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Caste in corruption
“Only because he (Justice Dinakaran) is a Dalit (is he) being victimised,” the MPs Forum for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes stated.
“Only because he (Justice Dinakaran) is a Dalit (is he) being victimised,” the MPs Forum for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes stated.
The forum said: “Justice Dinakaran is not the only judge in the country against whom allegations of corruption have been levelled. Many cases of corruption against judges have come up during the last two years; why is he alone being targeted?”
In the game of one upmanship between some Dalit MPs of the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to highlight the “alleged victimisation” of the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, P.D. Dinakaran, the issue of corruption appears to have taken the backseat.
Top jurists have termed the new twist to the three-month-old matter “dangerous and divisive”.
As the judiciary is considered the last bastion of Indian democracy, the issue now is whether the principles of natural justice can prevail over narrow considerations of caste, religion or language.
A day after 75 opposition MPs submitted a notice to the Rajya Sabha chairman seeking impeachment of Justice Dinakaran on grounds of corruption on December 14, Congress MP Praveen Rashtrapal, a Dalit, raised the issue of so-called victimisation in the House.
The MPs Forum for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes agreed with Rashtrapal’s initiative, and decided to raise the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Sensing that the Congress had seized the initiative, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati wrote to Manmohan Singh on Saturday, demanding that Justice Dinakaran should be given a chance to defend himself before any action is taken against him.
The Congress has charged Mayawati with “jumping the gun” and politicising a sensitive issue.
Party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said: “Justice Dinakaran will get a chance to defend himself during the impeachment
proceedings. I don’t think the Congress sees it as a caste- or community-based issue. It will not be right to inject political comments into it.”
However, the opposition parties say that the Congress has no right to accuse the BSP of politicising the issue when its own MPs did it first.
“The issue here is not politics and caste. It is a very serious issue concerning the credibility of the judiciary. The fact is that the Congress has so far not signed the impeachment motion and it cannot accuse anyone of politicising the matter,” said senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury.
Noted jurist and former Supreme Court judge V.R. Krishna Iyer has slammed the move to give a “Dalit twist” to the issue.
“In the Indian judiciary, a judge is known by his work and integrity. There is another set of judges who are known for their incompetence and corruption. There are no caste considerations in this brilliant institution.”
Justice Iyer said: “Those who are trying to bring in caste considerations in a case of wrongdoing are certainly not the
well wishers of judiciary.”
One of the most outspoken jurists and former Chief Justice of India, J.S. Verma, said once the impeachment proceedings started all debate must stop till the procedure is over.
“Absurd talk must stop in a case of this serious nature. Judicial proceedings and those connected to them have no caste,” Justice Verma said.
The government has adopted a cautious approach to the issue so far. Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily, who earlier this month rejected the recommendation made by the Supreme Court collegium to promote Justice Dinakaran to the Supreme Court, is guarded in his reaction.
“The impeachment proceedings have started. This is a constitutional process and it is not appropriate to comment on the issue now.”
The opposition is not impressed by Moily’s restraint. “Is it not a fact that the government allowed the situation to spiral out of control by dilly dallying on the issue for more than three months?” said Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader S.S. Ahluwalia.
Former Supreme Court judge P.B. Sawant, who headed the judges’ committee to probe allegations against Justice V. Ramaswami, the only committee to have submitted its report in an impeachment motion, called for restraint.
Ramaswami was a Supreme Court judge who faced impeachment in 1993. However, the motion could not be carried in Parliament through because the Congress did not back it.
“Allegations are of corruption and nothing else. Dragging caste into it will only complicate matters and help nobody, including the individual being sought to be bailed out,” Justice Sawant said.
