AN APPEAL TO OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF PUNJAB & HARYANA High Court BAR ASSOCIATION.

AN APPEAL TO OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF PUNJAB & HARYANA High Court BAR ASSOCIATION.

25th August, 2015

Dear all,

While we are proud of our judiciary, which has at all times stood as the guardian and protector of the freedoms and liberties of the people of this country, particularly in the testing times of Emergency, except for the infamous judgment in ADM, Jabalpur v. Sivakant Shukla, AIR 1976 SC 1207, the ordinary litigant and ordinary members of the Bar feel that a time has come when a vigilant Bar, nay, a public opinion, is absolutely in need to keep the glory of judiciary and to maintain its utility as an instrument of public service.

2. Besides the judgment in ADM, Jabalpur v. Sivakant Shukla (supra), the judgments of the Supreme Court in Judges-2 and Judges-3 cases, which meant rewriting of the Constitution by the Court when the power to amend the Constitution is exclusively vested in the Parliament in exercise of its constituent power and the State Legislatures in exercise of their jurisdiction of ratification, also meant tilting the concept of separation of power, nay, undermining of the very concept of the basic structure of the Constitution.

3. The judgment in Judges-2 case was rendered in abuse of a benevolent jurisdiction called PIL, which is a subject matter of great abuse today.  The collegium system, which Judges-2 case introduced, meant Judges appointing themselves in secrecy, which resulted in the higher judiciary being monopolized by the kith and kin of former and sitting Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, Governors, powerful senior lawyers et al, leaving no room for the sons and daughters of the common men, the farmers, small traders, teachers, taxi drivers et al.  Today in our country, not a single lawyer who has crossed the age of 45 years who remain as such, not designated as a senior counsel or elevated as a Judge, despite of his being belonging to the privileged class, the sons and daughters of former and sitting Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts and others stated above.  The monopolizing of the high judicial position and grabbing the major chunk of creamy briefs by the sons, daughters, nephews et al of Judges and senior lawyers have resulted in a situation where 95% of the revenue in the realm of litigation being cornered by the 5% of the elite upper caste lawyers and the remaining 5% being shared by the 95% who constitutes to be the untouchable class of lawyers.  This reality is known to all; the pain felt thereby is unbearable to the ordinary class of lawyers.  Yet, they remain helpless because there is no forum to voice their concern.  The National Lawyers Campaign for Judicial Transparency and Reforms (“Campaign”, for short) is the realization of the long felt anguish, pain, nay, anger, of the untouchable class of lawyers.

4. The Campaign has its headquarters in Mumbai at the address shown in this letterhead and has set up Chapters in Kolkata, Delhi, Cochin, Madras and Chandigarh.  The Campaign is on a membership drive.  Its membership is open to all lawyers, even to the upper caste of lawyers, provided they empathize with the cause of the untouchable class of lawyers for whose benefit it has taken birth.  The members of the Campaign, ordinary lawyers,

except that they demand equal treatment in the Temples of Justice and that the current practice of apartheid in the legal profession of the privileged class and the lower class of lawyers should be brought an end, have nothing against the upper class lawyers, the kith and kin of senior lawyers who have monopolized the fruits of the industry to themselves, and left nothing to the ordinary lawyers.  The campaigners believe that a few simplest of reforms can bring an end to the prevailing unfairness in the apartheid, discrimination and injustice which are so deeply felt in the Temples of Justice which they serve as priests.  The said steps are:

Advertisement of vacancies of Judges of the higher judiciary, invitation of applications, open and transparent selection and appointment, no matter whether it is done as contemplated in the National Judicial Appointment Commission Act, 2014 or not, a laudable effort on the part of the Parliament to bring an end to the apartheid which is in prevalence, and stalled by certain vested interest who have hijacked the platform of the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association, or the collegium system, even;

Audio/video-recording of proceedings of all Courts and Tribunals and in particular the Supreme Court and High Courts;

Reintroduction of the transfer policy, which was described by the Seven-Judge Constitution Bench in Judges-1 case as a panacea for allegations of favouritism and conflict of interest where a lawyer is elevated as a Judge of the very same High Court where he has been practicing;

Bring an end to the “Uncle Judge Syndrome” by transferring Judges whose immediate relatives are practicing in the very same Court;

Abolition of the practice of designation of Advocates as a Senior Advocates or, at least, introduction of a common dress code for all lawyers, including those who are designated as Senior Advocates;

Repeal of Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, for the said Act constitutes to be the one single obstacle which has rendered freedom of speech enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution redundant.  In none of the civil law countries, the law of contempt exists.  In England, in the 19th Century itself, contempt by scandalizing  a Court was declared to be obsolete;

Introduce a transparent mechanism in the appointment of Standing Counsel/Panel Advocates/Legal Officers for Central and State Governments, Statutory Bodies, Public Sector Undertakings etc., so that the prevailing system of nepotism, political favour etc., are brought to an end.

5. It is quite possible that many among you may not agree with all or some of the core objectives and philosophy of the Campaign.  We do not expect any lawyer to support the Campaign unless he or she finds themselves to identify with the cause and where you are able to identify with one of the causes, you are welcome to join us and support, be a torch-bearer of the cause you support.  No Campaign, no organization, nay, no movement, can be effective in the cause which it stands to subserve unless it has adequate financial resources.  Therefore, all contributions in the form of money, supply of Campaign articles and materials, organizing seminars and meetings etc., are most welcome, nay, whole-heartedly solicited.  My brothers and sisters who intend to be part of the Campaign or to support it are requested to contact me personally on my cell or landline number mentioned in this letterhead or other office-bearers of the Campaign.

With kind regards,
Yours sincerely,

(Mathews J. Nedumpara)
President

P.S. This appeal to the members of the Bar will be incomplete without this postscript.  While, as I have said at the very outset, our judiciary is largely composed of men of great intelligence, erudition, knowledge, ability, integrity, honesty, independence and impartiality, of which Hon'ble the Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana is a monumental example, a Judge who is held in high esteem, nay, literally worshipped for His Lordship’s heavenly character, the concern for the poor and nobility, it cannot be denied that there are at least a few exceptions, who are men in robes invested with the sovereign power of “we, the people”, divine trust, and who indulge in corruption and nepotism, in gross abuse thereof.  We, the campaigners, have been inundated with letters and materials which make the legal fraternity disquiet, which legendary Justice Krishna Iyer fervently used to appeal to the members of the Bar that a member of the Bar who fails to raise his voice against corruption and malpractice, wherever it is, fails in the sacred duty which he owes to the society, for the day when lawyers shut their eyes towards corruption and injustice, the doomsday of democracy is not far away.  Dear brothers and sisters, we are the conscious keepers and warriors of the democratic ethos, freedom, liberty and justice and we will never fail in our duty to fight for the values of justice, freedom and liberty so dear to us.

(Mathews J. Nedumpara)