Sir — This refers to the article, “‘Photo-finish’ verdict raises deep questions” (May 22) by MA Kharabela Swain. Though the separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary is cardinal, and respect for each pillar is necessary to maintain healthy relations for good governance, the failure or malfunction of the first two necessitates the judiciary to correct the course of governance. This may be called judicial activism or judicial overreach or whatever by any name, but people still have more faith in the judiciary vis-à-vis the others.
The Supreme Court is justified in restricting the publication of photographs of Ministers and party leaders in Government advertisements, as these are used for image-building exercises at the people’s expense. But the court feels that such advertisements can have photographs of the President, Prime Minister and, strangely enough, of the Chief Justice of India. Why should the photograph of the Chief Justice of India be considered necessaryIJ