New Delhi: Raising concern over a spate of recent judicial pronouncements that, according to him, give a distinct impression of “judicial overreach”, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu Wednesday said this has led to questions over whether the judiciary was entering the domains of the legislative and the executive.
Addressing the inaugural session of the 80th All India Conference of Presiding Officers at Kevadia, Gujarat, on the topic Harmonious Coordination between Legislature, Executive and Judiciary — Key to a Vibrant Democracy, Naidu said there have been quite a few judicial pronouncements that gave a “distinct impression of an overreach”.
“For example, the Diwali fireworks; cess on registration and movement of vehicles from the National Capital Region through Delhi; banning use of vehicles of certain make after 10 or 15 years; monitoring police investigations,” Naidu said, adding that the others included “denying the executive any role in the appointment of judges by instituting collegium, which is said to be an extra-constitutional body, and invalidating the National Judicial Accountability Commission Act are being cited as instances of judicial overreach.”
The vice-president said these actions have resulted in an avoidable “blurring of the contours demarcated by the Constitution”.
“They have led to the question as to how the three organs of the state should respect the jurisdictional sanctity enshrined in the Constitution instead of arrogating to themselves a sense of supremacy,” Naidu said. “The moot question is does our Constitution envisage any of these three to be supreme?”
Also read: Supreme Court’s Shaheen Bagh judgment is well-meaning judicial anguish, not binding law
‘Courts have furthered socio-economic objectives’
The vice-president further said that since Independence, the Supreme Court and High Courts have delivered several far-reaching verdicts in furtherance of socio-economic objectives besides making correctional interventions.
“But occasionally, concerns have been raised as to whether they were entering the domains of the legislative and the executive wings,” he said. “There have been debates as to whether some issues should have been more legitimately left to the other organs of the government.”
Naidu further said that harmony lies in each organ doing its job, without interfering with that of the others. “This warrants a spirit of mutual respect, responsibility and restraint. Unfortunately, there have been several instances of crossing the boundaries,” he said.
Our Constitution, Naidu added, has demarcated clear domains for each of the three organs on the lines of separation of powers, though not in a very formalistic manner. “We consider our state to be in its best state when each of the three organs of the state performs to the best of its potential in the domain specified for each of them, in pursuit of the mandate defined and in the manner prescribed in the Constitution,” he said.
The V-P said that ever since separate domains came into being, it has been a saga of frictions and tensions. “The case of India since Independence is no exception. So, it is appropriate for us to take stock of the harmonious working of the three organs,” he said.
Talking about the legislatures, Naidu said that over the years, frequent disruptions, conduct of MLAs both within and outside the chambers, rising number of legislators with criminal background, rising money power in elections, flaunting of power as legislators have resulted in a negative perception against the legislatures and its members.
Also read: 10 reasons why the Supreme Court is looking like a court of ‘trivial pursuits’
Some believe the present phase is one of quiescence.