Sir — It is unfortunate that the controversy over Chief Justice of India Hl Dattu holding a judges’ conference on Good Friday has drawn the Prime Minister into its ambit, with Justice Kurian Joseph taking his complaint to Mr Narendra Modi and not attending a dinner the latter threw for the judges. This happened in spite of the Chief Justice pointing out that similar events had taken place in the past on Good Friday.
Mr Dattu received support from a former apex court judge, Mr KT Thomas, who wondered why Christians could not work on Good Friday. Justice Thomas said, “In America, Christians constitute 97 per cent, but Good Friday is not even a holiday there. What the Chief Justices are doing is also a holy act. They are implementing justice for the people on a Good Friday. Jesus Christ will bless them.”
It appears as if Justice Kurian Joseph is unaware that people working as doctors or nurses in hospitals (many of whom are Christians) are on duty all days. Personnel engaged in the police, railways, water supply, transport and electricity services too work round the clock, sacrificing festivals, be it Diwali or Eid or Christmas. The Chief Justice of India’s insistence on the need to apply a different kind of reasoning and scruple should be seen in this light, and not as a question of spiritual entitlement.