Reference Text
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The
Supreme
Court
may
have
the
word
'Supreme'
in
its
name
but
it
is
not
supreme
in
our
constitutional
setup.
Nor
have
we
accepted
the
British
concept
of
‘supremacy
of
Parliament’.
The
Constitution
alone
is
supreme
and
all
authorities
must
honour
the
boundaries
of
their
powers
as
defined
by
it.
Thus
innumerable
judgments
given
by
the
apex
court
have
been
over-turned
by
Parliament
such
as
Shah
Bano,
Vodaphone,
enemy
property.
Jallikattu
and
minority
character
of
AMU.
In
fact,
the
first
constitutional
amendment
was
passed
to
undo
the
apex
court's
judgment
in
Dorairajan
(1950)
where
the
court
had
quashed
communal
reservation
in
Madras.
Several
constitutional
amendments
were
subsequently
passed
to
overturn
judgments
on
the
question
of
'promotion'
in
reservations.
On
March
20,
a
two-judge
Bench
of
the
court
issued
guidelines
that
(i)
no
FIR
be
registered
without
a
preliminary
probe
by
the
investigating
officer,
(ii)
no
one
is
to
be
arrested
without
the
approval
of
appropriate
authority
and,
(iii)
an
accused
is
eligible
for
anticipatory
bail.
The
Lok
Sabha
has
now
amended
the
SC/ST
Act
by
inserting
a
new
clause
—
Section
18
A
—
negating
the
Supreme
Court's
judgment
on
both
the
registration
of
FIR
as
well
as
arrest.
The
statement
of
the
SC&ST
Bill
clearly
recalls
the
special
nature
of
the
1989
Act
and
apex
court's
judgment
and
then
refers
to
the
CrPC
which
mandates
the
registration
of
FIR
without
any
preliminary
inquiry
and
gives
power
to
the
investigating
officer
to
arrest
an
accused
if
he
has
reason
to
suspect
commission
of
crime
by
him.
But
Parliament
cannot
simply
undo
the
judgment.
It
has
to
do
more,
It
has
to
remove
the
‘very
basis’
of
the
judgment.
In
Utkal
Contractors
(1987),
the
apex
court
agreed
that
rendering
judicial
judgment
ineffective
through
legislative
powers
by
removing
the
basis
of
judgment
is
a
well-known
pattern
of
all
validating
laws.
In
Prithvi
Cotton
Mills
(1969),
the
Supreme
Court
again
upheld
the
exercise
of
legislative
power
and
admitted
that
it
is
not
in
dispute
that
legislature
can
pass
a
validating
statute
even
with
retrospective
effect.
What
was
the
basis
of
the
Supreme
Court's
judgment
that
Parliament
did
not
remove
in
this
Bill?
On
the
basis
of
few
isolated
earlier
High
court
judgments,
Justice
Goel
and
Justice
Lalit
had
concluded
that
'We
have
seen
working
of
Prevention
of
Atrocities
Act
over
the
last
three
decades
and
its
abuse
has
been
judicially
acknowledged'.
The
Supreme
Court
may
have
the
word
'Supreme'
in
its
name
but
it
is
not
supreme
in
our
constitutional
setup.
Nor
have
we
accepted
the
British
concept
of
‘supremacy
of
Parliament’.
The
Constitution
alone
is
supreme
and
all
authorities
must
honour
the
boundaries
of
their
powers
as
defined
by
it.
Thus
innumerable