INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - APRIL 1st - APRIL 15th - 2008
DON’T COME RUNNING TO US FOR EVERYTHING: SUPREME COURT
The Supreme Court has said that the people unhappy with the performance of a government should vote it out rather than approach the judiciary to cure all the evils in the country.
“This is democracy where elections are held. You vote for a better government if you are not satisfied with the governance,” observed a bench comprising Justice H K Sema and Justice Markandey Katju.
The bench was hearing a PIL seeking adequate road safety measures in the country.
The apex court sought to dispel the “illusion” that courts are the panacea for overcoming all the evils plaguing the country.
“There is a wrong illusion. Many evils cannot be cured by courts. Court is not a remedy for all evils. People will laugh at us,” said the bench.
Maintaining that judges should know their limits, the bench said the court cannot legislate and take over the functions of the legislature.
“Courts can only make recommendations but cannot make any binding law,” said Justice Katju speaking for the bench. The apex court observed after counsel Prashant Bhushan appearing for an NGO, Common Cause, sought directions from the court to the Union and states for putting in order foolproof traffic safety measures across the country to prevent the growing number of motor vehicle accidents in the country.
The bench rejected counsel Bhushan’s argument that if the executive was inactive in ensuring safety of the people, the court had the powers to give directions. The bench raised a hypothesis as to whether people would now start coming to courts to put an end to the growing murders in the country.
“Then someone will come with a writ before us to stop murders,” the bench remarked. After Bhushan persisted with the argument that the courts do have the power to direct the executive to discharge its duties, the bench said it was reserving its order on the PIL.
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