CJI says nine centuries before Magna Carta, Arthashastra conceptualised ‘equality’

NEW DELHI: Giving an interesting twist to the popular belief that 13th century Magna Carta articulated the concept of equality, Chief Justice Surya Kant Thursday said he personally believed that ‘Arthashastra’, authored by legendary 4th century administrator, strategist and thinker Kautilya, conceptualised equality and gave it the foundational value for civilisation.Speaking at St Petersburg International Legal Forum, CJI Kant said, “… the birthplace of Equality was not necessarily the Magna Carta in 1215. Rather, my own personal belief is that its roots are traceable to Kautilya’s Arthashastra, which belongs to the Indian subcontinent and propounded the theory of Equality in the fourth century.”Quoting Arthashastra, he said, “The text states in no uncertain terms that: a King who does not hold himself subject to dharma, to law, ceases to be a King, whether morally or actually.”

He said several civilisations simultaneously in myriad ways contributed in expanding the concept of equality and its cardinal role in an orderly society.“Equality before the law was not a privilege to be dispensed by the powerful to those they deemed deserving. It has always been the grammar of legality itself. Without it, what we call law — is merely the organised will of the stronger party,” he said and questioned whether the term and concept of equality applied in letter and spirit to international law.

This question is appropriate as increasingly one witnesses bigger and powerful nations bending international law as it suited them and subjecting the smaller or less powerful countries to the rigour of sanctions and tariffs.CJI Kant said despite the formation of the United Nations and the refining and development of international law, the question still being asked is — “Whether international law is a privilege of the few or a law among equals.”

He said the fact that the question is still being asked, is an indictment in itself.“The honest answer lies not in the architecture of treaties nor in the composition of international organisations, but in a single, humbler, and far more urgent test: whether every sovereign state, and every human being within it, is empowered to access the law and obtain the desired remedy?,” said CJI Kant, who signed an MoU with SC of Russian Federation two days ago.As head of “the world’s largest and most complex judicial systems”, he said equality begins with equal access to the law. Such access, the CJI said, must confer actual rights and not remain a procedural formality or hollow statutory declaration.CJI Kant said the international legal order continues to face the challenge of ensuring equal access to legal remedies for all countries irrespective of the past grand declarations about its role in maintaining the world order.