Opinion Timely judicial admonition

Of late,the judiciary has become fair game for scandalous allegations

Soli J. Sorabjee

December 4, 2011 02:53 AM IST First published on: Dec 4, 2011 at 02:53 AM IST

Timely judicial admonition

Of late,the judiciary has become fair game for scandalous allegations. It does not command the awe and respect it did in the past for which perhaps the judiciary itself is to blame. Recently the CBI has joined Bashing the Judiciary bandwagon. In a case before the Supreme Court,the CBI in support of its plea for transfer of certain cases out of Gujarat,alleged that Gujarat trial courts and its judges were partial under pressure. A bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Desai expressed its strong disapproval and observed that saying that judiciary even at the lower rank will toe the political line is complete nonsense. The Bench inquired whether the lawyer who vetted the transfer application was personally satisfied about the correctness of these allegations. Additional Solicitor General Vivek Tankha stated that he would apply for deletion of these allegations. It is hoped that by itself will not be a convenient ruse for the CBI to avoid contempt of court proceedings.

Lal batti MPs

Our MPs are much misunderstood. There is talk of cutting their salary for the days Parliament does not transact business. It is forgotten that they regularly attend Parliament at the appointed hour. They cannot be equated with students bunking classes or teachers in government schools who do not attend except to register their presence and collect their salary. If there are raucous scenes in Parliament or if MPs rush to the well of the House,they are expressing the anger and frustration over the price hike,FDI in retail et al. of the people whose representatives they are. If Parliament is stalled for several days and cannot transact urgent legislative business,that cannot be helped. However,that is no justification for penalising MPs for vociferously performing their patriotic duty day after day.

No wonder that the Lok Sabhas Privileges Committee in appreciation of our MPs sterling performances has recommended that they be permitted use of red light beacons atop their cars and,also be upgraded in the warrant of precedence to serial number 17 from 21 on a par with chief justices of high courts outside their jurisdictions. If the committees recommendations are accepted,there can be nearly 800 cars with red beacons.

Never mind. Let us not grudge our MPs their due. The comfort of flaunting a lal batti may have a sobering influence. The saying,first deserve and then desire,is apparently inapplicable to our sui generis parliamentarians. In future,when I am asked to talk about democracy in India,I wonder whether the title should be Indias Vibrant Democracy or the Dance of Democracy.

Bail is not acquittal

There is a persistent public misconception that grant of bail means that the accused has been given a clean chit and has been let off. Grant of bail only signifies that there is no justification to keep the accused in jail pending trial when it has not been established by the prosecution that there is a real risk of the accused fleeing from justice or otherwise hampering the progress of the pending criminal trial. Consequently,in view of the principle of presumption of innocence embedded in our criminal jurisprudence and which is also enshrined in Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 viz. everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty the Courts reasoning is that the accused should no longer be deprived of his or her fundamental right to personal liberty.

Grant of bail is not tantamount to acquittal of the accused and the accused is not a free person which is apparent from the bail conditions imposed by courts,viz. surrender of passport,presence in court on all days of hearing and cancellation of bail if bail conditions are breached. Grant of bail is certainly a welcome temporary relief to the accused and their family. However,jubilation of the kind witnessed on electronic media is premature. It may be reserved when the accused are finally acquitted. The crackers then may be burst even after midnight.