Independence of judiciary not a one-time pill, says Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi at SCO Conference of Chief Justices

New Delhi: Independence of judiciary is not a one-time pill but "state of affairs" that needs to remain constant, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said at the 14th Conference of Chief Justices of members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Speaking at the two-day conference in Russia's Sochi, Gogoi emphasised on the need to develop and nurture leadership in the judiciary. Every nation should aspire for an independent judicial system and independence is the very soul of a functioning judiciary, he said.

He explained countries that support and invest in a strong judicial infrastructure are more likely to become nations with stable governments and administrations. 

Speaking on his India experience, CJI Gogoi said executive and judiciary enjoy a healthy relationship of mutual respect.

Other Indian Supreme court judges who participated in the meet were Justice VN Ramana, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice MR Shah. 

On Monday, CJI Gogoi met Russian Chief Justice Vyacheslav Lebedev during which he expressed his interest to learn from other SCO member states on fast disposal of cases. He said, the Indian judicial system can absorb practices such as mediation, out of court settlement to resolve pendency of cases, which Indian courts have highest among the world.

The SCO Supreme court judges conference ended with a declaration for further promotion of cooperation among judicial bodies of SCO countries.