JUBAIL: It has become a habit for the LDF-led government in Kerala to blame judicial interference for their inability to deliver on their electoral promises. We have witnessed this from the Munnar issue to the Golf Club fiasco. Chief Minister VS Atchuthanandan went to the extent of saying that the courts should abide by prevailing popular sentiments while pronouncing their verdicts.
Political parties often engage in such theatrics or sectarianism either to win votes or mask their failures. Communal parties like BJP, Shiva Sena etc are known for such tactics. In Tamil Nadu the DMK announced free color TV sets for all if voted to power. The Shiva Sena declares that if they come to power all non-Maharashtrians will be evicted from Mumbai — opening the vast employment market exclusively to the Marathi-speaking people. The BJP keeps on lamenting that Hindus are discriminated against and neglected. This kind of populism is the bane of democracy in Third World countries.
Unfortunately, even the left has fallen prey to such political maneuvering. The attempt to take over Trivandrum Golf Club is only the latest example. Nobody denies a government’s right to take control of public properties in the possession of private individuals. There is absolutely no justification in allowing the use of prime land in the capital city so that a few affluent individuals can play golf. However this is no reason enough to ignore the due process of law. The very essence of democracy is the rule of law and government is the guardian to ensure that. If the rule of law and its due process is ignored for any reason, anarchy will step in and the causality will be justice. It is relevant to note here that the rich and the powerful will have their way even in anarchy but the poor and weak will suffer. Hence it is in the best interest of the weaker sections to uphold the rule of law.
CPI lost its credibility and clean image as its not so clean land dealings and suspected connections to a big business house became public during the Munnar operation. Its minister Divakaran’s ill timed advise to Keralites to eat chicken and meat during the rice shortage only gladdened the hearts of CPI’s enemies. The Savy Mano Mathew issue further tarnished their image. In short CPI was eager for a face-saving exercise. In the golf club reclamation, they thought that they had found the right recipe. Hence the Revenue Ministry’s hurried takeover of the club during the late hours of a weekend in spite of the state advocate general’s advice to the contrary. As expected when the courts opened after the weekend, the order came out briskly to return the club.
The high court was only exercising its constitutional obligations in the light of arguments presented by both parties as it did in the state-aided school management versus Education Ministry. It cannot be said that the court considered popular sentiments in one and favored the government and rejected the same in the other.
Courts give verdicts in the light of existing laws. If there are flaws in the laws, it is the duty of the legislature to enact suitable new laws. It is certainly unfortunate that legislative bodies choose to blame the judiciary and hide instead behind the mask of undesirable populism.
