Can the government ask the Supreme Court to become irrelevant?

"Centre pushes back at SC, warns of 'overzealous judicial intervention'," Times of India (TOI). In short, the Supreme Court (SC) should mind its own business and let the government do whatever it pleases even if more than 1 million people die of coronavirus infection by 1 August, as predicted by the medical journal Lancet, Business Standard. "In view of the unprecedented and peculiar circumstances under which the vaccination drive is devised as an executive policy, the wisdom of the executive should be trusted." Indeed. After controlling the supply of vaccines the center has suddenly shifted the responsibility to states which are unable to get adequate supplies, BBC. Cities across India are reporting huge crowds at vaccination centers as terrified people rush to find protection against the deadly virus. "Vaccination itself will become a super spreader event," said Jay Shukla, a 25-year old banker. Stocks of vaccines in Delhi will run out in a few days, said ministers of Delhi government. "In fact, till very recently the government had only put in orders for hundred million doses of Covishield. Since then it has added another order of 110 million doses of Covishield," said Prof Amartya Lahiri. "The other vaccine, Covaxin, is similarly under-provisioned with an initial order of 8 million doses followed by a recent order of another 50 million." Are we to trust a government that is constantly trying to hide the truth to protect itself, rather than honestly facing the calamity in order to protect the people? Meanwhile, Delhi Police has seized 524 oxygen concentrators after raiding businesses of Navneet Kalra. Kalra applied for anticipatory bail and his lawyers stated, "All imports have been made through legal banking channels and there is not even a single oxygen concentrator, which has been clandestinely or illegally imported. All imports are legally documented and all sales were taking place legally after payment of GST and other applicable taxes." Unless the lawyers were deliberately perjuring themselves in court, it is a political gimmick to shift the blame on to a 'rich man', as was done during demonetisation with great success, The Wire. The poor supported it because of their feeling that the rich cannot be rich without being corrupt, even though Prof Pranab Bardhan said that it was "a major assault on the poor". In a similar case, "Matrix Cellular Services on Monday sought directives from Delhi High Court for immediate release of oxygen concentrators seized by Delhi Police from its collection centre in Lodhi Colony and its office premises in Mehrauli," calling the action "arbitrary, irresponsible and highly capricious", TOI. Kalra's bail plea was rejected. If he is caught he will be sent to prison which are overcrowded and without protection against the virus. Prisons are sanctioned to hold 10,026 inmates, but "The prison population in Delhi reportedly crossed 20,500 on April 30, more than twice the sanctioned capacity," wrote Nikita Khaitan. "In April alone, according to news reports, 115 cases have been reported among jail staff and 284 among inmates, of which over 253 are active cases." Spending even one night in a Delhi prison could be a life sentence similar to Judah Ben- Hur's mother and sister developing leprosy in prison. So how did the government dare to ask the Supreme Court to stay out of its business. Because, "judicial evasion, judicial deference and judicial inconsistency -- have become staples of the system over the last few years. The effect of each one has been to benefit the State", wrote Gautam Bhatia. Chief Justice (CJI) Bobde retired last month with "fond memories", but "CJI Bobde's tenure was marked by reluctance to hear cases affecting people's life liberty," wrote Rekha Sharma. Former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was rewarded with a seat in the Rajya Sabha. "Equally disturbing is the hypocrisy, double standard and discriminatory treatment meted out to litigants -- attributes that ill-suit any court, much less a constitutional court but which now pervades the orders of the SC," wrote Navroz Seervai. In the case of the pandemic the government is asking the SC to make itself irrelevant. The SC has to decide if it is.