Long Arm Of The Law

What purpose can a helipad serve on a parched landscape? Ensure comic relief as politicians swoop down to visit the drought-affected. At least that is what an observation made by the Rajasthan High Court seems to suggest. Hitting out at the state Government's ongoing construction of 381 helipads as part of drought-relief work, the court recently noted that it did not benefit the villagers in any way. "In the absence of the helipads," it added, "people only miss out on the momentary pleasure of seeing prominent leaders.''

"It seems that the administration has only one attitude: 'I don't care'." ANIL DEV SINGH Chief Justice, Rajasthan HC

The sarcasm would not have been lost on Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Neither would the fact that the state's judiciary is becoming proactive, pulling up the Government suo motu or while commenting on the course of public-interest cases. Chief Justice Anil Dev Singh has now constituted a 29-member committee, that includes top officials, for better coordination in the administration of civic amenities. Says Sanjay Awasthi, regional programme director of care, an NGO. "Someone is finally focusing on the basics.''

The high court's most scathing attack is on corruption. Taking notice of reports about the Government's alleged protection of the corrupt, Justices S.K. Keshote and K.S. Rathore issued an order on July 20 stating, "The state Government does not intend to even nominally check corruption, let alone end it." When Takiuddin Ahmed, then minister of state for urban development, refused to transfer a corrupt officer on the Lok Ayukta's recommendation, the judges wondered about the utility of having such a body. They also noted how Suraj Bhan Singh, an employee of the Rajasthan State Weavers Cooperative Society, was suspended after he exposed corruption within the organisation in a book Naukari Karni Hai To Bhrastachar Karna Hi Hoga. On July 20, days after his suspension, the court intervened and stayed the order.

STRAY ANIMALS ON THE STREETS The menace caused by stray dogs and cattle tops the judiciary's list of things to be changed

HIGH RISES IN JAIPUR Tall buildings, most of them illegal constructions, are spoiling the skyline of the heritage city

BUILDING 381 HELIPADS The high court wonders how construction of helipads will help drought-affected people

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With the court out to take corrective measures, the Government is pushed to the corner. When the media reported incidents of pilgrims drowning in the holy pond at Galtaji in Jaipur, the high court swung into action. It was only on its orders that the Government deployed lifeguards there. Elsewhere in the capital city, the judiciary is determined to preserve the green belt around Jhalana Doongri. Taking note of a public-interest petition, it recently stayed the plans to develop it as a residential area.

Th en seeing how encroachments were ruining the skyline of the Pink City, the court took the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) to task for the unchecked construction of illegal high-rise buildings. When JDA Commissioner Dinesh Goyal wondered in an interview where such buildings were, the court pulled him up. The Government had to remove Goyal, Municipal Corporation chief B.L. Arya and Ahmed when the court again commented on the failure of civic amenities in Jaipur.

The list of the judiciary's causes is long-obscene advertisements, maintenance of electricity lines, sale of liquor, corruption in jails, exorbitant cable bills and even badly managed counselling for engineering colleges. The last was pointed out by Justice Prakash Tatia in a letter to the chief justice. Little wonder then that the high court has asked the Rajasthan Bar Association to provide more lawyers. Says its President Manish Bhandari: "A judge has suggested the constitution of a special bench for PILs.''

The huge workload has not been a damper on judicial activism. Last year, when a contractor committed suicide after alleging that the Jaipur Municipal Corporation did not make the payments due to him because he refused to give bribes, a high court bench noted, "It is well-known that the lion, the cheetah and the tiger are man-eaters but that even a man can be a man-eater is evident from this news.'' Later, taking up the case of a widow who was denied her husband's pension by the Local Bodies Department, the court said the salaries of the department officials should be stopped so they would realise the hardship of surviving without money.

The new-found activism of the judiciary in an election year is proving to be an embarrassment for Gehlot. The chief minister's trip to New York last month to attend a Rajasthani conclave was a particularly controversial subject. On a suo motu PIL, the high court observed, "Despite the drought, the honourable chief minister is bent upon spending lakhs of rupees from the Treasury to attend the conclave." The issues, however, have come handy for the Opposition. Says a beaming Jagdeep Dhankhar, BJP leader: "The well-meaning court has rightly intervened in cases of executive inaction and neglect by the legislature.'' Equally happy is Rajinder Rathore, vice-president of the state BJP unit, who feels this is the only way to take on an "unfair" Government.

Understandably, those in the ruling Congress do not agree. Says Gehlot: "We have deficiencies, as does the judiciary. But it has the high court chief justice and the chief justice of India to take care of it." Others say people, and not courts, should keep count of a government's failures and successes. Regarding Gehlot's New York trip, G.S. Bapna, chairman of the Pradesh Congress Committee's legal cell, says, "You cannot weigh the benefits on a golden scale." Mahesh Joshi, Congress deputy chief whip, sees in judicial activism a parallel to the executive's obsession with publicity: "It is just a desire to see one's name in print."

Some others read a different motive as the long arm of the law stretches. They claim it is an outcome of the Government's reluctance to provide additional funds of nearly Rs 20 crore which the judiciary had sought for itself. The first instalment was sanctioned in June but that has in no way brought down the number of notices issued by the court.

Are the lords stepping beyond their ring? Some say it is not proper for the judiciary to do the government's job. "They should not give the impression of taking up governance,'' says S.R.S. Bajwa, senior criminal lawyer. He cautions that the judiciary is not qualified to "govern". Moreover, PILs lack proper trials and recording of evidence. But these are the odd voices. For the judges, these are clearly the days of judgement.