Whether a judge yields to lure determines their human values: Attorney General R Venkataramani

New Delhi: Attorney General R Venkataramani on Saturday said a judge's propensity to not yield to temptation decides how high in the hierarchy of human values the person will rise.

Venkataramani made the remark while speaking at the book release of The Unyielding Judge: The Life and Legacy of Justice A N Grover by Gauri Grover.

He also said it was the first time he was called upon to speak about a Supreme Court judge who had been part of the country's constitutional history.

Justice Grover was a part of the 13-judge constitutional bench which heard the 1973 Kesavananda Bharti case.

The bench, in a landmark verdict, upheld the basic structure doctrine or non-abrogation of the Constitution's basic structure by the Parliament.

"The word 'unyielding judge' also attracted me. I mean, it's got several, several meanings and values. We talk about a judge's fear, and then about not yielding to temptation. I think, then you rise higher in the hierarchy of the values of human beings," the attorney general said.

He also said that when people speak about the notable verdicts of judges, it is also important to remember the thoughts that went through their minds to ensure that the country's freedom did not diminish.

"I have been probably party to book launches of several judges, most of them sitting judges or retired judges, but this is my first occasion when I am called upon to talk about a judge was is part of India's constitutional history in a larger canvas," he said.

Justice (retd) S K Katriar and senior advocate and former cabinet minister Salman Khurshid also spoke at the event.