The Supreme Court has often "exceeded" its powers and "delved" in the realms of the legislature and the executive to fight corruption for "betterment of the people", senior lawyer K K Venugopal said on Saturday.
Delivering Justice P D Desai Memorial lecture here on the issue of 'Combating Corruption Through Judicial Activism', he stressed the need for judicial activism in the current scenario and said the Indian judiciary, especially the Supreme Court of the country, has step by step dismantled protection given to bureaucrats and politicians to curb misuse of power and corruption.
"No other country in the world has given powers to its Supreme Court the way India has done", Venugopal said. Quoting the former Chief Justice of India P N Bhagwati, Venugopal said the apex court is the most powerful court in the world. In cases like 2G spectrum, Coalgate, Karnataka's mining scam and black money, the apex court has "transgressed" its limits for the betterment of the people, he added.
"The SC has exercised powers without looking at the issue whether it is encroaching in the area of the legislature and the executive. But this happens for the betterment of people. They have faith in the SC. And it is due to this confidence of people that the executive and the legislature do not dare to tell it (the Supreme Court) anything," he said. It was due to the apex court's judicial activism that CBI could ask for documents from the Prime Minister' Office, he said. "It is due to SC's constant efforts to rectify the corrupt system that it has become the last hope for over a billion people to redress government's failure," he said.
Another senior lawyer of the Supreme Court Dushyant Dave said the the judiciary should not restrict itself to taking action against clerks and policemen but it must act against politicians also.
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