The Supreme Court of India is the
highest court in the country. It is a constitutional court with widest of
powers. It has
played a quintessential role in shaping the nation. It was a huge task for the
Indian Supreme Court to interpret the newly framed Constitution. India had just
attained freedom and the country was marred by the foreign invaders. Poverty,
education and social evils were also to play their role in forbidding the
judiciary from functioning properly. But this task was accomplished
phenomenally by the then Judges of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has delivered
judgments which changed the horizons of the nation. Be it the interpretation of
Article 21 of the Constitution or laying down the doctrine of basic structure
of the Constitution or devising the public interest litigation, so on and so
forth. Those decisions have shaped India into the nation it is today.
However, a different trend is
observed today. With profound respect for the Supreme Court as an institution
and the Hon’ble Judges, I find a not-so known approach being adopted by the Supreme Court, albeit with an intent to do justice. There are instances
where the Supreme Court takes years to decide genuine disputes between the
parties and also where the Supreme Court gives days of audience to the lawyers
appearing in an academic matter. These instances can, however, be ignored as
being subjective. But, there are certain horrific trends being set by the
Supreme Court.
One of the most horrendous
instances is that of the Cauvery river dispute. Two Indian States are claiming their
rights over the waters of Cauvery. The Appeals are pending before the Supreme
Court against Award of the Tribunal. Certain Interim Orders were passed in the last year whereby State of Karnataka
was directed to release 7000 cusecs of water per day to State of Tamil Nadu,
which was later increased to 12000 cusecs and thereafter to 15000 cusecs. However, the interim orders do not spell out a single reason /
justification for arriving at a particular amount of water to be released. What
calculations were made by the Supreme Court to arrive at a particular figure is
unknown to all. Otherwise, reasoned Orders are required to be passed by the
Courts. But the Apex Court passes Orders affecting the whole of two States of
the nation, without a single reason. Resultantly, there were protests across
Karnataka almost leading to a law and order situation. The Supreme Court,
however, paid no heed to the requests made by the State of Karnataka to modify
the Order and therefore, the Karnataka State Assembly openly resolved to defy
the Supreme Court order and keeping it in abeyance till the special session of
the State Legislative Assembly was convened. Even for a moment, I do not support
the stand of the State Assembly, which is ex-facie contemptuous. However, the
situation could have possibly been salvaged, had the Supreme Court dealt with the matter
with more sensitivity.
Another such instance is that of
the BCCI case. What is going on in the Supreme Court in this matter is
absolutely alien to the powers conferred on it under the Constitution. Due to
the match-fixing incidents in the IPL that surfaced in the year 2013, the
Supreme Court appointed a Committee to be headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal to
investigate the scandal. The Supreme Court appointed another panel to be
headed by Justice R.M. Lodha to determine punishment for those guilty of
betting and match-fixing and also to recommend reforms for better functioning
of BCCI. Justice Lodha panel suspended the two teams and banned its owners for
life. I fail to understand as to how the panel was empowered to suspend teams
and impose punishment on the team bosses. The panel also recommended certain
changes in the functioning of BCCI. Thereafter, the BCCI as well as the State
Cricket Associations have been restrained from using funds without sanction of
the Supreme Court. Furthermore, the Supreme Court, on request of the panel, has removed the President and Secretary of BCCI for not implementing the reforms
and has appointed former Comptroller and Auditor General, Vinod Rai to head BCCI. Various orders being passed without
considering totality of facts and circumstances, a panel being authorized to
take action against a registered Society, removal and appointment of office
bearers etc. are various issues which raised brows. Although, I believe the
intent is good, the manner in which things were done, is certainly unheard of. We
are fortunate that today, Judges with impeccable integrity as Justice Mudgal and Justice
Lodha have been appointed to head panels and to perform various tasks. If this
were to be treated as a precedent in the times to come, with not so clean
people, could have serious ramifications.
What is happening in the contempt
proceedings against Justice Karnan is also peculiar. The events of this matter
are an embarrassment to the fraternity. Undoubtedly, prima facie the words
spoken and written by Justice Karnan do amount to contempt of the Court.
(Contempt of Supreme Court committed by a High Court Judge, who was appointed
under the Collegium system, which, although does not find a mention in the
Constitution or the principles of basic structure of the Constitution, is held
to be impeccable by the Supreme Court itself.) However, the interim order
withdrawing judicial and administrative work from Justice Karnan does not
appear to be legally firm. How does the Supreme Court get such powers under
contempt proceedings? It can only punish for its contempt and no further. This
case could also be horrific to be cited in future insofar as it widens the
horizons of the powers of Court in contempt matters.
Similar are the cases of dahi-handi,
SEBI-Sahara, NJAC and a few others, where the Supreme Court has bent its ways
to arrive at a particular point. The Supreme Court is not fundamentally wrong
in what it has done in the said cases. However, the manner in which things have
happened, is curiously peculiar. The Supreme Court is certainly the highest
court in the nation having the widest of powers. But the manner and the procedure
adopted have raised various questions over the verdicts. The justice done, is although,
not manifestly seen to be done.
The Supreme Court comprises of
the finest of legal minds working relentlessly to ensure justice to all. It is
the most important element of the Indian democracy and the last hope of any citizen
in this country. May it function free from all irrelevant considerations and ensure justice to all.
Jai Hind
