S P E C I A L   E D I T O R I A L

A matter of judicial dharma
HARI JAISINGH

THE wheel of justice has turned full circle. And the judiciary has redeemed itself in no small measure with its own corrective mechanism. Here the reference is to the highly sensitive issue of allegations levelled against three judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court — Mr Justice Amarbir Singh Gill, Mr Justice M. L. Singhal and Mr Justice Mehtab Singh Gill — for using their influence in getting eight candidates selected by the Punjab Public Service Commission. Looking around, influence-peddling has become the standard practice in the various segments of governance in the country. This indeed poses a major threat to the concept of meritocracy in the career of young persons in today's globalised environment.

The Tribune has been unfolding the behind-the-scene goings-on and the cover-up operations in the PPSC scam indulged in by certain vested interests in the executive. How persons of integrity probing the matter were pushed out to put a lid on the sordid affairs is now part of history which must not be lost sight of. For, at stake are the larger issues of transparency, probity, fairplay, justice and accountability in the system. However, amidst the allround drift in the polity, the people look up to the temples of justice for correcting acts of omission and commission by the executive and its other functional arms. This makes the judiciary a unique institution in our Constitution.

Viewed in this backdrop, the persons occupying high offices on the Bench are supposed to be a shade superior in values and morality than politicians, bureaucrats, policemen and other functionaries in public life. Is this a tall order amidst visible deterioration in public life? Perhaps. Still, the present situation of drift cannot be accepted. It has to be challenged so that the people's faith in our democratic institutions is not eroded. This battle is going to be a long drawn-out affair. It has to be waged with determination but in a dignified manner.

What is gratifying is that the Supreme Court of India has evolved its own mechanism to correct the recent aberrations in the judiciary, whether taking place in Chandigarh or Bangalore or Jaipur. The Tribune has always advocated that the judiciary must find its own answers to set its house in order so that the people's confidence in justice and fairplay is not shattered. This is how the wheel of justice has to run — not only for the public but also for managing all visible and invisible aberrations in its own system.

What course the three judges adopt is for them to decide. At one stage they nursed a grudge that the report on their conduct submitted by the then Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice, Mr Justice A. B. Saharya, to the then Chief Justice of India, Mr Justice B. N. Kripal, was "unfair" since they did not get sufficient opportunity to explain their position. To ensure fairplay the Chief Justice of India set up a three-member panel of judges drawn from different high courts to give them proper hearing. Mr Justice Lakshmanan's panel went about the highly intricate task meticulously. It cross-examined the witnesses and met the three judges before reaching the conclusion that they exerted "undue influence" and "misused" their official position.

We have reasons to feel happy that The Tribune has lived up to its reputation and has discharged its public duty professionally and in a dignified manner while constantly keeping in view high principles of journalism. We are not in the business of sensationalisation. Nor do we indulge in half lies or quarter-truth or make false claims. We humbly acknowledge The Tribune's crusading role of social responsibility while pursuing matters of public interest and malfunctioning in governance. The positive signal from the judiciary should keep our hopes alive.

It will, meanwhile, be worthwhile for those occupying high positions in public life to remember King Vikramaditya and his famous throne. He ruled and acted justly. The moral of that period is clear and candid: Unless the ruling class — the judges included — follows the Vikramaditya creed of justice and fairplay in conducting the affairs of the State, faith in the rulers and their policies cannot be revived or sustained. The nakedness in the functioning of "a king" or a ruler, whether self-prompted or induced by his aides, cannot be a subject of controversy. It is foolhardy to hide the truth. Indian rulers and judges have only to be true to their words, honest to themselves and the people, especially the youth, and move on to the modern path of logic and progress to regain the credibility of our democratic institutions, beyond the narrow canvas of manipulation and unfair practices.