Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud Archives - Lokmarg

SC Constantly Working To Ensure Legal Processes Become Simpler: CJI

By LokMarg 26th November 2023

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said on Sunday that the Supreme Court is constantly working to ensure that legal processes become easier and simplified so that citizens do not languish in jails unnecessarily.

CJI said that last year, on Constitution Day, President Droupadi Murmu raised the concern of overcrowding of prisons and the incarceration of citizens from marginalized backgrounds.

Responding to that, CJI said, “Madam President, I want to assure you that we are constantly working to ensure that legal processes become easier and simplified, so that citizens do not languish in jails unnecessarily. The version 2.0 of the FASTER initiative that will be launched today ensures that judicial orders of release of a person are immediately transferred to jail authorities via electronic means, so that the person is released on time.”

In addition, on the judicial side, the Supreme Court has been hearing cases relating to prisoners’ rights, overcrowding, etc., CJI said, adding that he has also tasked the research centre of the Court to come up with a project to improve the conditions of prisons.

Speaking at the Constitution Day event in the Supreme Court, CJI Chandrachud said the goal behind these initiatives has been to ensure that the people feel that the constitutional institution of the judiciary is working for them.

“Today, on the occasion of Constitution Day, I want to tell the people of India that the doors of the Supreme Court have always been open for you and will remain open in future also. You never need to be afraid of coming to court,” CJI said.

Similarly, CJI said, that the statue of Dr Ambedkar that we unveiled today in the Supreme Court premises is an extension of the thought that the right to approach the Court is the “heart and soul” of the Constitution, as Dr Ambedkar famously said.

He further told the gathering that individuals should not be afraid of going to court or view it as a last resort.

“Rather, it is my hope that by our efforts, citizens of every class, caste, and creed can repose trust in our court system and view it as a fair and effective forum to enforce their rights. Sometimes, we as a society may frown on litigation as a disreputable entanglement.”

“But, just as the Constitution allows us to resolve our political differences through established institutions and processes, our court system helps resolve our many disagreements through established principles and processes. In this way, every case in every court in the country is an extension of constitutional governance,” CJI added.

CJI Chandrachud said that our Constitution has allowed us to take our unbridled passions and energy and streamline them through the institutional structures of government.

“So when we say today, we honour the adoption of the Constitution, first and foremost, we honour the fact that the Constitution “exists” and that the Constitution “works,” he said.

“The Constitution and its framers successfully channelled the energies of liberty and independence to build a ship and chart a course for liberty, equality, and fraternity. As we honour their achievements, we must also recognise our generation’s solemn duty to keep the ship afloat, ensure there is wind in its sails, and continue the journey,” CJI added.

In the last seven decades, the Supreme Court of India has acted as a “people’s court,” he said further.

The CJI said thousands of citizens have approached its door with the faith that they will get justice through this institution.

“Citizens came to the Court to seek the protection of their personal liberty, accountability against unlawful arrest, protection of rights of bonded labourers, asking for guidelines to prevent sexual harassment at workplace, prevention of social evils such as manual scavenging, even hoping for interference to get clean air, food security, and so many more instances that cannot be summarised in few minutes. These cases are not just citations or statistics for the Court,” said the CJI.

These cases resemble the expectations of the people from the Supreme Court, as well as the Court’s own commitment to deliver justice to the citizens, he said.

“Our Court is perhaps the only Court in the world where any citizen, no matter who they are or where they come from, can set in motion the constitutional machinery of the Supreme Court simply by even writing to the Chief Justice of India,” he further said.

Apart from ensuring that the citizens get justice through its judgements, the Supreme Court of India has been making continuous endeavours to ensure that even its administrative processes are citizen-centric so that the common citizen feels a connection with the working of the Court, said the CJI.

He said that courts are now live-streaming their proceedings and this decision was taken with the view that the citizens should know what is happening inside the courtrooms. Constant media reporting about the proceedings of the courts indicates the engagement of the public with the workings of the courtrooms.

The Supreme Court also took a decision to translate its judgments to regional languages with the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning, he said.

He mentioned that as of November 25, 2023, the Supreme Court delivered 36,068 judgments in English. All of these judgments are available for free on the e-Supreme Court Reports (e-SCR) platform of the Court, which was launched in January this year.

Supreme Court today also launched e-SCR (Hindi), as 21,388 judgments have been translated into Hindi, vetted, and uploaded on the e-SCR portal. e-SCR (Hindi) will allow the users to search for judgments in Hindi. Rest judgments translated into Hindi, are being vetted and shall be uploaded soon.

Besides, 9,276 judgments have been translated into other Indian languages, which include Punjabi, Tamil, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu, Odia, Malayalam, Bengali, Kannada, Assamese, Nepali, Urdu, Garo, Khasi, and Konkani. These judgments have also been uploaded to the e-SCR portal.

While the judiciary embraces technology, it also launched e-Sewa Kendras in all courts to ensure that no citizen is left behind in the judicial process. “We embrace our citizens as co-equal partners in a shared national endeavour,” said the CJI.

The event was attended by President Droupadi Murmu, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and other Supreme Court judges. (ANI)

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Marriage Equality Rights Refused To LGBTQIA+

By LokMarg 17th October 2023

A five-judge Supreme Court Constitution bench has in majority verdict ruled that for LGBTQIA+ couples there is no unqualified right to marriage and that conferring legal status to civil union can only be through enacted law.

The bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha delivered the verdict it had reserved on May 11 this year.

The court, however, said the judgement will not preclude the right of Queer persons to enter into relationships. The apex court also said that the challenge to Special Marriage Act (SMA) on the ground of under-classification is not made out.

Justice Ravindra Bhat, Justice Narasimha and Justice Hima Kohli were in agreement on these positions, while CJI Chandrachud and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul took divergent positions.

