I Am Not Defensive About The Fact That I Am A Person Of Faith: Chief Justice Chandrachud Explains His Remark That Deity Helped Him Find Solution In Ayodhya Case

Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has explained his recent statement that God helped him find a solution to the Ayodhya dispute. The Chief Justice commented on his earlier statement when he was asked about it in a discussion hosted by the Indian Express. 

The CJI started by explaining the background in which he was speaking when he made that statement and said that the controversy it created is a "problem of the social media".

"You must have the backdrop of where I was speaking. I visited my Village which is about one and a half hours away from Pune. it's a village called Kanhersar, predominantly agricultural community. One of the questions which I was asked was that in the arena of conflict which you find in your courts how do you stay still or how do you stay calm, that was a question which I was asked, which I was specifically made to answer", he said. 

He continued, "I said everyone has his own 'Mantra' and by 'Mantra' again I don't mean the religious 'Mantra' but the 'Mantra' of Life. Somebody may want to exercise, somebody wants to treck. So far as I am concerned, I spend an hour every morning in reflection, reflection about what I am going to do, how I am going to handle my case load for the day, how I am going to handle this arena of conflict in which I perform my public duties every day".

I Am A Person of Faith

The CJI said continuing to answer the question, "I meant, when I said that I sit before a deity, I make no bones about the fact, and I am not defensive about the fact that I am a person of faith. I have my own faith. Equally, I respect every other faith and that's the kind of work which we do. My being a person who professes a particular faith has nothing to do about how I will treat people of different faiths who come in court seeking justice before us".

He said that critiques twisted what he said. "This in in response to your question- how do we decide cases, and I must put that point against me as well. Because people said, well now the judges of the Supreme Court are appealing to a divine power to tell them the answer to a case, that is really putting what I said on the head", he said.

"What I said was this and what I mean was this- of course every case that we decide is decided in accordance with the principles of law and the Constitution and whether we do that or not is again subject to scrutiny. We are going to deliver two judgments tomorrow and you will see whether they are decided in accordance with the Constitution and the laws", said the CJI yesterday about the Judgments pronounced today upholding the constitutionality of the U.P. Board Of Madarsa Education Act and interpreting Article 39(b) of the Constitution.

Laws Can Be Used To Do Injustice 

He further clarified, "But, having said that, the same judge who applies the law can do justice, but as a human being, there's always a prospect that the same human can commit an act of injustice. In colonial times, the same law was used as a means of oppression. The same law can be used as a means of providing justice. So what is the distinction? How do you ensure that as a human being you use the authority which is given to you under the law to do justice as opposed to doing Injustice? And that's where your own sense of equanimity comes to the fore".

He further said, "How do I maintain my own sense of equanimity in an arena of conflict, intense conflict, and not just conflict between say States in the union or between two political parties, conflict between husband and wife, conflict between two warring corporate houses? That's where I feel that whatever way you adopt to maintain your sense of calm is very crucial to having an ordered discourse and ordered outcomes in the work which you do. I believe that if someone feels that will it is their faith which gives them that sort of calm, because it is that sense of calm which gives you the degree of objectivity to look beyond the conflict, so be it. And I think that people must accept".

Faith Doesn't Affect Ability To Do Justice To People of Other Faith 

"The fact that you belong to a particular faith has nothing to do about your ability to do justice to people of different faiths as well", said CJI Chandrachud when the audience applauded. 

He continued, "One look at our cause list, which incidentally I don't look at because you know there are names, but one look at the daily cause list would just indicate the diversity of India which comes to our court every day and to whom we try and do justice".