Court must interpret law and not overstep it: Srikrishna

Courts should stick to their traditional role of "interpreting" the law and not "overstepping" it, former Supreme Court Judge (retired) B N Srikrishna said.
"It is for the Parliament or the Legislative Assembly to make laws and for the executive to implement it. However, the court must perform their traditional role of interpreting the law and not overstepping it," Justice Srikrishna said at a seminar on Judicial activism, according to a release here.
The seminar was held at Indian Merchants Chamber here yesterday.
Other speakers included eminent lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani, Partner of a solicitor firm D M Popat and former bureaucrat Subodh Kumar. Maneck Davar, publisher and legal expert, moderated the discussion.

Suggesting that judicial initiatives had their roots in history, Popat said judicial activism was good, but suffered from its own drawbacks.
"Today, the drawbacks have become more burdensome," he said, adding that certain elements seek to misuse the judicial process and waste precious time of courts.

Jethmalani stoutly defended judicial activism in its present form. He said whenever there is inaction by the executive or the legislature or occasionally excess action, the courts are forced to intervene to normalise the situation.
"Judicial activism has helped improve peoples' lives by giving directions on issues such as 'pollution and roads' and so on," he remarked.

Shaunak Thacker, Chairman, IMC Law Committee, referred to the pro-active role played by the judiciary and said that lawmakers must be alive to ongoing changes in the society and move with the time.
Earlier, welcoming the gathering, Dilip Piramal, IMC President, said the chamber is a century-old institution for promotion of trade, commerce and industry.