JudicialAccountability in India
S.O.S - e - Clarion Of Dalit - Weekly Newspaper On Web
Working For The Rights & Survival Of The Oppressed
Editor: NAGARAJ.M.R VOL.3 issue. 46 18 / 11 / 2009
Editorial : Judicial Accountability in India
In india , corruption of public service is rampant from maternity hospital to grave yard , from birth to death through out ones’s life bribe has to be paid at numerous stages , to get the services from public servants . Tentacles of corruption has spread to even quasi-judicial & judicial services. The corrupt among the Quasi-judicial & Judicial services are selling their judicial orders for a price. These corrupt public servants are meating out injustices to the dalits , tribals , poor people in their greed for money . Some public servants belonging to Dalit community themselves are meating out injustices to their poor brethern , poor dalits , tribals – all in their greed for money. It is an appeal to the honest few in Quasi-judicial & Judicial services , to legally prosecute their corrupt colleagues. Hereby , we offer our CONDITIONAL SERVICES to the Supreme Court of India , Government of India & Government of Karnataka , in legally booking their corrupt colleagues , ARE YOU READY ? The judges , police are afraid to answer our questions , police are not registering our complaint against judges , quasi-judicial officers & public servants . Kindly go through the following articles & provide justice by giving complete truthful information to us.
http://sites.google.com/site/sosevoiceforjustice/accountability-of-indian-judges ,
The constitution of India has prescribed certain FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES to each citizens of India. It is the duty of every citizen to protect & uphold the dignity , honour of our democratic institutions , to protect our national integrity , to respect & protect the rights of our fellow citizens. No constitutional authority has the right to obstruct the discharge of these duties by citizens of India. No legal privileges of constitutional functionaries is superior over the FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES OF CITIZEN'S OF INDIA.
We need rights to perform our duties. Constitution of India has guaranteed those rights as FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS to all citizens of India & by birth itself everyone of us has secured HUMAN RIGHTS as individuals. To express ourselves , we need information , data feed back , to ascertain whether we are getting equal opportunity , whether we are getting equitable justice , etc , we need information . so , basically Right To Information is an inalienable part of our fundamental rights & human rights. What RTI Act has done is fixed time limit , responsibilities of public servants up to certain extent. However the citizen's fundamental right & human right to seek information extends far beyond the scope of RTI Act.
Hereby , e-voice seeks complete truthful information from supreme court of India , with respect to my RTI application appeal no : APPEAL NO. 91 / 2007. HEREBY , WE ARE ONLY SEEKING ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC SERVANTS IN PUBLIC INTEREST & JUSTICE. Hereby , we at e-voice request you to register this appeal as a PIL petition & to ascertain the stand of apex court on various matters raised in my RTI Application , in public interest & equitable justice.
he above stated public servants have failed to provide full information to us ie e-voice as per RTI Act , thereby covering up the criminals. The requested informations were no state secrets , no defense secrets but the accountability of above stated public offices. The information was requested for public welfare , to secure equitable justice to public , to stop corrupt practices in public service , in exercise of my FUNDAMENTAL DUTY as a citizen of India. However the above stated public servants preferred to violate law themselves & to protect the criminals. The public servants & the government must be role models in law abiding acts , for others to emulate & follow. if a student makes a mistake it is excusable & can be corrected by the teacher. if the teacher himself makes a mistake , all his students will do the same mistake. if a thief steals , he can be caught , legally punished & reformed . if a police himself commits crime , many thieves go scot-free under his patronage. even if a police , public servant commits a crime , he can be legally prosecuted & justice can be sought by the aggrieved.
just think , if a judge himself that too apex court of the land itself commits crime - violations of RTI Act , constitutional rights & human rights of public and obstructs the public from performing their constitutional fundamental duties , what happens ?
it gives a booster dose to the rich & mighty , those in power , criminals in public service to commit more crimes. that is exactly what is happening in india. the educated public must raise to the occasion & peacefully , democratically must oppose this criminalization of judiciary , public service. then alone , we can build a RAM RAJYA OF MAHATMA GANDHI'S DREAM.
JAI HIND. VANDE MATARAM.
Your's sincerely,
Nagaraj.M.R.
CRIMES COMMITTED BY LAW COURTS IN INDIA
- An appeal to honourable supreme court of india
Indian prisons are meant to be reforming schools for the prisoners. By the corrupt practices of the officials , the prisons have become factories turning out hardened criminals.
