When arrogance, greed and lust for power become the  name of the game

 When even the apex court and the CJI are humiliated and called many a name

Then we must all wake up to save our values and tweak the politician’s ear

For, our great institutions are under threat; so let’s now act without any fear

In my blog this week, about it all I have given vent to my anger- loud and clear

Please read/share it, and remember:  I love you all and hold you close and dear

                     The CJI impeachment case

            Have our politicians gone berserk?                   

I am no BJP chamcha. Nor does my heart weep for the Congress.  Both the parties are packed with criminals who are shamelessly fielded election after election. The ongoing Karnataka election tamasha shows the ugly face of our politics well enough. Thankfully, we are a little better off in Himachal though. Yes, the AAP did entrance me when it was just a baby that we felt was born to give India a fresh new start with neat, clean politics. But my love affair ended soon in bitter heart break. Having said this, I want to draw your attention to the raging debate the shocked and bewildered country has been witness to: debate on the impeachment of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India led by the Congress. Last Friday, the 20^th of April, I sat glued to the TV switching one news channel after another watching the proceedings with horror, pain, disbelief and disgust. Knowing full well how credible our news channels are, I don’t buy their stuff. Nor the dialectic or logic proffered by the squabbling and shouting party spokesmen who we all know unabashedly blow their party’s trumpet howsoever weak, stupid, hollow or twisted their arguments may be. In the present case I wanted to grasp what the country’s topmost, independent-minded legal luminaries had to say on this momentous issue of far-reaching implications and consequences. From the esteemed Fali Nariman to Harish Salve (who successfully argued for India in the Kulbhushan Yadav case in the International Court of Justice) to Ram Jethmalani -  and even many retired judges of outstanding merit - have been unequivocal in condemning this misguided move inspired by the Congress. This is what Fali Nariman – a lawyer the whole country respects for his neutrality and integrity – had to say: “This is a horribly black day…The blackest day. I‘ve never seen a day like this. In my 67 years, I’ve never seen a day like this.” Harish Salve said that it was unprecedented and undesirable and just by initiating the move, “damage to the image of the judiciary has already been done.” And  another jurist Soli Sorabjee finds the impeachment of CJI simply  "nonsensical".

I don’t know friends what is your take on this…how you feel about it, but believe me, after switching off the TV, I went to bed a broken, worried man. Our politics stinks, we know, but could it be brought to sink to such nether depths by the politicians? – I wondered as I shuffled uneasily in the bed. One crucial pillar of our democracy, the press, is already under siege with big corporate houses guided by vested interests having usurped it- the electronic media in particular. Judiciary is the last bastion which has stood firm and not let itself be cowed down by the nefarious and sinister designs of the politicians to buckle under or dance to their tunes. It has had issues and questions of propriety...as also an odd bad fish here and there. But such things are best left to its internal mechanisms to deal with. Politicians, of all, are the least qualified to meddle into its affairs. The judiciary’s umbrella of justice is the last refuge for the common man to take shelter against the scorching heat of injustices of the society and the hubris of the various organs of the government. It is sacrosanct. It inspires hope and confidence amongst the weak and the downtrodden. And when even its supreme edifice is now being jolted, the CJI being humiliated, abused and intimidated by the politicians, what message does it send to the common man? Can you imagine some Congressmen allegedly calling the CJI who is held in highest esteem by the very nature of his exalted position by you and me, “a rat in the trap”, “a fixer”? Is this the Congress of Nehrus and Patels? Has it gone intellectually bankrupt? Has it gone berserk? Where are the saner, suave, sober minds- the Jai Ram Rameshes? Where is Rahul leading this oldest party of great leaders to? Thank God, Dr Manmohan Singh held his own and so did Chidambram and Salman Khurshid, and refused to be a party to this sinister move. I salute them.

But dear friends, as Harish Salve voiced his lament: damage has been done.

History will not forgive the Congress for this grave misadventure…nor I think will the great people of our country.