Opinion Our tamper-resistant institutions

The independent institutions of our state have not let us down. The CAG is performing his appointed duty with vim,gusto and panache. The Election Commission has had its ups and downs. Sukumar Sen came up with innovative ideas like pictorial symbols for the illiterate voter and indelible ink to minimise electoral fraud; T.N. Seshan breathed fresh air into the institution; the current commissioners are willing to open-mindedly revisit the operation of the rugged EVMs,of which we should all be proud; this body has by and large met the aspirations of the citizenry of India with integrity and energy. The Supreme Court,despite the aberration of obsequiousness during the Emergency,has performed brilliantly against tremendous odds. The Kesavananda Bharati judgment ensures that we cannot have a repeat of the tragic happenings in Weimar Germany where a party was able to subvert the constitution using constitutional procedures. India cannot become a monarchy or a majoritarian state — at least not with constitutional blessings.

Over the years,the Supreme Court has emerged as the most significant source of optimism that executive tyranny will not curse this fair land of ours. The Court is a human institution and has inevitably been affected by prevalent societal norms. But,on balance,it has emerged as a many-splendoured institution. The finance commissions have time and again fulfilled their constitutional dharma by coming up with reports and processes that have been seen as progressive and fair — thus holding together our federal polity. Let’s not forget that secessionism in erstwhile East Pakistan was fuelled by perceptions of financial exploitation and fiscal injustices.

Our armed forces have remained apolitical and independent. General Thimayya set the traditions by refusing to contemplate a coup d’état when he could have. Krishna Menon tried his hand at weakening the armed forces by indulging in favouritism. He over-promoted the clever General Kaul. This general might have been tempted to try a military takeover. Ironically,we have the Chinese to thank. Kaul never recovered from being correctly saddled with the lion’s share of the responsibility for our battlefield defeat.

The RBI,after becoming the handmaiden of the finance ministry,has over the last two decades recovered its autonomy and functions with the sobriety and independence intended in its founding legislation,the classic Reserve Bank of India Act of 1935. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) started off without statutory teeth. Over the years,it has gained legitimacy,not only statutorily,but also by its actions in attempting to preserve a transparent capital market. China is doubtless ahead of us in hard infrastructure. But in the soft infrastructure of a working financial market,trust me,we are far ahead. When B.R. Ambedkar and Benegal Rama Rau worked out a Westminster model for our state,leveraging rather than discarding the provisions of the brilliant Government of India Act of 1935,they did succeeding generations a great favour.

In England,certain traditions have prevailed,which are specifically designed not so much to promote good government as to prevent bad government. The monarch cannot intrude into the House of Commons; the last one who did so was Charles I,and you might recall that he was subsequently beheaded. The duty of a judge is not only to enforce the sovereign’s writ but also to ensure that the monarch or her functionaries do not persecute the citizens. The spirit of our own Constitution is pervaded by similar thoughts derived from the Magna Carta traditions of our erstwhile rulers. They may have jailed him for years,but Nehru had the good sense and the generosity of spirit to acknowledge this.

And today,what do we have?

Despite repeated pleas by our highest court that the police system needs citizen-friendly reform,our elected leaders remain unpersuaded. All they have to do is to implement the recommendations of the various commissions on police reform which they themselves have created. But this they will not do. The Supreme Court tries hard repeatedly to make the CBI an independent agency,not one to be used for political vendettas and the like. But this is not allowed to happen. To add insult to injury,it seems in order to publicly attack the CAG,to set up committees under the control of the finance ministry in order to emasculate the RBI and SEBI,to make SEBI dependent on discretionary doles from the government of the day.

One can only hope today’s political leaders want to go down in history on the same side as Gopi Chand Bhargava,Ambedkar,Rama Rau,Thimayya and Nehru and not in the camp inhabited by Krishna Menon and Kaul. Let them not hurl India down the same slippery slope to which Hindenburg condemned Weimar Germany.

jerry.rao@expressindia.com