The government deserves full marks for its appointment of Goolam Vahanvati as Attorney General and Gopal Subramanium as Solicitor General. Vahanvati, former Solicitor General, a sound lawyer with vast legal experience, has a fine temperament and is not ruffled by noisy interruptions, which unfortunately are not checked by some Supreme Court judges.

Gopal joined my chambers as a junior in 1980. He diligently and cheerfully worked my briefs and we shared many jokes. It was evident that he would rise high in the profession. Vahanvati and Subramanium possess the requisite quality of independence and rightly believe that government must not win every case by any means but it is essential that justice is done in court, especially when fundamental rights of the marginalised sections of society are infringed. Manmohan Singh’s government is in the safe hands of Goolam and Gopal.

The UPA government’s decision to drop some dubious erstwhile ministerial colleagues is welcome. However, the retention of A Raja raises doubts about the government’s resolve to root out corruption. Another instance is the failure to enact Lok Pal legislation, which has been on the anvil for decades and which would go a long way to root out corruption in high places. Why is the government dithering on this issue? Does it consider this legislation too risky? Two other legislations are also overdue. The first is for a National Judicial Commission for appointment of Supreme Court and High Court judges. The current collegium system has not worked satisfactorily. A National Judicial Council for disciplining judges is imperative. The present system of removal of Supreme Court and High Court judges for misconduct is notoriously tardy and can get politicised as it did in the case of Justice V. Ramaswamy. It is absurd to suggest that the judiciary is riddled with corruption but it is equally absurd to deny that there are some bad eggs who need to be removed.

... contd.