Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai on Saturday said that judicial review must not turn into judicial overreach, while stressing that all organs of the State must function within the constitutional limits assigned to them.
Speaking at the 19th Sujata Jayawardena Memorial Oration organised by the University of Colombo, Justice Gavai underlined the judiciary’s role as a constitutional watchdog responsible for ensuring that legislative and executive actions remain within constitutional boundaries. At the same time, he cautioned that courts must remain conscious of their own institutional limitations.
The former CJI said that a constitutional democracy could not function through one centre of unchecked power and observed that authority in such a system was distributed among different institutions and limited by the Constitution.
He said the Indian constitutional framework did not grant absolute supremacy to Parliament, the executive or the judiciary. According to him, all institutions derived their authority from the Constitution and were bound by its limitations.
Justice Gavai stated that Parliament was not supreme in India in any absolute sense and emphasised that the Constitution alone occupied the highest position within the constitutional framework.
Referring to debates in the Constituent Assembly and the views of BR Ambedkar, Justice Gavai said each organ of the State functioned within its own constitutional domain and could exercise authority only to the extent permitted by the Constitution.
Justice Gavai also discussed the relationship between Parliament and the judiciary, observing that the interaction between the two institutions was not always adversarial. He noted that judicial decisions at times identified constitutional gaps, following which Parliament responded by incorporating those principles into legislation through the democratic process.
According to him, India’s constitutional experience demonstrated that parliamentary authority was balanced by constitutional limitations and institutional checks. He added that Sri Lanka appeared to reflect a similar constitutional trajectory.
The former CJI said that friction among the legislature, executive and judiciary was inevitable in a constitutional democracy and played an important role in shaping and preserving constitutional values. However, he stressed that each institution must continue to operate within the framework laid down by the Constitution.
Reiterating the judiciary’s constitutional responsibility, Justice Gavai said the courts must ensure that the exercise of power by the legislature and executive remained within constitutional limits. At the same time, he warned that judicial activism should not cross into judicial adventurism and emphasised the importance of maintaining institutional balance within a constitutional democracy.
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