Bp Thomas Dabre

Justice Chelameswar, senior most among them expressed what they saw and experienced. We cannot disagree with them. We could assume that what they say is credible; but of course, passing a judgement without hearing the chief justice also is not proper. We always have to hear the other party. We do not have a judiciary that is totally independent of the government. This is what the four judges are essentially saying. But as I said, the process will be completed only if we hear the chief justice. Are all the lawyers and all the judges are independent in their thinking? That is really an open question.

When the judges spoke during the press conference, they were all sober and very thoughtful. They were just expressing dispassionately their experience regarding the administrative processes in the Supreme Court. They are highly respected judges. They are legal luminaries. So I am not of the opinion that they held the press conference as a rebellion or as a revolt. They only wanted to let the citizens of the country know that the legal processes must be fully just and according to the law. They feel there is scope for improvement on this aspect.

With regard to the general situation within the country, it is obvious that we have to expedite the process of giving justice to the people, because there is a tendency of postponing cases for years on end. People are exhausted. There are defects also on the part of the law and order machinery in framing charges. Unlike in the case of the rich, the poor don’t get the best of lawyers. Those who have money are able to enjoy the fruits of justice and true justice becomes out of reach for those who do not have the money. So in general I can say that we have to move forward in ensuring that all citizens, particularly the poor and those who have no godfathers, get justice.