'Judiciary should not overstep its jurisdiction'

The judiciary, at times, overstepped its jurisdiction and intruded into the executive and legislative domains, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee said today.

He said it was expected the powers, privileges and immunities enjoyed by Parliament and its committees, should not be interfered by the judiciary.

Stating that the relationship in practice was marked by occasional frictions, Bhattacharjee said the areas of contention included the court's power of judicial review of laws and interference in the proceedings of Parliament to amend the Constitution.

Bhattacharjee said specific duties and reponsibilities assigned to the legislature and the judiciary were intended to be complementary and not confrontational.

"Both the institutions are required to function on the basis of mutual trust and respect to serve the interest of the people of the country," the chief minister said.

He was inaugurating a symposium on 'relationship between the legislature and the judiciary' on the occasion of the conferences of presiding officers and secretarties of legislative bodies in India', here.

The Indian Constitution permitted neither judicial supremacy nor parliamentary sovereignty, the chief minister said. All laws whether enacted by Parliament or by state legislatures were subject to judicial review to determine the constitutionality of such legislations.

"The Constitution has given the legislatures the power to regulate their own proceedings which cannot be questioned by any court of law,'' he said.

Similarly, to ensure the independence of the judiciary, it has been provided that the conduct of any judge of the Supreme Court or a high court in the discharge of his duties could not be the subject of discussion in Parliament except when a motion for the removal of a judge was under the consideration of the Lower House, Bhattacharjee said.

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who attended the symposium, stressed the need for judicial reforms by the judiciary "through a self-correctional process" to ensure there was no interference in the functioning of the two other organs of the state.

"Constitutional evolution is a global phenomenon, and it is imperative that it takes place in our country in keeping with the changing scenario,'' he said.

Mukherjee referred to the much talked-about "confrontation" between the legislature and the judiciary, and said ''it is not a question of confrontation, but rather relocation of power and priority".

West Bengal Assembly Speaker HA Halim also expressed concern at the conflict between the two "vital organs of the state".