Activist Judiciary and Transformative Constitution 

Arjun Philip George
L.L.M, 3rd semester
Department of Law, Central University of Kerala
Kerala, India
……………………….
Zeenia S
Assistant Professor,
K.L.E Society‟s Law College, Bengaluru
Karnataka, India

Volume II – Issue IV, 2019

In the process of delivering justice if the Judiciary merely restricts its role to that of an interpreter, there would be an evident failure of justice which will lead to compromise of the concept of “rule of law”. The law makers being merely human beings are in no position to foresee the needs, wants and aspirations of the future. Hence laws which were made in accordance to the then existent needs of the society, should be interpreted by the judiciary in such a manner as to satisfy the wants of the present. India being a democracy is always at a threat of a brutal majority exercise of power by the political executive over the “law of the land”. Political dissenters and vocal critics are witnessed being hunted down by political parties, who acquire the power to form the government. While an active judiciary merely applies the existing laws to the facts, an activist judiciary surges a step ahead to interpret the laws according to the existing circumstances, to deliver justice to the aggrieved who stand at a vulnerable position of being harmed by simple application of the law. Here emanates the significance of an activist judiciary, which performs the role of a “philosophic advisor”, whose advice is of great significance for the democracy. The activist Indian judiciary maintains the living nature of the Indian Constitution which in turn maintains the hope of the citizens in the system.
Keywords: Activist, Democracy, Judiciary, Justice, Transformative Constitution.

 

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