Judicial independence and HRC still elusive

The absence of these two fundamental elements in our system is a palpable fact, whether the law minister admits it or not. It has been claimed that the process of freeing the judiciary from executive control and establishing a HRC is on. And the law minister has committed himself to completing the process in one year's time.

Insofar as the separation of the judiciary is concerned, the government sought and received more than 20 time-extensions to implement the 12-point directive of the High Court. The number itself suggests that the element of procrastination in accomplishing the crucially important task has always been there.

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Where is it stuck up now? A judicial service commission has been set up and it has appointed 25 assistant judges with 140 others being under the process of recruitment, as against the requirement of at least 600 judicial officials to replace the traditional magistracy. Draft rules made for the judicial service are now before the Supreme Court, it is understood. The law minister contends that separation of the judiciary from the executive entails radical changes in the Code of Criminal Procedure. Well, the question is, why the step couldn't be taken beforehand to save the day for the judiciary? Clearly, the dilatory process still continues. And, could one be faulted for doubting that the task might well not be completed during the present government's term?

The job of setting up the Human Rights Commission has not made any headway either. A committee was constituted in 2003 to report on its formation; but now, at the fag-end of the government's tenure, we learn that a draft bill for enacting the necessary law is under consideration of the cabinet committee.

The two lapses on the part of the government have proved to be rather costly. Had the HRC been formed even at the beginning of the second half of the government's tenure, there would have been a check-and-balance on the tendencies towards infringement of fundamental rights such as the extra-judicial killings, euphemistically called 'cross-fire' deaths, epitomised.