D.9. Is India’s judicial independence at stake
The above-mentioned court rulings were criticized on the grounds that they had political interests. However, there have been instances where the judges after retirement have enjoyed certain benefits. Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi was made a member of the Rajya Sabha after stepping down from the post of CJI. Similar instances in the past have occurred. In 1991, Justice Ranganath Mishra stepped down as the CJI and was later made the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission. Justice M. Hidayatullah was the Chief Justice of India who retired in 1970. He later became the Vice President of India. There have also been instances where the members of Parliament have become judges. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the courts are shut and all physical hearings are done online. This has made things difficult because there is already a huge pendency of cases. Hence the courts decided to deliver judgments on cases that are very urgent. However, the listing of urgent cases for hearing has been controversial. A petition was filed in the case of Jagdeep Chokkar v Union of India (2020), for the return of the migrant workers who were helpless and stranded amidst the lockdown to their homes. This matter was not heard immediately, whereas a petition filed in the case of Arnab Goswami v Union of India (2020), for quashing the FIRs against him, was heard on the next day. Hence this was controversial as to which case the court found more important. Further, the internet in Jammu and Kashmir was shut down for nearly 6 months. The Court took a long time to hear this matter. The people in Jammu and Kashmir were deprived of the internet and cut of from the rest of the world. As we have touched on the cases where the court has faced criticism for having political interests, there have been many landmark judgments that were assumed to have political interests but the judiciary stood strong. In the case of Indira Gandhi v Raj Narain (1975), Raj Narain, an activist challenged the appointment of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on the grounds that it was faulty. This case was just before the emergency was implemented. The Court found out that the appointment of Indira Gandhi was faulty and she was ordered to leave her office. This judgment proved to be one of the major judgments in the context of judicial independence. However, in recent times, the judiciary has had to face a lot of criticism due to the cases they give more priority to, and also the post-retirement stint of the judges. This shows that there is work needed to be done in the functioning of the justice system. Few suggestions are:
- The salaries given to the judges in India are less as compared to the other countries, which makes a strong reason why the judges look for post-retirement jobs.
- Many times it is seen that highly influential cases are given more priority than the cases which are of a social cause and are really necessary to be heard. The reason this might be happening is the low strength of the judiciary. Increasing the strength of the judiciary can help in solving influential as well as genuinely urgent cases.
- There is a need to impose a law that ensures that the judges do not get post-retirement jobs. This will ensure a little discipline and reliability in the working of the courts.