True character lies in getting back up after failure, says SC judge

1. At a Glance

• A minor current-affairs peg (convocation speech) that indirectly links to two UPSC-relevant threads: judicial biographies of sitting Supreme Court judges (Prelims-relevant for appointments/collegium questions) and Ethics (GS-IV) themes — resilience, character, integrity of purpose. [1][4]
• Justice M.M. Sundresh, a sitting Supreme Court of India judge, delivered the convocation address at Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science (HITS), Chennai, on 20 September 2026 (event held Saturday, 19 September 2026; reported in print 20 September 2026). [3][4]
• Not a policy, scheme, or legal ruling — this is a speech/event; the study value lies in cross-linking judicial appointment facts and ethics-paper framing, not in institutional/statutory detail.

2. Why in the News

• Justice Sundresh conferred degrees at the 17th Convocation of HITS on 19–20 September 2026 and made remarks on failure and character. [3][4]
• 2,732 students were awarded degrees at this convocation — 659 postgraduates, 67 Ph.D. scholars, remainder undergraduates. [4]
• The Hindustan Centre for Future Skills (HCFS) was inaugurated by Justice Sundresh during the same event. [4]

3. Background & Evolution

• HITS (formerly Hindustan College of Engineering, est. under Hindustan Group of Institutions, Chennai) has held convocations annually; this is its 17th convocation, indicating an institutional history stretching back roughly one and a half to two decades of degree-conferring ceremonies. [3]
• Justice Sundresh's remarks fit a recurring genre of convocation-address themes by judiciary members — resilience, ethics, social responsibility — commonly featured at Indian engineering/technology institute convocations. [1][4]

4. Core Static Facts

Item	Detail	Source
Speaker	Justice M.M. Sundresh, Judge, Supreme Court of India	[1]
Born	21 July 1962, Erode, Tamil Nadu	[1]
Education	B.A. — Loyola College, Chennai; B.L. — Madras Law College	[1]
Enrolled as Advocate	1985	[1]
Government Advocate	1991–1996	[1]
Additional Judge, Madras High Court	31.03.2009	[1]
Permanent Judge, Madras High Court	29.03.2011	[1]
President, Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy	Prior to elevation to SC	[1]
Elevated as Judge, Supreme Court of India	31.08.2021	[1]
Event	17th Convocation, Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science (HITS), Chennai	[3][4]
Date of convocation	19–20 September 2026	[3][4]
Degrees conferred	2,732 (659 PG, 67 PhD, remainder UG)	[4]
New inauguration	Hindustan Centre for Future Skills (HCFS)	[4]
Other speakers	Gokul V. Subramaniam (President, Intel India); Anand Jacob Verghese (Chancellor, HITS); Vikas Misra (Vice-Chancellor, HITS); Akhilesh Mishra (former Ambassador to Ireland and Maldives)	[3]

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Ethical / Governance

• Justice Sundresh's framing — "failure is natural; true character lies in getting back up" — mirrors standard GS-IV concepts: resilience, perseverance, and character-building as components of ethical competence in public life. [3]
• His call to treat "everyone with dignity" links to constitutional morality and Article 14/21 equality-dignity jurisprudence that SC judges often invoke in public addresses, even informally. [3]

Legal / Constitutional

• As a sitting SC judge, Sundresh's career trajectory (High Court elevation → SC elevation via collegium system) is a useful case study for Polity questions on judicial appointments under Articles 124 and 217. [1]

Social

• The Intel India president's remarks on AI's "profound responsibility... to our planet and humanity" tie into GS-III Science & Tech governance/ethics-of-AI discourse increasingly tested in Mains. [3]

Administrative

• Convocation events at private technical universities (HITS is a deemed-to-be-university) illustrate India's private higher-education ecosystem and its role alongside public universities — relevant background for Education-sector GS-II questions. [3]

6. Recent Developments (last 12–18 months)

• 19–20 September 2026: Justice M.M. Sundresh presides over HITS's 17th convocation as chief guest, confers 2,732 degrees, inaugurates the Hindustan Centre for Future Skills. [3][4]
• No other recent (2024–26) major rulings or news pegs specific to this exact "getting back up after failure" remark were found within whitelisted sources; this is a one-off speech report, not part of an ongoing controversy or policy debate.

7. Prelims Hooks

• Justice M.M. Sundresh was elevated to the Supreme Court of India on 31 August 2021. [1]
• He was born on 21 July 1962 in Erode, Tamil Nadu. [1]
• He served as President of the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy before SC elevation. [1]
• He became an Additional Judge of the Madras High Court on 31 March 2009. [1]
• He was confirmed as a permanent Madras High Court judge on 29 March 2011. [1]
• HITS held its 17th convocation on 19–20 September 2026. [3][4]
• 2,732 students received degrees at this convocation (659 PG, 67 PhD). [4]
• The Hindustan Centre for Future Skills (HCFS) was inaugurated at this event. [4]
• Gokul V. Subramaniam, President of Intel India, was a co-speaker at the event. [3]
• Judicial elevation from High Court to Supreme Court in India occurs via the collegium system under Articles 124 and 217 (background knowledge, not from article). [1]

8. Why the Neat Date Table Hides a Broken Appointment Pipeline

• A smooth career path like Justice Sundresh's is the exception, not the rule
• The note lists three clean dates — 2009, 2011, 2021 [1].
• But most judge posts in India are not filled on time at all.

• As on 1 November 2021, 37% of High Court judge posts were empty — 406 vacant out of a sanctioned strength of 1,098 [6].

