A view of Supreme Court of India. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

The Supreme Court on April 5 dismissed a plea seeking transportation of the mortal remains of Sufi saint Hazrat Shah Muhammad Abdul Muqtadir Shah Masood Ahmad from Bangladesh to India.

A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud said there is no constitutionally enforceable right to seek transportation of the Sufi saint’s mortal remains as he was a Pakistani citizen.

“He is a Pakistani citizen, how can you expect the Union of India to bring his burials in India?” the Bench asked. The counsel, appearing for petitioner Dargah Hazrat Mulla Syed, said the saint has no family in Pakistan, whereas, at the dargah in Uttar Pradesh, he was the Sajjada-nasheen (spiritual head).

The lawyer told the top court that the saint was born in Prayagraj, then called Allahabad, and migrated to Pakistan. He got Pakistani citizenship in 1992.

“He was elected as the Sajjada Nasheen of the shrine viz. Dargah Hazrat Mulla Syed Mohammad Shah in 2008 in Prayagraj. He executed his will in 2021 expressing a desire to be buried in the shrine. He died in Dhaka where he was buried. There are difficulties in entertaining such a petition.

“Hazrat Shah was a Pakistani citizen and has no constitutional right… the practical difficulties related to exhumation. As a matter of first principle, it would not be right for this court to direct the transportation of the mortal remains of a citizen of a foreign state in India,” the Bench, also comprising Justices J. B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said.

Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud is felicitated with the ‘Award for Global Leadership’, at Harvard Law School, in Massachusetts, USA.
| Photo Credit: PTI

However bad a Constitution may be, it may turn out to be good if those responsible for its functioning happen to be a “good lot,” Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud said while citing B. R. Ambedkar and hailing his idea of constitutionalism as being responsible for dismantling deeply entrenched caste hierarchy in India.

The CJI made the observations during his keynote address at the Sixth International Conference on the ‘Unfinished Legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’ at the Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, in the U.S. on October 22.

The CJI highlighted the idea of constitutionalism of Ambedkar, who headed the committee tasked to frame the Indian Constitution and said it was instrumental in transforming Indian society by dismantling deeply entrenched caste hierarchy and promoting social, economic and political empowerment of marginalised groups.

“Ambedkar’s legacy continues to shape the constitutional values of modern India, serving as a beacon for social reform and the pursuit of justice for all,” he said.

He cited Ambedkar, who had said however good a Constitution may be, it is sure to turn out bad because those who are called to work it happen to be a bad lot.

“However bad a Constitution may be, it may turn out to be good if those who are called to work it happen to be a good lot,” the CJI said quoting Ambedkar.

The CJI, who is in the USA, was also felicitated with the ‘Award for Global Leadership’ by the Center on the Legal Profession, Harvard Law School on Saturday.

The announcement about CJI Chandrachud being chosen as the recipient of the award was made on January 11, 2023 in an online ceremony.

He was present at the Harvard Law School on Saturday for a fireside chat with David Wilkins, Professor at Harvard Law School and Faculty Director, Center on the Legal Profession.