An irreverent General Z is a sure sign of democratic progress, says Justice Muralidhar
S. Muralidhar, Former Chief Justice of Odisha High Court. | Photo credit: RV Moorthy
As the minting of ‘dimagi Naxal’ coins continues to trigger political debate, former Chief Justice of Orissa High Court S. Muralidhar said it is reassuring to know that the irreverent young generation is not threatened or deterred by the rhetoric or ‘demonisation’ of ‘dimagi Naxal’.
He said the very lack of respect among Gen Z is “a sure sign of democratic progress.”
“The recent protests of our General Z assure us that democracy in India will not be allowed to die and people will turn to the Constitution and protect it to preserve the future of this country,” Justice Muralidhar said in his speech at the 28th DS Borker Memorial Lecture on ‘My Vision India 2047’ on 24
“The India of 2047 would be better served if today’s law did not allow for the criminalization of honest criticism of the government or those who run it, their parody in cartoons or the jokes of stand-up comedians. The India of 2047 would be better served if today’s government stopped the Arms Act to punish those who peacefully protest against the denial of fundamental rights with violence and label them as denying a conspiracy against the government,” said Justice Muralidhar, who he currently works as a senior advocate at the Supreme Court.
He said the judiciary of 2047 would be better if “today’s judges act quickly on complaints of serious state excesses”.
“The Supreme Court of 2047 will hopefully not wait more than four years to decide whether the reduction of the state in the Union Territory is constitutionally valid; more than six years to decide whether the one-day decision to demonetise the currency was legally permissible; more than six years to decide whether anonymous contributions to political parties through electoral bonds were valid,” Justice Muralidhar said.
The university system is inefficient
The former Chief Justice further said that the move in 1993 to the Collegium system for appointing judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts failed to achieve the objective of getting the best possible candidates to the Bench.
“The appointment process has witnessed inexplicable interference by the executive in the last 12 years. This is compounded by vagueness of criteria, lack of transparency and overall inefficiency,” Justice Muralidhar said.
The former judge called for a reformed Bar Council of India (BCI) that is democratic in its functioning, insulated from executive and judicial interference, responsive to the needs of the public litigants, prompt in resolving complaints of professional misconduct by lawyers and upholding constitutional values and human rights.
He said many of the millions of pending cases clogging up the judicial administration system are effectively “dead”. These were cases where the parties did not live, the object did not exist, the law changed or the government’s position on the issue changed irreversibly. Further, there were “absolutely petty and senseless cases” of people, including members of tribal communities, being accused of transporting five liters of illegally brewed liquor or found with five kilograms of illegally cut firewood.
Published – 29 Aug 2026 21:51 IST