SC declines to entertain plea on improving India’s rule of law ranking

The Supreme Court on June 18, 2020 has declined to entertain a plea seeking a direction to the Centre, state governments and Union Territories to establish committees to formulate modalities for improving the country’s global ranking on Rule of Law Index (RLI).

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and A.S. Bopanna noted that the plea was not an “appropriate case” for the Court to examine, and instead a representation could be made before the government to take action.

The plea, filed by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay, sought constitution of expert panels “comprising at least one renowned jurist, people’s representative, public servant, economist, educationist, social activist and journalist.” The petition argued that these committees should propose steps to improve India’s pathetic 69th international ranking on RLI, contending that the poor position offends rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21.

The bench observed that the government could take a decision on setting up a panel, which would look into improving India’s RLI within six months. The RLI covers 128 countries and based on the country’s performance on various factors such as civil and criminal justice and containing corruption, fundamental rights etc.

The plea also said: “In alternative, direct the Law Commission of India to examine the best practices of the countries, ranked among top 20 in the Rule of Law Index - 2020, and accordingly suggest steps to improve the International Ranking of India”.

“Injury caused to the public is large because India ranked 69 in the Rule of Law Index. It confirms poor performance across eight factors: constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, public order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice and criminal justice,” said the plea.