Stand by the Judges in Defense of the Constitution
By Gautam Thaker
We, the concerned citizens of the country, are sincerely disturbed and deeply anguished by the shocking description by the senior most judges of the Supreme Court about what is going on in the highest court of the country as of late. We congratulate these judges for their bold, courageous and unprecedented step of addressing directly the people of India at the Press Conference highlighting certain judicial orders passed by the Court which has adversely affected the overall functioning of the justice delivery system and the independence of the High Court besides impacting the administrative function of the Office of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India”. The arbitrary exercise of the powers of the Chief Justice regarding fixing roster comprising of the benches of the judges and the allocation of cases to the benches, departure from the well-established conventions and traditions guiding the exercise of these powers, assigning the cases of far-reaching consequences for the nation and constitution selectively to the benches “of their preference, important cases by postponing the review of these cases such as demonetization, Adhar Card etc.” would lead to unpleasant and undesirable consequences of creating doubts in the body politic about the integrity of the constitution. “The compulsion on the part of these highest judges to tell the truth to the people of India – unprecedented action would show the depth of the cases about the justice delivery system. The most dangerous problem is the politically disguised intention of the government in the functioning of the court and openly stated by these judges, but what can be easily inferred from what they have stated. This would undermine the very authority, integrity, independence and legitimacy of the highest court of the nation. The Supreme Court is the most important institution to protect the Constitution of India and any attack upon it either from outside or from within is a direct assault to the Constitution. Once Indira Gandhi during declared Emergency did try to attack the independence of the judiciary. Now the present Govt. is trying to destroy all constitutional authorities one by one and now attempts to destroy Supreme Court, forms a classical symptom of “undeclared emergency”. This is the worst attack upon the Supreme Court of India – the last citadel of democracy and freedom. Instead of criticizing these senior judges for the Press Conference, we must be thankful to them for pointing out the great danger to the democracy and constitution. The people must remember that this is not simply institutional crisis to be resolved from within but a serious crisis affecting the people and the constitution. Time has come for “We, the People of India” to stand by the judges and to defend the judiciary from “political authoritarianism”.
Gautam Thaker, General Secretay, PUCL Gujarat; Girishbhai Patel, Senior Advocate, Gujarat High Court; Suresh Mehta, Former Chief Minister Gujarat; Indukukar Jani, Editor, Naya Marg; Prakash N. Shah, Editor, Nirikshak; Rohit Shukla, Editorm Abhidrashti; Rajani Dave, President, Gujarat Sarvoday Mandal; Prof. Hemantkumar Shah, National Council Member, PUCL; Mahesh Pandya, Gujarat Social Watch.