From Class IV Employee to Chief Justice of India
Legal Corner Icon — the image was hosted by the publisher and was not captured.CHIEF Justice Kapadia retires tomorrow. In a letter to Justice Krishna Iyer, Kapadia wrote, "I come from a poor family. I started my career as a class IV employee and the only asset I possess is integrity…"
In the early sixties, Sarosh Homi Kapadia arrived at the plush law offices of Behramjee Jeejeebhoy in the Fort area of Mumbai to work as an office boy. Even before studying law, Kapadia began dreaming about becoming a judge and tomorrow he leaves office as the top judge of the country. He left a lucrative practice in 1991 to become a judge of the Bombay High Court and in May 2010, he became the Chief Justice of India. He is leaving office after restoring a lot of faith in the judiciary and leaving his indelible stamp on the hallowed precincts of the temple of justice.
It is said of him, "A litigant may feel disappointed if he loses the case but no litigant goes back [from Kapadia's court] feeling he was not fairly or fully heard.''
He hermetically sealed himself and had no social life and even worked on holidays and vacation. He said, "judges and lawyers should work like a horse and live like a hermit."
Justice Krishna Iyer said of him, "While I have seen during the last 97 years of my life among good judges with great credentials, there was hardly anyone to compare with Kapadia the like of which no eye had seen, no heart conceived and no human tongue can adequately tell.''