Responding to criticism over his remark, in a recent interview that, the “erection of the Babri Masjid was a fundamental act of desecration,” former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said his words had been taken out of context. He said that parts of his response were being selectively quoted on social media, leading to a misrepresentation of his views.
“What is happening on social media is that people lift one part of the answer and combine it with another part, completely removing the context,” Chandrachud said at the India Today Conclave in Mumbai on Thursday.
He said the Ayodhya case was decided not on the basis of faith but on evidence and legal principles. “The judgment was 1,045 pages long because the case record was over 30,000 pages. Most people who criticise it have not read the judgment. It is easy to post opinions on social media without reading the full document,” he said.
He added, “We must not forget what happened in history. These facts were part of the evidence we considered in the case.” Chandrachud was part of the Supreme Court bench that delivered the 2019 verdict in the Ayodhya land dispute case.
Chandrachud said that public opinion on social media often defines judicial independence only in terms of ideology. “Unless a judge decides every case according to a netizen’s ideological view, they are not considered independent,” he said. “Independence is also seen as only deciding cases against the government. But if you decide even one case in favour of the government, you are called pro-government.”
He also listed examples of cases where the court had ruled against the government, including the electoral bonds case, the Aligarh Muslim University minority status case, and the Aadhaar verdict.
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