The BBC has once again tried to undermine landmark judgements delivered by the Supreme Court over the past few years, especially those during the Modi tenure, in the latest interview with former CJI DY Chandrachud.

Stephen Sackur, on his programme HARDtalk, interviewed DY Chandrachud and Sackur comes across as an ill-informed interviewer asking questions based on leftist and anti-national viewpoints. Some of the topics he touched upon in the interview include Article 370 abrogation, Ram Janmabhoomi judgement, and the CAA. When one listens to the questions and the “observations” and opinionated, prejudiced comments that Sackur makes, the people he quotes, one can easily conclude that this is nothing but a hit job on the former CJI and the country. Whatever the case, DY Chandrachud very calmly responded despite having to sit across from Sackur who made clueless statements – something that shouldn’t have been the case given his experience as a journalist.

Sackur touched upon the Ram mandir judgement and said, “One more key judgement that you were involved in – your decision to give a green light to the building of a Hindu temple in Ayodhya on what was the rubble, the remains of a mosque that was destroyed in 1992. The decision you took resonated throughout the country, you said at the time that you had asked God for a solution to this mosque Ram temple dispute.”

Chandrachud called it ‘erroneous’ but Sackur continued to quote this alleged statement and said, “The quote is ‘I sat before the deity and told him he needs to find a solution.'”

Chandrachud dismissed the claim as “completely erroneous and incorrect,” asserting that it was a misrepresentation circulated on social media. “That’s what has been said on a part of social media, and let me clarify this again, as before, that this is completely incorrect,” he stated.

To this, Sackur shot back asking, “So you didn’t pray? Because you are Hindu, this seems to be an exclusionary act and you were saying in essence that you sought religious guidance as a Hindu to decide what to do in a court of law.”

However, Chandrachud maintained that his faith does not compromise his judicial impartiality. He said, “If you look at social media and you try and derive what was said by a judge from social media, you’ll get the wrong answers. What I said was this, I was asked specifically. I make no bones of the fact that I am a man of faith. Our Constitution does not require you to be an atheist to be an independent judge, and I value my faith. But what my faith teaches me is the universality of religion. And irrespective of who comes to my court, and I dare say that applies to other judges in the Supreme Court as well, irrespective of who comes to you as a litigant, you dispense equal and even-handed justice.”

Chandrachud continued, “Judicial creativity is not just about intellectual ability and skill. It’s also about perception. And we work in areas of conflict. We work in areas of intense conflict. Now, within that area of conflict, how do you find a sense of calm, of equanimity? Different judges have different ways to approach that need for calm and equanimity. For me, my time in meditation and prayer is very important. But my time in meditation and prayer teaches me to be even-handed to every religious group and community in the country.”

"Our constitution does not require you to be an Atheist to be an independent judge"

"I value my faith"

Tight slap to the BBC Journalist. pic.twitter.com/VHjXr5Bzif

— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) February 13, 2025

The Supreme Court’s judgment on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, delivered on 9 November 2019, paved the way for the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The five-judge bench, which included Chandrachud, settled a case that had been in litigation for ages.

It is also noteworthy that the BBC received funding from USAID and also has indulged in smear campaigns against Hinduism, our national leaders such as PM Modi, Yogi Adityanath, etc. They even called the Mahakumbh a “bathing spectacle” led by “naked ascetics”.

Following backlash, they changed the title to read, “Ash-smeared holy men lead India bathing spectacle”.

The BBC mocks the Maha Kumbh Mela, a 44-day festival with 400M devotees, as a mere "bathing spectacle" & demonizes Naga Sadhus as "naked, ash-smeared ascetics."
Where’s the cultural sensitivity, nuance, or respect for one of humanity’s largest spiritual gatherings? #KumbhMela pic.twitter.com/a19y87ByLj

— Vishal Yadav (@vsalydv01) January 15, 2025

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The post “I Am a Man of Faith, Prayer Teaches Me to Be Even-Handed” Former CJI DY Chandrachud Slaps Down BBC’s Stephen Sackur appeared first on The Commune.

Former Chief Justice of India currently serving as Rajya Sabha MP Ranjan Gogoi, while addressing a webinar titled “Ensuring an Independent Judiciary under our Constitution: Confronting the Contemporary Challenges, asked why were the “activist judges” and others taking commercial arbitration not questioned for their post-retirement work.

The former CJI had been subject to criticism for accepting his nomination to the Rajya Sabha.

In his response to a question on judges taking post-retirement assignment he said “there are 3 categories – the ‘activist judges’, those taking commercial arbitrations and those accepting other kind of assignment’.

“Why is it that only the 3^rd category draws all the flak? Why no questions are asked about the other two?” he asked.

He noted that the judiciary is not averse to criticism but must be an honest, intellectual and acedmic exercise.

He took a dig at the group of people, ‘activists’, and intellectuals coming from a certain ideological and political viewpoint for listing out criteria as to who is an independent judge and said that according to them, an independent judge must necessarily be anti-establishment.

“He must be anti-authoritarianism… He must be eloquent on issues like rich-poor divide, oppression of the marginalised, issues pertaining to suppression of fundamental rights and he must advocate free speech even to the extent of touching the frontiers of defamation. These are the identification marks of an ‘independent judge’,” Justice Gogoi said. He noted that if a judge doesn’t conform to these criteria, his independence is questioned and attacked instead of criticising the judgement.  He said that such a thing is destructive of the independence of the judiciary.

To a question on why the Ayodhya judgement did not have the name of the author, he said “I can show 32 cases decided by a particular bench in 2015-16 when the author wasn’t named in the judgment. But then no questions were asked. Speaking for myself, I have myself been the author of 13 judgments when the author wasn’t mentioned.”

Speaking on the collegium system Justice Gogoi said that the system was an excellent one and was time-tested.

“Some amount of discipline would improve it further. Some may not be satisfied but the idea is to be true to the law” he said.

He said that the problem is with the individuals running the system and added that the problem may not necessarily be from collegium members but from outside the collegium but within the judiciary.

The post Former CJI Ranjan Gogoi gives rebuttal to critics, asks why “activist judges” are not questioned appeared first on The Commune.