Exclusive: Justice Abha Nayar Patel, 1st Woman Judge Of Zambian Supreme Court, Recalls Childhood Days In Delhi

A Supreme Court judge of Zambia who moved from Delhi as a seven-year-old has said that India continues to hold a special place in her heart even after decades abroad. 

Speaking to NDTV in Hindi, Justice Abha Nayar Patel described the reception she received during her visit to the Supreme Court of India as one of the "golden moments" of her life and praised the country's Constitution and judicial system.

Justice Patel was in India to attend a lecture on “The Future of Justice Delivery: Innovation, Inclusion and Integrity”, organised by the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) at the Supreme Court auditorium.

India resides in our hearts

Recalling her childhood, Justice Patel said she left Delhi when she was seven years old but never lost her connection with the country. "Decades have passed since we left India, the country can never be separated from our hearts. Language, cuisine, culture, and religious traditions—Indians living in any corner of the world always keep their cultural roots and heritage alive," she said.

She also shared that after marrying into a Gujarati family, she learned Gujarati, saying people are often curious about her surname "Nayar Patel". “Later, I married into a Gujarati family, so I learned Gujarati as well. ...and I speak Gujarati too; that is why people are often puzzled by the name 'Nair Patel' and wonder about my background,” she added.

'Golden moment of my life'

Justice Patel said the warmth and respect she received during her visit to the Supreme Court exceeded her expectations. She said being invited to sit on the Supreme Court dais by Chief Justice Surya Kant was a memory she would cherish for the rest of her life.

"The respect accorded to a judge from another country in India, and the way Chief Justice Surya Kant offered me a place on the Supreme Court's dais and bench - these are golden moments in my life that I can never forget. This experience has touched the very depths of my heart," she said.

'Jurisprudence is incomplete without Indian constitutional law'

Justice Patel said the Indian Constitution and Supreme Court judgments are studied across the world and hold an important place in legal education. “The study of jurisdiction is not complete if you don't study the Indian Constitutional Law,” she said, adding that she had also studied Indian constitutional law despite living outside the country.

Praise for the Indian judiciary

Speaking about India's justice system, Justice Patel said the Indian judiciary had made remarkable progress.

"As far as we are concerned, when we look at India, we learn all the jurisprudential knowledge from India. The judgments of the constitutional court, the judgements of the commercial law, the judgements of the Supreme Court. So, there is a lot to learn. So, as far as I can see, the judiciary of India has advanced leaps and bounds,” she said.

Justice Patel also stressed the importance of sharing judicial experiences across countries, saying the common objective of every legal system is to deliver justice quickly and efficiently. “What we can see is that India is doing tremendously well with the population of the country,” Justice Patel added.

Justice Abha Nayar Patel graduated with an LLB from the University of Zambia in 1987, becoming the first woman to graduate with honours from the university. She later earned an LLM from the University of Cambridge, enrolled with the Zambia Bar in 1989, and was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors of England and Wales in 2008.

She has also received specialised training in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), mediation and arbitration, and is a trained mediator, a trainer of mediators, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.