Intolerance is a political issue, tolerance India’s heritage: CJI

Supreme Court judges pooling cars would send the right message, he said. “Thank u My Lords”, Kejriwal’s tweet reads. “Judges have no problem with odd-even formula of the Delhi Government”.

Chief Justice of India Tirath Singh Thakur on Sunday described as “very ambitious” the Narendra Modi government’s project to clean Ganga and assured that the judiciary would be supportive and not an impediment to it.

The radical plan of the Delhi government to allow odd and even-numbered vehicles on alternate days from January 1 has got a thumbs up from the Chief Justice of India.

The odd-even formula was among a series of measures announced at a meeting chaired by Kejriwal on Friday after the National Green Tribunal pulled up the Delhi Government for failing to curb air pollution. Thakur said even the judges are agreeable for carpool and can also go to court in buses “if that helps we are too ok with it and eager to do so”.

Assuring that judiciary was there to protect and safeguard people’s rights, he said: “We are capable of protecting the rights of all sections of the people”. On the issue of rising judicial vacancies in the High Courts and the Supreme Court, he said he would prefer to wait till the five-judge Constitution Bench led by Justice J S Khehar finalises and pronounces the guidelines for the Collegium.

On Saturday, AAP government’s even and odd vehicle number plates solution to Delhi’s pollution problem has ensued a debate.

In an interaction with journalists here, the CJI recalled his experience while flying from Jammu to Delhi and said there was a huge smoke cover over Punjab due to burning of crops by farmers in Punjab. “Debate on intolerance may have political dimensions but nobody needs to worry till SC is here to uphold rule of law. We should not remain quiet on what is not acceptable”, he said, indicating the course that the top judiciary would take in dealing with errant judges during his tenure which would last just over a year.

“In India, the death penalty is awarded only in rarest of the rare cases”. I see no problem in the even-odd auto number system.

On post-retirement jobs for judges, Chief Justice Thakur said, “If you don’t need judges anywhere in any jobs, change the law”.