Though Supreme Court judges are accustomed to adjudicate on tons of money, the highlight of the year that is coming to a close was that they had to handle figures that were too long to be pronounced. The riddles of undetermined but astronomical losses to the exchequer in the 2G scam and the hordes in tiny spots on the world map are yet to be unscrambled. Sums involved in the mega swindles could surpass multiplujillion or bsquatumatillion (that is how Scrooge, “the world’s second richest duck”, counted his wealth).
Meanwhile, the corporate world is eagerly awaiting the judgment of the Supreme Court in Vodafone’s income tax appeal in the $11-billion acquisition of Hutchinson’s India operations. The revenue authorities demand $2 billion as capital gains generated in India. Vodafone maintains that the transactions were done abroad by entities based in Britain, the Netherlands, Cayman Islands, Mauritius and Hong Kong. The ruling will affect several such deals in recent years.
The court’s orders on mining shook not only industries but also governments. Operations were suspended in three Karntaka districts and exports banned. One Karnataka minister was jailed and politicians in Andhra Pradesh were singed. Earlier, the multinational cement major, Lafarge, got relief from long uncertainty when the Supreme Court allowed it to resume limestone mining in Meghalaya. This also benefited Bangladesh, where the limestone was being sent to feed a cement plant. The judgment also set forth 15 environmental guidelines for the future.
The Uttar Pradesh government suffered several shocks in the land acquisition judgments delivered by the Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court. The courts found that the acquisitions were not proper and violated the rules set in the Land Acquisition Act. They benefited industrialists and property developers. Farmers either got their land back or were given higher compensation.
While the corruption issue rocked the country in the second half of the year, P J Thomas’ appointment as the chief vigilance commissioner was quashed by the apex court since he was himself not seen above board. This casts a shadow on the selection of Lok Pal when the institution comes into effect. Who is the cleanest of them all will be a moot question.
Talking about corruption, the miasma enveloped the highest echelons of the judiciary. One high court judge tried to defend himself in Parliament but resigned half-way; another avoided the agony of impeachment by quitting even before the issue reached Parliament; and a woman judge was chargesheeted for accepting a bagful at her doorstep. The former chief justice of India, K G Balakrishnan, and his family are still living under a cloud of corruption charges.
Seven judges retired out of the court’s sanctioned strength of 31 from July. Five have been appointed in their place. The procedure of selection and appointment is itself in controversy. Though several questions related to the process have been referred to a larger Bench, it has not been set up. For the time being, a collegium headed by the Chief Justice is selecting judges and the executive have little say in it. This primacy claimed by judges has been questioned and the role of the executive is in for re-examination.
Meanwhile, the arrears of cases have gone up in all courts. Though some analysts have tortured statistics to get desired confessions supporting their positive view, the picture is still alarming.
In an important ruling affecting human rights and anti-terrorism action, the court declared Salwa Judum, a state-sponsored guerilla army, illegal. The Chhattisgarh government had tried to justify giving guns to youth since they knew the local terrain better than other law-enforcing organisations and would be better able to tackle the Naxalite problem.
Some other human-rights issues pending before the court are right to food and right to education. A public interest petition led to various orders asking the government to distribute surplus food to starving millions. However, the case is stalled on the issue of identifying the “below poverty line” and the Planning Commission’s stand on this issue. The court also heard at length the right to education case, after the government made it compulsory to have at least 26 per cent of a class from poor households living in the “neighbourhood”.
Judicial idiosyncrasies continue to show forth in judgments. A dead temple elephant was compensated with Rs 14 lakh by the Supreme Court, while deaths on the road are settled for a few lakhs. A retired judge of the Supreme Court got Rs 100 crore after a TV channel wrongly showed his picture in a case of mistaken identity. A stamp vendor was awarded two years of rigorous imprisonment after eight years of trial for demanding Rs 5 as bribe. Prosecution in the assassination of Indira Gandhi Cabinet Minister L N Misra has not taken off for 27 years. “The wheels of justice grind slowly but exceedingly well” — even before the trial.
