PM tells judiciary to stay in limits

LINE OF CONTROL: The PM says judiciary should not breach the thin line dividing the two wings.

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan on Sunday had a debate of sorts over the much-touted judiciary vs legislature issue.

Talking on the sidelines of a conference of chief ministers and chief justices of High Courts at the Vigyan Bhavan in the Capital, the Prime Minister suggested the judiciary should not breach the thin line dividing the two wings.

The Prime Minister pointed out that judiciary enjoyed enormous power and its primary obligation was to enforce the rule of law and to uphold the Constitution.

However, he added the judiciary cannot substitute its power of mandamus to take-over the functions of another organ, meaning the legislature and executive.

Singh cautioned the judiciary against overstepping the functions of other organs. "The dividing line between the judicial activism and judicial overreach is a thin one...A takeover of the functions of another organ may, at times, become a case of over-reach," PTI quoted him as saying.

The Chief Justice, on the other hand, said that the perceived tension between courts, legislature and the executive was a natural and inevitable corollary of a healthy democracy.

"The application to judicial review to determine constitutionality of the legislation and to review the executive decision sometimes creates tension between the judge and the legislative and the executive branch. Such tension is natural and to some extent desirable," PTI quoted Balakrishnan as saying.

The Prime Minister's remarks come in wake of a number of legislations being struck down by the apex court, the latest being the constitutional validity of Schedule Nine and the stay granted on implementing the 27 per cent quota for OBCs in elite educational institutions.

While admitting that there was a huge pendency of cases in various courts, Balakrishnan blamed lack of adequate judges and infrastrucure for the problem.

"The courts do not possess a magic wand which they can wave to wipe out the huge pendency of cases, nor can they afford to ignore the instances of injustices and illegalities because of the huge arrears of cases already pending with them. If the courts start doing that, it would be endangering the credibility of the courts and the tremendous confidence they still enjoy from the common man," PTI quoted him as saying.

Law Minister H R Bharadwaj, who was alos present during the debate, said as part of the strategy to computerise the subordinate judiciary, it had been decided to provide laptops to all judicial officers with broadband connectivity to enable them to access judgements from archives and save considerable time.

He suggested that an effective mechanism be created to ensure judicial accountability while at the same time maintaining the judiciary's independence.

(With PTI inputs)