A day after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised the question over "judicial activism", Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday asked the judiciary to ensure the separation of powers between the judiciary, legislature and executive during his address on the occasion of National Law Day. “The separation of power is equally bounding upon the judiciary and is the law of the land,” Prasad said. Countering Prasad, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said the judiciary gave absolute respect to the Law Ministry and took its suggestions with mutual respect. "There should be no battle for supremacy among the three wings and that we are bound by the principle of constitutional sovereignty," he said. Expressing dismay over the Supreme Court quashing the National Judicial Appointments Commission, Prasad said the Constitution makers did not desire that the law minister must remain a post office in selection of judges. "If a PM and the law minister cannot be trusted with appointment of judges, it is a huge question and the judiciary and polity of his country will have to look into it," Prasad said. The NJAC, which sought to give politicians and the civil society more say in the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary, was junked by the SC in 2015. The government and the judiciary is presently locked on finalising the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) on selection of judges. The law minister's remarks come on the backdrop of Jaitley criticising the “trend” of courts appointing retired judges to head committees and wondered how judges would feel if other organs stepped in to do their job. ALSO READ: National Law Day: Judicial activism based on flawed premise, says Arun Jaitley The law minister also voiced concern over frivolous PILs hindering governance. "PILs cannot become and should not be allowed to become a substitute for governance," Prasad said. RELATED REPORT: National Law Day LIVE UPDATES: The three arms of government cannot interfere in each other’s functioning, says PM Modi Seconding Prasad in his views, Attorney General KK Venugopal said it was time to consider if PILs had achieved their objective and called for a review of filing of petitions. "Time to consider if PILs have achieved their objective," he said. Expressing his views, former CJI RC Lahoti said the judiciary should not assume the role of a super legislature or super executive. "The judiciary should intervene and annul any law non-compliant with fundamental rights of the people," Lahoti said.
