DR. S. AUSAF SAIED VASFI painfully laments on the growing rot in the Government machinery, especially in judiciary.
No system can run without justice, be it Imperialist, Socialist, Hindu, Buddhist, or Zionist or any other. Justice is the guarantee of social poise and equilibrium. Justice is the very lifeblood of a democracy. It is the sheet-anchor of societal balance and secularism. Justice is the bedrock of heterogeneity. Justice strengthens popular faith in government. Justice promotes values and solidifies national and individual character.
“When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, everything is lost.” All of us, perhaps at our primary level, read this axiom, this dictum, this universal truth. With the passage of time, this truth, however, seems to have lost its universality. Now it appears to have become a relative term, which in simple language, means what to Mr. X may be an established, un-disputed truth, to Mr. Y, may or may not be so. “Times have changed” that is the wise and progressive Mr. Y’s core argument.
ROT SETS IN
The Supreme Court, however, used a different language on the consequences of “times have changed,” when it warned: “The rot has set in.”
The details of the rot, however, are staggering. Currently there are at least three scams under the scanner. In the Ghaziabad judiciary scam, illegal withdrawal of Rs 23 crore, in February, is involved. This amount belonged to the Provident Fund of class IV employees. The second scam relates to two judges from Punjab and Haryana. This is followed by the apex-court Chief Justice’s recommendation for impeachment of a Calcutta High Court Judge, charged with what a judge is not expected to be.
1, 8, 23
Besides one in the Supreme Court, the UP police have identified eight in the Allahabad High Court, one each in Uttarakhand and Calcutta High Courts and 23 Lower Court judges. At the request of the Ghaziabad police chief, the apex court has permitted handing over of the probe material to the C.B.I. for a “transparent and fair” probe.
To quote the SSP: “Several documentary/oral evidences have been collected against one judge of the Supreme Court, 10 judges of the High Courts and 23 judicial officers of district level.” He adds in his breath-taking report: “It has also emerged during investigation of this case that all the costly items (split ACs, refrigerators and mobile phones) which are mentioned in the aforesaid bills, got recovered by Ashutosh Asthana, were given to then district judges, additional district judges, etc. who have been elevated presently as judges in the Supreme Court and various High Courts?”
STANDARDS FALLEN
Understandably, touched to the quick, a Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat, V.S. Sirpukar and G.S. Singhvi appeared to agree that the standards of public life, which used to be impeccable in case of judges, had fallen. It wanted to know: “Has the existing mechanism become outdated?”
The spontaneous response of the man-on-the-street or the ‘Aam Aadmi’ is: Yes! Unfortunately, because of the gradual devaluation of moral values in public and private life, the existing mechanism seems to have collapsed or is near collapse.
MERELY TECHNICAL?
“The time has come because people have started categorising some judges as very honest despite it being the foremost qualification of any judge. It is the system. We have to find a mechanism to stem the rot,” the SC Bench said conceding that the rot has set its foot in the hitherto forbidden territory and spread fast.
Here we, however, are afraid of only “technical steps” like stringent rules and regulations would be adopted to check the rot. Our feeling is the rot is basically moral and all-pervading. Therefore, comprehensive moral remedies alone would curb and cure the malaise.
CRISES
As referred to above, the disease is not confined to judiciary alone but the Indian populace as a whole. In crisis is our democracy, our secularism, our plural national character, our social value-system, our communal ties. There is crisis in our professional lives, educational system, law and education. You can correct an erring individual or even a malfunctioning institution. But, how on earth, you can correct a person or institution which does not believe in loss of integrity, loss of dignity, loss of elegance, etc.
The judiciary has been caught on the back foot not merely because of the immunity of judges from the FIRs by police. The primary source of rot is utter fearlessness from God. The second source of rot is complete absence from all curricula, especially the law curriculum of any kind of spiritual or moral guidance with regard to discharge of duties as a conscientious judge. The Divine Prophets and particularly the Last Prophet (may Allah bless and greet him) is the only credible and dependable source of such guidance. The third source of rot is absence of any concept of accountability after death.
MODEL JUDGE
Think of a judge or a doctor or an engineer or a journalist who believes in God, has conviction in his moral obligations and has firm faith in the Day of Judgment. How would he perform his daily obligations? Belief in the said tenets builds a peculiar character, which is pious and conscientious.
Not long ago, the Supreme Court expressed concern over lack of character and the part played by irresponsible politicians. To quote Justice Agrawal during a discussion on the illegal occupation of Government bungalows, “The whole government machinery is corrupt, whether at the Centre or in the States. They (senior officials) don’t apply their mind; rather they don’t have a mind. They don’t have guts to differ with the opinion of the clerks.”
When additional Solicitor-General Amarendra Saran, appearing for the Centre, said there were enough laws and guidelines, Justice Agrawal orally observed: “We are fed up with the government. There is no accountability and nobody bothers about laws or guidelines. Nobody in the government works and the whole government has become non-functional. That is why PILs are filed. When we pass orders, those in power complain about judicial activism. When they are out of power they are happy and they come here (to the court) for remedy.”
Justice Singhvi intervened to say: “God alone will have to help this country.” Justice Agrawal said, “Even God will not be able to help this country. God is a mute spectator as he also feels helpless. Our country’s character has gone. We are helpless.”
Now, sadly enough, the character of the judges is on the wane. The over-a-billion-strong nation feels helpless.