Judicial Interventions Intended To Nudge The Executive, Not To Usurp Its Role : CJI Ramana

The Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Friday said that the intention behind judicial interventions is to nudge the executive and not to usurp its role. The CJI was speaking at the a function organized to celebrate the Constitution Day in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and other judges of the Supreme Court.After speaking about constitutional scheme of roles assigned to the three different organs of the State - Executive, Judiciary and Legislature - the CJI said that that all these organs are repositories of Constitutional Trust. "The general perception is that securing justice is the responsibility of the Judiciary alone. This is not correct. To the contrary, it is all the three organs of the State which are responsible for upholding this commitment to secure justice. All the three organs are repositories of Constitutional trust. While the judiciary is the "guardian of the Constitution", its role and scope of action is ultimately limited by the very nature of the judicial process. The Executive and the Legislature must work in conjunction with the Judiciary to ensure complete justice as envisaged under the Constitution. Any deviation by the Legislature or Executive from the path prescribed by the Constitution will only lead to additional burden on the Judiciary", the CJI said."The Laxman Rekha drawn by the Constitution is sacrosanct. But, there are times when Courts are compelled to pay attention to unresolved grievances, in the interest of justice. The intention behind such limited judicial interventions is to nudge the executive, and not to usurp its role", the CJI added.In his speech, the CJI also spoke about the need for improving the judicial infrastructure, especially of the lower courts. "I must acknowledge that the Union Government has been making reasonable budgetary allocation through its Centrally Sponsored Scheme for this purpose. But, due to non-availability of matching grants by some States, the budget allocated remains underutilized. I feel the situation calls for the creation of special purpose vehicles, namely National and State Judicial Infrastructure Authorities in the lines of NALSA and SLSAs", he said.The CJI also expressed concerns about the increasing physical attacks on judges and urged the law enforcement agencies to ensure a safe working environment for judges."An area of grave concern for the judiciary is the increasing attacks on judges. Physical attacks on judicial officers are on the rise. Then there are attacks on the judiciary in the media, particularly social media. These attacks appear to be sponsored and synchronised. The law enforcing agencies, particularly the Central agencies, need to deal with such malicious attacks effectively. The governments are expected to create a secure environment so that the judges and judicial officers can function fearlessly," the CJI said.On the issue of rising pendency of cases across all levels of the Indian judiciary, the Chief Justice presented the following solutions: Filling up existing vacancies of judicial officers Creation of more posts Filling up vacancies of Public Prosecutors, Government Pleaders and Standing Counsel Creation of necessary infrastructure to sensitise the police and the executive about the need to cooperate in court proceedings Deployment of modern technological toolsFull text of the CJI's speech :"WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA", gifted ourselves the Constitution 72 years ago, to run our Republic as a liberal constitutional democracy. After intense and illuminating debates spread over nearly three years, the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on this day in the year 1949. This is an occasion to recall the sacrifices made by countless patriots in India's freedom struggle. I feel privileged and honored to stand here and pay tribute to the freedom fighters who liberated us from colonial bondage. The struggle for freedom was aimed at emancipation, not merely political - but social and economic as well. I bow to the memory of the members of the Constituent Assembly who selflessly worked day and night to present to the world one of the most modern, progressive, and scientific documents of the 20th century. I am proud that most of those who contributed to the framing of our Constitution belonged to the legal fraternity. They were also in the forefront of the freedom struggle. Today, I am reminded of the words spoken by Baba Saheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar on the 25th of November, 1949 in the Constituent Assembly while moving the motion for adoption of the Draft Constitution, and I quote: "… however good a Constitution may be, it is sure to turn out bad because those who are called to work it happen to be a bad lot. However bad a Constitution may be, it may turn out to be good if those who are called to work it happen to be a good lot." Unquote. At a macro level, our experience so far reassures us that the Constitution and the institutions...

Judicial Interventions Intended To Nudge The Executive, Not To Usurp Its Role : CJI Ramana

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