Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Welcome judgment

All citizens who cherish the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution, particularly the right to constitutional remedies, will welcome the Supreme Court's judgment that there can be no blanket ban on review of laws inserted in the Ninth Schedule. Nani Palkhivala, senior counsel for the petitioners in the Fundamental Rights case, argued that one of the basic postulates underlying the Constitution was that our citizens need protection against their own representatives. Parliament is a creature of the Constitution and has no power to change its basic structure. Judicial review cannot be limited by Parliament in the name of the Ninth Schedule.

N. Hariharan,
Coimbatore

The verdict could not have come at a more opportune moment. It brings the hope that politicians will no longer have their way in the games they play at the expense of the common man.

C.M. Umanath,
Kozhikode

The judgment will prevent arbitrary decisions by governments becoming laws that are outside the purview of the judiciary. By opening up the Ninth Schedule for judicial review, the judiciary has once again upheld democratic values.

C.N.M. Lavanya,
Visakhapatnam

When it suits our MPs, the Constitution is sacred; when it is a hindrance to their interests, they gang up to amend it. Since 1776, the number of amendments to the U.S. Constitution has been only 27, whereas since 1950 we have amended our Constitution 93 times. Soli Sorabjee, while delivering the First Palkhivala Memorial lecture in February 2003 in Chennai, said: "What outraged Palkhivala was the tinkering with the Constitution by the politicians, its frequent amendment as if it were a Municipal Licensing Act or the Drugs Act, the failure to preserve the integrity of our Constitution against many hasty and ill-considered changes, the fruits of passion and ignorance."

C.S. Ramalingam,
Chennai

Ever since the Constitution came into force, political parties have tried to tinker with its basic composition for their vested interests.

All evils, including corruption, and caste conflicts, are in a way the product of visionless legislative functioning.

R. Jayant Dixit,
Surat

If legislatures are empowered to pass laws that alter the basic structure of the Constitution, it will be rendered irrelevant. With criminalisation of politics, manipulation of the electoral process, and rampant competitive populism, legislatures do not always fully and fairly represent the aspirations or the will of the people. The situation is compounded by fractured mandates and compulsions of coalition politics. Judicial scrutiny of laws does no harm. The system would be better off if a pragmatic mechanism to ensure the judiciary's accountability is also put in place.

M.H. Rao,
Hyderabad

The verdict is indeed a revolution in Indian politics. Though judicial review of all laws may appear confrontationist vis-à-vis the legislature, it is necessary for the smooth and proper functioning of democracy. I congratulate the nine-judge Bench for delivering the landmark judgment.

Kiran Babu Mandava,
Atlanta, Georgia

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar said during the debate on Article 32 (Article 25 in the draft Constitution) in the Constituent Assembly: "It is the very soul of the Constitution and the very heart of it." The Supreme Court derives its authority to strike down a statutory provision from the Constitution. Jawaharlal Nehru said in an interview to Playboy magazine in October 1963: " ... with all my admiration and love for democracy, I am not prepared to accept the statement that the largest number of people are always right." The latest verdict is no judicial activism. On the other hand, the judiciary has been activated by populist legislation.

Meenakshisundaram Panchapakesan,
Coimbatore

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