A nation can only be as independent as its institutions - judiciary, central bank, election commission: Justice BV Nagarathna

A nation can only be as independent as its institutions like the judiciary, a central bank, the election commission, public service commissions, etc., Supreme Court judge Justice BV Nagarathna said on Monday..The judge said that the lesser the external influences over such institutions, the higher is the scope for functional autonomy.“A nation can only be as independent as its institutions- the judiciary, a central bank, the election commission, public service commissions etc. Most of such institutions were established to perform the challenging task of maintaining a judicious balance between conflicting interests and overhauling the governance system by enforcing accountability. Institutional independence has an inverse relationship with external influences over the authorities. The lesser the influence, the higher will be the scope for functional autonomy” the judge said..The judge was speaking as the chief guest at the launch of book ‘Constitutional Ideals: Development and Realisation through Court-led Justice’ by think tank and legal research organisation, Daksh.In her speech, Justice Nagarathna highlighted the ideals on which the Constitution was framed by the makers and how judicial independence is a cherished ideal of the Constitution.“Judicial independence demands that judges need to be impartial and insulated from political pressures and to be so within a broadly defined independent institutional scope of authority for the judicial branch,” she stated..She highlighted that the crucial role played by the judiciary in scrutinizing any State action which could possibly be infringing on basic human rights or personal liberties. At the same time, she also underlined the importance of judiciary adhering to the principle of separation of powers and not crossing the Lakshmanrekha. "Each organ of the State must acknowledge and respect the autonomy and independence of the other co-equal branches. Elected governments and the political executive must recognise and respect the Constitutionally accorded role of the judiciary in a democracy based on the rule of law. Similarly, the judiciary, must continue to remaining conscious of the constitutional Lakshmanrekha of inter-institutional balance which requires that legislative wisdom or the exercise of executive discretion not be interfered with on a routine basis," Justice Nagarathna said..She also opined that a nation can assert itself as a democratic one, only if it can demonstrate the following:elections demonstrating how robust democracy is;parliamentary proceedings showing the vibrancy of political debate;the public sphere- from the social media to the everyday tea-shop conversations, showing an enlightened, aware and engaged citizenry;existence of a strong opposition;institutions remaining autonomous; free speech (subject to reasonable restrictions as stipulated in the Constitution) remaining sacrosanct; andwhen the government functions within the bounds of law..Read more about her speech here.