'Judges only interpreters of law, need a balance b/w judicial activism & restraint'

New Delhi: Judges are only interpreters and are not here to make the law or to evolve a policy and a balance has to be maintained between judicial activism and restraint, said Delhi High Court Chief Justice DN Patel on Friday.

Justice Patel, who will demit the office of Delhi High Court Chief Justice after attaining the superannuation age of 62 years on March 12, said that whenever there is a gap between law and justice, as an exception, there is bound to be judicial activism and the same cannot be a matter of role.

It is for Parliament (to enact laws) and in the absence of law, for the executive to draft the policy... One has to maintain the balance between judicial activism and judicial restraint, said the judge while speaking at the farewell reference organised by the high court.

And if there is any gap (between justice and law), a judge has to fill up the gap and that is known as judicial activism. That is inevitable. But as a matter of exception and not as a matter of role. We are not here, this is what I believe personally, to make the law, nor to evolve a policy brand new but we are the only interpreter of the law. But as an exception, as I have said, whenever there is a gap between law and justice, there is bound to be judicial activism, the Chief Justice added.

The judge said that the primary task of judges is to render justice through judicial orders and that both the members of the Bar and the Bench owe a responsibility to the citizens and that each one of us is bound by mandate of the Constitution to dispense justice to the last man in the queue.

He also said that the quality of Bar in the Delhi High Court is par excellence and acknowledged the monumental efforts made by the members of the Delhi judiciary to keep the judicial system running during the pandemic.

During the farewell event, Justice Vipin Sanghi said that it was because of Justice Patel's dynamic approach that virtual hearings and hybrid hearings before the Delhi High Court were applauded by other high courts and the Supreme Court.

Justice Patel was appointed as the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court on June 7, 2019, and authored several landmark judgements and orders, including a slew of directions on the safety and security at court complexes following gang execution inside a Rohini courtroom; and the order that cleared the Centre's decision to appoint senior IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as Delhi Police Commissioner. He has noted that the Central Vista project was "vital and essential", while allowing construction work on it to continue as all other sites were shut during the brutal second wave of the pandemic last year. Earlier this month, he was appointed as the chairperson of Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) by the central government for a four-year term.