Tags:
Journalism of Courage
It is entirely safe to predict that l8217;affaire Venkataswami has not ended with his resignation. Justice Venkataswami8217;s exit from the Tehelka probe panel as well as the Authority on Advance Rulings of Excise and Customs leaves behind some questions.
Is the government, as the Opposition alleges, trying to pass the buck to the chief justice in a matter that involves a violation of 8216;constitutional propriety8217; by insisting that it was he who named the retired Supreme Court judge for the second post? Or is it the Opposition, as the government points out, that is making much ado about something that is not unprecedented 8212; instances have been cited of retired judges entrusted with more than one sensitive post?
There are those who would see the turn of events as something the government may well have wished for. After all, goes the argument, a delay in the inquiry into the conduct of one of its senior ministers in particular and the sensitive matter of defence transactions in general, cannot be entirely unwelcome to the ruling establishment. But that is, surely, taking the narrow view of the situation. The swirl of allegations that followed the unspooling of the Tehelka tapes has not yet stilled. George Fernandes may have made his way back to a cabinet berth but he is certainly not in the clear 8212; session after session, the country8217;s defence minister must continue to bear the embarrassment of being looked through by the Opposition in Parliament. No, the government cannot hope to ride this one out. The only way for these ghosts to be exorcised is by looking them in the eye.
The conclusion of the probe is also necessary for another reason. The questions that Tehelka raised were not just confined to the conduct of this government. They also had to do with transparency and probity in public life. Any attempt to use the ongoing political controversy to scuttle the probe will be cheating the nation 8212; of a closure and a catharsis.
