Three cheers for the Supreme Court
You don’t say!
Darius Nak hoonwala
For once the leader writers were all in agreement. The issue was the Supreme Court`s judgment about the Ninth Schedule which places laws beyond judicial scrutiny if fundamental rights are being violated. Sorry, said the Court to the politicians, we will review the laws you pass and they had better not violate the basic structure of the Constitution.
The Hindu straightaway got to the nub of the issue that the judgment was essentially an institutional response to excess. It called the judgment "a natural institutional reaction to the ouster of jurisdiction in the early years of the republic." As long as the provision was used sparingly, no one really objected. But increasingly blatantly politically motivated laws, including state laws, were placed in it. "It is difficult to fault the court`s reasoning that under the constitutional scheme, Parliament does not have a carte blanche to override all the fundamental rights, which is what the Ninth Schedule allows it to do."
The Telegraph was also full of admiration, as well it might be. "The Indian judiciary seems to have achieved an admirable feat. The Supreme Court has once again sought to make Parliament conscious of the latter`s subordination to constitutional provisions…By saying so, it takes away from the legislature the last bastion of immunity and gives to the people of the country a chance to challenge any law… against the supreme rights of equality, freedom of expression and life... recent attempts to invoke the Ninth Schedule against the apex court`s much-disliked activism in the sealing drive in the capital, and to ward off judicial intervention in giving free rein to quota politics show the malicious intent of the legislature."
The Pioneer used the opportunity to take a passing swipe at the Congress. It said that it was the Congress that was mainly responsible. "The Congress is the worst offender - not because it discovered this constitutional route to avoid judicial scrutiny, but because it showed others how to misuse an otherwise legitimate instrument of enhancing the state`s power. For instance, the untenable 69 per cent quota for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in Tamil Nadu has been extended the cover of the Ninth Schedule. This is now open to scrutiny…" It then expressed the hope that "it has put politicians who thrive on identity politics by pandering to castes and communities on notice; we may yet see the demise of crass vote-bank politics."
The Indian Express took the larger view that the Court had defined "the lines and limits of legislative functioning." The Deccan Herald said the Supreme Court has made "law-makers function within the parameters of the Constitution and that cannot but be welcomed."
Only three newspapers amongst those reviewed discussed the possibility of a conflict between Parliament and the Supreme Court - The Telegraph, The Indian Express and Pioneer.
The Telegraph said the judgment would "open a can of worms…. For the Central and state governments, the threats are more immediate. Tamil Nadu, for instance, runs the risk of having its legislation qualifying 69 per cent reservation in the state struck down, and the United Progressive Alliance may finally have to curb its enthusiasm regarding the extension of reservations. The coming days will not only find the will of the parliament, but also its wisdom, severely tested. "
The Express said the same thing. "The latest verdict is bound to create waves in the political universe... political responses must be tempered by the realisation that every law sought to be enacted by Parliament or the state legislature would need to conform to the letter and spirit of the Constitution." And the Pioneer added that " Little purpose will be served by seeking ways and means of negating the Supreme Court`s judgement, a point that politicians from Tamil Nadu, who are understandably perturbed, need to take note of. Indeed, if too-clever-by-half politicians try to blunt the judgement by taking recourse to deceptive tactics they will fetch grief upon themselves, apart from triggering an unnecessary contest for supremacy."