New 'Lady Justice' statue in SC library without blindfold and sword
The Supreme Court of India has a new 'Lady Justice' -- a six-foot-tall sculpture in the judges' library holding scales in one hand and the Constitution in the other sans the sword.
Dressed in white traditional attire, the 'Goddess of Justice' is without her archetypal blindfold and sword, as she bears a crown on her head.
Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, however, asserts that the change brings "no significant shift" in the idea of how justice should be dispensed.
"No significant shift emerges by this alteration of the statue of Lady Justice. Blindfold never meant justice is blindly dispensed by Judiciary. It actually meant blindness to bias, favouritism and prejudices. Now, the lady has no blindfold. That still means judges should see the world and country but they shouldn't succumb to the evils," Dwivedi told PTI.
While welcoming the Indianness of the new avatar, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan said it would be "interesting" to see the idea behind the taking off the blindfold, which, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud earlier reportedly said, signifies that the law is never blind.
Sankaranarayanan said the earlier statue was "very European", having no familiar orientation, and the new sculpture was symbolic of a "new direction that the idea of justice should take".
"It (the earlier statue) did not really have an India connection and it was interesting for me to see (the new statue). It has Bharat Mata kind of long hair and there is a crown," he shared with PTI.
"History says the blindfold signified that justice is blind. It is meant to be completely impartial, without looking into the status of the individual. So there was a history and context to that. It will be interesting to see what the idea is (behind the removal of the blindfold)," added the senior counsel.
Renowned criminal law expert, senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, spoke on the shift from "sword to Constitution", saying it sends the message that justice is based on the Supreme Law of the land, and not force or punishment.
