Meetings between judges and executive have no bearing on judicial work, says CJI Chandrachud

CJI Chandrachud was in conversation with Chief Editor of Loksatta Girish Kuber after his inaugural Loksatta lecture series address on ‘Federalism and its potential’.

Responding to a question on the judges meeting persons holding high posts in the executive, CJI D Y Chandrachud Saturday said that “we must have maturity to understand that it has no bearing on judicial work”.

There was hue and cry last month from the Opposition, retired judges and eminent lawyers after PM Narendra Modi visited CJI Chandrachud’s residence for Ganpati puja.

CJI Chandrachud was in conversation with Chief Editor of Loksatta Girish Kuber after his inaugural Loksatta lecture series address on ‘Federalism and its potential’.

The CJI was asked whether the meetings between members of higher judiciary and politicians on Republic Day, Independence Day or any other occasion such as festivals do happen at all.

“I want to tell you that in states, there is a tradition that there are regular meetings between the Chief Justice of the state and the CM. Now, what do people think, why do they meet? You never meet for a decision (judicial). And the maturity of our political system lies in the fact that there is a great deal of deference to the judiciary, even in the political class,” the CJI said.

He added that the budgets for judicial infrastructure including new court buildings, accommodation for judges in districts are sanctioned by the government. “For this, you need a meeting of the Chief Justice and the CM. I was the Chief Justice at Allahabad HC in Uttar Pradesh… I worked in the administrative committee of the Bombay HC. And in a state, there is a tradition that when the Chief Justice is appointed for the first time, the Chief Justice of HC goes to the CM of the state. Second time, the CM visits the CJ. There is a different agenda for such meetings,” he said.

“There is a great deal of maturity in the political system,” he emphasised. “What was discussed in these meetings? never did the CM say that or talk about a pending case. Because there is a feeling and there is a realisation that operates in a completely different sphere altogether. The administrative relationship between the high courts and the state governments is very different from the traditional work of the HC. And the same thing operates at the Central level in the administrative relationship between the Supreme Court of India and the government of the day….but surely, we must have the maturity to understand that it has no bearing at all on judicial work.”

“If it is Independence Day, Republic Day, there is a wedding at someone’s house, or Chief Justices would also meet if there is a bereavement,” he added. CJI Chandrachud said that meetings between the judiciary and executive are “part of robust dialogue between three arms of the government — legislature, executive and judiciary”.

“We have to understand that the work of all the three arms is dedicated to one and the same goal — the betterment of the nation. And so long as we trust this process, I think, we must accept that there has to be a continuing dialogue. Not in terms of the work which we do as judges… because in the work which we do as judges, we are completely independent.”