Why Supreme Court of India’s Logo is Inscribed with – “Yato Dharma Tato Jaya”

At the base of the Indian National Emblem,  the Indian National Motto “Satyameva Jayate”,   meaning   “Truth alone will triumph” , a  mantra from the ancient Indian scripture Mundaka Upanishad  has been inscribed in Devanagari script.

The Indian NationalEemblem and the inscribed words “Satyameva Jayate” are printed on one side of all the Indian currency notes.

The logo of the Supreme Court of India also is the Asoka Chakra.  However, in the logo of the Supreme Court of India, instead of the Indian national logo “Satyameva Jayate”,  the following words have been inscribed:  “Yato Dharma Tato Jaya” meaning, ‘where there is Dharma there is victory’, from the Bhagavad Gita, a part of the popular Indian epic “Mahabharata”.

 ‘Satyam’ means Truth and ‘Dharma’ means Justice.

An individual Indian has approached the Supreme Court of India under RTI/Right To Information Act, seeking to know the basis, such as any enactment, guidelines, notification or regulation  for having the logo of the Supreme Court of India inscribed with the lines,”Yato Dharma Tato Jaya”.

In the above connections, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the Supreme Court to make public the reasons behind adopting the line “Yatodharma Tato Jaya” mentioned in its logo under the Lion Capital of Ashoka  instead of the  “Satyamev Jayate” which is part of the Indian National emblem.