I, ....do swear in the name of God (or solemnly affirm) that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, and that I will faithfully discharge the duty…..

Even the walls of the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapathy Bhavan reverberate these sacred words that our Hon’ble Ministers render while taking oath.

In a startling revelation, Justice R Regupathi of the Madras High Court said in open court yesterday (June 29, 2009) that a Union Minister had tried to influence him to grant anticipatory bail to a medical student and his father, a doctor, in a CBI case relating to forged marks. “A Union Minister talked to me. He sought to influence me to release this petitioner on anticipatory bail,” the judge said. He also said that he would write to the Government as also to the Prime Minister if the petitioner’s advocate did not submit a written unconditional apology for some of his remarks.

This is hardly the way a Union Minister, has taken oath of allegiance to our Constitution is expected to function. This act of one Minister is enough to make the entire Cabinet feel ashamed, on the basis of ‘collective responsibility.’

One would not have forgotten the emotional outburst of Justice AR Lakshmanan in a case relating to Mulayam Singh Yadav. He had received an anonymous letter whose contents were defamatory in character. But, this is perhaps the first time that a Judge of a High Court has come out with a stunning revelation of a Union Minister having tried to influence him. In all fairness, in the name of Justice, I feel Justice Regupathi would reveal the name of the Minister. Whether the Judge reveals or not, the Prime Minister should take suo moto action to initiate an enquiry, so that the country knows who the Hon’ble Minister is.

When Sanjay Dutt alleged that a Union Minister had threatened him of an adverse verdict from the Supreme Court if he contested the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat on Samajwadi Party ticket, the Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan had categorically rejected the idea of the government or anybody influencing the Supreme Court in its verdict. Now that a High Court Judge has come out with a revelation that pressure was being exerted on him, the Supreme Court should intervene.

HR