The recent revelations about Supreme Court judges and their
collegium selection system have left me stunned and speechless.
Indian constitution
holds this court as the final authority as far as judiciary is concerned and
expects to be the go all and end all for everything under disputes.
Being the ultimate wise men with highest level of expertise on
constitutional matters, common people consider the verdicts delivered by Supreme
Court judges as the final ones considering they cannot go wrong.
When one reads about some of these otherwise respected lot
are either compromised or corrupted, the soil under the feet is simply taken
away. These supposedly infallible set of people, once being held in high
esteem, are showing up just like any other common person- prone to be
influenced by bribes or other external factors. The recent startling facts also
reveal the out of the way measures taken
to either appoint incompetent judges in highest level or give undue favors to
inept representatives under political duress. The once iron willed institution
today is under the scanner like many other corporate or social organizations.
On one side, Supreme court has ben appreciated for taking up
the cudgels to drive the country towards prosperity providing direction to
parliament – the executive arm of the country (though some say it is
overstepping the limits drawn between executive and judiciary), on the other
side, it has been exposed that they are not above the very basic human nature
of greed and power exposing its cruel teeth and nails.
The common man is perplexed and asking a question.
Where do we really go?
Who do we really look up
to?
Yesterday Lok Sabha passed the landmark bill, ratified by
Rajya Sabha today, to scrap Collegium system – judges appointing judges and to
be substituted by a 6 member committee.
While I do not know if the new committee will be any better,
it is high time, this institution look inside to cleanse the system and get
back its erstwhile respectful image in the eyes of the public.
