Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has said that throughout the history, the legal framework has been frequently weaponised to systematically oppress and marginalise certain communities.
Delivering the keynote address at the Sixth International Conference on the Unfinished Legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar organised by the Brandeis University in the United States on Monday, the CJI said that marginalised social groups have been subjected to horrendous wrongs.
Calling for a just and inclusive legal system to address the historical wrongs done to various marginalised groups in the past, he said that law as an institution has been used to maintain existing power structures.
He observed that judges need to be cognisant of social realities as law itself did not exist in a vaccum.
Speaking on the topic “Reformation Beyond Representation: The Social Life of the Constitution in Remedying Historical Wrongs,” the CJI said that the legal system has often played a pivotal role in perpetuating historical wrongs against marginalised and oppressed communities.
He pointed out that oppressed communities in both the United States and India were denied the voting rights for a long period of time.
He stressed on the need for constitutional democracies to make sure that safeguards to these marginalised communities were upheld and policies were made for their upliftment.
Earlier, the CJI paid homage to the father of Indian Constitution, Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, by visiting Dr. Ambedkar’s bust installed in a library of Brandeis University.
President of Brandeis University, Ronald D. Liebowitz, in a video message, thanked the Chief Justice for visiting the campus.
CJI Chandrachud was also felicitated with a specially engraved wooden plaque by the organisers, including Dr. Laurence Simon, Professor at Brandeis and Dr. Sukhadeo Thorat, former UGC Chairperson.
Brandeis University, founded in 1948, is named after Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis of the United States Supreme Court.