New Delhi, Aug 28 (PTI) Supreme Court judge Justice D Y Chandrachud on Saturday said that to counter fake news and lies, citizens must strive to ensure the press is free from any influence -- political or economic -- and would provide information in an unbiased manner.

One cannot only rely on the state to determine the truth, he said addressing students and faculty members of law colleges and universities, and judges at the sixth M C Chagla Memorial lecture.

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Even opinions by experts such as scientists, statisticians, researchers and economists may not always be true because they may not have political affiliation but their claims are also subject to manipulation due to ideological affinity, receipt of financial aids or personal malice, Justice Chandrachud said.

"As such, all policies of the state can be assumed to have been formed on their basis of what the truth of our society is. However, this by no means leads to the conclusion that the states cannot indulge in falsehood for political reasons, even in democracies," he said, adding the "role of the US in the Vietnam War did not see the daylight until the Pentagon Papers were published".

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In the context of the pandemic, "we see that there is an increasing trend of countries across the world who are trying to manipulate data on the COVID-19 infection rate and deaths", he said.

"The first thing to do is to strengthen our public institutions. As citizens, we must strive to ensure that we have a press that is free from influence of any kind, political or economic, which will provide us information in an unbiased manner," the Supreme Court judge said.

He added that experts are also often employed by think tanks who conduct research to support specific opinions, but the truth of marginalised communities does not often see the light of the day due to their position in society.

"Similarly, these communities are often never designated as experts due to being prevented from accessing these positions through systemic oppression. As such, that takes away their opportunity to contribute to the determination of truth.

"Since their perspective is never taken into account, the claims of experts also suffer from the problem of their inherent biases," he said.

Justice Chandrachud said that as responsible citizens, "we should put these 'truth providers' through intense scrutiny and questioning to convince ourselves of the veracity of the claims made by them. For this, it is also equally important for those making truth claims to be transparent and conspicuous".

He said citizens must together endeavour to create and encourage a culture that is conducive for deliberation of truth, particularly because “truth dances on a fine balance between facts and opinions".

He pointed out that in India opinions of women, Dalits and others belonging to marginalised communities were not conferred the status of 'truth' since they did not traditionally enjoy power.

This is because since they did not enjoy the freedom to express their opinions, their thoughts were confined, crippled and caged. Even after these marginalized groups received the right to vote, their opinions were reckoned to be "untrustworthy" because they were considered to be "treacherous by nature", Justice Chandrachud said.

Justice Chandrachud said during the British Raj in India, when power was absolutely in the hands of a few influential members of the Raj, the truth, and by necessary inference, the fact, was the opinion of the King or the Queen and members of the Raj.

"After the abolition of the Raj, the truth then became the belief and opinion of upper-caste men. With progress in society and annihilation of the notions of patriarchy and caste supremacy, the opinions of women, Dalits and other marginalised communities are slowly but gradually starting to be regarded as 'truths' in India," he said.

The Supreme Court judge said it is important to remember that every person -- rich or poor; male or female, or belonging to a third gender; Dalit or Brahmin or otherwise; Hindu, Muslim or Christian or belonging to any other religion -- has the inherent capacity to identify the truth and differentiate it from falsehood.

"This capacity to identify the truth stems from common knowledge, experiences in life, their individual struggles, and much more. However, many of them are unable to participate in this process because of systemic oppression which either does not provide a platform for their voices or works to minimise their actual impact," he said.

Justice Chandrachud added that while considering the role of citizens in determining the "truth", everyone must keep in mind that this does not refer only to the elite, privileged class of intellectuals, but everyone.

"Therefore, it is imperative upon us to create an environment where this becomes possible," he said, adding everyone must test the veracity of this claim in present time, in what is now being called the 'post-truth world'.

"To test this claim, we must therefore first define what does a 'post-truth world' even mean. It could have two possible meanings: first, that it has become exceedingly difficult for citizens to find the truth in this time and age; and second, which is the more disturbing possibility, is that having found the 'truth', they just do not care about it," he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)