Judgement Call

Amid the controversy regarding Shri Justice KG Balakrishnan and his family's recently acquired munificence, I heard a few judicial fraternity old-timers urge him to go the extra mile in clearing the air. 'Caesar's wife should be above suspicion' was the dictum they asked to be upheld; exhorting the immediate past occupant of the exalted chair of India's Chief Justice. Messrs Iyer, Verma and Nariman, luminaries all, should know better — given their long, distinguished career records serving the law and jurisprudence. Oft-quoted as the tenet is, I appreciate and endorse it as a touchstone of propriety in high places. Yet, I found the suggestion hopelessly naive and frankly puerile.

First, the allegations: the litany of charges against Shri Balakrishnan is significant as it is shameful. Coincident with his tenure as CJI, the fortunes of multiple members of his family (son-in-law, brother, nephew, and so on) are reported to have skyrocketed. The asset accumulation is rumoured to be in tens of crores — houses, farms, jewellery shops, hotels, and other business interests — presumably by peddling favour in judicial verdicts and administrative decisions. He also stands accused of playing godfather at large, shielding A Raja, the 2G-scam kingpin and Middle India’s reigning bête noire, from prosecution for attempting to influence a Madras HC judge in a corruption case against one of his cohorts. It’s complicated; or is it?

Next, consider the nation’s mood. Our collective consciousness is beset with an unending saga of corruption. We may not end up as a Tunisia or Egypt, but despair over this disgraceful dance of adharma is palpable. In this widespread morass, our higher judiciary’s stellar activist tilt has been the aam aadmi’s last refuge for over two decades. Having presided over this venerated arm of our government (for one of its longest recent tenures), much better could have been expected from Mr Balakrishnan. Instead, one is presented with the ungainly sight of his portly form scurrying away with an inane smile, TV journos in pursuit. It is not quite the picture of one with ‘nothing to hide’. It is also farthest from what is desired, in our current national context or the dignity of his former office.

Unfortunately, there’s more. Yesterday Mr Balakrishnan said no to sharing information on his or his family’s assets. This is piquant. At a time when his supposedly illicit gains weren’t yet the talk of the town, he had led the higher judiciary’s resistance to publicly declaring its assets. I had been surprised — the wise men in black robes had uncannily called right India's public mood on every issue since the late 80s. Yet, under his leadership they inexplicably refused to play ball, when they could have easily continued at the vanguard of probity. Given the monolithic, opaque nature of its functioning, it is difficult to surmise to what extent the erstwhile captain moulded the team’s stance. They were, in any case, made to yield, but not before an unseemly fraternal spat; thereby ceding the high moral ground in a manner unprecedented in recent memory. The ex-CJI’s latest denial to an RTI query casts a distinctly macabre slant to those developments.

Noteworthy too is the purported reason for the nay-saying stance: the information sought was not of public value! If talk of malfeasant millions flying thick and fast, the erstwhile CJI-ship, or incumbency as NHRC head doesn't qualify as community interest, it stretches one’s imagination to think what truly does. His may be a nuanced legal view, a disdain for the spirit of the law, or simply a case of PR hara-kiri; but if unchanged, the aforementioned eminent jurists’ conscience call has no hope. Unless, Your Honour...

PS: No surprises in the redoubtable Law Minister’s hasty endorsement under an equally specious argument (no questioning folks in sensitive positions, or words to that effect). The wily Karnataka politician had readily absolved Shri Balakrishnan in the Raja tangle too. Lesson then: swear by the forwarding letter, ignore the attached actual. And now: (apropos the Rajas, Kalmadis, and Chavans) no uncomfortable enquiries please, we’re Indian. Let’s just send them flowers!