Elections alone does not assure independence and constitutionalism against tyranny

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Chief Justice of India NV Ramana spoke at the 17th Justice P.D. Desai Memorial Lecture that sheer right of adult franchise to change the ‘ruler’ once every few years by itself need not be a guarantee against ‘tyranny’.

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In the 17 general elections held so far people have changed almost 50% of the time the ruling parties or combination of parties. Despite inequality, backwardness, poverty people of India have fulfilled the task of choosing their leader wisely. Now the time has come when people holding constitutional position in the state should fulfill the constitutional mandate.

Chief Justice Ramana said it was time to stop and check up to what extent the Rule of Law was used to protect ordinary lives during the pandemic. Talking about the negative impact of social media the Chief Justice said the overstated noise produced in social media was not ‘necessarily reflective of what is right and what majority believes in’. Therefore media trails cannot be the guiding force in taking decisions for cases.

The CJI emphasized that the judiciary requires ‘complete freedom’ to apply checks on governmental power and action. Rule of law would become unreal if it will be controlled, directly or indirectly by the legislature or the executive.