People's Democracy

Judicial Authoritarianism & Hypocrisy On Display

The Delhi state committee of the CPI(M) issued the following statement on July 18, 2006

THE Supreme Court has declared that the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006 is invalid. In doing so it has challenged the authority of the elected legislature, which enacted this law as well as that of the president of India who gave it his consent. The tone and tenor of the remarks made by the ‘learned judges’ presumes for themselves and the court supreme authority to decide the fate of legislations passed by the parliament. This is violative of the spirit of the Indian Constitution and smacks of judicial authoritarianism. This cannot be accepted. The government of India must take all steps necessary to rebut this unwarranted and unjust intervention of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme court has also decreed that doctors of Delhi hospitals who went on strike against reservations be paid salary for the strike period. These doctors had held the city’s health services to ransom for more than two weeks causing immense hardship to poor patients who cannot afford treatment in private hospitals and nursing homes. This order of the Supreme Court, lays bare its double standards and hypocrisy. The same court has repeatedly insisted on application of the ‘no work no pay’ provision in the case of striking employees and workers. Its ‘touching concern’ for the anti-reservationist doctors also thoroughly exposes the upper caste and class bias of the higher judiciary. (INN)