Yesterday was an important and historical moment when the President of India swore in the 53rd Chief Justice of India. As Hon’ble Mr. Justice Surya Kant becomes the Chief Justice of India, he will have the onerous responsibility of reinvigorating the rule of law on the edifice of constitutionalism and democratic governance. The historical context of the judiciary playing the most important and influential role in establishing a rule-of-law society traces its origins to the Constituent Assembly. Dr. Granville Austin, in his book The Indian Constitution ~ Cornerstone of a Nation, observed, “The members of the Constituent Assembly brought to the framing of the Judicial provision of the Constitution an idealism equalled only by that shown towards Fundamental Rights.

Indeed, the Judiciary was seen as an extension of the Rights, for it was the courts that would give the Rights force… The courts were also idealised because, as guardians of the Constitution, they would be the expression of the new law created by Indians for Indians… The courts were, therefore, widely considered one of the most tangible evidences of independence.” The new CJI may consider focusing on four important aspects that will reinvigorate the rule of law with strong emphasis on institutional capacity building within the judiciary: Timelines and predictability in adjudication: No efforts to reinvigorate the rule of law can ignore the urgency of addressing the pendency in Indian courts. The backlog of more than 5 crore cases pending across all courts requires both reimagination and technology-driven solutions.

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NITI Aayog has provided a grim estimate that at the current rate of case disposal, it will take more than 300 years to clear pendency without pathbreaking........

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