Contempt of the court is the most feared word in journalistic, bureaucratic and political circles. Generally people are so scared to utter a word against the judiciary that they do not want to call a spade a spade.

On the other hand Indian courts are also very touchy about the issue of Contempt of Court. So much so, that they spare none, no matter who he may be. A Senior Secretary of the Karnataka Govt., Mr.Vasudevan was sent to jail for one month under the provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act. The Chief Minister of UP Mr.Kalyan Singh was also sent for one day to Tihar Jail for the same offence. Two young IPS officers of Haryana were sent to one year imprisonment for violating the same act. There is a whole list of social activists, reporters, correspondents, editors and newspaper owners who have been fired or punished by the courts for 'lowering the prestige of the courts'.

Here is a classic case where none other than the Chief Justice of India has been the offender of the contempt of the Apex Court. He has done so by not naming or punishing the person who approached him and his brother judge to hush-up the Jain Hawala case. This person dared to lower the prestige of the highest court of the land and yet he got scot-free. He has committed the biggest crime in the annals of the judicial history, yet he was described by the then CJI Hon'ble Mr.Justice JS Verma as a "gentleman" and his identity was kept a guarded secret by his lordship. He did so despite tremendous pressure from every quarter to disclose the same and punish the guilty.

In this special edition of Kalchakra we have attempted to bring to surface some of the facts in this matter which rocked the country on 14th July 1997, when the then CJI, openly revealed to the nation that he and his brother judges were being pressurised in the WRIT PETITION NO. 340-43 OF 1993, IN THE MATTER OF, VINEET NARAIN AND OTHERS VERSUS UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS, known as the Jain Hawala case. After going through this newspaper the readers will be shocked to know that in this case the attitude of the court has been surprisingly very unusual.
The court did not react when the CJI and his brother judge was pressurised. It did not react when the whole country including the media, the bar council and the parliament demanded prosecution of the guilty. It did not react even when a derogatory anonymous letter (bearing fax no of Jain's office) against the hon'ble judges of the SC was circulated in the Apex Court in July 1997. Despite our prompt initiative to book the guilty in this matter, the Apex Court gave us a cold shoulder. We as vigillant citizens were so much concerned about the dignity of the highest court that we were running from pillar to post to catch the guilty, but the court was not bothered. Why ?

Once again on July 15th 1999 the Apex Court failed to react even when its prestige was further lowered beyond imagination through a sworn affidavit. On that day the so-called "gentleman" disclosed in a press conference at Delhi that it was he who had approached the then CJI and Justice SC Sen to hush up the Hawala case on behalf of the Jain brothers. He liberally distributed the copies of his affidavit to senior journalists, who grilled him for almost two hours. Through this devastating affidavit the so-called "gentleman" has given gory details of his relationships with both the above judges and with the Jain brothers. When we asked this person to dial at the residence of Sh.JS Verma, he did so very promptly and to our surprise they both had a friendly and warm conversation, which we recorded on our video.
When the journalists questioned Justice Verma, he accepted having known this "gentleman" Dr.Jolly Bansal. However, he stressed that his aquintance was of the post Hawala period. It is interesting to note that the former CJI chose to socialise with the same person whose name I had disclosed to Sh. Anil Divan through a petition dated 29 July 1997 and also in a press conference on 30 July 1997, as the man who influenced the Apex Court on behalf of the Jains. My statement was then widely published by the national dailies and was also aired by the star TV news. Isn't it surprising that despite all this Justice Verma had no hesitation in interacting with the same person. Incidentally Dr Bansal had been coming to the Supreme Court on almost every date of the Hawala case with one of the accused NK Jain. He started doing so since October 1996. It is just a co-incidence that the much hyped Hawala case also started getting cold treatment from this time onwards.

Those who have some knowledge of the criminal cases know that such cases can only be temporarily shelved in the cold storage but cannot be closed without proper investigation. They can bounce back whenever there are honest people to take interest in them or with the surfacing of new evidences. Hawala is one such case, which has seen unceremonious burial without being investigated. Those who often make noise about Bofors, Fodder Scam, Bank Scam and so on, why they do not dare to demand a thorough probe into this case ? They know it very well that this case is connected with the funding of Hijbul-Mujaheddin a terrorist group of Kashmir. It is the same group which had recently advanced into the Indian territory at Kargil and took the toll of our hundreds of brave young soldiers and officers. What surprises us most is the fact that the BJP has been over enthusiastic to take the credit of Kargil but is least interested in the honest investigation of the Jain Hawala case, although it is the only case which clearly establishes the nexus with the ruling elite and the militants in the country.Through this editorial I appeal to the concerned citizens and the fellow media persons to raise following questions.

Why is it that the apex court is not interested in punishing the guilty of the contempt of its own court ?
Why Justice JS Verma and Justice SC Sen along with NK Jain and Dr Jolly Bansal should not be prosecuted under the contempt of courts act when they have been a party to the gross violation of the said act ?
Why should media hesitate in raising these issues when we know that the courts leave no opportunity to punish us for much smaller and unintentional violations of the said act ?
Why should parliament not raise this issue with the same vigour as it had done on July 29th. 1997, specially in the light of the fresh evidences which have come forward in the form of a sworn affidavit by the so called ''gentleman''? After all Hawala case is connected with the security of the country, which at no cost can be compromised.
Finally as the Hon'ble Prime Minister has been repeatedly saying that the government will have to take some bold decisions to save this country. This too is one such area where he cannot afford to close his eyes. Can he ?

                                                                                                                                                    Vineet Narain