Judicial Activism and Constitutional Challenges in India

Abstract

Courts in India intervened in policy matters; education, environment, property rights, and cleanwater are some of the areas in which precedents have been established. Supreme Court has become a final interpreter of the constitution. It even checked the amendments made by parliament. A weaker political system provided a feeding ground for the judiciary to intervene in the matters of the executive and legislatures. By noticing the checkered history, the emergency of the 1970s has weakened the judiciary which has been compensated in the last few decades. Powers belong to those who utilized them. The unconstitutional dismissals provided a vacuum for the judiciary to play its role. The judicial review,interpretation of fundamental rights, environmental issues, constitutional amendments and appointment of judges, have broadened the jurisdiction of courts in India.