his strength on the floor of the House.
But you and Modi were impatient
and wanted to prove the point that
you were above the law of the land.
The dismissal of the government was
utterly wrong.
In fact, Joseph’s verdict was upheld
by the Supreme Court bringing the
dismissed chief minister back in
the saddle. The whole episode could
have been averted if your party was
more democratic and waited for the
elections. Instead, you encouraged the
Aya Rams and Gay a Rams to make
mincemeat of democracy in the state.
Alas, you saw the verdict as a
verdict against the BJP government.
That is where you and your party
erred. By not appointing Justice
Joseph, you were giving a signal to
all the judges that promotions and
post-retirement jobs depended on
how pliable they were as judges. It
is a dangerous trend.
Judgeship is not the birthright
of anyone, the least of all Justice
KM Joseph’s. He has already proved
that he would be guided solely by the
merits of a case. For a judge, no other
quality is greater than this quality to
give a verdict without fear or favour.
Whether he becomes a Supreme
Court judge or not, he has already
found a place in the hearts of the
people as a judge of principles. By the
way, he is the worthy son of a worthy
father whose voluminous reports as
Chairman of the Law Commission
are a treat for anyone interested in
the constitutional and administrate
law of the country. It is not necessary
that one should become a judge of
the Supreme Court to prove one’s
brilliance!
We recently heard about a judge
of the High Court of Rajasthan who
said that peacocks were the most
beautiful creation of God as they never
copulated to produce their offspring.
Have you heard about a judge by the
name Padmanabhan Subramanian
Poti? He did not become a judge of the
Supreme Court. The highest position
he could reach was as Chief Justice of
the Kerala and Gujarat high courts.
However, he is still remembered for
the pathbreaking judgements he
delivered.
Given your power and the readiness
to use it for political purposes, you
may succeed in preventing Justice
Joseph from becoming a Supreme
Court judge but do not think that
power will stay with you forever.
You are never tired of mentioning
how Indira Gandhi tried to pack the
Supreme Court with her nominees
and how during the Emergency the
apex court ruled that even a person’s
right to life stood suspended.
Instead of learning from the
mistakes she committed, you are
emulating her in a cruder, devious
manner. She had at least the fig leaf
of the Emergency to cover her strong-
arm methods? What right do you
have to arm-twist the judiciary? Do
you know that the judiciary is one of
the few institutions that still instils
confidence in the minds of the people?
Your blatant interference will sound
the death-knell of the independence
of the judiciary. That is the greatest
disservice that you can do to the idea
that is India.
37 | May 2018 | www.smartgovernance.in
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Courtesy: Indian Currents