Judges not deities, dangerous to think of court as temple of justice: CJI D Y Chandrachud

‘I would rather recast the role of the judge as a server of the people’, says DY Chandrachud

Written by Atri Mitra

Kolkata | Updated: June 30, 2024 03:47 AM IST

2 min read

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud at Bicentennial Year Celebration programme of Bar Library Club, Calcutta High Court. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Saturday observed that it was dangerous to describe the court as a temple of justice and equate judges with gods.

Addressing the East Zone-II Regional Conference of the National Judicial Academy in Kolkata, he said, “Too very often, we are addressed as Honour or as Lordship or as Ladyship. There is a very grave danger when people say that the court is a temple of justice. It is a grave danger that we perceive ourselves as the deities in those temples.”

He then added, “I would rather recast the role of the judge as a server of the people. And when you regard yourselves as people who are there to serve others, then you bring in the notion of compassion, of empathy, of judging but not being judgmental about others.”

The CJI said that even while sentencing anyone in a criminal case, the judges do so with a sense of compassion, as in the end, it is a human being who is sentenced.

CJI Chandrachud then said it was important to realise the importance of Constitutional morality like the pursuit of diversity, inclusion, and tolerance.

He said, “These concepts of Constitutional morality… are the key, not just for the judges of the Supreme Court or the High Court but also for the district judiciary itself because the engagement of the common citizens begins first and foremost with the district judiciary.”

Atri Mitra

Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

Tags:

D Y Chandrachud Kolkata