Existing constitutional safeguards not enough to ensure independence of judiciary: CJI DY Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Sunday stressed that present constitutional safeguards are not in themselves sufficient to maintain the independence of the judiciary..CJI Chandrachud explained that an independent judiciary means one that is insulated from the executive and legislative branches, while also having judges free of human bias."The Constitution entrenches several institutional safeguards for an independent judiciary such as a fixed retirement age and a bar against the alteration of the salary of judges after their appointment. However, these constitutional safeguards are not in themselves sufficient to ensure an independent judiciary," he stated..The CJI was speaking as part of the ceremonial bench that sat today to mark 75 years of the Supreme Court.Former Supreme Court judges Justices AK Sikri, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Ajay Rastogi, Chief Justices of all the High Courts, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Attorney General R Venkataramani and Supreme Court Bar Association president Dr Adish C Aggarwala were among those present for the occasion..The CJI in his address noted that disputes have become increasingly complex these days, and their resolution cannot exist in silos. All the same, the top court cannot forget its core functions of upholding the Constitution and the rule of law, he added.He spoke of efforts being made to educate and sensitise all judges to unlearn their subconscious attitudes inculcated by social conditioning on gender, disability, race caste and sexuality.On the aspect of the institution being poly-vocal, the CJI said,"The strength of our polyvocal nature lies in its ability to adapt dialogue as a processual instrument in bringing together a synthesis of ideas. The synthesis in our Court brings together diversity and respects inclusion. That is the true social ethos of the Court, its social conscience. In the many that wear its apparel, the Court emerges as one soul which knits together the Bar and the Bench in our desire to ensure justice to our citizens.".The CJI also touched upon increasing case pendency and difficulties in accessing justice for many. "This Court has over the course of years faced immense difficulty in keeping up with the surge in the institution of cases. Currently, a total of 65,915 registered cases are pending before the Supreme Court. As much as we would like to reassure ourselves that the mounting pile represents the faith of citizens in the line, we need to ask hard questions on what needs to be done. There has to be a radical change in the approach to decision making. In our desire to ensure justice in each individual case, should we risk the Court becoming dysfunctional?" He stressed that reforms are needed to curb the length of arguments and that choice of matters heard by the apex court needs a rellok."If we do not make hard choices and take difficult calls to resolve these pressing issues, the euphoria generated from the past may well be short-lived.".In conclusion, CJI Chandrachud expressed the Bench's gratitude to the Bar for its assistance in adjudicating matters. "All too often, the rich jurisprudence evolved by this Court is viewed as the work of craftmanship of the judges who author these decisions. The sleepless nights and the incisive minds of each lawyer ought not to be glossed over under the pen of the judge. The celebration of the history of this Court is complete as we recognize the contribution of advocates to this Court’s rich tapestry," he underscored..[Follow our live-coverage of proceedings]