Justice Benjamin Cardozo, the celebrated Judge of the US Supreme Court, wrote in his book ‘The Nature of the Judicial Process’ :
” A Judge is not a Knight Errant roaming at will in search of his own ideal of beauty and goodness ”.
I submit with respect that the recent release of a 30 page handbook by the Chief Justice of India for guiding judges to avoid using gender stereotypes is violative of the above dictum of Justice Cardozo.
Supreme Court launches handbook to combat gender stereotypes within legal community
If a 30 page handbook is needed for combating gender stereotypes, why not issue a 30 page handbook for combating stereotypes of politicians ? Can they be called crooks in a court order ( which many people think most of them are ) ?
Why not a 30 page handbook for guiding Supreme Court judges as to what words they should use for High Court judges ( e.g. should the Supreme Court in its judgment call the High Court as ‘the Court below’ ? ). And what words should the High Court judges use for subordinate judiciary judges ?
What about 30 page handbooks for civil servants, teachers, lawyers, engineers, farmers, workers, students, doctors etc ?
I submit that judges learn judicial etiquette and most things not from handbooks but by observing court conventions while practising as a lawyer, and as a junior judge from one’s seniors.
It is a long standing, well established, convention that judges should only speak through their judgments, and that is what I was taught by my seniors in the judiciary e.g. former CJI MN Venkatachaliah and former CJI J.S. Verma. Sermons and homilies delivered in 30 page handbooks are not part of a judgment, and are therefore best avoided.
