When judges meet heads of govts doesn't mean some 'deal' is cracked: CJI Chandrachud

The CJI, who has been heavily criticised after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his residence during Ganesh Chaturthi festival, said, "We (heads of state and centre and judges) do meet but that doesn't mean that there is some deal is being cracked.”

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Political maturity

The CJI further explained that during his tenure as Chief Justice of the Allahabad high court and administrative committee member in Maharashtra, it was customary for the CM to visit the Chief Justice's residence, and vice-versa, he explained.

Further, the CJI said the judiciary has to be in dialogue with a state’s Chief Minister (CM) because they will have to provide budgets for the judiciary. “And this budget is not for the judges. If we do not meet and only rely on letters our work won't be done. But when we meet, trust me, there's a great deal of maturity in the political system and in those meetings, never in my experience, would a CM speak about a pending case," the CJI stressed.

The CJI made it clear that the administrative relationship between the court and the government is different from the judicial work which judges do. And, it operates in the same manner at the central level too, he added.

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No question of adjustment

Further, CJI Chandrachud pointed out that it is a “tradition” that the CM or the Chief Justice will meet each other at festivals or bereavement. “But surely we must have the maturity to understand it has no bearing at all on our judicial work. We must understand that one will not 'adjust' anything in a meeting viewed by the public,” he stressed.

There has to be a continuing dialogue between us (executive and judiciary) but it will not have to do with their work as judges. "We are completely independent,” CJI reiterated.

Judges' vacations

On the issue of criticism of judges over their 'vacations', the CJI revealed that his daily work starts at 3.30 am in the night and the judges are not "goofing" off during the vacations but have a lot of work to do.

"Overburdened” judges need time to ponder over the laws as their judgments define the future of our society, he said.

To emphasise how burdened Indian judges are, he said that American Supreme Court decide 181 cases in a year, while the Indian Supreme Court judges decide 181 cases only on one day. He further highlighted that the Indian Supreme Court decides around 50,000 cases per year, according to the report.

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In countries like Singapore, judges get one week to decide how they will decide an issue. But, Indian judges do not have such a facility. "We complete one work then we get the other one immediately," CJI Chandrachud added, according to the Live Law report.

In his opinion, out of the seven weeks of vacation in May, the judges are working for six weeks by dictating judgments. Sufficient time needs to be given to judges to think and read about the law, he said, adding that judges cannot be "mechanical instruments" and dispose of cases in a statistical fashion.

Judges are not gallivanting or goofing off in vacations, said the CJI. Instead, the judges are “deeply committed to the work they do" even during vacations, he added.

Judges also don't enjoy even Saturday or Sundays and go out on work for some function, some HC visit, legal aid work etc on weekends. "Whenever I visit anywhere for some work, I try to return to home by Saturday itself so that I can complete my Sunday's work," Chandrachud admitted.