Correct the system

Sir, - With reference to Mr. Prashant Bhushan's article `Judges in their own cause' (Sept. 4 and 5), three aspects stand out in public view. Notice for criminal contempt was issued to Ms. Arundhati Roy by the Supreme Court on a petition filed by five lawyers; Ms. Roy sharply reacted to the notice styling it as a harassment and intimidation; the Supreme Court dismissed the petition as ``grossly defective.'' But the court took objection to Ms. Roy's reaction as contained in her affidavit in reply and issued notice to her a second time for contempt.

The action against Ms. Roy was swift. However, the same sensitivity is missing in taking cognisance of the circumstances under which a grossly defective petition happened to be placed before the Bench by the Registry of the court. But for this, the present situation would not have arisen. One of the safeguards against wasting the valuable time of the Supreme Court with frivolous complaints of contempt of court is the legal requirement of obtaining prior consent of the Attorney General or Solicitor General. It appears that such a consent was not obtained in this case. This is in addition to the other flaws in the petition as enumerated by the writer. Is the system so bad in the Supreme Court as to allow fatally defective petitions to find their way to the Bench? The situation calls for urgent action to correct and improve the system.

G. Sasidharan Chempazhanthiyil,

Kochi

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