SC observations on 16th Amendment
The full text of the ruling on the scrapping of the 16th Amendment by the Supreme Court (SC) has been made public. The SC's comments come in the backdrop of the amendment that accorded the Parliament the authority to dismiss judges of the SC which would have undermined the very essence of separation of power by putting the legislative above the judiciary. We do not believe that restoring the Supreme Judicial Council, with its power to dismiss SC judges, represents a tussle between the judiciary and the legislative, but rather reinstates the balance between the two organs of the state.
We must stress on the fact that the two vital state organs supplement rather than supplant each other. While the lawmakers are elected by the people, the Judiciary is a statutory body. And their harmonious functioning, each with its well defined responsibilities and within its prescribed limits, ensures good governance and the rule of law. We reiterate our belief that democracy is best served when the three branches of the state, i.e. the judiciary, the executive and the legislative, work together, and the balance, albeit a delicate one, is preserved at all costs.
The verdict handed out, and remarks made therein about accountability, should not be viewed by the legislative as an affront to it. And it will also do well for the parliament to take into cognisance the remarks made by the SC, like the absence of watchdog bodies to check deterioration of human rights, corruption being on the rise and the mismanagement in administration. These are some of the issues that plague public institutions which merit attention, and, if addressed in earnest, will go a long way in ensuring good governance.
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