Judicial activism sounds like a contradiction in terms. Judiciary is generally perceived as detached, non-partisan and neutral. It is for the executive to enforce the law enacted by the legislature. Judiciary steps in only as an interpreter of law in case of confusion and as a dispenser of justice to help the victim of injustice when the latter agitates before it that an injustice has been done to him. Judicial activism witnessed in India during the last decade of the Twentieth century has enlarged the scope of the functions of the judiciary.
It has in a number of cases jolted the executive out of its complacency and directed it to act within a time frame to redress the grievance of a citizen or general public. It has also, in certain instances, directed the executive to take drastic measures for environment protection and to implement the Directive Principles of the State Policy like provision of free universal education. In a word, Judiciary has forced the executive to perform its duty with demonstrable alacrity and speed. It has shed off its detachment and articulated, in no uncertain terms, its resolve to bring relief to the hitherto exploited citizenry.
Judicial activism caughtthe public eye initially when thejudges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court started taking cognizance of the cases of injustice brought to their notice through an ordinary letter some instance of grave injustice. They took up the proceedings without waiting for the filing of a formal case. Thus the Delhi High Court responded to the petition of the parents of school children who suffered or were likely to suffer injuries due to rash driving of the school buses.
The court issued orders to the Delhi Trans port Corporation prescribing minimum working experience of 5 year to qualify for a driver’s job in the D.T.C. Many industrial units within the city of National Capital Region of Delhi had been poisoning the environment with ever- increasing pollution. The High court, after getting a public petition and hearing the petitioners and government advocates ordered the closure of hundreds of industrial units within a specified time-frame. Similarly, all polluting industries near the Taj Mahal were ordered to be closed by the Court to save this great national monument from damage.
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Many States of India have been grievously lacking in the educational infrastructure to provide free universal education to children upto the age of 14 year as enjoined upon the state by the Directive Principles of the State Policy. The literacy rate did not reach even 50% even after 4 decades of independence in many states. The Supreme Court in its Historic Judgement in Sat Pal Anand Versus Union of India issued orders to the Education Secretaries of all state governments to take immediate and time bound steps to make free education available to all children upto the age of fourteen and also to bring suitable legislation so as to make the right to education as a fundamental right. The illegal felling of trees in many parts of India has been inflicting an irreversible damage to the ecology of the country.
The Supreme Court, in response to a Public Interest Litigation, banned the felling of forest trees altogether and ordered the state governments to furnish full account of the woods cut during the last few months. The intervention of the Supreme Court has gone a long way in preventing the depredation of forests by the unscrupulous forest contractors in connivance with the forest officials. Education shops all over the country have been fleecing the unwary candidates seeking admission to medical and engineering colleges by demanding huge capitation fees.
The state governments either watched hopelessly or connived with the exploiters. The aggrieved parents went to the Supreme Court seeking relief from the arbitrary charges of the private institutions. The Apex Court came to the aid of the citizens by banning huge capitation fees and rationalising the fee-structure of professional engineering and medical courses. The private colleges were prescribed a maximum limit upto, which they could charge for paid seats and fixed a quota of merit seats. Judicial activism in the field of education has won great accolade for the Judiciary. But for the intervention of judiciary, many promising students from low-income groups could never have become doctors and engineers.
The most significant contribution of the judicial activism is to be seen in the protection of fundamental rights of citizens. The outrage committed by the police of Bhagalpur in the inhuman blinding of the prisoners brought swift response from the judiciary. The investigation initiated at its instance led to the punishment of several state officials. The punitive action taken by the judiciary ensured that such an outrage would not be repeated in future. For decades small children had been working in hazardous professions like glass and fireworks industries.
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The children would not only meet with fatal accidents in such professions but would also be incapacitated. They hardly got any medical care. The high courts, when seized of this matter through public interest litigation, directed the legislature to give extra teeth to the child labour legislation and ordered the executive to to ensure the enforcement of legal provisions. Courts’ intervention has emboldened the voluntary organisations working in child welfare area to extricate much child labour from the insufferable conditions. Schools and vocational institutions have been set up for child labour and these have brought cheers to the lives of thousands of young children who now look forward to a rewarding future.
Though the achievements of judicial activism have been considerable, they are still no more than a drop in the ocean considering the chronic backwardness of our people and the woeful inadequacy of our social institutions. It is high time our legislature and executive realise their responsibility and embark upon an active programme of eliminating and rectifying the aberrations that have crept in their functioning. Citizens’ self-help groups should keep a tab on the functioning of our socio-economic institutions and build up strong public opinion to keep the administration on the right course; we cannot have a functioning democracy in the midst of mal-functioning social, economic and government organisationas and institutions.