Justice Nagarathna’s teary-eyed farewell to iconic red building of Karnataka High Court

Justice Nagarathna could not hold back tears during her farewell speech while recollecting her association with the iconic red-building (High Court building). She thanked all her staff and the family members who for the last 34 years, as an advocate and as a judge, ensured that she never had to bother about daily chores as a co-member of the family. “It is said that behind every successful man there is a woman, but behind every successful woman there is a family,” she said.

She said returning from Delhi, after her law degree, was one of the best decisions in her life. “One of the best decisions of my life was to return from Delhi to Bengaluru to enrol myself as an advocate in the Karnataka Bar Council and commence my practice here. This was in order to maintain the highest traditions of the judiciary as much as I did not wish to reside in the government accommodation allotted to my father Justice E S Venkataramaiah, who was then a Judge of the Supreme Court at Delhi, and practice there,” she said.

Justice B V Nagarathna’s message to women advocates was to never let go of access to the right opportunities.