I am a person of faith, respect all religions: CJI

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, who is set to retire in a few days, said on Monday that his statement of having prayed to God for a solution to the Ayodhya Ram Mandir dispute had attracted considerable clamour.

Chandrachud called himself a “person of faith” who respected all religions equally. “It is a problem of social media. You must have the backdrop of where I was speaking,” he said about the reaction to his remarks.

He was referring to his statement while addressing the residents of his native Kanhersar village during a felicitation ceremony, when he said he had prayed to God for a solution to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute and asserted God will find a way if one has faith.

“Very often we have cases (to adjudicate) but we don’t arrive at a solution. Something similar happened during the Ayodhya (Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute) which was in front of me for three months. I sat before the deity and told him he needs to find a solution,” he had said.

Addressing questions over PM Modi’s visit to his official residence for Ganpati prayers, the CJI said there was “nothing wrong” in it and underscored the need for a “sense of maturity in political sphere” on such issues. Opposition parties had raised concerns over propriety and separation of powers between the judiciary and the executive.