What can we learn from 53rd CJI, Surya Kant?

 

Who Is Mr Surya Kant?

Justice Surya Kant, a man from Hisar, Haryana had crossed his path with grit and determination to become a Judge of the Supreme Court of India on 24th May, 2019. He is to hold the position of the 53rd Chief Justice of India, his predecessor being CJI Gavai who has been on the headlines as well, for his maturity and eloquence. 

Link between Gavai and Surya Kant:

Last month, there was a physical casteist attack aimed during a hearing of a petition claiming restoration of a seven-foot beheaded idol of Lord Vishnu at the Javari temple, part of the Khajuraho Group of Monuments in Madhya Pradesh. The response of Gavai can be discussed later, as he had told the petitioner to "go and ask the deity itself to do something about it".

Responding to this, Rakesh Kishore, a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), violated and threatened by removing his shoe while also stating that, “Sanatan ka apmaan nahi sahenge”,  which translates to "We will not tolerate any insult to Sanatana". Later, he was suspended by the Bar Council of India for his actions. 

This incident further raised sparks among the fellow lawyers and this is how Senior Advocate Indhira Jaising filed a petition to take action against Kishore for his intimidating behavior against CJI Gavai, and further urged all the lawyers of the Supreme Court to issue a united press statement condemning the attack. This was followed by several acquaintances condemning his attack.

With all these matters of concern brought under Mr Surya Kant, he dismissed the contempt case by saying that "A person has to go beyond all these by developing a thick skin for this"; his statements reveal a show of calm and firm manner. He further said to plead the offender and not take it to the next level by presenting his side of a fair and diplomatic stance, by quoting the law which says, "Contempt on the face of the court" or "in facie curie" under Section 14 of the Contempt of Court Act, 1971 which outlines the procedure of the Supreme Court or a High Court to deal with such an attempt, which makes the direction towards immediate action on detaining the person and informing them of the charges that provides them with an opportunity to make a defense. In this case, under this provision, it is Mr Gavai who must have chosen to act on it under this Section, which he chose not to do due to his magnanimity. 

Therefore, he said that the incident that happened at Gavai's court cannot be presented for contempt at his court.

Despite this, the Bar council members further urged him to act against Kishore's Press statements that it was his God that had asked him to speak such things - Mr Surya Kant again presented his brilliant legal point by stating that this is an act of publicity and therefore this cannot be encouraged by countering.

He further reiterated that, "We're all above this and have to be thick-skinned enough to not take this as a concern"!

More to learn from Mr Surya Kant. Big respect!