NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday said it cannot order the establishment of ‘Ram Rajya’ in the country and can’t do several things it wants to due to its limited capacity as an institution.
CJI T S Thakur, while hearing a PIL seeking directions for removal of encroachments on pavements across the country, said the Supreme Court cannot be expected to pass orders on every issue bothering the country and create a Ram Rajya. “Do you think with our directions, everything will be done? Do you think we will pass an order that there will be no corruption in the country and all corruption will go? Should we pass an order that there will be ‘Ram Rajya’ in the country? It cannot be like this,” said CJI Thakur. “We want to do various things but we cannot. Our capacity to do things is limited. This is a problem,” the Bench said.
The court’s observation came when the petitioner, an NGO, urged the Bench not to dismiss its plea asking “if this court does not take any action or pass any direction, then who will”.
The petitioner told the court that there were encroachments on footpaths and roads not only in Delhi but the entire country.
The petitioner Dhanesh Ieshdhan, who argued in person for his NGO, Voice of India, said, “I shed tears of blood seeing the plight of footpaths all over the country taken over. Billions of rupees are spent on the salaries of officials and police, who do nothing.” On this, CJI responded and said, “Main bhi aansoo ro rahan hoon.”
The CJI even called the court’s security personnel to remove the petitioner from the courtroom. But he continued to argue, raising his voice. “Citizens’ fundamental rights are at stake. You are here to protect our fundamental rights... if you cannot... what is the point of having fundamental rights under Constitution... Go ahead and strike them off,” the upset petitioner told the Bench.
The Bench, which had earlier said it would dismiss the plea, later posted it for hearing in February 2017.