New Delhi: While speaking at the 33rd foundation day celebrations of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Monday (October 12) said that courts must intervene when constitutional rights are violated and that the framers of the Constitution entrusted the responsibility of enforcement of various rights upon courts, reported Bar and Bench.Notably, the remarks of the CJI came at a time when despite the order of a Supreme Court bench presided by himself which said that peaceful protesters should not be detained, police brutality continues in Delhi against those seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.Hundreds of peaceful protesters along with journalists have been detained and injured in police action and assault by right-wing groups.“Our Constitution has made expansive promises to every citizen, including dignity, equality, liberty and justice. These words in the Preamble are among the finest ever written, and they must be observed day after day, in the field, in the lock-up, in the hospital ward and in the village at the end of the road. The framers of our Constitution understood this, and they entrusted the responsibility of enforcement of various rights upon courts,” said CJI Kant, speaking at the NHRC foundation day on Monday.However, even as the CJI emphasised on ensuring dignity, equality, liberty and justice, it is noteworthy that around the same time in Delhi, many of the protesters who were detained and later moved to detention camps, were not even given water for eight or more hours, a clear contradiction with the values which CJI Kant upheld in his speech on Monday.Earlier, CJI Kant had declined the request of Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi and the Rajya Sabha leader of opposition and Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, for a meeting on Monday to discuss issues relating to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.LiveLaw reported citing sources that in his reply to the official emails of the leaders of opposition, CJI Kant said that such a meeting would be inappropriate as the issues sought to be raised are already sub judice before the Supreme Court.“Courts must intervene when constitutional rights are violated. Human Rights Commissions must investigate complaints, identify systemic failures and ensure that concerns which may otherwise remain invisible receive institutional attention. Civil society can bring ground realities to the forefront, while international institutions can contribute scientific knowledge, experience and cooperation,” said CJI Kant at the NHRC foundation day celebrations on Monday.‘Ye mera mudda nahin hai’Later, while interacting with reporters on the sidelines of the NHRC foundation day celebrations on Monday, when media personnel asked CJI Kant about the ongoing protests against the CEC in Delhi, he said, “Ye mera mudda nahin hai (This matter doesn’t pertain to my domain),” reported Press Trust of India.He added that the matter was related to law and order.While CJI Kant on Monday highlighted the importance of civil society in bringing ground realities to the forefront, on May 15, he had hit out at unemployed youth, compared them with cockroaches and also derided activists.“There are already parasites of society who attack the system and you want to join hands with them? There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don’t get any employment and don’t have any place in profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, some of them become RTI activists, some of them become other activists, and they start attacking everyone…and you people file contempt petitions!” CJI Kant had said.Later, after widespread criticism of his remarks the CJI had clarified that that a section of the media had “misquoted him.”Moreover, as previously reported by The Wire, the conduct of the NHRC – the institution where the CJI delivered his speech on Monday – in some of the gravest instances of abuse has been deeply concerning.The NHRC’s silence on the arrest of student activists Umar Khalid, Sharjil Imam and Gulfisha Fatima and of human rights defender Khurram Parvez rang out on the international stage, in addition to its lack of proper action in the infamous arrests of some of the world’s renowned intellectuals in the name of being ‘anti-nationals’ in the Bhima Koregaon case.Last year, Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) decided to downgrade the status of the apex human rights body of the world’s largest democracy.