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Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Lower judiciary treated like ‘shudras', ‘les misérables', High Court judges like ‘savarnas': Madhya Pradesh HC quashes termination of district judge
In a scathing comment on judicial power structures, a Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has likened the relationship between the High Court and the District Judiciary to a caste system, observing that judges in the lower judiciary are treated like 'shudras' and 'les misérables', while High Court judges function with the entitlement of 'savarnas'. The French term, 'les misérables', translates to 'the miserable ones' in English and is commonly used to refer to the poor and marginalised, as in Victor Hugo's French novel of the same name. A Division Bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Dinesh Kumar Paliwal made the observations on July 14 while quashing the termination of former Additional District and Sessions Judge Jagat Mohan Chaturvedi. He was dismissed in 2014 after passing divergent bail orders in cases linked to the Vyapam scam. The court said the judicial officer had suffered 'gross injustice' and ordered the restoration of his pensionary benefits. It also imposed a cost of Rs 5 lakh on the state for the 'hardships he and his family were subjected to' and 'the humiliation in society that he had to face, only on account of passing judicial orders, without an iota of material coming on record to even establish corruption even on the anvil of preponderance of probability'. Speaking on the entrenched hierarchy in the judiciary, the Bench observed, 'The relationship between District Judiciary and the High Court in the state is not based on mutual respect for each other, but one where a sense of fear and inferiority is consciously instilled by one on the subconscious of the other. At a subliminal level, the penumbra of the caste system manifests in the judicial structure in this state where those in the High Court are the savarnas and the shudras are the les misérables of the District Judiciary.' Describing the dynamic between the High Court and the lower courts, the judges said, 'The dismal relationship between the Judges of the High Court and the Judges of the District Judiciary is one between a feudal lord and serf.' 'The body language of the Judges of the District Judiciary when they greet a Judge of the High Court stops short of grovelling before the High Court Judge, making the Judges of the District Judiciary the only identifiable species of invertebrate mammals,' they said. The Bench further added, 'Instances of the judges of the District Judiciary personally attending to Judges of the High Court (as desired by them) on railway platforms and waiting on them with refreshments, are commonplace, thus perpetuating a colonial decadence with a sense of entitlement.' Judges of the district judiciary deputed to work at the High Court registry 'are almost never offered a seat by the Judges of the High Court, and on a rare occasion when they are, they are hesitant to sit down before the High Court Judge,' the Bench said. The court also observed that the 'subjugation and enslavement of the psyche of the Judges of the District Judiciary is complete and irreversible, so it seems'. 'An overbearing High Court, ever willing to excoriate the District Judiciary for the most innocuous of its errors, ensures that District Judiciary is kept under perpetual and morbid fear of punishment,' it said. 'The fear of the District Judiciary is understandable. They have families, children who go to school, parents undergoing treatment, a home to be built, savings to be accumulated and when the High Court terminates his service abruptly…he and his entire family are out on the streets with no pension and the stigma of facing a society that suspects his integrity,' the court said. The court observed that a 'District Judiciary which is compelled to work perpetually under this fear cannot dispense justice and instead shall dispense with justice'. It added, 'All this adds up to the passive subjugation of the District Judiciary, leaving it psychologically emaciated, which ultimately reflects in their judicial work where bails are not granted in even the most deserving cases, convictions are recorded in the absence of evidence… All this in the name of saving their job, for which the Petitioner in this case suffered, for thinking and doing differently.'
Express Tribune
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Microsoft builds digital twin of Notre-Dame
Microsoft is teaming up with the French government to create a digital replica of Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral, France's most visited monument, the US tech company's president, Brad Smith, said on Monday. As per Reuters, the 862-year-old Gothic masterpiece was reopened last December after a five-year restoration following a devastating fire in 2019 that destroyed its spire and roof. A digital replica will serve as a record of the building's architectural details, Microsoft said. It will also provide a virtual experience for visitors and those unable to visit. The cathedral became a symbol of Paris and France after Victor Hugo used it as a setting for his 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Quasimodo, the main character, has been portrayed in Hollywood films, an animated Disney adaptation and in musicals. Last year, Microsoft worked with Iconem, a French company that specialises in digitalisation of heritage sites, on a digital replica of St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. "One of the things we learned from the work at St Peter's is how a digital twin can help support the ongoing maintenance of a building. Because you capture a digital record of every centimetre and what is there and what it's supposed to look like," Smith told Reuters. "The ability to create a digital twin right now I think will provide an enormously valuable digital record that I believe people are going to be using 100 years from now," he said. Since 2019, Microsoft has digitally preserved heritage sites and events including Ancient Olympia in Greece, Mont Saint-Michel in France and the 80th Anniversary of the Allied Beach Landings in Normandy. The Notre-Dame project marks its latest step in blending technology with cultural memory.
