Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Your law should not meddle with governance, Kapadia tells judges

Your law should not meddle with governance, Kapadia tells judges

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Aug 26, 2012   modified Modified on Aug 26, 2012
-PTI

Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia on Saturday said judges should not govern the country or evolve policies, and they should apply the enforceability test on some verdicts like making sleep a fundamental right.

Doing some frank introspection on the judiciary’s functioning, he wondered what would happen if the executive refused to comply with its directives that might not be enforceable.

“Right to life, we have said, includes environmental protection, right to live with dignity. Now we have included right to sleep, where are we going? It is not a criticism. Is it capable of being enforced? When you expand the right, the judge must explore enforceability.

“Questions which judges must ask are if it is capable of being enforced. Judges must apply enforceability test. Today if a judge proposes a policy matter, the government says we are not going to follow. Are you going by way of contempt or [to] implement it?” the CJI asked.

Delivering a lecture on “Jurisprudence of Constitutional Structure,” he was making an apparent reference to the recent Supreme Court judgment on police action against Baba Ramdev’s supporters on the Ramlila Maidan here, in which “Right to Sleep” was declared a fundamental right.

Strict principle

“Judges should not govern this country. We need to go by strict principle. Whenever you lay down a law, it should not interfere with governance. We are not accountable to people. Objectivity and certainty enshrined in the basic principles of the Constitution have to be given weightage.”

Justice Kapadia said judges should go strictly by the constitutional principles which had clearly demarcated powers among the judiciary, the legislature and the executive.

They must abide by the principles of the Constitution while dealing with Centre-State relations and federal policy while dealing with matters arising out of scams, the CJI said. He clarified that he was not mentioning “coalgate.”

Quoting Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy in the S.R. Bommai case, the CJI said the Constitution was not federal but tilted in favour of the Centre. But at the same time, Justice Reddy had cautioned that it should not mean States’ powers were to be whittled down, he said. “Let me give an example. I don’t want to mention anything about the coalgate. Let it be understood.

“When we analyse whether the Centre seeks to whittle [down] the powers, if land is a State subject, what is the implication, if State has a reservation policy, can the Centre override it?” Justice Kapadia asked, saying judges must keep in mind the principles of Constitution while deciding the issue.

He cited the Supreme Court’s direction for suspending mining in Karnataka’s Bellary district to say that environmental concerns should be balanced with sustainable development.

“At the same time, there is unemployment. Economy will suffer. We have to strike a balance.”

The Hindu, 26 August, 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/article3823003.ece


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close