Emergency Days Not Far!

If constitutional dialogue is taken as tyranny, Emergency days in new fatigues may not be far behind. There are enough signs to caution the country.

- M.P. Raju

Are Only Binary Responses Possible In A debate? Two antithetical responses vociferously raised? This appears to be the case in the wake of the recent verdict by the Indian apex court striking down the Constitution amendment on appointments to the higher judiciary. Supporters of the decision proclaim that the Constitution is what the judges say it is; hence, judicial primacy is a required constitutional imperative. On the other hand, the government and its supporters rave and rant that “Indian democracy cannot be a tyranny of the unelected” (Arun Jaitley, Cabinet Minister); that “it is a flawed judgment ignoring the unanimous will of Parliament” (Mukul Rohatgi, Attorney General).

Are not the comments from the executive wing less like a rational critique and more like the reactions of a spoilt brat giving vent to puerile anger and calling names like an immature ordinary litigant who, while losing a case, behaves as if he alone is right? If the court cannot be persuaded to accept the government’s stand, it is not an adjudication but a confrontation and tyranny! Perhaps, in hindsight, the government’s outpourings in a way prove that the court’s ruling was right.

The Rule Of Law, Not Men