New Delhi:

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud today urged counsels for the Centre and West Bengal governments to not politicise the Kolkata doctor’s rape and murder case and stressed that the law is taking its course.

The Chief Justice made the observation during a heated exchange between Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta and Bengal government’s counsel Kapil Sibal during the hearing in Supreme Court. Mr Sibal requested the court to take steps so that inciting statements are not made. To this, Mr Mehta responded, “Nobody should make any statement. We have the statement of a sitting minister of the state of West Bengal. This is something very serious. (The minister said) that if anybody speaks anything against leader, fingers will be chopped off.”

In response, Mr Sibal said, “Then I will read the Leader of the Opposition’s statement. ‘Bullets will be fired’ is what he said. Suvendu (Adhikari) has said.”

“Please don’t politicise this, the law will take its course. We are ensuring that the law does take its course after a quick and efficient investigation,” the Chief Justice said.

The statement comes amid a massive political row surrounding the chilling crime in the Bengal capital. Main Opposition BJP has been holding protests and targeting the ruling Trinamool Congress. The Mamata Banerjee-led party has alleged that the BJP is levelling false allegations to malign the state government’s image. 

The bench, also comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, said it is also concerned about the welfare and safety of doctors. “We are not just going to lay down guidelines, we are going to pass an enforceable direction,” the bench said.

During the hearing, several lawyers representing different groups of doctors expressed concerns of action against them for joining the protests that demand justice for the victim as well as safer working conditions for healthcare professionals.

Justice and medicine, the Chief Justice said, cannot go on strike. Earlier, the bench said doctors must resume their duties because the poor people of the country cannot be left in the lurch.

At the start of the proceedings, a lawyer appearing for resident doctors in AIIMS Nagpur said the medicos are being marked absent because they are on protest.

“If they are on duty, they will not be marked absent and if they are not on duty, then law will be followed. Ask them to first return to work, no one will take adverse action against any doctor. If there is difficulty after that, then come to us, but let them first report to work,” the Chief Justice of India said.

He added that in some cases, people wait for as much as two years for doctors’ appointments. “Poor people cannot be left in the lurch.”

The court has set up a National Task Force to recommend steps to improve working conditions for healthcare professional and ensure their safety.  

Bengaluru:

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said there was a marked shift in the way disability is looked at. Speaking at the inaugural session of the India Accessibility Summit and State Disability Commissioners’ Conclave here on Saturday, he said training, public meetings and policy-making have brought about the change.

“There is a marked shift in the way we approach disability. Training academies for administrative officers have dedicated modules for disability sensitization. State commissioners in some states are organising public meetings to improve service delivery and inform policy-making with lived experiences of people,” he said.

According to him, dedicated clinics at universities such as the Centre for Disability Studies at NALSAR, Hyderabad, policy think-tanks such as CLPR, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policies, NGOs and many other independent and sponsored institutions have enhanced the understanding of the ground realities about accessibility.

Private corporate entities have shown great initiative in promoting endeavours, ranging from research grants, CSR contributions, and inclusive hiring practices, Justice Chandrachud said.

He underlined that there is a long way to go before accessibility, autonomy, and equal participation for persons with disabilities are achieved.

“We still need accurate statistics of persons with disabilities, disaggregated along the various intersecting inequalities of gender, urban-rural divide, and types of disabilities,” Justice Chandrachud noted.

While government and private bodies are increasingly employing persons with disabilities, the workplace conditions are only slowly catching up, he told the gathering.

Technological solutions are sometimes prohibitively expensive and are unavailable to those who need them the most, he rued.

“Even as nearly 20 crore people live with psychosocial disabilities, we’re ill-prepared to properly diagnose and accommodate their needs. Honest and deliberate communication of needs is central to evolving solutions for some of these issues,” he pointed out.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court has rejected a petition that sought lowering of the cut-offs in All India Bar Examination (AIBE) for law graduates, with Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud adding a ‘please study’ advice for the petitioner.

The All India Bar Examination is conducted by the Bar Council of India, and law graduates must clear it to start their practice. This exam is conducted in over 10 languages twice a year and can be taken at any age. The subjects in the exam are wide-ranging, including Constitutional laws, criminal laws, PILs, environmental laws and industry laws. Taxation and intellectual property laws are also part of the syllabus, along with several other branches.

Currently, the cut-off for this exam is 45 per cent of general category of OBC candidates and 40 per cent for applicants from SC/ST categories.

