Even though the judiciary cannot change the structure of the country, it can change its direction and redeem certain ills, K. Chandru, former judge of the Madras High Court, said here on Saturday.
The inspiration for actor Suriya’s character in the recent critically-acclaimed Jai Bhim , Mr. Chandru pointed out that the country could be served through any service. “As a lawyer fighting for human rights and against police atrocities and later as a judge, I was able to serve the nation [in all these roles],” he said at the Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer remembrance meet organised by Justice Krishna Iyer Movement here.
Recalling his association with Justice Krishna Iyer, Mr. Chandru said the legal luminary had taught several valuable lessons to judges like him. “His guiding principles helped us in giving directions in areas like prison reforms, pre-trial custody, and atrocities by the State and the police,” he said.
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“Justice Krishna Iyer proved that a writ of habeas corpus can be used to redeem the grievance of any person under duress. Habeas Corpus is a larger platform under which Article 21 can be redeemed, and State atrocities or repression can be placed in front of a judge,” he said.
Jai Bhim is based on true incidents from a case in Vriddhachalam, which was handled by Mr. Chandru in 1993 when he was practising as a lawyer. Terming the impact of Jai Bhim a magic, Mr. Chandru said the entire State machinery had been pressed into service to study the plight of tribal people across Tamil Nadu after the movie was released. “If one film can change the planning process of a State, I think many such magics could be done in this country,” he said.
Former judges K. Narayana Kurup, J.B. Koshy, P.S. Gopinathan, and P.K. Shamsuddin spoke. M.P. Joseph, former District Collector of Ernakulam, recalled the contributions of the late K.R. Vishwambharan on the occasion.
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