Not SC, HC job to govern through PILs: Minister

New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS) Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said that it was not the job of the Supreme Court and the High Courts to govern through public interest litigations and said that law-making better be left to Parliament.

Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Prasad said: "I want to state that only those elected by the people and answerable to the house have the right to govern and to make laws."

Stressing that the government was committed to judicial independence, he said: "I want to say this with humility that it is not the job of the High Courts and the Supreme Court to govern through PILs."

"The Constitution has given this right to selected group of people," he added.

Prasad said that he supported PILs if they were used against the corrupt but these should not be used to make laws.

As for the cases pending in various courts at different levels, the Minister said: "The government's job is to ensure infrastructure for the courts, but ultimately the judgments have to to be given by judges only."

He also said that he had written to the judiciary to suggest that five-year-old criminal cases and 10-year-old civil cases should be cleared on priority.

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