Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Power used to deny justice' that was published in Newsband

Power used to deny justice

Did the Supreme Court live up to the standards of fairness it expects of all authorities while inquiring into a former woman employee’s complaint of sexual harassment and victimisation against the Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi? An ad hoc committee concluded that the allegations have “no substance”, but the findings will not be made public.

The complainant withdrew from the inquiry, saying she was denied the help of a lawyer or a representative, that she found the questions quite intimidating, and that she was not clear how her testimony was being recorded.

The manner in which the court dealt with the complaint on the administrative side has been less than fair. The Supreme Court has come across as a prisoner of procedure and displayed an alarming propensity to mix up its institutional reputation with an individual’s interest. The great Institution of India has not lived up to the expectation and fairness of just and equity. They live in their own glass house and damage it through self-styled rules and procedure. It has lost its credibility and dignity.

There is a structural issue.  Impeachment should be the only way of acting against the heads of executive, legislature and judiciary. Else we have to wait for their office term to end before initiating proceedings. Is the issue at hand large enough to disrupt democracy or can it wait for the CJI's term to come to a close?

This is a grave miscarriage of justice, violating the fundamental principle that, "Justice must not only be done but also appear to be done". That the findings will not be made public raises the obvious question, "If there is nothing to hide, why not make it public?" Because the CJI is involved, this enquiry cried out for a committee that was independent of the SC. Surely we have persons of impeccable integrity who have the training to conduct such inquiries. This case is yet another nail in the coffin of public trust. There is not a single institution in our country that the public has faith, which carries the stamp of impartiality and competence.

Those who have confidence in our judiciary have not dealt with this system at all. Hope you won't have the need to go to a police station or court; if you are forced to, your view of these two institutions will never be the same again.

Is India becoming a decadent society? Every institution has failed. And the people have become rabid communalists. It pains a normal person to the core.

Audacious, Dictatorial, Arrogant, Reprehensible, Outrageous - All these have become hallmark of the Great Supreme Court in just one sitting. What we witnessed in the most recent Supreme court handling of an important "Test" Case wherein the very Definition of Justice was to redefined, for none other than the Chief Justice was involved in a situation where an erstwhile employee made allegations of Sexual harassment, resorted to by the CJI - was nothing but most brazenly unleashed miscarriage of Justice.