"Teaching law was his first and last love": CJI Chandrachud pays tribute to predecessor Venkaramiah

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], December 17 : Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Sunday commended threw new light on the illustrious career of the 19th CJI, Justice Venkataramiah, stating that teaching law was his first and last love.
He was addressing the Justice ES Venkataramiah centennial memorial lecture at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Justice Venkataramiah served as the 19th CJI from June 19, 1989 until his retirement on December 17, 1989.
"Justice was the 19th Chief Justice of India. He started his journey as a lawyer in Bengaluru. He went on to elevate it to the bench of the Karnataka High Court and eventually found his way to the supreme post, in which he spent over a decade. Though his legal journey is nothing sort of inspirational, he was a teacher before becoming a lawyer or a judge. His practice of the law was always accompanied by his academic endeavours," CJI Chandrachud said.
"He started teaching law in 1945. Teaching law was his first and last love. Naturally, then, the many landmark judgements that he authored are impressed upon by the profound body of his academic work, touching upon a wide range of issues such as human rights, freedom of the press, and federalism. In his judicial writings, we see an environmentalist and a champion of free speech," the CJI added.
"In the Supreme Court of the 1980s, among the distinguished judges who comprised the bench, there was, as there is now as well, a great sense of comradery among the judges. Judges are popularly nicknamed by colleagues on the bench. There were two who had this nickname in those days. I will disclose the identity of one but not of the other. One of those judges was nicknamed Lord Wilberfoss; the other was nicknamed Swamiji by my father. Swamiji was nicknamed Swamiji because of his great education in Sanskrit and spirituality," Justice Chandrachud said.