CJI Chandrachud underlines ‘Constitutional Morality’ as means to preserve India’s diversity
Kolkata (PTI): Espousing the importance of implementing ‘Constitutional Morality’ in Indian jurisprudence, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Saturday insisted on the commitment of courts to ensure diversity, inclusion and tolerance.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day East Zone II Regional Conference of the National Judicial Academy, the CJI also focused on the importance of technological advancements in the justice delivery system.
CJI Chandrachud elaborated on the notion of ‘Constitutional Morality’ as a restraining factor on the state that should derive from the Preambluar values of the Constitution.
Underlining the country’s federal structure that’s “marked by a great deal of diversity”, the CJI focused on the role of judges in “preserving the diversity of India”.
“I am reticent when people call courts a temple of justice. Because that would mean the judges are deities which they are not. They are instead servers of the people, who deliver justice with compassion and empathy,” CJI Chandrachud said at the conference titled ‘Contemporary Judicial Developments and Strengthening Justice Through Law and Technology’.
Calling judges “servants and not masters of the Constitution”, the CJI warned the judiciary of the pitfalls of personal values and belief systems of judges interfering with judgments that are opposed to values enshrined in the Constitution.
“We could be masters of Constitutional interpretation, but a just society is established with the court’s vision of Constitutional Morality,” he said.
While speaking on the need for technological assistance in ensuring the effective delivery of justice to citizens, the CJI said, “The idea is to not modernise for the sake of modernisation. It is a step to aid something else we want to achieve.”
CJI Chandrachud spoke of AI-assisted software aiding the work-in-progress to translate the 37,000-odd Supreme Court judgments delivered since Independence from English into all Constitution-recognised regional languages.
Making available digitised formats of Supreme Court judgments free for all, decentralised access to courts to provide travel relief to litigants, using technology to create awareness of court procedures and categorisation of cases are also some of the technology-driven measures in aiding effective justice which the CJI spoke about.
Delivering a special address at the programme, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed to members of the judiciary to ensure that political bias should not interfere with the justice delivery system.
“Judiciary should be pure, honest and sacred. I believe that the judiciary is of, by and for the people. If the judiciary cannot deliver justice to people, who can? It’s the ultimate frontier for getting justice and the last recourse to save our country’s democracy and our Constitution,” Banerjee said.
Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court TS Sivagnanam was also present at the programme which was organised in collaboration with the Calcutta High Court and West Bengal Judicial Academy.
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Delhi court acquits Swati Maliwal accused of revealing rape victim's name
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted AAP MP Swati Maliwal accused of allegedly disclosing the identity of a 14-year-old rape victim who succumbed to injuries.
Additional chief judicial magistrate Neha Mittal acquitted Maliwal.
A detailed order is awaited.
Delhi Police booked Maliwal in 2016 when she was the chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women, and said there was a blatant violation of provisions of Juvenile Justice Act, which protect the identity of a minor victim of sexual offence.
The minor girl succumbed to her injuries on July 23, 2016, at a hospital after being sexually assaulted by her neighbour who allegedly forced a corrosive substance down her throat and damaged her internal organs.
The police said Maliwal circulated a notice she sent to the area deputy commissioner of police, in which she sought to know about the investigation in the case.
The notice, which was given to the print and electronic media, reportedly named the victim.
The FIR alleged the notice was "intentionally circulated" on various WhatsApp groups and shown by TV channels.