Say , a person was caught by police on suspicion of pick-pocketing. The police produce the accussed before the magistrate , in turn he remands him for judicial custody. Let us consider , The punishment for this offence pick-pocketing as per law is 6 months imprisonment. However the case drags on for 3 years , finally the court finds him guilty of offence & orders for 6 months imprisonment. Totally, the offender serves 42 months imprisonment sentence in practice. In some cases , the courts consider the time already spent by the accussed behind the bars while giving judgement. In this example , even if the offender is let free taking 6 months imprisonment sentence, the offender has been given excess sentence of 36-6=30 months.
Taking the same example further, say the court finds the accused as innocent, not guilty of crime & lets him free. However , the poor chap has suffered 36 months imprisonment for no fault of his.
As per law, no body not even the courts of law are legally empowered to punish anybody beyond the legal procedures , rules established. In this way, due to delay in our legal system , faulty bail procedures , thousands of under-trials are suffering in various prisons throught India. Arew not the courts which remanded those accused to judicial custody responsible for this illegal act of excessive punishment ? what punishment should be given to those judges ?
The bail procedure in India , is also faulty without considering quantum of offence & financial status of the accused. A person accused of stealing rs.100 has to provide bail surety bond of rs.5000 or personal surety by a wealthy person / government servant. The poor person having personal contacts , friendship with rich persons / government servants is quite remote , so he can'nt secure bail on personal bond. The poor chaps family is not rich enough to spend rs.5000 surety amount. As a result, unable to secure bail the poor chap suffers in jail for years.
Say, a rich industrialist is accused of rs.20 crores tax evasion, he is let free on a personal bond of rs.1 lakh. Stamp paper scam kingpin karim lala telgi has swindled government to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees, only few cases are registered against him. That too in one out of those cases involving rs.45 lakh worth stamp sale , judge has given him rigorous imprisonment plus a fine of rs.50000.
Considering the above examples it is quite clear the bail amount, fine amount are peanuts for the rich just a fraction of quantum of their crime , while for the poor it is huge many times more than the quantum of their crime.. it is biased towards rich & mighty criminals. As a result poor always suffers in jail, while rich are out on bail.
Even within prisons , the number of prisoners per sq.ft area , no of doctors , hospital beds , medicines available, weight of food per day given to prisoners , are all less & much below the statuotary limits. The food , health care , living conditions of prisoners , under-trials are worse than pigs. The prison authorities are utterly corrupt, which has been brought into light again & again by the media. If a poor prisoner questions the illegal acts of the officials , he is subjected to 3rd degree torture , roughed up by rowdy prisoners on the instigation of the officials themselves. Many poor prisoners are suffering from health problems , many are dying due to lack of proper health care & food in the prisons.
Whereas , the rich & mighty prisoners , by payting bribe get non-veg , alchoholic drinks from outside restaurants daily. They even secure drugs . they get spacious VIP rooms , television , mobile phones. They easily get parole & easily gets admitted in outside hospitals & roam free , while on record they are in-patients in hospitals.
The law of limitation which stipulates time limits for filing various cases is also biased towards the government as a party & rich , mighty. For the purposes of evidences , filing of cases one needs various government records. The concerned officials don't provide those records for years unless bribed & sit over the files for years. Some times by making absurd , illogical file notings , rejects it back. There is no time limit for the performance of duties by public servants. When a commoner don�t get relevant records , files , evidences in time , how can he file cases in time without those records , evidences ?
Nowadays , numerous cases of irregularities , charges of corruption against judges are coming to light. However , in such cases judges are asked to resign from service but no criminal prosecution against them is instituted , only in cases involving lower court judges it is done. When a case of irregularity by a judge in a specific present case comes , there are every possibility that in the past also he has committed the same in cases handled by him which has not come to light. In such instances , all the cases handled by that particular judge throught his career must be reviewed , but is not done why ? does not it amount to cover-ups ?
In many cases the higher courts have turned down the verdicts of the lower courts , let free the innocents , absolved innocents of charges & annulled death sentences when appeals came before them. However , in all such cases , the lower court judges must be punished for giving out wrong judgements, meating out injustice to innocents. Here a fact must be noted , only a fraction of cases goes in appeal to higher courts, as in majority of cases the poor people lack the financial might to make the appeal. The so-called free legal services authority pre-judges the cases before giving legal aid. As a result , many innocents poor people resign to their fates suffer injustice in courts of law , undergo imprisonment punishment , some times even death sentence. So , the urgent need of the hour is to incorporate jury system or some outside monitoring system to review cases as & when decided.
