21 Gun Salute to Freedom of Press - RK Jain's huge victory in Contempt case - if judges decay, contempt power will not save them
THERE could not have been a better Independence Day Gift. On the eve of Independence Day, the Supreme Court of India delivered a hallmark judgement upholding the Freedom of the Press, which will go down in history as one of the greatest judgements in the Democracies of the World. The Supreme Court made it clear that any attempt to shake the Fourth Pillar of democracy will not be tolerated – the Court saddled the petitioners with an exemplary cost of Rs two lakhs.
We should all be grateful to Indirect Tax Practitioners Association, Bangalore for making this epoch-making judgement possible. And full credit to the crusading Editor of Excise Law Times, the legendary RK JAIN for bravely and efficiently defending himself in this Criminal Contempt Petition.
The Indirect Tax Practitioners Association felt that an editorial written by RK Jain in the ELT dated 1.6.2009 will not only create a sense of fear and inhibition in the minds of the members who are entrusted with the onerous task of dispensing justice, but also prevent the advocates and practitioners who appear before CESTAT from advancing the cause of their clients without any apprehension of bias/favouritism. The petitioner also pleaded that by targeting the particular member of CESTAT, the respondent has scandalized the entire institution.
Intellectual paralysis creeps over a society which denies, in however subtle a form, due freedom of thought and expression to its members .
It is the maturity of the judiciary that they don't silence criticism by contempt proceedings - the integral yoga of shanti and neeti is so much the cornerstone of the judicial process that criticism, wild or valid, authentic or anathematic, shall have little purchase over the mentation of the Court.
The Supreme Court reiterated the legislative recognition of one of the fundamentals of our value system - Truth. Truth as a defence in contempt proceedings, has received a boost. The Supreme Court also recognised the role of a whistleblower and also recognised RK Jain as a whistleblower who should not be silenced by contempt proceedings.
RK Jain is the new champion of Press Freedom and all of us in the tax field should be proud of him that it was one of us who got this Fourth Pillar of Democracy strengthened.
RK Jain is a pioneer and crusader who had been in the field for more than thirty years and with total devotion, he had been agitating to improve and reform our tax citadels. With stoic determination, he fights his causes – the amount of time, effort and money he spends in his crusade is amazing and he is prepared to face any consequences. He told me that even if he is sent to jail, he would take it as a new learning opportunity and use the time in the jail to fight the corrupt system and try to correct it. You shouldn't meddle with such people!
Incidentally RK Jain, the respondent in the contempt case, is the Secretary of Excise & Customs Bar Association, New Delhi (a post he has been holding for nearly thirty years) and the petitioner is the Indirect Tax Practitioners Association. Lawyer vs Lawyer maybe alright, but l awyer vs Lawyer cum journalist is not all that equal a fight. The other day I was travelling with a Secretary to the GOI sitting next to me. When I told him that I was a lawyer and a journalist, he told me, “that is the most lethal combination”. And RK Jain has been at it for more than thirty years. He seems to be madly in love with CESTAT and he will not allow his love to be tainted. His efforts have to be taken as an endeavour to cleanse the system and not as an attempt to demean the great judicial institution.
This, however does not mean that, we now have a licence to criticise the CESTAT and its decisions. The CESTAT is a great institution and has been doing yeomen service to the cause of dispensation of justice. When it is right, it is our duty to keep it right and when it is wrong it is our duty to set it right. We should not demean the institution by unnecessary criticism – after all we all make mistakes and that includes the highest courts. Just because we don't like a judgement, we should not rush in to criticise it. TIOL would request its Netizens to keep this in mind while they send comments for the Message Board.
TIOL joins the rest of the world in celebrating the victory for freedom of speech and expression and congratulates RK Jain on his magnificent victory.
I do not agree with a word you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it.
We bring you a detailed analysis of the case today in our TIOL TOP. We also bring you the full text of the Editorial which was the cause for this litigation.