Legal Notes When the dissent note of late Justice Khanna became the law of the land An ode to democracy – ADM Jabalpur revisited

Justice Ganguly in Remdeo Chauhan attributed Jabalpur’s demise to the Forty-Fourth Amendment, which he says, vindicated Khanna’s dissent.

It is heartening to have Judges who rise above everything in vindication of justice and even more important, of democracy. It needed courageous Judges to come forth in defence of democracy, particularly when glaring mistakes have been made by predecessors. The judgement of Remdeo Chauhan, though late, is but a welcome penitence in that respect. Through it, the Court seeks to make amends for having failed the Indian people when they needed it the most. It is apt to quote Orlando A Battista who said that “an error doesn’t become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.” The Supreme Court has tried to correct the error it made back in the times of Emergency so that it does not become a mistake.