Wednesday, April 13, 2011

[rti4empowerment] Re: Abridged summary of lok-satta-party-people@googlegroups.com - 1 Message in 1 Topic

 

Having gone through the complete mail, my views are listed below:
 
1. National Judicial Commission is Needed for Making Judiciary Accountable and
Improve Quality of Justice Delivery while Independent - Transparent -
Accountable Lokpal Institution for investigation and prosecution of Corrupt
in Executive (s) and Legislature (s).
 
This is a red herring. As it is the judiciary is tasked with investigating and prosecuting politicians and bureaucrats. Its role itself is defined as addressing grievances and disputes between citizen and citizen, citizen and state and state and state and state and centre. We have any number of cases where the courts have directed CBI to investigate cases and report to it. So the role of the NJC and Lokpal are entirely different. As much as the Lokpal is expected to take under its wings CVC and other vigilance organisations, the Lokpal should have jurisdiction over NJC also.  The role of NJC, apart from being a body for selecting and appointing judges, should also be like an in house grievance redressal cell of the judiciary for the public. 
 
2.  The higher judiciary has by and large fulfilled this cardinal
role and acted as the sentinel of the Constitution.
 
Sorry to disagree with you here. Every public protest/crime is a result of the failure of the judiciary to deliver justice- its primary task. It is unfortunate that an institution that has, by the very nature of its task, a high level of discretion, is not supervised adequately to ensure that this discretion is not misused. It is always possible for judges to dismiss criticism as allegations of the party who did not get a favourable verdict. But one can point out any number of cases that are out and out unfair. For example a case in which a trail court sentenced 6 accused to death by hanging, which was upheld by the high court but when it came to the apex court 5 of them were exonerated and one was commuted to life! And every appeal which is upheld has to follow up with an inquiry into the failure of the lower judge to delvier justice. But it does not happen. And the case of the then CJI Balakrishnan claiming that his office is out of the purvew of the RTI Act is a galring example of how brazenly judges subvert the law and how helplessly everybody is made to suffer such decisions!
 
The number of cases piling up in our courts should NOT be construed as a certificate of people's faith in our courts. It is just that it is an institutionalised method of availeble and people of necessity (and mostly unwittingly) approach them the first time atleast. And that is when they realise what Arundhati Roy had said about our courts ( where the process is part of the punishment!)
 
3. For the proposed constitution of the NJC please my online petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/jrandac1/petition.html
 
regards n bw
 
ravi
 
 



--
 Veteran Major P M Ravindran
http://raviforjustice.blogspot.com
 

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