The curious case of Justice P.D. Dinakaran gets curiouser and curiouser.
The chief justice of the high court of Karnataka has been accused of land-grabbing and inappropriate judicial orders. Survey after survey has failed to clear him. A Rajya Sabha impeachment process is now on. There has been talk of transferring him to Sikkim but he conveniently feigns illness and carries on.
And then there is the case of Justice D.V. Shylendra Kumar, also of the Karnataka HC.
On his blog, Justice Kumar has taken on then Supreme Court (SC) chief justice K.G. Balakrishnan on the issue of judges declaring their assets. He says the CJI doesn’t not have the right to speak for all judges. He calls him a “serpent without fangs“. He takes on the SC collegium for its failure to weed out corrupt judges.
At a public meeting, he terms the jailing of writer-activist Arundhati Roy for contempt of court as “the darkest day in the history of Indian judiciary“.
Then, he takes on Justice Dinakaran, asking him not to sit on the HC bench and to resign and leave the institution. He posts details of the hospitality expenses of justice Dinakaran. He questions justice Dinakaran holding even administrative powers. And he passes interim orders much to the consternation of Justice Dinakaran and the registrar-judicial. “Who is the chief justice?” he asks.
When the registrar-judicial approaches the SC, he writes: “The non-functional chief justice now seeks support from the SC.” The SC raps him for berating Justice Dinakaran in “intemperate language“. “We are of the considered opinion that it would be inappropriate for any judicial matter to be discussed extra-judicially, that is, apart from hearing it in the court,” says the SC slamming Justice Kumar for defying the model code of conduct for judges framed in 1997.
Questions: Is Justice Shylendra Kumar correct in questioning the judiciary or is he just a publicity hound? Is he flirting with danger by treating his brother-judges with contempt or is this necessary given the speed at which The Curious Case of Justice Dinakaran has moved? Do we need more loose cannons like Shylendra Kumars or will continued attacks diminish the authority of the judiciary?
Full coverage: The strange case of Justice P.D. Dinakaran
CHURUMURI POLL: Is Dalit Dinakaran above the law?
If he is unfit for Supreme Court, how is he fit for Karnataka HC?
If he is unfit for Supreme Court, how is he fit for Karnataka HC—II?
‘Integrity + competence + judicial temperament’
Yella not OK, but Supreme Court silent yaake?
The brazen conduct of Justice Dinakaran
The strange case of Justice Dinakaran (continued)
Audi alteram partem? Hear the other side out?
CHURUMURI POLL: Will Justice Dinakaran be impeached?
judicial discipline is not something that was invented by sadist and corrupt chief justices. It is absolutely necessary for a functioning judiciary. You cannot have 30+ judge each acting like a chief justice and throwing the whole process haywire, spreading confusion and chaos around.
whether or not dinakaran should be carrying out administrative work pending enquiry is a decision to be taken by the SC Collegium, and if they have taken a decision, good or bad, puisne judges are bound by that. Should he feel that it is entirely against his conscience to continue work under a tainted a chief justice, he should ask for a transfer or quit. You cannot “save” the judiciary by undermining it from within.
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As long as the Judiciary hides behind the veil of secrecy, we will never get proper justice. If a set of judges feel that Justice Shylendra Kumar has used intemperate language to post his thoughts – they might be right, but who is going to bell the fat cat? On the contrary, Justice Shylendra Kumar should post his concerns to SC – rather than going public the way it is being done now.
In this case, we have the Chief Justice of Karnataka shying away(?) from the Judicial responsibilities whilst handling the reins of the administrative part of judiciary. Does it not amount to remote controlling of the cases to suit his own interests? Does this not give way to corruption? What is the opinion of SC in this matter?
Why does not the Govt / Collegium of Judges remove the Chief Justice of Karnataka HC until he is cleared of all the charges? If he is found to be corrupt, he should be kicked out of the post he is holding now and should be made accountable. I would even suggest reviewing all those judgements he has delivered till date being the Chief Justice of Karnataka.
If it means that we have a allegedly corrupt judge holding onto the reins of administrative roles in the Judiciary, I am really skeptical about those judgements as well.
I think, as a country, we need to have an honest judiciary – though I should make a mention that “not all judges are corrupt”.
