Dignity of judges and respect for judiciary is inviolable as they form the fundamentals of rule of law and constitutionalism, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar said on Monday.
Mr. Dhankar was speaking at a felicitation hosted for him by the Supreme Court Bar Association under its president and senior advocate Vikas Singh. Mr. Dhankar is also a designated senior advocate of the Supreme Court.
"Recent unfortunate emergence of a pernicious trend to target individual judges in public domain calls for exemplary containment. Members of the Bar and the media have a great role to play in this," Mr. Dhankar addressed an audience of Supreme Court judges and lawyers accompanied by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta among others on the dais.
The Vice-President said the law protects as we preserve its sanctity. He quoted Thomas Fuller's words that 'be you ever so high, the law is always above you'.
"People in authority and high positions need to take cognisance of this in larger public interest to further enhance the democratic ecosystem," the Vice-President said.
He said a "spinally strong, fair and independent justice system is the safest guarantee for the blossoming and flourishing of democratic values".
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Justice Ramana said Vice-President Dhankar's rise from a rural background without a political godfather to the second highest office in the country is testimony to the healthy democratic traditions and rich constitutional values.
The CJI noted how the legal community spearheaded the Freedom Struggle. The Constituent Assembly and the Parliament was dominated by members of the legal community in its early days. It was due to their efforts the country got an outstanding Constitution.
"Nowadays the number of lawyers has dwindled and that space has been taken by others. I do not want to comment any further," Chief Justice Ramana said.
