Judge by merit

When Parliament convened for the second phase of the Budget session on Thursday, it didn8217;t take long for proceedings to dissolve into confrontation. Among other issues, members of government and opposition clashed over the emigration scandal that burst into the headlines after Babubhai Katara, BJP MP, was caught trying to smuggle people out on a diplomatic passport. On one issue, however, there was the appearance of rare unanimity. During an impromptu discussion in Lok Sabha on the Supreme Court stay on OBC reservations in higher education institutions, MPs urged that quotas be implemented right away. Ignoring pleas from the chair, MPs 8212; particularly of the DMK, MDMK, RJD, SP 8212; questioned the judiciary for putting the reservation policy on hold in elite educational institutions. That scene from Parliament carries a warning for India8217;s democracy.

It is true that the Legislature versus Judiciary tableau is not rare. As our columnist on the op-ed page points out, this could be the third chapter of a long-playing saga. It is also legitimate to see a certain degree of tension between the legislature and judiciary as wholesome. In a system of checks and balances, as Chief Justice Balakrishnan has suggested, it would be more worrisome if the two organs of the state always cosied up to each other. Even so, we must not be complacent. The calls by politicians for convening a joint session and amending the Constitution to push through the quotas above the court8217;s objections, must be countered by reason.

The Supreme Court has only posed questions for the government to answer, it has not ruled against reservations. It has interrogated the rationale of including the creamy layer in the intended beneficiaries and of basing policy on data that may have been overtaken by ground level changes. By portraying the judicial intervention as an anti-quota position, political leaders are only trying to duck its posers. While such a strategy may suit the expedient politics of smaller parties, surely the Congress cannot afford to play along. As a party that rules the Centre and hopes to do so again, it has more stakes in not letting quota politics subvert a long-overdue relook at the quota policy, or vitiate the working relationship between legislature and judiciary.