Blame corruption for making governance a matter of joke: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court has raised serious concerns over corruption which is spreading its tentacles in the society while pronouncing judgment against BJP's sitting fisheries minister Parshottam Solanki and former agriculture minister Dileep Sanghani, both accused in the Rs 400 crore fisheries scam.

Justice Pardiwala, while quoting the famous Russian-American writer Ayn Rand, remarked: "…when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you—when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice—you may know that your society is doomed".

The court went on to remark: "If governance is a matter of joke today, making it a laughing stock and leaving it in a pitiable situation, and if cynicism towards the system is the order of the day, the full blame, therefore, should perhaps go to corruption." The court also said that the rampant corruption by "highly placed persons" has led to economic unrest in the country.

Justice Pardiwala has also mentioned in his judgment that if society in a developing country faces a menace greater than even the one from the "hired assassins to its law and order", then that is from the corrupt elements at the "higher echelons of the government and political parties". The court also said avarice is a common frailty of mankind and former British Prime Minister Robert Walpole's famous pronouncement that all men have their price, notwithstanding the unsavoury cynicism that it suggests, is not very far from truth.

In a judgment that runs over 76 pages, the court has termed corruption as the biggest challenge for mankind, while ruling against the graft accused minister. Justice Pardiwala has rejected the submissions made by the BJP leaders clarifying that there is more than prima facie materials on record to put the duo on trial, refusing to quash criminal proceedings pending against them. The court, however, has converted the non-bailable warrant against Solanki issued by the trial court to the bailable warrant.

The court also remarked that the intent of the legislature while passing the Prevention of Corruption Act was to ensure speedy trial of corruption cases, something which is rarely witnessed.

INSIDE COURT

• The court went on to remark: “If governance is a matter of joke today, making it a laughing stock and leaving it in a pitiable situation, and if cynicism towards the system is the order of the day, the full blame, therefore, should perhaps go to corruption.” 
   
• The court converted the non-bailable warrant against Solanki issued by the trial court to the bailable warrant.