Only good thing CJI can do is withdraw judicial work from Justice Shekhar Yadav: senior advocate Dushyant Dave

Dave was delivering a lecture connected the “Constitution of India and the Indian Judiciary” astatine the India Islamic Cultural Centre connected Saturday. It was the archetypal A G Noorani Memorial Lecture. Noorani, a starring dependable connected law instrumentality and issues of Kashmir and Indian Muslims, passed distant connected August 29, 2024.

Responding to a question by elder advocator Shadan Farasat connected dealing with judicial impropriety arsenic successful the lawsuit of Justice Yadav, Dave said, “…the lone happening that a bully main justness would bash is, arsenic was done by Justice (M N) Venkatachaliah, is instrumentality distant the judicial enactment from the acrophobic justice and that is thing which the main justness (of India) and the collegium person to counsel the main justness of the acrophobic precocious tribunal to do. There is nary different mode we tin woody with this situation, unfortunately. Continued disapproval of the behaviour of the justice is besides thing which should instrumentality place…to impressment upon the justice that…why the law framers ne'er wanted this state to beryllium a Hindu Rashtra and they wanted secularism…the Constitution, Article aft Article, impressment connected the secular doctrine and the debates supply a clear-cut thought that each subordinate wanted (a secular state) and not otherwise. I person not seen adjacent Syama Prasad Mukherjee oregon Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya successful the debates arguing to the contrary.”

Referring to the Constituent Assembly debates connected state of religion, Dave said, “Sardar (Vallabhbhai) Patel told us, kindly don’t interfere with these taste and spiritual rights arsenic they signifier portion of the statement arrived astatine earlier the Partition. Have we ever stressed connected this, reminded those successful powerfulness that this is what your Sardar, whose statue you’ve built astatine a outgo of Rs 3,500 crore, said this?”

Dave further said that a “dangerous mode of assignment of judges” has been adopted, which B R Ambedkar “specifically wanted to avoid”.

Critiquing the collegium strategy of assignment for judges, Dave said, “Ambedkar had said, ‘I deliberation to let the main justness practically a veto upon the assignment of judges is truly to transportation the authorization to the main justness which we are not prepared to vest connected the President oregon authorities of the day. I truthful deliberation that this is simply a unsafe proposition’. This is precisely what the SC did erstwhile they constituted a collegium headed by main justness to marque appointments. They truly person adopted the unsafe proposition that Ambedkar expressly wanted to avoid, and we did not accidental a connection astir it.”

Dave rued that Ambedkar “believed excessively much” successful the citizenry and institutions of India and had frankincense not prohibited the acceptance of authorities bureau by members of the judiciary post-retirement. He said Ambedkar had reasoned that the judiciary shall beryllium deciding cases betwixt citizens and seldom betwixt citizens and governments, frankincense minimising the chances of authorities influencing the judiciary.

“Little did helium realise that 50-60 years later, the biggest litigant successful the state volition beryllium the government, wherever the citizens volition beryllium successful struggle with the authorities daily, for enforcement of their law and cardinal rights…Little did helium realise what benignant of enforcement and what benignant of judges determination volition beryllium 50-70 years later. They ne'er believed the state would autumn to specified laws arsenic we person fallen today.”