• Why the seats stay empty — nobody is bound by a clock

• Judges are picked by the collegium (a group of the senior-most Supreme Court judges who recommend who becomes a judge).
• The collegium sends a name; the Union Government must then clear it. Neither step has a fixed deadline in law.
• So a name can sit for months with no one answerable for the delay.

• The Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice (2020) found that 35–40% of High Court judge posts stay unfilled every single year — not a one-off, a pattern [6].

• Empty seats turn into waiting citizens

• Fewer judges means fewer cases heard. Over 4.5 crore cases are pending across all Indian courts [7].
• In the High Courts alone, over 8.3 lakh cases have been waiting more than 10 years — that is 19% of everything pending there [7].

• Vacancy is not the only cause of delay, but it is the one the appointment system itself creates.

• Use this as the missing half of the Prelims fact

• Knowing the date a judge was elevated is Prelims. Knowing that the same system leaves one in three chairs empty is Mains.

9. Who Can Actually Fill the Empty Judge Seats

• The collegium and the Law Ministry should work to a written time limit
• The rules for appointing judges sit in the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) — the agreed step-by-step document between the judiciary and the government.
• The MoP does not fix how long the government may hold a recommended name.
• The Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice (2020) flagged the yearly 35–40% shortfall that this open-ended process produces [6].

• A deadline written into the MoP puts a date on each stage, so a stalled file becomes visible instead of invisible.

• High Courts should start the process before the seat falls empty

• Retirement dates are known years ahead — a judge retires at 62 in a High Court, 65 in the Supreme Court.

• So a recommendation can be moved well before the chair is vacated, instead of after.

• Madras High Court shows it is not hopeless

• Between 2006 and 2017, Madras High Court cut its pendency by 26% — the biggest fall of any High Court, with Bombay next at 24% [6].
• This is the same court where Justice Sundresh served from 2009 to 2021 [1]. Useful as a named example in an answer, instead of a general claim that "courts are slow".

10. How to Use a Speech Like This in a GS-IV Answer

• Do not quote the judge and stop there
• Examiners give marks for the idea, not for the name attached to it.

• "Failure is natural; true character lies in getting back up" [3] is an opening line, not an argument.

• Turn the line into a testable idea

• Resilience matters in public service because a civil servant cannot resign after one failed scheme — they must run the next cycle with the same staff and the same budget.

• Link it to a concrete duty: reviewing why a programme failed, and reporting that honestly upward, is the administrative form of "getting back up".

• Be careful about what this source can and cannot support

• A speech carries no legal weight. It cannot be cited for what the law is.

• It can be cited for what a constitutional functionary said in public — that is all.

• Spend your time in proportion

• The high-value part of this note is the appointment and pendency data, which fits GS-II [6][7].
• The speech itself is worth one line of an introduction.

11. Anchors for Answers

• Data: 37% of High Court judge posts vacant as on 1 November 2021 — 406 of a sanctioned 1,098 [6]
• Data: Over 4.5 crore cases pending in Indian courts; over 8.3 lakh High Court cases pending more than 10 years (19% of that court's pendency) [7]
• Report/Committee: Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice (2020) — 35–40% of High Court judge posts unfilled every year [6]
• Law/Case: Articles 124 and 217 (appointment of Supreme Court and High Court judges); the Memorandum of Procedure, which sets no time limit for clearing a name
• Comparison: Madras High Court cut pendency by 26% between 2006 and 2017, the sharpest fall among High Courts; Bombay High Court 24% [6]

12. Mains Relevance

• GS-IV (Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude): Attitude, foundational values, emotional intelligence — resilience and character in the face of failure as a component of ethical competence.
• GS-II (Polity/Governance): Judicial appointments and the collegium system — useful for a case-study anchor on the SC judge's own career path.
• Plausible question stems: 1. "Character is not tested in success but revealed in the response to failure." Discuss with reference to public servants and constitutional functionaries. (GS-IV) 2. Examine the process of appointment and elevation of judges from High Courts to the Supreme Court of India, citing constitutional provisions. (GS-II) 3. "Technological power without ethical responsibility is a hazard, not a triumph." Discuss in the context of AI governance in India. (GS-III/GS-IV)

13. Related Topics to Study Next

• Collegium System & Judicial Appointments (Articles 124, 217, NJAC case 2015) — directly relevant to Justice Sundresh's career trajectory.
• Ethics case studies on resilience and failure — recurring GS-IV essay/case-study theme.
• AI Governance and Ethics in India (MeitY's AI framework) — tied to Intel India president's remarks on AI responsibility.
• Deemed-to-be Universities in India (UGC regulations) — HITS's institutional category.
• Role of Judiciary in Public Discourse / Extra-judicial remarks by judges — a recurring governance/ethics debate.
• Right to Dignity (Article 21 jurisprudence) — linked to the judge's remark on treating everyone with dignity.
• India's private higher-education and skilling ecosystem (Skill India Mission) — relevant to the Hindustan Centre for Future Skills inauguration.

14. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Do not confuse Justice M.M. Sundresh (Supreme Court, elevated 2021) with other Tamil Nadu-origin judges of similar name/background — verify via official SC website. [1]
• HITS is a deemed-to-be-university, not a Central or State public university — avoid misclassifying it in administrative-structure questions.
• This is a speech/event, not a court judgment — do not cite it as case law or a binding legal precedent.
• Judicial elevation dates (Additional Judge vs. Permanent Judge vs. SC elevation) are frequently confused in Prelims — note the three distinct dates for Sundresh: 2009 (Additional), 2011 (Permanent HC), 2021 (SC). [1]
• Convocation number (17th) is specific to HITS and should not be generalized to other technical universities' convocation counts. [3]