In many cases involving the rich & mighty like telgi , case proceedings are conducted in-camera in judge's chambers or proceedings are conducted through video conferencing . outside from public gaze. The tapes are not made public and the public cann't even ascertain the validity of tapes , whether it is edited , doctored .
One of the basic reasons for delayed justice & worse prison conditions in India , is low number of judges , police personnel , higher rate of case adjournments and finally low amount of financial grants made by the government to judicial department / police department. The government states that it doesn't have enough money to provide for judiciary & police. As a result, fundamental / human rights of innocent commoners are thwarted. The state governments & GOI , is one of either parties in 75% of cases before various courts in India, it is the biggest litigant & is influencing the judiciary by controlling the grants , recruitment to judiciary & by enticing some with post-retirement postings.
The government has got money to spend on lavish parties of VVIPs , IAS officers serving non-veg foods , alchoholic drinks . their foreign jaunts , 5-star bungalows , limousines , interior decorations of their bungalows, etc. which is of higher priority , importance , whether the luxury of VVIPs or the fundamental / human rights of commoners ? the courts should answer. The courts have the legal powers to order governments to provide enough financial grants to it , however it is keeping mum , turning blinds eye to crimes of VVIP�s. the government rewards such judges with salary hikes , promotions , luxury cars , bungalows , perks and post-retirement postings , sites at judicial lay-out , yelahanka , Bangalore , etc.
We at e-voice have utmost respect for the judiciary , but hereby humbly bringing the crimes of judiciary before the honest few judges seeking justice to the common folk.
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JUDICIAL ACCOUNTABILITY
Whether judges are appointed or elected it is their performance on the bench and their accountability for improper activities that is crucial.
While there is great debate as to how judges are put on the bench, the public's dissatisfaction with the so-called independence of the judiciary and with the inadequacy of the judicial disciplinary machinery is disregarded by the Bench and Bar.
We say that our system of government is a democracy. Yet we have a judiciary with absolute power over our courts, unparalleled in history. This power is founded on judicial independence, judicial immunity and control over the Bar. Our system of government is based on separation of powers and does not allow such concentration of power in the judicial branch.
Florida is typical of the legal system throughout the country. Although the judiciary asserts immense power over the lives of individuals and the conduct of businesses, they have rendered themselves totally unaccountable to the public or to any other branch of government.
The judges and lawyers maintain their stronghold on the legal system on the myth that they are the guardians of the constitutional rights of the people and that the lawyers champion these rights in a court of law that is just and fair.
However, the legal profession has become big business, where justice is not the objective but, to keep the clock running for billable hours for the maximum profit. Although judges and lawyers hypothetically take an oath to uphold the laws and the constitution of the land, in many cases that oath might as well have been taken on the cook book, to brew up litigation to use the legal system for an assembly line conversion of the victim's assets into fees, or to confiscate it outright.
Even if, there are some judges and lawyers dedicated to the proper administration of justice, unfortunately there are many who are not. To create fees, lawyers can litigate frivolous, false claims or defenses endlessly and can drag on a simple case for years. To stop the litigation, the attorneys can demand payment, a so-called settlement which in many cases is nothing more than a form of extortion. These practices not only harm the individual litigants but, is an unconscionable waste of the taxpayers' money and clog up the court system.
