Chief Justice of the country, Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gawai has decided that he will not take any post from the government after retiring. In a program in the United Kingdom, Justice BR Gawai said that some of his colleagues like him have also decided that they will not take any government post after retirement.
CJI BR Gawai believes that if the judges accept the government post or contest elections after retiring, then the wrong message is sent among the people, and the trust in the judiciary may lose.
This statement of Chief Justice pointed to former CJI Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Calcutta High Court Judge Abhijeet Gangopadhyay. Both of these people, who were once part of the judiciary, are currently MPs. Ranjan Gogoi has been nominated by the President, while Abhijeet Gangopadhyay resigned before 2024 and joined the BJP, and has reached Parliament after contesting from Tamaluk in East Medinipur district.
Justice BR Gawai says that people feel that the judges had made their decisions in mind in mind the future posts.
Also, Justice Gawai has also accepted the flaws in the collegium system of appointment in the judiciary, but said that the judges should be kept free from external pressure.
Trust in judiciary should remain
Justice Gawai, in favor of removing the deficiencies in the collegium system, says that steps like making information about the property of the judges also increase the trust of the people on the judiciary. People feel that the judges are also ready for investigation.
Chief Justice of India Justice BR Gavai believes that after retiring, the work of accepting the government post of judges question the honesty of the judiciary, as the people feel that the judges had given decisions to get such posts in future.
Justice Gawai says, if a judge immediately accepts a government post after retiring, or resigns to contest elections, many questions arise… People feel that the judiciary is not independent… It seems that the judges are trying to take advantage of the government.
To maintain confidence in the judiciary, Justice Gavai says, the judiciary should not only be justice, but it should also be seen that the judiciary stands with the truth… The judiciary gets strength only by the belief of the people… This trust can remain only when the judiciary also works with honesty and impartiality.
Of course, the concern of the Chief Justice is in the widespread interest, and in the current era, there is a debate in the country. There are many cases on which questions are being raised. Recently, similar questions were being raised on social media in the case of Vijay Shah, Minister in Madhya Pradesh government.
The Supreme Court has formed an SIT for investigation in the Vijay Shah case, but he remains a minister in the government. The SIT has also been formed in the Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad case of Ashoka University, but he had to go to jail.
In addition to the political interest after retirement of some judges, the methods of appointment in the judiciary also seem to be responsible for the reduction, and this is also a big reason for the conflict with the legislature – the good thing is that Justice Gawai has also accepted the deficiencies in the collegium system.
When will the flaws of the collegium system be removed
Chief Justice BR Gavai also obeys some shortcomings in the collegium system, but it is said that there should be no ways to remove deficiencies, due to which the freedom of judiciary is in danger. He says that the collegium system may be criticized, but the solution should not be like this should not be at the cost of independence of the judiciary, because the judges must be free from external pressure.
There has also been a direct conflict between the judiciary and the legislature. The same was seen in the case of appointments of Election Commissioners. The Supreme Court had made it mandatory to have the Chief Justice or his representative in the appointing committee, but the central government turned back and included another minister with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.
The collision of the judiciary with the government has been seen many times in the last years. Recently, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar also questioned the role of the judiciary. In one case, Vice President Dhankhar accused the Supreme Court of behaving like the Super Parliament.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had described the then Chief Justice responsible for the civil wars to be held in the country and on the Supreme Court responsible for provoking religious wars in the country.
There was also a hearing on contempt in the Supreme Court, but no action was taken against the BJP MP – the question is, why does such come?
If there are flaws in the collegium system, then why are reform measures not taken? How will trust in such anxiety will be maintained – and how long will remain?