Judicial Activism In Post Emergency Era

"Since the day the Constitution of India came into force, Judicial Activism has existed in different forms under the Constitution. Judicial Activism initiated by the higher judiciary in India has started serious debates on the Court’s undefined power to place substantive as well as procedural limits on the executive as well as the legislature. The Court’s new role to make law and give directions has been criticised as the usurpation of powers that belong to the other two organs. The Court has been defending its new role to uphold the constitutional values of protecting the human rights of the people thereby upholding the principle of Rule of Law. Through this book, Dr. Deka Swapna Manindranath analyses the legitimacy of Judicial Activism in India as well as the intrusions made by the judiciary in the name of Judicial Activism. The author argues that Judicial Activism under the Constitution has been inevitable in view of the socio-economic and political conditions of the nation as well as due to the laxity of performance on the part of the other two organs. This book will be of interest to the research scholars and students of Indian Constitutional law and Political Science, judges, lawyers and general readers interested in knowing about the phenomenon of Judicial Activism in India."

This dissertation analyzed the extraordinary expansion of the power of the Supreme Court of India from 1967 to 2007, through close study of the Court's politically significant decisions in the areas of fundamental rights and governance. During this period, the justices of the Supreme Court India shifted toward greater activism in constitutional interpretation, and toward heightened, albeit selective, assertiveness, and greater authority, in challenging the exercise of Central Government power. Referencing existing public law theories, this study sought to provide an explanatory account of this shift by analyzing both the motives that drove judicial activism and assertiveness and the opportunity structure for judicial power. The interaction of these two factors are examined through close analysis of the Court's decision-making in politically significant rights and governance decisions, through field interviews with retired judges, legal scholars and other experts on the Court, and through analysis of news editorial coverage of these decisions. To understand the expansion of the power of the Indian Court, this study looks both within the Court, highlighting the sources of the judges' institutional values and policy worldviews, and outside the Court to understand how the broader political, and professional and intellectual elite environment, both shaped and constrained the assertiveness and authority of the Court. I argue that the Court's shift toward activism, selective assertiveness, and greater authority in rights can most adequately be explained by the thesis of "elite institutionalism." According to the thesis of elite institutionalism, the unique institutional environment and intellectual atmosphere of the Court shapes the institutional perspectives and policy worldviews that drove activism and selective assertiveness in rights and governance decisions. I found that the identity of judges as members of the Supreme Court and judicial branch, and their professional alignment with the Court as an institution was a source of the judges' values and motivations in key decisions. Indeed, much of the Court's activism and assertiveness was driven by the judges' desire to protect constitutionalism and fundamental rights and the Court's role in protecting both, and later, a drive in the post-Emergency era to build popular support to bolster the Court's legitimacy. This is in line with "historical new institutionalist" scholarship (e.g. Gillman 1993) that suggests that judges may be motivated by a unique "institutional mission" that flows from their membership and identification with the judicial branch (see Gillman 1993; Keck 2008). Elite institutionalism, however, differs from existing institutionalist theories by situating judicial decision-making within the larger intellectual milieu and context of Indian judging. I argued in this study that judges' institutional mission or outlook/identity is a subset or part of a judges' overall intellectual identity and worldviews, which judges tend to share with professional and intellectual elites in India. The Indian judiciary--the judges of the Indian Supreme Court and High Courts--reflect the broader ethos of professional and intellectual elite opinion nationally. I contend that the justices of the Court were part of, and influenced by broader elite "meta-regimes"--The collective values or currents of professional and intellectual elite opinion on a set of constitutional or political issues. In the pre-Emergency period, the Court's basic structure doctrine decisions were shaped and influenced by the meta-regime of "constitutionalism." In the area of fundamental rights, shifts in the Court's activism and selective assertiveness in fundamental rights cases in the post-Emergency era (1977-2007) reflected a broader shift from influence of the meta-regime of "liberal democracy" to that of "liberal reform. In the area of governance, I suggest that broader shifts in the Court's activism and selective assertiveness reflected a shift from the meta-regime of social justice, to liberal reform. The study also illustrates how the thesis of elite institutionalism helps complement and broaden the strategic model of the political opportunity structure. In the post-Emergency era, and in particular, in the post-1990 period, the Court's authority was bolstered by stronger levels of intellectual and professional elite opinion, and national public support. This was because political regimes in the post-1990 era perceived that the Court had higher levels of public support vis-à-vis the Executive and Parliament (as illustrated by elite news coverage of the Court's decisions, and news coverage of public reactions and debate within Parliament and among ministers in the Executive branch). Political regimes in this era were reluctant to attack or resist the Court's assertive judicial decisions in rights and governance cases, because of public support for the Court's relative effectiveness in ameliorating governance failures. The Court's strong level of authority, then, was not only a result of the weakening of political institutions at the Central Government level. In addition, the Court's authority has been bolstered by the elite media and leaders of the Indian Bar who have played a crucial role in framing and shaping public perception of the Court's activist and assertive decisions. Media elites, and other governance constituencies such as the Bar, policy groups, court-appointed commissions, and opposition parties in the Central Government, have continued to play a crucial role as a powerful ally and advocate for the Court's activism and selective assertiveness in fundamental rights decisions. This is reflected in the strong levels of support in national newspapers' editorial coverage of most of the Court's assertive and deferential decisions in the post-1990 period. The national news media, the Bar, and opposition political parties have thus emerged as "watchdogs" (see Vanberg 2001; Staton 2002) that enable other elites, and the national public to monitor the Central Government's compliance with the Court's decisions in the area of fundamental rights. The thesis of elite institutionalism illustrates how the media and legal elites, and governance constituencies, can help constrain political actors and bolster the authority of courts, by closely scrutinizing government policies for compliance with the rule of law and constitutional norms.

