Overview
- Surya Kant, who spoke Monday in Stockholm at an International IDEA conference, argued that the Indian concept of Dharma predates common law and provides an indigenous foundation for judicial independence.
- He said judicial review is not judicial supremacy but a constitutional duty that courts must use to check unlawful exercises of public power and defend individual rights.
- The CJI outlined institutional safeguards that protect the judiciary, naming separation from the executive, financial autonomy through the Consolidated Fund, protections for judges and the Collegium system for appointments.
- He warned courts must exercise principled self-restraint and avoid acting as a ‘super‑executive’ on technical or socio-economic policy while continuing to expand access to justice through PILs and epistolary jurisdiction.
- He placed these claims in India’s jurisprudential history by citing the Kesavananda Bharati basic-structure doctrine and the S.R. Bommai federalism ruling, signaling a defense of existing doctrines that shape debates over the judiciary’s role.