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Mainstream, VOL LI No 22, May 18, 2013

Justice J.S. Verma: A Mind Without Fear

Saturday 18 May 2013

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TRIBUTE

by Chaman Lal

The death of Justice J.S. Verma, the former Chief Justice of India and erstwhile Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), on April 22, 2013 marks the end of an important era in the operationalisation of human rights in India.

Despite belonging to the Madhya Pradesh cadre of the Indian Police Service, I had known and admired Justice J.S. Verma from a distance until October 1999, when he joined the National Human Rights Commission as its Chairperson. I had the good fortune of being involved in the core activities of the NHRC in my position as the Special Rapporteur and soon discovered in Justice Verma a mentor, second only to K.F. Rustamji, the legendary police officer also of Madhya Pradesh origin who had shaped my life and character as a police officer and inspired a whole generation of policemen to serve the people fearlessly with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.

On Police Functioning

 

It is not uncommon for senior police leadership in our country to be critical of the higher judiciary. While police chiefs in the Central as well as State governments perceive judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts as unappreciative of the complexity and constraints of policing a restive democracy like ours, the judges resent the markedly aggressive mode of police functioning and the brutality and arbitrariness of its methods. But Justice Verma had an extremely balanced approach in the matter. On a number of occasions and at different fora, he had expressed his firm view that the functional autonomy of the police is as important as the independence of the judiciary. He considered both equally essential for the implementation of the rule of law that is part of the basic feature of our Constitution and that has been judicially declared to be indestructible.

However, the freedom that Justice Verma advocated for the police was in no way related to giving a ‘free hand to the police’, as argued by the tribe of K.P.S. Gill, who hold that police should be given full freedom to choose the ways and means to achieve its aims and targets.

Justice Verma’s idea of police freedom simply meant insulating the police from political and other extraneous influences to enable it to act in accordance with law. He tried to ensure this through the Hawala judgment that freed the CBI of government control. A conveniently forgotten part of this judgment was the Supreme Court’s directions that the same principle be followed and a mechanism worked out for granting the same kind of freedom to the State DGPs. Justice Verma was very unhappy with the inaction of the Central Government to free the CBI as laid down in the Hawala judgment. Recent events show that the premier investigating agency of India has often acted with less independence and more partiality in politically sensitive cases after being constitutionally granted autonomy of functioning.

Referring to the popular debate on police reforms, Justice Verma used to say that no amount of improvement in infrastructure, manpower, logistics, technology and even methods and procedures could bring about the desired change in the quality of policing unless the ethical dimension was strengthened and a police code of conduct designed to meet the imperatives of democratic policing was enforced. Curing the internal infirmities, he believed, was no less important for police than removing its external deficiencies and flaws.

The Odisha Cyclone

The role assumed by the NHRC in the Odisha super cyclone (1999) marked the beginning of Justice Verma’s tenure as its Chairperson. A trendsetter in creativity and innovation, the new Chairperson viewed the devastating calamity from a human rights perspective particularly with regard to the vulnerable categories of victims: women, children, destitutes, disabled persons and economically fragile communities. Based on a detailed report submitted by the Secretary-General and myself, the NHRC issued a comprehensive set of recommendations covering both the short-term measures for immediate relief and long-term development plans. I visited the affected districts (13) a number of times to monitor the progress and quality of implemen-tation of the NHRC’s recommendations. Justice Verma also visited Bhubaneswar and Cuttack and discussed a number of important issues with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The NHRC succeeded in drawing the attention of the State Government to some areas and aspects of relief inadvertently missed and filling up the gaps left in initial planning. Extension of grant for destroyed/damaged houses to families living on encroached land and compensation to fishermen for loss of boats/nets were specific additions made at the instance of the NHRC. Reconstruction of a destroyed school building as a school—cum-cyclone shelter was a new idea conceived by the Commission with inputs from some dynamic District Deputy Commissioners. While indicting a few State officials for dereliction of duty, the Chairperson suitably rewarded the District Deputy Commis-sioners who had done exceptionally well. The outcome of the Commission’s inter-vention in the Odisha calamity dispelled all our initial reservations about the NHRC’s role in such an area. Consequently when a huge earthquake hit Bhuj (Gujarat) in 2001, the Commission was able to formulate and operationalise its intervention in record time.

