Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi said a lawyer’s vigilance is society’s early warning system against the slow erosion of democratic values. He added that the sudden proposal may reflect an agenda to weaken or intimidate the judiciary, which only judges can address.
Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi said a lawyer’s vigilance acts as society’s early warning system against the gradual erosion of democratic values at Justice Unplugged: Shaping the Future of Law, a law conclave organised by VIT School of Law, VIT Chennai.
Mr. Singhvi warned of a worldwide trend of constitutional backsliding, fuelled by growing polarisation and weakening institutional norms, and stressed that lawyers must stay alert to such developments.
He said,
“Around the world, we have seen democracies strained by polarisation, misinformation and erosion of institutional norms. Rarely do these crises begin with tanks on the streets. They begin with subtle distortions, normalising exceptional powers, questioning judicial legitimacy, weakening checks and balances,”
He appealed to law students to remain committed to constitutional principles. Invoking figures like Nani Palkhivala, he observed that distinguished jurists are remembered not only for courtroom skill but for their steadfast loyalty to constitutional values.
He said,
“The courtroom is not a battlefield of egos; it is a sanctuary of reason. To enter it unprepared is disrespectful; to enter it without integrity is dangerous,”
Mr. Singhvi added that the law should protect those without influence, and that the true test of a legal system is how it safeguards the vulnerable rather than how it treats the powerful. He noted that significant reforms have often been driven by young lawyers unwilling to accept entrenched injustices.
He said,
“In India, public interest litigation expanded access to justice, bringing bonded labourers, under-trial prisoners, environmental degradation and gender discrimination within judicial scrutiny. That movement was not driven by corporate incentives; it was driven by moral imagination,”
When asked about a reference to “corruption” in the judiciary in an NCERT Class 8 textbook, Mr. Singhvi described the passage as “troubling because it appeared selective.”
While acknowledging that corruption exists in all institutions, he said the chapter singled out the judiciary without similarly addressing corruption in the bureaucracy or political classes.
Singhvi remarked,
“I think the reaction or anger is being misunderstood. There can be no two views about the fact that there are black sheep in the judiciary as in every other sector and that the C-word is a major issue right after arrears. But that was not the issue at all. The problem is the selectivity of the two page chapter. It suddenly, out of the blue, plucks out for the first time 2 pages on judiciary, doesn’t seek to deal institutionally with corruption which is rampant in bureaucracy, political class, in politicians and so many sectors of our system. It is plucked out and placed out of context as if it is targeting one. That is a matter of concern,”
He added,
“Secondly, this was possibly introduced in the minutes of meeting out of the blue without careful scrutiny from the top. In which case, it is possibly out of agenda of some people to weaken, threaten, intimidate, control the judiciary. It is for the judges to decide,”
Earlier, the Supreme Court had taken suo motu notice of the “selective reference,” describing it as a “tentatively calculated, deep-rooted attempt to denigrate the judicial institution.”
He said,
“There can be no two views about the fact that there are black sheep in the judiciary, as in every other sector,”
He added,
“The problem lies in the selectivity of a two-page chapter that, out of the blue, isolates the judiciary without institutionally addressing corruption, which is rampant in the bureaucracy and the political class. It is presented out of context, as if targeting one institution alone. That is a matter of concern,”
He suggested that the chapter’s inclusion seemed to have proceeded without adequate scrutiny and could be perceived as part of an agenda to intimidate the judiciary.
The chapter, titled ‘The Role of the Judiciary in Our Society,’ in the Class 8 Social Science textbook prescribed by NCERT, lists corruption, an increasing backlog of cases, and insufficient judicial manpower among the challenges facing the justice system.
Its section on “corruption in the judiciary” notes that judges are bound by a code of conduct that governs behaviour both inside and outside the courtroom.