'Judicial Activism Must Not Become Judicial Terrorism': CJI BR Gavai At Oxford Event
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Chief Justice of India BR Gavai said judicial activism has a role in India but warned against overreach, terming excessive interference as 'judicial terrorism'.
While judicial activism will stay and play a role in India, it should not devolve into 'judicial terrorism", Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai opined on Tuesday, adding that there are times when people try to exceed the limits and try to enter into an area where, normally, the judiciary should not enter.
Gavai's remark came while he was speaking at the Oxford Union, an event organised by advocate-on-record Tanvi Dubey.
The Chief Justice also said that when it is found that the legislature or the executive has failed in their duties to safeguard the rights of the citizens, the judiciary is bound to step in.
'Judicial activism is bound to stay. At the same time, judicial activism should not be turned into judicial terrorism. So, at times, you try to exceed the limits and try to enter into an area where, normally, the judiciary should not enter," he said.
'…That power (judicial review) has to be exercised in a very limited area in very exception cases, like, say, a statute, is violative of the basic structure of the Constitution, or it is in direct conflict with any of the fundamental rights of the Constitution, or if the statute is so patently arbitrary, discriminatory, the courts can exercise it, and the courts have done so," the CJI added.
Speaking at the event, CJI Gavai also highlighted that decades ago, millions of Indians were referred to as 'untouchables'.
However, the Constitution of India ensured that an individual from that same group is now addressing the Oxford Union as the holder of the country's highest judicial office.
'The Constitution of India carries within it the heartbeat of those who were never meant to be heard, and the vision of a country where equality is not just promised, but pursued. It compels the State not only to protect rights, but also to actively uplift, to affirm, to repair," Bar and Bench quoted him as saying.
He further said that Dr BR Ambedkar believed that in an unequal society, democracy cannot survive unless power is also divided among communities, not just among institutions.
First Published:
June 11, 2025, 11:25 IST
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