Judiciary must be “very cautious and circumspect” in diluting or setting aside an economic policy of the government, the Supreme Court observed on Wednesday.

A Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta said courts must intervene against an economic policy of the government only if it was constitutionally unavoidable.

The court made the observations after quashing the Goa government’s policy to grant a second renewal of 88 mining leases with retrospective effect.

“Till recently, policy matters, particularly economic policy, were hands-off as far as the courts were concerned,” Justice Lokur observed.

Any economic policy in violation of Article 39(b), which mandates the distribution of “material resources of the community” to subserve common good, and Article 14, the fundamental right to equality, will be liable to challenge and judicial review, the court held.