5 months ago
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Chief Justice of India Surya Kant erstwhile described India’s post-independence travel arsenic the uncertain steps of a young federation evolving into the assured stride of a “force of consequence”. The characterisation mirrors his ain idiosyncratic odyssey from the winding lanes of Petwar colony successful Haryana to the pinnacle of the Indian judiciary.
The assemblage successful the chandeliered Ganatantra Mandap astatine Rashtrapati Bhavan, wherever helium took the oath of bureau successful Hindi connected November 24, reflected a microcosm of his journey. Village elders, teachers, household and friends from Hisar, wherever helium started his nonrecreational vocation and determination on the mode mislaid his caste sanction ‘Sharma’, sat with overseas judges and precocious dignitaries.
Unlike his predecessors, who were variously seen arsenic savvy, privileged oregon outspoken, Chief Justice Kant’s decisions and behaviour connected the Bench bespeak a conscious effort to onslaught a equilibrium grounded successful bully sense. At a clip erstwhile the Supreme Court is moving towards much technology-driven solutions, Justice Kant chooses to punctual everyone that justness is simply a “profoundly quality enterprise” that nary instrumentality tin replicate.
When cases worthy crores elbow each different to get his attraction connected the Bench for an aboriginal proceeding oregon a favourable order, Justice Kant cautions helium is present for the “smallest litigant successful the past row”. He argues that erstwhile instrumentality cultivates empathy for the “invisible victims” and intertwines lived realities, it ceases to beryllium abstract and turns inclusive. Yet, the Supreme Court Collegium of which helium has been a portion and which helium present leads, was incapable to locomotion the speech connected inclusivity and hold connected a pistillate justice for Supreme Court.
In Justice Kant’s court, justness is not quick, but dilatory and sure. A nudge here, a poke there, but alleviation astatine the end. His oral observations successful tribunal whitethorn astatine times travel crossed arsenic harsh though equilibrium is regained successful the last order.
Take the lawsuit of erstwhile BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma successful July 2022. She was facing aggregate FIRs successful assorted States for her derogatory comments connected Prophet Mohammed. The televised remarks had triggered violence. Justice Kant had remarked sharply, “this woman is single-handedly liable for what is happening successful the country”. Eighteen days later, his Bench directed that nary coercive constabulary enactment should beryllium taken against Ms. Sharma.
In his six years connected the Supreme Court Bench, Justice Kant has not been shy to displacement his constituent of view. He cancelled the bail granted by the Allahabad High Court successful a “tearing hurry” to Ashish Mishra, past Union Minister’s lad and premier accused successful the Lakhimpur Kheri killings case. The prosecution lawsuit centred connected the SUV belonging to Mishra’s convoy mowing down farmers protesting arguable cultivation laws astatine a rally successful Lakhimpur Kheri territory of Uttar Pradesh successful 2021.
Perceptive judge
In a 24-page judgment, Justice Kant, past a puisne judge, came down heavy connected the High Court for denying the victims a accidental to enactment successful the bail proceedings: “Victims surely cannot beryllium expected to beryllium sitting connected the obstruction and watching the proceedings from afar... It is the solemn work of a tribunal to present justness earlier the representation of an injustice eclipses”. However, months later, Mishra was granted interim bail by Justice Kant’s Bench; helium besides granted alleviation to 4 farmers languishing arsenic undertrials successful a antagonistic FIR connected to the main Lakhimpur Kheri case.
Records of tribunal hearings of his aboriginal years successful the Supreme Court illustration a perceptive justice who asked unfiltered questions to the powerfulness corridors. The Pegasus lawsuit hearings successful 2021 recovered Justice Kant, a puisne justice connected the Chief Justice Bench, importune that the authorities travel cleanable connected whether the Israel-origin, military-grade spyware violated citizens’ privacy.
However, earlier this year, erstwhile the lawsuit came up again for hearing, Justice Kant, present heading a Bench and poised to instrumentality implicit arsenic apical judge, changed course. This clip his questions were directed astatine the petitioners alternatively of the government. One of them was “what is incorrect if the state utilized that spyware for information reasons against anti-national elements?” The proceeding was held a fewer days aft the April 2025 Pahalgam panic attack.
