Justice Roy's words echo a recent concern expressed by Justice Kurian Joseph, who had said in open court that the institution would collapse unless the Supreme Court functions as “one”.

A retiring Supreme Court judge on Friday told his colleagues in his farewell speech on the apex court lawns, that they cannot project a “fractured face” lest public lose faith in the highest judiciary.

Justice Amitava Roy was speaking at the end of his last working day as judge of the Supreme Court. He is due to retire on March 1, when the Supreme Court closes for the Holi holidays.

Justice Roy's words echo a recent concern expressed by Justice Kurian Joseph, who had said in open court that the institution would collapse unless the Supreme Court functions as “one”.

Four senior most judges of the Supreme Court had also held an unprecedented press conference on January 12, accusing recent Chief Justices of India of selective allotment of sensitive cases of national importance to “preferred Benches”.

Justice Roy's parting words come even as the rift between Chief Justice Dipak Misra and the four judges, Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur, and Kurian Joseph, lies unresolved.

In his speech, Justice Roy said “extra-legal elements are waiting to take over and spell the destruction of the institution” unless the judges get their act together.

“That would mean our extinction, because we survive for the institution which is not otherwise. Every institution is a collective entity,” Justice Roy addressed a large gathering of fellow judges, lawyers and the media.

“I find each one of my colleagues are excellent judges by his or her own right. Individually they are brilliant, but it is necessary to be together. We may exist as a musical note in isolation but that note would be only a sound of some frequency. It’s only when we integrate and blend, a melody would emerge. A melody that is necessary for this institution,” Justice Roy said.

Justice Roy was one of the members of the two-judge Bench which delivered the judgment in the disproportionate assets case against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.