We are deeply hurt by the decision of Government of India to award late Justice J.S Verma, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, with just Padma Bhushan, whereas his huge services to the nation need to be accepted and recognized by awarding him with the highest civilian award. We understand and empathise with the pain and embarrassment caused to the family of the late Justice J.S Verma, by this under valuation of his services, and hence their refusal to accept the same. While the Government’s decision to posthumously honour him is welcome, but he certainly deserves to be awarded with the highest honour in view of his unfailing and spirited defense of the basic secular, democratic and just values enshrined in our Constitution. He is undoubtedly one of the brightest luminaries of the judicial world, and the same considerations that were applied while awarding the Padma Vibhushan to the legendary jurist V R Krishna Iyer should have been used here too. While Sachin Tendulkar and Viswanathan Anand are great sportsmen, surely it is a travesty to give Justice Verma a lesser award which is a clear insult to his contributions.
One single contribution by him after his retirement is enough to bestow even the Bharat Ratna upon him! He headed a committee to strengthen criminal laws to prevent crimes against women, in the wake of the public outrage following the horrific Delhi gang rape case with the government deciding very limited terms of reference, but fortunately he interpreted it “expansively and submitted a comprehensive and multidimensional report which constitutes a big step forward in the struggle for women’s rights. Even though the government did not fully accept the recommendations, it is an excellent tool in the struggle for a more gender just society and was widely welcomed by all women’s organizations. Add to this the Vishaka Judgment on sexual harassment based on equal access to the workplace, prevention and empowerment and we have a jurist who was a relentless protector of women’s rights.
As a Judge Justice Verma he created new judicial tools like Continuing Mandamus, preserved the independence of the judiciary by laying the foundation for the collegium system for the appointment of the judiciary, upheld the equality in the matter of religion to all individuals and groups irrespective of their faith emphasizing that there is no religion of the State itself and while allowing acquisition of the Ayodhya site wrote that “The concept of secularism is one facet of the right to equality woven as the central golden thread in the fabric depicting the pattern of the scheme in the Constitution.” The Vineet Narain or Jain Hawala Case was a landmark judgment in the fight against corruption in high places by stating that corruption has a direct bearing on fundamental rights and said that the twin institutions of the CBI and the central vigilance commission (CVC) should not remain subservient bodies of the union government. The rights of tribal people were enunciated by him in the famous Godavarman Case where the court relied on the principle of trust as opposed to ownership of natural resources and sought to balance the need for development with preservation of the environment. His role as the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission is well know, and he severely indicted the Government of Gujarat at the time of the2002 riots demanding a CBI probe. He ordered the reading of provisions that safeguard against harassment, searches and destruction of property into AFSPA, esp. women and children.
Even though Justice Verma himself never sought honours and awards of any kind and was an upright and sincere person, his humility and selflessness should not prevent the nation from honouring one of its greatest sons who saw the law through the prism of the weak and poor, be it the tribal people, women, the women in AFSPA areas, minorities, etc.
We therefore urge you to correct this and ask the Government to issue a public regret for this slight to his memory and give him the highest civilian honour in recognition of his stellar and fearless contributions to the statute and law for justice, secularism and equity.
