The Indian Mainstream Media Continues To Damn Justice C.S. Karnan While His Pronouncements Stand Censored

in India — by Dr P S Sahni — May 19, 2017

Co-Written by Dr. P.S Sahni & Shobha Aggarwal

“The victim who is able to articulate the situation of the victim has ceased to be a victim: he or she has become a threat.”

– James Baldwin,

Articles published in the mainstream media continue to damn Justice Karnan. Permit us to refer to one such article titled “SC right in convicting Karnan, wrong in gagging him, media” (The Times of India, 15.05.2017). The writer Dhananjay Mahapatra, associate editor with The Times of India, has spent about twenty seven years in journalism, twenty two of which have been on legal beat. The article states:

“His (Justice Karnan’s) January 23 letter to constitutional functionaries outside the judiciary seeking probe against twenty sitting and retired SC and HC judges forced the apex court to suomotu initiate contempt proceeding.”

Does Mahapatra think that writing such a letter is a reason enough to force the Supreme Court to initiate contempt proceedings? For a High Court judge as also for a citizen it is the fundamental duty enshrined in the Indian Constitution to develop a spirit of enquiry and reform. Justice Karnan was imbibed with such a spirit. Why should such a letter merit suomotu contempt proceedings? Shouldn’t it actually merit an enquiry against those twenty judges?

Juxtapose Justice Karnan’s letter with that of former Supreme Court Justice P.N. Bhagwati’s shameless letter sent to the then Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi on January 15, 1980 comparing her “coming back to the reddish glow of a golden sunrise”:

“May I offer you my heartiest congratulations on your resounding victory in the elections and your triumphant return as Prime Minister of India? It is a most remarkable achievement of which you, your friends and well wishers can be justly proud. It is a great honour to be the Prime Minister of a country like India.”

To this Justice V.D. Tulzapurkar of the Supreme Court had aptly commented on March 22 1980:

“If judges start sending bouquets or congratulatory letters to a political leader on his political victory, eulogising him on assumption of high office in adulatory terms, the people’s confidence in the judiciary will be shaken.”

Justice Bhagwati later rose to become the Chief Justice of India on 12 July, 1985.The same Justice Bhagwati sided with the majority judgement in holding that there was no remedy against detention – or even executive killing – in the infamous ‘habeas corpus’ case during the Internal Emergency imposed by Mrs. Indira Gandhi.Post-retirement Justice Bhagwati was honoured by the Times of India by appointing him as its Ombudsman concerned with judging the newspaper’s news and editorial columns. It is apparent what sort of letters written by judges find approval with the Times of India and which do not!The habeas corpus case or the ADM Jabalpur case was called by the New York Times as a case close to the Indian Supreme Court’s utter surrender to an absolutist government.

Secondly, Dhananjay Mahapatra states:

“The accident happened when Justice Karnan was selected as a judge. It is not clear from the collegium files what great qualities were seen in him by nine judges of the SC and Madras HC to recommend his appointment as an HC judge eight years ago.”

The collegium files are supposed to be confidential unless some sitting judges of the Supreme Court chose surreptitiously to share it with a media source through whom an article was sought to be planted against Justice Karnan. The Supreme Court collegium comprises of five senior most judges who hold confidential meetings to discuss appointments and transfers of judges. The proceedings of the collegium are inaccessible both to public and history, barring occasional leaks.If some sitting judge of the Supreme Court has indulged in leaks it is scandalous and merits contempt proceedings against the concerned judge.

Thirdly,it is expected that the Times of India could at least have been sensitive to the efforts of Justice Karnan in exposing corruption in higher judiciary. Justice Karnan staked his career and has an onerous responsibility on his shoulders. The Times of India is expected to be even more sensitive as one of its own staffer Mr. Abhinav Garg had faced contempt proceedings initiated against him and was made to tender an unconditional apology in the Delhi High Court in view of a news item  published in the Times of India dated 17 May, 2016. The journalist had merely quoted from the communication sent by a complainant to the Chief Justice of India on 30 March, 2016 elaborating on the case disposal rate of a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court. The Times of India should appreciate how difficult it is to speak the truth about judiciary without inviting the contempt charge and then being made to apologise unconditionally or face the risk of being jailed.

