The last bastion falls.

Former Supreme Court judge, Markandey Katju has alleged that a judge known to be corrupt was appointed Additional Judge at Madras High Court in 2005 despite the Collegium of Judges being informed by the Intelligence Bureau of corroborating evidence. Apparently the Collegium, which appoints judges, was unanimous in wanting to discharge this judge from service but were pressured by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh who, in turn, was pressured by a party which was a partner in the coalition at the time. The then Law Minister, HR Bhardwaj passed the note from the Prime Minister's Office to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, RC Lahoti who then allowed the corrupt judge to continue in office. The next Chief Justice, YK Sabharwal gave the judge another extension and the one after, KG Balakrishnan made him permanent but transferred him to another court. In 2007 the Delhi High Court sentenced 2 journalists, one publisher and one cartoonist to prison for writing that Justice Sabharwal, while Chief Justice, shut down high street stores to benefit his sons' business in building shopping malls. The Income Tax department has confirmed that Justice Balakrishnan's daughter and son in law were involved in land grabbing generating millions in black money but the good judge steadfastly refuses to resign from his sinecure as Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission. What conclusions can we draw? 1. Dr Manmohan Singh would do anything, including protecting criminals, to hang on to his seat. His spectacular success in hanging on for full 10 years was because he was unaware that ' coalition dharma ' was grave adharma. 2. The highest judges can be easily tempted by juicy sinecures after retirement. However if a judgement went against the government you would lose, as Justice AK Ganguly quickly found. 3. Why is Justice Katju speaking out after all these years? Obviously, with the Congress in power, he did not want to lose his own sinecure. " He did not raise it all these years when he had no qualms in misusing his position as Chairman of Press Council of India to attack BJP and its PM candidate Narendra Modi. The fact that he has chosen to go public now gives rise to the suspicion that he could be making a career move because his term as PCI chairman gets over in February," said a BJP leader. Meanwhile a law intern who filed a complaint of sexual harassment against a Supreme Court judge, now retired and recently appointed to a tribunal, has requested that the trial be transferred outside Delhi because no lawyer is willing to fight her case. We Indians despise politicians and civil servants, we lost respect for doctors, then the army and now the judges. How sad is that?