“.. How many times can a man turn his head, pretending just he doesn’t see,.. The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind..” Bob Dylan.
Two women being paraded naked and molested is the reflection of a system being run by constitutional functionaries who have chosen to maintain silence with the belief that silence strengthens authority. There is a complete absence of the peoples’ will in a democracy because this concept itself is an illusion.
Self-imposed restrictions is a cherished dream and passionate persuasion of a writ Court which sometimes yield gross injustice to common man and society as well as to an Oath administered to an August office of the constitution.
The Hon’ble Chief Justice of India screaming at the unbearable brutality that continues for more than three months in Manipur is the need of the hour, although belated, yet, it does not send any conclusive signal for cessation of any further death and violence.
The term constitutionalism means governance and the Hon’ble Supreme Court being the final arbiter of the constitution. The constitution is not meant only for the people with access to the ‘power corridors’ nor only for the persons enjoying the 99% wealth of this country. Rule of law must prevail for which the Hon’ble Supreme Court has been described as a ‘sentinel on a qui vive’. Protection of life is guaranteed under Article 21 and if the State fails to protect lives then it also de-stabilises and vilifies the concept of Internal Sovereignty. The right to live with dignity has been violated for the last three months with impunity and such continuous flow of bloodshed is a clear reflection of bad political will which supersedes every constitutional morality and ethos of governance. The immoral silence maintained by the nation as well as the parliament which is accountable to the people can only be supervised and taken note of in an appropriate manner only by the Supreme Court. The concept of Article 50, i.e., ‘Separation of Powers’ cannot and does not come in the way when the fundamental rights of the people are being demolished with impunity by virtue of such immoral silence. Rising to the occasion is a duty of the Supreme Court which the Supreme Court itself has done for the last 75 years, but one of the most brilliant minds of this country Late Hon’ble Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer said and reminded us many a time that the Supreme Court is Supreme but not infallible.
We the people of India are outside the office of PMO as well as any power corridor which are immensely capable of doing good as well wrong to society and individuals in the name of security, law and order. But we are included in the realm of protection as conferred upon us by the constitution.
Assessment of the role of peoples’ representatives as well as social audit thereof is long overdue for reasons best known to the best of the minds of the nation. Political will supersedes all will. The courage to stand up against seas and storms are unavailable to those who are holding positions in a society because a careerist mind wants balance, peace and adjustment, rather, a status quo.
The duty to become proactive at every form of injustice affecting human dignity and life is the only obligation of a constitutional Court. When there is no assessment of linkage between human suffering and human rights then there is no existence of the constitution itself. Amidst all darkness in a democracy, the only ray of hope is the constitution and the constitutional court standing on the floor of truthfulness and fearlessness. It is not a question of an independent judiciary but a question of independent judges.
