Janata Janardan is watching

As a common man, I was intrigued to read about the case of the authorities finding burnt stacks of cash in the outhouse of Justice Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court. According to Arghya Sengupta, Research Director of Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, that is held in high esteem for its service, Justice Yashwant Varma is “reputed to be a fine Judge. His judgements are well-reasoned and his record good.” With such a Judge, how could this alleged wrong-doing happen? It seems a secret wrapped in mystery inside an enigma.

Be that as it may, I am prompted to reflect on the incident after reading Vikram Muthanna’s column last Saturday. He had alluded to another case of ‘wrong-doing’ where the verdict was pronounced on 29th March, 2025, after 17 years, acquitting the former Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge Justice Nirmal Yadav (and four others) in the matter.

In Karnataka too there was a case of a Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court, P.D. Dinakaran, alleged to be a tainted Judge, who was recommended by the Judicial Collegium for appointment to the Supreme Court. However, he was ‘inexplicably’ transferred to Sikkim instead and the credibility of the Collegium saved. This was in about 2014. Over a decade past, the question of the credibility of the Collegium system remains.

There are talks of impeaching Justice Yashwant Varma but we know that it would be an impossible step where two thirds majority is needed in both the Houses — Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Supreme Court Judge, Justice V. Ramaswami was the first Judge to face impeachment in 1993. It failed. He died aged 96, this month, on 8th March 2025 in Chennai. In a multi-party Democracy it is obvious impeaching a Judge for wrong-doing is an impossible exercise and, of course, there is no precedence in our country.

Before the Collegium system came into being, it was the President of India, who appointed Supreme Court Judges after consulting the CJI and other Judges of SC and HC as the President deemed necessary.

But in 1993, for whatever reason, the Indian Judicial Collegium system was introduced. It comprised CJI and four senior-most Judges of the SC. It recommends the appointments, transfers and elevation to SC and to High Courts.

However, in 2015, the Modi government found the Collegium system for what it was and is — perceived nepotism, opaque, even secretive and private. A brotherhood of Judges. Of the Judges, by the Judges and for the Judges.

So it brought a law, the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) in 2015 as a “Possible antidote to the culture of opacity” that pervaded Judicial functioning. However, as could be expected, the SC “swiftly extinguished it,” to use the caustic language of Arghya Sengupta of Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. The NJAC composed of the CJI (ex-officio Chairperson), two senior Judges of SC next to CJI (ex-officio members), two eminent persons (one of whom must belong to a vulnerable or minority group) and Law Minister.

Among the available option to resolve this Judicial problem, the NJAC was generally considered the ideal one but it was “extinguished” by the SC. The Judicial  Collegium system remained with the Judges. Alleluia!

It is, therefore, not surprising that our Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar had remarked that had the NJAC been present, “things would have been different” in the case of Justice Yashwant Varma.

India has never been short of legal luminaries who would rise to the occasion and find a way out of this kind of sticky judicial problems. Let us not despair. The case of Justice Yashwant Varma is an opportunity. Let not our law-makers miss this opportunity — to make judicial appointments transparent, broad-based and inclusive.

In a venal political system, it is judiciary which is the last bastion of hope for a common man. Any erosion, as is seen now, in its competency, integrity and honesty will further shake public confidence in the Judiciary. The Judges should inspire confidence in the litigants by their scholarship and personal conduct. Courts should not be perceived as a remedy that is worse than the disease. That is when people take law into their own hands. Mafia and hit-man solution to get justice are the result of Judicial failure. The American hit film “The Godfather” (1972) based on a book by the same title is an example. In a TV programme, a panellist openly said there are “fixers” in the Court. If so where is the legitimacy? Speaking to NDTV, one retired Chief Justice of Madras High Court regretted that there was no output from the Courts, no accountability and no integrity. That is bad news.

Yes, one may wish, as did our Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, that the NJAC had been there replacing the Collegium. But NJAC too had its limitations as it had nothing in it to tame and discipline the Judges with judicial accountability. So the wise law-makers of UPA-2 (Congress-led government) brought a Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010 but it got stagnated.                           Wonder if Modi government took it forward.

However, for now the common man thinks that if a Judge is caught with stacks of money (as in the present case  of Justice Yashwant Varma), he or she can get away. Therefore, Arghya Sengupta feels that an Accountability Commission for the Judiciary is the need of the hour. Will the Modi government use this opportunity to make the Judges accountable for any misconduct or wrong-doing?

As for the common man, he can only pray to Deva Guru  Brihaspati to counsel Modi government to fix the numerous fault-lines in our Judiciary.

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