CJI says judiciary can not earn public trust by shielding itself from scrutiny

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Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant, addresses the sixth edition of the ‘Ram Jethmalani Memorial Lecture’ organised in memory of the Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court and former Law Minister, late Ram Jethmalani, in New Delhi on Monday, September 14, 2026. | Photo Credit: ANI

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Monday (September 14, 2026) invoked the Supreme Court’s intervention in the NCERT Class 8 textbook row, where the court had objected to references to ‘judicial corruption’, to emphasise that “institutions do not stay clean by being shielded from scrutiny.”

The court had initially ordered the textbook to be withdrawn en masse. It had termed the textual depiction of the judiciary as “reckless, irresponsible, motivated, contemptuous” with an intention to instill bias in the “impressionable minds” of young school children. The Bench, which was headed by the CJI, had made stern remarks that “heads must roll”.

Earlier in September, however, the court closed the suo motu proceedings after the chapter was replaced with an updated curriculum. It had further recalled harsher earlier findings against individual academicians.

Delivering the 6th Ram Jethmalani Memorial Lecture on ‘Justice seen to be done: Transparency and public trust as pillars of the legal system’ on Monday, the CJI said the suo motu proceedings concerning the NCERT textbook had been an “occasion to consider the relationship between legitimate criticism and public confidence in the institution”.

Chief Justice Kant referred to excerpts from the court order, like “the judiciary, as an institution, is not, and cannot be, averse to criticism”, as “fair, informed and constructive critique of judicial functioning” is “a legitimate and necessary feature of a vibrant constitutional democracy”, contributing to institutional accountability and self-correction.

The CJI said that an institution cannot remain by shirking scrutiny and criticism, but by repeatedly surviving exposure. A court cannot seek the confidence of the public by placing itself beyond scrutiny; it must remain willing to be examined, questioned and, where necessary, criticised, the Chief Justice said.

On the adage that ‘justice must be seen to be done’, the CJI said a judicial decision must not only be right, but must look right, especially to the people who had to live with it. He said the judiciary must not work for public approval, but its actions must garner public trust.

“A court does not earn trust by being liked, or by handing out the outcomes people wanted. It earns trust when the people who lost, who wanted an entirely different result, still walk away believing that the process which decided against them was a fair one.