at least that is the theory. by the hindu nationalist bjp? well, my guest today is the recently—retired chiefjustice of india's supreme court, did he successfully protect the court from political pressure? thank you. when you said, as you left the supreme court last year,

you said, "i found myself pondering, "did i achieve but speaking for myself, i had laid out a plan the first was, of course, in terms of the judgments and then second, you're also the administrative head so i first and foremost wanted to, in myjudgments, constitution, which i do believe we try to do. i mean, i can't think of a job in the world that has more

absolutely. cases that we handle. but apart from being a final court of appeal, accessible, the most transparent in the world. court, which in many parts of the world just does not happen.

isn't there a problem there? there are states in which the recruitment of women goes up to 60 or 70%. years before i retired. what's happening now is that as a reach of education,

the district judiciary. when you mentioned about, you know, the role of dynasty, school doing my studies. second, i entered a court for the first third, if you look at the overall profile of the indian judiciary, most of the lawyers and judges... as well as the districtjudges who get promoted.

that the district... from 2023, which is, of course, when you were still chiefjustice. you were seven years, at that point, into your stint on the supreme court. did you, as supreme court chief justice, have to deal with that growing political pressure? because they were not able to anticipate what would happen

if at all, completely debunks the myth that we are moving if you look at the states in india, the states are where the regional aspirations and identities have come to the fore. they are ruling those states. so you have this wide dispersal of political power. like the moment in 2023 when a court, a high court in gujarat, essentially upheld a conviction of opposition stand for re—election. for political purposes.

you're looking at. of a trial court in india, but thatjudgment of you are talking about could resume his activities in parliament. sure, it's a suspension of the decision, but and it's in a sense a symptom of something much wider that of narendra modi's party.

as correct as statistics. in the supreme court. the supreme court disposed of 21,300 bail applications. it's in the us, it's australia or india, there's a legal process which is to be followed. as to whether a court correctly decided a particular case or didn't correctly

decide a particular case. kashmir. now that had been put in place at the very inception to abrogate article 370. because they felt that you had failed to uphold or critiquing theirjudgments.

caveat, which is this — that article 370 of the constitution, when it was introduced was part of a chapter which is titled transitional arrangements. 0r transitional provisions. the assumption was this — that what was transitional would have to fade away and have to merge with a transitional provision. if i may interrupt? it's notjust about the abrogation. it's also about the wider decision you took,

status should be restored. look at it dispassionately. we said that what was intended to intended to be accountable to the people, an elected government, what was essentially a transitional provision, that's fine. second, and that's very critical, the can ijust have a moment to answer this? injammu and kashmir must be... must be restored. you didn't set a timeline. we did. yes, we did. we did set a timeline for the restoration of the democratic process. elections took place early in october, and a democratically elected government is in place injammu and kashmir.

yes, but the point is it's a democratically elected i'll come to that in a moment. no, if i may, because... because we've got a lot to get through and all i just wonder what difference it makes to you when you hear "the supreme court's decision was an act of capitulation. that's the perception of one lawyer. let me give you the perspective... let me talk. decision — about article 370 — was one of many decisions but didn't even attempt to succeed in terms of combating majoritarian power. again, completely wrong.

the status of the state ofjammu and kashmir into three union territories — the union territory of ladakh, jammu and kashmir. we have again accepted the undertaking of the union government. we asked them, "would you like us to issue

that the status of jammu that was my point. but let's move on to a couple of other important issues. in that sense, we have ensured democratic accountability. and i therefore think, you know, the criticism is not correct. who have this view. or demand that the government rethink. principle that in india, under your constitution, of their religion. a different sort of privilege on the pathway to citizenship how is that squaring with the principles

there again, stephen, your assessment that, you know, through is incorrect because the case is pending because you know the muslim population of this country second class citizens. courts across democratically... no, the case is still pending. now... that's my point. this is, for muslim people in india, of the utmost importance.

stephen... no. now, the fact of the matter is this — we had constitutional cases which were pending for 20 years, dealing with critical issues of federalism — which we have dealt with — giving more power to the states. we dealt with, for instance, you talked about muslims. the supreme court in 1968. do you take up new cases at the cost of old cases? if you do that, you would be

criticised that, "well, of the new cases as well. by my court, my successor. justice chandrachud, i do not doubt that these who worked very, very hard, issued more rulings i understand that. now, the decision you took again resonated throughout the country. for a solution to this mosque—ram temple dispute. that's completely erroneous. and told him "i needed to find a solution..." it's completely incorrect.

that's incorrect. and let me clarify — i've clarified this it's completely incorrect. i do pray. see, the muslims again, because you are hindu, this seemed to be an exclusionary act where you were saying, get the wrong answers. and irrespective of who comes to my court — and i dare say that applies to otherjudges in the supreme court as well — irrespective of who comes

to you as a litigant, judicial creativity is not just about intellectual ability and skill. it's also about perception and we work in areas of conflict. we work in areas of intense conflict. a sense of calm, of equanimity? for calm and equanimity. in the country. "is close to the pm."

they disposed of cases. now, both before... before this particular meeting. like the electoral bonds case, where we invalidated gone against the government.

and not me, just individually. see, the court is not just one chiefjustice. it comprises of a collectivity of people. you discuss the outcomes with your colleagues on the bench. and i do believe that our court has stood up. ina democra... ..in a democratic society is not the role of the opposition in parliament. and to defend...the constitution. defend the constitution and act in accordance with the rule of law. pressures that you faced as chiefjustice, pressures issues in this country. as a final question,

you have said since retiring the last elections and consistent patterns of elections across the states only go to remind you that you know, when the constitution was born, we were one of the first modern democracies to give the right to vote

the electorate is extraordinarily discerning. second, and that's very important, i believe the way the country's growth path has progressed. and the onward path of india as an economic powerhouse and there we must leave it. much forjoining me on hardtalk. thank you very much for having me.

hello. after a fairly grey, cool, drizzly sort of weekend, the weather isn't going to be changing in a hurry, certainly over the next few days. so, through much of the week ahead, then, predominantly dry, 0ften fairly cloudy, breezy conditions. there'll be a little light rain, drizzle, the next few days. easterly direction. us at the moment. light, patchy rain, mainly for central and eastern areas. a little bit of hill snow to come on monday across the pennines, perhaps the southern uplands. heavy, just a slight covering

over the highest ground here. scotland. the highest ground in the north, once again. temperatures to start tuesday morning probably a few degrees spots, could be a touch of frost, especially from the east coast here. not bringing much in the way of rainfall — again, some patchy, light rain and drizzle for northeast further south, it's looking like another cloudy day — anglia, for instance. for instance, seeing

a bit of blue sky. northern ireland, as well. conditions with that cool easterly wind. so, temperatures on the thermometer 6—8 celsius, especially where you're exposed to that easterly breeze. bye— bye.

president trump doubled

down on his plan on gaza z: i look 5 "ii if? 751” alive look at hello. which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the us and the uk. let's listen to those comments by the president aboard air force one a short time ago.