"The judiciary is not as fearless today as it used to be ten years back. Are five-star activists not driving the judiciary? Are they not attempting to do so? Judges fear what the reaction of five-star activists would be when they render justice as per law and as per Constitution," Modi said in his address to judges of the Supreme Court and chief justices of high courts in the presence of chief ministers.

Chief Justice of India H L Dattu rebutted the PM's perception and told media, "Judges today are as fearless as they ever were."

Inaugurating the conference of chief justices and CMs for finding solutions to problems faced by the judiciary, the PM said, "It is not difficult to dispense justice as per Constitution and law. But while doing so, judges must differentiate between perception (created by social activists) and fact."

Modi's comments came in the wake of Justice Dattu's decision to take off two judges - Justices S J Mukhopadhaya and N V Ramana - from hearing activist Teesta Setalvad's petition seeking a directive to Gujarat Police not to arrest her for alleged embezzlement of funds meant for riot victims. Setalvad's counsel had sought replacement of the judges by pointing out that they had invited the PM for the weddings of their children.

The PM also said other organs of governance - legislature and executive - had pronounced checks and balances. Such a system was not strong in the judiciary. He said without such a system, “the DNA of the judiciary could go bad and hit the supreme faith of commoners in the courts".

"We as representatives of people are subjected to intense scrutiny by media 24x7. News which once found it difficult to get into gossip columns is today's breaking news. Apart from media scrutiny, there are institutional checks like Election Commission, RTI and soon the Lokpal. These are necessary to keep us on the right track," Modi said.

"Judges do not have that privilege. You don't even hear criticism. Those who are given death sentence also come out and say they have faith in judiciary. That is because judiciary through its tradition and character has created immense faith in the common people. This faith has evolved, not injected. But how do we keep it intact and make it more impressive?

"Judiciary must have a strong internal check system, in which government and politicians should have absolutely no say whatsoever. If you do not put in that system, then there is a danger of the DNA going bad which would hit the faith people unconditionally repose in judiciary. Moreover, if legislature goes wrong, it can be corrected by judiciary. What will happen if judiciary goes wrong? There will be nothing left," the PM said.

@timesofindia

- Manohar