October 24, 2024
📰 FEATURE STORY
Does the new Lady Justice statue signify a new chapter for the Indian judiciary?
The Indian judiciary has been in the news more than it would like to have been over the past few years—in many cases, for the wrong reasons. A shadow has been cast over the judiciary concerning its independence and autonomy, including how it dispenses justice. Given the state of polarised politics and discourse, public scrutiny of the Indian judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court, will only increase.
But can symbols be arbiters of change? Chief Justice DY Chandrachud recently unveiled a new statue of Lady Justice in the Supreme Court Judges library. Clad in a saree, she’s no longer blindfolded and carries the scales in one hand and the Indian Constitution in the other instead of a sword. The message is that this new symbol is a break from the colonial past and perhaps a new chapter for the judiciary. Can it be?
Context
The classic imagery of Lady Justice we’re all familiar with dates back to Egyptian, Greek and Roman mythology.
In ancient Egypt, Ma’at was the goddess of truth, balance, and cosmic order. Dating back to 2,300 BCE, she’s often depicted with an ostrich feather in her headdress. It symbolised the weight of the souls of the dead to determine their worthiness. It’s where the scales are thought to be derived to measure good against evil.
According to the works of the Greek poet Hesiod, who lived around 700 BCE, Themis, one of the 12 Titans born to Gaea and Uranus, is often depicted as a woman holding scales in one hand and a sword in the other. Themis wasn’t blindfolded. The suggestion was that justice, in its purest form, wasn’t blind but well aware of the truths that governed the world.
The first Roman emperor, Augustus, introduced the worship of justice in the form of a goddess called Justitia. Like Themis, Justitia didn’t wear a blindfold.
The earliest depictions of the blindfold were in Medieval and Renaissance art. Some research showed that the first known image of the blindfold was in a collection of satirical poems by fifteenth-century lawyer Sebastian Brant. It was seen as a critique, but by the 17th century, the image had lost its satirical connotations.
In India, the British introduced the Lady Justice iconography. At the Calcutta High Court, images of Lady Justice were carved into the pillars. Interestingly, some images have the blindfold while others don’t. The Bombay High Court has a statue of Lady Justice at the top of one of its buildings without a blindfold.
Chief Justice Chandrachud commissioned a new version. It’s crafted by artist Vinod Goswami. The theme of the new 6.5-foot fibreglass figure was “Nyay Devi” to reflect the best of Indian culture and heritage. A noticeable change is no blindfold. The Western robes have been replaced with the traditional saree and Indian ornamentation.
It supposedly depicts a new era for the Indian judiciary, and the new Lady Justice statue symbolises that, literally and figuratively. While many have welcomed it, some aren’t convinced about the new depiction or what it’s supposed to signify.
VIEW: Contemporary symbol for a new era
The new statue is more than just a symbolic change. Some of the modifications made better represent justice in the Indian sense. The changes signify a marked shift that clearly states the laws of the land aren’t blind, and justice isn’t just punitive but reformative. Lady Justice, in her traditional form, as many know it, is a controversial figure. It’s a symbol of imperial authority associated with British and other Western legal systems.
Perhaps the most notable change, from the age-old Western robes to the saree, is a positive deviation from its colonial history. It’s fitting, given the implementation of the new laws, namely the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, which were also seen as a shift away from India’s colonial past like the Indian Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code.
Colonised countries, like India, found themselves at the mercy of legal systems imposed by their rulers. These systems were claimed as impartial. In practice, they were anything but. They were part of a broader strategy to legitimise colonial rule. British legal codes were designed to maintain control over Indians and deny them equal treatment under the law. The age-old Lady Justice statue became a symbol of oppression. In the post-colonial era, many countries have begun reclaiming and reforming their legal systems and questioned the neutrality of Lady Justice.
COUNTERVIEW: Merely symbolic, nothing else
The new statue has been described by legal experts as an attempt to shed our colonial past and chart a new course. The statue is a symbol. A historic and controversial symbol, but a symbol nonetheless. Let’s take the symbolic meaning first. Critics have pointed out that replacing the sword wasn’t the right move. Many Indian gods and goddesses are depicted with weapons to destroy the forces of evil. The argument is that there’s no justice unless the proper machinery is available to implement the verdict.
In the All-India Judges case (1992), Justice Krishna Iyer observed that law is a means to an end, and justice is that end. Without the power of coercion, the concept of justice is flawed. The new statue doesn’t have that power of coercion. In some ways, the sword signified the primacy of justice available to people at the grassroots level. Some on social media sarcastically said the new statue needed a watch to symbolise the delays in the justice delivery system.
The new Lady Justice statue will remain merely symbolic unless the judiciary dispenses justice according to the ideals that the statue represents. It’s fine that the new statue isn’t blindfolded, but what will be crucial is the mindset of those who deliver judgments. Those accused of murder have been released before they’ve served their sentence, and activists have been languishing in prison. If the past is any indication, the statue won’t represent much of a change.
Reference Links:
- What does Lady Justice symbolise? About her ancient origins and colonial impact – India Today
- Lady Justice is no longer blindfolded: What’s the controversy over new statue in Supreme Court? – Firstpost
- No More Blind Justice? – India Legal
- Can a new statue of Lady Justice lead to a new conception of justice? – The Indian Express
- Lady Justice Got a Makeover, When Will the Indian Judiciary Follow? – The Wire
- Justice does not depend on symbolism – The Tribune
What is your opinion on this?
(Only subscribers can participate in polls)
a) The new Lady Justice statue signifies a new chapter for the Indian judiciary.
b) The new Lady Justice statue doesn’t signify a new chapter for the Indian judiciary.
Previous poll’s results:
- Canada has crossed a red line with India: 73.7% 🏆
- Canada hasn’t crossed a red line with India: 26.3%
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