On the 22nd of July, 1997 the Supreme Court Bar Association of India re quested the Chief Justice of India, J.S. Verma to take action against a person who tried to intimidate the Judges of the Supreme Court. As you know, the Supreme Court of India which was a dormant institution, became the most vibrant institution after the advent of Judges like Kuldeep Singh. Justice Kuldeep Singh sacrificed his position to become the Chief Justice of India when he refused to accede to the request of the Government in power. Justice Kuldeep Singh initiated a number of reforms on the petitions addressed to the Supreme Court by private citizens on matters that interested the public at large. His actions taken in the interest of the country and the society that we live in were opposed by the bureaucracy and the politicians whose life and blood was the money they earn through various modes of corruption. The Supreme Court which was subservient to Mrs. Indira Gandhi when she imposed the infamous Emergency where certain important provisions of the Constitution were suspended by the Emergency Laws, became aware of the awesome power that it wielded if it had the courage to be independent of politicians in power. Justice Kuldeep Singh was a thorn in the side of the corrupt politicians who hitherto had the power to drain the resources of the country for their own personal gain. The decisions taken by Justice Kuldeep Singh were followed by other Judges like Justice Verma. The rights petition that was addressed to Justice Verma about the multi-crore Jain Hawala scandal and the investigation that Justice Verma initiated brought out the extent of the corruption that was found to be deep rooted in the political ethos of the country. The corruption was endemic and it had spread like a cancer to every part of public life. People who knew that the bureaucrats were corrupt were shocked to know that their politicians who represented themselves as people who led the life of an austere sannasi lived more corrupt lives than they could ever dream of. The great political leaders of India, whether they were in the Government or in the opposition, were equally guilty and were accused of multi-million dollar scams. Mr. Rajiv Gandhi who came to power on the solemn promise of ridding public life of corruption was known as Mr. Clean. But he was saddled with the multi million dollar 'Bofor' scandal. This clearly proved that people who claimed that they had the birth right to rule due to their connection to dynasties were not less corrupt than the others. The monumental corruption that was discovered after Justice Verma initiated investigations, soared to Himalayan heights, never envisioned by ordinary mortals of the country. Many leading politicians got caught in allegations which were found in the diary of a multi-millionaire.
A Special team is investigating these scandals and are unearthing evidence that points the finger of guilt of the leading figures of Indian public life. It must be noted that in India, the bribery and corruption of public officers are a part of their public life. It is impossible to even book a train ticket without money being paid to the booking clerk. The public are quite used to this procedure so that they offer bribes quite openly and the officials accept it without any fear. The Police are the worst culprits. A friend asked a travel agent who was complaining about the difficulty in booking a railway compartment to take a delegation from Sri Lanka to Delhi. He first sent his peon with all the forms filled correctly. The clerk had nothing to do with it. He returned the forms to get the forms properly filled inand then bring it. The Junior Executive went to the same officer with a different set of forms neatly typed without any alternations or interpolations. The clerk said the forms are not properly filled and returned it to him. The Senior Executive of the travel firm was furious. He knew that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the set of forms. He took the same set of forms and went and met the Office Assistant and complained to him how corrupt the junior officials were and told him that the tourists refused to come to India mainly because of the bureaucracy that made things difficult. The Office Assistant smiled with the Senior Executive and said in Hindi that he had bypassed two other officers and come to him and if he knew how the Indian Railways worked, he would have got the compartments booked by the clerk if the forms were accompanied by a few rupees. "But now since you have come to me you have to pay me thrice the amount that you would have had to pay the clerk," he said. The Senior Executive who had just returned to India from a long stint abroad was shocked at the manner in which the Office Assistant demanded a bribe from him. He got up from his seat and said he would not give him a cent but would go to the Bribery Commission and make a complaint. The Office Assistant smiled and asked him whether he was new to the job and came from another country. He said "when you go to the Bribery Commission and make a complaint the Bribery officials will come and take me into custody and I have only to pay the bribery officials the amount they demand and I will be released without any charges being framed. In short, in India if you get caught for bribery, you bribe the bribery officers and settle the problem. But you or your firm will never be able to get any favours from this railway station and when your boss knows that you have caused these problems for his firm he will sack you without any remorse. And you have to undergo all these troubles as you think you are living in America or in England." Then he looked straight at the Executive and said, "My fee is Rs. 150/= and if you want, you pay and get your compartment or otherwise you go to the Bribery Department and lose your job." The Executive like a meek mouse took Rs. 150/= from his purse and handed it over to the Office Assistant who chopped the application and reserved the compartment. I was reminded of the hassle that instructing Attorneys in Sri Lanka have to undergo when they prepare the decrees for the signature of the Judge. You may be the most competent instructing Attorney who ever practised in Hulftsdorp, but the Clerk is equally competent to find mistakes in the decree that you have prepared and he will return it to you with the mistake and the job will not be done. The Instructing Attorney will be at the butt end with his client. Therefore it is more convenient, more expeditious and efficient if the decree is prepared by the clerk himself on the payment of a fee. No doubt the Court Clerks like all Government servants, are underpaid. I think it is far better for the Minister of Justice to permit these clerks to work after office and make some extra money by assisting the instructing Attorneys in preparing various documents that should be tendered to Court for the signature of Judges. The Minister can even stipulate by regulations the sums which ought to be paid to these clerks so that there is nothing dishonest or corrupt about it.In India the situation is many times worse than in Sri Lanka. The Police Officers are paid a pittance and live in veritable hell holes called Government quarters. MUch of the Police and the Army and the bureaucracy are corrupt.
