Days after former Chief Justice of India Justice J S Verma cautioned the judiciary against “over-reaching” (the concluding part of his lecture is published in The Indian Express on the Op-ed page today), Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee struck a similar chord, strongly arguing for an acknowledgement of the crucial role of the Legislature.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association earlier this week, Chatterjee minced few words: “I will be failing in my duty if I do not point out that there has been an encroachment in the Legislative arena, which Constitution specifically and unambiguously provides..”

Underlining that the Constitution envisaged the People as being “supreme,” Chatterjee said: “Our Constitution has provided for the accountability by the Council of Ministers to the House of People, that is, to the people. And not to anybody else. The accountability of the Government for every action taken has to be to the Legislature, which represents the people of the country. The Legislature is constituted by the people...In India, this is a glory I find.”

These remarks assume significance given the recent Supreme Court interim stay order on the OBC quota law that was passed by Parliament and the Government’s attempts to get the stay vacated.

Pointing out the high voter turnout in India as compared to more developed countries, the Speaker said that people here vote because they feel “our representatives will jointly decide how to remove the problems of this country, how to look after the interest of this country, how to give shape to the dreams and aspirations of the people of this country.”

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