Justice A.P.Shah delivered the Hindu LitFest lecture on October 28th. The theme was Literature and Law. After retirement as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, he led the Law Commission. His decision to decriminalise homosexuality and his consistent support for delegitimising capital punishment stand out prominently. Before his retirement from the Delhi HC, it was widely expected that he would be elevated to the Supreme Court. But it was not to be. Had this taken place post-2014, political parties would have blamed the central government and raised a furore.
Shah's judgements are known for their humaneness. He is against 'trial by the media'. At the same time, he stoutly defends freedom of expression.
He did not confine himself to the topic though he did speak elaborately on the linkage between literature and law. His references to American jurisprudence, English literature, Marathi novels, Tiruvalluvar, Silappathikaram and Rabindranath Tagore were as relevant as they could be. He praised Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer's erudite judgements and at the same time complimented the straight-forward simplicity of judgments of Vivian Bose.
Straying from the subject, he aired his grievance about the Jana Gana Mana judgment. He clarified he respects the national anthem but when standing up is legally mandated, he gets upset. This is a trifle unclear for can someone say, "I don't want to harm others. But if law becomes obtrusive and enjoins me not to harm others, I feel bad"?
There ought to be limits to judicial humaneness also. Criminality is addictive and if judges, by wearing humaneness on their sleeves, are liberal with the guilty, are they not letting down the innocent and the society at large? Mahatma Gandhi might have been a good barrister, but he could not have been a good judge.
Shah's judgements are known for their humaneness. He is against 'trial by the media'. At the same time, he stoutly defends freedom of expression.
He did not confine himself to the topic though he did speak elaborately on the linkage between literature and law. His references to American jurisprudence, English literature, Marathi novels, Tiruvalluvar, Silappathikaram and Rabindranath Tagore were as relevant as they could be. He praised Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer's erudite judgements and at the same time complimented the straight-forward simplicity of judgments of Vivian Bose.
Straying from the subject, he aired his grievance about the Jana Gana Mana judgment. He clarified he respects the national anthem but when standing up is legally mandated, he gets upset. This is a trifle unclear for can someone say, "I don't want to harm others. But if law becomes obtrusive and enjoins me not to harm others, I feel bad"?
There ought to be limits to judicial humaneness also. Criminality is addictive and if judges, by wearing humaneness on their sleeves, are liberal with the guilty, are they not letting down the innocent and the society at large? Mahatma Gandhi might have been a good barrister, but he could not have been a good judge.
2 comments:
I don't understand this humanity thing. For example, this bunch of people demanded the revocation of death sentence of rajiv assassins on 'humanitarian' grounds. Granted. Death sentence was converted to life sentence. Now they call life sentence also as INHUMANE and demand the release of assassins of a PM.
I don't understand this humanity thing. For example, this bunch of people demanded the revocation of death sentence of rajiv assassins on 'humanitarian' grounds. Granted. Death sentence was converted to life sentence. Now they call life sentence also as INHUMANE and demand the release of assassins of a PM.
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