P CHIDAMBARAM , RAVAGING THE LAW- JULY 2001 PAGE 49, INDIA TODAY
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RIGHT.
INSANITY, SAID LORD MCNAGHTEN IS THE INCAPACITY TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN
RIGHT AND WRONG. That statement of principle underlines the defence of
insanity in criminal proceedings. It is now part of our criminal
jurisprudence.
Pardon me for being blunt. I suspect the same principle has found its
way into our political system and even our everyday lives. But with a
horrible twist. Even sane people are unable to distinguish between
right and wrong. A kind of insanity seems to have descended upon us as
individuals and collectively as citizens of a nation.
How else does one explain the utter collective apathy to events of
great moment ? So much is wrong so much wrong is being done , every day
, yet there is not even a feeble protest against these calamitous
events. An individual may feel helpless and can do no more than shoot
off a letter to the editor of a newspaper but why is the editor of a
major newspaper like The Times of India or the Hindu helpless?
One reads about the slow and deliberate perversion of a criminal trial
and swears at the system because one is helpless, but why is the chief
justice of the high court of that state unmoved by the subversion of
the legal process? Why is the Union Law Minister or the Union Home
Minister or the Prime Minister unmoved by -or immune to- and event
where a right is being buried or a wrong is being done?
Let us keep aside those issues where there could be philosophical
difference on what is right and what is wrong. Take the case of the
death penalty is the death penalty right or wrong ? Is it possible to
take either position in the debate and yet be perfectly justified. No
one will call you insane if you supported the death penalty or opposed
it. Both are equally "sane" views.
But if you were present- as over a hundred people were- in a restaurant
in south delhi called Tamaraind court when a youn , pretty girl named
Jessica Lall was shot dead by one of the guests . surely you know that
act was wrong and unless the accused pleaded insanity or self-defence .
It was an act of murder. Three eyewitnesses told the police that they
could identify the murderer. Several others, I am sure , coul also od
so. At any rate, the others could testify to the presence of the
eyewitnesses.
Yet what do we see happening in the trial ? None of those present seems
to think that a grave wrong has been done to Jessica Lall and to
society as well. And they stand by as the tragedy turns into a farce.
So is the case of the six persons, including a police-man , who were
mowed down a BMW. The ownership of BMW turns into a truck-thanks to the
lone survivor. No one's conscience is troubled including that of the
commissioner of police, Delhi.
As we lose the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong , more
wrongs will become right. As a collective insanity overpowers reason.
What is wrong may well be regarded as right. When a convicted person is
sworn as a chief minister, the question that is asked is not whether it
is right or wrong to do so, but whether there is anything in the
constitution of India which prohibits the governor from doing so.
Immediately, I looked up the articles of Constitution which deal with
appointment of judges nad found no words to the effect that a convicted
person pending an appeal shll not be appointed a judge. Like wise , I
am pretty certain that there are no words prohibiting the appointment
of a convicted person, pending appeal, as a vice-chancellor or a membr,
public services commission, or an aambassador or even the chief of army
staff.
There are some things which are wrong, It is wrong to drive through a
red light, yet hundreds do so without batting an eyelid. It is wrong
for a political leader to take money (and that too cash) from a person
who seeks a favor, yet the samta party's Jaya Jaitley and the BJP's
Bagaaru Laxman have no qualms justifying their conduct. It is wrong to
swear to a false affidavit or give false testimony , yet it is the rare
case where a witness deposed the truth, the whole truth and nothing but
the truth.
He hall mark of a civilized society is adherence to law. And law is
founded upon universally accepted notions of right and wrong. Some
notions will indeed change. Publiclife and public discourse must
respect law and be able to distinguish between right and wrong. When
collective insanity takes over remember Lord McNaghten and bemoan the
decline of an ancient civilization.