Vol. 1, Issue 11, Part F (2015)

Abstract
In India, the question of independence of the judiciary has been a subject of heated national debate over the last many years. It has exercised the minds of legislators, jurists, politicians and the laymen. It holds a prominent position as far as the institution of judiciary is concerned. Courts have always tried to uphold the independence of judiciary and have always said that the independence of the judiciary is a basic feature of the Constitution. The independence of judiciary is the pre-requisite for the smooth functioning of the Constitution and for a realization of a democratic society based on the rule of law. The importance of the independence of the judiciary was long ago realized by the framers of the constitution which has been accepted by the courts by marking it as the basic feature of the constitution. It is well known law has to change so as to meet to the needs of the changing society. Similarly judicial independence has to be seen with the changing dimension of the society. rnIndependence of judiciary, to state precisely, means a fair and neutral judicial system, which can afford to take its decisions without being influenced by any external or internal agencies or forces or by irrelevant considerations. The inevitability of human error, especially when human interest comes into conflict with the claims of others, requires that a judiciary should interpret the law, and the assumptions, which underlie it, which is as far as possible independent of the Executive and the Legislature. Providing constitutional and legal safeguards to secure independence of judiciary is only the first step, of course very significant, in that direction and lot more is required to be done, which depend largely on judges themselves. Judicial Accountability and Judicial Independence have to work hand in hand to ensure the real purpose of setting up of the institution of judiciary. The awareness is the need of the hour.