New Delhi: Rejecting Modi government's charge of judicial overreach, Chief Justice of India T S Thakur has said that judiciary intervenes only when the executive fails in its constitutional duties.
The CJI also said, "the government should do its job instead of hurling accusations and that the people turn to the courts only after they are let down by the executive."
"The courts only fulfil their constitutional duty and the need would not arise if governments do their job," the CJI was quoted as saying in an interview to a television Network.
Amidst the tug of war between the executive and the judiciary, the CJI has said that if there is neglect and failure on part of government agencies, judiciary will "definitely" play its role, the network said in a release.
"We only fulfil our duties as laid down by the Constitution. If the governments do their job better, any need of interference would not arise," Thakur said when asked about a recent statement by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley regarding alleged judicial interference in executive functions.
Speaking in Rajya Sabha during a debate of a Bill recently, Jaitley claimed that the judiciary had been encroaching on legislative and executive authority and said that “step by step, brick by brick, the edifice of India’s legislature is being destroyed”.
“If what should be done to protect people’s rights are not being done, we are constrained to intervene. It is for the government to have a litigation policy so that people are not forced to approach the courts,” the CJI said in his interview.
Dealing with the huge vacancies in judiciary, Justice Thakur said, "I have requested the Prime Minister on several occasions and am sending a report on the same issue to the Centre too."
In April while speaking at the conference of Chief Ministers and chief justices of high courts, CJI Thakur made and emotional appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Justice Thakur lamented "inaction" by the Executive to increase the number of judges from the present 21,000 to 40,000 to handle the "avalanche" of litigations.
"...And therefore, it is not only in the name of a litigant or people languishing in jails but also in the name of development of the country, its progress that I beseech you to rise to the occasion and realise that it is not enough to criticise. You cannot shift the entire burden on the judiciary," the Chief Justice of India had said in a choking voice.
Union Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda had later disputed the number cited by Justice Thakur, claiming there was neither any scientific basis nor empirical data to support the view that 40,000 judges were actually required.
