Historic Supreme Court order on human liberty and the role of Courts

Shivani Bhardwaj

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Friday 27 November has passed a historic order to uphold personal liberty in the Arnab Goswami case observing “The doors of the apex Court cannot be closed to a citizen who is able to establish prima facie that the instrumentality of the State is being weaponized for using the force of criminal law. Our courts must ensure that they continue to remain the first line of defense against the deprivation of the liberty of citizens. Deprivation of liberty even for a single day is one day too many. We must always be mindful of the deeper systemic implications of our decisions“.

The Supreme Court has said in its order passed by a two Judge bench of Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Juatice Indira Banerjeen, says: “Human liberty is a precious constitutional value, which is undoubtedly subject to regulation…