Mumbai: Judiciary should be independent from politics and popular interests and judges should deliver justice as per law and not according to the opinion of the majority, Chief Justice of India (CJI) S H Kapadia said today.
"Apart from independence from politics, judiciary also needs independence from popular interest. If an order is not in favour of a particular group then the Judge faces backlash. An atmosphere is created whereby pressure is exerted on the Judge," he said while presiding over the 9th Nani Palkhivala Memorial Trust Lecture here.
"Well founded groups are trying to influence the public that the judiciary is not much different from politics," Chief Justice Kapadia said, quoting a speech delivered by the Chief Justice of Canada.
Talking about judicial accountability, the CJI said, "Law is not separate from morality. In our (Judges) thinking and behaviour, we need to give importance to intellectual integrity. When people say there are several loopholes in law, I agree, but the problem arises when there are loopholes in our (Judges) character too."
While the Judicial Accountability Bill tabled in Parliament has upset a few Judges, those having "judicial integrity", should not worry about such Bills, he maintained.
Advising Judges to keep themselves up-to-date with current affairs, the CJI said, "Courts should realise the consequences of their judgements. In today`s time law cannot be separated from economics and finance.
He rued senior lawyers these days are pre-occupied with earning money and do not contribute to the field of law. "Senior lawyers are busy making money from Mondays to Fridays. They don`t contribute to development of law because of which the burden falls on Judges. Judges have to fall back on foreign jurisprudence in absence of meaning contribution from India," Chief Justice Kapadia noted.