'Deals are never cut like this': CJI DY Chandrachud on PM Modi's visit to his residence

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud opened up again on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to his residence, saying it was "purely a private event" and that deals are not cut like this. He said there was nothing wrong in the Prime Minister's visit as meetings between judiciary and executive were routine.

"I do feel that there was absolutely nothing wrong (in PM's visit) for the simple reason that these are continuing meetings between the Judiciary and the executive even at a social level," he said while speaking to The Indian Express. 

"We meet in Rashtrapati Bhawan. We meet on the occasion of the 26th of January, on the 15th of August. When an incoming Chief Justice is coming when an outgoing chief justice is going...when a foreign head of state is visiting and you are in conversation with ministers, you are in conversation with the Prime Minister. You are in conversation with the president with the vice president. Now, these conversations do not involve conversations about the cases which we decide but conversations about life and society in general," the CJI said. 

Chandrachud said that there has to be this sense of maturity in the political system to understand this and to trust the judges because ultimately the work that "we do is evaluated by a written word" and everything that the judges decide is not kept in the wraps. "Our reasons are open to scrutiny. Why we have decided a case is open to scrutiny."

The Prime Minister's visit to CJI's residence during Ganesh Puja had evoked a flurry of reactions from the opposition parties, which said it was a breach of the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution. 

When asked whether he would also include the Leader of the Opposition in the framework, the CJI said: "I wouldn't include the leader of the opposition because it is not a selection committee for appointing the central vigilance commissioner or the director of CBI." 

"Contrary to what people feel on occasions such as marriage and death, there are social visits. When my mother passed away I had a visit from the political head of the executive in my state where I was the chief justice. The chief minister didn't know me or my mother. You just come and sit there for five minutes, express a little bit of sobering thought and leave. These are just elementary courtesies which are followed in the system." 

"We must accept that our judiciary has a sense of maturity. Members of the political executive visit homes on the occasion of marriages likewise we are invited when there are marriages or other events. The fact of the matter is deals are never cut like this. So please trust us. We are not there to cut deals and the ultimate guarantee of our good behavior lies in the written word which we produce." 

"We may err. to err is human. it's for everyone in society to judge a particular case which we have decided. whether we have decided rightly or wrongly that's a different thing altogether. but to impute motives to judges is perhaps derating the system," the CJI added.