Justice A.N. Ray: The Former Chief Justice of India

Even though Justice A. N. Ray was a lone witness, he did not hesitate to register his dissent, as he did in the Bank Nationalization Case (1970) and the Privy Purse Abolition Case (1971), both of which had 11-judge benches. He was also one of the six dissenters in the illustrious Kesavananda Bharati case.

Who is Justice A.N. Ray?

Ajit Nath Ray served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India from April 25, 1973, until his retirement on January 28, 1977. When the eleven justices of the Supreme Court considered whether the Bank Nationalization Act was constitutional in 1969, Ray was the lone contrarian. He had gone through Presidency College in Calcutta, Oriel College in Oxford, Gray's Inn, and the Calcutta High Court to get his appointment to the Court. The Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court was his son, Justice Ajoy Nath Ray.

Early Life

Justice Ray was born on January 29th, 1912, and died in Kolkata on December 25, 2010. He had attended a number of famous domestic and international universities, including the Presidency College in Kolkata and the Oriel College in Oxford.

Besides, he had participated in other contentious rulings like the 1970 Bank Nationalization Case, commonly known as the R.C. Cooper Case. He first made headlines in January 1973 when he was named CJI of India by the country's then-prime minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi, which was regarded as the indifferent moment in the judiciary's history in India.

Career Timeline

1939	The Honorable Society of Gray's Inn called him to the bar. At the High Court of Calcutta, he first began practicing law.
1969	Appointed as a judge of hon’ble SC.
1973	Became CJI
1977	Retired

Famous Cases

The landmark case of ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla, widely known as the Habeous Corpus Case, was one of the significant rulings handed down while CJI Ray was in office.

• The judgment rendered in this case is regarded as one of the worst rulings rendered to date, which caused considerable controversy for the then CJI. Following this case, the protection of life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution would continue to be suspended during the National Emergency, which also meant that the writ of habeas corpus could not be used at that time.

• As a result, the executive branch of government and its agencies suddenly possessed disproportionate power, including the ability to detain and arrest anyone during a crisis without having to answer to the public or the legal system.

At that time, the country's highest court had issued a ruling that was primarily intended to benefit the government rather than the people. But it's important to note that in this 4:1 decision, Justice H.R. Khanna was the only justice to disagree with the majority and think the decision was against the interests of the people. As a result, he was penalized by not being named the next CJI, but rather Justice M. Hameedullah Beg was appointed as the next CJI of India.

Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru and Ors v. State of Kerala and Anr, 1973-

• A.N. Ray dissented from the decision in the case that defined the Indian Constitution's fundamental structure concept. The majority claimed that the constitution was founded on constitutional norms and principles thanks to the basic structural concept. It was argued that while Parliament has many powers, these do not include the ability to annihilate or adversely alter the fundamental provisions of the constitution.

Important Events and Development During Emergency Period

Significant changes were made to the electoral statutes with a retroactive effect to overturn Mrs. Indira Gandhi's disqualification. Additionally, the Constitution (39th Amendment) Act, which established a new Art. 329A, was passed in August 1985. This Article states that a person's election to either House of Parliament while they are the Prime Minister cannot be challenged unless it is before "an authority." Any unresolved election petition would be dropped.

• The Supreme Court overturned the Allahabad High Court's decision dismissing Mrs. Gandhi on November 7, 1975. The Constitution (42nd Amendment) Bill, which included measures to change Article 368, which deals with the power of the Parliament to amend the Constitution, was introduced on September 1st, 1976.

• The modified section would make Kesavananda Bharti's basic structural principle invalid by removing all limitations on the parliament's ability to change the Constitution. a new chapter for the creation of new tribunals that, despite their ostensibly innocent appearance, were evilly intended to render the current court system entirely useless. The idea of an All India Judicial Service was introduced by that amendment, and it called for the executive to have complete control over the judiciary, just as it did with other All India Services. After the amended bill was approved, it was made into law.

• At the end of 1976, this was the situation. The emergency authorities were confident enough in January 1977 to declare national elections for the Lok Sabha. In order to create the appearance of legitimacy, it was anticipated that the elections would be a charade, and plans to completely destroy a democratic system were postponed to a period after the elections. The complacency was partly brought on by the intelligence wing known as "jee huzoor," which was forced to serve its masters, and it was sustained by the conviction that the judiciary was also under control.

Controversies

A.N. Ray's decision to replace three justices who had previously been at senior position to become the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was one of the largest disputes he was involved in. He had two hours to decide whether to take the job, and he did.

It was contentious because the Emergency was in effect at the time, and it was asserted that the reason he was promoted to Chief Justice was because, in contrast to the other three candidates, he rendered decisions that were more favorable to the parliament than to the general public.

After his retirement, Ray, CJI, continued his long relationship with Sri Rama Krishna Mission and committed his life to its service. According to legend, A.N. Ray was asked in 1980, following in the footsteps of other honorable, if he would accept the position of India's ambassador to the United States or high commissioner to the United Kingdom. Ray CJ declined the offer because the position he most recently held was the highest one.

FAQs

Q1. When was A.N. Ray appointed as CJI?

Ans. Justice A. N. Ray appointed as CJI in 1973, and this appointment was in itself a news, as it had been done by superseding three existing senior judges, namely Justices J M Shelat, K S Hegde, and A N Grover. This convention of appointing CJI only the senior most judge had been broken by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, whose government recommended Ray’s appointment.

Q2. What was the reason to appoint Justice Ray as CJI?

Ans. Indira Gandhi, India's then-prime minister, was apparently dissatisfied with the Supreme Court's decision in the Kesavananda Bharti case. And Justice Ray was the one who stated that there was no limitation on Parliament's power to amend the Constitution. So, because of such reasons, the Indira Gandhi government recommended his candidature and appointed him as a CJI.