Justice K Chandru's notable comments

• I didn’t go to practicing at Supreme Court post retirement because I had decided long back that I must do things for the public and so I stayed on. The other thing is that as a lawyer in the Supreme Court is promising only to those who want to make money. I am not interested in making money.
• As for tribunals, there are exclusive tribunals for retired judges that are subordinate to the High Court. As a matter of principle, I believe that no tribunal should be accepted. So, I decided not to take up a demoted status.
• Legal awareness among people cannot come overnight.
• Media likes him because he has something to say every day ... on Justice Markandeya Katzu
• I believe that no institution should be beyond screening for corruption. Judiciary, like any other pillar of democracy, is accountable. If you ask me if the judiciary is corrupt, I will say yes. Yes, because the judiciary reflects the society. It also reflects all the ills of the society.
• The existing back-log will take 330 years to be resolved. It’s impossible to achieve. The main requirement is a capable judge. A novice will take much longer than someone who is experienced in the field. But the problem is that no one is interested in changing the system.
• Around 20% of the lawyers control 80% of the work.
• This has gone up to ridiculous levels of servility where a junior judge would call a senior judge My Lord. I have objected to this but then the general explanation is that judges like it.
• We cannot ignore the judiciary in a civilized world. In the interest of all, the judiciary will have to be strengthened. Judiciary is not beyond accountability and there must be people to shape the institution. The constitutional philosophy must be engrained in every judge.
• He argued that Karnan’s case proved that the process of judicial appointments needed an overhaul. He said that judges have to be made accountable to the people and that courts should learn to command respect through their actions and not through contempt proceedings.
• Justice Karnan is a standing monument to the fact that the collegium system of judges appointment, under which judges appoint other judges, is not a foolproof method. How did a person of such qualities become a judge in the first place? The process of selection involves the High Court collegium, the Supreme Court collegium, the office of the President and the Union government, which does the background check. 
• Judges are neither accountable to the people nor to the system which appointed them. 
• Casteism is part of Indian society. Caste prejudice can be open or concealed. Unless a person who suffers expresses himself, others cannot feel for him. 
• Whenever his conduct is questioned, Justice Karnan used the Dalit card. It is a weapon of convenience.
• In our country, contempt laws are used to browbeat anyone who dares to criticise the judiciary. You cannot have respect by command in a democracy. 
• It is unpardonable what the Supreme Court did to former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju in the recent contempt proceedings. The judiciary has to inspire confidence by its actions and not through the contempt law.
• Never be afraid. Ultimately, you can't die every day.
• Scrap holidays for the courts. Judges, not the courts, need rest. There is no justice in the proposition that courts can have summer vacation.
• Summer holidays were colonial-era privilege accorded to white skinned judges and barristers to escape to England during unbearably hot Indian summer.