GDP And Our Judges

Source: The post is based on the article “GDP And Our Judges” published in The Times of India on 9^th August 2022.

Syllabus: GS 2 Functioning of the Indian Judiciary

Relevance: Judicial Review, Judicial Activism, and Judicial Overreach

News: Recently, A Supreme Court bench proposed to create an expert committee of Election Commission, Finance Commission, NITI Aayog, and RBI officials alongside political representatives. It will look into the economic impact of freebies doled out by governments.

What are the issues in the judicial interventions in the areas of economic growth, as per the article?

(1) Climate of uncertainty: The Judicial verdicts entail economic implications. An uncertain legal scenario is a great dampener for the private sector. The Covid pandemic has set back economic growth. Similarly, economic growth is being impacted by climate change. This has complicated environmental decision-making too.

(2) Threat of criminality: The bona fide decisions of the civil servants are being reopened in the courts. This will lead to delays in decision-making within the bureaucracy as civil servants are fearful of criminal charges. For example;

(a) In 2021, a two-judge SC bench directed CBI to inquire into the two-decade-old case of strategic disinvestment of Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL), where a preliminary inquiry was closed by CBI itself.

(b) Former SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri was arrested on a magistrate court’s order, for an asset reconstruction case, long after retirement. Ironically, the right forum to hear that matter was NCLAT.

(3) Judiciary decisions that override economic growth or which reopen already settled matters are putting the executive and judiciary at cross-purposes. In fact, both organs have a larger public interest in mind.

(5) The government has economic imperatives. Political executives are equally concerned about both the economy and the environment. For example, the GOI has taken the lead in renewable energy, and electric vehicles, addressing climate change and meeting SDGs.

(6) The governments are accountable to citizens for providing them a good standard of living. Further, The Judiciary doesn’t have the expertise in many matters.

(8) There are cases of judicial overreach, i.e., courts are acting somewhat arbitrarily against government decisions and decision-makers. For example;

(a) In 2019, the SC suspended the MOPA Airport project’s Environmental Clearance (EC) despite the Environment Assessment Committee and NGT following due process and ruled in favour of an EC being awarded.

(b) In the Goa Foundation vs Sesa Sterlite case, the SC halted the iron ore mining.  Four years have passed and a vast number of jobs have been lost.

How SC can get it right?

(1) The SC can take its own precedent and chart a long-term road map and framework. For example, in the Shivashakti Sugars Limited vs Shree Renuka Sugar Limited verdict, SC observed that the economic impact and effect of a decision ought to be kept in mind.

(2) The Judges start looking into economic impacts or cost-benefit analysis while arriving at responsible and sustainable judgments.

(3) By Institutionalization of dispute assessment. The SC can constitute an independent committee of experts, that can assist the court to help balance its final assessment by offering quantifiable analysis.

(4) Judicial interventions having economic implications require further deliberation, external expertise, a new assessment framework, and a macro-perspective.

(5) The courts must stop criminalizing bona fide decisions of the civil servants.