The NITI Aayog has ordered the Jaipur-based research organisation Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) International to study the “economic impact” of judgments delivered by Supreme Court (SC), high courts (HCs), and quasi-judicial bodies like the National Green Tribunal (NGT). It has also asked to study the “judicial activism” of such courts and tribunals.
Highlights
- The Judicial decisions have far-reaching economic impacts.
- These impacts are usually not taken into account at the time of decision making.
- This study will be completely funded by the NITI Aayog.
- The study will be conducted with the aim of “sensitising the judiciary on the economic impact of their decisions”.
- The findings from the study will be used as the “training input for judges of the SC, HCs, commercial courts and NGT”.
- The total cost of the project initially was Rs 24.8 lakh. However, it is likely to go higher.
CUTS role
- CUTS International will study the economic impact of five different decisions by the SC and the NGT.
- The five judgement include:
- Economic impact of the ban imposed by the SC in March 2019 on construction of a greenfield airport at Mopa, Goa.
- SC’s February 2018 ban on iron ore mining in Goa.
- NGT ban on sand mining in the Yamuna river in Gautam Buddha Nagar in the year 2013.
- SC ban on construction of buildings in Delhi and National Capital Region
- SC’s decision to reject the opening of Vedanta’s Sterlite copper plant.
Purpose of the study
The study will provide an objective cost-benefit analysis of the economic impact of the decisions made by the judiciary. The study is also a part of the umbrella project of the NITI Aayog under which the think tank wants to establish a judicial performance index. This index will be used to measure the performance of judges at district courts and subordinate levels.