The Supreme Court of India usurped the powers of the Executive and is directing investigations as the allegations are directed at the Executive. Due to these corrupt tendencies of the police and the investigators the Supreme Court had to usurp to themselves the powers of the Executive and the Police to investigate into the allegations of corruption of public bodies and persons. Few officers who were selected by the Supreme Court had to be abnormally honest. But yet the Supreme Court of India had started the ball rolling. It has taken over the functions of investigating officers to cleanse the public life of horrendous corrupt activities that had become the sine-qua-non of politicians. After Justice Verma took this very bold decision to investigate into these huge scandals naturally, various quarters brought pressure on him and his brother Judges and virtually intimidated them not to hear and investigate matters involving politicians.
We have in this column repeatedly shown that the politicians of whatever colour with which they paint themselves detest independent Judges. This happened during the Dharmishta era of J.R. Jayewardene. Police Officers, who were found guilty of violating fundamental rights were promoted and the compensation which they were ordered to pay was paid from public funds. This Government which came to office with the solemn promise to uphold the independence of the Judiciary and made vituperative attacks on some judges of the Supreme Court. When the Supreme Court under the Constitution made certain orders under the Fundamental Rights chapter against the Executive and against Police officers, politicians in power, resented it.
What is important is that the Bar Association of Sri Lanka which is considered to be the custodian of the independence of the Bar and the Bench remained silent and did not make any effort to condemn such efforts. The resolution brought by some members were hooted and jeered by some members of the Bar so that the resolution adopted would not embarrass those politicians who were responsible for making such a scathing attack on the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court Bar Association of India was different. When Justice Verma as the Chief Justice of India made revelations in open Court that some unscrupulous elements were making attempts to harass the Judges and thwart the ongoing investigations into the multi million rupee Jana Hawala case, the Bar sat at an emergency session and unanimously passed a resolution to request the Chief Justice to take any action and initiate contempt proceedings against those who attempted to interfere with the course of justice. The members resolved that such attempts acted directly or indirectly pressuring the Judiciary would not be tolerated, and they expressed their solidarity with the Chief Justice of India in thwarting all such attempts. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka has a moral duty to support the Chief Justice and the Supreme Court when attempts are made by the Executive directly or indirectly to suppress the independence of the Supreme Court. I would like to quote Justice A.R.B. Amarasinghe, when some unscrupulous elements were trying to threaten him by sending him anonymous communications, during the previous regime in order that he would succumb to such pressure and grant orders in favour of such elements, said:
'Every private communication to a Judge for the purpose of influencing his decision upon a matter publicly before him is necessarily calculated to divert the course of justice and deserves reproof and censure as a high contempt of Court. If we are to do what men and women of goodwill who respect the rule of law want us to do, the power they have vested in us to ensure that we their Judges are free from peril and foul horror, real or pretended, express or veiled, ought to be effectively exercised' .
