Of ``Crimes'' and ``Punishments''

During the week that went by, the security guard at our apartment complex dutifully informed me that he, along with some others like him in the adjoining apartments, had caught a thief the previous night. I could see a glee on his face when he said that a police officer, who lives in the vicinity, was kind enough to wake up when they pressed the bell at his door, even at that late hour, and acted swiftly to have the inspector at the local police station to come over and take the thief away.

And after he narrated all this, I wanted to know as to what did the man steal; and was told that the man whom they apprehended was caught stealing some used clothes (that were hung on the terraces for drying) and some old footwear. Well. The law of the land does not discriminate between someone who steals used clothes and another who steals away large amounts of cash or yet another who takes away another person’s gold. All these amount to stealing. Indeed, if you are from an upper middle class family, such acts will be called kleptomania and not theft!

Coming back to where I began, I got wondering about something that I had been reading in the papers for a few weeks now. And also the fact that having turned into a practicing lawyer, I am also a small cog in the campaign for judicial accountability and hoping that the world in which we now live can be turned a bit more humane than it is now. The campaign that I am talking about is that involving the large tracts of land, real estate and other property now in possession of Justice P.D.Dinakaran, presently Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court.

The campaign, in fact, is not based on mere apprehension that the judge has abused his office (as some friends ask me even now) but is on the basis of true copies of the revenue records obtained through legitimate means. The fact is that the charges of encroachment of public land by this constitutional functionary has been confirmed in the official report by the Collector of the district (where the judge owns some property and has encroached the adjacent land too) to the Chief Justice of India, Justice K.G.Balakrishnan.

It makes sense, in this context, to also place on record that one K.Balakrishnan, a leaders of the farmers union and the one who led the people in the said village against the unconstitutional act by Judge P.D.Dinakaran is now being reminded of the several cases against him. Lest it be mistaken, this Balakrishnan faces police cases because he has taken up public causes and not because he is a thief or an encroacher. Even recently, he was held in jail for having led an agitation demanding the right of Dalits to enter a temple.

But then, Justice K.G.Balakrishnan would not like to trust this Balakrishnan. Nor would Justice Balakrishnan trust the collector whose report says that Justice Dinakaran is guilty of having encroached upon public land. The fact is that Justice Balakrishnan, whose constitutional responsibility is to ensure the constitutional scheme of things and hence is duty bound to go by the report of the district collector (who is the appropriate authority to deal with revenue related disputes) has chosen to distrust the collector’s report in the case of Justice Dinakaran.

Justice Dinakaran’s property in Chennai city (at Shenoy Nagar) stands as a testimony to his illegal ways. The CMDA had sanctioned only thee floors but the judge built an extra floor. I do wonder if that should be accepted as nothing serious because the judges, after all, are permitted to break the rules day in and day after. Those in Chennai will know that the judges of the High Court do not follow the traffic rules! And what if Justice Dinakaran constructed an extra floor in his property in Shenoy Nagar? Why make that an issue?

After all, almost all constructions on the Ranganathan Street in T.Nagar have done what Justice Dinakaran has done in Shenoy Nagar!

But then, the point is that there are cases against this violation, in the form of Public Interest Writ Petitions before the Hon’ble Madras High Court and someone like Justice Dinakaran is expected to pass judgment on those. And that is why we argue that the judge should not be allowed to continue in his position. But then, Justice K.G.Balakrishnan seems to believe that Justice Dinakaran must be taken in as judge in the Supreme Court rather than left behind in the Karanataka High Court! And given Dinakaran’s age and that of the other judges in the Supreme Court, it is most certain that this man from Arakonam will one day become the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court!

Well. I do know that we cannot insist that Justice Dinakaran too must be meted out with the same ``justice’’ that was meted out to that unknown man who was caught stealing old clothes and used footwear by our watchman. I shall reiterate my faith, at least for now, in the Constitution. But then, this binds me to expect that Justice Dinakaran will be impeached one day.