There are reports that the Union government has decided to bring a resolution in Parliament shortly to impeach Justice Yashwant Varma (formerly of Delhi High Court and currently in the Allahabad High Court) who has been accused of financial impropriety in his official conduct while functioning in Delhi.
The last time such a motion was brought before Parliament was in May 1993 against Justice V Ramaswami of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. That motion failed ultimately for a variety of reasons, one of which was that the issue had become highly politicised.
The Varma case should cause anguish to all citizens because of the denuded confidence in most of the other organs of government and the current public dependence almost wholly on the judiciary for obtaining justice against executive arbitrariness. The Supreme Court of India itself must have been embarrassed. There are some who complain that the highest court of the land did not display the kind of outrage and expeditiousness that the matter demanded. This is possibly unfair because the Chief Justice of India had quickly ordered an internal enquiry close on the heels of a preliminary finding by the Delhi Police and also got the accused Judge transferred to the Allahabad High Court. The Allahabad Bar rightly protested against this move because it believed that their court had become a sort of dumping ground for tainted judges.
No one is above the law
As a citizen one is worried that the matter may be buried if Justice Varma, finding the heat too much to take, opts to resign. In such an eventuality he should be prosecuted in a court of law like an ordinary citizen. This will not smack of any vindictiveness. It will be merely the upholding of an old tenet that no one is above the law. Also such prosecution will strengthen the belief that the judiciary will not condone misdemeanour by one its members.
Above all, in fairness to Justice Varma himself, he will get a good opportunity in court to establish his innocence. We should not condemn him without affording him the chance to prove he had been wronged. He has continuously claimed that he is blameless and that all the campaign against him was on mere suspicion and not based on solid evidence. If he stands trial the prosecution should select a competent and untainted lawyer who will not be swayed by any extraneous consideration.
Thanks to the Varma case the SC has made clear its resolve not to allow any member of the judiciary to go scot-free if he or she is found guilty of misconduct. Will Parliament do the same? That is the big question that should agitate every honest citizen.
We do not yet know what the SC proposes to do in the future to monitor standards of integrity at all levels in the judiciary. What we should be most worried about is the level of integrity at lower formations, such as district judges and magistrates. We often hear reports that are greatly disturbing. Appointment of honest persons to the judiciary does not suffice. Marked improvement in their living and working conditions and a substantial salary raise could help.
The writer is a former CBI Director