Background

Recently, there was an allegation of sexual harassment against the Chief Justice of India (CJI) made by a former Supreme Court employee, which has yet again triggered a debate between judicial independence and judicial accountability.

Earlier, four senior judges of SC conducted a press conference over their differences with CJI, a first in the history of the country. Also, a sitting judge of Madras High Court Justice CS Karnan remained in controversy for his behaviour. This issue has thrown light on various issues & problems in Judiciary.

Indian Democracy runs on the principle of ‘rule of law’, which implies that ‘no one is above the law’. The Constitution of India gives the role of its guardian and protector to the Judiciary of India. The Judiciary is the watchdog, which preserves and enforces the fundamental and legal rights against any arbitrary violations. However, there have been many areas and instances, where the actions of judiciary itself have been questioned on being contrary to this and hence the issue of accountability of the judiciary has sprung up.