On A Different Note

With growing trust deficits in democratic institutions, the citizens of this country today confront with burning challenges of harsh social issues and endemic corruption in all public offices, and hence they abruptly conclude that no institution in this country is working with integrity and propriety. Such generalizations are indeed irrational and questionable. Any system, however competent, is guided by rules and regulations established by law makers of that country. Remember, laws are dynamic and consequently change with social evolution. Whenever the laws become static and inscriptions of rock, then all the problems crop up and the people in power often misuse the embedded lacunae in the legal system.

For a progressive democracy like India, which has significantly excelled in many dimensions of human development in last few decades, the credit for excellence goes to the citizens of this country, and yes, a part of that credit is also meant for the people in power who have enabled a fairly workable system despite many challenges. Although in the course of time the ratio of good people in power to bad people in power has diminished significantly, there are myriads of ways to improve this system and make all the stakeholders accountable for their action. And for this we urgently need a vigilant judicial system to uphold the democratic principles laid down by the Constitution of India and then quickly intervene in the administration whenever it feels the principles of law are not sufficient to administer justice.

In the recent past, we have observed a frequent judicial activism in all walks of democratic institutions because the learned judges of Supreme Court or High Courts have convinced that either the administration is not discharging the desired responsibilities or the laws are not sufficient to handle the complex issues. However, the selective activism is not enough to manage the multitude of conflicts generated during the execution of law. What's essentially required now is to bring in drastic transformations in the working of democratic institutions that govern the hopes and aspirations of a billion plus populous nation.

As the growth story of India in last two decades has become a global case study for other functional democracies, it's imperative now for the law-makers of this country to strengthen democratic principles with checks and balances. Wherever we need radical changes in the laws to ensure fair justice to the citizens of this nation, the Parliament must pass ambitious, forward-looking bills to enrich the legal framework of this country. And the beauty of our democratic system is that together we can establish an effulgent India unfailingly.