Thursday, September 21, 2006
Sealings case - Govt vs judiciary
What is the Govt doing in all this ? When the courts are trying to implement the rule of law, the Govt, instead of supporting this effort is trying to do whatever it can to overturn the orders of the court and quite literally cock a snook at the court.
We have the spectacle of the Hon. Jaipal Reddy, Union Urban Misdevelopment Minister wrongly displaying his knowledge of law. His contention was that it is the role of Govt and parliament to make laws, and the courts have no role to play in this. Well, Mr. Minister, under our constitution, the supreme authority in the country is the consititution of India, and the courts are the interpreters and safe-keepers of the constitution. If the Govt so wishes, it can legalize any illegality. However, it is for the courts to state whether such a law is indeed valid or is ultra vires of the constitution. In the present case, the commercial establishments are patently illegal and are having an impact on the quality of life of normal citizens. But does the Govt really care. All it cares is that the contributions it gets from these people will be impacted. It has essentially given up on being on the right side.
What else does the Govt do ? It passes a law that allows an extra floor to be built for a large section of plots. Can it promise power / water / sewage / extra roads for the more people it is permitting to be in a given area. No, it can't promise this even for the current number of people there. Does it care, I really don't think so. What a disaster this Govt is turning out to be.
What can people do ? You can do a lot, write petitions, take out protest marches, complain to your elected misrepresentative. Write letters to newspapers, show your face in TV cameras and protest against this. Do something before it is too late.
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