Absolutely Nothing Wrong In Prime Minister Visiting My Home For Private Event : CJI DY Chandrachud
PM Modi at CJI's residence (Source : X handle of Narendra Modi)
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Monday (November 4) said that there was absolutely nothing wrong in the Prime Minister visiting his home for a private religious ceremony.
The outgoing Chief Justice of India, due to retire on November 10, was speaking at a discussion hosted by The Indian Express. Vandita Mishra, the Opinion Editor of The Indian Express, sought the CJI's views on two recent controversies - one, the participation of PM Narendra Modi at a Ganesh puja festival at CJI's residence; two, CJI's recent statement that he prayed to the deity to solve the Ayodhya-Babri Masjid dispute.
Regarding the first controversy, CJI reiterated the explanation he gave at another recent public event that the meetings between the heads of the executive and the judiciary are regular for administrative purposes and that such interactions are not for influencing any judgments.
"First and foremost, at a doctrinal level, the separation of powers does not postulate that the judiciary and executive are antagonistic in the sense that they will not meet or engage in reasoned dialogue," CJI said pointing out that meetings between Chief Justices and Government Ministers are necessary to discuss the budgetary outlays and administrative needs of the judiciary.
"We have to realise, the budget comes from the executive. You can talk on paper and wait for another 5 years to get your issues resolved. There is a robust dialogue which takes place between the executive and judiciary on the administrative side, nothing to do with the judicial work," CJI said. He recalled that when there was an impasse regarding judicial appointments during the beginning of his tenure, the doyen of the bar, Fali S Nariman, had suggested that the Chief Justice should talk to the Law Minister.
"We have to accept that there is a great amount of dialogue which must take place for a robust inter-institutional mechanism for exchange of views. This has nothing to do with how we decide cases," CJI said.
Specifically addressing the controversy regarding PM's visit, CJI said :
"On the Prime Minister visiting my home for a purely private event, I do feel that there was absolutely nothing wrong for the simple reason that these are continuing meetings between the judiciary and executive even at a social level. We meet at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, on Jan 26/15 Aug, when an incoming Chief Justice is coming or when an outgoing Chief Justice is going, when a foreign head of state is visiting. You are in conversations with the Prime Minister, the Ministers, the President, the Vice President. These conversations do not involve the cases we decide. It involves conversations on life and society in general. There has to be a sense of maturity in the political system to understand this and to trust our judgments. Ultimately, the work we do is evaluated by our written words. Everything we decide, unlike many other systems, is not kept in wraps. It's open to scrutiny."
On Ayodhya-Babri Masjid controversy
Responding to the controversy stirred by his comment about praying to find a solution to the Ayodhya-Babri Masjid case, CJI started by calling it "a problem of social media." He said that the backdrop of his comment must be understood. CJI said that he was at a public interaction in his native village and was answering a question on how he managed to keep calm amidst deciding cases of intense conflicts.
"I said, everyone has its own mantra. My mantra, I didn't mean religious mantra, but the mantra of life. Somebody may want to exercise or trek, and so far as I am concerned, I spend an hour, every morning, on reflection-how I am going to handle my caseload for the day.
When I meant, I sit before a deity, I make no bones or I am not defensive about the fact that I am a person of faith. Equally, I respect every other faith and that's the kind of work which we do. My being a person who professes a particular faith has nothing to do with how I will treat persons of different faiths who come to court for seeking justice before us.
How do we decide cases? I must put that point against me as well. Because people said, now judges of the Supreme Court are appealing to divine powers to tell them the answers to a case. Every case we decide, is decided in accordance with principles of law and constitution
Whatever way you adopt to maintain a sense of calm is very crucial to have an orderly discourse or outcome in the work which you do. And if someone feels it's their faith that gives them the sort of calm, because it's the sense of calm which gives a degree of objectivity, so be it.
That you belong to a particular faith has nothing to do with your ability to do justice to people of different faiths."
Also Read - Independence Of Judiciary Doesn't Mean Constantly Deciding Against Government : CJI DY Chandrachud