New Delhi:
Justice Bela M Trivedi demitted office on Friday after serving over three and a half years on the Supreme Court of India. Tributes poured in on her last day in court, including a recount of an older case from senior lawyer and Supreme Court Bar Association head, Kapil Sibal.
“This court is a constellation of stars, and you are one of them,” Mr Sibal said. “Just think about it, you are the 11th woman judge in this court. In the 75 years of this country, one lady judge was appointed every seven odd years. That itself is a great milestone.”
Mr Sibal recounted a courtroom moment that had stayed with him. In a matter involving a person prosecuted under the stringent anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Mr Sibal had pleaded for the individual’s transfer from Karnataka to Kerala. Justice Trivedi ruled against the request.
“Out of a hunch, I said, ‘I expect your ladyship to have some empathy.’ Your ladyship then said, ‘You don’t know me then,'” Mr Sibal recalled. “Well, we knew you before you came here. And we will know you after you leave here. Thank you very much for what you have done. I don’t think any judge in this court bows down to popular sentiment.”
Justice Trivedi’s departure was not without controversy. The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), in a departure from tradition, chose not to organise a farewell function for Justice Trivedi. The Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai, presiding over the ceremonial bench, did not conceal his disappointment.
“I must deprecate openly, because I believe in speaking plainly… The association (SCBA) ought not to have been such a stand,” Chief Justice Gavai said.
The CJI specifically thanked Kapil Sibal and SCBA vice-president Rachna Srivastava for attending the ceremonial bench despite the association’s resolution.
“I am grateful to Kapil Sibal and Rachna Srivastava, both of them are here. But the stand taken by the Association, I must deprecate openly… On such an occasion, such a stand ought not to have been taken by the Association,” he said. “So therefore, I am openly appreciating Sibal and Srivastava for their presence. Despite the resolution of their bodies, they are here. But what has been lost by the association, the presence of the Full House here, vindicates that she is a very very good judge. There are different types of judges, but that should not be a factor to deny what ought to have been granted.”
Justice Trivedi began as a trial court judge in Ahmedabad in July 1995 and rose through the ranks of the judiciary to reach the highest court of the country. She was elevated to the Supreme Court on August 31, 2021, as part of a historic move that saw nine judges, including three women, sworn in on the same day.
Born on June 10, 1960, in Gujarat’s Patan, Justice Trivedi practised law for a decade in the Gujarat High Court before entering the judicial service. In 1995, she was appointed as a judge of the city civil and sessions court in Ahmedabad. A notable footnote in her early judicial career was that her father was a judge in the same court, which led to an entry in the Limca Book of Indian Records under the category of “Father-daughter judges in the same court.”
