Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Sunday said the independence of judiciary depends on the freedom of each and every individual judge to function in office without the pulls of political pressure, social compulsions, and inherent bias.
The Chief Justice of India was heading a Ceremonial Bench with apex court judges and the Chief Justices of 25 High Courts across the country to commemorate the first sitting of the Supreme Court on January 28, 1950. The Supreme Court is celebrating its Diamond Jubilee year.
Chief Justice Chandrachud said a lot has changed down the years, since the time of India’s first Chief Justice Harilal J. Kania. Chief Justice Chandrachud recounted Chief Justice Kania’s speech at the maiden sitting of the Supreme Court on January 28, 1950. Chief Justice Kania had extolled judges to hold true to three principles which would form the foundation of the institution of the Supreme Court - independence of judiciary, the interpretation of the Constitution not as a rigid body of rules but as a living organism, and the need to secure and retain the respect of citizens for the Supreme Court as a legitimate institution.
“An independent judiciary does not merely mean the insulation of the institution from the executive and the legislature branches but also the independence of individual judges in the performance of their roles as judges. The art of judging must be free of social and political pressure and from the inherent biases which human beings hold,” Chief Justice Chandrachud emphasised.
He assured that efforts were on to train judges to “unlearn their subconscious attitudes inculcated by social conditioning on gender, disability, race, caste and sexuality”.
Chief Justice Chandrachud said the court cannot rest its legitimacy solely on the Constitution. “The legitimacy of this court is also derived from the confidence of citizens that it is a neutral and impartial arbiter of disputes which would deliver timely justice,” the CJI said.
Addressing criticism that a “polyvocal court” is not the best system to interpret the Constitution, the Chief Justice said the strength of the Supreme Court was its polyvocality, which brought together diversity and respect of inclusion, resulting in a synthesis of ideas.
“In the many that wear its apparel, the court emerges as one soul which knits together the Bar and the Bench in our desire to ensure justice to our citizens,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said.
The CJI said the Supreme Court’s core and uncompromising function was that of the final arbiter who would review whether the exercise of power by the state was legitimate and in accord with the rule of law.
“The court is not the sole guarantor, but it is the final arbiter that power may be used to liberate, emancipate and include, but never to oppress or ostracise. The novel challenges of today must never distract us from this most sacred duty of the court,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said.
The Chief Justice highlighted the problem of pendency, saying a radical change in decision-making was required from within the court in order to stop it from becoming dysfunctional.
“I believe that we have to have a common understanding of how we argue and how we decide and above all, on the cases which we select for decision-making,” the CJI said.
