And justice for all

‘Dr.Strangelove’ can be termed as one of the famous work from Stanley Kubrick. You might see the name in ‘all time top classic’ list. Peter Sellers has immortalized Strangelove in the movie. Strangelove has this strange problem with his mechanical hand. The hand acts on its own. The hand contributes to its share of humor when it strangles Strangelove, gets hold of his cock or pulls out his cigar.

Well I do not intend to write on the movie, but the scenario in India when one pillar of democracy starts functioning independent of others. The Indian judiciary has a mind of its own and has claimed superior moral authority over the rest. Hence they are busy passing laws to clean out the specks in our eyes.

KG Balakrishnan was the poster boy for the backward classes in India. The propagandists worked overtime spreading the good news that the oppressed class can look up to him as their messiah and rise to great heights by peaceful means. What we heard last from Race Course Road is he was slated to succeed to the post of Vice President as soon as the chair was vacated. When KGB argued that judges shouldn’t be made to disclose their assets, we accepted it as the saying of the wise one.

Now thanks to his family members, he might have to forego his Vice Presidential dreams. Sonia Gandhi might have lost her pet project of filling the highest office with another stooge.

While the judiciary finds it tough to jail the multi crore scamsters, it doesn’t need much evidence to charge Binayak Sen for sedition. The courts are working overtime to castigate the ‘enemies of the state’. I don’t want to seem batting for the Naxalites. Looking through a common man’s view point, the evidence presented baffles me. We talk nonchalantly on the human rights violation in Pakistan and in the same vein we label a person security threat, while the only crime he has done is visit a prisoner and exchange books and letters. Mind you the exchanges and visits happened under police supervision.

Kerala can be termed as the politically conscious state. Hence we have to live with constant strikes, hartals and demonstrations. A few months back a citizen filed a petition in Kerala High court asking it to prevent demonstrations from happening on a particular narrow stretch of road.. Surprisingly, the Kerala High court banned all kind of public demonstration in the state. A petition was filed in the Supreme court and they too ratified the HC ruling. Has the SC considered the long term impact? When the public places are out of bound for the common man, should he rent out a place to demonstrate his grievances? Uninterrupted conveyance is a necessity. But should we sacrifice the constitutional rights for the sake of it?

Some time ago when the politics started to mire itself in corruption, the common man turned to the judiciary as last resort. Today he will think twice before he hit the court. Similarly the appointment of judges must be based on track records rather than caste and political leanings. Once in a while these judges must be thoroughly vetted. Accountability is necessity be it the Army or the courts. And accountability must be directly proportional to the responsibilities.

The Indian judiciary has its share of deficiencies when British left India. For the British, court was a punishing stick. Sadly the Indian Judiciary has not evolved after all these 60+ years. When the state machinery turns itself rabid on the people, the courts must lend sensibility. Repressing dissident voices only drive us back to colonial era.

Court has no authority to project itself morally superior to politics. Their main aim must be to keep the legislative machinery clean and smooth. Strangely the courts have sided with the Right to spread an anti-politics campaign. The rulings must result in political consciousness and awareness among people. Populism is not the cup of tea for the judges.