International Journal of Human Resource & Industrial Research, Vol.1, Issue 8, Dec-2014, pp 01-08 www.arseam.com contact us : editor@arseam.com 01 INDEPENDENCE OF JUDICIARY IN INDIA Prashant Kumar* Assistant Professor, School of law, NIMS University Jaipur, Rajasthan INTRODUCTION Importance of independence of the judiciary is very important facet of democracy, like our country. Independence of judiciary can be achieved by prohibiting interference from the Government (i.e. legislature and executive).In a democratic set up only an impartial and independence judiciary can protect the rights of person and can provide justice without fear or favour. Therefore it is important that all the judicial system (i.e. Supreme Court, High Court and District Court/ Lower Court) should be allowed to perform its function without any pressure. In a democratic country like India judiciary is custodian of rights of citizens. Therefore the framers of the Indian Constitution at the time of framing of our constitution were concerned about the kind of judiciary our country should have. This concern of the members of the constituent assembly was responded by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in the following words: “There can be no difference of opinion in the House that our judiciary must be both independent of the executive and must also be competent in it. And the question is how these two objects can be secured”. Now a prominent question arises at first instance in our minds is that what made the framers of our constitution to be so much concerned about providing the separate entity to the judiciary and making itself competent. The answer to this question lies in the very basic understanding that so as to secure the stability and prosperity of the society, the framers at that time understood that such a society could be created only by guaranteeing the fundamental rights and the independence of the judiciary to guard and enforce those fundamental rights. Also in a country like India, the independence of the judiciary is of utmost importance in upholding the pillars of the democratic system hence ensuring a free society. It is a well-known fact that the independence of the judiciary is the basic requisite for ensuring a free and fair society under the rule of law. Rule of law that is responsible for good governance of the country can be secured through unbiased judiciary. The doctrine of Separation of Powers which was brought into existence to draw upon the boundaries for the functioning of all the three organs of the state: Legislature, Executive and the Judiciary, provides for a responsibility to the judiciary to act as a watchdog and to check whether the executive and the legislature are functioning within their limits under the constitution and not interfering in each other’s functioning. This task given to the judiciary to supervise the doctrine of separation of powers cannot be carried on in true spirit if the judiciary is not independent in itself. An independent judiciary supports the base of doctrine of separation of powers to a large extent. It is theoretically very easy to talk about the independence of the judiciary as for which the provisions are provided for in our constitution but these provisions introduced by the framers of our constitution can only initiate towards the independence of the judiciary. The major task lies in creating a favourable environment for the functioning of the judiciary in which all the other state organs functions in cooperation so that the independence of the judiciary can be achieved practically. The independence of the judiciary has also to be guarded against the changing economic, political and social scenario.