"Grave danger": CJI Chandrachud on equating court with temple, judge with God

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Saturday observed that it is "grave danger" to describe the court as a "temple of justice and equate judges with Gods" as the task of judges is to serve the public interest.

Addressing a conference on Contemporary Judicial Developments in Kolkata CJI Chandrachud said that "constitutional morality" reflects an institution's commitment of the Court system.

"Too very often, when 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. There is a grave danger that we perceive ourselves as the deities in those temples," Chandrachud said.

The CJI said that "he feels reticent when he is told that the court is the temple of justice because the temple postulates that the judges are in the position of a deity."

"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.

He further emphasized on the word 'contemporary' and said that the word itself speaks about in the context of contemporary societal challenges which the judges face in the work they do.

"This conference speaks on Contemporary Judicial Developments and strengthening justice through law and technology. The word 'contemporary' is very important because it does not speak about the work which we do in the abstract, but in the context of contemporary societal challenges which we as judges face in the work we do. We, therefore, look at the law and its intersection of technology from the perspective of the societal conditions in which those whom we serve exist in our societies because the true merit of our work lies in addressing challenges faced by those at whose feet we are intended to serve the common citizens of India," he said.

He further said that the people exist in a federal structure that is marked by a great deal of diversity.

"I was born in Mumbai, belong to a small village located 60-70 kilometers away from Pune. The work as judges we do in Delhi is to realize the importance of preserving the diversity of India. So how do we then dwell on the constitutional of morality? At one level constitutional morality is founded in the permeable values. The values which the Constitution, Preamble sets out," he added.

The CJI said that C onstitutional morality addresses itself in every component of society.

"The Consitution is not merely a dialogue between the states and its citizens, or Union or the states, or States and States. It is a dialogue within and between the societies. The Consitution Morality itself addresses to every component of society," he said.

He said that even while sentencing anyone in a criminal case, the judges do that with a sense of compassion, since at the end, a human being is being sentenced.

"So these concepts of constitutional morality, which I think, 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," CJI Chandrachud said.

He further stressed on the relevance of technology in the functioning of the judiciary and said that the language is the central barrier to accessing and understanding verdicts by common people.

"Technology can provide us with some answers. Most judgments are written in English. Technology has enabled us to translate them. We are translating 51,000 judgments in other languages," CJI said.