Farewells are always painful particularly from those with whom you have been sharing the work place for years. An occasion like this is also reflective for it gives one a chance to realize the existence and contribution of a personality, more particularly when it relates to not so common, Justice M. J. Rao.  

Judges combine in themselves the popularity, the comprehensiveness, the venerability and the human dignity as contradistinguished from any other profession in the world. The secret of respect in which we hold our judges is not in their robes or in the ceremony which surrounds their office, but in the fact that we feel that they possess a balance, open, analytical and scientific mind, working within the parameters of self imposed restrictions and limitations. It must be a stupendously difficult task to banish from the mind the natural prejudices to which human nature is prone, and reserve any decision until the last argument is heard.

  It is indeed a quality of mind which takes years of labour to reach its full maturity and Justice M. J. Rao had reached that stage quite early when he was elevated as a Judge of Andhra Pradesh High Court on November 29, 1982 at the age of about 47 years. He was subsequently elevated to Supreme Court as the 9th Judge from Andhra Pradesh High Court and as 128 judge of Supreme Court of India and had a short tenure of 3 yrs. 8 months 11 days, we wish he had more.

  With Justice M.J. Rao on the bench, the Court radiated with his personality and class, everyone felt his uniformly serious and dignified bearing and very courteous manner while he was carrying out an arduous duty and significant task and that was the reason he was able to get the best out of us, which was always to be the best as he wished, for he needed much more assistance to exhaust his insatiable desire to lay down a solid brick which can be helpful to lawyers and litigants in times to come. He always radiated a very strong independent factor.

  His reasoning was always logical and dictions exact almost to perfection and the judgments were delivered after deep self research and will always be available to us as valued precedents. His humility, humblity, simplicity, a sternness of unbending character and intellect, a natural urge to do complete justice will be long cherished by us all. The lawyers are not a very happy lot, but one thing is certain, every body left his court feeling that he had been heard, law had moved forward and justice had pervaded.

  Apart from his outstanding judgments his report to Law Commission of Indian and his visionary paper of Financial Independence of the Judiciary, Court Services and Plan has sown the seed for rejuvenation and reconstruction of Indian Judiciary. If the implemented in its spirit it will bring about the necessary, significant and long desired change in the Indian Judiciary.

  May I on behalf of this august gathering, executive members and the members of Supreme Court Advocate-On-Record Association convey out most sincere, affectionate and warm wishes to Honble Justice M.J. Rao and Mrs. Rao and wish them good health and a long active life for many many year to come.

  Aruneshwar Gupta

Vice President SCAORA

04.02.2004