Courts wont obstruct liberalisation

harish salve rates the BALCO case as a landmark in setting the boundaries for judicial scrutiny of government policy...

As far as economic policies propounded by the Government are concerned,I can say one thing with certainty the judiciary is neither pro-nationalisation nor pro-privatisation; it is simply pro-Constitution.

Harish Salve,senior Supreme Court counsel who has stood in front of the bench in several legal wrangles involving the subject of scope of judicial review vis-à-vis contractual powers exercised by the Government in laying down policies like disinvestment,divestiture and other administrative actions,holds the opinion that the judiciary took up every case on its own merit and decided what was fair,reasonable and in the larger public interest.

The expert legal hand who successfully led cases like Tata Telecom v Union of India,the Balco Disinvestment and Narmada Bachao Andolan,says,Wisdom and advisability of economic policies may not ordinarily be amenable to judicial review but the apex court has always marshalled ushering in an era of complete transparency in policy areas. And that is what our great Constitution enshrines and is committed to ensuring for everyone,8221; says Salve.

When questioned if he ever disagreed with the Supreme Court rulings on judicial review of the governments economic policies,Salve says: The courts never said the government contracts were untouchable for them,and in fact,called for modifications of a few administrative decisions,like in Tata Telecom,as well as upheld quite a number of them,like in the BALCO and NBA case,only keeping the principle of transparency and accountability in mind

Salve rates the BALCO disinvestment as the landmark case on the level of transparency required for every government policy to pass judicial scrutiny. While BALCO established the significance of transparency,the Tata Telecom case ascertained the requirement of accountability before courts uphold any economic policy being challenged,8221; he says.

Salve,easily one of the busiest lawyers in India today,was also the lead lawyer in the Ashok Kumar Thakur case which reiterated the exclusion of the creamy layer while providing reservations. He also played an important role as an amicus curiae in the Delhi CNG case and the Gujarat riots case.