The higher judiciary must proactively exercise its powers to intervene suo motu to deal with a spate of incidents that rip the country’s social and communal fabric.
On 14 June, six former judges of the Supreme Court and different high courts, along with six senior advocates, urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu action on the recent cases of bulldozing and demolition of houses of protestors against the remarks about the Prophet made by spokespersons of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
In the appeal, directly addressing state actions in Uttar Pradesh, the letter states:
[I]n its role as custodian of the Constitution, we … urge the Hon’ble Supreme Court to take immediate suo motu action to arrest the deteriorating law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, specifically involving the high-handedness of the police and state authorities, and the brutal clampdown on the fundamental rights of citizens…
We hope and trust the Supreme Court will rise to the occasion and not let the citizens and the Constitution down at this critical juncture.
This may seem like an unprecedented appeal coming from legal luminaries, but action by the Supreme Court is well within the judicial realm, as the higher judiciary in India has the mandate to initiate proceedings on its own, without being petitioned by a claimant or party.
