“Constitutional morality is the fulcrum which acts as an essential check upon the high functionaries and citizens alike… .” In view of the above observation of the Supreme Court, explain the concept of constitutional morality and its application to ensure balance between judicial independence and judicial accountability in India.

Constitutional morality means fidelity to the norms, values and processes of the Constitution — liberty, equality, fraternity, due process and restraint on power — rather than to popular or personal morality. Dr Ambedkar, borrowing from Grote, warned that it 'is not a natural sentiment; it has to be cultivated'. The Supreme Court deployed it in Government of NCT of Delhi v. Union of India (2018) as a check on 'high functionaries and citizens alike'.

Constitutional morality in action

• Navtej Singh Johar (2018) and Joseph Shine (2018): constitutional morality prevails over social morality in rights adjudication; Sabarimala (2018) tested custom against dignity and equality.

Application to judicial independence

• Independence is constitutionally entrenched: removal only for proved misbehaviour or incapacity (Article 124(4)), salaries charged on the Consolidated Fund, bar on legislative discussion of judicial conduct (Article 121), contempt power, and judicial primacy in appointments upheld in the NJAC judgment (2015).
• Constitutional morality obliges the executive to honour these safeguards — no punitive transfers, court-packing or post-retirement inducements that erode impartiality.

Application to judicial accountability

• Judges too are 'high functionaries': accountability operates through impeachment under the Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, the in-house procedure, the Restatement of Values of Judicial Life (1997), reasoned judgments and live-streamed open hearings.
• The CJI's office is a public authority under RTI (Subhash Chandra Agarwal, 2019); in 2025 the Supreme Court's Full Court resolved to publicly declare judges' assets after the Justice Varma cash-discovery episode.

Striking the balance

• Constitutional morality treats independence as a means to impartial justice, not a personal privilege — so transparency does not diminish it; equally, accountability must flow through constitutional channels, not majoritarian or executive pressure.

Internalized by judges, legislators and citizens alike, constitutional morality converts the independence-accountability tension into a mutually reinforcing discipline of constitutional trust.