'Relationship That Truth Shares With Democracy Akin To Both A Sword And A Shield': Justice D.Y Chandrachud

"One cannot only rely on the State to determine the truth", Justice Chandrachud remarked on Saturday.The Supreme Court judge was addressing a virtual audience on "Speaking Truth to Power: Citizens and the Law" as part of the 6th M. C. Chagla Memorial Lecture.He expressed the view that while the State does not often adjudicate upon scientific truth, it does provide its classic approval when it decides to frame policies based on it. As such, all policies of the State can be assumed to have been formed on the basis of what the truth of our society is. "However, this is, by no means, something which leads to the conclusion that the state cannot indulge in falsehood for political reasons even in a democracy. The role of the United States in the Vietnam war did not see daylight until the Pentagon papers were published. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we see that there is an increasing trend of countries across the world who are trying to manipulate data on the COVID-19 infection rate and death", remarked Justice Chandrachud. "It is not difficult for one to understand why democracy and truth go hand-in-hand; democracy needs the power of truth to survive. As such, one can consider speaking truth to power as a right of every citizen, which they must have in a democracy, as also the duty of every citizen. As citizens of a democracy like India, we need to commit ourselves to the search for truth as a key aspiration of our society. It is crucial that we etch 'Satyamev Jayate' in all our hearts and work towards building the right temperament, by questioning the State and experts and even our fellow citizens, in order to determine the truth and then speaking the truth to them if they choose to ignore it or to deny it", he opined."What I am saying right now may seem too idealistic or impossible a vision, given the scale of democracy in India. I will not deny that the challenge before us is tough, but it requires constant efforts from all of us", he urged.'Truth cannot be akin to opinion leading to prejudice; opinion of a person is conferred status of fact and subsequently, of truth, based on the power they wield in society'- Justice ChandrachudTo understand how we can truly exercise this right of ours of speaking truth to power, he said, it is important to first ask ourselves what truth even means. "And I know, based on the responses I get in court, that people sometimes believe that what judges ask in court is imponderable. But that I am wearing spectacles is the truth and stating anything to the contrary would be an abject lie. The difficulty is not in knowing the truth but in only identifying it", said Justice Chandrachud.He continued to state that the very nature of truth can often be indeterminable in society and most commonly, truth is defined in terms of facts, in accordance with the correspondence theory of Plato and Socrates- that a proposition is true if it corresponds to a fact. "It is important to remember that the most preliminary facts can be disputed. Until this day we continue to have a section of society that still disputes the phenomenon of global warming. However, a determination of what constitutes the true fact is important since laws are enacted on the indispensable belief that the mischief which the State sought to rectify through them is true and established in fact. Hence, if the phenomenon of global warming turned out to be a lie, then the basis of many of the environmental laws would be farcical"Continuing, the judge explained that while the phenomenon of global warming is a question for which we have a scientific determinable truth, a State does not seek to rectify merely those mischiefs which are grounded in scientific truths but also those grounded in moral truths- "Take, for instance, the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act, 1976, which was enacted on the basis of two premises- first, that the bonded labour system exploits people, and second, that such exploitation of people is principally wrong. A liberal rights philosopher who believes in the value and quality of life might argue that both these premises are true but an economist may not agree with him."With this, Justice Chandrachud mentioned the pragmatic theory of truth which defines truth in terms of opinions and that a quick glance through history teaches us that individuals tend to have opinions that may not be morally justifiable to others. "Rousseau was of the considered view that women should be governed by restrictions and seen as objects of desire. Montesquieu regarded black Africans to be savage and barbaric who did not possess normal human traits. Women and black Africans were not treated as citizens because they were seen as such according to those who held power. The very fact that these opinions are acknowledged today for their sexist and racist overtones meets the argument that the truth cannot be akin to opinion which would lead to personal prejudice."Justice Chandrachud indicated that long before the decision of ...

'Relationship That Truth Shares With Democracy Akin To Both A Sword And A Shield': Justice D.Y Chandrachud

Mehal Jain

"Many countries have established truth commissions immediately upon independence from a totalitarian regime or in coming out of human rights violations since it creates a public memory upon which the foundations of a nation can be built."

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