‘If we cannot protect the personal liberty of the citizens…’, CJI Chandrachud said amidst the statement of the Law Minister

Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has said that no case is small for the Supreme. He made this comment while ordering the release of a person who had been sentenced for a long time in a minor crime. He said, “No case is small for us. If we cannot protect the personal liberty of the citizens, then what are we sitting here to do.”

This comment of the Chief Justice is important because on Thursday (December 15) Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had commented on the functioning of the Supreme Court. He had said that the Supreme Court should hear big constitutional matters, not bail matters. On Friday, the Chief Justice said that the Supreme Court is the custodian of the fundamental rights of the people and personal liberty is an important fundamental right.

Punishment for theft of electricity
Chief Justice Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha, while hearing the case of Ikram, a resident of Hapur, who had spent more than 7 years in jail for power theft, expressed surprise that the trial court and the High Court had punished a minor crime. Made a case like murder.

Actually, there were 9 cases of electricity theft against the petitioner. He resorted to the process of plea bargaining (accepting his own guilt for lesser punishment) in the lower court. He was sentenced to 2-2 years in all 9 cases. The trial court did not order them to run together. The High Court also said that the punishment will run one after the other. That is, in this way he would have to spend 18 years in jail.

When the petitioner’s lawyer told the court that he had been in jail for 7 years, both the judges were surprised. The judges asked senior advocate Nagamuthu present in the court for his opinion. The senior lawyer said, “In this way it has become a matter of life imprisonment.”

On this, the Chief Justice said, “Therefore, it is necessary for the Supreme Court to hear such cases. Judges stay awake till midnight to read the case file, because sometimes a seemingly simple matter is very important in terms of civil rights.” If we don’t interfere in such a case, what is the use of us?”