The world’s view of India as a rising power was being challenged today and India’s claim to its commitment to constitutional values and the rule of law was being questioned, which was hurting both citizens and corporates, said Sanjaya Baru, media adviser to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Delivering a talk on ‘The Rule of Law, the Economy and Ease of Business in India’ as part of 14th ML Ramakrishna Rao Memorial Oration in Law, and 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, organised by Vidhi Manch (Law Forum) in Hyderabad on Sunday, Mr. Baru spoke about funds allocated to the judiciary, challenges to the Rule of Law in India, slowdown of the Indian economy, and other aspects.
Slowdown
He said that growing at an unprecedented rate of over 8% per annum between 2003 and 2012, the economy has slowed down to an average rate of growth between 5% and 7%, depending on which numbers one took seriously. Whatever be the accuracy of the data, the fact was that Indian economy had slowed down, he said.
“There has been much discussion among economists on whether the ongoing slowdown was merely cyclical, and so amenable to fiscal and monetary policy intervention, or whether it was structural, so requiring policy change of a more fundamental kind. To make matters worse, there is increased political uncertainty and chaos caused by recent political intervention, including the heightened communal rhetoric by those in responsible positions of power,” he said.
Allocation to judiciary
Mr. Baru said that to expect the judiciary alone to become less of a hurdle to economic growth and to improving the investment climate would be unfair.
He said economists had, for some time now, complained that India had spent less than 1 % of its national income on the judiciary, far less than most democracies.
“It is disconcerting to see that the Union Budget for 2020-21 has in fact reduced the funds available for judicial and legal infrastructure, for justice delivery and legal reforms,” he said.
