Courts cannot direct the legislature or executive to enact specific laws, reinforcing the principle of separation of powers in the Constitution.

J U D G M E N T

Dated this the 14th day of December, 2022 S.MANIKUMAR, CJ.

In the instant public interest writ petition, petitioner has sought for the following reliefs:

i) Issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction directing respondents 1 and 2 to make sufficient provisions for converting dry leaves and fossils of trees into compost manure and to issue proper guidelines to dispose dry leaves and fossils of trees in an eco-friendly manner, without causing nuisance to the public;

b) Issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction directing the 2nd respondent to consider and pass appropriate orders on Ext. P2 representation within a time stipulated by this Court.

2.Short facts leading to the filing of the writ petition are as follows:

2.1 According to the petitioner, he is residing in a thickly populated area and that he is a social worker and member of the River Protection Council. Grievance of the petitioner is the absence of any provision to dispose of dry leaves and fossils of trees in the small residential plots in the thickly populated area. Since there is no provision to dispose of the dry leaves and fossils, the residents are choosing to dispose of it by way of burning the same, which causes severe health problems and danger to the environment. Therefore, the petitioner preferred Exhibit P2 representation dated 7.11.2022 before the Government to provide sufficient mechanism to dispose of the dry leaves and fossils accumulated in the thickly populated area. Since there are no positive results on the representation, the petitioner approached this court by filing this Writ Petition.

3. In our view, writ court cannot issue a writ of mandamus directing the Government to legislate or make any provision in a statute in the manner as sought for by the petitioner. On the said aspect, reference can be made to a few of the decisions.

(i) In Mallikarjuna Rao and Ors. v. State of Andhra Pradesh and Ors. /b>.

[ (1990) 2 SCC 707 ], the Hon'ble Supreme Court held as under:

“13. The Special Rules have been framed under Article 309 of the Constitution. The power under Article 309 of the Constitution to frame rules is the legislative power. This power under the Constitution has to be exercised by the President or the Governor of a State as the case may be. The High Courts or the Administrative Tribunals cannot issue a mandate to the State Government to legislate under Article 309 of the Constitution. The Courts cannot usurp the functions assigned to the executive under the Constitution and cannot even indirectly require the executive to exercise its rule making power in any manner. The Courts cannot assume to itself a supervisory role over the rule making power of the executive under Article 309 of the Constitution.”

(ii) InSuresh Seth v. Commissioner, Indore Municipal Corporation and Ors. [ (2005) 13 SCC 287 ], the Hon'ble Supreme Court held as under:

“5. Learned counsel for the appellant has also submitted that this Court should issue directions for an appropriate amendment in the M.P. Municipal Corporation Act, 1956 so that a person may be debarred from simultaneously holding two elected offices, namely that of a member of the Legislative Assembly and also of Mayor of a Municipal Corporation. In our opinion, this is a matter of policy for the elected representatives of people to decide and no direction in this regard can be issued by the court. That apart this Court cannot issue any direction to the Legislature to make any particular kind of enactment. Under our constitutional scheme Parliament and Legislative Assemblies exercise sovereign power to enact laws and no outside power or authority can issue a direction to enact a particular piece of legislation. In Supreme Court Employees Welfare Association v. Union of India, (1989)IILLJ506SC it has been held that no court can direct a legislature to enact a particular law. Similarly, when an executive authority exercises a legislative power b