Open Forum
New Delhi, 7 October
2020
Threat to Institutions
NEED TO SAFEGUARD RIGHTS
By Dhurjati Mukherjee
Recently former Chief
Justice of Delhi High Court Justice AP Shah regretted the fact that every
institution designed to hold the Executive accountable is being systematically
destroyed since 2014, the time the BJP government came to power. Delivering the
late Justice Hosbet Suresh Memorial lecture titled: “The Supreme Court in
Decline: Forgotten Freedoms and Eroded Rights”, he said: “We might not be in a
state of war but we are in a state of emergency, unprecedented for generations.
Central to all this, and certainly, of most concern to me, is the role of the
Supreme Court”. He further noted: “In India, today, every institution,
mechanism or tool that is designed to hold the Executive accountable, is being
systematically destroyed”.
Retd. Justice Shah
came down heavily on the alleged misuse of the Unlawful Activities Prevention
Act (UAPA), which he said was being used to stifle dissent and put people behind
bars and branding them as ‘anti-nationals’. Referring to the Supreme Court, he
said, “In the face of all this, the one institution which has the capacity to
turn the tide is the judiciary. Unfortunately, it seems to have lost its way”.
According to him, with Parliament weakened, the apex court would have been the
next best space to discuss the Kashmir trifurcation, the constitutional
validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act, the suppression and criminalisation
of the protests against the law, the misuse of draconian legislation like the
sedition law and the UAPA.
Similar sentiments have
been aired by number of intellectuals and jurists for some time now. However, in
addition reference has been made to another form of repression i.e. stifling
the right to protest and the right to free speech. Justice Shah cited the
crackdown on the anti-CAA protests and implications on civilians, critical of
the government in the North East Delhi riots and worse the judiciary looking
the other way like a mute spectator.
Reported attempts are
being made to stop dissent in all forms and concentrate power in a centralised
manner. Such stifling of dissent is being carried out in a surreptitious manner
and through free flow of unaccounted money, while institutions are being
centralised so as to ensure there can be no support of dissenting opinion. It
appears that people from all walks of life are being allured to support the
government.
The common man has
reason to worry as he knows he won’t get justice or his grievances be patiently
heard as the government has turned ‘autocratic’ and anti-people. This can be
gauged from the government going into denial mode with regard to the misery of
migrant workers, which it claimed was triggered by fake news and it chose not to
have any data! An impression that the Opposition and critics feels is gradually
growing is that the government is only tilted towards the corporate and business
community and is interested in aiding them through various ways.
One may refer here to
a seminal book, ‘A Systems Analysis of
Political Life’, wherein political theorist David Easton, argued that
public trust in political authorities and institutions provides diffused
support that authorities can always fall back on in times of crisis. Trust in
government represents the confidence of citizens in the actions of the
“government to do what is right and perceived fair”.
Thinkers such as Gandhi,
Madison and Hume thought that expression of distrust towards the government
could act as a safeguard for democracy but this is not being allowed by the
current dispensation. Distrust towards the government can be the result of
public experience of governmental incompetence, which is well manifest from
recent developments in the country.
Political analysts and
vocal critics of the government believe and quite rightly, that a situation of
such magnitude wasn’t witnessed even during the darks days of Emergency. The judiciary,
the last bastion for powerless citizens to appeal to, has not played its
independent role. One may recall here that at the dawn of the modern State, the
kings and lords realised the importance of the administration of justice. A
democratic government transiting to the authoritarian mode is what has actually
happened i.e. violating the citizens’ sense of right and fairness.
The way situation is
developing and shaping in different sectors points to a process whereby there
is a clear tendency to centralise authority and control without considering the
views and interests of the people at large. There is also a clear tendency of
suppressing dissent at any cost. A classic recent-most example is that of
Amnesty International being hounded out of the country and its India office
having had to shut down. While government claims bungling of foreign funds,
what is said to be behind the action is two of its critical reports – one on Jammu
& Kashmir’s changed status and the other on the N-E Delhi riots.
The present situation
doesn’t augur well for the country and many critics and dissenters suggest the
need for ‘strong resistance’. But the big question is how shall such resistance
be organized in the country and who will lead these protests against
authoritarian government? However, people
are responding in their own little way. With regard to the recent Hathras ‘gang
rape’ case, 100-odd top retired bureaucrats have expressed concern over the
rule of law and how institutional autonomy is being eroded.
In a federal
structure, the centralisation of authority – concentrated at the Central or State
level – is a big no go, particularly for a healthy democracy, where
transparency and public opinion needs to be valued. Unfortunately, our
political leaders are not interested in proper decentralisation be it political
or economic power. It would not be out of place to refer to a recent
observation of Delhi High Court which expressed ‘pain’ that, on at on the one
hand, the government talks of ‘Make in India’ and, on the other, floats tenders
that would result in ouster of local, small entrepreneurs.
The court further
stated: “What really irks is that if you really want to oust these people
(small entities), then say so. Don’t be hypocritical in your speeches. Your
political leadership speaks of ‘Make in India’, they speak of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, they speak about
encouraging local industry, but your actions don’t match your words,”, the
court pointed out in a case relating to tender conditions for ground handling
operations in regional airports.
Thus, whenever
leaders talk of decentralisation, it should be viewed as hoodwinking the people
and more so because national parties have themselves concentrated authority at
the highest level. At this moment and situation, to restore autonomy to
different institutions pressure groups need to be created across board to
ensure there is correct decentralisation so that the people’s voice and views even
at the grass-root levels are reflected at the top decision-making process and
rights are not stifled.----INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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