‘Never faced any pressure from the Executive,’ says outgoing Chief Justice of India BR Gavai

As he demitted office as the 52nd Chief Justice of India on Sunday, Justice BR Gavai sought to dispel the notion that a judge will not be seen as independent unless he ruled against the Government.

Asserting that he never faced any pressure from the Executive, the outgoing CJI said, “For a judge, you do not decide based on whether it’s the Government or private individuals. You decide as per the papers (case file) before you. But in some quarters, there is a notion that unless you decide everything against the Government, you are not an independent judge. It is not the correct approach.”

Interacting with Supreme Court Correspondents at his official residence here on his last day in office, CJI Gavai lamented that in the contemporary jurisprudence, a judge was called ‘independent’ only if he gave decisions against the Government.

“I am leaving the institution with a full sense of satisfaction and contentment,” Justice Gavai said, adding he will not accept any post-retirement official assignments. “I made it clear when I took office that I am not going to accept any post-retirement official assignment. For the next 9-10 days, it’s a cooling-off period. After that, a new innings,” he said.

Justice Gavai, who will be succeeded by Justice Surya Kant on Monday, said he wanted to devote his time to the welfare of tribal communities in his native district Amravati in Maharashtra.

He favoured a law to deal with rising incidents of hate speech. He, however, said, “This is for the Government to take a call.’

Justice Gavai defends Presidential Reference verdict

The outgoing CJI defended the Presidential Reference verdict that disapproved of timelines for governors and the President in grant of assent to Bills passed by state Assemblies, saying the Constitution did not prescribe any timelines.

“We cannot read something that is not there in the Constitution. We have allowed limited judicial review,” the CJI said, clarifying that Governors can’t sit over the Bills indefinitely.

He also defended the Collegium system of appointing judges, saying it continued to maintain institutional autonomy, while considering inputs from the Intelligence Bureau and Union Ministry of Law and Justice.

Justice Gavai rejected allegations of nepotism in the judiciary. “The perception is wrong… Not more than 10 or 20 per cent (judges) are appointed as such. But if they are meritorious, should we discard them?...If they are related to someone in the profession, we apply a little higher standard to them,” he said.

Regarding Justice BV Nagarathna’s dissent in the Collegium on the elevation of Justice Vipul Pancholi to the top court, Justice Gavai said it was not accepted by other Collegium members. “It’s not happening for the first time …If the dissent had any merit, four other judges would have agreed on it,” CJI Gavai said.

Justice Gavai regretted not appointing any women judges to the top court during his tenure as the CJI, saying there was no consensus in the Collegium of some names discussed.

The first Buddhist and second Dalit CJI after KG Balakrishnan, Justice Gavai said it was for the Government to consider giving legislative effect to the top court’s judgment on exclusion of creamy layer from Scheduled Caste reservation.