The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)

Never faced political pressure from govt in 24 yrs as judge: CJI

ALLAYING APPREHENSI­ON of any interferen­ce of the legislatur­e, CJI D Y Chandrachu­d has said he never faced any political pressure from any government in his 24-year stint as a judge.

Responding to a question during a session organised by the Oxford Union, he said judges in India are trained to decide disputes in a manner that allows for courts to decide on the basis of settled traditions based on constituti­onal scheme as opposed to the passions of the moment.

“Political pressure, in the sense if you ask me in the sense of pressure from the government, I would tell you that in the 24 years that I have been a judge, I have never faced a sense of political pressure from the powers that be. Some of the democratic traditions that we follow in India include that we lead lives which are isolated from the political arm of the government.

“If you mean ‘political pressure’ in a broader sense of a judge realising the impact of a decision which may have political ramificati­ons, obviously, judges have to be conversant of impact of their decisions on the polity at large when you are deciding constituti­onal cases. That is not political pressure I believe,” the CJI said.

Talking about the “social pressure”, he said, “Many of the cases we decide involve intense societal impacts. As judges, I believe it is our duty to be cognizant of the impact of our decisions on social ordering which we are ultimately going to affect."

Acknowledg­ing the issue of pendency, CJI said the judge to population ratio in India is among the lowest in the world.