Register FIR against ex-CJI & relatives, says whistleblower

Special to Firstpost Mathews J Nedumpara of the National Lawyers Campaign for Transparency and Reforms spoke to Firstpost investigation partner VK Shashikumar of THL Mediagrove on his efforts to expose former Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan. At the very least, Nedumpara wants an FIR registered against Justice Balakrishnan and his relatives, so that they can be investigated like any other ordinary citizen accused of similar crimes. Edited excerpts: I am an advocate and president of the National Lawyers Campaign for Transparency and Reform. The immediate provocation to become a whistleblower through Firstpost is the reports appearing in print and television media about the abuse of judicial office by Justice KG Balakrishnan, former Chief Justice of India (CJI), and presently the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission.  I have known Justice Balakrishnan since 1984, from the day I started practice in the High Court of Kerala. [caption id=“attachment_25953” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Nedumpara wants an FIR to be registered against ex-CJI and his relatives. Reuters. “]  [/caption] I sensed judicial corruption as a reality only when I happened to appear before the Appellate Tribunal for Foreign Exchange, Director General of Foreign Trade.  I took up the issue with Justice Balakrishnan and his response sowed the first seed of suspicion about him. Thereafter, I happened to learn or hear about many things which made me all the more convinced that Justice Balakrishnan is presiding over an empire of corruption in which many of his immediate relatives, friends and even judges are involved. I am conscious of my humble status; I am no celebrity; not even a designated Senior Advocate; someone who raises his finger could easily be cornered and finished.  Yet, I have decided to speak out.  I did pass on whatever information I could gather about his (the ex-CJI’s) conduits and the deals which are being struck to whomsoever I trusted. I have sent letters to Justice SH Kapadia, Chief Justice of India, and other Supreme Court judges. I have sent letters to President Pratibha Patil and Vice-President Hamid Ansari and to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and to whoever I thought could intervene. All I want is an appointment to personally pass on the names of certain judges, Chief Justices of two prominent High Courts and a couple of judges of the Supreme Court, their conduits, their telephone numbers and the transactions that are being talked about. However, till date I have not received any response on the said request, much less an audience. Then came the open outburst of Justice Markandey Katju about the “uncle judge” syndrome in the Allahabad High Court.  In my letter to Justice Katju I had passed on whatever information I knew about at least two Chief Justices of two High Courts, two sitting judges of the Supreme Court and a few other retired Chief Justices and judges of High Courts, including Justice Balakrishnan. I have given the names of the conduits and their phone numbers. Soon thereafter came a bold statement by Justice HL  Gokhale contradicting Justice Balakrishnan on the alleged attempt by former Communications Minister A Raja to influence a judge of the Madras High Court, which Justice Balakrishnan allegedly sought to hush up.  I addressed a letter similar to the one to Justice Katju to Justice Gokhale as well.  I am yet to receive any response from either Justice Katju or Justice Gokhale. It was while matters stood thus that the avalanche of corruption and allegations of amassing of huge wealth at the hands of Justice Balakrishnan and his immediate relatives, sons-in-law, brother, nephew, daughters, and sisters, came up. The report about the property owned by Justice Balakrishnan’s sons-in-law, brother and others in Kerala alone, on a conservative estimate, could be worth more than Rs 20 crore. In a state like Kerala, it is difficult for the most weak-minded to succumb to temptation and go awry.  The reason is that there is a very vigilant bar and society.  A slight deviation from the path of probity is immediately taken notice of.  Rights conscious people who demand accountability act as a great deterrent.  That is why Justice Balakrishnan led an upright path while in Kerala.  I know (of) only about one case where he (was rumoured to have) taken money and that was some time in 1985-86. Otherwise, Justice Balakrishnan enjoyed a clean image in Kerala.  Delhi or Mumbai, unfortunately, offer no such deterrence against a judge who deviates from the path of uprightness.  The anonymity in cities like Delhi and Mumbai offers a great cover. Therefore, it is absolutely paramount that an inbuilt mechanism of checks and balances is introduced. In the light of the chain of allegations against retired Chief Justices and sitting judges of the Supreme Court, to regain the lost confidence of the public in the judiciary, some drastic measures are required to be undertaken. (a)   First and foremost, one should abandon the present system under which “Judges appoint themselves”, an aberration of the Constitution at the hands of the nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court in the Supreme Court Advocates on Record case and to revive the constitutional provision whereunder the government is the appointing authority. (b)   To introduce a just, fair and transparent mechanism for the appointment of judges to High Courts and the Supreme Court where merit alone should be the criteria and where applications are invited from all those eligible, instead of appointment by invitation, which is nothing but a recipe for corruption, nepotism and the consequent oligarchy which we find today. (c)   To reintroduce the transfer policy where at least one-third of the judges are from outside the state. (d)   While recognising the fundamental right of spouses, kith and kin of judges to practice law, it should statutorily be made impermissible for them to practice in the same court where a family member is a sitting judge or the sitting judge should be transferred to some other High Court.  I say so keeping in mind an instance where a judge from the J&K High Court was transferred to Bombay as part of the transfer policy which was prevalent in the 1990s and his lawyer son swooped down to Mumbai and minted money. (e)   Introduce a Judges’ Accountability Bill on a war footing even by way of an Ordinance as an emergent ad-interim measure till the Bill can be discussed and enacted. (f)    Introduce modern technology, including e-filing, video-recording of evidence, hearings, etc., in courts on a war footing. (g)   Last, but not least in importance,    register an FIR against Justice  Balakrishnan and his relatives, and treat them like any other suspects and investigate the allegations about them selling justice, which to my mind is the most terrible of all crimes. They should be   prosecuted and punished in accordance with the law.