The news report of Shanti Bhushan statement in his affidavit that there were eight corrupt Chief Justices out of last sixteen in the Supreme Court is shocking to say the least. The only institution for which people of India have some respect is judiciary. If there is corruption so rampant in it, then we have no hope.

This country has produced some great judges. They have been fearless and not moved by the ‘influencing power’ of the executive too. Mrs Gandhi ‘punished’ the judges who did not tow her line. Justice HR Khanna of Supreme Court did not bow down to the ‘insolent might’ as Fali Nariman puts it. He paid the price.

Corruption comes in many hues and colours in judiciary. There is a thin and hazy line that divides lack of integrity and a corrupt mind. Quid pro quo is just the next step.

Osho makes insightful comment on Lord Acton’s famous statement that ‘Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ He says, “….I dare to disagree with him [Lord Atkin] because my understanding is that power certainly corrupts, but it corrupts only a person who was potentially corruptible. He may not have known as corrupted before, because he had no opportunity, he had no power. But power itself cannot corrupt a person who has no potential for corruption. So it is not the power that is corrupting the person; in fact, power is simply revealing the person to you. The power is making actual what was before only the potential.”

Vivek