Chief Justice of India, Justice N V Ramana, said that there is a Lakshman Rekha for which the judges should be mindful of it. He drew a clear line among the three key organs of democracy and wanted every organ to respect the other.

The chief justice spoke at the National Judicial Infrastructure Authority of India conference in Delhi on Saturday. The conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was attended by the chief ministers and the chief justices of various states.

The chief justice also emphasised the need to have harmonious functioning by judiciary, executive and legislature. Justice Ramana asserted that the judiciary should never interfere with the functioning of the legislature.

Interestingly, when he made these comments, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and chief justice of Andhra Pradesh high court Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra were present. There has been a clash between the judiciary and legislature in Andhra Pradesh in the recent past, which has triggered debate in the country.

The high court had observed that the legislature has no competence power to make laws on the capital. This observation from the high court came after hearing a batch of petitions on Amaravati to be continued as capital.

The court directed the State government to develop Amaravati as the capital city and set a deadline of six months.

These observations from the court drew serious debate in the legislature which was in the budget session. The Assembly passed a resolution reiterating its rights of making laws for the state within the limits of the constitution.

In this backdrop, Justice Ramana’s comments assume significance. It is to be seen how the AP high court would receive the comments from the Chief Justice of India.