At the start of the judgment the bench clarified that there were four judgements in the case. One by CJI Chandrachud, another by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, a third by Justice Ravindra Bhat and the last by Justice Narasimha.

In his judgement the CJI passed the directions that the Union government and State governments must ensure there is no discrimination against the Queer community.

The CJI said it should be ensured that there is no discrimination in access to goods and services to the queer community. There is a need to sensitise public about queer rights. The Union and state Governments must create a hotline for queer community to prevent harassment. The government must create safe houses for queer couple. Government also must ensure inter-sex children are not forced to undergo operations.

The CJI said that it should be ensured that no person shall be forced to undergo any hormonal therapy. There shall be no harassment to queer community by summoning them to police station solely to enquire about their sexual identity. Police should not force queer persons to return to their natal family. Police should conduct a preliminary enquiry before registering an FIR against a queer couple over their relationship.

The CJI said this Court has the power to hear the case. Queer is a natural phenomenon known to India from ages. It is neither urban or elitist. Marriage is not static. Supreme Court cannot strike down Special Marriage Act or read words into the Act due to the institutional limitations. Failure of the State to recognise the bouquet of rights flowing from a queer relationship amounts to discrimination.

Right to enter into union cannot be restricted on the basis of sexual orientation. Transgender persons in heterosexual relationships have the right to marry under the existing laws including personal laws.

On adoption of children by queer couples, the CJI in his judgement said, unmarried couples, including queer couples, can jointly adopt a child. The Union Government, State Government and Union Territories shall not discriminate against the right of the queer community to enter into union.

The CJI directed the Union Government to constitute a committee to decide the rights and entitlements of persons in queer unions. The Committee shall consider to include queer couples as family in ration cards, enabling queer couples to nominate for joint bank account, rights flowing from pension, gratuity etc. The Committee report to be looked at the Union Government level.

In his concurring judgement Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said legal recognition of same sex unions is a step towards marriage equality, however, marriage is not the end. Justice Kaul said let us preserve the autonomy as it does not impinge on others rights.

Justice Ravindra Bhat and Justice Narasimha disagreed with the CJI on various aspects of the judgement.

Justice Bhat said there cannot be an unqualified right to marry which is to be treated as a fundamental right. While we agree that there is a right to relationship, we squarely recognise that it falls within Article 21. It includes the right to choose a partner and enjoy physical intimacy with them including right to privacy, autonomy etc. and should enjoy this right undisturbed from the society and when threatened State has to protect the same. There cannot be any doubt that there is a choice to have a life partner.

Justice Bhat said the Court can’t put State under any obligation when there is no constitutional right to marry or legal recognition of unions among non-heterosexual couples. Justice Bhat said the Court cannot create a legal framework for queer couples and it is for the legislature to do as there are several aspects to be taken into consideration. All queer persons have the right to choose their partners but State cannot be obligated to recognise the bouquet of rights flowing from such a union.

Justice Bhat further said a general neutral interpretation of Special Marriage Act may not be equitable at times and can lead to women being led to vulnerabilities in an unintended manner. The purpose of terms like wife, husband etc. is aimed to protect the vulnerable and the women facing domestic violence is there to ensure they receive justice. Thus, interpreting the Special Marriage Act as desired would render it unworkable.

Justice Bhat also disagreed with the CJI on the right of queer couples to adopt and he raised certain concerns.

In his conclusion Justice Bhat said there is no unqualified right to marriage. Conferring legal status to civil union can only be through enacted law. But these findings will not preclude the right of queer persons to enter into relationships.

In his order Justice Bhat said challenge to Special Marriage Act on the ground of under-classification is not made out. Transgender persons in homosexual relationships have the right to marry. State shall ensure queer persons are not harassed.

Justice Hima Kohli said she agrees with the view of Justice Ravindra Bhat. Justice Narasimha also said he agrees with the view of Justice Ravindra Bhat.

The five-judge Constitution bench was dealing with a batch of petitions pertaining to marriage equality rights for LGBTQIA+ community. The order was reserved on May 11 after counsels from all sides concluded their arguments.

The Constitution bench had begun the hearing on the matter on April 18 and the hearing went on for nearly 10 days. The court had clarified that it will deal with the issue under the provisions of the Special Marriage Act and will not touch the personal laws on this aspect.

The Centre has opposed the plea and said that parliament and not the court, should consider the issue. The Centre called it an Urban elite concept but the court did not agree

During the hearing the Centre had agreed to examine issues relating to giving some certain rights to LGBTQIA + but opposed legal recognition to the same-sex couple. (ANI)

Don’t Portray Religious Processions As Source Of Riots: SC

By LokMarg 9th December 2022

Don’t portray as if all religious processions are a source of riots, said the Supreme Court on Friday while dismissing a PILs seeking strict regulation of religious processions across the country.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha declined the plea saying it is a law and order issue and can be taken care of by the State police and the District Magistrates.
The PIL filed by NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace demands guidelines to regulate religious processions across the country where people brandish weapons.

CJI Chandrachud said India’s cultural diversity varies from district to district and there can’t be uniform guidelines to regulate religious processions as he dismissed the PIL.

Senior advocate CU Singh appearing for the NGO told the bench that processions are taken out brandishing swords, and firearms during religious festivals.

He contended that riots have become common during such processions taken out during religious festivals.

Why do we want to portray it that riots take place during festival sessions, asked the bench.

The apex court said religious processions are taken out during the Ganpati festival in Maharashtra, but no riots occur.

“Why do you pick up some stray incidents of riots during a religious festival to paint everything with the same brush? Try to see the positive…,” said the bench.

The plea has sought strict prohibition of the display of arms and ammunition during such processions. (ANI)