Many judges acting in conjunction with attorneys, abuse the judicial independence given to them in trust and confidence of the people. The myth is dispelled when we are confronted by judges who disregard the rules; allow the distortion of facts sometimes to the point of perjury; exclude evidence; rely on laws which have no relevance to the legal and factual issues; issue decisions which fabricate facts and are contrary to the record; deliberately omit critical facts from the record; fail to follow the controlling law and precedent; or issue decisions without any stated facts or law; and approve unreasonable and unconscionable fees for attorneys. It is not unusual that property and money are taken from the victims without the required due process and the victims are left with nothing or a token of what they had or were entitled to. Read about the best judges money can buy Click here Also please read Judges Don't Care About My Life Click here. Judges should be made accountable for the time they spend on the bench Click here. A response to ABA praising judges Click here. A critical assessment of judges by former judge John Malloy click here. According to a poll take by an American Bar Journal survey more than half of Americans are angry and disappointed with the nation’s judiciary. A majority of the survey respondents agreed with statements that "judicial activism" has reached the crisis stage, and that judges who ignore voters’ values should be impeached. Nearly half agreed with a congressman who said judges are "arrogant, out-of-control and unaccountable." To read go go to, http://www.abanet.org/journal/redesign/s30survey.html
To see the judicial selection method in the States go to http://www.ajs.org/selection/sel_state-select-map.asp
| Resources and Articles | |
| -Conflict of interest
Times of India, Manoj Mitta
...more ...more | |
| -Judicial Integrity: Lessons from the past
The Hindu, Anil Divan
...more | |
| - Controversial Choice
Frontline, V Venkatesan
...more | |
| - Who's Big
The Week, Soni Mishra
...more | |
| - Burn after reading
Tehelka, Brijesh Pandy and Sanjay Dubey
...more | |
| - No, your Honour
DNA, R. Jagannathan
...more | |
| - How to clean up the mess
The Telegrah, M.S. Ananth
...more | |
| - India's villages await justice
Hindustan Times, Nagendar Sharma
...more | |
| - The Dinakaran Imbroglio: Appointments and Complaints against Judges
Prashant Bhushan
...more | |
| - Judicial Appointments and norms
The Hindu, Anil Diwan
...more | |
| - Issues raised by láffaire Dinakaran
The Hindu, Justice Krishna Iyer
...more | |
| - Judicial Accountability : Asset disclosures and beyond
Economic and Political Weekly, Prashant Bhushan
...more | |
| - Frontline Interview with Prashant Bhushan on judiciary's accountability to the people
Frontline, V. Venkatesan
...more | |
| - Tehelka interview with Prashant Bhushan on Corruption in the Judiciary
Tehelka, Shoma Chaudhury
...more | |
| - In a higher court
Indian Express, Justice J. S. Verma
...more | |
| - Make declaring judges' assets mandatory for all appointments
The Hindu, Sriram Panchu
...more | |
| - A Call for Accountability
Tehelka, 12th September 2009
...more | |
| - Who judges the judges?
Sunil Sethi, Business Standard, 5th September
...more | |
| - The Judges'Assets imbroglio
Anil Divan, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India
...more | |
| - Everything for Justice
V. R. Krishna Iyer
...more | |
| - Vital Stats: Pendency of Cases in Indian Courts
PRS Legislative Research, Centre for Policy Research
...more | |
| - Reluctance to disclose assets creates impression that judge has something to hide
Justice DV Shylendra Kumar, Karnataka High Court
...more | |
| - Indian Judiciary's Crisis of Credibility
Manoj Mitta
...more | |
| - Regulating Conflict of Interest: International Experience with Asset Declaration and Disclosure
By Richard E. Messick
...more | |
| - Sacrificing Human Rights and Environmental Rights at the Alter of “Development”
By Prashant Bhushan
...more | |
| - Needed, transparency and accountability
By V.R. Krishna Iyer, J
...more | |
| - The Judicary; Hopes and Fear
By Prashant Bhushan
...more | |
| - Sending the Right Message
By Joshua Rozenberg
...more | |
| - Courting Controversy - The Supreme Court & PILS
By Prashant Bhushan
...more | |
| - Law above all?
By Suchi Pande, Nikhil Dey and Aruna Roy
...more | |
| - Clean Up the judiciary
By Shanti Bhushan - Times of India: National : 12th October 2007
In 1993, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court laid down a new system for making appointments of judges to the high courts and Supreme Court. This system gave enormous powers to a collegium of senior judges of the Supreme Court to select and make recommendations to the government for these appointments. Their recommendations were also directed to be binding on the government and president.
...more | |
| - Background Paper on "Securing Judicial Accountability"
By Prashant Bhushan - Background paper to the seminar on "Securing Judicial Accountabiliy" New Delhi : 9th October 2007
The judiciary in the country today has come to enjoy enormous powers. It is not only the arbiter of disputes between citizens, between citizens and the State, between States and the Union, it also in purported exercise of powers to enforce fundamental rights, directs the governments to close down industries, commercial establishments, demolish jhuggis, remove hawkers and rickshaw pullers from the streets, prohibits strikes and bandhs etc. In short, it has come to be the most powerful institution of the State.
...more | |
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| - Majesty of the Judiciary
By V.R. Krishna Iyer - Asian Age: New Delhi : 17th February 2007
The judiciary is the most sublime instrumentality in the country and I have served it for nearly a decade during the best part of my life. This article, written out of reverence for the judicature, has a benign intent meant to arrest its corruption and decline now creeping into its vitals.
