B G Kolsepatil - Why this deafening silence of the court? // MK Venu - BJP's treatment of Gopal Subramanium is a dark sign of things to come
NB - A fine article, sir. I fear the political forces now in office intend to do to the Indian Constitution what they are doing to our historical archives. The deafening silence you refer to is also apparent in the stance of those who assured us that our democratic institutions could resist such tyrannical assaults. But your article is a sign that citizens of probity can and will speak out - DS
‘(the counter revolution)… tried many forms and devices,
but soon learned that it could come to power only with the help of the state
machine and never against it... in the centre of the counter revolution stood
the judiciary.’ Franz Neumann; ‘Behemoth: The Structure and
Practice of National Socialism’; (1944) 1963, p 27
For the full citation scroll down
There is plausibly, even hopefully, an inter-institutional confrontation in the offing, between the executive, the most powerful branch of government in the world’s largest constitutional democracy, and the judiciary, the weakest and “least dangerous branch of government”, as described by Alexander Hamilton. This is over the decision of the Supreme Court collegium recommending the elevation of Gopal Subramanium, a distinguished senior advocate, and the purported reservations of the present executive.
First, the facts. In early May, it was decided by a collegium of judges of the SC that two judges of high courts and two distinguished members of the SC Bar, Gopal Subramanium and Rohinton Nariman, who had both served as solicitors-general of India and resigned from these distinguished offices for different reasons of principle, had been recommended for elevation as judges of the SC. Both are respected by the Bar for their finicky, even on occasion prickly, independence, the precise hallmark of a judge of the SC or, for that matter, any court in a constitutional liberal democracy. The only formality that remained was the ritual inquiry report from the Intelligence Bureau, as they were new entrants to the highest judicial service; there being no need for any such reports from the executive for those who already hold constitutional office.
This is the law of the land, particularly in the aftermath of the ruling in the landmark judges’ case by a large bench of the SC [AIR 1994 SC 268] and reiterated by an even larger bench [AIR 1999 SC 1] that every candidate, whether a serving high court judge or a distinguished member from the SC Bar, recommended by the collegium has always been eventually appointed by the executive. The simple rationale is that judges of the highest court have better expertise in judging who is suitable to serve alongside themselves than the executive for, after all, the judges know more about law and justice than any member of the executive. Another fact that has gone unreported is that Subramanium, if appointed, would have had about 14 months as the chief justice of India.
The Central government, through intentional innuendoes leaked/ planted via the media, made known that there were reservations about Subramanium because of his purported lack of integrity. It was also risibly argued that this was based on certain CBI reports. But even after he allegedly made CBI officers meet the counsel for A. Raja, the then telecom minister and at the time a suspect in the CBI case, the CBI had engaged Subramanium’s services in several sensitive cases, including the Bombay bomb blast case of 1993, one relating to Dawood Ibrahim’s nexus with certain gutkha manufacturers, the demolition of the disputed site in Ayodhya and so on. And after he had resigned from his post as solicitor-general on grounds of principle, his services were specifically sought by the CBI. Further, if these were real doubts that the executive had, then it would have written to the collegium with the necessary confidentiality. It did not. It only leaked tidbits to justify a confrontation with the judiciary in a matter where the law is very clear.
The only ones who could have taken up cudgels on Subramanium’s behalf at this time is the collegium. It is yet to respond. Why this unseemly delay on its part? It is a settled question of law that the Constitution is what the judges of the SC say it is. Will they or won’t they defend him? This is a question that requires an answer.
More so in view of the institutional independence of the judiciary, reiterated by the SC in two concurring judgments that judges know more than the executive about who is suitable to be a SC judge. There are further issues of finer legality or propriety involved. Some respected members of the Bar opine that when the collegium had sent a composite list of four, the executive could not have segregated the same without the prior consent of the collegium. Was this done? If so, was it over a telephone call from the executive?
A famous American judge, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, once said that the only qualities required of a judge were honesty and courage, and no other qualities, because all the issues of law and facts of the case would be supplied by the counsel for the parties and where it was felt to be required, by the amicus curiae to the case. Subramanium is such a man, whom I can say, with all honesty and conscience, is one who listens to all, in his fierce independent-minded pursuit of the truth of the case so that he may be able to assist the court in the best possible manner, but who, in the end, only acted according to his conscience. This is why he was raised directly by the SC in 1993 as a 35-year-old as a senior advocate. His subsequent assistance to the judiciary was valued and respected by the Bar and the bench, which is why he was invited to join the bench in 2011. He declined this invitation on the highest nuances of propriety, because his relative was an SC judge at the time. The man had proved by the highest account that even as a lawyer he respected the institution of the judiciary, perhaps even more than the judiciary itself. Now, after he had honoured this latest invitation, after he had accorded his consent because his relative was no more a member of the noblest office, why is there such a deafening silence from the judiciary?
It is sad that the Central government is not showing respect for the institutional independence of the judiciary, a basic feature of the Constitution. It is also surprising that the executive should try to encroach upon the institutional independence of the judiciary at such an early stage, when there are so many other problems to solve. Indira Gandhi too made a vain assault on the judiciary by packing it with men she felt were more compliant and amenable to persuasion in a fit of hubris while basking in the afterglow of popular approval for her victory in the 1971 War.
