Sense of compassion for society sustains us as judges, element of scrutiny guides our work: CJI Chandrachud

CJI Chandrachud, who served as a judge of the Bombay High Court for 13 years before being elevated as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, said nothing would compare to the Bombay High Court. He said the Bombay HC is known for “fearless independence, which has sustained the court in challenging times.”

“Even in the Emergency days, when people were losing their minds, the Bombay High Court did not lose its mind and did not waver from the cause of justice. Lots of judges stood behind what was correct in the interest of liberty and equality and due process for our citizens,” he said.

The CJI added that another factor was ‘peer pressure’ as “judges behave like judges as they are constantly intermingling with people” on whom they depend for support and guidance.

The third factor, he added, was the ‘element of scrutiny’ that gets into the judges’ work. “Nothing which the judge does, including keeping their mouth open in the court, to writing an indifferent order misses scrutiny of the bar. And that element of scrutiny is what guides the work of our courts,” he said.

The CJI went on to say, “But above all, what sustains us as judges is our sense of compassion for society in which we render justice…That is what has sustained me over the years.”

For this, CJI Chandrachud referred to a recent order of a bench led by him granting admission to IIT-Dhanbad to a Dalit student, who lost out on his seat after failing a few minutes to meet the deadline to pay Rs. 17, 500 fees. “He would have lost admission if we were not to grant him relief,” he added.

“You can find 25 reasons of technical nature not to give relief to the citizens but in my mind, one justification to grant a relief, that is all that is necessary,” he said.

The CJI added that he was’ overwhelmed’ when he took a judgeship in 2000. “As a judge, you are confronted with your worst fears. As an advocate, you can refuse a brief but you cannot do that as a judge. You must take up every matter that is on your board,” he said.

Emphasising on making the legal profession ‘inclusive,’ CJI Chandrachud said that why there should be a situation where young women are juggling manifold tasks due to familial responsibilities. “We know that women in our society are professionals, they are mothers, mothers-in-law, they are someone’s relatives, making flying visits to hospitals, visiting their parents in different towns and states and beyond. Why should it be that we should not create equal conditions where we make our courts worthy places, where women can succeed at the bar. Why does a woman have to behave like a man in order to succeed at the bar? In other words, to give up familial responsibilities,” said CJI Chandrachud.

“It was important that the courts across the country use the benefit of technology to truly reach out to citizens and professionals,” said the CJI, adding that his mission for the last five years was making life easy for common citizens by implementing e-courts initiatives.