A new statue of the Goddess of Justice was recently unveiled in the Supreme Court in an effort to remove the colonial image from the Indian justice system. In this statue the Goddess of Justice is now seen in an Indian saree instead of the traditional Western attire. Instead of a sword, he has the Indian Constitution in his hand and the blindfold has been removed. But Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut is unhappy with this change. Raut has strongly criticized it, calling it propaganda of BJP-RSS.
Sanjay Raut said, “What do they want to prove by replacing the sword with the Constitution? This is an attempt to show that they are murdering the Constitution, and want to remove the curtain and allow corruption to be seen openly.” Raut’s comments came at a time when Chief Justice DY Chandrachud had said during the unveiling of the statue, “The law is not blind, it sees everyone equally.”
However, this is not the first time that Sanjay Raut raised questions about the judiciary. He had also raised questions on the recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Justice Chandrachud during Ganesh Puja. He had said that “the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice performing aarti together can raise questions on the impartiality of justice.”
It is noteworthy that the traditional image of the Goddess of Justice with a blindfold and a sword in her hand dates back to the British colonial rule. Through the new statue installed in the Supreme Court, an attempt has been made to strengthen the constitutional values of justice and give a new dimension to the concept of fairness.
