In a profound elucidation of the judiciary’s role at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2023, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud articulated the distinct yet critical path the judiciary follows, anchored not in popular morality but in the bedrock of constitutional morality.
“Judges don’t go by popular morality, but by constitutional morality,”
CJI Chandrachud asserted, delineating the judiciary’s guiding principles as fraternity, human dignity, personal liberty, and equality.
CJI Chandrachud emphasized the judiciary’s independence from electoral accountability, a feature that distinguishes it from the legislature and the executive.
“We are not an elected arm of the State and for a reason,”
he said, highlighting that this is not a deficiency but a strength of the judicial process. He further explained that the courts’ role is to exercise a stabilizing influence on the legal system, contrasting societies where the power of the gun has overtaken the rule of law.
Addressing the interplay between the judiciary and the legislature, especially when laws are enacted to override judicial mandates, CJI Chandrachud clarified the boundaries of legislative powers.
“There is a dividing line between what the legislature can and cannot do,”
he explained. If a judgment points out a deficiency in the law, it is open to the legislature to enact a fresh law to cure the deficiency. However, he firmly stated,
“What the legislature cannot do is to overrule a judgment.”
The Chief Justice also reflected on the Supreme Court’s role in grappling with some of the most difficult questions of our times.
“We can’t profess to be right. We are final not because we are right, but we are right because we are final,”
he remarked, acknowledging the fallibility of the judiciary and the importance of criticism and social dialogue in the judicial process.
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CJI Chandrachud shed light on the multifaceted functions of the courts, which extend beyond adjudicating cases. He spoke of the courts as platforms for social engagement and dialogue, and of the administrative work undertaken to bring transparency and accountability to the justice system.
“For instance, one of the critical barriers to access to justice is language,”
he noted, discussing the initiative to translate Supreme Court judgments into various Indian languages using AI-assisted tools.
In his commitment to enhancing the public’s trust in the judiciary, CJI Chandrachud informed the audience of the Supreme Court’s initiatives like live streaming of court proceedings and the transcription of these proceedings. The Supreme Court’s website has also been made more accessible to the visually impaired.
“The technology we have deployed in the judicial system is democratizing access to justice,”
he said, underscoring the importance of transparency and accountability.
CJI Chandrachud concluded by highlighting the Supreme Court’s extensive workload in comparison to its global counterparts, noting,
“Just to draw a comparison, the US Supreme Court decides about 80 cases a year, but our Supreme Court has already disposed of 72,000 cases this year with two more months to go.”
On the subject of judges’ retirement, CJI Chandrachud expressed his belief in its necessity, stating,
“It is too much of a responsibility to cast on human beings, in terms of their own infallibility, by postulating that they should not retire.”
He advocated for the importance of passing the mantle to succeeding generations who can address past errors and adapt the social legal framework to evolving societal norms.
Through his address, CJI Chandrachud provided a comprehensive overview of the judiciary’s steadfast commitment to constitutional morality, its role in the democratic framework, and the ongoing efforts to ensure justice is both accessible and comprehensible to the Indian citizenry.
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