After Justice Kurian Joseph's Recent Remark That Judges Must Only Have 'Constitutional Conscience' As 'Conscience Keepers Of Constitution' Video Emerges Where He Says His Conscience Is 'Christian'

After Justice Kurian Joseph's remark during a recent speech that Judges must only have "Constitutional conscience" and not a conscience formed either by his ideology or by his philosophy since a Judge is the "conscience keeper of the Constitution", a video of the retired Judge saying that his conscience is "Christian" has emerged.

While speaking at a seminar hosted by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) on Saturday, on the subject- "Supreme Court administration and management- Issues and concerns", the retired Supreme Court Judge had said, "I have seen judges speaking, I have done the best according to my conscience. He has no special conscience, individual conscience. His conscience is only the Constitutional conscience. He does not have a conscience formed either by his ideology or by his philosophy or by the commitment of the patrons who have helped him to reach that position. His conscience is the conscience of the Constitution. He is the conscience keeper of the Constitution".

In the same speech, Justice Joseph had also objected to the mention of 'Yato Dharmastato Jayaḥ' on the emblem of the Supreme Court.

While speaking at the centenary celebrations of the creation of the Syro-Malabar hierarchy, on December 10, in Kerala, Justice Joseph said that his conscience is "Christian".

Justice Joseph was speaking about his stand on the controversy about the dispute within the Church over the unification of the manner in which Mass is conducted in Churches. "I have only said what my conscience felt is true and logical because my conscience is Christian conscience, all of our conscience, because it is centred around Christ. It is Christ-centered conscience", Justice Joseph said.

"When we go forward centred (focused) around Christ, we should move away from anything that is not suitable for Christ", he added in his speech in Malayalam.

During his speech, Justice Kurian Joseph also spoke about what led him to write an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a Judge of the Supreme Court in 2015, protesting against the holding of the Chief Justices' Conference that year on Good Friday and Easter. The letter of the then Judge of the Supreme Court had sparked a row.

He said in his speech that the Constitution of India keeps India together and added, "When I smelled a threat to that inclusion (prescribed in the Constitution of India), in 2013 (wrongly mentioned for 2015), when celebrations were held during the holy week, I refused to attend the dinner function hosted by the Prime Minister, the President and the Chief Justice and the lunch hosted by the Law Minister. I had then publicly said that this is a holy week for Christians. Our culture is inclusive. It was the most sacred and holy week and I had written an open letter stating that holding such celebrations during that time was not right. It had become a big new, you all will remember".

He continued by asking whether such a function would be held during the Diwali or Dusshera celebrations. "I had asked them a question with pain. Would you have held such a celebration during Dipawali or Dussera? Nobody in India could give an answer to that question", he said.

He also added that for a person who knows what the truth is, he will say it even if his throat is slit.

In his open letter to the Prime Minister in 2015 while he as a Judge of the Apex Court, Justice Joseph had said, "I regret my inability to attend the event as the conference coincides with the Good Friday ceremonies. Good Friday is a day of great religious significance to us, marking the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. ......Thus, it is customary for us to be part of the religious and other ceremonies with the parents, elders and other family members during the holy weekend. Hence I would be in Kerala during those days." He had also said in his letter, "I know it is too late to reschedule the events. But being the guardian of Indian secularism, I request your Honour to kindly have in mind these concerns also while scheduling events and benevolently show equal importance and respect to the sacred days of all religions which are also declared as national holidays".

During his recent speech on Saturday, Justice Joseph also said that the media in our country has failed to defend democracy. "The greatest blow to the democracy is that the fourth pillar has failed the country, forget about the first three pillars, fourth pillar which is the media has failed to defend the democracy. They have failed to defend the Constitution; they have failed to defend the truth. So, our only hope is the fifth pillar, whistleblowers…", he said.