Paradoxically, the judiciary has landed itself in the dock. The sickening slanging spree in its higher echelons and exposure of its dark political underbelly stemmed from its own ranks. Now, it is not just about some ex-judges and their past acts. The question naturally arises on what skeletons will tumble out when current judges turn ex. The judicial system has all five fingers pointing inwards for a long time to come.
The basic canons of credibility and caution have been very casually cast away. That learned, balanced judges who presided over the fate of millions of citizens through their verdicts, resolved issues of profound import and are even deemed the last Constitutional outpost and safety net should slide so easily from such pedestals simply shatters the faith of the legal layman. On the contrary, the judiciary is now a laughing stock and object of much derision as every day, a new ex-judge adds his byte or takes a bite vis-a-vis a colleague.
Markandeya Katju’s revelation is undoubtedly a bombshell. Only that it raises the obvious query on why this bomb was buried this long and why it should be burst now. Those in the know of Katju’s maverick methods raise legitimate questions about his motives. Even otherwise, his belated memory flash is unbecoming of his high ‘personal’ and professional standing. Katju must surely know that like justice, truth, which is a loftier equivalent, delayed also tantamounts to its denial. Truth is in the ‘now’. Katju has no right to time its release to his convenience. In fact, he is guilty of collusion by silence on par with his targets. And chewing and rolling the whistle over in the mouth and blowing it after all is done with does not behove a sincere whistleblower either.
The shady United Plunderers’ Association (UPA) reign of ten years has long lost its shock and awe value w.r.t scams. Thanks to honest MSingh at the helm and his honourable ‘look-the-other way’ policy towards scandals at its height, one could have walked away with the SC building itself. This is just about a nondescript corrupt judge slipping through the procedural nets. Big deal. And, for the DMK, which got Raja a second term ‘after’ the 2G scam was enacted to the satisfaction of all parties, pulls, pushes, pressures, proddings and prompting of a pliable PM were all perfectly rational political tools to promote co-born Tamils (in K’s household and then party). So no issues there.
The real tragedy lies in the loss of judicial independence which is a constitutional compulsion and non-negotiable. And, therefore, worse is the judiciary’s acquiescence in all this meddling and influence peddling. Many other self goals are self-evident. The litigating luminaries in their eagerness to exonerate themselves have only incriminated themselves and proved beyond all reasonable doubt that the judges appointment mechanism and many other procedures are not just porous but open sesame. The corrupt judge survived the scrutiny and instead had the supportive signature of at least three CJIs. This despite well established adverse reports by judicial committees. Katju himself, while as Madras HC CJ put up with him and also put up cases to him despite knowing his corrupt ways. The soiled ball was very much in the judicial court all along; while many batted for him, many did not bat an eyelid either. An open and shut case against the judicial system and for its complete overhaul.
The deity of justice is blindfolded. But the people are not. And they are not only watching but also judging.
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