Of the judiciary and its activism

Can a verdict of a two-judge bench of the Apex Court bind the full bench?

I know how you feel, but I was confused , and surprised. Confused, as to what people at large would feel if a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court could comment on the conduct of the brother- judges of the same court, blaming them for their judgement. I am a layman, a journalist, but I do read interesting court verdicts, published in six or seven dailes I subscribe to. Some of these judgements are literary pieces and I am impressed with the free flow of the observations, lucidity of thought and language. Justice V S Krishna Iyer has cultivated a unique style that gives readers a sense of joy. But unless one is well versed in English it is not easy to understand what this great Jurist wants to convey.

Sorry for the digression. As I was saying, I have observed the Apex Court commenting adversely on the conduct of High Courts and the subordinate courts and this holds true in respect of the High Courts commenting on the verdict of district or subordinate courts. But I have not heard or read about a bench of the Supreme Court passing remarks on fellow judges of the same court. This act of the two-judge bench caused me concern for more than one reason.

First, how do the public that still has confidence in the judiciary (not withstanding corruption at some level as publicly commented by the some senior judges also) react to this development?

Secondly, wouldn't the comments by these two judges deter others in the same court or in the High Courts from entertaining PILs ? In case the Apex Court were to think of putting a full stop to PILs, the avenue that is now available for some who are genuinely interested in espousing the public causes would get closed , and they may as well dash their heads against wall.

The the two –judge bench of the Apex Court, Justice Mr Markendy Katju and Justice MrA.K.Mathur, while setting aside the judgement of the Punjab and Harayana High Court directing the creation of the posts in golf course called for judicial restraint. They observed, ” We are compelled to make these observations because we repeatedly come across cases where judges are unjustifiably trying to perform executive or legislative functions. This is clearly unconstitutional. In the name of judicial activisim , judges cannot cross their limits and try to overtake functions, which belong to another organ of the state. The judges must know their limits and must not try to run the goverenment .They must have modesty and humility and not behave like emperors.”

So far so good. True, these two learned judges have raised the issue of judicial activisim, which is being debated from various platforms over last few years, with votaries and opponents holding on to their respective views steadfastly. They not only denounced actions on some cases by the Delhi High Court, but also denounced that of the larger bench of the Supreme Court itself. The moot point is whether they could speak on behalf of the full bench of the SC itself. The irony is that Justice Katju, according to Deccan Herald, was himself a votary of judicial activism.

It must be remembered that doors of the courts at higher level were thrown open to public, to whom these courts were beyond their reach, thanks to Justice P N Bhagwati, who is hailed as the “pitamaha”of public interst litigation. This was indeed a boon for the underdogs whose cry for attention towards their burning problems was not being heard by authorities that betrayed a sense of supreme indifference towards them .The question that may cause concern is: If the two judges were to comment on settled issues, where is the finality ?

The huttu habba mania

Except their family members, outsiders hardly knew the dates of birth of our great leaders like Rajaji, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Vallabhai Patel or Kamaraj, with the honourable exception of the Father of the Nation. However, since the birthdays of leaders like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan were sought to be associated with certain events like Children’s day and Teachers’ day, the people knew their birthdays.

Bet how many of us know the birthday of Bhagat Singh, Pandit Motilal Nehru, Tilak. Subhas Chandra Bose, Lala Lajpat Rai, Even Lal Bahadur Sastry would have fallen the wayside, but for the fact that his birth day falls on the birth day of the Mahatma Gandhi and our leaders make a pretence of remembering him on that day and garland the photo in some cities, while in many centres Sastry is ignored.

But in the recent years we are reminded of huttu habba of second line or third line leaders at district and taluk levels, not to speak of current or former ministers, what with sponsored ads , in colour, are published in regional Kannada dailies, with pictures of not only their “beloved leaders” but with those of who want to greet, often associating those of their perceived important leaders of the party they represent or in.The inclusion or exclusion of the photos of such perceived important leaders, depend on the likes and dislikes of these sponsors,some in their estimation fall or prop up.The space they buy for ads depends on the position of their leaders. Maximum number of names and photos are ‘huddled in” the ads .I have seen over fifty photos were published along with the hutu habba of one minister, who was in district in charge, and a minister that matterd in according favours.

These ads are not confined to birthday only.Even the visit of their minister or ministers to their city is a fit occasion for greeting .While the readers of news papers are least interested in these ads, the news papers welcome for they bring in much needed revenue for cash crunched local papers. The DTP opertors have a hell of time arranging these photos in an order these sponsors insist and mention their names correctly, without mixing one name with the other.

As far as I remember this tendency to build up the ‘personality’ cult began with the days of Mrs Indira Gandhi. Well, atleast she had certain adorable qualities , not withstanding her imposition of the Emergency and her authoritarian rule. Progressively, this cult has degenrated to such an extent that today even the huttu habba of our taluk level leaders is worthy of advertising(or do these leaders themselves finance to buy space in papers?). It is not mere ads in papers but huge hoardings and banners are put up to tell us about these huttu habba.It is a different matter whether thay know the birthday of their parents.

But rememeber these sponsored ads are promoted as long their leaders are in ‘currency’ or ‘useful to them. Some who do not find their names or photos take to another novel method to humour their leaders.They go to one or two hospitals with two or three basket of fruits and distribute them to the patients, taking care to see that press photographers accompany them . Thanks to technology the prints are readily available almost immediately, and unlike in our days when there was no colour photos, the black and white film rolls are to be washed in studio, dried and often by hanging the rolls in sun, before prints are taken.

These followers of their leaders get publicity without spending much , for the regional papers looking for local news or do not find enough news to fill space, readily publish these photos. Well, I have given you some tips to get good free publicity in local dailies, which do command good circulation .If you want your name telecast associating your name with your ‘beloved leader” go in TV channels. Of course it may pinch your purse. As long as there are others to sponsor these ads don’t bother.

Good luck.