New Delhi. Chief Justice (CJI) DY Chandrachud has said that there was nothing wrong with Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting his official residence on Ganpati Puja and there needs to be a sense of maturity in political circles on these issues. Recall that after the Prime Minister’s visit to the Chief Justice’s residence, opposition parties led by the Congress and a section of lawyers raised concerns over his suitability and the separation of powers between the judiciary and the executive. On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ignored the criticism and stated that “it is part of the country’s culture.”
CJI Chandrachud stated at an event organized by ‘Indian Express’ that it must be respected that the interaction between the judiciary and the executive occurs under strong inter-institutional mechanisms and that the separation of powers does not mean that they do not meet. He said the concept of separation of powers does not mean that the judiciary and the executive are separate from each other in the sense that they will not meet and communicate rationally. In states, there is a protocol where the Chief Justice and the High Court Administrative Committee meet the Chief Minister and the Chief Justice meets the Chief Justice at his residence. In most of these meetings, basic issues such as budget, infrastructure, technology, etc. are discussed.
Regarding the Prime Minister’s visit to his residence, the CJI said that the Prime Minister came to my house for Ganpati Puja. There is nothing wrong with this, since meetings are periodically held between people related to the judiciary and the executive at the societal level. We meet at Rashtrapati Bhavan, on Republic Day, etc. We spoke to the Prime Minister and the ministers. During this time we do not discuss matters that we have to make decisions about, but rather we discuss matters related to life and society in general. The CJI, who will retire on November 10, said there must be a sense of maturity in the political system to understand this and trust its judges, because the work we do is evaluated by our written words. Any decision we make is not kept secret and can be discussed openly.
He said that the talks between the executive and the judiciary at the administrative level have nothing to do with the judicial side. He said there is a provision in the separation of powers that the judiciary should not play the role of the executive that determines policy, because the power to determine policy lies with the government. Similarly, the executive does not decide on court cases. There should be dialogue because you decide about the future and the lives of people in the judiciary. The CJI stated that the talks between the judiciary and the executive have nothing to do with decisions on court cases. The CJI said: This has been my experience.
Apart from this, there was a lot of fuss over his statement about praying to God for the resolution of the Ayodhya Ram temple dispute. He described himself as a person of faith who respected all religions. CJI said this is the problem with social media. You should also talk about the context under which I said that. He made the statement while addressing residents of his native village Kanhersar in Khed Taluka during the felicitation ceremony. The CJI had said that he had prayed to God that a solution be found to the dispute between Ram Janmabhoomi and Babri Masjid.
Chandrachud had said that if someone has faith, God will find the way. He said that often cases are presented to us (for decision) but we cannot come to any solution. Something similar happened during Ayodhya (dispute between Ram Janmabhoomi and Babri Masjid), which was in front of me for three months. I sat before God and told Him I had to find a solution. When asked if he would like to make a slight change in the Ganesh Puja photo frame to include the Leader of the Opposition (LOP) and the high court judges, Chandrachud happily said that he would not include the LOP as he would do there. There is no selection committee for the appointment of Central Vigilance Commissioner or Director of the CBI. He said that on occasions like marriage, death, meetings are held. When my mother died, the Chief Minister of the State came to receive me. These are basic manners. We must understand that there is a sense of maturity in the judiciary, so trust us. Blaming judges is defaming society.
Replying to a question on the delay in hearing on former JNU student Umar Khalid’s bail plea in the Delhi riots case, CJI Chandrachud said one particular case is given importance in the media and then the court is criticized for that particular case. . It is He said that after taking charge as CJI, I decided to give priority to bail issues as far as personal freedom is concerned. It was decided that each bench of the high court should hear at least 10 bail cases. 21,000 bail petitions were filed before the Supreme Court between November 9, 2022 and November 1, 2024. During this period, 21,358 bail petitions were resolved.
