This refers to the editorial, “Judiciary's dignity” (July 29).
Regardless of the truth in the claims of both the incumbent Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam and his immediate predecessor Altmas Kabir, on the issues that they have raised, the episode does not augur well for our judiciary, as it remains the only recourse that a justice-seeker can rely upon after being denied fairness from other democratic institutions in the country.
To err is human and, hence, any individual may commit a genuine mistake. But when it comes to the judiciary, such mistakes must be avoided or not publicly displayed. If that does not happen, these mistakes will be debated in the open and lead to a corrosion of the people’s confidence in our judicial system. On the face of it, with the verdict on the National Eligibility and Entrance Test for admissions to medical and dental colleges, the process in private institutions will remain opaque and they will continue charging huge amounts as fees of their own volition.