“They have put a cut-off of 45 for general, OBC and 40 for SC/ST …what kind of lawyer will the person be if they cannot score this much?,” the Chief Justice said. He then added, “Padho bhai”.

Recently, in response to a query under the Right to Information Act, the Bar Council had said that over 50 per cent of candidates who took the exam last year had failed to clear it.

According to the AIBE website, it is an open book exam aimed at assessing basic level knowledge and analytical skills for a candidate willing to practise law.

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court today witnessed dramatic exchanges when a Lucknow-based advocate requested two separate benches to pardon him and remove costs imposed on him for filing frivolous Public Interest Litigation (PIL).

First, a bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Augustine G Masih pulled up Lucknow-based advocate Ashok Pandey for not paying cost of Rs 50,000 imposed on him. The cost was imposed last year after the top court dismissed the lawyer’s plea challenging the appointment of Supreme Court advocates as High Court judges.

The bench noted that the lawyer travelled abroad soon after the court imposed the cost. “Now you cannot say that you can’t pay cost of Rs 50,000,” the bench said, noting that he is a “practising lawyer”.

To this, Mr Pandey said he has not got a single case since last year and that his trip was “sponsored by my kids”.

“You pay the cost in a week else we will issue a contempt (notice). Are you willing to pay in 2 weeks or not? You are the member of the bar, we request you to answer it clearly,” the bench said.

The lawyer replied that his “children are rich, but I am poor”. Referring to former Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, he claimed, “I had initially filed several petitions for CJI Dipak Misra when a lot of allegations were put against him. Nobody from this court supported him but I was there. I have requested the CJI and President of India for the payment in those cases. CJI has referred my matter to SCLSC (Supreme Court Legal Services Committee) for payment. I will pay lordship.”

Justice Oka granted the lawyer time till August 5 and added that the court will issue a contempt notice if the payment is not made by then.

The lawyer was then puilled up by another bench — of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan — for not paying Rs 1 Lakh imposed on him in a separate matter. This was in connection to a PIL last year in which Mr Pandey had challenged the reinstatement of the Lok Sabha Membership of NCP’s Mohd Faizal Padippura. The court had come down heavily on the lawyer over the frivolous PIL. Mr Pandey has earlier also challenged the oath taken by the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. He had said that the Chief Justice did not say “I” while taking the oath. This lawyer had also challenged the restoration of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha membership, attracting another fine. 

Justice Gavai asked the lawyer, “How many courts have imposed cost on you?” He replied, “Please recall the cost. I don’t have money.” The bench rejected the plea, but the lawyer persisted. “If you don’t leave the court, we will have to embarrass ourselves,” Justice Gavai said.

The lawyer stayed put and said, “I am requesting with folded hands. This is no contempt, Sir… Please remove cost from this case.” He then addressed Justice Gavai and said, “You are also going to be next CJI.” The judge responded, “God knows”, and added, “Are you leaving or not? We have to call the security personnel.”

Justice Gavai is the third seniormost judge in Supreme Court and is in line to be Chief Justice of India.

This was not all. Mr Pandey then approached Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and complained against Justice Gavai. He said that the senior judge had warned him that his “sanad” — meaning licence to practice law — will be revoked. 

The Chief Justice replied that heated arguments do take place, but warned the lawyer against making such allegations. “You cannot make allegations like this on the judges of the bench. They never misbehave with lawyers. If you want to challenge the fines, file a review,” he said.  

The Supreme Court has pulled up petitioners and lawyers over frivolous PILs, with Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud saying that the public is paying for precious judicial time. 

New Delhi:

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud has said judges, though not elected, have a very vital role to play because the judiciary has a “stabilising influence” in the evolution of societies which are rapidly changing with technology.

He was responding to the most common criticism that unelected judges should not venture into executive’s domain. He made the observations while speaking in the 3rd Comparative Constitutional Law discussion co-hosted by the Georgetown University Law Center, Washington and the Society for Democratic Rights (SDR), New Delhi on the topic – ‘Perspectives from the Supreme Courts of India and the United States’.

“I believe that judges have a very vital role to play though we are not elected. We don’t go back to the people every five years to seek their votes. But, there’s a reason for that… I do believe that the judiciary, in that sense, is a stabilising influence in the evolution of our societies, particularly in something like our age which is so rapidly changing with technology,” the CJI said.

The judges are the voice of something which must subsist beyond “the vicissitudes of time” and the courts have the ability to provide stabilising influence in the societies.

