Supreme Court judge Justice Surya Kant on Sunday said that the judiciary serves as a stabilizing force in a country as diverse as India where democracy permeates every level.

Justice Kant added that democracy represents not the vote banks but constitutional values. It reinforces public trust and ensures that blood of democracy continues to flow unblemished, he added.

“Democracy like nuclear fusion holds immense generative power but as with any power … it demands principled restraint. The Constitution serves as its containment chamber, shaping and guiding that energy, and it is the judiciary that plays the role of the stabilizing core, ensuring that this power does not fracture into chaos but is channeled in service of constitutional order and justice," Justice Kant said.

He was delivering the first Annual Shri HL Sibal Memorial Lecture at Punjab and Haryana High Court.

High Court Chief Justice Sheel Nagu, Senior Advocate RS Cheema and Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal also spoke at the event. Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court Chief Justice Arun Palli and judges of different high courts were also present. 

HL Sibal, born in Lahore in Pakistan, moved to India after partition. He practiced at Lahore, Amritsar, Chandigarh and in Delhi. He remained the President of High Court Bar Association and also held the post of Advocate General of both Punjab and Haryana. He was awarded the ‘Punjab Rattan’ award in 2023 and Padma Bhushan in 2006. He died in 2012. Sibal is known for having fought the cases of eminent Urdu writers Saadat Hasan Manto and Ismat Chughtai.

He is the father of Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal and former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal.

Justice Kant described HL Sibal as a mentor, a guide and a dear friend. 

“His wisdom shaped my thinking, his generosity uplifted me… his presence in my life was a gift,” the top court judge said, adding that Sibal was an institution in himself. 

He added that Sibal practiced in different branches of law and delivered outstandingly but election matters were close to his heart. 

“It is a domain he championed with unmatched conviction and continues to reflect the values he held so dear,” Justice Kant said. 

Justice Kant said Sibal's approach in cases pertaining to electoral corrupt practices was to persuade courts to have a "very conservative view, a conventional view".

"The reason was simple - that he wanted that the will and wish of people must be respected by court... merely because there are some allegations against a candidate who has won the election, unless it is found to be the case of hijacking the system or completely misdirecting the voters, his entire contour of argument was that we respect the sentiments, will and wish of the voters, the electorate," he added.

In this context, Justice Kant spoke about the judiciary's role when it comes to elections. Judiciary is known for safeguarding free and fair elections in any democracy as elections are not mere procedural events, he said. 

“They [elections] are foundational to legitimacy and often vulnerable to misuse. The power of judicial review to invalidate tainted elections and disqualify those who engage in electoral malpractices serves not only as a deterrent but as an important mechanism to uphold the integrity of our democratic process,” he added.

Judiciary reinforces public trust and ensures that the life blood of democracy continues to flow unblemished, Justice Kant further said.  

“As the Supreme Court resolutely observed, the principle of fair and free actions forms an essential part of our Basic Structure. One of the more visionary strides taken by our constitutional courts has been the expansive interpretation of Article 324 empowering the Election Commission to placidly supervise elections, independently and with decorum, while simultaneously securing the foundational freedom and democratic guarantees over to every citizen,” he added.

Kapil Sibal, in his vote of thanks, described the annual lecture as a "very emotional moment" for his family. He thanked Justice Kant for delivering the first lecture of the series and Cheema for inspiring it.

"It is pursuant to our [Sibal and Cheema's] frequent conversations that I decided to create a corpus with a sizable contribution to hold this annual lecture series and also for outreach events throughout the districts of Punjab and Haryana," Sibal said.