Grave danger in perceiving courts as temples, judges as deities, says CJI Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Saturday cautioned about the dangers of perceiving courts as “temples of justice” and “judges as deities” and said that judges should look at themselves as “servers of the people”.

“ There is a grave danger when people say that courts are temples of justice. There is a grave danger that we perceive ourselves as deities in these temples. I am a little reticent when I am told that this is a temple of justice, because temple postulates that judges are in the position of deity,” the CJI said at an event in Kolkata.

Independence of judiciary depends on the freedom of every judge to decide without pressure or bias: CJI

He said that he would rather recast the role of “judges as servers of people” who brought in compassion and empathy.

Delivering the keynote address at the two-day East Zone II regional conference of the National Judicial Academy, CJI Chandrachud touched on the issue of “constitutional morality” that paves the way for conditions that respect diversity, promote inclusion and pursue tolerance.

“Constitutional morality is an overarching principle which is derived from, but is not confined to, specific rights or values which are enshrined in the Constitution,” he said.

“We may be masters of constitutional interpretation, because the task of interpolation has been given to us. But we are servants of the Constitution,” he said. Mr. Chandrachud said that the idea of a just society should hinge on the constitutional vision and not what an individual thinks should be a just society. “Therefore the values which we as judges have to espouse, whether we like or not, are the values which the Constitution has enshrined for us. What is a just society is not my imagination of what is a just society. What is a just society is the constitutional vision of a just society,” he added

The CJI said that the idea of a just society should focus on human dignity, fraternity, equality, liberty and respect for all and tolerance for all.

After 600 lawyers, 21 retired judges write to CJI expressing concern over ‘escalated attempts’ to undermine judiciary

Delivering a special address at the programme, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed to members of the judiciary to ensure that political bias does not interfere with the justice delivery system.

“My humble request to all of you. This is my kind submission. Please see that there are no political biases in the judiciary. Judiciary must be pure. Absolutely pure. Honest and sacred,” Ms. Banerjee said.

Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court T.S. Sivagnanam and judges of the Supreme Court, including Justice Dipankar Datta, were among those present at the programme, which was organised in collaboration with the Calcutta High Court and West Bengal Judicial Academy.