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The idea of a Judicial dignity and detachment is very important to the dispensing of the justice. A judge is asked to make a call on the basis of his opinion of the facts presented to him. He should do just that, and if there is any problem in carrying out the task, he should work within the system, abiding by the rules, to reform it.
Alternatively, he should come out, and try to change the system from outside, without being bound by the rules.
Trying to play both ways is not good. This is what Shylendra Kumar is attempting.
Dinakaran may be a no-good person, but that doesn’t change the fact that we have a systemic flaw, and Shylendra Kumar going off the balance is not going to help it any.
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The reason India suffers is because of frequent and persistent delay in justice and gross injustice because of incompetent judges. We have highest justice of land converting a mass genocide case into a traffic violation even without hearing!!!
The oldies never speak up.. They know very well that they are corrupt and venal and hence never want any change in status quo.
My own experience with Indian bureaucracy is that more you stay there more venal you become…and then they try to get protection by insisting on decorum and trying to behave as though they got sainthood by that last promotion!!!
Every judge supporting Dinakaran is doing contempt of justice… Ask them to read tort law and they will know what I meant.
Judges have screwed India for decades under garb of secrecy!! People who want secrecy are gross and plain incompetent and people who are remaining silent against Dinakaran are in contempt of constitution because they are showing fear breaking their own oath on constitution!!!
Justice Shailendra seems to act with his conscience.. He was the first judge in whole of India to declare his assets.
I am sorry my country has come to this day when someone like Justice Shailendra who is speaking with conscience is termed as “loose cannon”
Good or bad we need to increase the speed of governance..Bhopal case sat in court for 25 years. and that is the reason that such a stupid judgment came out. If a rule of law has to prevail dispensation should be quicker than just.. because if it is quick we can at least correct the wrong by appeal. But with India’s sloth judiciary a life time is not possible to get justice. We have to speed up judiciary and let us start with Dinakaran.. Why is he sitting in court if not delivering justice. In western countries he would have got laid off his assets taken and he would be riding a bus to poor concrete at a construction site!!!.
Intelligence of these oldies who want decorum is questionable.. for proof view Mr. Ahmadi’s youtube interview on how Bhopal..He does not know that he is walking naked but thinks that emperor is wearing new clothes..!!!!
America owes its today to that young judge who destroyed his career and yet delivered that beautiful judgment in that case that was made into movie “Amistad”.. That is justice without fear.. Allow Justice Shailendra to rise to that class so that future generations can feel grateful for correcting a colonial practice of secrecy to guard incompetent..
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We the people need someone or something which will ensure that:
a. We don’t have to wait for years to get justice.
b. There is some amount of social justice, where the weak and the poor dont keep getting screwed over and over again by the judicial and bureaucratic system.
Is this asking for too much? Or are we ourselves to blame for our short term thinking and uncivil behavior?
Have we made any real progress after 60 years of independence (compared to what the British had accomplished for us)?
If people like Shylendra Kumar act as catalysts towards reform and improvement, all power to them.
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Justice Kumar might have violated some long held principle of not interfering with the decision process which should be collegiate. However as every feels our system has become dysfunctional as a result of the chief justice losing his credibility and there are no forces to set it right quickly, some one who puts his career on line should be appreciated. It is the same strategy which was adapted and refined by Mahatma Gandhi. He readily agreed whenever he participated in some civil disobedience that he has violated the law and he is ready to accept any punishment. Even without having full details, I can safely assume Justice Kumar might have tried every possible strategy within the confines of the rules to set the system right and took recourse to this as the last resort.
Today most of us are shy or unconcerned to take an active part in the democratic process to stand for principles lest we break some rule or the other. It is because of our indifference corrupt manage to thrive. We should support and admire the bold act of Justice Kumar and stand by him.
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Good thing Kumar is not pro Congress!
“As per Congress, Dinakaran is corrupt, and many others are also corrupt. So leave him alone.” Congress policy!!
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How can the officers of the High Court registry be hauled up in open court. They are merely following the orders of the Chief Justice and which they are duty bound to do so. Chewing them in open court hurts the institution as well as the effective functioning of the Registry. The Judge cannot give vent to his feeling on the registry officers who are in no position to give a effective reply for they are subordinates. A fight is always fair when it is between adversaries who are of equal strenght. The Registry officer would just hear it from one ear and throw it out from the other year. And in any case by chewing the officers in open court, it is the court time and tax payer’s money which is being wasted and also undermines the authority of the registry officer. So, what if a case is transferred from one bench to another. A matured person would hardly care whether a particular case remains on his board or not unless he has some sort of interest in the case.
