NDTV Exclusive – “No Case Too Small For Highest Court”: Chief Justice’s Message To Citizens

New Delhi: 

The Supreme Court is always there for citizens of India, “irrespective of wealth, social status, caste, religion, or gender or who is in power”, and “no case is too small for the highest court of the land”, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud told NDTV’s Ashish Bhargava in an exclusive interview Wednesday.

In a wide-ranging discussion focused on the use of technology to ensure men and women across the country can access every level of the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice told NDTV, “I want to give this message to all – we are always there for the common citizens.”

“Sometimes I get e-mails in the middle of the night. Once there was a woman who needed medical termination of a pregnancy… my staff contacted me and we constituted a bench the next day,” he said.

Kisi ka ghar demolish ho gaya… kisi ko usi ke ghar se bahar nikaal diya… kisi ko surrender karna hai lekin vo beemar hai (someone’s house may have been demolished… someone may have been thrown out of their house… someone may need to surrender but they are unwell)… all these heart-breaking cases are given the serious attention of the courts,” the Chief Justice told NDTV.

“There is no case which is too small… we treat everyone equally and our mission is to stand by the common people. We are conscious of the fact that regardless of who is in power, common people have concerns and the judiciary is the vital element in the preservation of law,” he stressed.

The action of the courts, the Chief Justice said is an integral part of the overall fabric of the Constitution of India, and gives it a vital legitimacy. That, he explained, was why he reached out to district courts and met judges at a recently organised conference in Gujarat’s Kutch, in which 150 judges took part.