The Sc verdict on 2G spectrum allocation tells the government to auction the spectrum allocation. This direction to the government on policy issues is judiciary’s overreaching opines the TOI edit today.

Yes, the judiciary must not interfere with the powers of the executive in matters of policy making, to keep the separation of the powers of Judiciary and Executive as enshrined in our Constitution. But if a certain policy followed by the executive results in abusive of executive power or negligence of duty ,that causes the exchequer thousands of crores of pecuniary loss then it becomes the duty of the judiciary too to demand course correction of the executive in the interest of serving the citizens fairly and judiciously.

Fair public policy is a must. Therefore policy specific interventions by judiciary for fair play cannot be construed in generality as universal Judiciary overreaching on Executive. Such intervention by the Judiciary will surely act as a deterrent on future governments to refrain from following abusive public policies. The executive cannot escape the close Judicial scrutiny of its policies for fairness and abusiveness if any .

As much as the Executive expects that the Judiciary must not usurp the power of the executive of policy making , the executive must also see to it that the policy framed by it is fair , will stand close scrutiny and is very well within  the ambit of fair governance practices enshrined in our Constitution. If the Executive misses this goal the Judiciary will direct the Executive .That is not overreaching of the Judiciary.

I am sure the highest Judiciary will soon direct the Executive on one more burning issue where the Executive is attempting to hoodwink the Constitution for myopic political advantage . That is religion based  quota in jobs and education confusing with  social and economic backwardness of Muslims and other minorities. Everybody who matters know that religion based quota is against the letter and spirit of our Constitution. The courts must come down heavily on this fooling around by politicians. And this must happen soon. The time is running out for courts.

If the executive plays foul on public policy Judiciary will reach out to serve the citizens fairly in accordance with the letter and spirit of the Constitution to save our Democracy as well our social stability. And such policy specific interventions of the Courts to bring senses to the Executive is surely not overreaching of Judiciary,