Question

Role of judicial activism in the promotion and protection of human rights in india

Answer 1

Judges must be sometimes cautious and sometimes bold. Judges must respect both the traditions of the past and the convenience of the present Judges must reconcile liberty and authority; the whole and its parts. Impartial, independent and positive justice is the foundation of the efficiency of the government. Governance is the prerogative of the legislature being a popularly elected body of the people. The executive is responsible for the proper enforcement of the laws made by the legislature. But when the legislature does not bother about the rights and liberties of the individuals and the executive becomes apathetic in the matters of implementation of the laws, the judiciary is the only way out to act as the engine of social welfare to secure justice for every citizen in the various spheres of life whether it is child labour or environment or human rights. Judicial activism is nothing but an expanded role of the judiciary as it encompasses an area of the legislative vacuum. It is an effort to revitalize the system through the provision of simplest, fastest and inexpensive access to individual. This paper attempts to deal with questions such as what is judicial activism? How does Indian Constitution provide judicial activism? How does the concept of judicial activism come into existence in the Indian polity? To what extent the judicial activism has improved the quality of governance in India?