The damaged reputation of several top institutions of the country has threatened to play havoc with the credibility of other similar institutes in India. Supreme Court of India (SC), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Reserve bank of India (RBI) are a few of them. People always looked upon them, many still do, as temples of people’s rights, protection and safety. As former President Pranab Mukherjee said in a conference in New Delhi, they symbolised the country’s “national character”.
People did not visualise the judges as individuals but for them they represented the “court”. Five senior judges rebelling against the then Chief Justice was like the court itself protesting against its work and conduct. Thankfully, the crisis was averted in the nick of time, thanks to the sagacity and wisdom of the judges, but the rumblings remain. And, so do people’s perceptions on the Constitutional authority. An aloof judiciary is common man’s ideal and, hopefully, it will recoup with passing time.
Sadly, the CBI could not wriggle itself out of an unprecedented crisis without the intervention of the government. While the judiciary’s turmoil was less of doom and more of ego, it was the reverse in the CBI. No matter what happens from now to the CBI, the institute has ceased to be India’s top investigative agency people blindly reposed their faith.
While the RBI is in a different league altogether as compared to the CBI, bruised ego and one upmanship has caused holes in its credibility. The trouble in RBI is far from over but the temporary truce between the government and the top bank is salutary.
However, there are instances of the political class dragging a Constitutional authority to controversy. One need not look beyond the Election Commission (EC), a silent, but potent institute. The row over EVMs is a reflection on the state of murkiness India’s politics has been pushed to. That said, all top Constitutional authorities should have a “relook” into their working style as suggested by Pranab Mukherjee.
