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| M J Antony: Law and disorder | | From striking lawyers to near-impeachment and corruption, the year saw the judiciary nursing self-inflicted wounds |
| M J Antony / New Delhi Dec 29, 2010, 00:56 IST |
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Though the Supreme Court was seen triumphantly assaulting the fortresses of the executive and the bureaucracy in the 2G scam, the year that is coming to an end also saw the apex judiciary nursing self-inflicted wounds. In a sub-plot to the A Raja story, a sitting Supreme Court judge took the unprecedented step of issuing a press release regarding the ex-minister’s abortive attempt to influence a Madras High Court judge in a bail case. The judge involved the former chief justice of India and a judge of that high court in a murky war of words. So far as the public is concerned, all the three judges could not be right simultaneously and each could be accused of inaction when such a serious charge was made.
The judiciary suffered other travails too. Two high court judges were on the verge of impeachment. But one was promoted and installed in another high court amid outcries by the lawyers at the receiving end. The mystery of a cash bag found at the door of a high court judge remains unsolved. During the meandering investigation by the brethren, with two steps forward, and three back, the judge was transferred to another high court, again ignoring protests there. It was the President’s pleasure.
Meanwhile, the bar continued to defy the rules of the game by going on strike at the drop of a gown. In Orissa, it was because a woman judge asked a senior counsel to sit down. Calcutta lawyers attacked the chief justice’s chambers on another flimsy complaint. Rajasthan lawyers took to the streets appealing for action against a high court judge. Shimla lawyers burnt the effigy of their former chief justice for shifting district courts. Delhi lawyers boycotted the courts, first to protest against corruption, and then against the arrest of a member of the Bar Council of India who was caught by the CBI allegedly taking a bribe for granting recognition to a law college.
Matters in the Allahabad High Court must be particularly bad since the Supreme Court recorded in a judgment that “something was rotten” there. The high court moved a petition to expunge the remark, but the Supreme Court stood its ground. That high court also made waves by conferring legal status to matters of faith in its Ayodhya judgment.
The Supreme Court saw a change of guard in mid-year. The vocal and easy-going K G Balakrishnan was replaced by a no-nonsense and publicity-shy S H Kapadia. While the former had a liberal approach to public interest litigation, the present incumbent is not known to have admitted any new such petition this year. In the last two months, he was listening to laborious arguments, trying to draw boundaries for admitting PILs. Industrialists and policy makers are anxiously watching it, since several projects are facing public opposition through litigation. The La Farge case, in which the French company is accused of denuding the north-eastern forests, is awaiting the outcome of this exercise by three judges with the assistance of a court-appointed senior counsel. How the three-judge bench will overcome the definitive pronouncements of long-standing Constitution benches on ecological issues will be keenly watched.
The most notable judgment in the corporate field was in the row between the Ambani brothers. The court held that gas is a national asset, which could be sold only at the price set by the government. In a blow to the younger brother, the court also clarified that the family arrangement on gas distribution had no legal status.
The central government woke up after a quarter century to file a “curative petition” seeking higher compensation for the 1984 Bhopal gas victims. Earlier, industrialist Keshub Mahindra and six other honchos of the guilty chemical unit were sentenced to two years for negligence. That set off a smoggy debate, some accusing the Supreme Court of not only compromising the compensation demand for a pittance more than a decade back, but also diluting the criminal charge from murder to negligence.
Another issue with wide ramifications was the tax liability of Vodafone in its acquisition of shares in telecom companies. The court asked the company to deposit Rs 2,500 crore before hearing its appeal. Appeals over mining licences have come from states like Orissa, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
On the social front, corruption in the public distribution system and Right to Education dominated the court hearings. When the court asked the government to distribute foodgrain rotting in godowns, the prime minister and the food minister stated that it was impossible. Beneath all these debates was the tension between the judiciary and the executive, which has been going on for several decades. There is no end in sight for this chronic phenomenon.
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