Topic: Structure, organization and functioning of the Judiciary.
3) “Apex court’s handling of charges against CJI has left a deep scar that will take decades to fade.” Critically analyse. (250 words)
Why this question:
The question is in the context of recent issue surrounding the office of Chief justice of India. The article highlights in what way the handling of charges of sexual allegation against the CJI were against the values of transparency anf fairness.
Demand of the question:
This question seeks to examine the process adopted for handling the charges against the CJI and one needs to evaluate the process critically and the impact it has on other aspects of justice with fairness and transparency.
Directive word:
Critically analyze – When asked to analyse, you have to examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them as a whole in a summary. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a fair judgement.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction
Start with brief introduction of the entire scenario.
Body
Discuss the following points in detail:
- Start with a brief evaluation of the process that was adopted to handle the charges.
- What should have been the ideal procedural safeguards and legal principles to handle such a case.
- Why was there a deviation and whether it is justified?
- What are the flaws in the current method of handling the case? – The constitution of the “in-house” panel was not in compliance with the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, members other than judges should have constituted the committee instead of an “in-house” panel comprising three judges of the Supreme Court. The panel’s report is not available to the public on reasons of confidentiality.
Conclusion
Conclude that the Apex court is supposed to protect individual rights and adjudicate freely and fairly.
