The CJI's mirror
Justice Kapadia's home truths must hit home
For all those who seek a new institution as an answer to the corruption of existing ones, here is an invaluable reminder from a learned judge: it is people who make and unmake institutions. Delivering the fifth M C Setalvad Memorial Lecture, the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Justice S H Kapadia, offered fellow judges some valuable homilies on how they should conduct themselves in public and private, on the bench and off it. He reminded the Indian judiciary of the limits of its constitutional role. In defining the role of the judiciary and its relationship with the executive and the legislature and in stating baldly some dos and don’ts, Justice Kapadia has elevated the status of the CJI and of the judiciary as a whole. One man has restored to the highest court of the land dignity and prestige that had been robbed by another man. While the former CJI has been criticised for bringing a high office of the nation into disrepute, his successor is today seen as having restored dignity and majesty to that very office. It required a new individual, not a new institution, to reverse a disturbing trend.
Reminding the judiciary of the doctrine of separation of powers, Justice Kapadia said, “We must refuse to sit as a super-legislature, to weigh the wisdom of legislation. We are not concerned with the wisdom, need or appropriateness of the legislation.” This, too, is a valuable reminder for an institution that is not only acting as a judge and jury but also as a prosecutor, investigator and even jailer. Every institution of the state, and the fourth estate too, has a role to play and nothing beyond that. The moment one institution begins to encroach on another, the constitutional and democratic order is disturbed. This is not good for either democracy or development.
Justice Kapadia also observed in his lecture that “a judge must inevitably choose to be a little aloof and isolated from the community at large. He should not be in contact with lawyers, individuals or political parties, their leaders or ministers unless it be on purely social occasions. When one enters the judges’ world, one inevitably has to impose upon himself certain obvious restrictions.” He urged fellow judges to resist patronage, guard against preferential treatment, and not be tempted by post-retirement assignments, since these “can give rise to corruption if and when quid pro quo makes a demand on such judges”. Politicians, businesspersons and others with power and wealth have long known how to subvert the judiciary with favours. Justice Kapadia has done well to speak freely, frankly and wisely. His invaluable words must sink into the consciousness of those in positions of authority in every institution of Indian democracy.