“We must scrutinize the actions of those in power everyday” Justice DY Chandrachud while speaking on Human Rights Day

Has democratic rule in India over the past seventy years reduced the political, social, and economic exclusion faced by Indian citizens? This was a question posed by Justice DY Chandrachud today, on the occasion of Human Rights Day..India has had an excellent democratic record where the peaceful handover of power is the “overriding norm” after the conduct of general elections, Justice Chandrachud said. He however added that we must ask ourselves about the exclusion faced by our citizens. The Supreme Court judge cited the events of Unnao and Hyderabad from last week as compelling examples..“The most telling pictorial representation that we have seen last week is the representation of the two facets of India – the Unnao rape survivor lying burnt in the field and the four men lying dead who had been shot dead by the police.”.He also stressed on the importance of participative processes and identifying the complementary role of political and legal spheres in ensuring the protection of Human Rights..Justice Chandrachud was delivering a speech on the subject of “Adding nuance to the Human Rights Discourse” on the occasion of Human Rights Day in a lecture organized by the International Institute of Human Rights Society..During his speech, he emphasised on the role of public deliberation as a means of holding those in power to account. He said,.“It (Public deliberations) is a reminder that we will not wait to be shocked by a terrifying tale of human rights abuse, but rather scrutinise the actions of those in power every day to ensure that such abuses never occur in the first place…And that’s my answer to the long term answer to those two visual images that I referred to.”.Speaking on the importance of the participative process in our democratic system for upholding human rights, Justice Chandrachud said that while the courts are often referred to as the last bastion of human rights, they must not be misconstrued to be the only bastion of human rights. By entrusting the courts to address these problems, the role of the elected representatives is eliminated, Justice Chandrachud said..“By placing all our problems at the doorstep of the court the moment they arise, we obliterate the powerful role of citizens and elected representatives in solving issues and require the Court to undertake a task it was never engineered to do.”.In the long deliberative process, the courts are the last in line as the guarantors of human rights. The same must be protected by the citizen, the parliamentarian, the government, and only thereafter, the courts. Otherwise, Justice Chandrachud said,.“We will entrust our Courts with everything and will be disappointed in its ability to do nothing.”.The lecture was presided over by former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha and the opening remarks were made by eminent jurist and former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee. Justice Lodha expressed despair at the current situation of Human Rights in the country..Disapproving of the recent encounter killing of the four men accused in the rape and murder of the Hyderabad veterinary doctor, Justice Lodha said that there exists an atmosphere of mob mentality..“While we are celebrating human rights day we are struggling to protect basic human rights. The case in point is the rape and murder of 27-year-old Hyderabad Veterinary doctor and the encounter killing of the accused.”.Justice Lodha also said that with calls made for a public lynching of rapists, we as a nation seem to be headed back to the Hammurabi days, where an eye for an eye was the norm..Advocate Pravin Parekh, the General Secretary of the International Institute of Human Rights Society, ended the event with his vote of thanks.