The Godhra Carnage

The NHRC’s handling of human rights issues arising from the communal violence in Gujarat, triggered by the Godhra train carnage in February 2002, was a testimony to its independent functioning and the courage and wisdom of its Chairperson. Accompanied by the Secretary-General, P.C. Sen, the Commission’s Special Rapporteur in Ahmedabad, P.C. Namboodri, and myself, Justice Verma visited Ahmedabad, Vadodra and Godhra to make an on-the-spot study of the tragic incidents. The team visited the relief camps and interacted with victims from both communities. It had an open dialogue with civil society and voluntary organisations, academics, the media and business community. I saw Justice Verma struggling to control his emotions while listening to the heart-wrenching accounts of violence from orphaned children and dishonoured women. The Chairperson had a one-to-one meeting with the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi. He told us later with clear disbelief that the Chief Minister had promised full compliance with whatever the Commission would order in the spirit of a ‘dutiful son’.

I had the privilege of drafting the minute-to- minute account of the team’s visit, which was suitably corrected and modified by the Chairperson. Justice Verma discussed the matter in the meeting of the full Commission and formulated the Commission’s recommendations. The final proceedings were drafted personally by Justice Verma with meticulous concern for the accuracy of facts, soundness of observations and justness of conclusions with the able assistance of Virendra Dayal, the NHRC’s Member with long years of experience in the UN.

The Gujarat trip gave me a unique oppor-tunity of seeing closely a great judge at work, propelled by a mind without fear and a heart full of compassion.

Core Values and Basic Structure of
the Constitution

Justice Verma was a progressive and practical judge who tried to minimise the gap between theory and practice of human rights and transform the rhetoric of human rights into reality. It was always a treat to hear him speak on the core values that constitute the basic structure of our Constitution and the balancing mission of the rule of law in harmonising individual liberty and public order in a democracy. He made it clear in the Commission’s proceedings in the Gujarat case that the state is responsible for protecting the human rights of citizens not only from its agencies and officials but also from the non-state actors. He stressed the constitutional requirement of all decisions and actions of the state to be ‘just’, ‘fair’ and ‘reasonable’ with no scope for arbitrariness or discrimination.

Real Commitment to Equality

As a police officer, I had observed judges to be mostly detached practitioners of law allowing no complications caused by emotions, senti-ments or feelings. Undue personal concern of any kind even for the subordinate staff of the institution was viewed as a threat to the judicial integrity judges are required to maintain. Justice Verma was different in this as in many other common approaches of his community. I recall a class IV employee of the NHRC sustaining multiple injuries in a road accident and being rushed to the AIIMS in a critical condition. Besides tasking the Joint Secretary of the Commission to monitor the progress of treatment personally, Justice Verma spoke to the Medical Superintendent of the AIIMS on phone to enquire about the treatment and also visited the patient in hospital. This was his way of telling the hospital authorities that to him, as an individual and as the NHRC Chairperson, the life of a class IV employee is as valuable as that of any other person in the Commission’s hierarchy.

Vital Relationship between the Supreme Court and NHRC

After remaining frustratingly engaged with the bonded labour PILs for nearly two decades, on November 11, 1997, the Supreme Court passed an order empowering the NHRC to monitor the implementation of the Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act. 1976. A similar order was passed the same day, entrusting to the NHRC the responsibility of overseeing the functioning of the government mental hospitals at Agra, Gwalior and Ranchi with a view to improving the standard of living and medical treatment of the inmates.

Both Justice Verma, who was the then Chief Justice of India, and the then NHRC Chairperson, Justice M. N. Venkatachalaih, believed that the Supreme Court can and should use the services and facilities of the NHRC to monitor implemen-tation of its directions in important PIL cases by empowering the NHRC to issue legally enforceable recommendations. The same principle was later followed in the unfortunate Orissa starvation death PIL when the NHRC was empowered to ensure execution of short-term and long-term plans for relief and development in the Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput (KBK) region.

These cases are counted among the success stories of the NHRC even by its critics who otherwise view the Commission as a toothless tiger. It is a pity that the principle of complimen-tarity between the Supreme Court of India and NHRC, mooted by Chief Justice Verma, has been totally forgotten after he left the Supreme Court.

Life after NHRC

After finishing his term at the NHRC and retiring from active service in January 2003, this extra-ordinary man was leading the ordinary life of an elderly Indian middle class person, living in a rented house and looking after his ailing wife. Yet, he remained accessible to lend his support and guidance for a number of public causes dear to his heart. His death renders the world much poorer for admirers who drew strength and inspiration from him.

His moral integrity and great intellect did not take from Justice Verma an appetite for the simple pleasures of life. This was reflected clearly in his taste in food and music, choice of simple but elegant clothes, and love of cricket. Just a fortnight before his death, he had travelled by Metro accompanied by his grandson to enjoy the thrill of being with the ordinary people who always gave him the real perspective for informed justice. It is this perspective that he called the crucial ‘X factor’, one which created true justice when it was added to dry laws and legal arguments.

The author is a former Director General of Police, Nagaland and former Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights Commission.

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