""Studies the politics of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in contemporary India"--Provided by publisher".

This book critically examines the evolving global trend of judicial activism with particular reference to Bangladesh. It constructs judicial activism as a golden-mean adjudicative technology, standing between excessive judicial assertion and unacceptable judicial passivity that may leave injustices un-redressed. It argues that judicial balancing between over-activism and meek administration of justice should essentially be predicated upon domestic conditions, and the needs and fundamental public values of the judges’ respective society. Providing cross-jurisdictional empirical evidence, the study demonstrates that judicial activism, steered towards improving justice and grounded in one’s societal specificities, can be exercised in a morally and legally legitimate form and without rupturing the balance of powers among the state organs. This study has sought to displace the myth of judicial activism as constitutional transgression by “unelected” judges, arguing that judicial activism is quite different from excessivism. It is argued and shown that a particular judge or judiciary turns out to be activist when other public functionaries avoid or breach their constitutional responsibilities and thus generate injustice and inequality. The study treats judicial activism as the conscientious exposition of constitutional norms and enforcement of public duties of those in positions of power. The study assesses whether Bangladeshi judges have been striking the correct balance between over-activism and injudicious passivity. Broadly, the present book reveals judicial under-activism in Bangladesh and offers insights into causes for this. It is argued that the existing milieu of socio-political injustices and over-balance of constitutional powers in Bangladesh calls for increased judicial intervention and guidance, of course in a balanced and pragmatic manner, which is critical for good governance and social justice. “Writing about judicial activism easily gets shackled by fussy and pedestrian debates about what judges may or may not do as unelected agents of governance. The book . . . goes much beyond such reductionist pedestrianisation of law, for it courageously lifts the debate into the skies of global legal realism. The analysis perceptively addresses bottlenecks of justice, identifying shackles and mental blocks in our own minds against activising concerns for justice for the common citizen.” —Prof Werner Menski (Foreword)

Using a Colombian case study, this book assesses the potential for court rulings to enact real-life social change.

Designed as a standard text for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Political Science and also for the aspirants of Civil Services Examinations, the third edition of the book provides a thoroughly updated account of Indian politics, taking into consideration the Indian constitutional foundations and functioning of the various democratic institutions. It gives a holistic view of the political system of India that includes the State, Government (both central and state governments), the market, and the civil society, including infrastructures like the party systems in the nation and the states that are partly in the civil society and partly in the state. NEW TO THIS EDITION • All new developments in the working of the institutions of the various organs of the governments at the Union, State, and local levels in their internal as well as interactional settings. • Perspective of governance that demands attention to relationships among the governments, the civil society, and the market which have acquired a new salience since the parameter-altering economic reforms in 1991 but have suffered some reverses since 2008, a phenomenon known as slowbalization or deglobalization. • New phase in Indian politics with Narendra Modi government at the centre since 2014. TARGET AUDIENCE • B.A. (Political Science) • M.A. (Political Science) • Aspirants of Civil Services Examinations

In this revised and updated edition of a classic text, one of America's leading constitutional theorists presents a brief but well-balanced history of judicial review and summarizes the arguments both for and against judicial activism within the context of American democracy. Christopher Wolfe demonstrates how modern courts have used their power to create new "rights" with fateful political consequences and he challenges popular opinions held by many contemporary legal scholars. This is important reading for anyone interested in the role of the judiciary within American politics. Praise for the first edition of Judicial Activism: "This is a splendid contribution to the literature, integrating for the first time between two covers an extensive debate, honestly and dispassionately presented, on the role of courts in American policy. --Stanley C. Brubaker, Colgate University

151, that’s Not at all the Number of Essays covered in the Bestselling Book, Penned by Renowned Author Mr. S C Gupta, 151 Essays is a Complete Guide to help students learn the art of essay writing through More than 160 Essays covering the panoramic view of topics on Contemporary, Social, Environmental, Political, Education, Economic, Science & Technology, International, Personalities, Proverbial & Idiomatic, Sports and Many More The Book starts with a focus on developing the craft of essay writing which needs detailed knowledge of the topic, discipline of mind, analytical skills to draw a conclusion, rich vocabulary to express the thoughts, grammatical accuracy and coherence of thoughts and ideas for contextual writing. The Book is divided in 2 Major Parts, the first part prepares you to know-how of the Essay Writing be it Understanding an Essay, Part of an Essay, Steps to write an effective and Interesting Essay and Essay Sketching Techniques. the Second Part Contains All the Latest and Updated Topics from all the Field of life i.e. GST, Digital India, NET Neutrality, Black Money, Drone Technology, Juvenile Justice Act 1925, Social Networking Sites, Honor Killing, Electoral Reforms and Indian Democracy, FDI Effect on Retail Stores, Role of Agriculture in Economic Reform, Indian Civil Nuclear Strategy, Terrorism In India & It’s Changing Face, Global Climate Change, Students & Politics, Right to Education, Kalpana Chawla, Narendra Modi, Sunder Pichai, IPL, Sports is it Loosing it’s Integrity, Habit- a Good Servant but a Bad Master, Communication face to face or Facebook and Many burning and Important Topics. While these are important and Critical Topics Author has put a clear and easy language to Understand, Vocab Cards to understand difficult words, Latest and Updated Data to understand actual status Essays Plays an important role in competitive exams hence it’s a must have book for all aspirants.