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Journalism of Courage
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.
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.
