We must strive to ensure that we have a press free of political or economic influence: Justice DY Chandrachud

While describing democracies as forms of government that prevent tyranny, the Supreme Court's Justice DY Chandrachud today emphasised on the need for truth in a democracy..“It is important to consider why truth is so important to democracy, a form of governance adopted to avoid tyranny of the law and of the few. Truth is important in modern democracies which have been described as spaces of reason since any decision must be backed by adequate reason and because a reason based on falsehood, would be no reason at all,” the judge said..These comments by the Justice Chandrachud came at a lecture organised by the Chembur Karnataka College of Law in memory of jurist, diplomat, Cabinet Minister and former Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, Justice MC Chagla..During his address, Justice Chandrachud examined who were the truth providers in a democratic nation and the responsibility, duty and necessity of citizens to hold them accountable.“We should put these truth providers through intense scrutiny and questioning to convince ourselves of the veracity of the claims made by them. It is equally important for those making truth claims to be transparent.”.Recognising the importance of information disseminated by the press and the power to influence public opinion that the fourth pillar of a democracy holds, he stressed on ensuring absolute freedom of the press.“There is no denying that the phenomenon of fake news is on the rise. We must strive to ensure that we have a press free of influence of any kind- political or economic which will provide us information in an unbiased manner.”.Being a senior Judge of the highest Court of our land, Justice Chandrachud displayed a keen awareness of the struggles of India’s marginalised communities to be heard. He also insisted that the sooner these voices are recognised, the better for us all.“In India since women, Dalits and others belonging to marginalised communities did not traditionally enjoy power, their opinions were not conferred with the status of truth. Since they did not enjoy the freedom to express their opinion, their thoughts were confined, crippled and caged.”.In India since women, Dalits and others belonging to marginalised communities did not traditionally enjoy power, their opinions were not conferred with the status of truth.Justice DY Chandrachud..Justice Chandrachud raised a number of philosophical questions in his address, some of which he answered through the course his speech and some he left to the listeners to ponder. One of these was the examination of the gap or, the lack thereof, between facts and opinions in a pluralistic society such as ours.“I often wonder if facts are even different from opinions in a plural society where there are varied lived experiences of different people. For instance, long before the decision of the Supreme Court in Navtej Singh Johar which decriminalised homosexuality and long before a miniscule population of our country normalised homosexuality, Denmark had legalised same sex marriage.”.I often wonder if facts are even different from opinions in a plural society where there are varied lived experiences of different people.Justice DY Chandrachud..While speaking of facts and opinions having an impact on the law of the land, Justice DY Chandrachud spoke to the importance of participative legislation and the positive change it can bring.“Pre-legislative consultative process is an apt instance with deliberation between individuals has brought about impactful change. By contrast, in South Africa, pre-legislative consultation is a Constitutional requirement and any law enacted without the consultation is considered unconstitutional.”.He also examined the responsibility of a state to analyse scientific truths but also moral truths. To display this, he spoke of the abolition of bonded labour that predominantly was based on the exploitation of people and the inherent fallacy in such exploitation.“A state does not seek to rectify merely mischiefs grounded in scientific truths but also those grounded in moral truths. Take for instance, the bonded labour system abolition act that enacted in 1976.”.Justice Chandrachud insisted that every citizen of our vibrant democracy exercise both their right and duty to speak the truth pointing to the motto of our nation after her independence, that was and remains, Satyameva Jayate or the Truth Shall Prevail.“One can consider speaking truth to power as a right of every citizen which they must have in a democracy but equally a duty of every citizen.”.While expressing his deep reverence towards Justice MC Chagla, Justice Chandrachud called him one of the greatest legal minds and remembered his dedication to the development of the rule of law & the protection of civil liberties in India.“He staunchly spoke against the discrimination of Indians in South Africa, similarly his voice was one of the most vocal when the national emergency was imposed in India in June 1975.”.[Read a live account of the event] .[Watch the entire event]fv.[Read entire speech]