Governments criticise judicial activism to cover up their failure: SC
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday deprecated the tendency of governments to accuse the judiciary for encroaching upon the domain of the executive and the legislature by passing orders for protection of marginalised section of society through PILs.
The top court said that the governments do this to cover up their own failures in providing social justice to the people.
Taking the governments head on for their criticism against the judiciary for entertaining PILs, a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta said that the concept of public interest litigation has become a potent and very effective force to bring about immense social change through interventions made and directions issued by the apex court.
“During the last several decades, PILs have compelled this court to consider issues relating to the environment, social justice, violation of human rights and disregard for Article 21 of the Constitution; either because of an absence of governance due to the failure of the state to faithfully and sincerely implement laws enacted by Parliament or due to mis-governance by the state, that is, the central government, the state governments and Union Territory Administrations leading to rampant illegalities,” the bench said.
“In recent times, usually and regrettably, the state has chosen to challenge the idea of PIL or denigrate it by chanting the mantra of judicial activism or separation of powers. In most cases, these mantras are nothing but a fig leaf to cover the failure of the state to recognise the existence of the rule of law and the need for providing social justice to the people of the country, as stated in the Preamble to our Constitution. There must be a realization that PIL has given a voice to millions of marginalized sections of society, women and children,” Justice Lokur, who wrote the judgment, said.
The court passed the observation while delivering a verdict on a PIL on prison reform and appointed a three-member committee headed by its retired judge Amitava Roy to recommend measures to provide reformatory environment along with basic facilities to prisoners to lead a dignified life within jail. The court entrusted the task to the committee to examine 1,382 prisons in the country and file a comprehensive report on improving living conditions there for convicted and under-trial prisoners and to reduce overcrowding in jails.
The committee, also comprising Inspector General of Police, Bureau of Police Research and Development Director General (Prisons) Tihar Jail, is to file its report within a year and would also explore the option of setting up of an open prison.
Hailing the role of PIL in protecting the fundamental rights of people, particularly that of the poor and the deprived sections of society, Justice Lokur said that PIL is one of the most important contributions of India to jurisprudence which is now being adopted by other countries too.
The bench, however, accepted that there is also some misuse of PIL and the court had exceeded its jurisdiction, but said, “it must be emphasised that wherever this court might have exceeded its jurisdiction, it has always been in the interest of the people of the country prompted by administrative mis-governance or absence of governance. There are, therefore, occasional transgressions on both sides, but that cannot take away from the significance of public interest litigation as a non-adversarial source of righting some wrongs and encouraging social change through accountability and, in cases, transparency”.
The court’s observation assumes significance in view of the recent spat between Justice Lokur and Attorney General K K Venugopal in August while hearing a PIL. The top law officer had told the bench that judiciary must exercise self restraint while entertaining PILs and raised question on judiciary donning the mantle for solving all the ills that plagued the country. But the court, however, reminded the Centre how abjectly it had failed in implementing the law framed by Parliament.
“Rest assured that Article 21 (right to life and liberty) would remain there in the Constitution,” Justice Lokur had said, indicating that court would not remain a mute spectator of when rights of people were being violated and funds meant for the poor and disadvantaged is being misused. “We are bound to question the authorities in such cases,” he had said.
Courtesy: timesofindia
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Govt to set up Bureau of Port Security to boost port, vessel security
New Delhi (PTI): To beef up the security infrastructure of ports, the government will set up a statutory body -- the Bureau of Port Security -- that will ensure timely analysis, collection and exchange of security-related information of ports and vessels, officials said on Friday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday convened a meeting for the constitution of the dedicated body, the Bureau of Port Security (BoPS), which was attended by the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, and the Minister of Civil Aviation, Ram Mohan Naidu, an official statement said.
Emphasising that there is a need to establish a country-wide robust port security framework, Shah directed that security measures should be implemented in a graded and risk-based manner, taking into account vulnerabilities, trade potential, location, and other relevant parameters.
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The meeting also noted that lessons learned from the maritime security framework shall be replicated in the aviation security domain, the statement said.
The new body, modelled on the lines of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), will be constituted as a statutory body under the new Merchant Shipping Act, 2025, and will work under the aegis of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), it said.
Headed by a senior IPS officer as its director general, the BoPS will be responsible for regulatory and oversight functions relating to the security of ships and port facilities.
"During the transition period of one year, the director general of shipping shall function as the director general of BoPS," the statement said.
"The BoPS will ensure timely analysis, collection and exchange of security-related information, with a special focus on cybersecurity, including a dedicated division to safeguard port IT infrastructure from digital threats," it said.
The government has designated the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) as a recognised security organisation (RSO), responsible for undertaking security assessments and preparation of security plans for port facilities.
The Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) will train and build the capacities of private security agencies (PSAs) engaged in port security.
"These agencies shall be certified and appropriate regulatory measures shall be introduced to ensure that only the licensed PSAs operate in this sector," the statement said.
