Many people have asked why i did not speak out in 2005 about the incident relating to the corrupt Judge of Madras High Court when it happened that year. My reply is : I was a sitting Judge (Chief Justice of Madras High Court) at that time, and judicial discipline and the unwritten code of conduct requires that a Judge should not go into the public domain. So I could not have gone to the press. But I was not silent. I informed the then Chief Justice of India, both in writing as well as orally when I met him in Delhi, about the full facts, and requested him to order a secret IB enquiry, which he did, and the IB report proved that what I said about that Judge was correct. I retired in September 20011, and it was only when some Tamilians wrote on my facebook page that I should write about some of my experiences as Chief Justice of Madras High Court that I wrote about it.
Moreover, the important question is not about timing, but whether what i said was correct or not. I posed 6 specific questions for Justice Lahoti ( the then CJI) to answer, but he did not, and instead said that he will not stoop to the level of someone else ( implying me). Let the people decide who has stooped. Justice Ruma Pal, who was at that time on the 3 Judge Supreme Court Collegium ( consisting of Justices Lahoti, Sabarwal and Ruma Pal ) has vindicated me ( see front page of Hindustan Times today ). Also, the letter of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh putting pressure to continue that corrupt Judge has now come to light, as well as the written comment of Justice Lahoti that the sensitivities of the government should be taken into account ( meaning that the Judges should surrender to political pressure ).
In today's Punjab Kesari Hindi Newspaper (24.07.2014) it is stated in the front page in a special editorial by Mr. Ashwini Kumar, the editor, that if Justice Ashok Kumar was a corrupt judge, I should not have recommended him for elevation to the High Court. In fact, I never recommended him but it was my predecessor who recommended him. I became Chief Justice of Madras High Court in November 2004, whereas Justice Ashok Kumar had become the Additional Judge of the High Court in April 2003.
In the said editorial Mr. Ashwini Kumar asks why I did not do anything when I found he was corrupt. The truth is that I immediately requested the CJI to get a secret IB enquiry held, which was held and he was found to be corrupt. Thereafter, it was for the CJI to do the needful. I could not go into the public domain as it is against judicial discipline and unwritten code of conduct for judges that they should not go into the public domain.
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