NIXON M JOSEPH Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Having regard to the manner in which I propose to dispose of this Original Petition, I am satisfied that notice to the 5th respondent is not necessary. Accordingly, notice to the 5th respondent is dispensed with. Service of notice to other respondents is complete and counsel(s) heard.

(2.) This writ petition filed in the nature of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) is for the issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the 3rd respondent to declare the candidature of the 5th respondent as null and void and for a direction to the first respondent" restraining the retired Judges of High Court and Supreme Court from contesting in the election to the Union and State Legislatures within 10 years of the retirement" and for a direction commanding the 4th respondent to conduct an enquiry into the allegations raised against the 5th respondent in Exts. P1 and P2 news reports and for a declaration that retired Judges are not entitled to be appointed as Commissions under the Commissions of Inquiry Act and Members of the Statutory Tribunals within 10 years of their retirement. Since the election in which the 5th respondent contested is already over, no relief in that regard is liable to be granted in the present proceedings. The relief in the nature of a direction to the 4th respondent to conduct an enquiry into the allegations raised against the 5th respondent in Exts. P1 and P2 news reports is misplaced and the same is also not liable to be granted in the present proceedings. Regarding the other reliefs prayed, I propose to deal with them in a wider perspective as it has a direct bearing on the independence of the judiciary and consequently on public interest.

(3.) A fearless and independent judiciary is the very basic foundation of our constitutional edifice. Democracy cannot exist without justice and justice cannot exist without an independent judiciary. Indeed, the judiciary should exhibit fierce independence manifested through a rare courage of conviction. Not only should it be independent but it must also appear to be so. The judiciary is identified as the last bulwark against arbitrariness and all that can be broadly labelled as not only unjust but also immoral. The nation reveres and holds in awe the uncompromising attitude of the judiciary on various vital issues affecting the country. In fact, the impression of the judiciary as final bastion against what is unjust is not of recent origin; it is discernible throughout the recorded history of mankind.