Verses of Gita echo in CJI’s courtroom, a plea of its declaration as National text however declined

In an eventful day in Court No. 1 in the Supreme Court, verses from Hindu Mythological epic ‘Bhagwat Gita’ were recited quite a few times by lawyers and the bench reports TOI. Advocate Lily Thomas on Friday quoted verses of the Gita requesting the Supreme Court to assume the role of 'Krishna' to deal with the injustice done to Christians through attacks on churches in various parts of the country including the rape of a nun.

She recited in Sanskrit the famous lines of Gita where Krishna tells Arjun that he would reincarnate on earth every time injustice tries to prevail justice to protect the good and destroy evil. The bench of Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justices M Y Eqbal and Arun Mishra were urged by her through these lines requesting them to take suo motu cognizance of recent attacks on churches and atrocities on Christians. She submitted that the court could no longer allow the law and order situation to deteriorate further and scare the minority community.

She said the Supreme Court's motto 'Victory to the Righteous'/ ‘Yato Dharmstatato Jaya’ actualy meant that righteous people would have to wait a long time to get justice. She averted that this motto should take the back seat and the Supreme Court should adopt Krishna's role to provide speedy justice to Christians.

The CJI however asked her to file a petition if she wanted a relief and the court will surely take action in sensitive matters affecting society. CJI added that it will not be proper for the court to take suo motu cognizance of this issue but assured her of an urgent hearing after filing of the petition.

Soon enough a PIL filed by advocate M K Balakrishnan pleaded for a direction to the Centre for making Bhagvat Gita a national text/book and for inclusion of important chapters in the educational curriculum. Balakrishnan recited several lines from the Gita and said inclusion of excerpts in educational curriculum would help impart a value system in society. The CJI, who also is well versed with Gita, was overwhelmed to say, "How come we are hearing a lot of Sanskrit verses right from the start of work today?"

However, he pointed out that there were several religious texts in India. He said, "Christians, Muslims and every other religious denomination has a religious text. Each one is important to those who follow that faith. How can the court say which is better?" While dismissing the petition, the CJI quoted Gita to say "Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana" (Do your duty without thinking about the result) and told the advocate that he need not be disappointed by the result as he had done his work.

Notably, not only have senior advocates like Mr. K.Parasaran used verses of Gita and other spiritual texts numerous times to sharpen their arguments but even judges have supplanted their judgments with spiritual texts.