Organs of state should not exceed constitutional powers: Manmohan Singh

Prime minister Manmohan Singh today said the government, judiciary and the Bar Association should make concerted efforts to deal with mounting arrears in court cases and the growing cost of litigation.

"It is important that concerted cooperative efforts are made by the government, judiciary and the Bar Association to deal with the mounting arrears in our courts and the growing cost of litigation," he said at the national conference on 'Law and Governance' to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Bar Association of India (BAI).

Noting that equality before law would not be a living reality if citizens were not able to access justice at affordable cost, Singh said, "The plight of the large number of undertrial prisoners in our jails should move the machinery of justice to speedy corrective measures as part of the process of reforming and improving the quality of governance in our country."

He expressed the hope that the conference would deal with the practice of law over the years and the interplay of political, social and economic developments, the socio-legal processes that deterred providing access to justice and the necessary legal pre-requisites of good governance. 

Pointing out that the judiciary, legislature and executive should not exceed their respective powers as enshrined in the Constitution, Singh said the three organs of the state should work in harmony to maximise public good. 

"It is assumed that none of the organs of the state, whether it is the judiciary or the executive or the legislature, would exceed its powers as laid down in the Constitution," he said.

"Even though their jurisdiction may be separated and demarcated, it is expected that all institutions would work in harmony and in tandem to maximise the public good," he said. 

Referring to one of the topics to be debated at the meet, Singh said the doctrine of 'separation of powers' was acknowledged as one of the basic features of the Constitution. 

"It is also commonly agreed that all the three organs of the state, namely the legislature, the judiciary and the executive, are bound by and subject to provisions of the Constitution, which demarcates their respective powers, jurisdictions, responsibilities and relationship with one another," he said.

Singh said lawyers were an integral part of the system of administration of justice and had a role not confined only to courts and advising clients.

"The role of lawyers is not confined to courts alone or advising clients in business deals. It extends to being an integral part of our system of administration of justice - and justice is not just in the legal sense, but justice - social, economic and political - as set out in the preamble of our Constitution," he said.

Noting that lawyers had historically contributed handsomely to each of the areas of justice, whether during Independence  truggle, framing of the Constitution or just government, the prime minister said even today outstanding lawyers were part of his cabinet, some of whom had been members of BAI.
 
"The BAI too has a larger objective beyond the furtherance of professional interests. It aims at promoting public and national welfare in manifold directions and upholding the Constitution of India and the Rule of Law," he added. 

Singh said the BAI has always maintained very high standards of professional ethics and values and recalled the history of the association through its 50 years of existence. 

Law minister M Veerappa Moily said India's judiciary was the largest in ensuring the rule of law, which stood on the shoulders of the lawyers who are the link between the citizens and the judiciary.

"They play an important role and sensitive lawyers are the
need of the hour. We have to do everything to ensure this.

That is why we have initiated a reforms package starting with
the National Legal Mission looking at governance issues by
evolving a litigation policy, an arrears grid and to provide
an effective infrastructure," he added.

Mooting the idea of having e-courts and e-governance, a means of justice delivery through the Internet, Moily said the idea was to have an e-court in every high court, and one in every district within a year.