Solicitor General Tushar Mehta lauds PM's 'responsive' leadership during Covid-19 crisis

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Sunday lauded the "responsive" leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in ensuring that India passes through the international crisis of Covid-19 pandemic with "minimal" and "unavoidable" damage.

The law officer also hailed the Indian judiciary for functioning on a daily basis to provide access to justice to everyone in the country.

Speaking at a virtual interactive session organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad (Supreme Court unit), Mehta said that he was not making a political statement but speaking as a lawyer who has seen the government working under the current crisis.

"It is impossible to envisage the situation but for the responsive leadership of our Prime Minister we have passed. I don't think we could have passed through this international crisis with the minimal damage which was unavoidable. It is a shivering idea to imagine what would have happened under any other leadership," he said.

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"It is not a political statement, but of a citizen and a lawyer who has seen the government working, read each and every step taken by the government methodically and scientifically," Mehta said.

The law officer further said that one of the unwarranted criticisms was that against the judiciary.

"From the day lockdown was imposed in March, the courts have not shut down even for a day. The Supreme Court had worked on a daily basis. The judges who are bound to be above 60 years of age have not taken a day off. With all precautions which could be taken, each and every day, our system of dispensation of justice was made accessible to citizens and the Supreme Court was dealing with petitions, many of which could have been avoided," he said.

He further said that to criticise the judiciary would be "showing not only a deliberate indifference but exhibiting our ignorance to what is happening in the country".

"I don't think there is any other democracy as large as India where the judiciary has functioned on a daily basis giving access to justice to everyone in the country -- right from the trial court to the Supreme Court," Mehta said.

The Solicitor General further said that there can be a system where the original system of physical hearing can be replaced without completely dispensing with the virtual hearing.

"Nothing virtual can ever be a substitute for real. Even in a legal system virtual can never substitute for real. But there can be a system where we can replace the original system of physical hearing without completely dispensing with the virtual hearing," he said.

Mehta added that through virtual hearing, lawyers who previously could not address their matters before the apex court were doing so now.

"This creates an amazing opportunity for those members of our bar who are stationed in remote areas or not in Delhi. Lawyers from far areas of the country are addressing the Supreme Court. This was an opportunity for young lawyers who could not shift to Delhi but now can appear from where they are staying," he noted.

He concluded by saying if a lawyer of any country became weak, the country became weak.

"We cannot lose faith in the system merely because there is a temporary pause by the Almighty," Mehta said.