According to the CJI, humanity has expanded with the global advent of travel and technology, humanity also has retreated within by not willing to accept anything that people, as individuals, believe in.
India
oi-PTI
Chief
Justice
of
India
D
Y
Chandrachud
on
Friday
said
truth
has
become
a
“victim”
in
the
age
of
false
news
and
with
the
spread
of
social
media,
something
which
is
said
as
a
seed
germinates
into
virtually
a
whole
theory
that
can
never
be
tested
on
the
anvil
of
rational
science.
The
CJI
said
today
we
live
in
an
age
where
people
are
short
on
their
patience
and
tolerance
because
they
are
not
willing
to
accept
perspectives
which
are
different
from
their
own.
Justice
Chandrachud
was
speaking
at
the
American
Bar
Association
India
Conference
2023
here
on
the
theme
“Law
in
the
age
of
Globalisation:
Convergence
of
India
and
the
West”.
The
CJI
spoke
about
a
range
of
issues,
including
technology
and
its
use
by
the
judiciary,
especially
during
the
COVID-19
pandemic,
issues
confronting
the
judicial
profession
and
on
having
more
women
judges.
CJI
loses
temper
tells
lawyer,
“keep
quiet,
leave
court
right
now.”
“Truth
has
become
the
victim
in
an
age
of
false
news.
With
the
spread
of
social
media,
something
which
is
said
as
a
seed
germinates
into
virtually
a
whole
theory
which
can
never
be
tested
on
the
anvil
of
rational
science,”
he
said.
Justice
Chandrachud
said
in
many
ways,
the
Indian
Constitution
is
a
prime
example
of
globalisation
even
before
we
ventured
into
the
age
of
globalisation.
He
said
when
the
Constitution
was
drafted,
its
makers
had
possibly
no
idea
of
the
lines
along
which
humanity
would
evolve.
“We
did
not
possess
notions
of
privacy,
there
was
no
internet.
We
did
not
live
in
a
world
which
was
controlled
by
algorithms.
We
certainly
did
not
have
a
social
media,”
he
said.
“For
every
little
thing
that
we
do,
and
believe
me,
as
judges
we
are
no
exception
to
this,
for
everything
that
you
do,
you
face
the
threat
of
being
trolled
by
someone
who
does
not
share
your
point
of
view,”
the
CJI
said.
He
said
just
as
humanity
has
expanded
with
the
global
advent
of
travel
and
technology,
humanity
also
has
retreated
within
by
not
willing
to
accept
anything
that
people,
as
individuals,
believe
in.
“And
I
believe
that
is
the
challenge
of
our
age.
Some
of
this
is
perhaps
the
product
of
technology
itself,”
he
said,
while
also
dwelling
on
the
positives
of
technology.
Speaking
about
the
time
when
COVID-19
had
spread
across
the
world,
including
India,
the
CJI
said
the
Indian
judiciary
started
video-conferencing
in
a
very
gentle
way
and
then
expanded
it
across
all
courts.
“What
video-conferencing
has
done
as
a
consequence
of
pandemic
is
that
it
has
led
to
a
decentralisation
of
justice.
And
I
think
this
decentralisation
of
justice
is
an
important
paradigm
in
promoting
greater
access
to
justice,”
he
said.
He
said
the
Supreme
Court
of
India
is
not
the
apex
court
of
Tilak
Marg
at
New
Delhi
but
it
represents
the
aspirations
of
citizens
in
the
smallest
villages
in
the
country.
Appoint
election
commissioners
on
advice
of
committee
of
PM,
LoP,
CJI:
Supreme
Court
“And
what
better
way
to
reach
out
to
our
citizens
than
to
use
technology
as
a
part
of
our
mission
to
take
justice
to
the
doorsteps
of
citizens,”
he
said.
“But,
apart
from
technology,
there
are
vital
issues
which
confront
the
profession
today.
Chief
among
them
is
the
reform
of
the
legal
profession
itself.
In
so
many
ways,
our
profession
is
still
patriarchal,
our
profession
is
feudal,
our
profession
is
built
upon
kinships
and
relationships
of
community,”
he
said.
Justice
Chandrachud
said
globalisation
has
led
to
its
own
discontent
and
there
are
a
number
of
reasons
for
this,
for
the
meltdown
which
has
been
experienced
the
world
over.
“One,
I
think
the
first
of
the
origins
of
this
lay
in
the
terror
attacks
which
took
place
in
2001.
India
was
shaken
up
sporadically
by
these
terror
attacks…
But
2001
was
a
watershed
moment
which
brought
to
the
global
society
the
stark
realities
which
India
had
already
confronted
for
years
and
years
before
that,”
he
said.
The
CJI
said
he
is
often
asked
about
why
we
cannot
have
more
women
judges
in
the
country.
He
said
the
state
of
our
institution
today
in
terms
of
inclusion
and
diversity
reflects
the
state
of
the
profession
two
decades
ago.
“Because
the
judges
who
come
to
the
high
courts
today,
say
in
2023,
or
judges
who
come
to
the
Supreme
Court
in
2023
reflect
the
state
of
the
bar
in
the
beginning
of
the
millennium,”
he
said.
Justice
Chandrachud
said
unless
there
was
a
level-playing
field
for
women
to
enter
and
thrive
in
the
legal
profession
between
2000
and
2023,
there
is
no
magic
wand
by
which
you
will
have
apex
court
judges
drawn
from
among
women
in
2023.
“So
we
have
to
create
a
framework,
a
groundwork
for
a
more
diverse
and
inclusive
profession
today
if
we
truly
have
to
create
a
future
where
our
profession
will
be
more
inclusive
and
diverse,”
he
said.
The
CJI
said
the
statistics
on
recent
recruitment
in
the
district
judiciary
in
India
indicates
that
in
many
states,
more
than
50
per
cent
are
women.
He
said
the
cause
of
that
is
the
spread
of
education
in
India.
“As
education
spread
in
India,
women
education
has
gone
up
and
there
is
today
a
perception
on
the
part
of
middle
class,
the
growing
middle
class
in
India,
that
the
key
to
prosperity
of
an
average
Indian
family
is
to
educate
their
daughters,”
he
said.
The
CJI
also
gave
details
of
how
the
Supreme
Court
has
adopted
technology,
including
live-streaming
of
proceedings
of
the
constitution
benches
and
translation
of
judgements
in
regional
languages.
Story first published: Saturday, March 4, 2023, 8:49 [IST]