New Delhi: One cannot solely rely on the state to determine the truth as citizens also play an important role in it, said Supreme Court’s Justice D.Y. Chandrachud Saturday.
Speaking at the M.C Chagla memorial online lecture on the topic ‘Speaking Truth to Power: Citizens and the Law’, Justice Chandrachud noted that responsible citizens must put “truth providers” through intense scrutiny.
“Democracy and truth go hand in hand. Democracy needs truth to survive,” he said.
Citing an example of speaking truth to power and the role of the state, Chandrachud hit out at those countries who allegedly did not transparently report Covid-19 cases and deaths.
“In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, we see that there is an increasing trend of countries across the world who are trying to manipulate data on the Covid-19 infection rate and deaths,” he said.
He further quoted philosopher Hannah Arendt and highlighted that totalitarian governments constantly rely “on falsehoods in order to establish dominance”.
