India Judiciary and Judicial Reforms ​

Anuradha
Advocate, India.

Volume III, Issue VI, 2020

As very rightly stated in a quotation by 19th Century British Politician Lord Acton that power corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely. In India, to ensure that the concept of ‘absolute power’ does not take over, it is divided among three organs of the government- the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. This division of powers results in the balance of functioning of these organs of the government. These three pillars to the Indian government works within their arena wherein the role of the Legislature is to make laws, the role of the Executive includes the implementation of the laws made by the Legislature but the Judiciary acts as a Watchdog for both the Executive and Legislature. The Judiciary ensures that no law passed by the Legislature is implemented by the Executive that takes away, in any manner, the rights of the individual or the citizens which are guaranteed by the Constitution. Article 13(2) of the Indian Constitution states that the State shall not make any law which takes away or abridges the rights conferred by this Part (Part III of the Constitution) and any law made in contravention of this clause shall, to the extent of contravention, be void. And it is because of this Article that the Judiciary remains vigilant for the purpose of keeping a check on the validity of these laws.

DOI: http://doi.one/10.1732/IJLMH.25118