Sir, I am very much surprised at the speech of my honourable Friend Mr. Kamath on this article. This article deserves whole hearted support. In fact I should have thought that the words “after the commencement of this Constitution” should be deleted. I do not see why it should remain there. Everybody who has been a judge should be debarred from practicing. The prohibition which you want to impose now has a very salutary reason behind it. In fact in Britain nobody who has been on the bench can practice at the Bar. It is a very well known principle. It is also well known that once when Lord Birkenhead and some others wanted to revert to the Bar, public opinion was so vehemently against it that they did not dare to carry out their resolve and practice. You may ask why should it be so. First of all, the dignity of the High Court demands that an ex-judge should not come back to the Bar. A High Court Judge may not have much money but his dignity is far greater than that of anyone else. So if he comes back to the Bar he would bring down the dignity of his office. It is for that reason that a man who has been a High Court Judge should not revert to his practice at the Bar. I would go even further. I would even say that those who have been ministers of justice should not be allowed to practice at the Bar. I have seen some advocates who have been ministers of justice going back to the Bar thus bringing down the dignity of their office. Probably during office they cultivated especial relations with the Chief Justice and other judges as they know they might have to revert to the Bar. This should not be permitted.
