The meaning of Ceasar’s wife be above suspicion is that the persons of high altitude must be of unimpeachable character. In the trial of the person who intruded on his house to seduce his wife, Ceasar gave no evidence at the man’s prosecution but divorced his wife, saying Caesar’s wife should be above suspicion. The necessary result is that somebody in a high place must act more morally.

The Nation stands shaken amidst the Pandemic of COVID-19 by Param Bir’s letter exhibiting the extortionary demand of Anil Deshmukh, former Home Minister of Maharashtra.

Subsequent filing of the writ petition under Article 32 of India’s Constitution before Supreme Court and the direction of Division Bench of Bombay High Court presided over by Chief Justice has made the ruling dispensation uncomfortable.

Post the judgment, the Anil Deshmukh had resigned, but soon after the High Court order, the State rushed to Supreme Court to seek the annulment of the order of the Preliminary inquiry by the C.B.I.

The doublespeak and the State Government’s dubious conduct is writ large on the face of the record. The State Government felt the seismic shock emanating from the highly explosive letter, appointed the one-person inquiry commission headed by justice emeritus Shri Kailas Utamchand Chandiwal after that, rushing to Supreme Court speaks in volume about its credibility.

Probing deep into the matter would reveal beyond any shred of doubt that one-person inquiry commission in all sum and reality and also indeed is nothing but outrageous endeavor to douse the excessive fire erupting from the explosion.

Had the State Government been upright in its move, hardly any need was to assail the well-composed legal order of Bombay High Court before the Supreme Court. By appointing a one-person commission, the State Government was ostensibly unearthing the truth, so was Bombay High Court’s order.

In its order dated 08.04.2021, Supreme Court not only dismissed the S.L.P. but also accorded effusive praise to the order of Bombay High Court. The Court did not land into the labyrinth of law based on a legal technicality and the legally untenable proposition advanced by the counsel for the State.

Suppose the State Government’s aim and interest were fair and honest, and it was not colliding with the Bombay High Court’s order, it would not have entailed the filing of a special leave petition.

Both the Constitutional Courts have reinforced the Public faith in our judicial system and deserve all laudation.
Indeed the judiciary has not let down and did everything to uphold the majesty of the law. The observations of the Bombay High Court are worth noting, the same reads thus:-

(a) “The affidavit also contains a Press Release signed by Shri Deshmukh, the last sentence whereof reads as follows:-
“I ask the Chief Minister to conduct an unbiased fair inquiry of Shri Singh’s allegations.”

(b) What ought to weigh in the mind of the Court is the gravity of the allegations leveled, viz. the rampant corruption in the corridors of politics.

(c) The secret report of the Commissioner, State Intelligence Department, and the Director General of Police, Maharashtra State to contend that all is not well in the police department and that it is only with the Court’s interference that the malaise could be ridden.

(d) We recollect the observation of the Supreme Court in its order dated March 24, 2021 that the allegations leveled by Shri Param Bir are serious, affecting the administration at large. We too, with respect, share the same view and are of the opinion that no decision on the CrWP ought to be rendered oblivious of such an observation.

(e) Where the facts of any case are such that the remedy provided by the law is found to be inadequate or inefficacious to the judicial mind, a writ petition may be entertained and decided. During the more than 70 years of existence of India as a Republic, the Constitutional courts of our country have gained sufficient experience to separate the grain from the chaff and decide on whether there exists an equally efficacious alternative remedy or any particular writ petition or class of writ petitions should be entertained in the extra-ordinary jurisdiction to uplift the Constitutional jurisprudence.

(f) The exercise of such power will be consistent with the Constitutional provision which binds a person, on his elevation as a Judge, by the oath of office administered to him. Where, therefore, there is a duty to act, refusal is the least the law can tolerate.

(g) In fact, what the Constitution envisages is a rule of law and not rule of goons having political support. An ordered polity within India to promote the integrity of the country and to enliven liberty, equality and fraternity, which Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was heard to say in the Constituent Assembly are not to be treated as separate entities but as a trinity, are the fundamental principles engrained in the Constitution. This trinity can be bypassed or overlooked only if the fabric of which the Constitution is woven be torn to pieces.

Regrettably, for indolent State mechanisms and politicians, this can never happen for the courts shall not countenance violation of Constitutional principles by anyone, howsoever high an office he occupies, and hence while acting as the sentinel on the qui vive and being always there as a watch guard of the Constitution to repel any attack on it, the courts would ensure that the democratic values enshrined in the Constitution are respected and the ideals upheld.

(h) We feel tempted to quote here Martin Luther King, Jr., who said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”

(i) We are thus of the view that since the law courts exist for the society, technicalities ought not to stand in the way.

(j) Pertinently, the chink in the State’s armour is truly manifested by the frivolity of the submissions made on its behalf.

(k) It is indeed unheard of and unprecedented that a Minister could be so openly accused of wrongdoings and corrupt practices by none other than a senior police officer attracting wide attention from all and sundry.

(l) It would be opposed to Constitutional philosophy if relief is refused only on the ground of existence of an alternative remedy, which may not be equally efficacious.

(m) A decision taken in an arbitrary manner contradicts the principle of legitimate expectation. It was observed that the public authorities cannot play fast and loose with the powers vested in them.

(n) If there is any amount of truth in such allegations, certainly it has a direct effect on the citizens’ confidence in the police machinery in the State. Such allegations, therefore, cannot remain unattended and are required to be looked into in the manner known to law when, prima facie, they indicate commission of a cognizable offence.

It is, hence, certainly an issue of credibility of the State machinery, which would stare at the face when confronted with the expectations of the law and when such complaints are received against high ranking public officials. This Court cannot be a mere spectator in these circumstances.

(o) We quite agree with Shri Nankani and Shri Jha that an unprecedented case has come before the Court. We also agree with Dr. Patil that directions are required for facilitating an unbiased, impartial, fair but effective probe so that the truth is unearthed and the devil, if any, shamed in accordance with procedure established by law.”

The quote of Nobel laureate and great American economist Joseph E. Stiglitz that “rather than justice for all, we are evolving into a system of justice for those who can afford it.” stands belied in the Indian Judicial context.

Presently, the preliminary inquiry is being held by C.B.I. It would be in the enormous interest of the Premiere Investigating Agency that the opportunity has landed at its doorstep to come out of the scourge of ‘caged parrot’ by holding the probe in a most transparent, fair, and impartial manner, lest its credibility diminishes any more.

Corruption in Public services is so deep-rooted that presently it has become a part of life. The corrupt public servants have camouflaged this monster by giving a new name that it is a convenience tax; else, keep on oscillating between the option of releasing the money or holding the money. No amount of complaint to superiors would receive any attention, and with every passing day, miseries coupled with agonies would keep multiplying.

The net result, in the end, would be that the victim would reconcile to the adage that what cannot be cured must be endured.

The day demands that the Constitutional courts play a pro-active role to contain the minatory of corruption and the sub-rosa activities of the corrupt politicians exposed by the PIL, media and the other vigilantes warranting legal interference by the Courts.

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