Judiciary not defined by single order: ex-CJI

NEW DELHI:  Chief Justice of India N V Ramana in his farewell speech on Friday, while underscoring on “litigants” being focal points of any delivery system, said that the need of the hour was Indianisation of our legal system. Stressing on the legal system being colonial in nature, he advocated for adoption of practical realities of our society and localising the justice delivery system.

“In the last 75 years, our jurisprudence has evolved considerably. Our judiciary is not defined by a single order or decision. Yes, at times, it fell short of peoples’ expectations. But most of the times, it has championed the cause of the people. It was widely predicted that with A.K. Gopalan, the due process of law was history. But, this Court, in the case of Maneka Gandhi restored what was taken away earlier.”

Similarly, ADM Jabalpur was seen as a death knell on personal liberty. Subsequently, the error stood rectified by a 9-Judges Bench in K. S. Puttaswamy. This institution never hesitated to remedy itself. Your hope upon the institution cannot be so weak that it is shattered with one perceived unfair judgment,” he said. He also said that his constant endeavour was to make people aware about their rights and obligations as well as their Constitutional schemes, democratic values and institutions.

Ramana, who retired on August 26 after serving a tenure of over 16 months as the 48th CJI, tried to strengthen the institution and further the goal of justice with the help of his collegium judges and consulting judges by appointing 11 judges to the SC and 224 judges in the HCs. CJI also said that coordinated efforts from the government and bar and bench was needed to revamp the judicial system as no systematic assessment had taken place since Independence.

“The issues faced by the judiciary cannot be looked at in isolation. The judiciary is independent when it comes to adjudication of cases, but with respect to finances or appointments it is still dependent on the dovernment. To coordinate and to get the cooperation from the Government, interaction is inevitable. But interaction does not mean influence,” Ramana said.

Election freebies: SC refers 2013 judgment to 3-judge bench
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the three judge bench to consider whether its 2013 judgment which held that promises of freebies is not an electoral offense or corrupt practice needs to be overruled or not. SC’s 2013 judgment which the bench of CJI NV Ramana, Justices Hima Kohli and CT Ravikumar asked a new 3 judge bench to consider also held that State distributing freebies in the form of colour TVs, laptops, mixer-grinders etc. to eligible and deserving persons was directly related to directive principles of the State Policy.

Court also opined that there were some issues which required extensive hearing before passing any concrete orders. The issues which were flagged by the bench related to scope of judicial intervention with respect to ban of freebies and whether appointment of expert commission to put forth suggestions on the issue would serve any purpose. “Freebies may create a situation wherein the State Government cannot provide basic amenities due to lack of funds and the State is pushed towards imminent bankruptcy. In the same breath, we should remember that such freebies are extended utilizing tax payers money only for increasing the popularity of the party and electoral prospects,” bench said. ENS