The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : "Timely action by executive will reduce burden on courts"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 17, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

"Timely action by executive will reduce burden on courts"

Special Correspondent

Judge was passing orders on writ plea filed by bus operator

CHENNAI: The burden on courts will reduce if the executive authorities of the State take timely action to redress people's grievances, the Madras High Court has observed.

Inaction flayed

Justice R. Sudhakar, passing orders on a writ petition filed by a bus operator seeking permission to ply the vehicle on an alternative route in view of bad road conditions on the original route, said: "The executive authorities of the State should bear in mind that because of their inaction and callousness in not attending to the issues pending before them, the aggrieved persons are forced to come to court. If timely action to redress the grievance is undertaken by the authorities, the burden of the courts can be lessened. The authorities are bound to look into the grievance of the public with promptitude and, if it is done, it will reduce the burden of courts."

Executive function

The Judge asked the Regional Transport Authority to consider the representation of the bus operator. Mr. Justice Sudhakar, however, made it clear that grant of bus route permit was a function of the Regional Transport Authority in exercise of its executive function.

Pointing out that the courts cannot supplement the views of the authority in matters such as route permits, the Judge said: "If the court is called upon to give any order to deviate a particular route and to take another route, it will amount to interfering with the discharge of the executive functions of the authority.

"The court cannot be called upon to discharge administrative functions or duties such as grant of permits or deviation in routes. If such exercise is taken by courts, then they will be clogged with a number of writ petitions to grant route permits or deviation of routes for so many perceivable reasons."

Reiterating that courts should not be burdened with executive and administrative functions, Mr. Justice Sudhakar said, "The court, at best, will ensure that the executive and the administrative authorities, while discharging their duties, do so in accordance with the law and statutory provisions and rules made there under."

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