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Best: The remaining 20%.
But the standard has especially dropped in the past decade: Dipak Misra, RK Mishra, Gogoi etc. Even DYC was mediocre.
Best: Unquestionably H.R Khanna. To take on tyrants even at the risk of harming ones career is sadly not a quality often observed among Indias supreme court judges.
Strong second-place contenders: Chelmeshwar, Hidayathulla, Sathasivam, UU Lalit, RF Nariman, maybe Kurian, maybe Indu Malhotra. Fairly independent minded judges, many of whom demonstrated deep appreciation for the Constitution and for the rule of law generally. No major corruption allegations; they did their work quietly and did their work well.
Worst- I don't know, maybe Ranjan Gogoi, or Dipak Misra, or K. Subba Rao. Maybe K G Ballakrishnan Big corruption allegations make everyone lose faith in the law.
Both best and worst: Krishna Iyer, Bhagwati, the Chandrachuds, Altamas Kabir, Katju.
These I go back and forth on. They're really good on some issues but seem to lose objectivity on others or have unseemly public lives that lead to loss of faith in the objectivity of the judiciary. They are all impactful though. Not forgettable. Law people can discuss their legacies for years and not come to an agreement.
“It may be marginally extenuatory to mention that modern Indian conditions are drifting into societal permissiveness on the carnal front promoting proneness to pornos in life, what wit libidinous 'brahmacharis', womanising public men, lascivious dating and mating by unwed students, sex explosion in celluloid and book stalls and corrupt morals reaching a new 'high' in high places.”
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/419325/
A generation of Malayali and left-wing NLU law professors glorified this guy, letting parochialism and ideology get the better of them. There were far superior judges from other states who did not receive the same attention.
1. Vivian Bose
2. Patanjali Sastri
3. Fazl Ali
4. Gajendragadkar
5. KK Mathew
6. Krishna Iyer
7. Ruma Pal
8. Radhakrishnan
9. RV Raveendran
10. Madan Lokur (somewhat diminished by his post retirement ranting)
11. RF Nariman
12. UU Lalit
I am excluding sitting judges from this list.
Some of the worst (there are many more):
1. Subba Rao
2. AN Ray
3. Bhagwati
4. Tulzapurkar
5. Chinnappa Reddy
6. JS Varma
7. Lahoti
8. M Katju
9. Cyriac Joseph (IYKYK)
10. Arijit Pasayat
11. Dipak Misra
12. Arun Mishra
https://www.barandbench.com/amp/story/columns/why-cant-a-judge-also-be-a-rockstar-a-study-of-the-interesting-life-of-justice-vivian-bose
What about DA Desai?
Khanna (the sacrifice for doing the right thing will never be forgotten)
Hidayatullah (all round legend)
Lodha (simply the best, the most honest, the most independent and most importantly, who brought great change without self promotion in the last 50 years - improved infrastructure, came down on corrupt Govt and caged parrot CBI, gave the BCCI report in 1 year and stepped away, and always shunned the limelight)
Arun Mishra (I don't think reasons are needed)
Bela Trivedi (A former Gujarat law secretary turned judge, she lacks ▮▮▮ and objectivity, and has many ▮▮▮ orders to her credit)
NVRamana (politics and money)
Markandeya Katju and Indu Malhotra are runners up.
A judge's role is to uphold the Constitution and deliver justice based on sound legal principles. However, when decisions reflect either a lack of constitutional understanding or undue bias, it raises serious questions about accountability in the higher judiciary.
There are increasing murmurs within the legal community and the public at large about decisions that seem disconnected from the law, driven not by justice but by other invisible forces. If even the highest seats of justice begin to falter, where does the common citizen turn for fairness?
It is time we, as a democratic society, demand transparency, accountability, and constitutional literacy from every member of the judiciary — without exception.
Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done — without fear, favor, or compromise.