CJI Surya Kant, credit: ANI
New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Saturday said that integrity is what a person does when no one is watching, and courage is what a person does when everyone is watching.
He was speaking at the International Convention on the Independence of the Judiciary and at the launch of the world’s largest moot court at O.P. Jindal Global University in Sonipat.
Emphasising on integrity as a virtue, CJI Surya Kant said that it is the most important value in the legal profession. The CJI added that Imandari (honesty) must remain the base of justice, especially at a time when deepfakes and misinformation are increasing.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the International Mooting Academy for Advocacy, Negotiation, Dispute Adjudication, Arbitration and Resolution—aptly acronymised as IMAANDAAR.
Integrity was not merely a moral ideal but an ‘instrument of survival’ for institutions that safeguard constitutional democracy.
Justice Surya Kant invoked Constituent Assembly member G. Durgabai’s description of courts as ‘repositories of the Constitution.’
Comparative judicial dialogue, he said, allows legal systems to learn from each other’s constitutional experiences and preserve credibility.
Speaking of landmark Kesavananda Bharati case, CJI Surya Kant said that the Basic Structure doctrine was not judicial invention but ‘constitutional archaeology.’
CJI said these principles embedded in the Constitution’s original design.
He said: ‘Kesavananda Bharati did not invent the Basic Structure Doctrine; it unearthed it. It gave form to what the Constitution had always whispered: that no authority, however exalted, may amend away the promise of justice.’
He said the doctrine continues to act as a moral compass preventing democratic drift into ‘absolutism.’
CJI urged students to become custodians of constitutional morality.
Syed Ziyauddin is a media and international relations enthusiast with a strong academic and professional foundation. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media from Jamia Millia Islamia and a Master’s in International Relations (West Asia) from the same institution.
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