Amidst the COVID-19 gloom and doom there is something to cheer about. In what comes as a very huge relief to India’s Judiciary, the name of the awfully tainted and dishonorable Atmaram Nadkarni will not be considered for elevation as a Supreme Court Judge. The nation has been saved from what would have been the darkest and disastrous day for India’s Judiciary.
Atmaram Nadkarni did everything possible to lobby and manipulate an elevation to a Supreme Court Judge but stands bumped out. A beleaguered Atmaram Nadkarni is now desperately trying to get an extension as Additional Solicitor General as his term ends next month. Atmaram Nadkarni who was known to be a side-kick of Manohar Parrikar moved to Delhi after Parrikar’s appointment as Defence Minister with an eye on becoming a Supreme Court Judge. Through Parrikar’s clout he managed to be appointed as Additional Solicitor General and was also representing Goa in the Supreme Court. But in July last year the Pramod Sawant government sacked Atmaram Nadkarni from representing the State in the Supreme Court, National Green Tribunal and Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal. I had earlier this year written to the Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde and all the other 32 Supreme Court Judges drawing their attention to Atmaram Nadkarni’s blatant acts of omission and commission over the years as Advocate General of Goa and now as Additional Solicitor General of India while giving them detailed reasons as to why the name of the very awfully stained Atmaram Nadkarni should not be considered for the coveted post as Supreme Court Judge. Atmaram Nadkarni has looted crores from the Goan exchequer in the name of Mhadei and Mining besides Casinos. He is known for his Black magic and Tantriks while he has for so long got away with all his misdeeds. If a person like Atmaram Nadkarni was allowed to occupy the August Chair as Judge of India’s highest temple of Justice, the Supreme Court would have been reduced to a den for fixing matters – and become a trader’s paradise.The Supreme Court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts and hears cases of the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the whole population. It is for this reason that every officer of the court must ensure that the integrity and sanctity of the Court is preserved at all costs and be judicial in its proceedings without fear or favour and without interference. To act otherwise, would be a catastrophic blunder and an erosion of faith of the people who see them as their final hope of justice. When Jesus Christ drove away the traders and money changers from the temple with a whip of cords, he said “my house shall be a house of prayer but you have turned it into a den of thieves’’. Likewise, we cannot allow that Temple of Justice, the highest Court in the land to be the evil den of the legal dacoit or to act as money changers instead of dispensing prudent justice through the appointment of Judges who are fair, impartial and not tainted in any way. After all a leopard is not likely to change its spots. The Government of India will surely knock off a tainted person from the list of probables and avoid getting its hands in dirt and muck. Francis Bacon wisely observed: Judges ought to be more learned than witty, more reverend than plausible and more advised than confident. But above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue. Integrity is a life where your beliefs and intentions are aligned with your words and actions. If you don’t have integrity you have nothing. You can’t buy it. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not a moral and ethical person, you really have nothing. Now that Atmaram Nadkarni has been shown the door, the authorities must probe all the huge disproportionate and mind-boggling assets acquired by him through sheer loot and plunder. All his ill-gotten gains must be confiscated and could be used for the COVID-19 relief measures. No man is above the law! Aires Rodrigues Advocate High Court C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat, Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: airesrodrigu...@gmail.com Or airesrodrig...@yahoo.com You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires www.airesrodrigues.com