‘Respect Law Minister’s perceptions’, CJI Chandrachud says no pressure on judiciary

Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud on Saturday said that there is no pressure on the judiciary and in his career as a judge for 23 years, no one asked him to decide a case. The top judge even added that the differences with Union Law Minister are differences of perceptions which are bound to happen.

Chandrachud was speaking at the India Today conclave and on the same stage Union Law Minister Kiren Rijuju talked about the constitutional “Lakshman Rekha” on Saturday and said that if the judiciary indulges itself in the space of administration, who will do the judiciary's work.

The relationship between the government and the apex court is strained for the while now, on issues like the collegium system for the appointment of judges and most recently, the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court on the appointment of Election Commissioners.

"The law minister has a perception. And I have a perception. And there are bound to be differences in perceptions. What's wrong with having a difference in perceptions? We have to deal with differences in perceptions even within the judiciary...We all deal with it with a sense of robust constitutional statesmanship. So first and foremost, I don't want to join issue with the law minister for his perception and I respect his perceptions and I am sure he has a great deal of respect for ours as well," the CJI said.

At the India Toda Conclave, Rijuju also took a dig at some retired judges and claimed that they are part of the anti-India gang trying to make the Indian judiciary play the role of the opposition.

On Rijuju's disagreement with the Collegium system for the appointment of judges, the CJI said that Collegium is the best system available for the appointment of judges. Chandrachud also answered the reasons why Supreme Court revealed the government's reasons for not selecting Saurabh Kirpal as a judge as he is gay and said that the information was already in the public domain.