“I do believe that we have a role to play in the overall stability of our own civilizations, our own cultures, particularly in the context of a plural society, such as India,” he said.

As part of a cultural and social background, the CJI said that the courts have become focal points of engagement between civil society and the quest for social transformation.

“So, people approach the courts, not just for outcomes. Let’s be very clear, people approach the courts also for a voice in the process of constitutional change…,” he said. This is a complex question and there are several reasons as to why people come to courts more often, he said.

“It is very important for courts… because we are as many institutions of governance… of course there is the principle of the separation of powers. We don’t take upon ourselves the role of the legislature or we don’t take upon ourselves the role of the executive,” he said.

The courts are becoming places where people come in order to give vent to the expression for the society which they aspire to achieve, he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

There may be a thousand issues meriting attention but everything cannot be entertained to make the Supreme Court dysfunctional, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said on Tuesday while declining to hear an interim plea on the deaths of captive elephants in Kerala.

“These are local issues which may be dealt with by the high courts. If they make an egregious error then we are here to correct those errors. But you know … how can we run the country,” a bench comprising Chief Justice Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra said.

“What is the role of the Supreme Court in the nation … we are not to deal with these, you know, micromanagement of issues which arise all over the country. If the high court commits an egregious error we are here and will correct the error,” it said.

Senior advocate CU Singh, appearing for an intervenor, at the outset raised the issue of deaths of captive elephants in Kerala, violation of rules and sought an urgent hearing.

“More than 135 captive elephants in Kerala died due to neglect, and overwork between February 2019 to November 2022,” he said.

The bench asked Mr Singh to approach the high court with the grievance, saying the judges there are aware of the local conditions and the ramifications.

The Chief Justice was irked over the “proliferation” of interim applications in pending cases and stressed the need to understand the role of the Supreme Court.

On being insisted that the matter be heard in the Supreme Court itself, the bench said, “Now we cannot entertain everything here to make the Supreme Court dysfunctional.”

“We are of the view that it will not be possible to entertain such IAs (interim applications). The intervenor may be heard on substantive issues when the writ petition is listed,” the bench said and listed the main case for hearing in December.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud today said Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas have persisted over time as a tool of social change, non-violent ways of life and humanism. The Chief Justice of India was speaking at a programme organised on Gandhi Jayanti in London.

“In India, he is lovingly referred to as ‘Bapu’ which means ‘father’. In a spiritual sense, he is a guiding light for all of us. His ideas have persisted over time as a tool of social change, non-violent ways of life and humanism,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said.

“Bapu’s legacy extends far beyond the boundaries of India. His ideas have inspired countless individuals and people’s movements around the world, transcending cultural and geographical barriers. His philosophy continues to influence and guide those who strive for a more equitable and just society,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said.

The Chief Justice of India said Bapu’s commitment to social justice and equality continues to “inspire us to fight against injustices”.

“His unwavering belief in the inherent dignity and worth of every individual serves as a reminder that we must strive for a society where everyone is treated with fairness and respect. Bapu’s vision of a more equitable and just society encourages us to challenge systems of oppression, advocate for the rights of marginalised communities, and work towards creating a society where everyone has equal opportunities and access to necessities,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said.

He said Bapu’s lessons on sustainability are a guiding light for today’s world. “As we face the pressing issue of climate change and environmental challenges, his emphasis on living in harmony with nature and practising sustainable lifestyles provides us with valuable guidance,” the Chief Justice of India said.

“Bapu believed in the philosophy of ‘plain living and high thinking’, thus advocating for a lifestyle that is mindful of our impact on the environment. His ideas on sustainability remind us of the importance of contentment and responsible consumption, conservation of resources, and the need to protect the natural world for future generations,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said.

“As we remember and pay our tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary, let us re-dedicate ourselves to upholding his principles and working towards a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world,” he said.

New Delhi:

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud Friday asserted it was wrong to say that the Supreme Court collegium has no factual data to evaluate the candidates being considered for appointment as judges of the top court and high courts.

Delivering the Ram Jethmalani Memorial Lecture, the CJI said the collegium has prepared a broad platform where it has assessed top 50 judges of country for consideration as Supreme Court judges.

“Our aim is to lay down objective parameters for selection of judges for SC, HCs,” Justice Chandrachud said.

The CJI said his goal has been to institutionalise courts and move away from an ad hoc model of operation.

“Too often individuals come and lay down ideas only to be forgotten when they pass on the baton to the next person. Institutionalising courts enhances transparency and accountability,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)