Editorial
Saga of judges' sacking
An important lesson for future guidance
The order of sacking of two judges last month, and rescinding it very soon after it was issued, highlights the slipshod manner that the administration had adopted in handling the matter, not to speak of its predilection for disregarding procedures and rules laid down for the purpose. It is just as well that the mistake was realised and corrective measures taken just in time which helped avoid an awkward situation and the legal embarrassment that might have followed.
We are surprised by the procedural flaws that were adopted in the matter. It is difficult for us to believe that the advisor had initiated the file, given that in their advisory role the advisors do not have any administrative jurisdiction. One fails also to rationalise how the file that, as far as we understand, should have been initiated by the ministry of law, was not seen by the law minister at all, as he avers, and was sent up the channel, right up to the president for approval.
We do not know how one can justify the flaw that has caused so much embarrassment to the government that of overlooking the role of the supreme court by not seeking its recommendation as required by the relevant rules regarding postings, transfer appointment and dismissal of judicial officers. Are we to understand that the two top bureaucrats of the law and establishment ministries were ignorant of the requirement? How is it possible, by the same token, that it missed the scrutiny of the staff at the PM's secretariat altogether? To say the least it was a very frivolous and inept manner in which a decision on an important and sensitive matter was reached.
And it is only because of the ham handed and hasty way of handling the issue that the two highest offices in the country, that of the President and the Prime Minister, have been brought into unnecessary controversy.
The matter is perhaps unique and we cannot recall another like it; certainly all the relevant government functionaries must take lessons from it to avoid embarrassment in the future.
One must take note of the fact that it has not only underlined the upshot of procedural flaws, the incident has also brought to the fore the susceptibility of the highest executive to bad advice. We feel that while it put the PM in a vulnerable position it also has conveyed a bad impression about functioning at high levels, particularly of the way decisions are taken.
We would expect the bureaucrats, as the servant of the republic, to act in the most professional way and keep in mind that flawed advice results in flawed actions of the government.
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