Courts should not interfere in economic policies: SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday cautioned courts not to interfere in matters related to economic and financial policies, saying it would amount to encroaching into the "domain of the executive and the legislature." Since economic policies involve planning by experts, courts should refrain from interfering unless they are unconstitutional, the apex court said while upholding an Andhra Pradesh government's legislation to check undervaluation of property at the time of registration. "The court does not consist of economic or administrative experts. It has no expertise in these matter and in this age of specialisation, when policies have to be laid down with great care after consulting specialists in the field, it will be wholly unwise for the court to encroach into the domain of the executive and the legislature," a bench of Justices H K Sema and Markandeya Katju observed. The bench upheld the constitutional validity of section 47A of Indian Stamp Act, which was amended by "AP Act 8 of 1998" for checking rampant under valuation of property. The apex court set aside an AP High Court judgement which had ruled that the legislation was unconstitutional. The Andhra Pradesh government had amended section 47A of Indian Stamp Act, with "AP Act 8 of 1998 empowering the authorities to verify the market value of a property sought to be sold by individuals vis-a-vis the value mentioned in the stamp papers pertaining to the sale deed."

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