Common Cause (A Registered Society) v. Union of India
Background
Common Cause, an NGO, and a connected petitioner (Youth for Equality) challenged the delay in operationalising the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, India's anti-corruption ombudsman law, which had been notified into force in January 2014 but never implemented. The government's position was that certain provisions of the Act (including how the Selection Committee that picks the Lokpal's Chairperson and Members should function when some of its members, such as the Leader of Opposition, are not available) needed to be amended first to make the law "workable," and an amendment bill had been pending in Parliament for years without being passed.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that while pending legislative amendments must be allowed to proceed through Parliament without judicial interference (respecting the separation of powers), the existing Act, as already enacted and notified, was not so unworkable that its enforcement could be kept suspended indefinitely while amendments remained pending. The Court specifically held that even a "truncated" Selection Committee (missing a member, such as when there is no Leader of Opposition) could still validly constitute a Search Committee and recommend candidates for appointment, since the Act does not require every seat to be filled before the Committee can function. Holding the Act to be "an eminently workable piece of legislation," the Court allowed the writ petitions and connected transferred cases, directing that the appointment process for the Lokpal be carried forward.
Lesson Learnt
A government cannot indefinitely delay implementing a law that is already validly in force by citing pending amendments to "improve" it: if the law as it stands is workable, courts can direct its enforcement, and a constitutional body like a selection committee can still function validly even with a vacancy in one of its seats.