Mahima
The Supreme Court clarified that the objective of the Covid-19 suo moto proceedings are not to supplant the High Courts.
Justice Chandrachud-led bench clarified, “The object of these proceedings is not to supplant the High Courts or take over from High Courts what they are doing. High Courts are in a better position to monitor what is going on within their territorial boundaries”.
The Court added, “During national crisis, Supreme Court cannot be a mute spectator. The role of the Supreme Court is complimentary in nature. The issues which travail state boundaries in what this court will look into and thus Article 32 jurisdiction has been assumed”.
The Bench comprising of Justices DY Chandrachud, L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat was presiding over the suo moto case taken by it regarding oxygen, medicines and vaccines supply in fight against Covid-19.
The Supreme Court maintained, “High Courts are best situated to make an assessment of ground realities in each state and find flexible solutions for the problems faced by citizens. Therefore, we see no reason or justification to interdict the High Courts.”
The bench, however, observed that intervention of Supreme Court might be required on certain national issues as there exists a coordination issue between the states.
It was further observed that the intervention by the Supreme Court must be understood in correct perspective as there exist issues beyond regional boundaries.
Conclusively, it was held that the role of the top court is complementary to the role of the High Courts and the top court is assist in case any difficulty relating to territorial limitations arises.