Role of judiciary in 2011

Justice Altamas Kabir wears an amiable expression and listens to lawyers with such patience that it is impossible to tell which way his decisions might lean. He shares this trait with the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Sarosh Homi Kapadia, the man he is slated to succeed after September 28, 2012, when the CJI retires. It's surprising how many lawyers miss the cue-as on December 8, 2011, when he stunned the court with a sharp warning to lawyer Prashant Bhushan against "reckless" remarks on corruption in the judiciary. He takes immense pride in the "new court" shaped by CJI Kapadia: "This judiciary has withstood pressure of all kinds. You may exclaim 'Oh! There is massive corruption'. But you will just weaken a strong pillar of democracy."On May 12, 2010, when CJI Kapadia took his oath, the nation celebrated his story: a Class IV employee who rose to be the chief justice, entitled to perks like a Lutyens' bungalow in Delhi. But Justice Kabir "arrived" even before starting out. He was born into an aristocratic Muslim family of landed gentry from Faridpur, now in Bangladesh, where titles of Khan Bahadur, social visibility, status, influence and elite education came as a matter of course.He studied in the best of schools and colleges: Mount Hermon School in Darjeeling, Calcutta Boys School and Presidency College in Kolkata. He had enough role models on offer within the family. Politics would have been the easiest choice. In post-Independence Bengal, politics was in the firm clutches of the Kolkata elite, and the branch of the Kabir family that chose to stay in India after Partition lived in the limelight. His uncle, Humayun Kabir, had studied at Oxford and was a close associate of Congress president Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Humayun was the editor of Maulana's biography, India Wins Freedom, and translated it from Urdu to English. Scholar, writer, educationist and philosopher, he was a Union minister under Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri as well as Indira Gandhi. His father, Jehangir Kabir, was also influential in Bengal politics.Justice Kabir shares the same values as CJI Kapadia. If the catchword in Justice Kapadia's court is "integrity", in Justice Kabir's court it's "ethics". In a scam-ridden era, top judges of the apex court have captured public imagination by their passionate and even provocative defence of honesty in public life. But judicial hard knocks come wrapped in gentlemanly tones at two of the 15 courtrooms in the Supreme Court-in court 1 of the CJI and, next to it, in court 2 of Justice Kabir. And it's the "simple" questions they ask that trigger long battles of nerves with the Government. As it did when CJI Kapadia questioned the legality of appointing P.J. Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) in November 2010: "We wonder whether he will be able to function as CVC with the tag of an accused on him." In October 2011, Justice Kabir similarly punctured Maharashtra government's decision to ban bardancing with his candid query: "If women can be models why can't they be bar dancers? Are there moral assumptions in the state's constitutional choices?"Though he dines in dinner jackets with the Prime Minister on formal occasions, the first principle in his private life is "humility". He is most comfortable in khadi kurta-pyjama, say his friends. At a national seminar on transgenders in Delhi in February 2011, participants recall his visible embarrassment when the discussion gave way to hushed silence at his appearance.In August 2011, lawyers say, it created quite a stir in Bangalore when word spread that the SC judge had put up with soiled linen, torn towels and reluctant service at the state-owned Kumara Krupa guest Justice Altamas Kabir wears an amiable expression and listens to lawyers with such patience that it is impossible to tell which way his decisions might lean. He shares this trait with the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Sarosh Homi Kapadia, the man he is slated to succeed after September 28, 2012, when the CJI retires.It's surprising how many lawyers miss the cue-as on December 8, 2011, when he stunned the court with a sharp warning to lawyer Prashant Bhushan against "reckless" remarks on corruption in the judiciary. He takes immense pride in the "new court" shaped by CJI Kapadia: "This judiciary has withstood pressure of all kinds. You may exclaim 'Oh! There is massive corruption'. But you will just weaken a strong pillar of democracy."On May 12, 2010, when CJI Kapadia took his oath, the nation celebrated his story: a Class IV employee who rose to be the chief justice, entitled to perks like a Lutyens' bungalow in Delhi. But Justice Kabir "arrived" even before starting out. He was born into an aristocratic Muslim family of landed gentry from Faridpur, now in Bangladesh, where titles of Khan Bahadur, social visibility, status, influence and elite education came as a matter of course. He studied in the best of schools and colleges: Mount Hermon School in Darjeeling, Calcutta Boys School and Presidency College in Kolkata. He had enough role models on offer within the family. Politics would have been the easiest choice. In post-Independence Bengal, politics was in the firm clutches of the Kolkata elite, and the branch of the Kabir family that chose to stay in India after Partition lived in the limelight. His uncle, Humayun Kabir, had studied at Oxford and was a close associate of Congress president Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Humayun was the editor of Maulana's biography, India Wins Freedom, and translated it from Urdu to English. Scholar, writer, educationist and philosopher, he was a Union minister under Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri as well as Indira Gandhi. His father, Jehangir Kabir, was also influential in Bengal politics.Justice Kabir shares the same values as CJI Kapadia. If the catchword in Justice Kapadia's court is "integrity", in Justice Kabir's court it's "ethics". In a scam-ridden era, top judges of the apex court have captured public imagination by their passionate and even provocative defence of honesty in public life. But judicial hard knocks come wrapped in gentlemanly tones at two of the 15 courtrooms in the Supreme Court-in court 1 of the CJI and, next to it, in court 2 of Justice Kabir. And it's the "simple" questions they ask that trigger long battles of nerves with the Government. As it did when CJI Kapadia questioned the legality of appointing P.J. Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) in November 2010: "We wonder whether he will be able to function as CVC with the tag of an accused on him." In October 2011, Justice Kabir similarly punctured Maharashtra government's decision to ban bardancing with his candid query: "If women can be models why can't they be bar dancers? Are there moral assumptions in the state's constitutional choices?"Though he dines in dinner jackets with the Prime Minister on formal occasions, the first principle in his private life is "humility". He is most comfortable in khadi kurta-pyjama, say his friends. At a national seminar on transgenders in Delhi in February 2011, participants recall his visible embarrassment when the discussion gave way to hushed silence at his appearance.In August 2011, lawyers say, it created quite a stir in Bangalore when word spread that the SC judge had put up with soiled linen, torn towels and reluctant service at the state-owned Kumara Krupa guesthouse without a murmur.Justice Kabir began as "an outstanding lawyer on both civil and criminal sides". He became a permanent judge at the Calcutta High Court in 1990. And he proved himself to be "a very moderate judge with little ideological baggage". Kolkata remembers his intervention on behalf of Dr Jack Preger, the British doctor who devoted his life to free medical service, when the Foreigners' Registration Office denied him a visa in 1995. He became the CJ of Jharkhand High Court in 2005. The same year, at a relatively young age of 57, he was invited to join the Supreme Court.Under CJI Kapadia, he has emerged as the "social conscience" of the court. "The Constitution affirms equality in all spheres but the moot question is whether it is being applied", is what he said at a panel discussion organised by the National Legal Services Authority in February 2011. His judicial philosophy is influenced by the 19th century theorist Friedrich Nietzsche's "aristocratic individualism", point out lawyers. It is premised on the idea that court decisions have a crucial role to play in the enrichment of individual lives.His verdicts reflect his faith: proposing open courts for the mental health of prison inmates, fast-tracking problemsolving lok adalats, framing a wider definition of domestic violence, upholding equal rights for transgenders, prohibiting the use of muscle men in recovering financial dues to issuing notice to enhance compensation for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy victims. In a judgment in 2008, he sent a husband to jail for driving his wife to suicide with taunts over her "dark complexion"."He is the most compassionate judge of the court," say lawyers recalling his landmark cases: in 2007, he dismissed the plea that activist Medha Patkar was working for foreign powers; in 2008, he restrained the Narendra Modi government from arresting political analyst Ashis Nandy for an article ("If a journalist cannot write, who else will?"); in 2009 he famously said, "Once an arrow leaves a bow, we can't take it back", about the Gujarat government's hasty ban on expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh's book on Jinnah."I don't know a more down-to-earth and grounded family than them," says a family friend. That could be because this Sunni Muslim family has, for generations, bypassed orthodoxy in private life. Mixed marriages with Hindus, Christians and Buddhists have given this family a unique culture of sharing values. Humayun Kabir's wife, Shanti, a freedom fighter, belonged to the progressive, anti-caste Brahmo sect. Their children, Leila and Prabahan Kabir, are married to Christians. Jusice Kabir's wife Minna, a child rights activist, is a Mangalorean Christian.The untimely death of his mother, Syeda Halima, taught Justice Kabir and his five siblings to be independent early on. They grew up in a rented house on Congress Exhibition Road in Kolkata. With their father often away on political work, they learnt to divide household chores and cope with everyday practicalities. The young Altamas's vast repertoire of songs, ranging from Harry Belafonte to Muhammad Rafi, kept everyone happy. As did the dishes he rustled up on a primitive chulha. This early experience developed into a lifetime passion for cooking, baked crabs and Anglo-Indian minced pie panteras being his signature dishes. He met his wife, Minna, in the 1970s after her family moved in as fellow tenants in the same building. Their children, Anamika, 34, and Deep Chaim, 26, both studied law. Anamika, a teacher, chose to work with children.If every court reflects the personality of the presiding judge, Justice Kabir's court exudes courteousness and affability. He is a rare judge with a sense of humour, report lawyers. He allows lawyers to argue, listens attentively and asks detailed questions. In 1992, the Supreme Court set rigorous standards for judges: "He should be conscientious, studious, courteous, patient, punctual, impartial, fearless of public clamour, regardless of public praise, and indifferent to private, political or partisan influences." Justice Kabir comes closest to that definition.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Dec 30, 2011 00:00 IST--- ENDS ---

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Role of judiciary in 2011

Justice Altamas Kabir speaks softly and keeps a heavy judicial stick curtained by a gentle demeanour.

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