The Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud while speaking at an event on Monday said that in his two-year tenure as the CJI, the Supreme Court disposed of 21,358 bail cases as against 21000 fresh bail applications. While answering a question of courts not granting bail, CJI Chandrachud said, "speaking for myself, I’ve always said that I’ve granted bail from A to Z — from Arnab to Zubair. That is my philosophy."
The CJI Chandrachud while speaking at the Indian Express Adda event said that a total of 21,000 bail cases were filed at the apex court, as opposed to 21,358 bail cases disposed of by the top court in past two years. “Speaking for myself, I’ve always said that I’ve granted bail from A to Z — from Arnab to Zubair. That is my philosophy,” the CJI said.
While answering a question about the trial courts not granting bail in several cases, CJI Chandrachud said that it was a matter of grave concern for him as the message that bail is the rule rather than the exception hasn’t trickled down to the trial courts which are reluctant to grant bail. He went on to quote from instances when he granted bail to two journalists Arnab Goswami and Mohammed Zubair, who belong to two opposite sets of ideology.
'Please Trust Judges! Deals Are Not Cut This Way' CJI Chandrachud On PM Modi Visiting His Home
The CJI DY Chandrachud while speaking at the event also adressed the controversy around Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting his home for Ganesh Pujan and retirated that it is an instance of a dialogue between the Executive and Judicary and urged the people to Trust the judges.
Dialogue between the judiciary and the executive, even if some of these exchanges are in social settings, is a routine imperative of the court’s functioning, the CJI said.
“The fact of the matter is, as I said, deals are never cut like this (during such interactions). So please, trust us, we are not there to cut deals,” CJI Chandrachud said.
CJI Chandrachud is set to retire on November 10.