HVK Archives: Dangerous Logic
Dangerous Logic - The Times of India
Editorial
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22 January 1997
Title : Dangerous Logic
Author : Editorial
Publication : The Times of India
Date : January 22, 1997
For Congressmen resigned to treating their suspected hawala links
as a curse, hope looms large in the shape of Messrs Kamal Nath and
Buta Singh. The duo, who had sat out the last general elections as
hawala suspects, are back in the reckoning, courtesy of a rethink
in the party on what constitutes guilt in corruption cases. "No one
is guilty simply because he has been chargesheeted" was the sharp
Congress response to questions on the whys and wherefores of the
decision to give tickets to the two partymen. After all, it wasn't
quite all that time ago that they had been specifically ordered out
of the electoral scene. Clearly, in opening up the by-election
route to Mr Kamal Nath and Mr Buta Singh, the Congress has
consciously changed its approach to corruption - from the earlier
'Caesar's wife must be above suspicion' to the more convenient 'the
people alone are the final arbiters of a politician's destiny'.
This redefinition has no doubt to do with the compulsions of
realpolitik. As the new man in, Mr Sitaram Kesri has to
consolidate his support within the party. Besides, no one can
quarrel with the axiom that a person must be presumed to be
innocent until he is proved guilty. And yet, the volte-face is
disturbing for more reasons than one. First, it threatens to
reverse the current political and judicial consensus on corruption
- that corruption must not just be fought but must be seen as being
fought. Indeed, this sets back the very process which Mr Kesri
started when he took over as Congress president.
Back then Mr Kesri had made several moves which were seen
all-around as proof of his commitment to liberating the Congress
from its sullied past. He declared war on corruption, he purged the
organisation of dubious interests and he appointed the teflon Mr
Manmohan Singh to the CWC. Mr Kesri has since been elected to the
post of parliamentary chief as well, which makes him the single
most important authority in the Congress. Every step that he takes
will be watched with interest not only for the political impact it
makes but also for the signal that it sends out. For the Congress
to decide to confer legitimacy on two men, who are facing charges
in a criminal case, just when it was readying itself for
far-reaching changes, is bound to undo some of the good that Mr
Kesri had set out to do. But, there is a second, and an even more
alarming reason, why the Congress should ponder over the
consequences of sending Mr Kamal Nath and Mr Buta Singh to the
people's court for a final verdict. The move would make
decision-making an independent exercise, placing it outside the
framework of the rule of law, indeed, the Constitution itself.
Going by the Congress's definition of guilt, a politician would be
judged to be guilty of graft only if he were explicitly rejected by
the voters. Conversely, he would need no further vindication, not
even from a court of law, once the people's court had pronounced
him not guilty. This is dangerous logic not least because it has
ready buyers across the political spectrum; Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav
has been advancing it to great advantage. No people can exist
outside of the legal framework. They derive their raison d'etre
from the Constitution which guarantees their life and liberty.
Allowing the people's court to occupy a position above the
Constitution would be tantamount to allowing a free reign to mob
rule. If today the people judge a guilty man to be not guilty, they
might well pronounce an innocent man guilty tomorrow.
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