Daijiworld Media Network – Sonipat
Sonipat, Dec 1: Supreme Court judge Justice BV Nagarathna has cautioned against the growing trend of judicial verdicts being overturned simply because the judges who authored them have retired or been replaced. Speaking at the International Convention on the Independence of the Judiciary at OP Jindal Global University in Sonipat on Saturday, she stressed that judgements must carry permanence and should not be treated as temporary opinions.
Justice Nagarathna said judicial independence demands an assurance that a judgment, once delivered, “will hold its anchor in time, for it is written in ink and not in sand.” She added that members of the legal fraternity must respect a verdict for what it is and challenge it only through established legal mechanisms, not merely because “the faces have changed.”
Her remarks come amid recent instances where the Supreme Court has revisited and reversed its own orders. Earlier this month, the top court recalled its May order barring retrospective environmental clearances. On November 28, a bench led by then Chief Justice BR Gavai allowed a review petition and permitted ex post facto clearances for various projects. In September, the Supreme Court reversed another earlier order by upholding JSW Steel’s Rs 19,000-crore bid for BPSL, which had previously been directed towards liquidation.
Justice Nagarathna, currently the only woman judge on the Supreme Court, emphasised that the judiciary is central to India’s governance structure. With wide powers and liberal access rules, courts are often called upon to decide issues shaping the nation’s future, she said, underscoring the importance of maintaining public trust.
She also stressed that judicial independence is upheld not only by judgments but through personal conduct. Judges must remain beyond suspicion, maintain political neutrality and uphold institutional integrity.
Her concerns echo the Supreme Court’s own observations made on November 26, when a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih expressed alarm over the “growing trend” of succeeding benches overturning previously settled verdicts. The bench said maintaining finality in judgments is fundamental to the rule of law and essential for preserving public confidence in the judicial system.
“The strength of judicial power lies less in perfection and more in the confidence that decisions, once made, are settled,” the judges noted.