‘Legislature can enact fresh law to cure deficiency in judgment, cannot overrule it’

New Delhi, Nov 4: Asserting that the judgment of a court cannot be “directly overruled”, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud Saturday said the legislature can exercise the option of enacting a fresh law to “cure” deficiency in a judicial order.
Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here, Chandrachud said judges don’t think about how society will respond when they decide cases, unlike the different arms of the government.
“There is a dividing line between what the legislature can do and what the legislature can’t do when there is a judgment of the court. If a judgment decides a particular issue and it points out a deficiency in law, it is always open for the legislature to enact a fresh law to cure the deficiency,” the CJI said.
“What the legislature cannot do is to say that we think the judgment is wrong and therefore we overrule the judgment. The judgment of a court cannot be directly overruled by the legislature,” he asserted.
The CJI asserted judges are guided by constitutional morality and not public morality while adjudicating cases.
“The fact that judges are not elected is not our deficiency but our strength,” he observed.
Chandrachud said the Supreme Court of India is the people’s court which is meant to understand the grievances of people and what it does is very different from what the Supreme Court of the United States does.
The American Supreme Court decides 80 cases in a year, he said, adding, “We have disposed of at least 72,000 cases this year and there are still two months to go. That gives the difference in the work which we do. It is important for us as a court to continue to have faith of citizens in terms of work which we do.” Contending that there are “structural barriers” at entry-level in the Indian judicial system, Chandrachud said more women will join judiciary if it offers a level playing field.
“We need to redefine merit in an inclusive sense. Yes, it’s correct that we do not have adequate women in the higher judiciary because there are structural barriers in the entry level of the judicial system. Most of the tests are conducted in English and are urban-centric.
“For example, entry into the chamber of senior counsel does not follow merit and it’s an old boys club. If you open a level playing field for women, they are capable of gaining entry, you will have more women in the judiciary,” he said.
Chandrachud said one of the critical barriers to understanding the court process or accessing justice is language. (PTI)