D Y Chandrachud reveals one of the great torments of being a judge

Judges have the onerous task of delivering justice, but at times, they are also hamstrung by investigators who are less than ideal. Justice D Y Chandrachud, a Supreme Court of India judge, called this one of the “great torments of being a judge”.

“You have to decide on the basis of the evidence brought in front of you. When you find that the investigation by the police has been so woefully inadequate, either deliberately or as a matter of incompetence, where it is going to result in an acquittal... cases where the courts have been approached with a petition at an appropriate stage to be able to possibly monitor an investigation, have perhaps shown a better outcome,” Chandrachud said at an event in Mumbai recently.

While it is legally tenable for the court to take a more active role in the investigation, it does not have the resources or the manpower to undertake such an exercise. “I feel that cases that are monitored by the courts do tend to result in

better outcomes. But the limitation is: How many cases like that do you monitor across the country?” he asked.