Time to prohibit judges from joining politics

Source – This post on Time to prohibit judges from joining politics has been created based on the article “Time to prohibit judges from joining politics” published in “The Hindu” on 11 March 2024.

UPSC Syllabus – GS Paper – 2 – Separation of Powers between various organs

Context– Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay has recently resigned as a judge of the Calcutta High Court and joined the political party.

What are the legal and constitutional provisions regarding judges who wish to join politics?

India does not have any legislation for regulating the judicial conduct of judges of constitutional courts. They are not legally barred from occupying executive posts.

What are the issues associated with judges joining politics?

1) Breach of oath – Third Schedule of the Constitution requires a judge-designate to swear that he will perform his duties without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. Joining political parties for electoral office raises questions over impartiality and propriety.

2) Undermine judicial independence-Judicial independence is of paramount importance for preserving the sanctity of constitution. Judges may give politically biased judgements in return for favors from political executives.

3) Violation Of Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct (2002)– The declaration enlists certain judicial values including independence, impartiality, integrity, propriety etc. It asks judges to ensure that their conduct “both in and out of (the) court maintains and enhances the confidence of the public and the legal profession in impartiality of the judges.

4) Breach of public trust– The Supreme Court in C. Ravichandran Iyer v. Justice A.M. Bhattacharjee (1995) held that, “To keep the stream of justice clean and pure, the Judge must be endowed with sterling character, impeccable integrity and upright behaviour”.
In All India Judges’ Association v. Union of India (1991), the court highlighted the significance of society’s expectation from judicial officers. All these lofty ideals are violated when judges compromise on their neutrality.

What should be the way forward?

1) The top court should expressly prohibit judges of constitutional courts from taking the political plunge even after their resignation
. 2) There should be a judge-made law on this issue since Parliament has no incentive to correct it.

Question for practice

What are the implications of constitutional court judges joining politics post their resignation or retirement?