Fourthly, Dhananjay Mahapatra has himself faced the accusation of contemptuous reporting and should be empathetic to what Justice Karnan is going through. On 15 June, 2013 Times of India published an article by Dhananjay Mahapatra titled, “In Vacation, SC Bench late by an hour”. The article had a shoulder headline: Justice G S Misra and CJI (Chief Justice of India) are habitual late comers.

Justice Gyan Sudha Misra wrote a long rejoinder duly published in the Times of Indiaon 19 June, 2013. Justice Misra called the article in question as irresponsible and contemptuous reporting denigrating the image of the institution of Supreme Court; Justice Misra felt that it was written at the behest of a motivated lobby which needs to be investigated; the Judge called the style of the article as derogatory; Justice Misra commented on Dhananjay Mahapatra’s prejudice and penchant for cheap publicity; the judge opined that the article was written to intimidate the judiciary in general and composure of the judge in particular.

Mr. Mahapatra commented at the end of Justice Misra’s rejoinder that the story was based on facts and that he stood by it. It is in the same spirit that Justice Karnan stands by his complaint against corruption in higher judiciary. It needs exceptional courage to send a petition in writing on an official pad to the Prime Minister of India urging for an enquiry against twenty judges of higher judiciary against whom charges of corruption were leveled. This petition dated 23 January, 2017 was duly signed by Justice Karnan. The Prime Minister’s office forwarded the letter to the Chief Justice of India, who set up a seven judge Constitution Bench. On 8 February, 2017 this bench issued a contempt notice to Justice Karnan. Rest is history!

By sentencing a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court to six months imprisonment the Supreme Court has undermined the entire scheme of the Constitution of India. The order is against the basic structure of the Constitution viz independence of the judiciary, riding on which the Supreme Court had arrogatedto itself the power to appoint judges. Such a system of appointment exists nowhere else in the world. After establishing supremacy over executive in the appointment of judges the Supreme Court is now trying to subjugate the State High Court judges.

[Dr. P.S. Sahni & Shobha Aggarwal are members of PIL Watch Group which is mandated to closely watch the accountability and ethical standards of judiciary and conduct of judges. Email: pilwatchgroup@gmail.com]

As Justice Karnan Fights His Legal Battle, His Safety, Well-being Must Be Ensured

in Human Rights — by PIL Watch Group — May 11, 2017

Ever since the Supreme Court of India passed the order on 9th May, 2017 of arrest of Justice C.S. Karnan, a judge of the Calcutta High Court, he has been rendered untraceable. Since the Supreme Court order had put press censorship of sorts,rumours are afloat about Justice Karnan’s whereabouts. A disinformation campaign has been launched in the mainstream media to the effect that Justice Karnan is in Tamilnadu one moment and Andhra Pradesh the next; that he has fled the country and gone to Nepal or even Bangladesh. He is being painted as a fugitive on the run. Naturally there are fears in the minds of all democratically minded human rights activists about the wellbeing of Justice C.S. Karnan who has every right to defend himself legally even at this stage.

Pertinently since he had been championing the cause of action against corruption in the higher judiciary and had been openly petitioning to various authorities on the issue he would naturally become a marked man. The vested interest would naturally like to exploit the circumstances in which Justice Karnan finds himself. All efforts should be made to ensure his safety. After all Justice Karnan ostensibly has the evidence of corruption against the higher judiciary. Additionally the extreme public humiliation faced by Justice Karnan may create a situation whereby he may be forced to end his life.

