SC in response to Ravi Shankar Prasad: What to do when there is no governance

NEW DELHI: On Thursday, the Supreme Court raised question on what courts should do when there is no governance and citizens’ rights are violated because of government’s apathy and inaction. This came a day after Union Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told gathering of SC judges and senior lawyers that judiciary should maintain restraint in interfering in issues of policy and governance.

On the occasion of Independence day celebration, the law minister in the premises of Supreme Court said that governance must be left to those elected by the people to govern and judiciary should respect separation of law among three organs of the state.

“We have been told that governance is for the government and we cannot do anything. But there is no governance. What to do then,” said Justice Lokur. In hearing a PIL on implementation of Centre’s National Urban Livelihoods Mission programme to provide shelter homes to urban homeless people, Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta said the Centre, states had failed to provide roof over the heads of poor people who are forced to live on the streets.

There are 17.73 lakh homeless people in the country and around 10 lakh of it are in urban areas, according to 2011 census. 65.3% of them are in UP, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. For every 100,000 people in India 146 of them are homeless.

“The Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation has laid down 2022 as the target year to provide shelter to each and every urban homeless in the country. Undoubtedly to achieve this target looks like a dream as the road ahead appears to be very tardy and arduous, looking into the slow progress of establishing shelter homes by various States/UTs,” said the SC appointee committee in its report.