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Justice Madan Lokur IDRC Photos: tecklesphoto.com

Listen to a clip from Lokur’s talk

 Listen to Lokur’s entire lecture

“In India we believe that judicial independence is extremely important and that you cannot have a rule of law or a proper system of governance unless you have an independent judiciary,” said Delhi High Court Judge Madan Lokur at a public presentation at IDRC on June 29.

India’s “unique” system gives its Supreme Court more clout and allows it to influence government in ways that many countries’ cannot, he said.

Lokur credited the Supreme Court’s intervention with making unleaded petrol compulsory in Delhi, thus reducing air pollution in the city, and with protecting the Taj Mahal against the threat of pollutants from a nearby oil refinery.

“As a result of the intervention by the Supreme Court, the Taj Mahal has been saved,” he said. “Otherwise with the level of pollution that was going on at that point in time, perhaps the shine of the marble would have disappeared in a couple of years.”

Lokur was appointed to the Delhi High Court in 1999. He has practiced in the Supreme Court of India and the Delhi High Court, and served as Standing Counsel in a number of Indian government departments.

IDRC has supported research for development in India since its founding, nearly 40 years ago.

The opinions expressed here reflect those of the speaker alone, and not necessarily those of the International Development Research Centre.

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