Are We Deaf To The Supreme Court?

IT is a matter of good tidings for supporters of democratic-republican governance all over the world to see the Indian Supreme Court in action under Justice NV Ramana.

- Inderjit Badhwar

Particularly noteworthy have been the Court's pronouncements on various aspects of human rights which are embedded in the Constitution as the embodiments and gifts of Natural Justice rather than the constructs or artefacts of Man.

The Court's repeated assertions that laws restricting habeas corpus, freedom of association, peaceful protest and dissent, particularly the virtually untrammelled use of draconian edicts such as the antisedition statutes (124-A) and cyber regulations like 66-A, need to be junked, are in consonance with the philosophical spirit of India's founding fathers who rightly believed that a runaway, unbridled executive is the greatest threat to individual liberty.

In doing so, Justice Ramana's Supreme Court is actually following in the best tradition of its own legacy. It is not advocating anything new but rather reiterating the primacy of the Rule of Law that was asserted in the 1970s by Justice HR Khanna as the inviolable basic structure doctrine.

Octogenarian tribal rights crusader Father Stan Swamy is dead and mourned. Student activists Narwal, Kanhaiya and Kalita are out on bail and celebrated. All were victims of a system gone horribly awry. The Court is attempting a midcourse correction. But will pronouncements be sufficient? After all as early as 2016, when the venerable chief justice of India was TS Thakur, the justices had breathed fire and brimstone over violations of human rights and dignity.

I had reported on that six years ago and would like to take the opportunity to remind readers once again that Justice Ramana's Supreme Court is to be commended for continuing in that vein.