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The Delhi high court's quashing of the charges against the Bharatiya
Janata Party president, Mr L.K. Advani, and the former Union minister,
Mr VC. Shukla, in the hawala scandal is important not merely because of
the reprieve it offers to certain politicians. The verdict clarifies
the status of the Jain diary and papers as evidence. Confusion about
the significance of names and amounts mentioned in these documents led
to rumours, calculations, fears and hopes which have little legitimate
basis. The common sense view that being named in a diary cannot
constitute guilt had little chance against politically motivated
manipulation of people's credulity. The court has made clear that the
diary in question is inadmissible as evidence in itself. This is because
the nature of the entries does not qualify it as a "book of accounts"
which could be admitted as evidence under the law. The entries have not
been made regularly, they do not indicate the date or purpose of the
amounts received and details of subsequent payment to others. As the
diary offers no prima facie evidence that Mr Advani and Mr Shukla
accepted the alleged amounts as bribe or reward while in public office,
no case can be based on it alone.
This time the Central Bureau of Investigation seems to have erred on the
side of over activity It is not clear why the charges against Mr Advani
and Mr Shukla were formulated on flimsy grounds. Given the CBI's poor
credibility, the explanation may lie in political pressures either to
discredit certain leaders or to let them dramatically assert their
uprightness. Probably in muddle headedness resulting from both. But the
CBI's insistence that this will not significantly affect their case, in
which investigations have been "above reproach", is not just a face
saver. According to criminal law, the discharge or dismissal of a
complaint does not mean acquittal. If the CBI is serious in its claims,
Mr Advani may be subjected to fresh proceedings.
That, however, is unlikely to dampen the BJP's euphoria, Mr Shankersinh
Vaghela and Gujarat notwithstanding. Most of its benign planets are
back in their orbits for the moment. The BJP president has been legally
and publicly vindicated in his claim that there never was a stain on his
character. It is enough to allow the BJP to revive its anti-corruption
campaign. The judgement comes in perfect time. The BJP's fortunes had
begun to look up again with its entry into Punjab and Uttar Pradesh -
never mind how and with whom. The frostiness between the United Front
government and the Congress had already made it smug. That Mr Advani's
moment of victory should have been preceded by the Congress's withdrawal
of support from the front might be perceived by the faithful as poetic
justice. It will be usefully contrasted with the predicament of Mr
Laloo Prasad Yadav who, it seems, will no longer be able to outshout the
due process of law. In the uncertain political situation, the judgement
will become a factor in the frantic calculations of the embattled United
Front. It should also, in the interests of rationality, influence Mr
Sitaram Kesri's moves. It is a pity that the sobering lesson the
judgement offers is likely to be obscured by political manoeuvrings.
The sphere of law is independent of the political. To base campaigns
and plans on hoped for judgements is as foolish as to dirty one's hands
while in public office. But for a political herd which feels
responsibility and accountability are obsolete words, such a lesson
would be inaccessible.
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