Justice DY Chandrachud: ‘Scrutinise actions of those in power each day’

NB: Yes sir, we shall do so, and thanks for your support. We shall also watch the behaviour of the senior judiciary, and ask whether two previous CJI's behaved in a manner in accord with their stature. I have in mind the removal of the Judge Loya case from the Bombay HC to the SC by CJI Mishra (and its subsequent dismissal after a highly dubious procedure); and the dismissal of a sexual harrassment accusation against CJI Gogoi. Are judges above the lawMaybe some day we will have answers, or maybe these cases will be forever buried in the files. If the SC indulges in dubious procedures to dismiss inconvenient cases, your accolades to Indian democracy will turn to ashes. DS

Justice DY Chandrachud: ‘Scrutinise actions of those in power each day’
Daily scrutiny of the actions of those in power is the long-term solution to incidents like what happened in Unnao and in Hyderabad, Supreme Court Judge Justice D Y Chandrachud said Tuesday adding that answers to all problems did not lie with courts. He was delivering a lecture on the theme “Adding Nuance to Human Rights Discourse’ at an event organsied by the International Institute of Human Rights Society on the occassion of Human Rights Day here.

Justice Chandrachud said “India’s excellent democratic record shows that in our seventy-plus years of independence, regular general elections and the peaceful handover of power have been the overriding norm. “However, we must ask ourselves whether close to a century of democratic rule has reduced the political, social and economic exclusion faced by many of our citizens” and added, “I think the most telling pictorial representation that we have seen in the last week is the representation of two facets of India, the Unnao rape survivor lying burnt in a field and the four men lying dead in a field shot by the police”.

Former Chief Justice of India R M Lodha who also spoke on the occassion too referred to the killing of four men accused of the rape and murder of a veterinary surgeon in Hyderbad and said: “when a Telengana Minister says that reconstruction of crime scene was on instruction from above and police did what they were asked to do, it raises a big question; are we junking due process and justice system?” He added that demand for similar treatment to those accused of the Unnao rape and murder and calls for lynching of rapists shows that “atmosphere of mob mentality is prevailing in the society” and people are going back to 17th century Hammurabi’s code “eye for eye, tooth for tooth and nail for nail”.

Justice Chandrachud underlined the importance of “participative processes” in securing human rights, and said that “recognising the value of deliberative processes in exposing weak arguments, identifying the misuse of power and ensuring that human rights are lived beyond the cloistered halls of courts and universities adds a powerful element to our human rights discourse. It is a reminder that we will not wait to be shocked by a terrifying tale of human rights abuse, but rather scrutinise the actions of those in power every day to ensure that such abuses never occur in the first place”...


see also
‘This episode is going to haunt SC in years to come’: Justice AP Shah on CJI sexual harassment case
Apoorva Mandhani: Judge Loya's Confidants Died Mysterious Deaths
Do our leaders want to certify political assassination?
Tavleen Singh: Without rule of law there can be no democracy
Vipin Tripathi: Funds to help Pehlu Khan's family

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