Popular Majority Not A Defence For Arbitrary Actions Of Govt; Functioning Of Democracy Unthinkable Without Judicial Review : CJI Ramana

A popular majority is not a defence for arbitrary actions of the Government, said Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, while underscoring the importance of all wings of the state acting within their constitutional limits.Speaking at a public event at Vijayawada, the CJI also criticized the tendencies to brand judicial review as "judicial overreach". He said that without judicial review, the functioning of the democracy in the country will be "unthinkable"."The power of judicial review is often sought to be branded as Judicial overreach. Such generalisations are misguided. The Constitution created three co-equal organs, namely the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. It is in this context that the judiciary has been given the role of reviewing the legality of steps taken by the other two organs.It is a well-known fact that; a popular majority is not a defence for arbitrary actions taken by a Government. Every action is mandatorily required to comply with the Constitution. If the judiciary does not have the power of judicial review, then the functioning of democracy in this country would be unthinkable"Growing tendency of executive to disregard orders passed by the CourtCJI Ramana also raised concerns about the "growing tendency to disregard, and even disrespect Court orders by the executive".Speaking at the fifth late Sri Lavu Venkateswarlu Endowment Lecture on the topic, 'Indian Judiciary - Challenges of future' at Vijayawada, the CJI added :"Courts do not have the power of the purse or the sword. Court orders are only good when they get executed. The executive needs to assist and co-operate for the rule of law to prevail in the nation. However there appears to be a growing tendency to disregard, and even disrespect Court orders by the executive".'Judges Themselves Appointing Judges' A Widely Propagated Myth; Judiciary Merely One Of The Players In Appointment Process : CJI Ramana New and Persistent Challenges faced by the JudiciaryCJI also stressed the importance of improving the service conditions of the judges to "attract the best talent". He spoke about the "future" and "persistent challenges" faced by the judiciary. He listed the following as the future challenges faced by the judiciary.Excerpts from CJI's speechCHALLENGES BEFORE THE JUDICIARY This brings me to the various challenges before the Indian judiciary. Broadly these can be categorized into two groups. The first relate to issues before the judiciary due to changing times. I call these "new challenges", although some of them are already being faced by us. These include issues such as: Need for Domain Expertise Absence of Well-Considered Legislation Non-Cooperative ExecutiveDysfunctional Criminal Justice System New Threats to the Judiciary Increasing Judicial Resilience The second category relates to perennial issues before the judiciary. These are issues that have been a concern for many years. Much has already been said about them. Despite this, I am highlighting these challenges again because they require immediate resolution. I call these challenges "persistent challenges" and they are as follows: Improving Judicial Infrastructure Filling Judicial Vacancies Ever Increasing caseloads I will first discuss the "new challenges" to be faced by the judiciary, before giving some of my thoughts on the "persistent challenges" before us. Future Challenges Need for Domain Expertise Due to the rapid development of science and technology, new types of problems and cases are coming up every day. Take for example, the internet. Sale of illegal material on the dark web, identity theft, fraudulent online transactions, hacking, spread of defamatory content and hate speech, etc., are all challenges that we must confront. Another example relates to money laundering or crime funding through virtual currencies. At present, even understanding the mechanisms underlying such an offence might be beyond our Judges and investigators. An additional layer of complexity relates to issue of jurisdiction over the above. Apart from changing dimensions of criminal law, there are also new and complicated civil law issues that have arisen due to advance in technologies. These are all transforming the legal landscape and require judges and other authorities to have vast technical knowledge. Our understanding and the laws cannot lag too far behind changing technology. We are still discussing issues related to internet, while technologists are talking about the "Metaverse". An aspect that we need to contend with is the rise of specialized regulatory authorities like the Competition Commission, Securities Tribunal, the Electricity Regulatory Commissions and TRAI. The complexities involved in adjudicating such cases necessitated the co-opting of technical members in Tribunals. However, no such provision to co-opt experts is available...

Popular Majority Not A Defence For Arbitrary Actions Of Govt; Functioning Of Democracy Unthinkable Without Judicial Review : CJI Ramana

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