MADURAI: It is common to hear people say that it is cosy to be a judge because not many dare to question him/her. But in an unprecedented move, Justice K. Chandru of the Madras High Court broke conventions and subjected himself to questioning by the lawyers here on his performance in the Madurai Bench for the last 135 days.
Participating in an interactive session at the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court Bar Association (MMBA) recently, he said: “I know there have been murmurs and Bar talk that I have been very legalistic in disposing of cases… We (Judges) are not supposed to defend our judgements in public because the verdicts will speak for themselves. But I said, I’ll waive that privilege and stand before you to answer any question. You are free to point out where I have gone wrong.”
He went a step further and said that the Bar members could also pass the questions through anonymous chits if they were hesitant to pose them in public.
Picking up quotes from the Bible, he said: “Today, it is a day of judgment…It is the turn of the Bar to ask why have I done all these things in the last 135 days and my answer is that I have acted in terms of the oath of office and I have dispensed justice to the extent which I think is justice.”
Court judgements are appealable and that is the only guarantee against any “judicial excess or indiscretion or dictatorship or whatever you want to call it.
Often judiciary is criticised that it is becoming a third chamber and not dispensing justice but for rewriting laws or acting like a new legislature. Therefore, to avoid such things it is better that the judiciary confines itself only to the legal provisions. Within the framework, there is still a discretion which the court can exercise,” he added.
After taking numerous questions with patience, he ended the discussion by urging the lawyers to discuss such issues in an academic fashion rather than taking it to the streets and demeaning people’s faith in the institution.
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