New Delhi, May 23 (PTI) Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka, for whom Friday marked the last day as a Supreme Court judge, will be remembered for his clarity of thought, sharp acumen and the precision of his judgments that upheld constitutional values.

The judge, who spent his last at work pronouncing one short of a dozen judgments reserved by the benches he headed, would retire on May 24, a holiday.

As a judge for over two decades, he spoke through his verdicts, which invariably upheld principles of liberty and fundamental rights.

In what perhaps will be regarded the epitome of his commitment, Justice Oka returned to work a day after his mother's passing to pronounce 11 judgements on his the working day in the apex court.

The almost four-year eventful tenure in the top court had Justice Oka adjudicate a wide range of issues including criminal, environmental, arbitration and corporate matters.

Senior advocate Shreehari Aney was Maharashtra's top law officer - the Advocate General - when Justice Oka was senior judge in the Bombay High Court.

"I can tell you for certain that he always did what was right. Invariably.. without exception. If there was an easier way out which was not as right as the correct way, he'd never take easier way out," he told PTI.

Aney remembered a couple of occasions illustrating Justice Oka's unwavering commitment to uphold the rule of law, without any exception.

"When I was AG, he was a senior judge in Bombay High Court. The then government wanted to hold a ‘Make in India’ event at Chowpatty but there were orders of the high court prohibiting any public function at the beach. I did try to pursuade him to permit the function, by requesting him not in a case, but privately as the AG of the government," he said.

The judge, Aney said, in his "quiet, soft spoken but firm manner" refused saying he would not permit it even as a legitimate exception to what was laid down by the high court.

"We did go to SC and secure a temporary permission, but later, during the event, the stage caught fire. Perhaps it the divine justifying the judge’s refusal," Aney recalled.

Justice Oka, in his opinion, considers that only the "letter of the law is sacrosanct".

Aney also represented the Maharashtra government in the Beef ban case, when a particular clause that allowed police to enter even private homes and arrest citizens on suspicion that they were cooking beef.

"As AG I took the liberty to say this section was not lawful. But I argued that it need not be struck down, as its vice could be controlled by reading it down. Reading down is a power that courts possess not to strike down a law, but to permit it to function in a humane manner. Justice Oka said 'as AG you have yourself said the provision is unlawful. Once it is against the citizen’s right to liberty and freedom, then the court is not going to read it down. It shall be struck down'," Aney recollected the judge as saying.

Justice Oka very recently acknowledged that judges are human and can make mistakes with reference to his own 2016 judgment.

"This shows the immense integrity of the man. When you occupy the office of a SC judge, you're not expected to be right every time but once you pronounce something, it is the law of the land," Aney said, "and it speaks about the moral fiber of the person who, from that lofty seat, can say ‘I was wrong’. He is a singularly unique judge." Since August 2021 in the apex court, Justice Oka has authored 295 judgments and was part of over 1,000 verdicts in different combinations.

Criticising the increasing trend of trial courts rejecting bail applications in "not very serious" cases, Justice Oka went on to observe that even terrorist Ajmal Kasab got a fair trial in 26/11 Mumbai attack case.

The judge was of the view that a democratic country must not function like a police state and opined that the system was being burdened unnecessarily.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Justice Oka passed several directions protecting the rights of migrant workers and questioned the insensitive handling of the government.

Justice Oka said the requirement of informing grounds of arrest to an accused was not a "formality but a mandatory constitutional requirement.

He granted bail to DMK leader Senthil Balaji in a money laundering case referring to the delay in trial and his long incarceration.

Later when Balaji rejoined as minister, Justice Oka was the one to give him an ultimatum prompting the lawmaker to resign from the post.

The Enforcement Directorate faced a tough time in his court, often facing flak for keeping accused persons in jail without trial.

Justice Oka went on to say that ED should also think of the fundamental rights of the accused, underlining a "pattern" of the agency in levelling allegations without evidence.

On the environmental front, Justice Oka's bench closely monitored the implementation of Graded Response Action Plan in Delhi when the air pollution levels rose and imposed ban on crackers, directed shutting of schools and ordered subsistence to construction workers.

He also took note of reckless felling of trees in the ridge area in city and issued contempt notice to the vice chairman of Delhi Development Authority.

Observing that cutting of trees was worse than killing human beings, Justice Oka pushed the authorities for tree census in Delhi and Taj Trapezium Zone.

He recently issued guidelines for senior advocate designations and removed marking system.

The judge in another matter held that Anganwadi workers were entitled to receive gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.

He passed several landmark judgments including striking down a 2017 notification of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which introduced a regime of granting ex-post facto clearances to projects.

Justice Oka was born on May 25, 1960 to Shreeniwas W Oka and Vasanti Oka.

He graduated in BSc, and then completed his LLM from the University of Bombay.

He enrolled as an advocate on June 28, 1983 and started practising in Thane District Court in his father's chamber.

In 1985-86, he joined the chamber of Shri V P Tipnis, a former Judge of the Bombay High Court and former LokAyukta. PTI PKS SJK AMK AMK

Rule of law upheld: Judge emphasised strict adherence to legal safeguards and protection of fundamental rights. Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka prioritized strict adherence to the letter of the law and protection of constitutional liberties, refusing expedient exceptions and striking down provisions that infringed personal liberty rather than reading them down. He emphasized that informing an accused of grounds of arrest is a mandatory constitutional requirement, criticised undue denial of bail, and scrutinised enforcement agencies for detention without adequate evidence. In environmental and administrative matters he enforced regulatory compliance, curtailed retrospective clearance regimes, and pursued remedies for ecological degradation.