In a stern message to the Government, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said that no policy of the Government can violate Constitutional principles.
Hearing a bunch of PIls challenging illegal mining in Goa, which resulted in a stay order on all mining activities last year, the Bench headed by Justice AK Patnaik said, “Privatisation in our country has to go along with Constitutional provisions.”
Pointing to the valuable fundamental right under Article 21 (Right to life) and Directive Principles under Part IV of the Constitution to act as benchmarks for deciding the validity of the decision allowing privatisation in iron-ore mining, the Bench said, “We have taken oath to uphold the Constitution and not any policy of the West.”
The court further indicated the Centre not to ape the capitalist West which did not have in its Constitution Part IV relating to Directive Principles. “These principles are binding on the State in making laws and the executive in administering policies,” the Bench said.
Referring to certain editorials, the court rued the fact that “lobbyists” have projected the loss on account of mining to GDP and economic growth without being aware of the constitutional principles underlying them. “How are we to read the Constitution Part IV,” the Bench asked the lawyers who appeared for the Centre and private miners. “Do we discard it…or you amend the Constitution and scrap Part IV,” the Bench said, adding, “But with Part IV still there, we have to interpret Article 21 in the light of Part IV.”