Guiding Principles of Judicial Life Values

Reference

The comments made in public forums and by legal experts about the propriety of the visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend Ganpati puja at the residence of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud are based on the 16-point document on judicial values ​​adopted in a full court meeting of the Supreme Court on May 7, 1997.

16-point document on judicial values

• The Supreme Court adopted a charter called ‘Restatement of the Values ​​of Judicial Life’ on May 7, 1997.
  • It is a code of judicial conduct that serves as a guide for an independent and impartial judiciary.
• This document spells out the behaviour expected of judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.

16 major points included in it

1. This document is based on the principle that the people must be assured that justice is done and seen to be done. The conduct and behaviour of the members of the higher judiciary must reaffirm the public's confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary.
     1.1 Any official or personal act of a Judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court which tends to destroy the credibility of this perception should be avoided.

2. No Judge shall contest any election to any office of any club, society or other association. Also, no Judge shall hold any elective office in any society or association other than a society or association relating to law.

3. A Judge should refrain from having close association with individual members of the Bar, particularly those practising in the same Court.

4. A Judge should not allow any member of his immediate family, such as spouse, son, daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law or any other close relative, if he is a member of the Bar, to appear before him or even to be associated in any way with a case.

5. No member of the family of a Judge who is a member of the Bar Council shall be permitted to use the residence or other facilities for professional work in which the Judge actually resides.

6. A Judge should practise a degree of aloofness commensurate with the dignity of his office.

7. No Judge shall hear and decide a case in which any member of his family, any close relative or any friend is involved.

8. No Judge shall engage in public debate or express publicly his views on political matters or matters which are pending or are likely to come before the Court for judicial decision.

9. A judge is expected to speak his own judgments. He should not give interviews to the media.

10. A judge should not accept gifts or hospitality from anyone except his family, close relations and friends.

11. No judge shall hear and decide a case relating to a company in which he holds shares unless his interest in the company has ceased and objection has been raised to the hearing and decision of the case.

12. No judge shall speculate in shares, stocks or the like.

13. A Judge shall not engage in any trade or business, directly or indirectly, either by himself or in association with any other person.
     13.1 However, publication of any legal treatise or any activity as a hobby shall not be deemed to be a trade or business.

14. No Judge shall solicit, accept or actively engage in any activity to raise funds for any purpose.

15. No Judge shall seek any financial advantage in the form of any facility or privilege attached to his office unless it is expressly available.

16. Any doubts in this regard should be addressed and clarified through the Chief Justice.
     16.1 A Judge should at all times be mindful that he is in the public eye and should not do any act or omission which is prejudicial to his office or to the public esteem for the office.

Precedents of Judicial Conduct

• Established practices of judicial conduct emphasize maintaining public confidence through integrity in interactions between high constitutional functionaries.
  • As the then Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachalaiah told the then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, the relationship between the judiciary and the executive should be correct, not cordial.
  • Cordial relations between the courts and the government have no place in our scheme of constitutional checks and balances.
  • The judiciary, which has the responsibility of safeguarding the Constitution and ensuring justice without fear or favour, must be considered completely independent of the executive branch.