THE JUDGEMENT
— Benjamin Disraeli quoted by Justice M. Nagaprasanna in the closing part of his judgement. Mahatma Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave and Jayaprakash Narayan have said the same about the government being a Trust for the people
And Karnataka today is a witness to this highest guiding light of the Law. And thanks to the Honourable Mr. Justice M. Nagaprasanna who delivered a path-breaking judgement last Tuesday that gave a body blow to the high and mighty among the Karnataka politicians, specially Siddaramaiah, who assumed to be invincible even before the law. But Karnataka judiciary rose to the height of a Solomon’s Court.
About democracy, famous men have said that it can survive and prosper only if there is Freedom of the Press. No. I have seen it in 1975. Now after last Tuesday’s judgement, I can say democracy can survive and prosper only if there is a Fearless Judiciary with Judges like Justice M. Nagaprasanna. Judges who interpret the law of the land not merely by its letter (technical grounds!) but also by its spirit. The spirit with which the law and its purpose were conceived by the law-makers.
When the Maharashtra’s Minister for Public Health Bhai Sawant protested in the witness box that the Commission was not appointed “as an inquiry against Ministers,” he was immediately cut down to size by Justice Lentin who thundered: “If you think this Commission does not include Ministers you have missed the whole purpose. This is not merely an inquiry into the death of those unfortunate 14 people in J.J. Hospital. The inquiry is looking into the probity of public office and administration in high places. Sit down Minister.”
I guess this Hon’ble Justice Nagaprasanna is cast in the same moral, humane and intellectual mould as Justice Lentin, if one goes through his judgement. Well, if it was not merely 14 lives in Justice Lentin’s case, it is not merely 14 sites in Justice Nagaprasanna’s case. Both the judges have raised the level of probity to a sublime height beyond deaths and sites.
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