Judicial overreach
Topic: Judiciary: Independence, Structure, Judicial Review and Activism · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 6 "Judiciary"
Meaning
Judicial overreach is the charge that courts go too far and take over work that belongs to the executive or the legislature, such as making policy or running programmes. Critics see it as judicial activism carried too far. Class 11 NCERT notes that it overburdens the courts and blurs the lines between the three organs of government, so it weakens the separation of powers (each organ keeping to its own job). Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar warned that courts should not become a "super-legislature".
Example
Critics cite the Supreme Court's 2016 ban on liquor shops near highways and its 2016 order to play the national anthem in cinemas as examples of overreach.
Don't confuse with
- Judicial activism: activism is courts actively protecting rights and making the government answerable, which is often seen as useful. Overreach is the criticism that courts have crossed into other organs' work.