The extreme public humiliation arose partly because a team of doctors accompanied by policemen – as ordered by the Supreme Court of India – landed at Justice Karnan’s residence in Kolkata in the full glare of the bourgeois press including the photo-journalists/TV channels. The very next day the mainstream press dutifully published the photograph of Justice Karnan surrounded by the aforementioned team. This is not the way mental health examination of any human being ought to be conducted. The seven judges of the Supreme Court effectively blew to smithereens the concept of privacy – ironically evolved by the very same Supreme Court of India. It must be remembered that Justice Karnan is still a constitutional entity and still a judge of the Calcutta High Court; his status is similar to that of the seven judges whose order brought him to such a pass. If an MBBS student were to tell his or her examiner on how a medical examination of someone with an alleged mental health problem is to be undertaken and if the student were to concur with the actual implementation of the Supreme Court’s order as detailed above the examiner would fail the medical student and ask him/her to appear in a supplementary exam.

All this must have caused lots of pain, suffering and mental trauma to Justice Karnan. This by itself could drive him to end his life now or later. There is a limit to the humiliation which a human being can endure. In the event that Justice Karnan takes his own life, the Supreme Court will have a hard time shrugging off the public perception that its order aided and abetted theact.

In criminal law the needle of suspicion in any murder points to those likely to benefit most from a murder. If Justice Karnan dies even accidentally it should be investigated as a homicide. It is imperative that Justice Karnan’s house and office are secured by an independent body to ensure that nothing is stolen or tampered with. After all there may be electronic or hard copies of evidence against the alleged corrupt judges lying around.

In the event that Justice Karnan is located hail and hearty he should be treated with utmost respect and privacy rather than being paraded around on the streets. A constitutional authority who still remains a High Court judge has a right to life and dignity even if he is perceived by the establishment to have crossed the laxman rekha.

We appeal to the President of India to ensure Justice Karnan’s wellbeing and safety; also that justice is done to him.

Dr. P.S. Sahni & Shobha Aggarwal

Members, PIL Watch Group

[PIL Watch Group is mandated to closely watch the accountability and ethical standards of judiciary and conduct of judges.

Email: pilwatchgroup@gmail.com]

In Defence Of Justice Karnan’s Constitutional Rights

in India — by PIL Watch Group — May 9, 2017

 

The Supreme Court’s order of today (09 May, 2017) sentenced Calcutta High Court judge, Justice C.S. Karnan to six months imprisonment for contempt of court; additionally media has also been barred from publishing pronouncements of Justice Karnan. This order undermines the Constitution of India as it violates Article 19(fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression) and erodes the independence of the High Courts contrary to what is envisaged in the Constitution. The High Courts in India function independently of the Supreme Court.

The Indian Constitution does not accord so much power to the Supreme Court to get a sitting High Court judge – itself a Constitutional entity – to be arrested and thrown in jail. That the Supreme Court passed an order just on the eve of its summer break raises the issue of the intent of the higher judiciary. The bench which passed the order appears to be peeved by the pronouncements of Justice Karnan which are being seen as contemptuous of the judiciary. However more important is that the Indian Constitution does not become a victim in the process.

All this while all the complaints made by Justice Karnan (including reportedly interalia to the Chief Justice of India) have not received the attention of the powers that be. Is it because these deal with the corruption of judges in the higher judiciary? There appears to be Brahmanism working against Justice Karnan, a Dalit judge. Legal luminaries have already raised the objection of the Supreme Court forcing a High Court judge, Justice Karnan to undertake a mental health check up. If the apex Court indeed has an iota of doubt about his mental health status then the present order of the Supreme Court to get him arrested and thrown in jail is an insane order. It may be remembered that laws pertaining to mental health in Europe were to begin with framed primarily to ensure that dissenters do not go about scot-free.

Even at this late stage the Supreme Court should reverse its order; it should not wait for an enlightened citizen to file a review petition by rushing to the Chief Justice’s residence tonight.

Does this order of 9th May, 2017 remind one of 25th June, 1975!

Dr. P.S. Sahni & Shobha Aggarwal

Members, PIL Watch Group

(Email: pilwatchgroup@gmail.com)

9th May, 2017