It is necessary to appreciate the significance of judicial independence. The executive government is the highest litigant in the country, like in all other constitutional liberal democracies. When the executive is unwilling or unable to do justice, the common man can only throw himself at the mercy of the court, and the judiciary is expected to deliver justice without fear or favour, affection or ill-will — in short, with independence, while always appearing independent. The substance of justice will be spoiled with the slightest appearance of cohabitation with the executive. This is the bedrock of our judicial system: “It is of fundamental importance that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.” [[1924] 1 KB 256]. The appearance of justice is important to the substance of justice and its absence negates the second.
We, the people, who gave unto ourselves our Constitution, await the legal guardians of the Constitution to discharge their constitutional duty. Will the SC be able to take on the executive in this encounter that has been dared by the executive? We are with the SC in its attempt to uphold its institutional independence. We expect the judges of the SC to be men and women of the noblest character, who will respect their own judgement of the man they invited to sit with themselves.
The writer is a former judge of the Bombay High Court
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/why-this-deafening-silence-of-the-court/99/
MK Venu - BJP's treatment of Gopal Subramanium is a dark sign of things to come
On justice and politics:
..Unlike administrative acts, which rest on considerations of convenience and expediency, judicial decisions rest on law, that is on right and wrong, and they always enjoy the limelight of publicity. Law is perhaps the most pernicious of all weapons in political struggles, precisely because of the halo that surrounds the concepts of right and justice. ‘Right’, Hocking has said, ‘is psychologically a claim whose infringement is met with a resentment deeper than the injury would satisfy, a resentment that may amount to passion for which men will risk life and property as they would never do for an expediency’.
When it becomes ‘political’, justice breeds hatred and despair among those it singles out for attack. Those whom it favours, on the other hand, develop a profound contempt for the very value of justice; they know that iit can be purchased by the powerful. As a device for strengthening one group at the expense of others, for eliminating enemies and assisting political allies, law then threatens the fundamental convictions upon which the tradition of our civilization rests..
MK Venu - BJP's treatment of Gopal Subramanium is a dark sign of things to come
... the whole episode could even be an early sign of what
might be described as the "Gujaratisation" of the highest judiciary.
It is plain to the naked eye that sheer use of political power by the Gujarat
executive in the past ten years had resulted in a certain loss of public
confidence in the entire investigation and judicial system in that state. It
was that loss of confidence that had resulted in many critical cases --
starting from those of the riot victims -- being transferred by the Supreme
Court to places outside the state. If such a thing were to happen countrywide,
god alone knows where this will lead us. One hopes better sense will prevail
among those wielding the levers of power.
The killing in an alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin, his
wife and later Tulsiram Prajapati, who was the sole witness, was one of the
many cases which the Supreme Court brought out of Gujarat
to ensure a fair investigation and trial. Subramanium has said in an interview
that it was entirely by chance that the SC bench asked him to become an amicus
in the case. Gopal says he was sitting in the court waiting to argue some other
case when the judges,hearing the Sohrabuddin matter, asked him impromptu
whether he would assist the court in that case. He agreed and did it
commendably by bringing to light the Amit Shah link in the case. Indeed, if
Gopal hadn't been present there, he may not have got that responsibility... It
is clear that the Amit Shah link is what has created so much heat. Now the BJP
government seems to be giving out a signal that its mandate in the 2014 general
elections gives it the license to politicise all that the Supreme Court has
done so far in relation to several Gujarat cases. There appears to be a
mistaken thinking that the mandate itself might dilute many of those cases.
Remember, the BJP has made the "people's court" argument before. It
is not a coincidence that when Subramanium's appointment was being questioned
last week by the Centre, the Mumbai special court judge dealing with the
Sohrabuddin matter was chiding Amit Shah's lawyer for seeking Shah's exemption
from appearing in the court on rather thin grounds. Subsequently news came this
week that the same Mumbai judge has been transferred. One doesn't know whether
this is purely coincidental or another display of BJP's newly acquired power...
..Unlike administrative acts, which rest on considerations of convenience and expediency, judicial decisions rest on law, that is on right and wrong, and they always enjoy the limelight of publicity. Law is perhaps the most pernicious of all weapons in political struggles, precisely because of the halo that surrounds the concepts of right and justice. ‘Right’, Hocking has said, ‘is psychologically a claim whose infringement is met with a resentment deeper than the injury would satisfy, a resentment that may amount to passion for which men will risk life and property as they would never do for an expediency’.
When it becomes ‘political’, justice breeds hatred and despair among those it singles out for attack. Those whom it favours, on the other hand, develop a profound contempt for the very value of justice; they know that iit can be purchased by the powerful. As a device for strengthening one group at the expense of others, for eliminating enemies and assisting political allies, law then threatens the fundamental convictions upon which the tradition of our civilization rests..
Franz Neumann; Behemoth: The Structure and Practice of National Socialism’; (1944) 1963, p 27 < http://www.unz.org/Pub/NeumannFranz-1942-00027>
See also
