The judiciary has its evil in the
way it was formed in 2008 to compliment with the Green Constitution. The
Judicial Service Commission at that time also was hijacked by the bench of
interim Supreme Court. Furthermore they undermined the constitution by self
reorganizing to become the permanent bench. Some from the bar and MDP activists
immediately recognized the evil deeds of the then chief Justice and activists
of MDP immediately went on strike and locked the Supreme Court. Even then, the
current government which was in opposition at the time were sympathising with
the bench. The ramifications of this lead to formation of a bench in a haste in
an extra session of the Majilis. The bench formed was mainly of judges with
strong sharia background with not much academic exposure to common laws
practiced in most civilized democratic countries. In addition judge’s
appointments had questionable integrity related issues. This was confirmed and
well proven by the then JSC member Ms. Velizinee.
Major litmus test of judiciary
came with the coup of 2012. The bench in particular was faced with a major test
of integrity and of serving justice. The complacency shown by whole bench in
the events before, during and after the coup really showed their partial nature
and their romance with the old dictatorial regime elements. The grassroots ran
havoc on streets with no sense or awareness of rule of law. Grassroots were
blamed for several attacks on law enforcement infrastructure, while their agony
and pain was overlooked. Also the grassroots with no sense of rule of law were
lead in to a nostalgic dilemma by not providing guidance and legality of
toppling of government. Instead the Chief Justice’s immediate action was to
sworn in the incumbent vice president who was a major player of the coup. This
response immediately legitimized the actions of uniformed bodies before, during
and after the coup event. It also gave coup perpetrators and sympathizers
powers which lead to more repercussions. Till this day the elements of
uniformed bodies guilty of several crimes committed on day of coup, remains
immune to justice. For the grassroots and the watchful minds a clear fraternity
between the judiciary and coup perpetrators was obvious.
In essence the coup of 2012
became the saviour of the judiciary which was faced with heavy criticism,
during the silence before the storm of coup. Soon after the coup the judiciary
started enjoying their honeymoon, with overwhelming immunity and impunity.
Their romance with dictatorial elements who perpetrated the coup, and coup
sympathisers and collaborators continued leading to erosion of rule of law and
justice. Justice in the country became a joke even to the layman. Any coup
collaborators or sympathisers were proven innocent before going in to courts.
Anyone who is against coup will be guilty before s/he appears in court. Day by day grassroots became aware of the
romancing of judiciary with a particular political party. The public lost their
trust in the whole judiciary. This was compounded by the dictatorial nature of
judicial watch dog which from day one was a puppet of the bench.
In 2013, the election became a
war of coup perpetrators and their allies and the rest of the public. In a
first round the public showed a relentless overwhelming support for coup antagonists,
the MDP. Fear began looming within the bench and their allies enjoying the
sweet honey moon. MDP became more vocal on reforming judiciary and gained
overwhelming support. The looming fear
with in judiciary and bench became more obvious when they intervened to an
internationally acclaimed transparent electoral process ongoing. Their allies
in law enforcement and government by then cooked up a blatant litany of a
report regarding elections. This became the catalyst for them to annul the
elections jeopardising the hopes of coup antagonists. The grassroots later
found the fallacies of this report which was heavily criticized by the Election
Commission. This also provided the coup perpetrators and their allies to
utilize all available resources to turn the election in their favour. They had
just one focus on mind, which was winning the election by hook or crook. They
pledged to deliver everything under the sky to a deprived public. In addition
the uniformed bodies were politicised to a great extent. Some long serving
loyal and capable officers were sacked or made voluntarily redundant. The
election was won by the judiciary and the bench as it turned in their favour.
In reality the election gave judiciary with the immunity they have been
dreaming since beginning. Their immunity and impunity lead to a judicial
dictatorship.
MDP garnered further support and
strength from grass roots and kept their spirits alive by being consistent with
their pledge to reform judiciary. Fear lurking within the bench again
awakened. Fear of MDP wining Maldives
Majilis and the bench getting dissolved was not far from reality. Fear of bench
lead to utilize new tactics by becoming the jury, the judge and the plaintiff
in a case which even the layman and grass roots understands as injustice.
Finally the verdict to jail president of the Elections Commission was given by
the bench. The verdict was a clear abrogation of the Green Constitution. The
bench once again laid down a path to remain immune.
I believe the fraternity of coup
perpetrators and collaborators with the bench and judiciary at large is the
root cause of the mutilation of the fledgling democracy of the Maldives. The
irony is the silence of the bar and lawyers, posing the grass roots in to a
dilemma. Additionally the international community keeps giving a blind eye to
the whole scenario. However the spring is not far as the grassroots day by day
become aware of social justice and democracy. The reactions and actions of
bench and JSC further convince the grassroots of their unjust and corrupt
behaviours. One’s actions become a blessing for others in disguise. The
response of the bench may garner further support to MDP. Their slogan to reform
judiciary keeps gaining more support.
