10

Dec

‘Dangerous precedent’:  Ex- judges, lawyers, activists Contradict Chief Justice on Rohingya

image

A close-up of a person with glasses AI-generated content may be incorrect.Justice is the foundation of any political system from monarchy to democracy and if people lose faith in any country’s judicial system, then no power on earth can stop its downfall which can be delayed but not avoided.  

Doubts on India’s judicial system are rising in popular mind and a perception is growing among concerned and discerning citizens that the very jurisprudence of our legal system is undergoing a change from Universalism to Majoritarianism. Minorities particularly the Muslim and Christians are deeply apprehensive about the subtle change which is being felt creating a sense of fear.

In this disturbing and agonizing backdrop, a significantly crucial intervention from the civil society, a group of retired judges, practising lawyers and the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAIR) was made which was largely ignored or not considered worth reporting by the big media which pejoratively is being called ‘Godi Media’. 

Eminent jurists of the country wrote an open letter to the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, reminding him about the UN’s comments on the minority Rohingyas of Myanmar saying it sets a “dangerous precedent”.

During a hearing on 2 December in the Supreme Court on a habeas corpus petition seeking information on five Rohingyas who allegedly disappeared after being held by Delhi police.

“Where is the order of the Government of India declaring them as refugees? Refugee is a well-defined legal term and there is a prescribed authority by the government to declare them. If there is no legal status of a refugee, and somebody is an intruder and he enters illegally, do we have an obligation to keep the fellow here?” the CJI had said.

Questioning whether India had any obligation to people who had entered illegally, he had added: “First you enter, you cross the border illegally. You dug a tunnel or crossed the fence and enter India illegally. Then you say now that I have entered your laws must apply to me and say I am entitled to food, I am entitled to shelter, my children are entitled to education. Do we want to stretch the law like this?”, Chief Justice Suryakant had asked. 

The article warns that public trust in India’s judicial system is weakening, with growing concerns that the country’s legal principles are shifting from universalism to majoritarianism, creating fear among minorities. This anxiety intensified after Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant’s remarks during a hearing on missing Rohingya refugees, where he questioned India’s obligation toward those entering illegally.
Wednesday Wisdom
By Satish Misra
 A group of eminent jurists, retired judges, lawyers and the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms issued an open letter criticizing the comments as dehumanizing and contrary to constitutional values. They highlighted that Rohingyas are one of the world’s most persecuted minorities and deserve humanitarian protection, as India has historically offered to refugees. The letter argues that such statements can influence society and judiciary negatively, urging the CJI to uphold India’s moral and constitutional commitment to protect all human beings.

The last comment from the CJI, the letter writers said, was deeply troubling. “The remarks from the bench are contrary to core constitutional values. They have had the effect of dehumanizing Rohingya refugees whose equal humanity and equal human rights are protected by the Constitution, our laws and by international law.”

“… the United Nations has described the Rohingya as “the most persecuted minority in the world”. They are an ethnic minority in Buddhist majority Myanmar who have endured decades of violence and discrimination. Denied citizenship, the Rohingyas are stateless,” the open letter points out.

“They have fled to neighbouring countries in waves over the past many years, escaping what has been described by the International Court of Justice as ethnic cleansing and genocide at the hands of the armed forces. They are fleeing to India, like centuries of refugees before them, seeking basic safety.”

“As the head of the judiciary, the Chief Justice of India is not just a legal functionary – but is also the custodian and final arbiter of the rights of the poor, the dispossessed and the marginalised. Your words carry weight not simply in the courtroom but in the conscience of the nation and have a cascading effect on the high courts, the lower judiciary and the government authorities,” the letter stated.

The signatories to the letter include judges such as former Delhi High Court Chief Justice A.P. Shah, former Madras High Court Justice K. Chandru, and former Patna High Court Justice Anjana Prakash, Supreme Court senior advocates such as Rajeev Dhavan, Chander Uday Singh, and Colin Gonzalves and the working group of CJAR, which includes people like Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan.

Since the late 1970s, the Rohingya people have fled from Burma – now Myanmar – in tranches due to persecution by the ruling junta. Not only India, they have fled to other south Asian and southeast Asian countries like Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia over the last 10 years.

Living in the western coastal state of Rakhine, the Rohingyas have been branded as Rohingya Bengalis in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. In the heated political atmosphere in Bengal, the BJP leaders have insisted that Rohingyas would be driven out.

The writers of the letter argued that the CJI’s comments would have a social impact.

“A remark that equates vulnerable persons (who in the case of the Rohingya include thousands of women and children) seeking shelter with “intruders” who “dig tunnels” further dehumanizes those fleeing genocidal persecution and weakens the moral authority of the judiciary,” the writers said.

“Invoking the plight of the poor in India to justify denying protections to refugees sets a dangerous precedent, being contrary to the principles of constitutional justice.”

They reminded the CJI that the apex court had in a verdict observed, “The state is bound to protect the life and liberty of every human being, be he a citizen or otherwise.”

The letter said the case for the Rohingya is different from the undocumented migrants.

“A person does not become a refugee because of recognition, but is recognized because he or she is a refugee.”

They said imprisonment or detention without having individually determined the status (of a refugee) was illegal. They reminded the CJI that India had accepted millions of refugees from then East Pakistan (present Bangladesh).

According to the former judges, the remarks made on December 2 dehumanise those fleeing genocidal persecution and weaken the moral authority of the judiciary.

The letter goes a step further to say that the remarks provide a reasonable basis for apprehension of prejudice on the part of the CJI bench.

 India has a longstanding tradition of recognising refugees as a category distinct from migrants. The country has extended humanitarian protection to Tibetans, Sri Lankan Tamils and, historically, millions fleeing persecution in 1970–71 from East Pakistan, the signatories have pointed out.

The Citizenship Amendment Act similarly grants exemptions to certain persecuted religious minorities, though its exclusionary design faces constitutional challenges pending before the Supreme Court.

 

The Narendra Modi government has amended the Citizenship Act allowing refugees fleeing religious persecution (other than Muslims) in neighbouring countries, citizenship in India. Writ petitions have been filed challenging the legislation.

Let us wait and see whether conscience awakening intervention from CJI Suryakant’s community or should we say extended family shows its result in coming days and weeks. Today I will like to give the benefit of doubt to CJI but then as I said in the beginning country’s jurisprudence is under pressure to take a turn-wrong or right posterity shall pronounce a judgement. (Dr Satish Misra is a senior journalist and a seasoned political analyst. He has been a Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation )

  • Share:

About Us

We must explain to you how all seds this mistakens idea off denouncing pleasures and praising pain was born and I will give you a completed accounts..

Contact Us

Contact Info

  • 70, Gyan Khand- 4, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad. Uttar Pradesh.
  • +91-9810533682
  • info@mediamap.co.in
  • Week Days: 09.00 to 18.00 Sunday: Closed