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“Time Spent Distance Travelled”, the Autobiography of Justice Shivaraj Patil, Former Supreme Court Judge, was released on Sunday the 21st January 2024 in Bangalore. Justice R.F Nariman, also Former Supreme Court Judge, addressed the gathering as the Chief Guest in the Chowdaiah Memorial Hall jam packed with audience. Among the audience, was a galaxy of Judges from across the country including the Chief Justice of Karnataka.

His Holiness Dr Shivamurthy Shivacharya Mahaswamiji of Sri Taralabalu Jagadguru Brihanmath, Sirigere, has written the following article on the opening pages of the Autobiography.

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A Life Journey of a Village Boy to the Greater Heights of Judiciary in the Nation!

(By Bullock Cart to Supreme Court)

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them”.

This is a very meaningful quote from the Shakespeare’s drama Twelfth Night. The real greatness of a person lies neither in the first nor in the last category but in the mid-category. If you read this autobiography of the Justice Shivaraj V Patil, he falls into the middle category. He has achieved greatness not by birth/position but by hard work and determination while experiencing poverty and sufferings in his childhood days.

Generally, Judges are not litterateurs. They care about finding the truth and not about the style of writing their judgments. During our conversation, I was amazed by the artistic mind of Justice Shivaraj Patil in suggesting to the designer of the cover page that this book should include two images – the bullock cart at the bottom and the edifice of the Supreme Court of India on the top. They both figuratively cover his life achievements that a poor village boy who went to school seated in a bullock cart could rise to the level of becoming an esteemed Judge seated in the Apex Court of India! The entire contents of his autobiography are covered by these two images at a glance!

It reminds me of a quote from his book in Kannada namely “Munjavigondu Nudi Kirana” (A Twilight at Every Dawn) which consists of 365 quotes.  He has formulated a quote for each day of the year, based on his own experiences.  One of them runs as follows: “ಮೆಟ್ಟಿಲುಗಳನ್ನು ಒಂದೊಂದಾಗಿ ಹತ್ತಿ ಕೊನೆಯ ಮಹಡಿಗೆ ತಲುಪಿದ ಅನುಭವ ಲಿಫ್ಟ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಏರಿದ ಅನುಭವಕ್ಕಿಂತ ತೀರಾ ಭಿನ್ನ.”

It means that the experience gained while climbing the staircase to the top floor of a building by foot is quite different from that of reaching the top swiftly by a lift. One requires effort and the other is effortless. Only the healthy people can climb the staircase on foot and the unhealthy may sometimes get stuck in the middle if something goes wrong with the lift. Justice Shivaraj Patil has climbed his judicial career step-by-step and not by a lift. Though physically weakened by age, he has very well maintained his mental health and moral standards throughout his public life!

The last category mentioned by Shakespeare that some have greatness thrust upon them implies that an unworthy person holding a high position commands high respect as long as he is in power but brings disrespect to the chair he sits in. On the contrary, Justice Shivaraj Patil, as the entire Karnataka knows, brought the honour to the position he was holding as the Lokayukta of Karnataka. It was very shocking to the people of Karnataka that he resigned soon after assuming the post when a mischievous mudslinging report appeared about him somewhere in the corner of the media. Though the public at large very much wanted him to continue, he preferred to step down in order to uphold the dignity of the chair he was sitting!

He was deeply hurt by the frivolous allegations made against him by the vested interests. The questions raised by him in his resignation letter are indeed very thought provoking:

“My appeal to all the concerned is whether they support those who want to battle against corruption or support those who want to blame the persons fighting against corruption. Such conspiracies with malicious intentions deeply hurt those who have been faithful throughout their life and have earned dignity and honour of their own. Honest people may hesitate to accept such posts due to defamation with evil intentions. I am deeply concerned that this may be a serious setback to the struggle against corruption.”

Like Shakespeare classifying the people in power into three categories as explained above, Justice Shivaraj Patil classifies the people surrounding us into three categories: 1) Those who know us and have understood us, 2) Those who are prejudiced against us despite knowing us and 3) Those who are ignorant of us. Justice Patil is grateful to the people of the first category and does not bother about the persons belonging to the second and the third categories.

