The Court made itself the sole venue for challenging the constitutionality of demonetization. And then, it did absolutely nothing on demonetization for six years. The Constitution Bench, with five judges, started hearing arguments in late 2022—six years after the event. And finally gave a verdict 2,207 days after the first petition was filed. The government gave 1.3 billion people only 53 days to deposit/exchange their old currency notes. And Indians responded by returning 99.86% of currency notes before the deadline. And the Supreme Court took 2,207 days to decide on the constitutionality of the policy. Perhaps that is how long it takes to produce a farce.
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Delay is now the most important component of the new doctrine of judicial evasion. Gautam Bhatia has defined it as: “by keeping a case pending, and delaying adjudication, the Court effectively decides it in favour of one of the parties (most often, the party in a stronger position, i.e., the government), simply by allowing status quo to continue.” I would go one step further. In cases where the policy is patently unconstitutional, and the Court knows it will be very difficult to avoid locking horns with the executive, it delays hearing the matter until it is moot. The result may not deliver justice but at the very least, promises comedic relief. With comedians being muzzled, prosecuted and arrested by the government, the Supreme Court once again comes to our rescue.
From the article:
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