12 May 2021 Judicial Overreach

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Judicial Overreach

Context

Judicial intervention in response to the Union government’s flailing response to the health crisis has reached its apotheosis with the Supreme Court order forming a 12-member national task force

Court Intervention and issue involved

1. Concerns about the judiciary encroaching on the executive domain
2. The national task force has become a judicially empowered group that may significantly guide the handling of the health crisis set off by the second pandemic wave.
3. Karnataka High Court ordered that the Centre should supply 1,200 tonnes of medical oxygen daily to the State
4. High Courts and the Supreme Court are examining different aspects of the pandemic response, including availability of beds and oxygen

Judicial Overreach

• Judicial Overreach refers to an extreme form of judicial activism where arbitrary, unreasonable and frequent interventions are made by judiciary into the legislature’s domain.
• It is often exercised with the intention of disrupting the balance of powers between executive, legislature and judiciary.
• It is a situation where the court encroaches upon the role of the legislature by making laws

Why Judicial overreach?

1. Executive and legislative Inaction
2. Delay in parliamentary process
3. Judicial hyper-activism

Issues with Judicial overreach:

1. Undermine the power of Legislative
2. Separation of Power

Examples of Judicial Overreach

1. Imposition of Patriotism in National Anthem Case: All should stand while playing National Anthem
2. The Supreme Court struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) which was established through the 99th Constitutional Amendment
3. Allahabad High Court Order: In 2015, the Allahabad High Court passed an order stating that children of public functionaries/ bureaucrats in Uttar Pradesh should be enrolled only in government schools

Source: The Hindu

rahul123

Yojna IAS Current Affairs Team