Justice Markandey Katju and Judicial Impartiality
The Allahabad High Court Incident Explained
Muzaffar Hussain Baig: The Lawyer in Katju’s Anecdote
Judicial Bias and the Ethics of the Indian Judiciary
Identity, Emotion and the Limits of Neutrality in Courts
Why Justice Katju’s Admission Sparks Debate
Former Supreme Court judge Justice Markandey Katju recounts a 1995 Allahabad High Court incident where he admits deciding a case in favour of Kashmiri lawyer Muzaffar Hussain Baig due to personal identity bias, raising questions about judicial neutrality and ethics.
A confession
By Justice Markandey Katju
As a judge, I was always neutral and impartial in court.
But there was an occasion when I was not, and I would like to mention about that incident, which occurred around 1995.
I was sitting in court as a judge of the Allahabad High Court when a bearded middle-aged lawyer, whom I had never seen before, came before me to argue a case.
I asked him his name. He said, "M.H. Beg ".
I paused for a moment as the name struck a bell in my mind, and then asked, " Mr Beg, were you Advocate General of Kashmir? "
He replied, " Yes, My Lord "
I then said, " My friend Altaf Ahmed told me about you ".
He responded, "Altaf was my successor as Advocate General ".
For me, that was the end of the case. I heard Mr Beg for a few minutes, then the government counsel for a few minutes, and then immediately pronounced judgment in favour of Mr Beg without considering the pros and cons of the matter. After all, my Kashmiri brother was appearing before me, so how could I not decide in his favour?
I know you will accuse me of being biased, and I confess to the accusation so far as Kashmiris are concerned, being myself a Kashmiri. I am a human being too, with human weaknesses, and I am biased in favour of people from the land of my ancestors
Much later, Mr Beg became the Dy Chief Minister of Kashmir
(Justice Katju is a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India and a former Chairman of the Press Council of India. These are his personal views.)
