JUDGES-REPRESENTING THE GOD

Judges rule on the basis of law, not public opinion, and they should be totally indifferent to pressures of the times. -Warren E. Burger

Bhavpreet Kaur

12th March, 1993- a series of thirteen blasts, the most destructive bomb explosions in Indian history in Mumbai, that took the lives of many innocent people. The single-day attacks resulted in over 250 civilian fatalities and 700 injuries. The accused in their treacherous act are being tried for the last eleven years and now the verdicts are coming out. We have much of information about what happened exactly on that day in Mumbai, its aftermaths, the culprits behind this cruel act etc.

But an article published a few days ago in ‘TOI’, “Between God and accused: Life of Mumbai blasts judge” throws
light on the life of Pramod Dattaram Kode, the man who is handling the Asia’s longest terror trial under TADA Court. In 1993 he was designated as the Special judge under the TADA, where he has also tried the cases of many notorious gangsters like Dawood Ibrahim, Chotta Rajan, Arun Gawli, Amar Naik etc. Justice Kode is described as one of the most guarded men in the country. As with the change in the sensitivity of the nature of cases his security has been upgraded accordingly from Y class to Z-category and now Z plus.

The spirit of this article filled my heart with the gratitude and respect for our judiciary. This is that aspect of a case, which never touched our mind and heart. We the human beings from all over the world pray for the peace and for the conviction of the accused. That he should be placed behind the bar and should be forced to live a life of seclusion, he should not be let to move freely, because he is a threat so, he should be kept away from social life. But we never ever think of the man who has to hear and decide the case. How will the person who is placed next to God in our country manage to honour the trust that is imposed upon him by the countrymen. We never pray for his well being, we never
consider that his and his family’s life is in immediate danger because he is the one who has to give the verdict.

We never consider that his life is as restricted as of an accused. His life is confined to home and to the court. As these
are the only two places where he can move freely and not anywhere else. He is not able to meet his relatives and friends time to time; likewise he can not be seen frequently in public gatherings. The security guards always surround him and his family members. Even he has to sacrifice his personal life to fulfil his professional duty and the social responsibility, as the writer of the above mentioned article mentions that Justice Kode came to the court every day, even on a day when his father died.

We can aptly say that Judges are rightly placed next to the God. Because so much of dutiful sacrifice can only be
done by a God’s representative. By awarding the punishments in those senstive circumstances fearlessly
irrespective of the status and influence, they set an example of duty bound honesty and integrity. These are
the persons who conform to our beliefs and respect in Judiciary. We salute to Justice Kode and to all the
Judges like him and to their credibility.