Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah: Former Chief Justice of India

The most difficult times in India's democracy's antiquity may have occurred under Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah's administration. He was born in Ahmedabad on January 22nd, 1906, and in the 1970s he rose to the position of Chief Justice. He also presided over one of the most pivotal discussions over the Indian constitution. A counsel who lost a case before Justice Shah claimed that the judge's decisions are "unimpeachable" and that "with him, you always know that justice is done."

Early Life and Education

Justice Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah began his early life and education during the following time period:

• Shah first attended R.C. School in Ahmedabad before enrolling at Elphinstone College in Bombay to further his education.

• In 1929, he started working as a lawyer in Ahmedabad.

• In the Gandhi assassination case, he was a member of the legal team defending Nathuram Godse and other defendants.

• He relocated to the Bombay High Court in 1949, where he served as a judge for ten years.

• He was chosen to serve as a judge on India's Supreme Court in October 1959, and in December 1970 he was appointed as Chief Justice of India.

Notable Judgement

The notable judgments he delivered are:

R.C. Cooper vs. UOI (1970 AIR 564, 1970 SCR (3) 530)

In order to support Indian development, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi nationalized 14 private banks on June 19, 1969. Dr. R.C. Cooper challenged Mrs. Gandhi's decision in a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution on June 21st, claiming that his fundamental rights and the rights of "the tiny man and the small shareholder" had been infringed. Dr. Cooper had interests in two additional nationalized banks in addition to serving on the Central Bank of India's board of directors. On February 2nd, 1970, a bench chaired by Justice Shah rendered a historic 10:1 decision in this case. It was decided that a shareholder may not ask the court to defend their fundamental rights on behalf of their corporation unless the alleged violation of those rights directly or indirectly applies to them. The sole dissenting opinion was written by Justice A.N. Ray.

Kharak Singh vs. State of U.P. and Others (1963 AIR 1295, 1964 SCR (1) 332)

Kharak Singh was placed under the intense scrutiny of the Uttar Pradesh police in 1962 after being accused of "dacoity" in accordance with Regulation 236 (Chapter 20) of the Uttar Pradesh Police Rules. Singh submitted a writ case to the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of this law, which he said infringed his fundamental rights to freedom of movement (Article 21) and the preservation of life and individual autonomy. In this instance, a six-judge bench upheld the remainder of Regulation 236 but invalidated Clause (b). The bench determined that the Constitution does not protect the right to privacy and that monitoring people's movements simply violates their privacy. Justices K. Subba Rao and J.C. Shah dissented from the majority judgement, arguing that Article 21 entailed the right to be free from direct or indirect intrusions on one's person. The Supreme Court considered challenges to the Aadhaar Act in 2017, which led to the discovery of this historic judgment and dissent.

Shah Commission (1977: Emergency Scandal)

The Shah Commission was an inquiry panel established by the Indian government in 1977 to look into all the abuses during the Indian Emergency (1975–77). Justice J.C. Shah was appointed to review the excesses of the Emergency under Indira Gandhi. During the Emergency, which lasted in India from June 25th, 1975, to March 21st, 1977, democratic procedures were suspended and serious human rights violations were committed all throughout the nation. The Janata Party, which at the time was Mrs. Gandhi's main political rival, assumed the Union government following the emergency in March 1977. On August 31st, 1978, the Shah Commission's third and final report—as it is often known—was presented to Parliament. The report examined in detail the extent to which Mrs. Gandhi suppressed political and civil rights over the course of these 21 months in 26 chapters.

The Shah Commission study investigated the extent to which Mrs. Gandhi suppressed political and civil rights during the Emergency. After she was re-elected in 1980, the government burned all copies of the Shah Commission Report that were still in existence. Despite recent initiatives to promote the research, its results have not yet received much attention.

Fact	Detail
Name	Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah
Date of Birth	22 January 1906
Alma Mater	Elphinstone college in Bombay (Graduation)
Official Tenure	17th December, 1970 – 21st January, 1971
President	V. V. Giri
Preceded by	Mohammad Hidayatullah
Succeeded by	Sarv Mittra Sikri
As Judge	Judge of the Bombay High Court Judge of the Supreme Court of India Chief Justice of India

Deceptive Remarks Against Justice

However, the war cry of the shrinking tribe of Indira Gandhi supporters who have begun a defamatory campaign against Justice Shah through the columns of Surya publication is "Impeach Shah." The Surya article has revived an old controversy from the 1940s in which O. P. Gupta, a civil servant in the state of Uttar Pradesh, challenged Justice Shah's decision regarding his dismissal from service by obtaining the support of over a hundred MPs to introduce an "Impeach Shah" motion in the Lok Sabha. Justice Shah was only one of the Supreme Court's judges that criticized the infamous Gupta, along with Chief Justice Sikri, Justice J. M. Shelat, C. A. Vaidyalingam, and Justice A. N. Grover.

The endeavor was completely meaningless. Later, the MPs retracted their support, and Gupta was sentenced to two months in jail. The New Delhi legal community is appalled by Surya's resurrected use of the case as an attack on Justice Shah. Lawyers and activists criticized the report as cruel, nasty, and vengeful because it accused Justice Shah of "writing utter lies in the ruling."

Moreover, in the legal community, Shah is remembered as a calm, even-tempered man who was a touch introverted but nevertheless had a good sense of humor and a "devotion to work." A coworker gives the following example of his decency: “He was the kind of man who would not even let his close secretaries know about any judicial rulings.”

FAQs

Q1. Who was the head of Shah Commission?

Ans. In 1977, Government of India constituted Shah Commission to inquire into all the excesses action taken by the government during the Emergency period (between 1975 and 1977). The commission was headed by Justice J.C. Shah, a former chief Justice of India.

Q2. When was Justice Shah appointed as the Justice of the Supreme Court of India?

Ans. In October 1959, Justice Shah was appointed as the Justice of the Supreme Court of India, and became Chief Justice of India in December 1970.