Independence of judiciary not a one-time pill, says Chief Justice Gogoi

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Tuesday highlighted the importance of an independent judiciary at the global level in the "face of rising populism" and the "continuous and recurrent waves of onslaught" from populist forces. Speaking at the two-day conference of chief justices of member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Gogoi said that the independence of the judiciary is not a "one-time pill but a state of affairs" that needs to remain constant.

Speaking at the two-day conference in Russia's Sochi, Gogoi emphasised on the need to develop and nurture leadership in the judiciary, Hindustan Times reported.

The chief justice said that independence is the very soul of the judicial system in any nation. Drawing comparison between the independence a nation's judiciary enjoys and the stability of their governance system, Gogoi said that there were ample examples in the world to show that countries that support and invest in a strong judicial infrastructure are more likely to become nations with stable governments and administrations, Zee News quoted him as saying.