‘State may become tyrannical without checks and balances’

New Delhi: A citizen’s right to move the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution has been given such importance because the State, if left without checks and balances, has the potential to become a “tyrannical institution” that can take the civil and individual liberties of its people for granted, a top court judge has said. Supreme Court judge Justice Krishna Murari made these observations while delivering a split verdict in a case where a question arose about whether an individual can approach the top court under Article 32 for settlement of a dispute under the Customs Act.

Article 32 gives individuals the right to move the Supreme Court for justice when they feel their fundamental rights have been infringed.

The other judge of the bench, Justice Sanjay Karol, who disagreed with Justice Murari, held a recourse to the right to approach the top court can only be permitted where the fundamental rights of an individual have been infringed. He said, in the present case, no such infringement was made out and other statutory remedies were available. The bench, in view of the divergence of opinion between the two judges, directed the registry to list the matter before the Chief Justice for appropriate orders.

Justice Murari said the writ petition, filed under Article 32, raises an issue of huge importance of personal liberty, granted under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, regarding the right of an accused under the Customs Act, 1962 to settle the dispute as per the provisions of the Customs Act itself. The case involved a Non-Resident Indian (NRI), who was arrested on October 4, 2022 at the Delhi International Airport for allegedly trying to smuggle high value goods, mainly watches, through the green channel in order to avoid paying customs duty.

After the arrest, the NRI filed a writ petition seeking home cooked food. The NRI also filed an application seeking direction to the settlement commission to initiate settlement proceedings as he was unable to travel outside India after October, 2022.

The customs department raised preliminary objections with regard to maintainability of the writ petition on the ground that there were other statutory remedies available to the petitioner under law.

Dealing with the applicability of Article 32, Justice Murari said: “The reason why Article 32 is given such importance is because the State as an organ, if left without checks and balances, has the potential to become a tyrannical institution that can take the civil and individual liberties of its people for granted”. He said, “To curb this inclination of the State at its very roots, the constitutional scheme envisaged an organ within the state machinery, namely the judicial organ, which is vested with the powers to interfere with the tyrannical tendencies of the State”.

Justice Murari said the apex court functions within the state, but in cases of violation of fundamental rights, also combats it. He said one such right under Part III of the Constitution, which shields its people from the tyranny of the state, is Article 32, which in itself is a fundamental right falling within part III of the Constitution that exists to protect other fundamental rights.