In 2021, Justice Kant was 1 of the judges connected the Bench which ordered the suspension of the sedition proviso (Section 124A) of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code. Four years later, successful 2025, Justice Kant, present heading the Bench, turned astir to question if imaginable maltreatment of Section 152, a proviso which criminalises acts endangering nationalist sovereignty and considered a replacement of the erstwhile sedition law, by the authorities could beryllium a crushed for declaring the proviso unconstitutional. But the proceeding besides saw Justice Kant support the petitioner-journalists from imminent apprehension for the work of a captious article, noting that “mere dissent cannot endanger sovereignty”.
Recent years person seen escaped code sound connected the doors of the Supreme Court for the close to respire without fear. Justice Kant treats liberty of look arsenic a kid who needs watching. He has called for effectual guidelines to modulate idiosyncratic generated contented posted online.
Justice Kant gave interim bail to academician Ali Khan Mahmudabad, hounded by the Haryana Police, for his societal media posts connected the sufferings caused by warfare and Operation Sindoor. But the justice besides suspected the academician of “dog whistling” and formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of elder constabulary officers to scour his online posts for “dual meaning”. But again, somehow, the bid successful Mahmudabad lawsuit came crossed arsenic an effort to level the scales with an earlier direction, passed lone a mates of days back, to signifier a akin SIT to spell done the remarks made by a Madhya Pradesh Minister Vijay Shah astir Col. Sofiya Qureshi. Justice Kant had termed the remarks of the BJP person “crass, thoughtless”.
At the bottommost of the impulse to bring equilibrium is simply a doctrine of pragmatism which has seen the justice negociate bid betwixt the farmers blocking the Shambhu borderline and the Union authorities too coaxing Kerala to judge the Centre’s connection of ₹13,608 crore to tide implicit an contiguous fiscal emergency.
A applicable outlook laic down his proposal to States to bring successful effectual guidelines against backstage hospitals without taking a hardline attack which would discourage backstage concern successful the wellness sector. In his judgement connected a petition filed by expelled Bihar Legislative Council Member and RJD person Sunil Kumar Singh challenging his ouster pursuing his remarks against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Justice Kant said enactment taken by the House against an MP oregon MLA indispensable beryllium proportional to the grade of obstruction caused.
Need for transparency
Justice Kant had besides realised the contiguous request for transparency successful the Special Intensive Revision workout successful Bihar, keeping the adjudication connected the question of constitutionality of the process for later. The Presidential Reference Bench which helium shared tries hard astatine equilibrium, opining that Governors cannot beryllium fettered to timelines but States could question judicial reappraisal successful cases of glaring delays to wide pending Bills.
Justice Kant’s seeming efforts astatine equilibrium successful justness medication is astatine likelihood with the clear-cut governmental and ideological divisions successful society. Justice B.R. Gavai, during a speech connected the time of his status arsenic the Chief Justice of India, said the angst judges look successful present-day India is that “if you bash not determine against the government, you are not a bully judge”.
The hunt for equilibrium successful a divided satellite is hard, unrewarding toil.
Justice Kant recounts his archetypal lawsuit arsenic a High Court judge, a cross-border custody quality involving 2 insignificant children. Their parents, separated by nationalist boundaries and strained by years of litigation, stood connected other sides of the courtroom. Justice Kant was struck astir by the quiescent anguish of the children successful that charged atmosphere, their anxious eyes shifting from 1 lawyer to the other.
He said, astatine that moment, “the grandeur of the instrumentality felt profoundly personal, and the magnitude of my work settled in. I realised past that justness is not lone astir resolving disputes, but astir protecting the guiltless from being mislaid successful the storms of circumstance”.
Chief Justice Kant has clip till February 9, 2027, an ample model to beryllium helium is determination for innocents “lost successful the storms of circumstance”, similar the crores of voters caught successful the ‘SIR’ cyclone.