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Few days ago I advised another blogger on churumuri not to speak the truth because he may be held for contempt of court.
Now since a Justice has spoken we can safely tell the truth.
My belief is that I will not be held for contempt of court because what I am doing is much less than what honorable justice is doing or umpteen number from media have already done while reporting Bhopal fiasco.
Indian judiciary needs a dose of reality. Now the discussion is open let me humbly request the prima donnas of Indian justice system following questions.
1. In the whole world, Indian judiciary is most powerful because of the existence of contempt rule. Is this rule written in the constitution? How did court get this extraordinary sensitivity to free speech?
2. If this extraordinary power is vested to judiciary by constitution are there any checks and balances to ensure that this power is not misused? Is there an authority to which I can take up the case of extremely ludicrous and sorry state of justice delivery in India?
3. Constitutional powers stem from the people’s ratification of constitution when did court become larger than constitution to ignore legitimate demands of people?
4. Was Justice Ahmadi right in converting bhopal genocide into traffic violation? There are umpteen cases where Indian courts have overstepped their legal duties .. take the case of Taj, When did this activism become selective and suddenly CJI wanted to work in the system?
5. Entire blame for India’s sorry state. in terms of unchecked corruption..lack of health and education to poor, poor politcs and criminalization of politics stems from the fact that justice system in India is broken. We have example of a court sitting on the most important case in India for twenty five years before delivering a faulty judgment. Dear prima donnas of Indian judiciary.. your system is so broken that whole lifetime is not sufficient to get justice… so don’t you need some feedback from citizens?
6. Impartial lawyers have analyzed that what Supreme court did to Arundhati Roy was illegal in a democratic country..refer the blog here.
“In explaining why they had no option but to convict Arundhati Roy, the Judges expansively cited two factors on top of the lack of remorse on her part that explained why she had “landed herself in the dock of the court.” The first factor was that she “drifted away from the path on which she was traversing by contributing to the Art and Literature.” The second factor was that she had “resorted to all legal tactics and pretences” (sic) to frustrate the present proceedings against her. Even a critic of Arundhati Roy would find it difficult to believe how these factors had any bearing on her conviction for criminal contempt of court.”
Indian courts need to understand they are wearing emperors new clothes..
For those who do not know ..in US
1. Judges do not appoint their successors
2. Judges of lower court are elected.
3. Jury system enhances public participation
I believe getting to the level of US courts needs a sea change. First Indian courts have to accept that they have failed the aspirations of 1 billion population. Most important reform should start at supreme court. They should start delivering justice faster rather than going after public who are demanding change for better. Criminalization of politics is a symptom of extremely slow judicial process which create an artificial demand for strong arm tactics of rogues in public life.
If we fix justice in India every things falls in place.. Thanks Justice Shylendra for starting this discussion..India in later generations will thank you if India’s current generation stand behind you in unison.. This is time to seek justice..
We need a following commitment from Supreme court..if it wants to pursue contempt of court for free speech!!!
“Every case in every court will be settled within two years”
Justice delayed is justice denied.. We have been consistently denied justice and it is time we got our powers back from the system that is not working.
People who have gone through Indian court system know where Arundhati’s soft corner for Maoist stems from?
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This is really turning out to be a very curious case Indeed! This Blogger Judge has been bloggin his thoughts surely in an intemperate manner! Right, many of what he has stated may be correct but this aint a way to handle himself in public I feel. Well, if he feels this is the way (Blogging) to revolutionise the Indian Judiciary , then he is grossly mistaken.It will never be that way. Never bring the judiciary and look so opinionated in the public domain.
On the other hand, it will be an endeavour for every Judge to go on to become a Judge of the Supreme court of India and perhaps even becoming the CJI .Thats the pinnacle one aspires to reach. But this Blogger Judge (Dunno much about his tenure etc etc) is derailing his own chances as there are unfortunately not many Judges who wants to be on his side here or at the Higest level. I guess he is just crazy for publicity.
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BP agreed to pay US government 20 billion USD for the oil spill.
