Medical graduates at the 55th foundation day of the University College of Medical Sciences heard a former Chief Justice of India make the case for institutions, and for the safety of doctors.
New Delhi: A society survives by institutions, former Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud told students and doctors at the 55th foundation day of the University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) and GTB Hospital in Delhi, warning that “we are today living in an age where everybody wants to bring down every institution in democracy.” He also said the Supreme Court gave close attention to the RG Kar rape and murder case because society owes doctors their safety and welfare.
The former CJI built his speech around the idea that medicine is “humanity’s oldest, most organized, lifelong decision to stay” with those who suffer, and drew parallels between the work of a judge and that of a doctor.
Courts, medicine and evidence
Drawing a parallel between courts and medicine, he said both rest on evidence:
“In a court, we start with a presumption of innocence. Even if somebody has committed a horrible rape, a horrible murder or a combination of both, that person is still entitled to the presumption of innocence because you must prove that individual guilty on the basis of evidence. Medicine is also all about evidence-based treatment.”
Technology, he said, is “a valuable ally” but “will always remain an aid”, and no artificial intelligence or scan-reading machine can replace a doctor’s judgment on what is just for a patient. He also spoke of handling 80 to 100 cases on a Monday or Friday as a judge, and said patience for every case was critical. “Every judge cannot render any justice in every injustice because you’re bound by the law,” he observed, likening it to a doctor being bound by medical ethics and the limits of nature.
The last lesson: “institutions matter”
Listing the lessons he wished to leave with the graduates, Justice Chandrachud ended with what he called a critical one for the present times:
“Institutions matter. We are today living in an age where everybody wants to bring down every institution in democracy. Remember a society, a society survives by institutions.”
He told the audience that they had attained excellence “because of the institution of the UCMS of Delhi University of its traditions” and the “institutional processes of GTB hospital,” adding: “Institutions make all the critical difference.”
Why the Court looked closely at RG Kar
Linking the point to his time as CJI, he referred to the Supreme Court’s handling of the RG Kar Medical College case, in which the Court took suo motu cognisance in August 2024 of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata and set up a National Task Force on the safety of medical professionals:
“That was why we gave all that attention to the details in the RG Kar murder and rape case because I believed that for all the work which young doctors do, the young, the not so young, the seniors, there’s one thing which society owes to doctors and which is their health, their safety and their welfare.”
Exploitation and stress among young doctors
Speaking of his own years as a young lawyer, he said he had “undergone a prolonged period of exploitation,” and urged young doctors, “so many of you as part of Gen Z,” to stand up and insist that “exploitation is not an acceptable dictionary of the language in a modern hospital.”
He also spoke about the mental health of professionals, recalling a young doctor who had cared for his daughter at home and who, he said, had become “a victim of the stress which young doctors have to undergo.” “Mental health even for professionals is critical,” he said, adding that he used to ask the young people who worked with him as a judge, sometimes for 36 or 48 hours at a stretch: “Are you well? Is there something which is bothering you?”
The speaker’s recent months
Justice Chandrachud served as the 50th Chief Justice of India from November 2022 to November 2024. His remarks come as his tenure has drawn renewed scrutiny, including criticism of Supreme Court appointments made during his time and, most recently, claims in former Supreme Court judge Sanjay Kishan Kaul’s forthcoming memoir about his approach to the government on Collegium appointments. He did not refer to these in the speech.
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