The Constitution And The Judiciary
The India Commentary view
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By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-07-05 05:53:15
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The India Commentary view
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There is no
doubt that the Constitution must be supreme in a democratic country that swears
by rule of law. All laws enacted by the legislature must pass the
constitutional test and all pillars of democracy must function within the
boundaries set for them in the Constitution. Hence, what CJI N V Ramana said in
US about the judiciary being answerable only to the Constitution is true.
Justice Ramana also elaborated that the situation in India is such that even
after 72 years of the Constitution, the ruling party always expects the
judiciary to decide all cases in its favour (thereby giving the judicial stamp
for its policy initiatives) and the opposition parties similarly expect the
judiciary to decide in their favour as and when they choose to raise a dispute
regarding any policy.
But since
the judiciary must go by the Constitution and the laws of the nation, it is not
possible for it to take sides. Hence, all politicians, though always pretending
to respect the judiciary and judicial decisions, are at most times miffed with
it for giving verdicts that go against their positions. Not that the judiciary
is always consistent but since each bench interprets the law according to its
own reading, some amount of inconsistency is unavoidable. The judiciary is also
hampered by badly drafted laws which are a result of the legislature doing its
work in a shoddy manner (bills are poorly drafted and rushed through the houses
without proper discussion or vetting by legislative committees).
But one
thing is certain - the judiciary will always get flak for most of its decisions as
it is impossible to please both sides in a conflict. But the rising trend of
criticizing judges, which at times takes the shape of accusing them of bias, is
dangerous. The judges are also guilty of making unwarranted oral observations
during many sensitive cases. Despite the Supreme Court cautioning judges in
lower courts against making such observations during hearing, judges in the
apex court are also not immune from making such observations. This is also an
ugly trend and must be avoided. The judiciary, the executive and the
legislature must, at all times, stick to their defined roles as per the
Constitution and must not transgress into other domains.
