THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary-December 13, 2016- Topic 1
In its recent order banning liquor sale and consumption in three districts in
the State, the Uttarakhand High Court has drifted outside the confines of law
and entered the domain of morals and desired behaviour. The court has crossed
its legal remit by extending a government policy of prohibiting liquor outlets
in the vicinity of places of worship, to cover Rudraprayag, Chamoli and
Uttarkashi from April 2017. It has also banned tobacco products within a five-km
radius of three gurdwaras. The court has assumed the power to make regulations
on its own even after observing that the State government “has taken laudable
measures to prohibit the sale of liquor in specified areas”. The petitioner had
not sought any such ban. The court has used a petition challenging the grant of
a bar licence at a location near Haridwar as an opportunity to moralise on the
evils of drink. Ironically, the Division Bench has found no illegality in the
grant of licence as the bar concerned is situated outside the municipal limits
where the prohibition operates. However, it has clothed itself with the power
to give “sanctity” to the government order that prohibits liquor in the
vicinity of the Char Dham (four holy shrines) by clamping judicial prohibition
in the whole of the three districts.
The court has cited Article 47 of the Constitution, which says it is the
duty of the state to raise the level of nutrition and standard of living of the
people and improve public health, and to prohibit the consumption of
intoxicating drinks and drugs. In general, courts refrain from enforcing
Directive Principles, though some judicial decisions are based on combining
their underlying goals with aspects of Fundamental Rights. The Bench cites
several judgments that hold that engaging in the liquor business is not a
Fundamental Right. However, these precedents invariably arise from challenges
to government policies regulating or prohibiting the manufacture, sale and
consumption of alcohol. In fact, earlier this year the Supreme Court refused to
entertain a petition seeking a nation-wide ban on alcohol, observing that this
was a matter of policy into which it cannot venture. It is one thing to cite
constitutional goals to justify state action against liquor or drugs; it is
quite another to cite them as a justification for judicial directions. Earlier
this year the Supreme Court cautioned judges against assuming powers based on
individual perceptions or notions. Howsoever noble an idea may be, courts
should be wary of making rules on their own, as it would amount to
transgressing into the policy domain.
Vocabulary
Drifted: be carried slowly by a current of air or water.
Example: The cabin cruiser started to drift downstream
Synonyms: be carried, be borne, float, bob, waft, meander
Remit: cancel or refrain from exacting or inflicting a debt or
punishment.
Example: The excess of the sentence over 12 months was remitted
Synonyms: cancel, set aside, suspend, revoke, abrogate
Vicinity: the area near or surrounding a particular place.
Example: The number of people living in the immediate vicinity was small
Synonyms: neighborhood, surrounding
area, locality, locale, area, local area
Laudable: deserving praise and commendation.
Example: Laudable though the aim might be, the results have been criticized
Synonyms: praiseworthy, commendable, admirable, meritorious, worthy, deserving
Sought: attempt to find something.
Example: They came here to seek shelter from biting winter winds
Synonyms: search for, try to find, look for, be on the lookout
for, be after, hunt for
Sanctity: the state or quality of being holy, sacred, or saintly.
Example: The site of the tomb was a place of sanctity for the ancient Egyptians
Synonyms: holiness, godliness, blessedness, saintliness, spirituality, piety
Intoxicating: liable to cause intoxication.
Example: They must also abstain from intoxicating drinks or drugs, and live a life
of celibacy.
Synonyms: alcoholic, strong, hard, fortified, potent, stiff, intoxicant, spirituous
Venture: dare to do something or go somewhere that may be
dangerous or unpleasant.
Example: She ventured out into the blizzard
Synonyms: set out, go, travel, journey
Transgressing: infringe or go beyond the
bounds of (a moral principle or other established standard of behavior).
Example: She had transgressed an unwritten social law
Synonyms: misbehave, behave
badly, break the law, err, fall from grace, stray from the
straight
