Judicial activism vis-a-vis judicial restraint - the Indian disarray

Abstract

Utilization of power of jud. for the betterment of the society and individuals is judicial activism (Hereinafter referred as “Jud. Actis”). Despite the constitutional limitations, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India (Hereinafter referred as “SC”) has often arose as an advocate of the Justice in the truest sense. The word Justice has often been debated around the world a lot as the entire population is linked to this word. Jud. Actis has affected various aspects of life in India to do progressive justice but has also gone beyond the law in doing so. However, the Apex Court must always be conscious of the fact that while advocating positive justice, it must not go beyond the limitations prescribed in the Consti. of India. The Judicial ruling has been suspected of being based on political considerations or political beliefs by the Jud. Actis. A recent example of the same can be seen when the DB of Hon’ble HC of P&H wherein in Ujjawal v. State of Haryana1 denied protection to a live-in couple on rather moral grounds that such grant of protection would disturb the entire social fabric of the society. The issue w.r.t. Jud. Actis is compactly related to SOP, interpretation of Consti. and statutory construction.