This amount is not cap on liability of BP. There will be separate civil and criminal penalties that will pursued on BP by various government and non government organizations.
The amount 20 billion USD will be put in an escrow account from where every claim will be processed. In case if fisherman need more compensation than awarded.. they can also go to a three judge court..
A recap; 11 persons died in BP deepwater horizon accident; the work was being done by a contractor for BP. If you want to explain this to former CJI tell him it was not owners driver who was driving the
car..instead the fellow driving the car was owner’s contractors driver!!!
Judge talked that there is no vicarious liability in criminal law.. So then why is BP spending its coffers here Mr Ahmadi?
Only incompetent judges need contempt of court.. If they read history they will know that contempt of court came from British Royalty… Mr Judge we are in democracy and it is high time you became accountable and stopped being a drain on my pockets with all those parties your are having and started working seriously on some legal issues just like what you told Ms. Arundhati that she should start writing again rather than meddling in court!!!.
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With secrets about Bhopal gradually coming out, Where is the difference between Dinakaran and Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress?
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All judges should remember that they are in their high seats at the will of the people (as we still are a democracy) and they are public servants, meaning they need to serve the public. When the world’s worst Industrial disaster happened in India, these judges undermined public interest and dragged the case over 25 years finally converting into a minor offense such as a traffic accident. All of those who still hold faith in our judicial system, even after Bhopal judgment, should wake up to the reality. The power to punish under the provision of contempt of court was given to these judges thinking that they will be acting without fear or favor in their judgments, which is not the case more often . Further this power is often misused for whimsical reasons and for self-agrandification and also it is against constitutional rights of the citizens of India, this power needs to be curtailed or abolished altogether.
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Naryana,
Good observations. Here is a link that tells you more about the inefficiency and criminal lethargy of Indian judiciary.
http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/2385-nearly-30-million-cases-pending-courts.html
By a rough estimate it would take more than 100 years before all the pending cases are disposed. In the meantime more cases would be registered and the charade goes on. I still remember long ago a supreme court judge from Tamilnadu was being impeached by parliament for misusing and misappropriating his official position. Actress Sridevi lobbied with the parlimentarians to drop the impeachment proceedings.
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Narayana,
Good points.
Is any Indian judge going to offer his/her point of view on these matters? Why do you guys exist? What if you didnt?
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I was wondering why Supreme court seemed so busy when they decided to initiate contempt proceedings against Justice Shailendra in July!!!. Why not start today..How come court became more tolerant of free speech!!!
Answer:
Word’s most powerful court is taking a summer break till July!!!
http://www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in/calendars/cal.htm
Oh My god.. these judges have 70 days of holidays!!.. I am talking of holidays here not weekends! not vacation! not sick leave!!! No wonder these guys have such huge backlog as srisri was pointing out!!!
If someone asks justice from them.. they always have “contempt of court” bath robe to cover them!!!
I think we should start a pink cheddi campaign on supreme court en masse.. they can not jail all of them..even if they want to send us to jails.. we have time till July :-).. when judges are getting tanned and may even like some pink cheddis when they are sunbathing at my cost!!!
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While a lot of the stuff Narayana etc. are pointing out here is true, it is sad that the Judiciary, which most people considered the ‘last man standing’ in our setup, has lost the image it enjoyed among the middle classes!
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It was Indira Gandhi who left two important legacies; that corruption is a global phenomenon and the other is the concept of committed judiciary. Both these have paid rich dividends for the party. There was lot of talk as to which form of govt is best suited to India and it is ironical that without amending the constitution we have changed the republican form into Presidential form and people have meekly accepted it!
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Isn’t Justice Shylendara Kumar guilty of “annoying a person using a computer” ? The new IT Law (section 66) allows police to arrest on this kind of trivial ground. It is an ideal vehicle for harassment.
I am no legal expert to determine whether defaming a judge is more of an offense than defaming a morally sound person (no exclusion between the two implied!).
The IT act is already acting. A CEO has been arrested in Mumbai because a retired judge claimed to be annoyed by words apparently written on a computer and pointed to the CEO who is apparently a competitor in school business. Check out the bizarre story at http://www.techgoss.com/Story/2336S14-Indian-school-blog-arrest.aspx
Will police arrest Justice Shylendra for calling a sitting judge names ?
If they do, the IT Act will be scrutinised. It needs to be.
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