Chief Justice Chandrachud Singh has expressed concern over the increasing honor killings in the country.
The Chief Justice said that today hundreds of youths who fall in love in the country and marry in other religions and castes are becoming victims of honor killings.
CJI DY Chandrachud was speaking at the Ashok Desai Memorial Lecture on Law and Ethics organized by the Bombay Bar Association in Mumbai.
The CJI said that morality can be different for everyone.
Chief Justice referred to the incident of UP’s honor killing in 1991 published in Time magazine regarding honor killing.
The CJI said that the article contained the story of a 15-year-old girl. The girl had eloped with a 20-year-old boy from a lower caste.
Later, the upper caste people of the village killed both of them.
The CJI said that the villagers had found this crime to be justified. The reason for this was that they felt it right to do so according to the traditions of their society. The question then arises whether such an approach can be justified in any way?
CJI Chandrachud said that we all can agree that morality is a system of values that form a code of conduct.
He said but is it necessary that what is moral for me should also be moral for you?
He said that morality is such a concept, which varies from person to person.
He said that in everyday discussions we often refer to good and bad, right and wrong.
He said that while law governs external relations, morality governs inner life and motivation.
Morality appeals to our conscience. Also, morality often influences our behavior.
CJI said that who decides the code of conduct or morality? The dominant group, which dominates the weaker ones. Vulnerable groups are placed at the bottom of the social structure, their consent even though it is a myth.
The Chief Justice said that members belonging to marginalized communities have no option but to submit to the dominant culture for their own survival.
The CJI, in his speech also referred to the intrepid spirit of independence of the courts. He said that in 1975, independent courts protected democracy.
