Nineth Schedule and SC decision
Bravo! This verdict is one of the crucial course corrections in the past 50 years since we adopted the Constituition. The judges have not only made the right decision but argued in a very crafty way. Prudently they have not gone against the legality of Art.31B and the 9th schedule. How can you argue against an explicit article? That would have been pounding your head against the rock. But by ruling that inclusion in 9th schedule does not guarantee judicial immunity, the 9th schedule has been effectively neutered.
It is strange however how our 'ruling class' reacts to verdicts they perceive as impinging on their domain. Invariably the first reaction that comes out of their mouth is 'this needs to be thoroughly debated'. A Supreme Court verdict is not for debate. It is to be read carefully, understood thoroughly and obeyed meticulously. What they really want to say 'we need to figure out how to circumvent this verdict'. This selective rectitude to the constituitional order is however common all over the world. I remember Bush Administration reacted exactly along the same lines to the strong rebuke on the Rumsfeld v. Hamdan case which ruled military tribunals unconstituitional. It went on to pressure the congress to circumvent it with a sham law and of course with dubious caveats added in 'signing statements'.
posted by Srinivasan @ 11:21 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
ever since i saw this news in the-ahindu i have been waiting for your article on the same. alas, yours turned out to be a LTE (letters to editor) version not a LPA (Leaders page article) :)
Kuppa,
I was just lazy enough to elaborate on some more observations.
1. This is a reversal of Art.31 B Phase II. The Keshavananda Bharati case in 1973 was phase I. Then the SC gently pulled out the 'basic structure' doctrine and defanged 9th Schedule to some extent. Now in Phase II SC has enlarged the ambit under which 9th schedule can be neutered by invoking right to equality, oppurtunity et. al. This shows that how small lazy errors in serious constitutional issues can take decades to undo. Again the failure of the US Continental Congress to properly handle the issue of slavery in 1787 resulted in a civil war and took nearly 100 years to undo. Let us hope and
pray that things won't come to such a pass.
2. There is (was) a real danger in forcefully throwing out the rationale for 9th Schedule itself. However it was not a prudent one because by coming up with a strong action, it will force the political class headed by PMK et. al to react forcefully. This will result in a costly and bloody confrontation between judiciary and parliament and a constitutional crisis, in effect my fears in para.1
3. The Congress party's official reaction was a cause for some solace. This gives an excellent cover for Manmohan Singh, if he is prudent enough to stop/pause/rollback the PMK/Laloo/Karuna Agenda.
Still waiting to hear from the 'porses of social justice' within and outside the party such as Arjun Singh.
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