Lead Visual: Shantanu Mitra From Indira Gandhi to Narendra Modi, India has come a long way. Emergency era Congress President D.K. Barooah is remembered for his remark "India is Indira. Indira is India" plumbing a notable high on the sycophancy register. Such deference is also a hallmark of leaders in the Modi government.
The central government appoints the Chief Justice of India based on seniority. But this convention was breached two times (in 1973 and 1977) when senior judges were bypassed and pliable junior judges were appointed to the office of the CJI by the Indira Gandhi government.
A petition has been moved in the Supreme Court against actor Kangana Ranaut's outbursts against the Sikh community over protests against the now-repealed three farm laws. The petitioner, Advocate Sardar Charanjeet Singh Chanderpal, sought directives to all social media companies to curtail or censor or delete Ranaut's statements made against Sikhs given the vast number of Sikhs in the farm laws protest.
Grievances expressed against judges and judgments are not necessarily without merit. But they can be pursued without bringing the CJI and the judiciary into public disrepute, thereby weakening its popular base of support in these troubled times when there is need for judicial unity.