Constitution must guide judiciary where law is silent: CJI Surya Kant

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the judiciary is now confronted with questions which were scarcely imaginable a decade ago

Published - October 30, 2026 05:45 pm IST - New Delhi

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Supreme Court Judge Vikram Nath during the inaugural event of the 60th anniversary celebration of the Delhi High Court at DHC Auditorium, in New Delhi on Friday (October 30, 2026). | Photo Credit: ANI

“Where the law is silent, the Constitution must guide the judiciary as its promise of dignity, liberty and equality does not change with technology,” Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said on Friday (October 30, 2026).

The CJI said the judiciary is now confronted with questions which were scarcely imaginable a decade ago, including whether a work generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) can claim copyright protection, how the law should respond to deepfakes and how innovation may be encouraged without letting technology undermine individual rights.

"Such questions will rarely find ready answers in the statute book. Where the law is silent, it is the Constitution that must guide us. Its promise of dignity, liberty and equality does not change with technology, and every new question must be answered in that light," CJI Kant said, while speaking at the inaugural event of the celebration of the Delhi High Court's 60 years.

He added that holding firmly to that promise, the Delhi High Court can meet the unknown with an open mind, with a changing world, without ever losing sight of the person it exists to protect.

The CJI said the Supreme Court has always maintained a special relationship with the Delhi High Court, not because they are practically neighbours, but because it takes off a disproportionate burden of the Supreme Court as compared to other High Courts.

"Many times, when a matter is mentioned before us, we find ourselves reminding the counsel that the Delhi High Court is just around the corner, and that relief may well await them there before their matter even reaches our board," he said.

Supreme Court judge Justice Vikram Nath, who also addressed the gathering, praised the Delhi High Court for its contribution to the development of law and its institutional growth over the past six decades.

Justice Nath, in a lighter vein, said the Delhi High Court's judges sometimes appear to be "more powerful than judges of the Supreme Court". In his address, CJI Kant said the Delhi High Court has a responsibility of extraordinary magnitude.

“When this court was established in 1966, it was not merely another High Court serving a growing city but it stood at the very seat of the nation's political and administrative life,” he said.

“Questions of "governmental authority", "individual liberty" and "public accountability" were bound to reach its courtrooms with consequences extending far beyond the capital,” he said, adding that those responsibilities have only multiplied many times with the passage of time.

He said in the past few decades, Delhi has expanded in every direction and its commerce has flourished and millions more have made it their home.

"Litigation has naturally grown alongside the city, as have the numbers of advocates and litigants before this court. What began as a court of just four judges is today an institution that resolves disputes of remarkable variety and complexity. This High Court deserves every appreciation for rising to those demands," the CJI said.

He said the high court has significantly enriched the civil and commercial jurisprudence and in 2009, it established India's first high court annexed arbitration centre.

"Its steady movement towards electronic filing and digital processes reflects the same willingness to embrace change. A distinctive feature of this court is its ordinary, original civil jurisdiction, which enables it to hear significant civil and commercial disputes directly, without litigants first having to approach the district courts. "This has placed it at the forefront of complex commercial adjudication," CJI Kant said.

He also praised the High Court's specialised intellectual property division, saying it has earned a formidable reputation at home and abroad for the quality of its jurisprudence.

The function was also attended by other Supreme Court judges, Delhi High Court Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre, and sitting and former judges of the High Court.

Published - October 30, 2026 05:45 pm IST

judiciary (system of justice) / justice and rights / politics / Artificial Intelligence