Is justice delivery political? When its delivery is associated with the dispassionate assessment of rights violated, wrongs committed by those in political, social or economic power, it is.
Is justice delivery social? When an assessment of its delivery and reach must require a compassionate understanding of society, its structures, its inclusions and exclusions, it is.
Is justice delivery economic? When access to the portals of judicial dispensation of power is so governed by those who are able, who can, who have the access to and those who cannot.
Above all, justice delivery must be free of any consideration, personal, political, free of vendetta. Vendetta snatches away that essence of justice. Moreover, justice delivery must be Constitutional, governed by no other consideration than the values, principles and rights enshrined in our Constitution.
When judges speak what they say and what they do not say reverberates…resonates. We’ve had judges who’ve spoken and by what they have said, by the words of principle spoken, the unbridled arrogance of State power has been unsettled; the cynical and arrogant acts of those drunk with power, this arrogance, has also been checked. That was then. And this is now.
The power of India’s higher judiciary is unparalleled. With such power must come both humility and responsibility. A humility that is able to apply this omnipresence to ensure that the ultimate power, vested by our Preamble, in our people and their right to meet power eye to eye and question, and this right is upheld. The Constitutional mandate is upheld.
When such power is used to instill fear or stifle voices; voices raised courageously against dishonest state actions, the prestige of such unblemished power stands diminished. It takes courage, a rare courage (based on great convictions) to withstand such an onslaught and courage. Prashant Bhushan has this and more in ample measure.
Many times this past fortnight I have spoken with him, this gently spoken giant of rare vintage. His long career in public service questioning executive wrongs, speaking out against mass killings of the minorities, urging judicial accountability are the stuff that substantive public legends are made of. Not only do we stand with Prashant Bhushan, his wife Deepa, father Shanti Bhushanji and their children, we salute you… and feel ashamed for what you are being made to go through today, by small and petty minds in powerful places.
Related:
India stands by Prashant Bhushan
A silenced Bar cannot lead to a strong court: Lawyers write to SC
Citizens for Democracy urges SC to reconsider decision on Prashant Bhushan
Prashant Bhushan is an undeclared conscience keeper of the highest court: Odisha activists