Former Chief Justice of India B R Gavai said judges must exercise restraint while pronouncing verdicts, as even light remarks are often taken out of context. He stressed that judges should decide cases strictly on facts, law, and the Constitution, not public approval.
NEW DELHI: Former Chief Justice of India B R Gavai on Wednesday stressed the need for restraint by judges while speaking and delivering verdicts, warning that even light-hearted remarks can be misinterpreted and amplified in today’s social media environment.
Speaking during a panel discussion at the Lokmat National Conclave 2025, former CJI Gavai said,
“While deciding the matters, it is I feel necessary that the judges must exercise restraint. A degree of restraint is very necessary because what I had said once in a court in a lighter mail, out of context, was blown out of proportion, and it was given a totally different colour.”
Emphasising judicial independence, former CJI Gavai said,
“The judges are supposed to decide the matters on the basis of the facts before them, on the basis of the law, and on the basis of the Constitution. It did not matter to me much whether I was opposed or liked.”
Speaking about the growing influence of social media on court proceedings, the former CJI said,
“So the best thing is to abide by the advice given by one of our learned colleagues, to speak less. And in any case, the judges are supposed to speak through their judgments.”
On a question relating to the importance of Directive Principles of State Policy, ex-CJI Gavai referred to the historic Kesavananda Bharati judgment and said,
“I have been saying at many places that though the initial journey of the Supreme Court may not be conducive with the importance of the directive principles of the Constitution, in the Kesavananda Bharati case, you might notice that though the Supreme Court was equally divided on the amending cause of the Constitution, but in so far as the importance of Directive Principles is concerned, almost all the judges were on the same page.”
Addressing concerns over the supremacy of constitutional institutions, former CJI Gavai recalled a past statement by a constitutional authority and said,
“Sometime back, there was a statement by the then constitutional functionary that the judiciary is not Supreme, but it is the parliament which is supreme.”
Clarifying his stand on the issue, the former Chief Justice said,
“And on various forums, I had an occasion to speak, and I said that neither the parliament nor the judiciary is supreme. What is supreme is the Constitution of India, and all the three bodies, the legislature is the parliament and the executive and the judiciary, work under the areas which are earmarked for them by the Constitution.”
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Rejecting claims that the judiciary has weakened in recent years, ex-CJI Gavai drew from his long judicial career and said,
“In my judicial career of more than 22 years, and six and a half years at the Supreme Court, I went on to decide many matters, some in favour of the governments, some in favour of some citizens against the government and the narrative that unless a judge decides on the matters against the government, he is not an independent judge is not correct, because the judges decide the matters on the basis of the facts that are placed before them and apply the law and the constitutional provision as they apply to those facts.”
The former Chief Justice’s remarks underline the importance of judicial restraint, constitutional supremacy, and independence of the judiciary at a time when court observations and verdicts are closely watched and widely debated in the public domain.
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