Finally, more than a year after the Rashtriya Mukti Morcha moved the courts, justice is being perceived to be done in the JMM case. The chargesheet should serve as a compelling object lesson for future politicians and help clean up a political system that is almost beyond salvage. Today, very few Indians repose any confidence in the political class. If the situation does not change for the better in the near future our political system, which is driven by the people's ability to send their trusted representatives to Parliament, could suffer some damage. Earlier, the MPs involved in the JMM case had argued that the voting preferences of legislators were not the law's business. The court at Vigyan Bhavan has clearly said that it is indeed the law's business when those preferences are tainted by hopes of monetary gain. Now, the law should award exemplary punishment that can serve as sufficient deterrent to the whole political class.

While the developments are welcome, one wonders if the law ought to discriminate between those who took money and those who gave it. The principles of natural justice would find both parties in an illegal transaction equally culpable. In fact, those who gave the money should actually shoulder most of the blame, because they initiated the moves that subverted the political process. It was they who had the primary motive: saving their Government from a certain fall. Their crime was against the people. The JMM MPs are only guilty of forging financial documents to cover up the receipts. After all, they had not put their votes up for auction.

Rather, they were tempted with bait. In fact, it was Narasimha Rao who started the ball rolling by expressing an interest in buying votes. He was the prime mover, yet he figures in the case only as an abettor. It is true that all the accused have been charged under the same sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, but the categorisation might detract somewhat from the perceived blameworthiness of the Congressmen involved. In the final analysis, however, this is a landmark ruling. Never before have Indian politicians been called into question for the manner in which they execute their legislative functions. With this case for a precedent, every aspect of a politician's conduct is now under scrutiny, even those for which he has traditionally invoked the protection of privilege. By extension, the common man, who has always been led to believe that he can have his say only in the polling booth, now has the right to question the conduct of his representatives while discharging any of their functions, whether it is piloting a Bill or voting on a no-confidence motion. Measures such as this, which promise the possibility of monitoring and controls, will go a long way in restoring public confidence. The people have to be reassured that the political class will not be given a free hand in running the country. The law will indeed take its own course, even when it runs counter to the expectations of the law-makers themselves.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.