Chandy regime must take the court seriously
The bitter response of Kerala's Congress-led UDF Government to the scathing criticisms levelled by a High Court judge last Thursday shows how intolerant those in power can get when questioned. The court criticised the office of the State's Advocate General for its inefficiency in handling Government cases, and the Chief Minister who could not ensure transparency in the functioning of the law office under his watch, for complaining against the country's Attorney General for representing bar owners in the Supreme Court.
Justice Alexander Thomas had indeed used harsh words against Advocate General KP Dandapani, his office (which has about 120 lawyers charged with the duty of handling cases for more than 3.25 crore Keralites), and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, but most legal experts seem to agree that he was speaking the truth. According to the judge, the AG’s office had been a total failure in conducting cases of public interest, with many Government lawyers being nominees of liquor barons and other business groups. He even went to the extent of saying that it would be better if the AG's office was closed down.
Justice Thomas also pointed out that the enthusiasm shown by the Government’s lawyers in handling cases relating to the solar scam, in which the Chief Minister, his office and several Ministers were allegedly involved, was not being seen in cases concerning the people. Instead of offering to examine whether there was any truth in what the judge said, the Chief Minister surprised the State by vehemently defending his top law officer and his office, and justifying himself for lodging a complaint with the Prime Minister against Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi.
On Friday, he even tried to project the issue as one of a legislative-judiciary confrontation, by using the State Assembly to blast the judge. State Culture Minister KC Joseph stooped to very low levels by describing the judge as the fox who considered himself a jungle king after falling in a paint bucket. He withdrew the barb later.
This was not the first time that the Kerala AG's office had come under judicial criticism in the more-than-four years of the UDF rule. Despite Chief Minister Chandy's claim that his AG's office had been successful in handling almost all Government cases, the fact remains that the latter has been a virtual failure in conducting cases of public interest.
This was seen in several instances like those related to corruption, corporate encroachment of forest and revenue lands, environment, the vexed Mullaperiyar dam etc. The judge's words could now be judged by the higher judicial authorities, but that will not change the facts he had spoken of. The Congress-led regime is certain to use all forums and instruments available to it to defend itself and the AG's office but that is not going to change the truth as perceived by the public: That the two entities have all the way been in a cosy arrangement for protecting personal and political interests.