Judges must keep aside ideas of morality, religion, political philosophy: Ex-SC judge Abhay S Oka

Hindustan Times

a day ago

New Delhi, Former Supreme Court judge Abhay S Oka on Wednesday said when a lawyer becomes a judge, they must keep aside ideas of morality, religion and political philosophy. Judges must keep aside ideas of morality, religion, political philosophy: Ex-SC judge Abhay S Oka
He was speaking on "Morality in Judiciary, A Paradigm or a Paradox" at an event organised by The Global Jurists.
"When a lawyer assumes the office of a judge, he must keep aside his ideas of morality, religion and political philosophy. He must keep his personal views on these three subjects in a watertight compartment while discharging duties as a judge," Justice Oka said.
He went on, "My personal view is for judges, something which is legal and constitutional is moral, and something which is not legal and constitutional is immoral. The basic rule is that the judges should not be swayed by popular opinion, and that is the concept of morality for judges."
The former judge said the crux of morality for judges meant applying ones mind on the law and the constitutional provisions, and once convinced about the legal correctness, delivering verdicts boldly without worrying about public opinion or "so called future prospects".
He illustrated with a case of a heinous crime, in which it was natural for the police or the investigating agency to feel public pressure to apprehend the accused.
"They want the trial to be expedited. But today we have a scenario where some very important people in public life, like politicians or even the chief minister for that matter, going public and saying that will ensure that the accused is arrested will be hanged," he said.
The former judge said before pronouncing the accused's guilt, people forget that ultimately it was for the court to decide on the basis of legal evidence whether the accused had committed the crime.
"And when it comes to sentencing, it is the priority of the court to follow the existing law and decide how sentencing should be done," he added.
The test against an accused, on the other hand, was stated to be whether there was sufficient evidence to conclude that the guilt was proved beyond reasonable time without beyond reasonable doubt.
"And one thing we must also remember as judges, that this traditional concept of morality is always controlled by popular opinion. And us judges, we don't get controlled by popular opinion. Because as judge, I should be prepared to deliver a verdict which will not be liked by the majority. That is the duty of a judge. Therefore, when we talk about morality, we must remember that judges are not bound by traditional concepts of morality. They are bound by their oath under the Constitution," Justice Oka said.
When a judge decided a criminal case, he had to brush aside the concept of societal morality, or his traditional morality, which was associated sometimes with religious faith, he added.
Justice Oka further deplored the practice of labelling trial courts as "lower" or "subordinate" courts.
"In fact, I personally believe that our trial judiciary and district judiciary are the main courts of the country. They are the main courts of the law of the land. These are the courts where a common man can afford to go to and litigate and therefore calling any court as subordinate court or lower court is completely against the ethos of our Constitution."
Former apex court judge Justice Madan B Lokur also spoke at the event.
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