Constitute independent body to address complaints against judges – Prashant Bhushan

Advocate Prashant Bhushan called for the constitution of an independent body to deal with complaints of misconduct and corruption against judges. He was speaking at the Rule of Law Convention – 2014 (Convention) organised by the Bar Association of India at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi..The two-day Convention was inaugurated by the Chief Justice of India, RM Lodha on September 13. In his inaugural address, Justice Lodha said that judicial independence is “non- negotiable” though he refused to comment on the National Judicial Appointments Commission..“I won’t speak on the issue (the constitutional amendment) but I would touch upon independence of judiciary, which is very dear to me. It is one thing which is non-negotiable,” said the CJI..The two sessions on ‘Independence of Judiciary and Rule of law’ lit up the convention with interesting suggestions coming from senior lawyers. Senior Advocate and jurist Soli Sorabjee presided over the first session while Senior Advocate Anil B Diwan presided over the second..“Rule of law is different from Rule by law. Mere existence of law is not sufficient. It should value human rights and human dignity”, said Sorabjee..Senior Advocate AK Ganguli, another speaker in the session, came down upon the Collegium system saying that it has destroyed the self dignity of the higher judiciary. He also said that it has led to conflict within the judiciary with four categories of judges emerging from it –the CJI, judges who will become CJI, Collegium judges and judges who will become Collegium judges..Advocate Prashant Bhushan said that a robust system for judicial accountability would have to be developed to ensure judicial independence..“An independent body should be constituted to address complaints of misconduct and corruption of judges. The current system of impeachment of judges is impractical and insufficient. It is near to impossible to get the signatures of hundreds of Members of Parliament”, said Bhushan..Bhushan also said that the lure of post retirement jobs was affecting judicial independence and also blamed arbitration and retired judges participating in arbitration as a factor contributing towards compromising judicial independence..“Judges on the verge of retirement know which law firms are into arbitration and try to please them”, he said..Senior Advocate Ram Jethmalani, who spoke in the Valedictory session, stressed on the role of the Bar in preserving judicial independence and integrity..“Don’t expect honest and independent judges, if the Bar is not qualified to hold on to the professional obligations. No corrupt judge can survive unless there are corrupt lawyers who are helping him out in the practice of corruption….If there are no independent judges, the Constitution is a dead letter with all liberties written on a useless piece of paper.”.A birthday cake was also arranged for Jethmalani who celebrated his ninety-first birthday yesterday. Senior Advocates including Raju Ramachandran, BV Acharya, PP Rao and Krishnan Venugopal also spoke on various topics..The Valedictory address was delivered by Justice TS Thakur.