The so-called revelation of Justice Markandey Katju about a
corrupt judge in Madras High Court is a classic example of opportunism. What is
shocking is not that there was a corrupt judge in the Madras High Court but the
disclosure of Markendey Katju after years of his retirement from the Supreme
Court of India. He is presently holding the post of the Chairman of the Press
Council of India after his retirement as a judge of the Supreme Court. There is
no gainsaying that there are large numbers of corrupt, incompetent judges, who
are bereft of any moral scruples. Such judges are not confined only to the
Madras High Court but they can be found in all High Courts across the country.
The moot question is why Justice Markandey Katju remained tight
lipped for such a long period of time? Why did he not open his mouth until he
was in position of authority as the judge of the Apex Court? The judge about
whom he has referred to in his lead article of the Times of India of 21st July, 2014 can be easily identified by the
advocates of Madras High Court. He was none else but the late Justice Ashok
Kumar, who expired nearly five years ago in 2009. The late Justice Ashok Kumar
had granted bail to the DMK leader Shri Karunanidhi and it is a known fact Shri
Karunanidhi was instrumental in his elevation as the judge of the Madras High
Court.
Be that as it may, Justice Markandey Katju was the Chief Justice
of Madras High Court but in his news article in the Times of India, he has
displayed the timidity of not naming either the late Justice Ashok Kumar or the
octogenarian leader of Tamilnadu K. Karunanidhi, who was responsible in
providing the protective cover to him. Granted that DMK was in alliance with
the Congress Party, which was in power at the Centre and Shri Manmohan Singh,
the Prime Minister was a very weak person ready to bend backwards to save his
seat. However, the million-dollar question is who prevented Justice Markandey
Katju from writing to the then Chief Justice of India and the Collegium of
senior judges and informing them with the factual position. As a Chief Justice
of the Madras High Court, he could have prevented Justice Ashok Kumar from
holding the court as is the precedent the Bombay High Court. And this was also
done in the case of Justice Ramaswami of the Supreme Court of India, he was
divested of the responsibility of presiding over the bench, when allegations of
corruption flew thick and fast against him.
It is in the pubic domain that impeachment proceedings were proceeded
against him but it could not get through in Parliament because the then Prime
Minister Shri P.V. Narsinga Rao decided to abstain during the crucial voting.
The recent example of Justice Soumitra Sen of Calcutta High Court when impeachment
proceedings were initiated against him in Parliament but before the voting
could take place he resigned from the post, thus making all debates in
parliament infrctuous. Justice P.D. Dinakaran’s case is also an example that how
a tainted could be effectively made dys-functional?
Therefore, if Justice Markandey Katju was interested in cleansing
the judiciary from corruption he should have taken the lead when he was the
Chief Justice of Madras High Court but alas, he did not do any such thing. He
is now flogging the name of a person who is no more in this world. It is very easy
to level allegations against a dead man but very difficult to prove because the
dead man will not come to contravene the allegations. All the same, it is also
the part of the our culture that a person who is dead should not be soiled and
besmirched. Here Justice Katju has again committed the ethical wrong and
thereby he has done damage to the credibility of the Supreme Court of India by
naming those Chief Justices, who have already retired. Now it, the turn of
those retired Chief Justices namely; Justice R.C. Lahuti, Justice Y. K.
Sabharwal and Justice K.G. Balakrishnan who are fortunately alive to set the records
straight. For the restoration of the
credibility of judiciary, it will be in the fitness of things that all three
retired Chief Justices must do so, otherwise go down in the history with
tainted image.
The owe it the nation whether they compromised the independence of
the judiciary by accommodating corrupt judged under the political pressure of
the day? They must also tell the nation why they yielded to the pressure. Having said it all, Justice Katju also owes explanation to the
people of the country that why he not made efforts to purify the judiciary when
he was holding the high positions of Chief Justice of the Madras and Delhi High
Courts and the Supreme Court of India? What prevented him to do so? If he fails
to offer satisfactory explanation then he will also carry the baggage of infamy
in history. It is pertinent to point out that Justice Markandey Katju’s term as
the Chairman of the Press Council of India is coming to close in the month of
September 2014. In case he gets the second term, the public will have the
impression that here is a person who can manage the good of both worlds
irrespective of whether it is Congress of BJP.
This further underlines the fact that the National Judiciary Commission
has become the need of the hour and it must be introduced sooner than later for
the appointment of the judges. So long the immense discretionary powers remains
vested in the members of Collegium, there will be no scope of rooting out the
corruption. Transparency in the appointment of judges and introduction of
technology must be brought about as soon as possible. There is no doubt that is
status-quoist will oppose it tooth and nail but for any change, the defeat of
status quoism needs to be hardly emphasized.
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