Court and the Governor
The top court of the land may have shown a streak or two of judicial activism in the matter of its judgment on pending Bills. The top court should have restrained itself from going thus far and should have confined itself to take a call on gubernatorial functions. The real issue of a possible misuse of the Governor’s office against some States by the mighty Centre has been shadowed by a verdict that goes deep into the sharing of powers between the judiciary and executive.
Dr. D.V.G. Sankara Rao,
Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh
I write this letter as a former Principal Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu. It is essential to understand that the Supreme Court’s interventions, including the setting of timelines for constitutional authorities, are not to be construed as violations of the office of the President or Governors. Nor do they undermine the principle of separation of powers. Instead, they are measured and constitutionally backed efforts to uphold the spirit of good governance and accountability.
By invoking Article 142, the Court is not overstepping its mandate but exercising its constitutionally vested duty to “do complete justice”. It interprets constitutional silences with an aim to promote efficiency, fairness, and timely administration, without diminishing the dignity or authority of any constitutional post.
The judiciary, the executive and the legislature are equal pillars of democracy. The judiciary’s role in interpreting the Constitution is precisely to ensure that these pillars operate within their respective bounds, but also in harmony so that the constitutional machinery does not stall or become dysfunctional due to ambiguity or inaction.
In this light, the Supreme Court’s guidance enhances, rather than erodes, the functioning of our democracy.
S.S. Jawahar,
Chennai
Tariff battle, the lessons
The ongoing tariff battle that the United States has with China has focused attention on the assembly of some electronics items in India. Recently there were reports of ‘tons’ of iPhones being airlifted from Indian plants as part of the manufacturer’s ‘strategy to get around the Trump tariffs’ and build up an inventory of iPhones in one of its biggest markets. Typical of the ongoing tariff mayhem, there is confusion about phones, electronic items and tariff exemptions.
This only underscores that the time is ripe for India to strive for a quantum shift from “assembling” to “designing” electronics. We have a long-established base for both engineering and manufacture. The need is to focus on research and development, and skills and local ecosystems to fashion a global innovation hub, and not be stuck with just the factory floor. We need to exploit our acknowledged software prowess with policy agility, industry-academia synergy, and strategic global integration towards a vision of India as a destination for the co-design of embedded software and hardware.
R. Narayanan,
Navi Mumbai
‘IT@Elderly’
The Kerala Government has introduced ‘digital literacy’ programmes for senior citizens, in urban and rural areas and has achieved total ‘digital literacy’. With the world becoming digital, everyone should be digitally educated, learning simple tasks such as how to use WhatsApp, make video calls, send messages and pay bills through GPay and other payment tools. Perhaps the Government of Tamil Nadu could also consider teaching senior citizens how to manage the digital world with arrangements that are similar to the Kerala model.
This would also be of much help to senior citizens who can bridge the online divide for various purposes from the comfort of their homes.
Parthasarathy N.,
Chennai
The sorry state of CSK
It is really sad that five-time IPL champion, Chennai Super Kings, seems to be in a state of total disarray in season 2025. The body language of the players suggests that they lack the intent and the zip to play competitive cricket. The yellow army has hugely disappointed its loyal fans, who have stood by them.
R. Sivakumar,
Chennai
Published – April 15, 2025 12:24 am IST