Remark made in court an observation: Ex-CJI

NEW DELHI: Former Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud has said that a comment made by him in 2022 on the Places of Worship Act, 1991 being no bar to ascertain religious "character" was only an observation and cannot be regarded as a verdict by the court.

- HT Correspondent

Speaking at the India Economic Conclave 2024 organised by Times Network, the former CJI said, "Any discussion in the court has to be understood in the context of a dialogue in the court...To say that an observation or a dialogue in the court is reflective of the position the court would ultimately take would be doing a disservice to the nature of dialogue in the court."

Justice Chandrachud was referring to an observation by him in May 2022 while hearing the matter relating to conduct of survey in the premises of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, which is in the middle of a dispute in a suit filed by Hindu parties claiming right to worship in the mosque after a survey of the precincts claimed to find a structure similar to a Shivling.