Jyotiraditya Scindia and Ranjan Gogoi,member of Congress and the former Chief Justice of India respectively are inthe news for all the wrong reasons. They are now both in Rajya Sabha. Theformer changed the course after serving the Congress for around 18 years, andthe latter accepted the sinecure position of a Rajya Sabha member from thePresident of India. Both have defended their decisions and received supportfrom some expected quarters. Ranjan Gogoi believes, post–acceptance of thepost, that the Legislature and the Judiciary must work in tandem for the largergood of the democracy. The decision of both will be and should be criticisedheavily; because, primarily, and very shockingly, such U-turns are unusual evenby the standards of the dark topsy-turvy world of Indian politics. RanjanGogoi’s is a first of its kind in terms of the small duration of time thatpassed from the moment of his retirement until he took a government sponsoredposition. What can one expect from other members of the judicial fraternity,who are way behind in the hierarchy of status and eminence, and may thus havegreater reason to feel tempted by post-retirement government perks andprivileges?
Deceptive Facial Expression
While Ranjan Gogoi is criticised for takinga sinecure position so soon after his retirement that it is unbecoming of a manof his stature, Jyotiraditya Scindia has received criticism for somersaultingfrom an apparent secularist to a communalist. Mr. Scindia switched on intosaffron tunes after furiously defending the Congress ideology for a long time.The movement from the Hand of Congress to the Red of the Left isunderstandable, but a shift towards the Lotus is a bolt from the blue. Theseare polar opposites; and then what a time to change loyalties, when thecontrast between the two ideologies cannot be sharper. At a time when thedominant talk is that of a crisis in the Indian constitutional system broughton by the aggressive march of the Saffron. Ranjan Gogoi took this position beforethe “cooling off” period could end after his retirement. Arun Jaitley hadfamously argued for a two year cooling off period post-retirement before ajudge can take any government position. No doubt seats are reserved in RajyaSabha for men of eminence, but what higher eminence will he get after becomingthe Chief Justice of India? And what contribution will he make in the limitedtime allotted time to him to speak in the Upper House? There is very littletime given to the nominated men of eminence in the Rajya Sabha; how many timeshas one heard Fali S. Nariman (the wisdom that comes from him when he opens hismouth!) speak in the House?! Same with other nominated members like H K Dua andothers. Further, his decision has cast a shadow on the impartiality on theentire system. An absolutely wrong precedent has been set, one that will,hopefully, not be followed by the folks in the court. However, my main focus isa little different, and one which asks us to re-examine our position about theopinions and expressions of human beings.
There is absolutely no change in the facialexpression on the two occasions; one, when Mr. Scindia spoke determinedly aboutthe values of secularism and the second time when he decided to embrace theSaffron. First, he spoke of fighting the battle of truth with the Saffron untilthe end of his life, and then congratulating the PM and HM for giving him aneminent platform in the Upper House. There is the same tell-tale expression ofsincerity and earnestness. Same is the case with Mr. Ranjan Gogoi. When hespoke of a fearless judiciary and independent journalism at the Ramnath Goenkalecture in 2018, he seemed very sincere and earnest. The expression wasavailable when he spoke of coordination and collaboration between Judiciary andLegislature after taking the position. Not even a micro-expression wasdifferent. He was appreciated when he spoke of the need of defending a freejudiciary, and in fact pleaded for fearless journalists and independent judges.No one worth his salt could raise a question about the sincerity and honestythat was exuded from the face. Now that he has occupied the seat in the Houseamid jeers and boos, he has shell-shocked many, and forced a re-look at all hisjudgements. How much training and practice does it take to maintain the samecalm and poise on the face while speaking things exactly opposite of each otherin essence? The gap between appearance and reality cannot be starker. Theduplicity is explicit. The sacred cow of the system is unveiled to be a foxycharacter, and the sacred calves hosted by it are no less driven byself-interest and ambition than others outside their haloed halls. These areIagos of the real world, who can call a person “a black ram” when they are notwith him, and “my lord, you know, I love you” when they are with him; and onboth occasions not batting an eyelid that might give an impression of an evildual nature.
Hollow Future
In future whatever comes from the mouth ofthese characters, is there any reason to believe? That will certainly come withthe same level of sincerity and honesty. Or will they add another level to makeus believe in what they say? One thing is sure, whatever will be said that willsound hollow. The trust is built over a track record. They are the not the first,and certainly not the last who try to use facial expression to different ends.Eventually, the touchstone is the act not the word or the made up expression.