Other States - Orissa   

Lecture held on role of judiciary

BHUBANESWAR: High Court Judge Justice I.M. Quddussi on Sunday said executive as well as legislature should not be critical of judiciary’s proactive role which was being dubbed as ‘judicial activism’ these days.

While presenting his paper at the lecture on ‘Public Interest Litigation and Judicial Activism’ organised by Orissa Civil Liberty Forum (OCLF) here, Justice Quddussi said, “if all parts of governance are active and judiciary is more active than its counterparts, then there is nothing to be critical about it.” The judiciary activism must be treated as a complement to system, he said.

“As long as every organs of governance and every constituent of democracy are performing their functions to maintain the delicacy of power, judiciary should play the role of a defender,” Justice Quddussi said. “It is obvious that people’s expectation rises towards that wing of governance which is more responsive and more conscious of its obligation to the polity,” he said. The High Court judge said it was breach of privilege that executive and legislatives wings were not so responsive to the need of people they ought to be, for which expectations of people shifted towards judiciary.

Defending the role of judiciary, another High Court Judge Justice L. Mohapatra said judicial activism was often misconstrued as judicial over-reach.

P.H. Parekh, president of Supreme Court Bar Association, however, had words of caution for the judiciary not to cross its limit. He said judges must know their jurisdictional limits and activism should not mean invading the exclusive legislative and executive domains. Speakers at the lecture highlighted importance of PIL saying it helped defend people’s right at grassroots. “Both, the government and the media, are required to have open-minded supportive attitude towards PIL in order to make the whole programme a successful venture in achieving its goal of delivering equal access to effective justice to the poor masses,” C. D Singh, additional secretary of Supreme Court Bar Association, said.

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