A big question is before all of us that what is the biggest strength of democracy? There can be many answers, like mandate is the biggest power but we are talking about the entire democracy. The mandate decides who will have power but when we think about democracy, its real strength will emerge in the form of balance and mutual respect between the institutions prescribed by the Constitution. Government runs on the trust of the public, but its legitimacy comes from the Constitution. Therefore, when the judiciary carries out constitutional review of any administrative decision, it is not an occasion for the defeat of any government or the victory of the opposition, but a natural process of the democratic system.
Unfortunately, today the decisions of the courts are also becoming a part of political discussion. Instead of legal interpretation of decisions, they are being weighed on the scales of political profit and loss, which creates an atmosphere of confusion and distrust in the society. In such circumstances, it is necessary that judicial decisions be understood in accordance with their constitutional spirit and not as a tool of political propaganda.
In which direction is the opposition’s issue going?
The recent decision of the Allahabad High Court, in which the system of making village heads administrators has been declared unconstitutional, is a natural outcome of this review. But here there are also options for agreement and disagreement. There is also a provision in the Constitution to go ahead on the point of disagreement. So I feel that since the government had taken this decision keeping rural development work at the center, it will also look at its constitutional options. But the way the opposition is eager to make this judicial decision a political issue is extremely unfortunate.
The state government had made an effort to ensure that the development of villages should not be hindered by any obstacle. The development works that are going on should not be stopped. The government has its own side of development in this. The court has its own side, but along with it there is also a big question as to what should have been the responsibilities of the opposition. The dignity of the court should be respected, but when it comes to development, development of rural people, then we have to consider how justified it is for the opposition to see political interest in it.
(Suresh Bahadur Singh, former Additional Government Advocate, Allahabad High Court)
It is also a democratic duty to support the government
It is also the democratic duty of the opposition to give up narrow-mindedness and support the government on such issues. But instead of conveying the court order to the public in the correct form, the opposition started weaving a web of confusion, fear and untruth, which is neither in the interest of the village heads, nor of the rural society, nor of the democracy of this country.
It is necessary to understand what illusions the opposition is spreading and what is the reality. The first and biggest misconception that is being spread is that the state government deliberately acted unconstitutionally. The opposition intends to establish that the government was acting with the intention of violating the Constitution, but is that really the case? No, the government did what any responsible and alert organization would do. To ensure regional development, making the village head the administrator was the most appropriate decision.
Constitutional interpretation of judgments is a complex and multidimensional process. Governments take administrative decisions, the court conducts constitutional review of them and if the court finds any arrangement not in accordance with the Constitution, then the government accepts that order and takes necessary steps or considers its stand as appropriate and goes to a larger bench or the top court. This is the beauty of constitutional democracy and this is also its strength. This balance between the judiciary, legislature and executive is the soul of our Constitution. When the court conducts constitutional review of any system, it means that a new dimension of constitutional interpretation has come to the fore. If you agree, accept it or challenge it.
Ignoring actual facts in speculation
Keeping the court’s order at the center, an illusion is also being spread that all the work and payments done by the village heads till now have become illegal. It is being spread with such vigor as if every construction work done in the villages in the last five years, every road, every drain, every community building has now become illegal. This is not only baseless from the legal point of view, but is also extremely irresponsible. When it comes to the work being done for the development of villages, it is the responsibility of the opposition to adopt a positive attitude. Raising this as a political issue cannot be justified. Real facts cannot be ignored in political speculation.
In this context, one more thing is important which is being raised by the opposition. That is, the money spent from the village heads during their tenure will be recovered. By spreading this confusion, the opposition is trying to create an atmosphere of fear and terror in the minds of thousands of village heads who have served their villages honestly. Intimidating the representatives who were engaged in implementing government schemes and who contributed in taking programs ranging from Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to Swachh Bharat Mission to every village, is the height of political malice.
A natural question to ask is why is the opposition spreading this confusion and fear? In answer to this, we have to look at the attitude of those people whom the public has rejected. Those parties which neither have any constructive policy, nor any concrete vision for the development of the people, nor any notable history of rural upliftment while in power, are seeing possibilities for themselves in the court order. They want to try to capitalize on it for their own narrow interests. By misleading the rural people, an attempt is being made to prove that the government is against them. The reality is in front of everyone.
It is important to understand the court order
There is no need to tell anyone how powerful the Panchayati Raj institutions have become under the Yogi government. Not giving any unbalanced reaction to the court’s order is a reflection of the government’s respect for the judiciary and it also seems to be committed to it. However, the Uttar Pradesh government also has the right to appeal to a larger bench or the top court. It is also his commitment that the development work of Panchayats should not be allowed to be affected under any circumstances.
The role of the court in democracy is that of the guardian of the Constitution. When he reviews a system and gives instructions to refine it, it is a proof of the vitality of democracy. The constitutional institutions being active and alert gives the message that they are fulfilling their responsibilities. Respect for the court, protection of the Constitution and uninterrupted development of villages. These three should move together and it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure this. Good governance respects the judiciary and also protects the interests of the public. Therefore, it can be assumed that the government will take relevant decisions, in accordance with the Constitution, which will also be an answer to the confusion of the opposition.
(This article expresses the personal views of the author.)
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