and 81,033 cases during his stint in the Madurai Bench of the High Court.
Describing him to be a simple and humble judge who hardly speaks or expresses himself on the Bench, the A-G said that Justice Subbiah was an extremely thoughtful judge who had delivered many noteworthy verdicts.
He recalled a 2019 verdict delivered by the judge on a writ petition preferred by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict S. Nalini, against the Governor, in connection with her release from prison.
The judge held that the Governor was insulated, under Article 361 of the Constitution, from being questioned by the courts with respect to the discharge of his constitutional functions and therefore a petition could not be filed arraying him as a respondent, the A-G said and listed out many other erudite verdicts of the judge. He informed the gathering that Justice Subbiah was elevated to the Bench in March 2008 after 23 years of successful practice as a lawyer.
In his reply to the farewell address, Justice Subbiah thanked his colleagues, the Bar, the court staff, his personal staff and family for the support rendered to him in discharging his official duties.
