Topic Of The Day:-“Checks and balances”
The PIL-era Supreme Court has been praised for prodding inefficient governments into action, and stepping in to fill legislative and executive vacuum. However, there are times when silence and slow time are more desirable than speed. Once you have deprived an individual of her citizenship, you have deprived her of that most basic thing – the right to have rights. That is not something to be done in a tearing hurry.
There is a deeper problem as well. Depriving an individual of her citizenship is a very serious matter. And for this reason, our Constitution envisages a detailed system of checks-and-balances before deprivation of rights can happen. First, Parliament must pass a law. Next, the executive – which is best acquainted with the facts and circumstances on the ground – must implement it. And finally, courts review legislative and executive action for constitutional compliance.
The NRC court has elided the second and third levels. It has become an “executive court” – implementing the NRC updating, and reviewing its own implementation. And it has done so in secrecy, through a jurisprudence of “sealed covers” and “confidential reports”, where even the government is not kept in the loop (let alone affected parties).
Not only is the court – as a matter of expertise – not suited to doing this, but also, it deprives the individual of a vital, constitutional remedy. Where is the individual to go if she wants to challenge the contents of the reports filed in sealed cover? And which body can she approach to ask that the content of the “confidential reports” – that may ultimately subject her to deportation – be made public and subject to challenge? An exercise in which the court decides – in secret consultation with the State Coordinator – makes a mockery of both open justice, and judicial review. The executive court has set itself up as the first and final tribunal, without appeal or recourse.
WORDS AND MEANINGS
1) deprived
Meaning : suffering a severe and damaging lack of basic material and cultural benefits.
Synonyms : destitute , needy
Antonyms : privileged
Example : “the charity cares for destitute and deprived children”
2) envisages
Meaning : contemplate or conceive of as a possibility or a desirable future event.
Synonyms : anticipate , behold
Example : “the Rome Treaty envisaged free movement across frontiers”
3) deportation
Meaning : the action of deporting a foreigner from a country.
Synonyms : displacement , expulsion
Antonyms : welcoming
Example : “asylum seekers facing deportation”
4) mockery
Meaning : an absurd misrepresentation or imitation of something.
Synonyms : farce , sham
Antonyms : openness
Example : “after a mockery of a trial in London, he was executed”
5) recourse
Meaning : a source of help in a difficult situation.
Synonyms : remedy aid
Antonyms : blockage
Example : “surgery may be the only recourse”
