Regular readers of this blog knows how critical am I of the Indian Judiciary. Couple of decades of Weak Governments and still weaker leaders emboldened the Judiciary to encroach the domain of the Executive, and pass orders on everything from Cowdung to BCCI.
And it is getting worse.
The Collegium System practiced by the SC in appointing Judges to the higher courts is an utter disgrace that should never have been allowed in the first place. That SC, who spoke in a sanctimonious tone on the Conflict of Interests in BCCI, did not blink an eye when it comes to hearing a case on Judicial Accountability Bill passed by the Parliament with a thumping majority, where the SC itself was the Culprit and worse still, passed a judgment in its own favour, must go down in the history of jurisprudence as its lowest point. The least they could have done is to have the case heard by a group of arbiters.
The recent protest by the four senior most judges against the CJI, would have and should have resulted in the sacking of the four of them within 24 hours in any decent organization. That the Judges did not deem it fit to protest against the lack of strength in various courts, outdated Judicial system that cries for modernization, unwanted PILs, courts taking up absurd cases, and the bane of the Indian Judicial System - adjournments, but rather chose to strike over 'Important Case being allotted/not allotted' tells much about where the priorities lay. The CJI has to date not commented on it, the Judges did not even get a show cause notice and no one knows what happened to the grievance. Only in India this can happen.
Adding insult to injury, the Collegium had the gumption to violate all the norms for Promotion, and nominated a junior and a very much junior High Court judge to the Supreme Court Judges panel. That the Government sent the nomination back is the only saving grace.
The SC has no accountability. It took the charisma and the bloody mindedness of Jagmohan Dalmiya and those who came after him at BCCI to break the England-Australia vice like grip on ICC, and made India the prima donna in World Cricket. No one disagrees that BCCI needed reforms and there were many unsavoury things happening there. SC pointed out cronyism, which is laughable, as it is SC that practices cronyism better than anyone. SC's meddling in BCCI made BCCI a laughing stock in World Cricket and India losing its clout and revenue share. SC appointed a Committee of Administrators to oversee the implementation of SC recommended reforms, which itself was an overreach and absurd. Couple of years down the line, none of the reforms have been implemented, and instead of Srinivasan or XYZ heading the Board, it is the unelected COA that runs the Board. And no one knows when they will leave or whether. There is a Conflict of Interest accusation against one of the COA members herself!
Take the case of Tamil Nadu Assembly. The Speaker, rightly or wrongly, disqualified AIADMK MLAs loyal to TTV Dinakaran, who went to Court. Fair enough. The HC immediately gave a stay, and asked the Speaker not to conduct a Floor Test till they give their verdict. It has been a few months since this stay was given, and again no one knows when a judgment will be given. This is blatantly incompetent and unfair on the people of TN. In all likelihood, TN is currently being run by a minority government who is taking policy decisions that has far reaching implications.
The President of India, on the recommendation of Election Commission of India, both Statutory Bodies, dismissed 21 AAP MLAs for holding Office of Profit. Once a MLA is dismissed, elections have to be held within 6 months. The HC has given a stay and have asked the EC not to commence the Election Process till it gives a verdict. Only God knows, when the Verdict will be given. In the meanwhile, the people are not being represented which is against all that our democratic values stand for.
Our Judicial System, modeled on the cumbersome British System, is outdated and broken. It cant be fixed. The Judges have become a law unto themselves, many or most are corrupt, either morally or financially, and it has become impossible to make them accountable for anything. This has to change. We need to demolish the existing system and create a modern Judiciary that is in tune with the aspirations of the current generation and not hang on to the colonial past. First thing that has to go is the silly dresses of the Judges, the Advocates and those poor people who wear fancy uniforms and ushers in the Judge- Nauseating. We need to computerize all the cases, verdicts. Cases have to be heard on a time bound scale. Let us leave the existing courts to handle the current set of cases in the current format. At least effective 1st January 2020, we can have all new cases diverted to a parallel system of courts that is modern in all aspects.
Can we pull it off?
A Country and a leader who pulled of the demonetization of 86% of Currency without any major fall out, or who implement GST can do this too.
Judicial reforms in parallel with Police reforms is the need of the hour. We were a tax non compliant nation till GST and Aadhar, but it is changing fast. We continue to be a no law abiding nation. That is because, in India, it pays to be a criminal. As a wag quipped on hearing Boney Kapoor is suspected of murdering Sridevi " He must be an idiot if he were to try it in Dubai, where he is sure to get his head chopped off. If I were him, I would do it in India, and be rest assured that I will never be arrested"
Seeing the unconvinced face of this listener he laughed loud " As a living proof, we have an Ex Minister roaming free"
Will Modi do something to fix this mess? If he misses this opportunity, we may never get another for a Century at least. And posterity will never forgive us.
We need to ensure 'Neethi and Nyayam' for all. India has history of excellent jurisprudence that goes back thousands of years. Our history and scriptures are full of wisdom and rules about ensuring Neethi and Nyayam. We need to go back to our roots, take out the best, and create a Neethi Vyavastha that is fair, quick and equitable to the rich and the poor, men and women, the mighty and weak.
Yatho Dharmasthatho Jaya:
