"Who will protect the rights of the common man if the executive does not do its duty," asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday while justifying judicial intervention and favouring fresh guidelines for entertaining PILs.The court also came down heavily on hospitals and corporate houses which, after secure land at concessional rates for welfare purposes, cheat people by not adhering to their mandate."Nobody is prepared to protect the common man's right. Who will protect the rights of common man if the executive does not do its duty," said a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan."When authorities are not taking action, who will take the action. Do you expect that a common man who is denied admission in a hospital will go to Chief Minister with a complaint," the Bench, also comprising Justices R V Raveendran and M K Sharma, said.The remarks of the Bench are in contrast with a recent observation of another two-member Bench which warned against ‘judicial activism and overreach’ on the ground that the judiciary should not stray into the executive's domain.Seeing nothing wrong in court's taking up PILs, the Chief Justice sought the assistance of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and senior advocate Fali S Nariman, for framing new guidelines on matters related to public welfare.The court referred to complaints in which students are cheated by educational institutions in connivance with state governments and poor patients are not admitted by hospitals, allotted land at a throw-away price on the condition that they shall reserve 30 per cent beds for weaker sections of society.The court's remarks came during the hearing of two PILs referred to it by another Bench.
