Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Tuesday said ascendance of populism presents a challenge to independence of courts and asked the judiciary to rise and stand up to populist forces and protect constitutional ethos.
Addressing chief justices and judges of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) countries, CJI Gogoi referred to the growing trend of populists disparaging judges as the “unelected who overturn acts of elected majority” and said: “To some critics and naysayers, this situation presents a case for hoisting the classical counter narrative — unelected judges, acting under the constitutional mandate, get to overturn the acts of the elected majority. However, it is for us to recollect that such situations across the world have heaped tremendous pressure on judicial organs, and it is no surprise that in some jurisdictions, judiciary too has succumbed to populist forces.”
 

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Tuesday said ascendance of populism presents a challenge to independence of courts and asked the judiciary to rise and stand up to populist forces and protect constitutional ethos.
Addressing chief justices and judges of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) countries, CJI Gogoi referred to the growing trend of populists disparaging judges as the “unelected who overturn acts of elected majority” and said: “To some critics and naysayers, this situation presents a case for hoisting the classical counter narrative — unelected judges, acting under the constitutional mandate, get to overturn the acts of the elected majority. However, it is for us to recollect that such situations across the world have heaped tremendous pressure on judicial organs, and it is no surprise that in some jurisdictions, judiciary too has succumbed to populist forces.”