For a just cause

Deep cynicism seems to be setting in among people over the constitutional bodies that run our nation. Surprisingly, in such an environment, the judiciary still enjoys people?s confidence and respect.

Deep cynicism seems to be setting in among people over the constitutional bodies that run our nation. Surprisingly, in such an environment, the judiciary still enjoys people’s confidence and respect. Increased judicial activism by the higher courts in recent years — Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may have called for its restrained use at the conference of chief ministers and chief justices last week — has been perceived by the public as the sole corrective platform in an increasingly wayward system. Yet, we must not be blinded by mere faith to the need to enforce greater judicial accountability. This is absolutely necessary in order to check the erosion of public trust in the integrity of our judges, because of a corrupt few. The judiciary serves as an important tool in enforcing the constitutional rule of law. The slightest taint on it inflicts a deep wound on the entire delivery system.

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It is with great faith that the authors of the Constitution empowered the judiciary with the kind of independence it enjoys, and protected it from public scrutiny. Chief Justice of India YK Sabharwal validated this trust at the conference last week by voicing the determination of the judiciary to cleanse itself and to adopt a policy of ‘zero tolerance’ towards corruption among its members. The recent move to make truth a valid defence in contempt of court proceedings was as necessary a judicial reform as is the need to set up a National Judicial Council — a Bill on which will soon be tabled in Parliament. Both these moves will go a long way towards checking wrongdoing and bringing about greater transparency in the working of the judiciary. It is to the credit of the judiciary that it has consistently emphasised the need to set up such a council, which would act against unscrupulous judges and thereby protect the independence of the judiciary.

Much of this is happening in the backdrop of the acquittal of the accused in certain high-profile cases, and with money and influence increasingly determining the outcome in such cases. There are calls for a drastic overhaul of the evidence law, as well as of the prosecution system. Reforms to strengthen the judiciary will be vital to restoring the vitality of our justice delivery system.