...more | |
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| - Has The Philosophy Of The Supreme Court On Public Interest Litigation Changed In The Era Of Liberalisation?
By Prashant Bhushan, Advocate
The foundations of public interest litigation were laid in the late 70s with cases like the Ratlam Municipalities case. The scope and breadth of public interest litigation were expanded in the Eighties from the initial environmental concerns, to concerns like bonded labour, child labour, the rights of detenues, inmates of various asylums, the rights of the poor to education, to shelter and other essential amenities which would enable them to lead a life of dignity.
...more | |
| - Contempt of court: need for a second look
By Markandey Katju - The Hindu, Monday, January 22, 2007
In a democracy the people should have the right to criticise judges. The purpose of the contempt power should not be to uphold the majesty and dignity of the court but only to enable it to function.
...more | |
| - Comments of the Committee on Judicial Accountability on the Judges Enquiry Bill, 2006.
by Committee on Judicial Accountability.
...more | |
| - Judicial Accountability or Illusion - the National Judicial Council Bill
by Prashant Bhushan, Advocate
The recent decision of the government to bring a bill to amend the Judges Inquiry Act and provide for the constitution of a National Judicial Council to inquire into complaints against errant judges is being perceived as a long awaited initiative to introduce some accountability for judges of the higher judiciary.
...more | |
| - Access to Justice: Judiciary watch
by Videh Upadhyay, Advocate, Supreme Court
The functioning of a democracy is dependent on the autonomy and efficacy of the three systems of the state, namely, parliament, executive and the judiciary. India in the last two decades has seen rapid erosion of the functioning of the parliament and the executive. In this scenario of failure of the state in ensuring its constitutional obligation and rights to the citizens and initiating social-economic transformation, the judiciary has often played a significant role in upholding the rule of law and thereby protecting the fundamentals of democracy in the country.
...more
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| Democracy and Justice
by Dunu Roy, Director, Hazards Centre
Is “democracy” a “good thing”? As the general elections approach, there is a concerted push to answer ‘yes’. Whereby, it is conveniently forgotten that for civil liberties to become a rallying cry, it was also necessary for the Emergency to be imposed! And, as one generation gives way before the next, another Emergency slowly creeps up onto an unwary nation. In many ways, the recent drive to clear the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi of slums and to convert the area into a national tourism-cum-cultural complex raises significant questions about the nature of Indian democracy.
...more | |
| - Questions without Answers
by Sukumar Muralidhar & V. Venkatesan, Frontline, Vol 18, Issue 09
Former Law Minister and Senior Advocate Shanti Bhushan releases his correspondence with the Judges of the Supreme Court, the President and the Prime Minister seeking an inquiry into certain allegations relating to Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand.
…more | |
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| - On Corruption In Judiciary And Judicial Accountability
by Hardev Singh, Peoples Democracy
A SPATE of scams involving members of higher judiciary in bribery, corruption, sex, favoritism and abuse of power has come as a great shock to the people. The arrest of Shamit Mukherjee, a Delhi High Court judge, just before being made permanent, magnified the shock beyond description so as to hasten the BJP-led government to announce the formation of a National Judicial Commission for appointments to the higher echelons of judiciary.
…more
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| - Accountability of Supreme Court: Arundhati Roy Case
By S.P.Sathe (EPW April 13, 2002) | |
| Can a citizen of India not criticise the Supreme Court’s decisions? Can she not criticise the procedures and management of the court? Is the court not supposed to be accountable? How will its accountability be enforced if it were made absolutely immune from public criticism?
...more | |
| PUCL Bulletin, August 2002 Judicial accountability
-- By Rajindar Sachar
The former Chief Justice of India, S.P. Bharucha, seemed to be echoing the lament in Hamlet, "Something is rotten in the State of Denmark" when he moaned recently that the integrity of about 20 per cent of the higher Judiciary was in doubt. Article 124(4) of the Constitution provides for the removal of a judge only on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity. The process of impeachment is cumbersome and the result uncertain. Effective alternative measures are necessary because in a democracy governed by the rule of law under a written Constitution the Judiciary has been assigned the role of a sentinel on the qui vive to protect the fundamental rights and to hold even the scales of justice between the citizen and the state.