TimesLIVE
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- TimesLIVE
Microsoft to showcase Notre-Dame Cathedral in digital replica
Microsoft is teaming up with the French government to create a digital replica of Paris's Notre-Dame Cathedral, France's most visited monument, the US tech company's president Brad Smith said on Monday. The 862-year-old Gothic masterpiece was reopened last December after a five-year restoration after a devastating fire in 2019. A digital replica will serve as a record of the building's architectural details, Microsoft said. It will also provide a virtual experience for visitors and those unable to visit. The cathedral became a symbol of Paris and France after Victor Hugo used it as a setting for his 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dam e. Quasimodo, the main character, has been portrayed in Hollywood movies, an animated Disney adaptation and in musicals. Last year Microsoft worked with Iconem, a French company that specialises in digitalisation of heritage sites, on a digital replica of St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. 'One of the things we learnt from the work at St Peter's is how a digital twin can help support the ongoing maintenance of a building. Because you capture a digital record of every centimetre and what is there and what it's supposed to look like,' Smith told Reuters. 'The ability to create a digital twin right now I think will provide an enormously valuable digital record that I believe people are going to be using 100 years from now,' he said. Since 2019 Microsoft has digitally preserved heritage sites and events, including:
NDTV
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Microsoft To Build Digital Replica Of Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral
Microsoft is teaming up with the French government to create a digital replica of Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral, France's most visited monument, the US tech company's president, Brad Smith, said on Monday. The 862-year-old Gothic masterpiece was reopened last December after a five-year restoration following a devastating fire in 2019. A digital replica will serve as a record of the building's architectural details, Microsoft said. It will also provide a virtual experience for visitors and those unable to visit. The cathedral became a symbol of Paris and France after Victor Hugo used it as a setting for his 1831 novel "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame". Quasimodo, the main character, has been portrayed in Hollywood movies, an animated Disney adaptation and in musicals. Last year, Microsoft worked with Iconem, a French company that specialises in digitalisation of heritage sites, on a digital replica of St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. "One of the things we learned from the work at St Peter's is how a digital twin can help support the ongoing maintenance of a building. Because you capture a digital record of every centimetre and what is there and what it's supposed to look like," Smith told Reuters. "The ability to create a digital twin right now I think will provide an enormously valuable digital record that I believe people are going to be using 100 years from now," he said. Since 2019, Microsoft has digitally preserved heritage sites and events including Ancient Olympia in Greece, Mont Saint-Michel in France and the 80th Anniversary of the Allied Beach Landings in Normandy.
Business Recorder
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Recorder
Microsoft to help France showcase Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral in digital replica
Microsoft is teaming up with the French government to create a digital replica of Paris' Notre-Dame Cathedral, France's most visited monument, the U.S. tech company's president, Brad Smith, said on Monday. The 862-year-old Gothic masterpiece was reopened last December after a five-year restoration following a devastating fire in 2019. A digital replica will serve as a record of the building's architectural details, Microsoft said. It will also provide a virtual experience for visitors and those unable to visit. The cathedral became a symbol of Paris and France after Victor Hugo used it as a setting for his 1831 novel 'The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'. Quasimodo, the main character, has been portrayed in Hollywood movies, an animated Disney adaptation and in musicals. Last year, Microsoft worked with Iconem, a French company that specialises in digitalisation of heritage sites, on a digital replica of St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Netflix says it used GenAI in Argentine TV series 'One of the things we learned from the work at St Peter's is how a digital twin can help support the ongoing maintenance of a building. Because you capture a digital record of every centimetre and what is there and what it's supposed to look like,' Smith told Reuters. 'The ability to create a digital twin right now I think will provide an enormously valuable digital record that I believe people are going to be using 100 years from now,' he said. Since 2019, Microsoft has digitally preserved heritage sites and events including Ancient Olympia in Greece, Mont Saint-Michel in France and the 80th Anniversary of the Allied Beach Landings in Normandy.
