JUDICIAL CONSCIENCE VERSUS PUBLIC CONSCIENCE

It is something unprecedented in the history of ‘democratic India’ that a sitting Chief Minister  has been jailed for a substantial period of four years on charges of corruption and fined an astronomical sum of one billion rupees. The case has other dimensions too. It dragged on for about 18 years before it painfully delivered itself. “Justice delayed is not justice denied” say the old fashioned believers in ‘rule of law’ with a sigh of relief.

Those who have lost faith in ethical conscience (an essential ingredient for good democracy)  say that this is of no consequence and it is a matter of time before J emerges victorious.  “Might is right” they believe. But the party men, fervent devotees and camp followers are angry that a great injustice has been inflicted on J by the judiciary playing ball with ‘venomous Karuna and treacherous Swami’.

Disappointingly many political pandits who are brought into analyze ‘the hour of crisis’ look too intimidated and overawed. In order to avoid controversy, taking different roots, they tacitly arrive at the same point of the cynics and say “J would ultimately prevail.”  More sympathetic among them even go to the extent of saying that with a proxy CM in OPS, she will continue to do the good work which she has been credited with for the time being. Perhaps they did not say ‘good governance’.

The main opposition namely DMK who is one of the complainants in the case looks feeble and meditative as it has to avoid ‘the pot calling the kettle black’ irony. For some DMK scamsters and members of the first family awaiting trial, it turned out to be a trigger that started the churning of their viscera.

But one person who would have really enjoyed watching the TV is none other than J herself. But she refused to have one installed in her cell.

Now let me turn towards the judicial conscience that came into play in the action of Judge John Michael D. Cunha. His conduct notwithstanding the merits of the judgment, calls for attention especially in the context of eroding faith in the judiciary.

Prior to the delivery of the judgment, two strong streams of thought-manifestly bragged about as well latently subscribed to- that dominated the public conscience. First, it was the expression of the feeling “all is not well with the judiciary these days.” And you were told that it was too very idealistic and unrealistic to believe that courts are unfailing arbiters of justice. Secondly, you were also unabashedly told by many quarters that before the ‘invisible power of so and so’ judiciary would after all buckle in and give a favorable judgment.

 But at the end, everything seemed to be alright with Cunha as a judge and judiciary as the last resort of hope in a corrupt democracy. Apparently the judge seems to have acted with certain independence, courage and devotion to duty. Of course his judgment needs to stand the scrutiny of the higher courts and about which I do not need to comment here. Suffice it is to say that justice is seen to have been done.

But my bewilderment comes from the way the case has now been dragged before the ‘people’s court’ which of course works not according to ‘rule of law’ but the ‘rule of demagoguery’ where emotion is replaced by reason, deliberation by imprudence, dialogue by stonewalling, consensus by altercation, persuasion by intimidation and conscience by depravity.

 Watching any TV channel we get at least one judgment passed every ten minutes. What a political vibrancy we witness in Tamilnadu!

I can’t help but only offer my consolation to ‘rule of law’ votaries of democracy. Given the political trend, they may have to wait for another 36 years before they have another sigh of relief witnessing ‘public conscience’ coming of age. No democracy can survive long without a robust ‘public conscience’ which readily tells you what is right and wrong in public life.

Being an optimist myself, I counsel only patience and perseverance. There is no democracy in history which failed to throw ugly mutations as they evolved.



30.09.2014              Chinnaraj Joseph