The Supreme Court, under the previous regime (i.e. under former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi) compromised it’s independence and fearlessness, but so far, the court under current CJI S.A. Bobde seems different, Abhishek Singhvi tells Karan Thapar, in an exclusive interview for The Wire.One of the most successful and highly paid Supreme Court lawyers, Abhishek Singhvi says that the Supreme Court under its previous CJI, Ranjan Gogoi, had compromised its essential qualities associated with independence.He says the Supreme Court, in matters where there are great stakes involved, has shown a reluctance to act against the government. Two examples where this was most apparent are the constitutional cases regarding the reading down of Article 370, which have been repeatedly deferred, and the many habeas corpus petitions which have also not been taken up.He says:“When it appears that the government has erred, the Court has shown a pattern of deferring, adjourning and otherwise leaving the issue aside until it has lost the importance it had.”In his nearly 50-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, to mark the launch of his book From the Trenches, Singhvi says:“My fear is that the judiciary has lost some of its independence and the fearlessness that it needs to check the executive and the legislature.”However, he says that under the present Chief Justice, S.A. Bobde, things seem different.When questioned about the present Chief Justice’s delay in taking up the Citizenship Amendment Act cases and the fact that at one point Chief Justice Bobde said he would only do so after the protests end, Singhvi said that the delay was not excessive and the Chief Justice’s comment was either made in a different context or misunderstood.In a discussion about Justice Arun Mishra, who has called the Prime Minister a “versatile genius” and an “internationally acclaimed visionary”, Singhvi told The Wire that this was inappropriate and it should not have been said.At one point in the interview Singhvi seemed to suggest that Justice Mishra might have made his comments without realising their full import. He also said that he believed Justice Mishra probably regrets his comments even though he has not said so.In the interview to The Wire, Abhishek Singhvi also criticised the enormous workload high court judges have to handle which leads to both delays in giving judgment as well as impacting the judicial quality of the verdict.In particular, judges have a tendency “to decide hard questions by adjourning them”. This not only means that they kick the can down the road but often allow the outcome to be determined by a fait accompli.“It requires a super human effort for a judge to keep track of so many hundreds of matters a week, to remember the facts, to hear arguments and ultimately to write a well-thought-out, reasoned order which balances the rights and does justice.”Speaking to The Wire about the trial court level, Singhvi said, “the quality of trial judges is generally poor”.He pointed out that this meant that at the first point of contact with the judicial system Indian citizens cannot be certain of getting justice.Singhvi’s overall conclusion is that “our Court system is not in good health”.The above is a paraphrased precis of Abhishek Singhvi’s interview. Please see the full interview for accurate details.