Exposure
of the sitting Chief Justice
of India
Vineet Narain investigated
and published the first ever
report on the corruption of
a sitting Chief Justice of
India in Feb 2000.
The
silence of mainstream media
Surprisingly none in the media,
bar or parliament showed the
courage to take-up this cause
due to the fear of judiciary
and the Contempt of Courts
Act, despite Narain’s
repeated personal appeals.
However, they kept admiring
Narain for his courage to
come-up with such a well-documented
expose.
Representation
to the President of India
He then made a representation
to the Hon’ble President
of India demanding his intervention.
The President took serious
note of his findings and referred
Narain’s report to the
then Law Minister Mr. Ram
Jethmalani. After investigations
the Law Minister found Narain’s
allegations to be true.
Law
Minister gets sacked
The Chief Justice of India
got upset and prevailed upon
the Indian Prime Minister
and got the Law Minister sacked
from the Union Cabinet.
Media
Highlights the issue
This snow balled into a major
controversy in July 2000 because
higher judiciary till now
had maintained an untainted
image. Narain’s work
was highlighted on national
and international media such
as Zee TV, Star News, BBC
and CNN etc. Encouraged with
these developments Narain
went ahead and published reports
about a few more land scams
related with the close family
members of Dr. AS Anand, the
then CJI.
Contempt
proceedings against Narain
initiated in J&K High
Court
As a result, a contempt case
was initiated against Narain
from the Srinagar wing of
the J&K High Court. While
the focus of all the reports
published by Narain was the
misconduct of the CJI, the
contempt notice took cognizance
of only a passing remark on
the role of one of it’s
judge, ignoring major thrust
of these reports. Narain was
summoned in January 2001 to
the snow-clad and militancy
gripped Srinagar, while the
main seat of the said court
functions from Jammu during
winters. Narain’s security
concerns were ignored.
Public
attack on Narain by supporters
of the accused CJI
He was publicly attacked by
the supporters of CJI in an
open seminar at the Constitution
Club of Delhi, in which eminent
personalities from various
walks of life were discussing
the problems of corruption
in judiciary and the relevance
of the Contempt of Courts
Act. If this could happen
in Delhi, worst was in store
in J&K. Mr. Narain’s
request to transfer the case
from J&K to any other
state was ignored.
Former
Prime Minister writes to the
Apex Court
The former Indian Prime Minister,
Mr. VP Singh also made a similar
request to the Apex Court
expressing his concern for
the safety of Narain but in
vain. He wrote, Mr. Vineet
Narain, editor of Kalchakra
has been fighting for public
causes at a great risk of
life. ........ Since, 1993
he has been fighting against
the clandestine funding to
militant outfits of J&K
specially, Hijbul Mujahideen.
Narain was declared a proclaimed
offender by the J&K High
Court. His office was attached.
The J&K police starting
raiding his home.
Narain
flees the country to save
his life
To protect his life and to
mobilize international media
support, he slipped out of
the country and went to UK
and USA.
International
bodies come in support of
Narain
Narain appeared on Q&A
show of CNN, on BBC World
Service (London) and on VOA
(Washington) etc. and spoke
boldly about this issue. He
got tremendous applause for
his courage and was offered
help to seek asylum.
Several international
bodies of journalists based
in USA and Europe wrote strong
protest letters to the Indian
Prime Minister.
New York
based Committee to Protect
Journalists wrote, "We
urge you to order an immediate
inquiry into possible political
motivations behind Narain’s
prosecution and to provide
him with appropriate protection
if he is required to appear
in Jammu Court."
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more
Narain
returns to India
Determined to continue with
his crusade he returned to
his motherland.Narain’s
sustained efforts to ensure
accountability of the higher
judiciary has finally been
recognized in judicial circles.
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more |
