Retired Supreme Court judge Shivaraj V. Patil’s autobiography ‘Kaleda Kaala, Nadeda Doora’ (Time Spent, Distance Walked) was released in a programme organised by Shivamogga Citizens Forum, Multipurpose Social Service Society, and People’s Lawyers’ Guild in Shivamogga on Sunday, January 28.
Mr. Patil, speaking on the occasion, recalled his days as a boy and how he struggled to get a basic education. As a teenager, he travelled by bullock cart throughout the night to reach Raichur, the nearest town, to take admission in high school. “The nightlong journey is etched in my memory. I cannot forget it. The journey began, then took me to the Supreme Court as well,” he said.
Being the first graduate from his village, Mr. Patil said he believed in hard work and the blessings of people. When he was practicing law before becoming a judge, he represented a client pro bono. “Those who can afford it pay the fee, but those who cannot bless us and pray to God for our good. The payment taken has a pre-defined value, but prayer is invaluable. I remembered the blessings of the client when I became the Chief Justice of the High Court,” he said.
Further, Mr. Patil said he believed if a person was a good human being, he would certainly become a good lawyer or a good judge. “Whenever a person gets a seat of responsibility, he or she should serve, not rule. The opportunity is to do duty, not to show power,” he said.
After narrating a case he heard and pronounced judgement favouring a lady in getting a seat in a medical college, during his days in Madras High Court, Mr. Patil opined that the law could be bent with a humane touch but not be broken.
Shivamogga Deputy Commissioner R. Selvamani, Second Additional District, and Sessions Judge Pallavi B.R., Clifford Roshan Pinto, Director of Shivamogga Multipurpose Social Service Society, K. Basappa Gowda of Citizen Forum, and K.P. Sripal of the People’s Lawyers’ Guild were present at the programme.
