Recently, a sharp and categorical statement by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to the effect that cash transfers to certain sections of beneficiaries have to be foregone, has rightfully drawn sharp criticism. He opined that governments should instead focus on creating permanent assets. One would like to recall that the very idea of welfare state emerged as a post war response of capitalist democracies to take on the initiatives of socialist governments for people’s welfare. This is the crux of the notion of welfare state across modern democracies, particularly in the West.
Targeted cash transfers evolved within that scheme of things. In some instances, it has assumed certain distortions; however, that is despite the general acceptance of such cash transfers. In post war democracies it has been accepted that such cash allocations is an integral part of the budgetary process. Within the constitutional scheme of the capitalist states there is clear separation of powers between the three organs - executive, legislature and judiciary. Precise separation of powers is an essential prerogative of the constitutional scheme as these organs ensure the principle of checks and balances.
In the Indian Constitution, which was written in the backdrop of the outcome of the Second World War, budget making is an exclusive power of the legislature, subject to its endorsement as proposed by the political executive. It goes without saying that, providing a broad outline of such future budgetary proposals during the election process, even if details are not proposed, deepens and enriches the democratic process. Therefore, it is beyond the judiciary to interfere with the exclusive prerogative of the executive and the legislature. It is apparent that the CJI has transgressed that line.
With the policy direction and extreme centralisation of the communal-corporate nexus which governs us at this moment, it is apparent that such an transgression cuts through the constitutional scheme and disrupts the mutual separation and balance of powers of the constitutional arrangement. The observation of the CJI, therefore, does deliver a similar body blow on the constitutional scheme. This is quite typical of what is being witnessed now. As a result of the overwhelming encroachment of Hindutva ideas, such transgressions are being experienced on a daily basis. In fact, due to the pressures of the Hindutva offensive, the executive, in particular, is straining and eroding the other two organs. It is this process which is leading to the weakening, if not dismantling, of all independent constitutional entities, including the judiciary.
The current observation of the CJI stands in sharp contrast to the apex courts argument of staying insulated from the decision of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to proceed with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Today, newspapers have reported that as a result of the design and method adopted by the SIR process, 1 crore 70 lakh names of voters have been deleted from the final electoral rolls of six states and three union territories. This is an indication of the total number of voters that will stand deleted when the entire exercise is completed. It is important to note that the right to vote has been accepted as a constitutional right by the Supreme Court itself. Therefore, the process which undermines the independence of constitutional entities have led the judiciary to abstain from intervening in an area which is conceived to be the prerogative of the other constitutional body, ECI.
But the interesting point is, the manner and method of the pattern of deletion, appears to echo Amit Shah, an important spearhead of the political executive at this time. It reflects the same mind-set 'detect, delete and deport'. It is reflected in the Hindutva campaign that voters lists are full of infiltrators, misconstruing every undocumented citizen as an infiltrator. This is despite the fact that the Constitution, as actualised by the Parliament, has decided through the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act, that citizenship determination is an exclusive process led by the Union Home Ministry. However, the entire SIR process underpins the presumptions of Union Home Ministers unreal schematisation.
It is not only the intransigence of the ECI, but the refusal of the Supreme Court too, which rings alarms. Amidst widespread opposition to the SIR process, political parties approached the judiciary to intervene in a judicious manner to salvage the constitutional rights of the citizens. But, without any rhyme or reason, the Supreme Court has refused to affect any decisive intervention, not to speak of questioning the ECIs attempt to usurp the right of citizenship determination. As a result, we are witness to the obnoxious misuse of Form 7, for deletion of voter names, as prescribed by the Representation of People’s Act. The outcome is as expected; a large number of voters whose names have been excluded, happen to be religious minorities.
This is a clear indication that the Hindutva orientation has pervaded the different organs. One stark expression of this has been the description by Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Kiren Rijiju, of the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Rahul Gandhi, as greatest threat to national security based on his interventions in the Lok Sabha. This is an absolute rejection of the principle of independence of the legislature, because the LoP is essentially a position to denote the independence of the legislature.
Therefore, it is as clear as daylight, that the Hindutva process is leaning towards completely disrupting the independent functioning of the organs. This, in short, is the essence of the assumption of neo-fascist features of the political process which brings out the deadly threat to the nation, the people and the democratic secular republic. We have to brace ourselves to every abridgement of the powers of the organs, which will eventually lead to completely undermining our constitutional scheme.
(February 24, 2026)
