Frivolous cases detract from legitimate judicial activism

Value Judgment

Frivolous cases detract from legitimate judicial activism

First it was a Jaipur magistrate who ordered the arrest of Richard Gere for kissing a Bollywood actress at a public function. Now it’s the Mumbai police attaching the properties of M F Husain on the orders of a Haridwar court. The Haridwar magistrate ordered the attachment of Husain’s properties after he didn’t respond to the court’s summons. Several cases have been filed against Husain for hurting religious sentiments through his paintings. This is yet again an instance of courts taking cognisance of frivolous petitions. Instead of throwing out such petitions by the self-appointed morality brigade, the lower courts have gone after the 90-year-old artist, who is now in self-imposed exile. It is well known that the Indian judicial system, particularly the lower courts, is inundated with pending cases. In such a situation, one wonders why lower court judges are bothering to take up cases that don’t deserve a second glance. In fact, these lower court rulings are a blot on the legitimate activism of the courts. Just last week, the Supreme Court pulled up the Delhi government for not providing enough electricity to citizens, only to be told that people do not have a fundamental right to electricity. That the SC responded by saying it cannot ignore the plight of ordinary people shows that the court has widened the ambit of a citizen’s rights to a decent life. And having uninterrupted power supply is one such legitimate right. Similarly, the court’s intervention in the quotas for OBCs was welcome since the Centre’s move was not based on hard statistics.
It is the judiciary’s duty to show up the failings of the executive and the legislature, and it usually does this remarkably well. However, it is the odd ruling such as the one in Jaipur or Haridwar that undoes much of this good work. For the sake of the judiciary’s reputation, frivolous petitions should not only be thrown out but the petitioners penalised for wasting the court’s time. Legal experts have also suggested a judicial code to rein in the few judges who overstep the limit or are publicity hounds. It has been noted that the lower judiciary has not kept up with many of the apex court’s latest judgments. There is an urgent need to keep the lower courts abreast of the latest judgments and case law. Unless this is done, some of the trial courts would be out of sync with the higher courts and keep passing embarrassing judgments.