Courts can strike down 'unconstitutional' policy decisions: Justice Ganguly

Rebutting criticism that the 2G judgement was a case of judicial overreach, Justice A K Ganguly, who was on the two-member bench of the Supreme Court that cancelled 122 licences, today asserted that the courts can certainly scrutinise and strike down policy decisions which are unconstitutional.

"Under our Constitution, judicial review is one of its basic features, and, in exercise of such judicial review, the Court can certainly scrutinise and even strike down policy decisions of the executive when such decisions are unconstitutional," he said.

Ganguly, who retired on Thursday last, was reacting to criticism by former Lok Sabha Speaker and noted lawyer Somnath Chatterjee that courts cannot interfere with executive policies and decisions, even by justifying that larger public interest is involved.

"The criticism of Mr Chatterjee that Court cannot interfere with the executive policies and decisions even in larger public interest and, by doing so, the Court assumes that it is above the Constitution is really startling," Justice Ganguly said in an article in a Kolkata newspaper (The Telegraph).