‘Judges are not gods, we won’t get every judgment right’: Outgoing SC Judge Sanjay Karol

New Delhi: Judges are not gods and they will not get every judgement right, retiring Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjay Karol said in his farewell address on Saturday.

He also said that judging requires a certain degree of humility and the ability to see the real person behind every litigant.

The apex court on Saturday bid an emotional farewell to Justice Karol, with Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Bar leaders, including Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Pradeep Rai, paying glowing tributes to the outgoing judge on his last working day.


"The Constitution does not ask us merely to apply the law correctly. It asks us to apply it justly. That is perhaps why the responsibility of judging has always seemed larger to me than simply deciding who is legally correct.

"We, as judges, are not gods. We will not get every judgment right. What was always in our hands was simple: to see the person, not just the petitioner. A petition can only tell you the facts of a case, but it cannot tell you what the person has already lost or what he is hoping to seek from the courts. And perhaps that is why I have always said that judging requires certain level of humility," Justice Karol said.

Justice Karol was elevated to the Supreme Court on February 6, 2023. A ceremonial bench on his last day in office comprised CJI Kant and Justices Karol, Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana.

In his farewell address, Justice Karol reflected on his nearly four-decade journey in the legal profession and said the courtroom had never been merely a workplace for him, but a vehicle for something "greater and more important" than himself.

"I will not pretend that this journey has been mine alone. This courtroom has not left me; it has supported me," he said.

Justice Karol said he spent 40 years in courtrooms, initially as an advocate appearing before the Bench and, for the last 19 years, as a judge.

He spoke of the importance of listening beyond the spoken arguments and said there were "eloquent silences" in courtrooms that judges must learn to understand.

"In the silence of the Bar, there is a way of listening," he said, emphasising that what mattered in the judicial process was not merely the arguments advanced, but also what people were praying for "in the spaces between the words".

Recalling his first visit to courtroom No. 1 of the Supreme Court in 1996, Justice Karol said the bench appeared to him to be almost six feet above the ground.

"Judging from there has taught me something about this courtroom's symbolism. From below, the height of the bench can appear to signify authority. From the comfort zone, it signifies something quite different, and that is responsibility with dignity and honesty," he said.

Justice Karol said the true significance of the Supreme Court lay in the faith of an ordinary citizen who enters its doors believing that someone would listen.

"But we must also remember those who never reach those doors because justice is too distant, too expensive, too intimidating," he said.

Reflecting on the meaning of constitutionalism and justice, Justice Karol said the simplest way to understand concepts such as law, due process and constitutional legality was through the idea of "dharma", not as ritual, but as duty.

"The duty of a judge is to respect justice and see that the person standing before the court, however small, however wretched, is seen and heard," he said.

Addressing members of the Bar, Justice Karol said the principles of judging extend beyond courtrooms and robes, with every individual called upon to be a judge of their own choice, conduct and use of power.

"There may be no courtrooms, no robes, no technical grounds, but in these small choices, each of us dispenses the measure of justice that we take," he said.

"A judge is a judge before he dons and after he takes off the robes," he said.

Recalling a point made by the CJI a day earlier, Justice Karol said India had not only a living Constitution but also has to "live the Constitution".

"The greatness of our Constitution is tested not only in great cases. It is tested in ordinary conduct," he said.

Concluding his address, Justice Karol said he was returning to "the most distinguished constitutional office" -- that of the ordinary citizen.

Born on August 23, 1961, Justice Karol completed his schooling in Shimla and obtained his law degree from the Himachal Pradesh University.

He was appointed advocate general of Himachal Pradesh in 1998 and served in the post until 2003. He was designated a senior advocate in 1999 and elevated as a judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court on March 8, 2007.

He was elevated as the chief justice of the Tripura High Court in November 2018 and was subsequently transferred as the chief justice of the Patna High Court in November 2019, before being elevated to the Supreme Court on February 6, 2023.