Apex court Justice back to his roots

Mandi, May 19
It was a déjà vu for Justice Swatantra Kumar, sitting judge of the Supreme Court here, in this temple town when he addressed students and teachers of his alma mater, Government Vijay Boys’ Senior School, Mandi, and later members of the Mandi Bar and judicial officers where he once served as the Additional District Judge.
Addressing the students, including alumni of the school at the morning assembly, Justice Swatantra Kumar said students should respect their teachers and should not be disheartened by failure. They could rise in life by doing hard work, he added.
Sharing his experience with the students of the school where he had studied from Class IV to X in the 1950s, the justice said, “I was a good speaker, but did not excel in studies. Our Hindi and Sanskrit teacher JP Shastri used to pull us up for committing mistakes. But we respected our teachers”.
When school Principal Madhu Varsha pointed out the dilapidated condition of the old school building he said if he were in some position of power in the state, he would have renovated the building.
Later, he launched the website of the schools www.gsssvijay.com. He announced Rs 3,500 as monthly scholarship in the name of his father, OP Sharma, who had served in Mandi as District and Sessions Judge in the 1950s, for the topper of the board school examinations from this school for two years.
After the school function, he addressed judicial officers and members of the Mandi Bar and urged them to work hard to strengthen the roots of the institutions.