With the UPA government facing a tough time in the Supreme Court in a number of cases, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said the power of judicial review should not be used to erode the role of the government.
Speaking in the presence of Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia, the Prime Minister said: “While the power of judicial review must be used to enforce accountability, it must never be used to erode the legitimate growth assigned to other branches of the government.”
“This is vitally necessary to preserve the integrity and sanctity of the constitutional scheme premised on the diffusion of sovereign power,” Singh said at the international law conference.
The Prime Minister also had words of praise for Supreme Court judges. “We are today witness to the evolution of India’s own constitutional jurisprudence through a series of landmark decisions of our Supreme Court,” he said.
In his address, Justice Kapadia drew the government’s attention to the issues of food security and the lack of inclusive financial growth.
The CJI favoured a government policy to provide food security to people below the poverty line. Justice Kapadia said the paramount duty of judges is to adopt ways to enhance social welfare. “It is enforceability, which is the very essence of rule of law, that is important,” he said. The CJI urged the Prime Minister to consider introducing an Indian Regulatory Service on the lines of the IAS and IPS. “You can't have a commissioner of income tax sitting in SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) deciding certain matters. We need experts in regulatory laws by which a common man will get the benefit,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}The CJI favoured a government policy to provide food security to people below the poverty line. Justice Kapadia said the paramount duty of judges is to adopt ways to enhance social welfare. “It is enforceability, which is the very essence of rule of law, that is important,” he said. The CJI urged the Prime Minister to consider introducing an Indian Regulatory Service on the lines of the IAS and IPS. “You can't have a commissioner of income tax sitting in SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) deciding certain matters. We need experts in regulatory laws by which a common man will get the benefit,” he said.
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