Germany under Adolf Hitler was facing certain defeat at the hands of the allies, Hitler's Information Minister Josef Goebbels who had control over the German Press and Radio and every other outlet of public information lied to the German public, and gave them glowing promises that they with a new and marvellous secret weapon, would snatch Germany from certain defeat and result in ultimate triumph. When Germany was defeated, Goebbels committed suicide. The propaganda unleashed by the Government media while the country is facing an economic crisis with the cost of living rising to dizzy heights, and when there is absolutely no chance of forcing a settlement with the LTTE or defeating them, when unemployment and under employment have become a major problem, the Goebbelsian propaganda unleashed by the Government media on the gullible public is feeding them with fantasies of real or imaginary fears of political assassinations and other criminal activities of the former UNP members in the hope that such lies can divert the attention of the public which is facing severe hardships. The promises that were given to the people and the glowing pictures the Government painted are similar to the propaganda that the UNP or its members were either trying to assassinate the President or impeach the President. The first actor of the whole drama is Sirisena Cooray. The second actor is Sotthi Upali, the third and the latest actor is T.M. Sangadasa. When Cooray was arrested there were stories that he was arrested (1) for his own safety (2) for the safety of the State (3) for his alleged involvement in the JOC bombing case (4) for his alleged involvement in the Central Bank bombing case (5) for his alleged involvement in the assassination of President Premadasa (6) for his alleged involvement in the assassination of Gamini Disasanayake (7) for his conspiracy with unknown members of the Sotthi Upali gang to assassinate the President. To ensure that this conspiracy was carried out to the letter, the UNP Government under the presidency of Premadasa, gave some land to Sotthi Upali at Horagollagama in the nineteen eighties. Then Soththi Upali for some strange reason gifted this land to his mother and the mother in turn gave it to her daughter. When the Daily News posed some questions as to how Sotthi Upali got this land from the UDA, the present officers of the UDA naturally got alarmed. They promptly said that the land was given in 1988 long before Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga entertained any thought of becoming the President of Sri Lanka. At that time the only one who could and would have defeated JR or Premadsa was no one else, but Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Then there was some other land purchased by Soththi Upali about one kilometre away from Horagolla which belonged to the Finance Company. But it was conceded by the State that the much maligned Soththi Upali was never involved in this alleged conspiracy. The reasons were obvious even to a child. Soththi Upali was not fortunate enough like Chinthaka Amarasinghe or Kalu Ajith to get bail from Court. For the past one and half years he is languishing in remand. But the other persons taken into custody on the directions of the Lalith Athulathmudali Commission were promptly arrested and detained as they were according to the State a part of this conspiracy.
Then comes Tennakoon Mudiyanselage Sangadasa. When Sirimavo clamped emergency laws and prevented the holding of UNP rallies, it was Sangadasa who hid himself in the Town Hall and climbed the flag mast and hoisted a white flag. Now Sangadasa according to the media is the latest recruit of the underworld. According to the propaganda, the CID is now investigating as to what happened to a pistol which was handed over to Sangadasa and which was given to Soththi Upali in the year 1988. The CID must have solved all the major crimes in this country and must not be having anything else to do other than to inquire into the mysterious disappearance of a pistol that was issued to the MMCs for their protection. Can any single politician say that they did not apply for arms from the Premadasa Government for their protection during the reign of terror in 1988. Vijaya Kumaratunga was one who thought he would not ask for weapons from the Government and would manage his own security with the help of PLOTE. It was the present President, as the wife of Vijaya Kumaratunga who requested arms. If she was issued only with a pistol there would have been a howl of protest. In fact the complaint was that the Government refused to give sufficient number of arms for their protection. Before these pistols were issued to the MMCs, two members of the UNP were killed as a result of a bomb being thrown at a group meeting which was held at the private residence of an MMC. There was a howl of protest that the Government was unable to protect its own men. The Government under the directions of Ranjan Wijeratne issued pistols to the MMCs and immediately after the insurrection was defeated, President Premadasa personally gave directions to Ranjan Wijeratne to collect every single weapon that was given to the MMCs. When the CID has failed to solve a large number of crimes that have taken place after this Government came into power, it is ridiculous and amusing to know that they are using their precious time to investigate into what happened in 1988. The people love to live in fantasies. The Indian cinema and local cinema goers love these pot boilers. There is a report that attendance at theatres have reduced by more than 50%. Naturally people now watch the Rupavahini news and read the Government media for fantasies, which they have been able to dish out better than the Indian and Sri Lankan directors of pot boilers. But let us all know that this kind of false propaganda cannot last long. Goebbels lied so much that he himself believed in the lies and when he saw the German empire collapsing and the Russians were near the Berlin gate, he committed suicide.
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