Judiciary must neither be eternal critic nor cheerleader: Justice Bhuyan

Justice Bhuyan emphasizes the judiciary's role as impartial, condemning reckless criminal cases and advocating for dissent and fair bail practices.

Supreme Court judge, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, on Sunday (March 22, 2026) said there were many within the judiciary who continue to suffer from the “more loyal than the king syndrome”, while pointing to the reticence shown by courts to grant bail, leading to prolonged incarceration for undertrials.

“The judiciary must remain judiciary. Judiciary can neither be an eternal critic nor a cheerleader. It is the sentinel on the qui vive (alert),” Justice Bhuyan said at the 1st Supreme Court Bar Association National Conference 2026 on the topic ‘The Role of Judiciary in Viksit Bharat’ in Bengaluru.

The judge flagged the “reckless” registration of criminal cases, even for student protests, memes, and social media posts.

“For trivial matters, such as public demonstrations, agitations, even by students, sometimes even for putting up memes and social media posts, FIRs (First Information Reports) are registered, and investigations go on. Matters come up to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has to constitute Special Investigation Teams. This consumes sufficient judicial time,” Justice Bhuyan pointed out.

He said the judiciary were also partly responsible for the prolonged incarcerations without bail.

“I must admit, many within the judiciary continue to suffer from the ‘more loyal than the king’ syndrome. As a result, people continue to languish in jails for months and months together,” the apex court judge said.