Judiciary to Draw Its own ‘Lakshmanrekha’, Says Jaitley

He said that courts cannot substitute the executive, but can strike down decisions if found to be unconstitutional.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Lok Sabha. (Photo: ANI screengrab)

• Expressing concerns about judicial overreach, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the judiciary must draw its own “Lakshmanrekha”and not take decisions which fall into the domain of the executive.
  
• Addressing an interaction at Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) on 16 May, Jaitley maintained that executive decisions are to be taken by the executive and not the judiciary.
  
• He stated that courts cannot substitute the executive but can strike down executive decisions if found to be unconstitutional. He was responding to questions about his earlier remarks that the judiciary had been encroaching on legislative and executive authority.