Courts Cannot Be Beyond Scrutiny: CJI Surya Kant Stresses Transparency and Reform

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Monday said the mechanism developed by the Supreme Court and high courts to deal with complaints against judges was “robust”, “very responsive” and timely, while stressing the need for continued reforms in the judiciary.

Delivering the keynote address at the 6th Ram Jethmalani Memorial Lecture on “Justice Seen to Be Done: Transparency and Public Trust as Pillars of the Legal System”, Justice Kant said reform must be the rule and no institution could survive by remaining static.

The CJI said senior advocates Mahesh Jethmalani and Harish Salve had raised questions of public importance regarding administrative reforms that institutions might require, adding that the judiciary was no exception.

Referring to complaints against judges, Justice Kant said such matters raised the question of whether every complaint should be placed on a public platform or website, or whether an internal mechanism should deal with them objectively and responsibly. He said the mechanism was well established but remained subject to reforms and qualitative improvement.

Mahesh Jethmalani had referred to the controversy involving allegations of cash being found at the official residence of former Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma last year. Varma, who faced impeachment proceedings over allegations of corruption, resigned in April.

On transparency and public trust, Justice Kant said the judiciary was not and could not be averse to criticism. He described fair, informed and constructive criticism of judicial functioning as a legitimate feature of a constitutional democracy that contributed to institutional accountability and self-correction.

He said transparency was not limited to open courts and public hearings, but also required the reasoning behind judicial decisions to be open to examination.

The CJI also said public trust was not the same as public approval. Courts earned trust when even people who lost cases believed that the process leading to the decision was fair.

On access to justice, Justice Kant said courts and procedures had often seemed distant and complicated. He noted that the e-Courts project had helped reduce some of that distance.

He said access to justice also required timely justice, describing reform as an ongoing effort to make the system easier to reach and ensure people were not left waiting without an answer.