There are credible complaints against the higher Judiciary. People talk with nostalgia of the not-so-distant past when, win or lose, the integrity of the higher Judiciary was never doubted. As the Supreme Court has said, "judicial office is essentially public trust. Society is, therefore, entitled to expect that a judge must be a man of high integrity, honesty and required to have moral vigor, ethical firmness and impervious to corrupt or venal influences." Hundreds of years ago, Francis Bacon, in his essay on 'Judicature', emphasised that "the place of justice is a hallowed place; and therefore not only the Bench, but the foot pace and precincts and purpose thereof ought to be preserved without scandal and corruption." But such is the irony that Bacon disgraced himself by indulging in acts of bribery and favouritism at the fag end of his career. This highlights the complexities and the sensitivities in the matter of effective, implementation of judicial honesty.
It is correct that the Supreme Court has neither administrative control over the High Courts nor the power on the judicial side to inquire into the misbehaviour of a Chief Justice or a judge of a High Court. But that does not mean the judge is an absolute master, not answerable for his conduct except through impeachment proceedings.
The Supreme Court has ruled that the Chief Justice of India and two senior colleagues on being prima facie satisfied about the correctness and truth touching the conduct of a High Court judge inconsistent with such high office could proceed against him through a process other than impeachment. In such a case, the judge concerned could be offered the option of resigning or facing an inquiry. I know the alternative of permitting the judge to resign when there has been misconduct may seem like taking the soft option, but considering the place of the Judiciary in our Constitutional frame as the bedrock of the rule of law, I would, to avoid public embarrassment, frankly want to vote for this option unless it involves: an open atrocious misconduct which must be publicly disclosed to serve as a warning. This Enquiry Committee will have the same personnel as is mandated for the impeachment proceedings, so as to inspire confidence about the impartiality of the proceedings. The plus point in this suggestion is that the constitution of a Committee of Judges to inquire into the misconduct could be initiated by the Chief Justice and his two colleagues and need not await the initiation by the Members of Parliament required for impeaching the judge, as mandated by the Constitution. Such a mode did work when some years back the then Chief Justice of India posed this alternative to a High Court judge and a Chief Justice and they quietly resigned rather than face impeachment... That is why the idea of a National Judicial Commission has been mooted to deal with appointment of High Court and Supreme Court judges and other connected matters. Of course, the details and the personnel of the judicial commission need to be debated. I am however, convinced that the leader of the Opposition must be a member of the panel. It is to be hoped that a commission will avoid the need for impeachment proceedings. Regarding removal, the Commission would remain a recommending body. Because, notwithstanding all the drawbacks, I am not convinced that removal of a High Court or Supreme Court judge should be through any method other than impeachment. I feel that removal from such high office should be publicly debated by the highest legislature, the representatives of the people, so that an assurance is given to the judge concerned that he is being judged by the people who in a democratic set - up are real sovereigns. I also feel that the retirement age of the Supreme Court and High Court judges should be the same. If that happens, all this lobbying, etc., will stop because, barring the case of a judge who may have the chance of being the Chief Justice of India, there will normally be no attraction for a High Court judge in trying into move Delhi, which would involve dislocation of his/her family and normal pattern of life.
The appointment of outside judges as Chief Justices of High Courts has failed. I feel this practice must cease because by following it two infirmities crop up. One, that the new Chief Justices mostly hold office for a short period in the new High Court and are not able to make any imprint on their colleagues or the functioning of the Court. This practice also leads to heartburn because some are appointed Chief Justices of the bigger Courts and some to the smaller Courts on no explainable principle excepting as a rule of thumb - hardly befitting judicial objectivity. Two, I am against the policy of non-consensual transfers of judges from one High Court to another. This policy would weaken the bulwark of our Constitution - namely, independence of the Judiciary - for as Justice Douglas of the U.S. Supreme Court said, "no matter how strong an individual judge's spine, the threat of punishment - (read transfer) is the greatest peril to judicial independence -would project as dark a shadow whether cast by political strangers or by judicial colleagues".
I do not underestimate even for a moment the damage some judges have caused to the judicial institutions by their unethical conduct, but damage control will be better done by selective transfer rather through a general policy.
The transfer policy also gives rise to the syndrome of sycophancy and flattery. That is unfortunate because the High Court, like the Supreme Court, represents the same aspects of sovereignty. If I sound a bit harsh, I can only invoke the caveat of Justice Holmes of the U.S. Supreme Court, who said, "trust that no one will understand me to be speaking with disrespect of the law because I criticise it so freely. But one may criticise even what one reveres... And I should show less than devotion, if I did not do what in me lies to improve it." |
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Labels: CORRUPTION, INDIA, judge, justice, POLICE COMPLAINT
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