GS IAS Logo

< Previous | Contents | Next >

28 Judicial Activism


The concept of judicial activism originated and developed in the USA. This term was first coined in 1947 by Arthur Schlesinger Jr., an American historian and educator.1

In India, the doctrine of judicial activism was introduced in mid- 1970s. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, Justice P.N. Bhagwati, Justice O. Chinnappa Reddy and Justice D.A. Desai laid the foundations of judicial activism in the country.