Need to balance activism and restraint: Outgoing Delhi HC chief justice DN Patel

Justice Patel, who retired on Friday after serving as the chief justice of the high court for 33 months, said that different judges have different philosophies while deciding cases and all such approaches contribute towards development of law

Outgoing chief justice of the Delhi high court, DN Patel, on Friday said that there is need for a balance between judicial activism and judicial restraint, while asserting that judges are not to make the law or evolve policy, but are only the interpreters of it.

The President on Friday appointed justice Vipin Sanghi, the senior-most judge of the Delhi high court, as the acting chief justice. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

“There is always a gap between justice and law. Merely because the law is enacted, there is no guarantee that justice will be done. There is some role to be played by judges. And if there is any gap, a judge has to fill up the gap. That is known as judicial activism. That is inevitable but as a matter of exception, and not as a matter of a rule,” said Patel, while speaking at his farewell reference.

Justice Patel, who retired on Friday after serving as the chief justice of the high court for 33 months, said that different judges have different philosophies while deciding cases and all such approaches contribute towards development of law.

On March 8, the union government had appointed justice Patel as Chairperson of Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

Justice Patel, who is from Gujarat, was appointed as a judge in March 2004. He was made chief justice of the Delhi high court in June 2019. He was earlier acting chief justice of the Jharkhand high court.

Meanwhile, the President on Friday appointed justice Vipin Sanghi, the senior-most judge of the Delhi high court, as the acting chief justice.

“In exercise of the power conferred by Article 223 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint, Justice Vipin Sanghi, senior-most Judge of the Delhi High Court, to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, with effect from March 13, 2022…,” the ministry of law and justice said in a notification.