Kapil Sibal: This Government wants to ‘capture’ the judiciary

I am amused to find some eminent lawyers criticising the motion of impeachment.

I can only say that if four judges of the Supreme Court have expressed their utter frustration at the manner in which the Supreme Court is functioning, I don’t think any opinion of any lawyer matters.

If judges within the system say that the system is being destroyed at the instance of pressure from outside and sensitive cases are being given to particular judges, how does a member of the legal fraternity know better? How can a member of the legal fraternity say there is nothing to it, unless he questions the integrity of those four judges?

I also find the insinuation that the Congress is divided on the issue rather cute. According to the Constitution, if 50 members of the Rajya Sabha—not 50 members of the Congress party or any other party—have to sign the motion. We have not shared it with every Congress party member. We have not shared the petition with them to know what their opinion is. It is a motion signed by individual members.

In the last four years, this government has contributed hugely to the collapse of the judicial system. That’s our charge. It’s demonstrated by the fact that the former Chief Justice TS Thakur lamented and broke down in public. He said that there was a lockout in a sense because the Government was not accepting any of the recommendations of the collegium and he asked how he could possibly get the judicial system to work?

This Government is anti-people. This government wants to capture the judiciary and pack the court with people of its own kind. Otherwise, what is the reason for opposing the recommendation to elevate Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court Justice KM Joseph? Justice Joseph is the senior most Chief Justice in the country. It is because he rendered a judgement in the Uttarakhand matter and they don’t want him in the Supreme Court.

It is this government which is playing politics with the judiciary, not the Opposition. The Opposition is only saying that if there are serious charges, they should be investigated. Why is the government opposing that? Why do they want to protect the whole process? Are they afraid that some very serious evidence will emerge?

They are systematically destroying the independence of the judiciary, and we are seeing the fallout of that.

Even senior lawyers like Mr Nariman, who is now opposing this impeachment motion, are on record to have said that this government is interfering in the judiciary. And through prosecuting agencies, they are getting their own people acquitted. The way witnesses are turning hostile in the Sohrabuddin case, the way Aseemanand has been let off despite his confessional statement recorded before a magistrate under section 164…are all pointers.

In the Mecca Masjid case there is no killer. Now it has come to a scenario where people have died but nobody killed them. Maya Kodnani is acquitted. This government has polluted the entire investigating machinery. They are destroying the very foundation of justice.

This is for the first time in history that to allegations of such nature, the presiding officer has ruled that there should be no inquiry.

In all other cases inquiries were held. Though he has no authority, this is the first time that inquiry has been rejected. The Rajya Sabha Chairman is not a quasi-judicial authority, he does not decide on the merit of the charges, yet he has taken the decision.

Even in the impeachment of Justice Ramaswamy, when I represented him, there was a full inquiry.

This time too all we want is an inquiry. What’s wrong with that? There was a full inquiry in Justice Ramaswamy case, full inquiry in all other cases. Why not now?

As told to Bhasha Singh