Judiciary Is The Strongest Pillar Which Upholds Democracy, Says S Lakshminarayanan

The strongest pillar which upholds democratic principles is the judiciary, said S Lakshminarayanan, Secretary to Government of India (Retd.).

Speaking at the fourth edition of BW Legal World Global Legal Leaders Summit and Awards about the role of advocates, Lakshminarayanan said that, "even during our freedom movement, most of the leaders were advocates who went on to become the founding fathers of our republic."

He said that many a times the judiciary comes to the rescue of the government.

He shared an incident wherein he had to handle a situation of public disorder but there were problems as at point of time the police was unionised.

"I have been a DM for nine years. At that time the police were unionised. We received information that some policemen consumed free food from a sweet shop and refused to pay which led to an altercation. Ultimately the owner of the shop was murdered. This erupted in a riot like situation. The police were unionised which is why nobody was being arrested. I directed that arrest must be made. The moment the accused were arrested, the district magistrate's vehicle was burnt. I spoke to the Chief Minister and said that the police could not have a union and informed him that the Superintendent of Police was beaten by his own subordinates. I wanted the information to reach the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court so that peace can be ensured. Ultimately the judiciary came to the rescue. Bail was granted to the accused persons and the Chief Justice observed that union in the Police department should be disbanded. The union was later on disbanded.," stated the former bureaucrat.

He further said that whenever the Government has to take an unpopular decision, they look up to the judiciary. 

Lakshminarayanan pointed out that whether it was Mergers and Acquisition or bail in white collar crimes, we need good lawyers to defend the cause of justice.

In the end, the former civil servant suggested that the government should think of Indian Judicial Services at the national level so that impeccable judges are appointed to the Courts.