Law minister sees nothing wrong in judicial activism

NEW DELHI: The ruling dispensation’s unease over the confrontation between a section of the UPA-Left alliance and the judiciary came through on Sunday when Union law minister HR Bhardwaj had to clarify that judges were merely doing their job. “The adverse court orders should be construed as judicial activism,” he said.

The minister’s remark followed attempts being made by the ruling side to force a debate on judicial activism in Parliament. The BJP has already made it clear that it will not support the move as the interventions by the court have been necessitated by the reluctance of the government to follow correct constitutional procedures.

The law minister has been maintaining all through that the effort will not just antagonise the courts, but will also widen the emotional distance between a large section of the electorate, which looks up to the courts to set things right, and the government. The minister said the power of judicial review is the “the very soul” of the Constitution.

“An order passed by a court can be adverse also. Where is the question of overstepping? I don’t subscribe to the view that you gag the courts. Let them do their job,” the law minister said. “Just as no one can stop Parliament from making a law, because it’s its Constitutional function and no one can challenge it, it is the courts’ job to uphold or strike down a law,” he pointed out.

The political class which is increasingly feeling the heat of adverse court orders, has been routinely raising the issue of judicial activism in Parliament. The Left, which is rooting for unfettered powers for Parliament, has become a natural ally in this exercise. On whether politicians enjoyed special status in the eyes of law, the minister said the discretion of a court has to be well within the four corners of law.

On Afzal Guru’s filing curative petition in the Supreme Court against his death sentence in Parliament attack case, the minister said it was natural for a convict in the death row to exhaust all measures to escape the punishment.