Kriti Agrawal
Justice Mathur admits the guilt for the CAA demonstrations hearing not being completed, criticizes the liberal application of the NSA and sedition laws, shows concern regarding the peace and order situation in Uttar Pradesh and downplays the Madras High Court murder comment against the EC.
Assistant Editor of Indian Express Apurva Vishwanath moderated the discussion, by asking Justice Mathur, “Could you tell us about your experience defending civil liberties cases?”
Justice Mathur answered, in recent years, the government has taken a number of steps including assisting mobs that undermine civil liberties of the people. In such circumstances, Courts must safeguard civil liberties. It’s quite easy to label someone as anti-national. However, I feel that 99.9% of the residents of our country are dedicated to it.
They are patriots in every sense of the word. I can have a different point of view on a given problem than you and vice versa. If it is not against the country’s interests, the government is required to defend it.
What exactly is sedition? If I raise slogans against someone or oppose a piece of law, that does not imply that I am fighting the state.
I’m not sure what happened in Uttar Pradesh, but many individuals believe they can take the law into their own hands and punish individuals on the roadways, and regrettably, the government has failed to protect such people to some level. As a result, Courts had to interfere and continue to act.
Posters (containing images and data of those accused of violence during anti-CAA protests) appeared in Lucknow in March 2020, and the Allahabad High Court took Suo motu cognizance.
The Judiciary is obligated to preserve constitutional ideals at all times. Our Gita is our Constitution. It is not only a political or legal document, but also a social contract that every person of this country must sign in order to make our society more civilized.
