Is judicial activism a boon or a bane of Indian democracy? Justify your answer
with three reasons.
Answers
Answer:
An Active Judiciary Is A People’s Right
The hallmark of a great nation is its institutions. The stronger the ability of these institutions to uphold and preserve fundamental values, the greater the nation would be.
When India’s founding fathers wrote the Constitution, they created three arms — Parliament, Executive and the Judiciary — of the state that together were to be the keepers of the ideals of the nation as enshrined in the Constitution. Over the past several months, however, the Parliament has become dysfunctional, the Executive has abdicated its duties and the Judiciary is cracking the whip. Many think that it is cracking the whip a bit too much. I don’t think so.
An active judiciary is one that takes its task of defending the fundamental rights of the people and their liberties against the onslaught of the state, earnestly. As far as judges are concerned, it is a matter of mindset. One judge could say that policy formulation is the job of the Executive and Judiciary does not need to intervene while another could believe that even in policy formulation, the Judiciary would need to step in to guard fundamental rights.