Khurshid slams ‘aggressive judiciary’

In a veiled attack on “an aggressive judiciary”,even wondering if courts were civil society and thereby drawing a parallel with the Anna Hazare movement,Union Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday acknowledged that “governments have sometimes felt upset at such (judicial) interventions”. He pointed out that judges are not accountable to people like politicians.

“But the courts say we protect your water,air,forests,tribals,environment… Because under the political system you are unable to do it,” he said,terming the courts’ actions as “some form of doctrine of necessity”. He,however,hastened to add that the system has worked well.

The minister was speaking at the annual B R Ambedkar Memorial Lecture here.

“Politicians have discovered the doctrine of tough questions… something we can’t handle,we wink and say let courts decide and many problems have been resolved,something we couldn’t possibly do. Is this the work of courts which is civil society? But courts even in doing this impose certain constraints upon themselves,” he said.