“We Are Being Accused of Interfering with Legislative and Executive Functions”: Justice BR Gavai

NEW DELHI : Justice BR Gavai, who is poised to become the next Chief Justice of India, recently made pointed observations about the judiciary being accused of overstepping into the domains of the legislature and executive. His remarks came during the hearing of two separate cases in the Supreme Court on Monday.

While hearing a PIL concerning the alleged distribution of obscene content on OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon, Justice Gavai—who was sitting on a bench with Justice AG Masih—responded with sarcasm when Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain sought to urgently mention the matter.

“No, no… then we are accused of interfering with legislative and executive functions,” he quipped.

When Jain persisted, Justice Gavai added, “List it after two weeks—and dismiss it then,” drawing laughter from those present in the courtroom.

Eventually, the bench agreed to take up the matter at the next scheduled hearing and directed the petitioner to serve a copy of the plea to the Union government. The matter is now set to be heard next week.

Earlier the same day, Justice Gavai made a similar remark in response to a plea requesting the deployment of paramilitary forces in West Bengal, following violent incidents in Murshidabad allegedly linked to the Waqf (Amendment) Act.

“You want us to issue a writ of mandamus to the President to impose this? As it is, we are already being accused of encroaching upon the executive domain. Please,” he said, declining to list the plea on an urgent basis.

However, the written order uploaded later indicated that the interlocutory applications (IAs) would be heard along with a related plea filed by Ranjana Agnihotri on April 22, 2025.