ON OCTOBER 21, 2025, THE NEW YORK CITY BAR ASSOCIATION’S International Human Rights Committee hosted a conversation on ‘Judicial Independence at Risk: Reflections from the U.S. and India’. It brought together Justice S. Murlidhar, Former Chief Justice of Orissa High Court and Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and Delhi High Court, Shira Scheindlin, Retired U.S. District Judge, Southern District of New York, Margaret Satterthwaite, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, and Samah Sissay, Attorney from the Center for Constitutional Rights, a non-profit legal advocacy organisation based in New York.
Across both India and the United States, panelists traced familiar and troubling patterns: pervasive executive influence, interference in judicial appointments, and polarization within the judiciary itself. Yet, what emerged from the conversation was more than a comparative reflection between two democracies, it was a warning that judges and judicial actors are under attack. And by attack, we no longer mean only the erosion of institutional authority or the dilution of constitutional norms, but also the very real threat of physical violence.
Justice Murlidhar reminded the audience of a recent incident when a shoe was hurled at the Chief Justice of India. In that moment it was a spectacle, but it is a symptom of something deeper - a loss of respect for judicial authority and a willingness to bring physical violence into a court room where only words are meant to persuade. He noted, however, that for judges at the district and subordinate levels, such risks are not exceptional but routine. Many operate under constant threat, often relying on the same state administration, frequently party to the disputes before them, for personal security.
Turning to the US, Judge Shira Scheindlin reflected on how words can corrode respect for the courts from within. She recalled President Trump’s repeated attacks on judges, calling them “looney” and “corrupt.”
