'No one is too young to effectuate change': Justice DY Chandrachud hails Greta Thunberg

6 months after environment activist Greta Thunberg faced ire for posting a toolkit, Supreme Court judge DY Chandrachud lauded her efforts for bringing about change. Poised to become the Chief Justice of India in November 2022, he affirmed that age is not a bar if one desires to effectuate a change in society. He was speaking at an event organized by Pune's Shikshana Prasarak Mandali on Saturday to commemorate the 101st birth anniversary of his father- late YV Chandrachud who served as the CJI from 1978 to 1985. On this occasion, he referred to Thunberg's example in the context of climate change. 

Justice DY Chandrachud remarked, "As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, ecological disruptions exacerbate existing inequalities. To combat this crisis, we will require collective and global action at a scale that we have not witnessed so far. An engaged citizenry particularly its students can confront several material interests that will have to be made subservient to the existence of our species."

He added, "Greta Thunberg who is one of the strongest voices in civil society against climate change began her journey as a lone 15-year-old sitting outside Swedish Parliament demanding governmental action against the imminent risks of global warming. Her example in addition to many others shows us how no one is too young or insignificant to effectuate a big change. My learning for life, if I may say so, at my age is also that you are never too old to be a change." 

Here is his full address:

Toolkit controversy

On February 3, Greta Thunberg stirred a row by posting a toolkit for people to help in the agitation against the farm laws. The six-page document titled 'Ask India Why' consisted of detailed instructions to target the Indian government and a few Indian corporate enterprises, in the garb of the farmers' protest. After the tweet and its contents were highlighted by Republic Media Network, the environmental activist deleted it and posted an updated version of the document which is a toned-down version of the original one. However, the Delhi Police registered an FIR against the authors of the toolkit under Sections 120, 124A, 153, and 153A of the Indian Penal Code.  

In connection with this, Disha Ravi was arrested by the Delhi Police on February 13 and was remanded to police custody for five days after being produced in front of a magistrate. Addressing a press briefing, Delhi Police Cyber Cell Joint CP Prem Nath revealed that the "action plan" outlined in the toolkit was carried out in Delhi on January 26 resulting in 510 police personnel getting injured. Moreover, he alleged that Shantanu Muluk, Nikita Jacob and Disha Ravi are the creators of the toolkit. He also mentioned that the "action plan" in the toolkit document was executed in a "copycat manner" on January 26 resulting in violence. While Muluk and Jacob were granted protection from arrest by the Bombay High Court, Disha was granted bail on February 23.