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| Judiciary lost its sheen in democracy | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 19: Jammu Kashmir has the distinction of being the only state where judiciary flourished during autocracy and lost its sheen during democratic and popular rule. In autocracy the judiciary was independent but found itself in chains when one man rule was imposed on the state in the garb of democracy.
On a pleasant May morning of 1944, Maharani Tara Devi was out in her chauffer driven car. The driver was booked for a minor traffic offence and accordingly put on trial. The Maharani wrote a note to the presiding officer of the court requesting him to take a lenient view in the case. The magistrate informed Maharaja Hari Singh who tendered an unconditional and written apology to the magistrate and thus upheld the supremacy of the judiciary.
Judiciary in autocratic Dogra rule was a vibrant institution. This has been admitted by the worst critics of the Maharaja. It should have, therefore, flourished further in the `democratic and popular rule’. But the reverse happened. In the post partition era, the freedom of judiciary was slowly but surely strangled to safeguard the vested interests of the rulers.
A few years after the above mentioned incident, the state came under the `democratic rule’ of Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. A Halqa president of the ruling National Conference wrote a letter to a high court judge urging him not to hear a second case in a land dispute case from Budgam district. The learned judge raised the issue with Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah who wrote, “We are passing through very difficult times. It is an emergency. You do what you are told by my worker or vacate.” The learned judge being a man of integrity submitted his resignation which was accepted.
These details were divulged by noted lawyer and writer, GN Gauhar while addressing a seminar in a local hotel last year. Pertinent to mention, Gauhar was a practicing lawyer when Sheikh Abdullah took over as emergency administrator of the state. He (Gauhar) has all the details of the above quoted Budgam case.
The executive never allowed judiciary to flourish, said Bar general secretary, GN Shaheen. “Kashmir happens to be the only place on earth where the executive can go to the extent of issuing a written statement directing jail superintendents not to honour court orders seeking release of political prisoners. The order was issued in July 2000 by the Home Department and withdrawn after fifteen days when the bar association registered protest.”
Today the judiciary in the state has reached a stage where the presiding officers admit their helplessness in the court rooms in full public view. In 2008, Chief Judicial Magistrate Budgam while hearing the Jalil Andrabi murder case observed: “The relatives of Jalil Andrabi and the general public are justified in casting aspersions on the judiciary for its failure to dispense justice.”
This was reported by all the leading newspapers of the state but nothing changed. A senior counsel preferring anonymity said: “Judiciary in the state will never be as free as it used to be during Maharaja Hari Singh’s rule.”
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