PUBLIC POLICY AND JUDICIARY: AN ANALYSIS OF CLASS-BIAS

This essay is about what public police is and its different types and how states frame public policies. It also discusses the laws embodying public policies and judiciary and specifically Supreme Court responds towards the public policies. There are economic policies, social policies and policies in regard to political rights such as right to protest from which right to strike is derived. This essay deals with how judiciary has reacted to the contradictions between right to life and individual’s liberty. In A. K. Gopalan v. State of Madras, which was the first constitutional case brought the Supreme Court of India to the task of judging if the doctrine of substantial due process can be read into Article 21, Constitution of India. Scholars have found that the majority decision in this case has been set aside later on in Maneka Gandhi case. This essay also looks into the fact that when a matter of liberty versus preventive detention rises, the Court often sides with the state. On the other hand, a few cases such as Mohini Jain and Unikrishnan show that the Court has properly analyzed the question whether educational institutions run by private organizations can be made to enjoy complete freedom of immunity from state-interference and the Court has said that education is a sovereign responsibility and education can not be made trade and commerce. But contrary to this, in TMA Pai case, the Court reversed its earlier stand and said that state can not interfere in the management of the educational institutions fully run by private organizations. It means that the private educational institutions can impose sky rocketing price for admission and this decision of the Supreme Court went against the conscience of the constitution. So also, in respect of economic policies, the Court remained silent and it has never been assertive. This is how the Court is found biased in favour of the big business houses.