Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today criticised the judicial encroachment in the functioning of the government. He said judiciary should function in its domain and not take decisions, which fall under the jurisdiction of the executive.
Responding to questions during an interaction at Indian Women’s Press Corps in New Delhi, Arun Jailtey said that activism has to be blended with restraint and there cannot be a compromise with other aspects of the basic structure in the name of independence of the judiciary.
He said, judicial review is legitimate domain of judiciary but then the Lakshmanrekha has to be drawn by all the institutions themselves and the executive decisions are to be taken by the executive and not the judiciary.
Finance Minister said, the courts could also strike down a decision taken by the executive if it is found to be unconstitutional but all these options are not available when the court ends up taking executive decisions.
Just last week, Jaitley had lambasted the judiciary while replying to a debate on appropriation bill in the Rajya Sabha. He had said, India’s judiciary is destroying ‘edifice of legislature step by step, brick by brick’.
