Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Monday spoke on a range of issues in an interview with news agency PTI. The top judge shared his view on various judgments of the Supreme Court in the past few years and explained details about the functioning of the apex court. Justice DY Chandrachud has been part of some historic judgments of the Supreme Court including the Ayodhya verdict, same-sex marriage verdict, abrogation of Article 370, etc.
The judgments of the Supreme Court in the above cases impact the political and social dynamics of the country with many people expressing their strong disagreements with the apex court’s view. In a candid conversation, CJI Chandrachud addressed some of the contentious verdicts of the Supreme Court.
‘From Ayodhya verdict to Article 370’: 10 Points
1. More than four years after the historic Ayodhya verdict in 2019, DY Chandrachud, who was part of the 5-judge bench said that the judges had unanimously decided that there would be no authorship ascribed to the judgment.
2. “When the five-judge bench sat to deliberate on the judgment as we all do before a Judgement is pronounced, we all decided unanimously that this will be a judgment of the court. And, therefore, there was no authorship ascribed to any individual judge,” the CJI said on the Ayodhya verdict.
3. While addressing the concerns around the collegium system of appointment of judges, DY Chandrachud said that the court has taken appropriate steps to ensure greater transparency.
4. “To say that the collegium system is lacking in transparency would not be correct. We have taken steps to ensure that greater transparency is maintained. A sense of objectivity in the decision-making process is maintained. But I must also share something and that’s my caveat. When we consider judges for appointment to the Supreme Court, we are dealing with the careers of the sitting judges of the High Court. Therefore the deliberations that take place within the collegium can’t be put out in the public realm for a variety of reasons,” the CJI said.
5. CJI Chandrachud said he does not regret the Supreme Court’s decision in the same-sex marriage case and added that the outcome of a case is never personal to a judge. “I leave it for the future of our society to judge which course to take,” he said.
6. “One thing which our training teaches us is that once you deliver a judgment in a case, you kind of distance yourself from the outcome. Outcomes are never, in that sense, something that is personal to a judge. You decide a case based on your vision of the Constitution, on what you believe the vision of a just society for the future is, in constitutional terms, which is what I have done,” CJI Chandrachud said.
7. On the Supreme Court upholding Article 370 and the criticism around the issues of federal structure, the CJI chose to remain silent. Justice DY Chandrachud said that the judges decide a case “according to the Constitution and the law.”
8. “So far as we are concerned we decide according to the Constitution and the law. I don’t think it will be appropriate for me either to respond to the criticism or mount a defense of my judgment. What we have said in my judgment is reflected in the reason present in the signed judgment and I must leave it at that,” Justice Chandrachud said.
9. Recently, some senior advocates of the Supreme Court raised questions about the allocation of cases of judges. While responding to such allegations, Justice DY Chandrachud said the Supreme Court will be able to maintain its credibility if it ensures allocation of cases to benches is not “lawyer-driven”.
10. “I am very, very clear in my mind that if the credibility of the institution of the Supreme Court is to be maintained, we have to ensure that the allocation of cases in the Supreme Court is not going to be a lawyer-driven allocation,” he said.
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Published: 01 Jan 2024, 08:21 PM IST