'People should not assume that the judiciary will play the role of opposition', former CJI Chandrachud said bluntly

DY Chandrachud, Former Chief Justice of India gave clear answers in an interview about the role of judiciary. Actually, Chandrachud's comment came regarding Rahul Gandhi's statement, in which the Congress leader had said that the opposition has also taken the responsibility of doing the work of the judiciary. On this, the former CJI said that the judiciary is here to test the laws and people should not assume that it (the judiciary) will also play the role of opposition in Parliament and state assemblies.

In an interview with news agency ANI, Chandrachud said that there is a separate place for political opposition in democracy. He said, "I do not want to join the opposition leader on this issue, because we are not here to talk about this issue. But I want to say that sometimes there is a misunderstanding that the role of the judiciary is that of the opposition in the legislature, whereas it is not so. We are here to test the laws."

The former CJI said, "We have got the responsibility here to check the actions of the executive whether it is under the law and the Constitution or not. There is a separate place for the political opposition in democracy. But people want to put a gun on the shoulder of the judiciary and shoot and want to turn the courts into a place for the political opposition."

When Chandrachud was questioned about the discussion on social media platforms regarding his meeting with the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition, he said that as humans, it is natural to be social in official meetings. He said, "Sometimes it happens that you talk to the leader of the opposition. For example, it is said in many of our constitutions that for appointment to certain posts, there will be a selection committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice, and the Leader of the Opposition. Now you have to have discussions about it and you reach a conclusion. When you reach a conclusion, then being a human being, you spend 10 minutes over tea. You also discuss about cricket, films, and other things."

On the controversy over inviting Prime Minister Modi to his house during Ganpati Puja, the former CJI said, "This was not a unique incident. It was a social gathering. I have said that earlier also the Prime Minister has been meeting judges and in other social programs. But in the work we do, we are completely independent of each other."