'Corruption not good for growth’

Supreme Court judge justice Markandeya Katju, who was in the news recently for his controversial comments that something was “rotten” in the Allahabad high court, said corruption was a major impediment to India’s growth. HARISH V NAIR reports.

Supreme Court judge justice Markandeya Katju, who was in the news recently for his controversial comments that something was “rotten” in the Allahabad high court, said corruption was a major impediment to India’s growth.

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“When we read newspapers these days, we notice that there is so much corruption around. There is so much turmoil and it is so painful. It could be a transitional phase but it is not good for the country’s growth,” he said in an indirect reference to the 2G spectrum, Commonwealth Games, housing loan and Adarsh Housing Society scams.

Justice Katju was speaking, on Saturday, at the convocation of Amity University in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, where he was conferred an honorary doctorate in Law. Over 149 diplomas and 3,257 degrees were awarded at the ceremony.

Noting that corruption had ruined the country, Katju said there was a time when India was far ahead in science and technology “but now we have been left far behind by the West”.

“At a time when people in Europe lived in jungles, India showed to the world how town planning is done and sewage system is operated,” he added.

Justice Katju was also of the view that Indians were not respected as the country was poor. “Nobody respects the poor. Indians are not respected not just because their skin is brown or black but because they are poor,” he said.