Alok Singh
While speaking at Oxford Union on June 10th, 2025, Chief Justice of India, B.R. Gavai, offered a nuanced reflection on the balance between assertive judicial engagement and institutional overreach. The event was organised by Advocate-on-Record Tanvi Dubey, along with the Oxford Union.
Justice Gavai highlighted the need for judicial intervention when constitutional guarantees are endangered by legislative inactivity or executive disregard. However, he cautioned that unchecked judicial activism may risk undermining the separation of powers, overstepping its boundaries, and entering areas it typically should not. Gavai emphasised that the power of judicial review should be used in rare cases.
In the address, he noted that some communities were labelled as ‘untouchables’ decades ago and faced exclusion. Today, the Constitution of India enables someone from that group to address the Oxford Union as the nation’s highest judicial officer.
Invoking the legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Justice Gavai emphasised that democracy is not merely a balance between state institutions but also a redistribution of voice and power across historically disadvantaged communities.
He concluded by quoting Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, saying that the issue is not whether the marginalised speak—they always have—but whether the power structures are willing to listen.
