Not Country's "Moral Guardian": Harish Salve On Supreme Court's Role

Harish Salve, senior advocate and the country's leading constitutional expert, today explained the larger-than-life image of the Supreme Court, indicating that it is executive inaction that led to such a situation. The court, he added, was placed in the spot which it still occupies, but it has to be clearly understood that it is not the "moral guardian" of the country, he added.

"Our Supreme Court has a very misplaced position in society," Mr Salve told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

"In no country is the Supreme Court such an important institution of governance. Our Supreme Court has been put there and unfortunately preserves that position," he said.  

"That is why there are at times a lot of public disappointment to judgments. The public does not understand that the Supreme Court does not run the country. The Supreme Court is not the moral guardian of Indians. Let's be very clear about that," he added.  

There have been times when the executive has shied away from controversial decisions and left it to the top court, he said. 

As example he cited the situation in December 1992 when kar sevaks had gathered outside Ayodhya's Babri Masjid, ready to pull it down.

"When the judge called the government and said, 'What do you plan to do' the Attorney General said, 'The forces are there waiting for your Lordship's orders'," he said.

"This is a politically controversial decision. Either we have the courage to say 'Yes, We have to go ahead and finish this' or we accept that we can't do this. Those are political decisions to be taken, not hiding behind the skirts of the Supreme Court," he said.

"The trouble is, if for every difficult decision you hide behind the skirts of the Supreme Court, then you are creating a court larger than life. And then when they come up with decisions which you don't like, you say they are expanding their territory. Of course, they are expanding their territory. Is it right? No, it's not right. The judges must resist the temptation to do so. But the fact is you are putting the temptation there," Mr Salve added.