FINDING THE BALANCE by Sinchan Gupta – JOURNAL FOR LAW STUDENTS AND RESEARCHERS

Author: Sinchan Gupta, Student of B.A. Political Science, 2^nd Year, Presidency University, Kolkata

ABSTRACT

The Indian Constitution has demonstrated innumerable times that it can evolve, adapt and address each and every challenge in this changing society without losing its core ideals, and a large amount of credit should go to our Judiciary. In the current century, the Indian Judiciary has been far more active than before and through its power of Judicial Review, it has conducted novel interpretations of the Constitution to address the contemporary challenges. The Supreme Court, in historic cases such as Justice K. S. Puttaswamy vs UOI (2017) and Navtej Singh Johar vs UOI (2018) has not only expanded the Fundamental Rights of the citizens but has also reinforced Constitutional Morality. It has also struck down various unconstitutional provisions, thereby preventing any arbitrary action by the Legislature and Executive. The NJAC case (2015), and the Waqf (Amendment) Act case (2025) are prime examples of this. These examples of Judicial Activism have been crucial in refining the Constitution in the 21^st century. However, few controversial judgements of the Supreme Court, such as banning firecrackers and liquor near highways have drawn accusations of wrongful interference in the matters of the Legislature and the Executive. This has been termed as Judicial Overreach, which threatens the doctrine of separation of powers, a vital feature of our Constitution. The line between Judicial Activism and Judicial Overreach is very thin and finding a balance between these two is the main objective of this paper. The paper also explores the evolution of the principles of Constitutionalism and Constitutionality through judicial interpretations. Finally, this paper would look into the ways in which the Indian Judiciary can continue to be the guardian of the Constitution without threatening the sovereignty of the other organs of the Government, and this would promote justice and protect the fundamental ideals of our Constitution.

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Keywords: Judicial Review, Judicial Activism, Judicial Overreach, Constitutionalism, Constitutionality.