Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad   

Efforts to erode authority of Parliament unfortunate: Speaker

Special Correspondent

Somnath Chatterjee calls for introspection by institutions of governance

AUGUST GATHERING: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Chief Justice G. S. Singhvi and Assembly Speaker K. R. Suresh Reddy at the Andhra Pradesh High Court golden jubilee celebrations in Hyderabad on Saturday. — PHOTO: SATISH. H.

HYDERABAD: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Saturday expressed the view that the Public Interest Litigations (PILs) had in the recent past raised doubts and confusion in the minds of people about the respective domains of different organs of the State.

If used with the objective for which the PILs were initially adopted in 1980s, they were an effective mechanism to sustain the faith of the poor and the disadvantaged people in the administration of justice and the rule of law.

He referred to the PILs in the context that there were, unfortunately, several instances when efforts were made to erode, if not subvert, the authority of Parliament in enacting "social legislations". In the process, the fine balance envisaged in the Constitution between different organs of the State had been breached.

Mr. Chatterjee was speaking at the concluding function of the yearlong golden jubilee celebrations of Andhra Pradesh High Court here.

"We, however, need to reconsider the whole matter and come up with ways and means to address the issues involved if novel methods of adjudication interfered with the discharge of its primary functions of dispensation of justice," he said adding that it called for serious introspection by all institutions of governance in the country.

Social legislations

The Speaker insisted that all organs of the State saw various legislations in their social context, keeping in view the larger social philosophy of the Constitution. Social legislations were not an area for classic interpretation only but a means of emancipating the countless millions who stood on the periphery of progress.

It was necessary that everyone comprehended law in its social spirit, setting and history.

Land acquisition

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy said the State Government was trying to see that persons aggrieved by land acquisition did not move courts.

The Government wanted these cases settled through mutual consent.

Chief Justice of High Court G. S. Singhvi gave an account of programmes conducted as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the High Court since they began on November 4 last year. Assembly Speaker K.R. Suresh Reddy, Chairman of the Bar Council of Andhra Pradesh A. Narasimha Reddy and president of High Court Advocates Association G. Vidyasagar spoke.

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