No longer 'blind'

A newly unveiled statue of the Goddess of Fustice without her customary blindfold ushers in a new era of the judiciary’s role in modern India, marking a distinct deviation from colonial legacies

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Οctober 16, 2024 is definitely one for the history books. India woke up to witness the iconic Lady Justice statue in a new avatar as the blindfold was removed to spread the message that the law is, in fact, not blind.

The new statue of the Goddess of Justice, now situated in the Indian Supreme Court's judges' library, with her eyes open marks a significant departure from earlier representation. Though the statue was unveiled by Chief Justice of India Chandrachud in 2023, it went viral in the past week.

Symbol imprinted in our collective psyche for centuries - the statue of a blindfolded Lady Justice holding a set of scales in one hand and a sword in the other, has stood to represent the principle that the law is blind. It has been used in Bollywood movies, in stories and fiction, even on the cover of rock albums.

This redesign, commissioned by outgoing Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, is intended to convey the message that the law is not blind and it sees and upholds the rights of all individuals equally.

The removal of the blindfold-a long-standing symbol of impartiality indicates an evolving understanding of justice that distances itself from colonial legacies, similar to recent reforms that replaced the Indian Penal Code with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Lady Justice is thought to represent the allegorical embodiment of law and the moral principles that guide society.

In ancient Greece, the Hellenic deity Themis was commonly portrayed with scales and a sword, symbolising divine law and justice. While the figure of Lady Justice emerges from Justitia, the Goddess of Justice within Roman mythology, the symbolism of the scales first appeared in ancient Egypt with Maat, the Goddess of Truth and Justice.