Opinion Judicial independence
Solemn discourses on judicial independence focus primarily on judges deciding cases without any external pressure or influence from the executive....
Solemn discourses on judicial independence focus primarily on judges deciding cases without any external pressure or influence from the executive. There are however other obstacles to exercise of judicial independence,internal ones. Judges are human beings,not disembodied spirits living in a celestial mansion. As the great US Justice Benjamin Cardozo reminds us the great tides and currents which engulf the rest of men,do not turn aside in their course,and pass the judges by. We must realistically realise that the individual tone of the mind,the colour of past experience and its intensity,the socio-economic and political background of the judge are bound to play a role in the decision-making process. Chief Justice Patanjali Shastri frankly acknowledged that it is inevitable that the so-called social philosophy and the scale of values of the judges should play an important part.
Exercise of judicial independence lies in a conscientious effort to neutralise the effect of these personal factors in decision-making. A classic instance is the dissent of Justice Vivian Bose who in a case relating to preventive detention said,It is perhaps ironical that I should struggle to uphold these freedoms in favour of a class of persons who,if rumour is to be accredited and if the list of their activities furnished to us is a true guide,would be the first to destroy them if they but had the power. But I cannot allow personal predilections to sway my judgment of the Constitution.
Besides any discussion of judicial independence must deal with the aspect of judicial accountability. They are two sides of the same coin and both are pre-requisites to the rule of law.
Bizarre advices
Rise in sugar prices has led to a raging political controversy. The Opposition is united in attacking the government. Common folk are badly affected. What is the governments response? Union Agriculture Minister Mr Sharad Pawar advises the people to consume less sugar because no one dies due to not eating sugar,on the contrary,by eating items made from sugar,diabetes increases. This bitter medical advice adds insult to injury without resolving the problem.
State of Victorias police chief advised Indian students in Australia that to avoid attacks on them they should not display iPods,valuable watches,valuable jewellery but try to look as poor as you can. The Australian police chief may be ignored for his sick sense of humour but its defence by Victorian Premier John Brumby is incomprehensible. This Australian advice is as ludicrous as that tendered by police authorities in Goa to foreign female tourists that they should not wear bikinis on the beaches in Goa to avoid rape and molestation. The next advice may well be that they should dress in salvar khamees or wear a sari to avert sexual misdemeanors. Apparently there is no dearth of cranks in Australia and in India.
Goof-ups galore
Undoubtedly to err is human. However,despite exercising the divine right of forgiveness the series of recent errors necessitates explanations. How on earth did the photograph of a former Pakistani Air Force chief Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed appear alongside our Prime Minister in an ad put out by the government? Another bloomer was the publication of the photograph of Sunita L Williams,the Indian-origin NASA astronaut,next to that of Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar and singer Lata Mangeshkar with the ad proudly stating,Can you imagine India without women. Someone forgot that Sunita is a US citizen and a naval officer.
The Commonwealth Games Federation put up a distorted map of India on its website which showed parts of the countryJammu and Kashmir and Gujaratas integral to neighbouring Pakistan. This is not funny. To cap this all,there was the Himalayan blunder,by the IPCC chaired by R K Pachauri which termed the findings in its report about melting of Himalayan glaciers by 2035 due to global warming as a human error. It is refreshing that all concerned have apologised for their errors without indulging in blame games,a welcome attitudinal change.
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