This has been my bitter experience too in my public life for more than four decades. Whether in public or private life, criticisms are bound to be there. Public life is like a double edge sword. You cannot be spared of criticisms no matter how honestly you lead your life.  I have declined to react to the baseless remarks about me.  I have made it known in my public speeches that those who know me very well are very sympathetic and do not need any explanation from me. Those who dislike me for not allowing their axe to grind, will not be satisfied by any amount of explanation. Those who do not know me at all, I let them have the wicked pleasure!” There is a proverb in Kannada  “ಅಪದ್ದಿಗೆ ಉದಾಸೀನವೇ ಮದ್ದು” which means “just ignore the idiots”. The great thinker Basavanna of 12th century AD says in one of his Vachanas (sayings): “ಕಾಣದ ಠಾವಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಜರಿದರೆಂದರೆ ಕೇಳಿ ಪರಿಣಾಮಿಸಬೇಕು. ಅದೇನು ಕಾರಣ? ಕೊಳ್ಳದೆ ಕೊಡದೆ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಸಂತೋಷವಹುದಾಗಿ”. It means that if someone criticizes you behind your back, be happy. Because he will be deriving a lot of pleasure by doing so without you giving him any presents! But my Guru, Sri Shivakumara Shivacharya Mahaswamiji, had a different view point.  He was a great public personality during his times about whom the people used to exclaim “ಸಿರಿಗೆರೆ ಸ್ವಾಮಿಗಳು ಸೀನಿದರೆ ವಿಧಾನಸೌಧ ನಡುಗುತಿತ್ತು!” which means: “If the Swamiji of Sirigere Mutt sneezes, the Vidhana Soudha of Bangalore would tremble!”  Based on his life experience, he had once advised me to be cautious: “ನೋಡ್ರಿ, ನೀವು ದುರ್ಬಲರಾದರೆ ದುಷ್ಟ ಜನ ನಿಮ್ಮ ತಲೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಕಾಲಿಡುತ್ತಾರೆ; ನೀವು ಪ್ರಬಲರಾದರೆ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಬೂಟ್ ಕಾಲು ತಿಕ್ಕುತ್ತಾರೆ, ನೆನಪಿಟ್ಟುಕೊಳ್ಳಿ!”“Remember my boy, if you are weak, the wicked people will stamp on your head; if you are strong they will lick your boots!”

Justice Shivaraj Patil and I have had frequent meetings and conversations over phone on many social issues and current events after his retirement. We have shared the Dias on many public functions and exchanged many good thoughts. He has been always very receptive to good thoughts in the spirit of what the Rigveda hymn says: ā no bhadrāh kratavo yantu viśvataḥ (Let the noble thoughts come from all directions!). Having been a Judge, I find him to be a seeker of truth. He is always ready to attentively listen to the arguments of others without any prejudice. 

Once in a public function held in my presence in Davangere, he as a chief guest quoted a very meaningful dictum: “Yesterday is a waste paper, today is a news paper, tomorrow is question paper and life is an answer paper”. On hearing this, there was a loud applause in the auditorium jam-packed with audience. As he went on to explain the meaning of this quote, I was seriously reflecting on it. Out of the three comparisons, I felt that the last two comparisons are fair enough, but I found a flaw with the first comparison, i.e., ‘Yesterday is a waste paper’.

When my turn came to speak, I raised a serious objection and smilingly addressed the gathering that I would like to appeal against the judgment given by the learned ‘Single Judge’! The audience including Justice Shivaraj Patil was very curious to know what my objections would be. My argument was: “To judge whether your yesterday is a waste paper or not depends upon how today you answer the unexpected challenges of tomorrow. If you correctly answer the unknown question paper of tomorrow in your life, it becomes prominent news of today and it cannot go to the dustbin of yesterday. If you look at the history of the world, the wise/heroic decisions taken by the great leaders at crucial moments of their lives cannot be termed as waste papers. They are considered to be historical documents which are well preserved in the archives even today.

Looking at the facial expression of Justice Shivaraj Patil, the local news papers flashed the news the next day under the heading “Objection Sustained!” I further appealed to the learned audience: “Do you think that the short period of 45 days of Justice Shivaraj Patil as Lokayukta when he took the decision to resign out of resentment at the unfounded frivolous allegation against him in the media as detailed above can be considered as a waste paper of yesterday?” I looked at Justice Shivaraj Patil sitting next to me, for his reaction. His face indicated to me as politely saying: “Not before me!” since the citation given by me was related to his own life of dignity and honour! But the ‘Full Bench’ of audience upheld my viewpoint and gave a thunderous applause to the stand taken by him as a role model in public life!

History Books and Biographies can go wrong like the forged signatures/documents.  But not the autobiographies since they come directly from the pen of the authors themselves who have lived their lives of struggle. They can be the authentic sources of information and reliable documents for future historians.  The experiences of elders who have lived an ideal life of dignity and honour combating with all the odds of their times and have become successful can be a great source of inspiration for the younger generation. Human life is very short to learn from one’s own experience. If the younger generation reads the autobiographies of the great personalities like Justice Shivaraj Patil and learns from their experiences, I strongly feel that the young people can save their time and live longer!

Justice Shivaraj Patil has lived a fruitful life but has a hidden pain. Both of us seem to be having somewhat similar feelings towards our mothers who had no formal education.  Much against the ascetic order, I feel guilty of not taking care of my mother when she was alive and not even attending her final rites when she passed away.  But Justice Patil lost his mother at the tender age of two years. A deep wound is inflicted in his heart that his mother’s face is not imprinted in his mind. Though there is no photograph of her available, he has painted her portrait in his mind from what he heard from his elder sisters and other family members. Even to this day, he has been craving to see her face “my heart is heavy with sorrow even now when I remember my mother!”

-Dr. Shivamurthy Shivacharya Mahaswamiji,
Sri Taralabalu Jagadguru Brihanmath
Sirigere