The term" judicial activism" was coined for the first time by Arthur Schlesinger Jr. in his article "The Supreme Court: 1947" published in Fortune magazine in 1947. Wharton's Concise Law Dictionary defines Judicial Activism as a philosophy of Judicial decision whereby judges allow their personal views about public policy, among other factors, to guide their decisions usually with the suggestion that adherents of this philosophy tend to find constitutional violations and are willing to ignore precedents (Black's Law Dictionary, 7th edition p 850).
The definition of Judicial Activism has been differently stated by different people. Those who favour Judicial Activism say that it is a legitimate form of Judicial Review. However, Thomas Jefferson calls it “Despotic Power” of Federal Judges.
V.D. Kulshrestha says that when the judiciary is accused of actually participation in the law making process and so to say becomes a key player in the law making process, then such move on the part of Judiciary is termed as Judicial Activism.
Upendra Baxi widens this concept by saying that “In a sense, the power to interpret law is the power to make them; and the power to manipulate the interpretation process is also the power to make law.”