This Article is From Jul 24, 2014

Justice Katju's Case of Post-Retirement Conscience

(Harish Khare is a senior journalist, commentator and a research scholar)

Innocent coincidences rarely happen in public life in India. And innocuous coincidences happen even more rarely in the highly structured and calibrated world of the Indian judiciary. The sudden and abrupt disclosure from the current chairman of the Press Council of India, Justice Markandey Katju, about a Madras High Court judge who has been dead now for some years, is as baffling as it is mysterious. The maligned man is not alive to defend himself and everyone feels free to describe him "corrupt" or "tainted."

It is easy to attribute motives to Justice Katju. After all, we do live in strangely cynical times and Justice Katju has earned for himself a reputation of being erratic, unconventional, and unpredictable.

What Justice Katju has managed to do is to demonstrate rather compellingly that the selection of judges is far from an impartial and independent process. It is even possible to suggest that the "controversy" has been manufactured to help the new government introduce some balance in the executive-judiciary equation. And let there be no mistake, this kind of re-alignment may not be an entirely undesirable course correction.

Whatever the hidden motives or agenda, the Katju disclosure raises a larger issue of courage and conscience on the part of men and women who occupy high institutional positions. Why was it not possible for Justice Katju to take his objections to a logical conclusion? Why could he not gather the courage to resign when he was still on the Bench? Was it the only case Justice Katju came to know of where impropriety was deemed to have been committed? At the very least, why could Justice Katju not find himself troubled enough when the UPA government was still in power? Was his conscience untroubled in accepting the appointment as the Press Council of India from a political establishment that to the best of his knowledge had tried to suborn the judiciary as an institution?

These questions are not being posed to rubbish Justice Katju's disclosure but to invite attention to the larger syndrome of a post-retirement conscience. There is a very self-serving tendency among retired functionaries to point fingers, especially at the political leadership of the day. On the other hand, there are so few cases of a bureaucrat or a judge or a police officer putting in his/her papers rather than going along with a blatant illegality. Justice Katju would like us to believe that as many as three Chief Jutices of India colluded in the continuation of an undesirable man as a high court judge. And, yet at no point did Justice Katju feel strongly enough to walk out on a compromised system. Justice Katju failed a test. 

Individual failings or successes cumulatively do define a society and its ethics. In our case, we have perfected the rhythm of hypocrisy and the music of double talk to go with it. It is now our national character and has prevented us from finding lasting solutions to most of our problems. We believe that fundamental tenets of ethics and morality change with a change of government. This has hobbled our search for a corruption-free political system. Justice Katju has only added to the prevailing cynicism.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
.