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.”
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First uploaded on: 29-06-2024 at 15:22 IST
