Over three years ago, on January 12, 2018, four senior judges of the Supreme Court held a press conference to voice serious dissatisfaction...
Over three years ago, on January 12, 2018, four senior judges of the Supreme Court held a press conference to voice serious dissatisfaction at the way the institution was functioning. “The administration of the Supreme Court is not in order and many things which are less than desirable have happened in the last few months,” they declared.
For nearly a week media was full of stories about the Mangal Pandey moment in the rebellious judiciary. One challenge that the four officials specifically mentioned was the manner in which cases were being allocated to judges to get desired decisions from the court.
The nation waited eagerly for changes that could transform India’s dysfunctional judicial system into an institution that would uphold the fundamental rights of citizens by example, instead of merely making proclamations.
The men who addressed the press conference stated that “the object was to preserve and protect the institution” so that two decades later the charge should not be made that the four judges had “sold their souls”. With great pomposity, they proclaimed that they were discharging their “debt to the nation”.
Subsequent events made it appear that the event was a mere outpouring of pique at not being able to persuade the...
