The experiences bestowed by Kanchi-Mahaswami — Part 23- Intimacy with aWisdomful Soul
(A humble translation of the original article by Sri S.Gurumurthy, as it had appeared in Thuglak Tamil Magazine) —
https://www.thuglak.com/thuglak/main.php?x=curissue/ninaithu_paarkiraen_07_04_2021.php
Though I stood 10th in the CA (Intermediate) at the All-India level and 17th in the final, I was more interested in law than accounting. I scored the maximum marks in the law papers. The subject was never new to me. In the 1980s, when I became popular amidst the lawyer circle, I was asked the magazine, The Illustrated Weekly on my understanding of the law, I replied that If I open a new look book, I had a sense of déjà vu. I had the privilege of interacting & debating with lawyers like Nani Palkhivala, Ram Jethmalani, and scholars like A.N.Sivaraman. Because of that experience, my aptitude grew manifold. Later, the magazine Business Baron wrote that my understanding of accounts, finance, and law was brilliant. That fame came by chance.
Interest in Political Law
Though I was interested in law during my graduate days, because of my Guru, Gowrikanthan, I did develop an in-depth understanding. I trained for 3 years under him. He taught me how to dissect the law, do the analysis, and understand its inherent meaning. He introduced the political constitution to me. In his library, he had many books on the constitution. When I enquired about it, he said that it is an important subject, everyone should read it and you should also read it. Constitutional law is like a mother to all other laws and superior to them.
Until the emergency, only very few like lawyers, some politicians, political experts were aware of constitutional law (Even after 20–25 years of its implementation, not many understand its full scope of impact. At the same time, think of the role played by Kanchi Mahaswami, who had a fair understanding of its impact & importance. He advised on how to draft the religious laws in relevance to our tradition. His advice was accepted by the constituent assembly and incorporated in Article 26. I will brief about that, later). In 1975, when Indira declared emergency, suspended fundamental rights, imprisoned the entire opposition leaders & thousands of workers, people had started understanding the importance of the political constitution. The main theme of opposing emergency was to restore the fundamental rights, needed an independent Judiciary & Media to protect those rights.
Then, I became obsessed to master constitutional law. Constitutional law is different from other laws. Its knowledge has both theoretical and practical implications. It is a combination of politics and law. The constituent assembly had foreseen the possible political complications and provided a solution through relevant laws. Later, it became a bigger challenge for the government, bureaucrats, intelligentsia, and judiciary on how to interpret the old constitutional law to handle the new political situation. The associated experience in that decision-making will add more depth to the knowledge about constitutional law. I gained much experience during the reign of the Janata government. I was 28 years old and it was a magnificent experience for me.
Intimacy with an Erudite
After the formation of the Janata government, Goenka had asked me to come to Delhi. The rift between Goenka & Indira that started in 1969, continued until the fall of Indira. To suppress his arch-rival Goenka, Indira had unleashed the IT & CBI, who had put multiple cases on him. And, most of them were foisted one. He had summoned me to discuss with the lawyers and bring closure on those cases. When there were senior lawyers, why did he invite me to fight those cases? He gave three reasons for that;
- Professional — He was impressed with the approach paper on how to handle the cases that were foisted on Indian Express, during emergency
- Because of my deep bhakti on Kanchi Sankaracharya, Goenka had absolute faith in me
- I was trained by Gowrikanthan (In 1978, I will never forget the words of Gowrikanthan, who had told Goenka & Ram Jethmalani that he has provided a better-talented one to them)
I was asked to stay in the Indian Express guest house in Delhi by Goenka. Next to PMO, the guest house was a huge centre of power. Including ministers, at least 25–30 people would wait to meet Goenka. From Apr 1977, I was staying there for three months. As Goenka’s adviser, I had the opportunity to meet many important people. I was sharing a room with A.N.Sivaraman in the guest house. In those three months, I had the privilege to discuss politics, economics, law, constitutional law with that towering personality. Particularly on two matters, I had a healthy discussion — the political & constitutional complications for the Janata government and the survival of the Indian Express group.
What is Legal Sovereignty, What is constitutional Sovereignty?
In the 1977 elections, the Janata party won an absolute majority. Congress party did not want a single seat in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana & Delhi. It won very few seats in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, & Bengal. The Janata government thought that due to its heavy loss in those nine states, the congress government lost its popular mandate in those states. On 18th Apr 1977, the Janata government had decided to dismiss the nine-state governments. A letter was sent to the state governments with a recommendation, ‘ Since your government lost the people’s mandate, dissolve the state assembly and face the elections’. Four of those states challenged the letter by filing an appeal in the Supreme court. The court inquired into it for a week. The then-attorney general, Neeraj De, justified the imposition of the emergency. He was nominated by the previous Indira government and Morarji’s government did not have time to change it.
To help the government pleaders, a team under A.N.Sivaraman (ANS) was formed and I was included in that by Goenka. It allowed understanding in-depth about the authority of the Centre to dismiss the state governments. ANS explained the equivalence on the authority of our president and the British royals. British political constitution says that if the King felt that the PM, at some point, loses the confidence of the people then he can order the PM to dissolve his ministry, conduct the election and return with the trust of the people.
The British constitution is not a written one. The traditional practices that were followed by many centuries had emerged as their constitutional law. Our political and government were modeled on the British parliamentary system. Therefore, to understand whether our president has the authority to dismiss the state governments and conduct elections, ANS had advised to refer to the British constitution. Then, he had asked me, whether I have read the book ‘Rule of Law’ by Daisy. In the 18th century, constitutional expert daisy proposed the ‘Rule of Law’ that provides the fundamental constitutional base for the modern government. ANS gave the book to me.
I read the 500+ pages in 2 days. ANS had asked me for the justification behind the dismissal of the state governments. As per daisy, the President of our country is the legal sovereign (like their King/Queen), and (S)he is bound by the advice of the council of ministers. The people of this country hold the political sovereign power. Whenever the government loses the confidence of the people, the President can dismiss the government, dissolve the Parliament/Assembly and seek a fresh mandate from the people. Based on this, if the council of ministers sends the recommendation then the President, B.D.Jatti is bound to sign it. Then, ANS had appreciated my stance. In the letter written by the central government to the states, he showed the usage of the phrase political sovereign (The Supreme court judgments amended the changes made in the constitution. Now it is very difficult to dismiss the state government, even if the center wants it. There is a rigorous process involved).
Astrologers’ Prediction
After the death of Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, Congressman B.D.Jatti from Karnataka became the interim president. He hesitated to sign the letter. On 30th April, Goenka & myself were supposed to meet PM Morarji. There was a surprise waiting for us at PMO. Since the President was delaying in signing the letter, Morarji had gone to inform the President that his government would resign, recommend for the dissolution of the Parliament, and would seek a fresh mandate from the people. Then, Goenka took me to meet an astrologer at Greater Kailash in Delhi. As we entered the palatial bungalow, I asked,” Ramnathji, is this the house of an astrologer”?. Laughingly, he replied, “Guru Yaar, Astrologers are omnipresent in politics. They were instrumental behind the removal of the state of emergency”.
The astrologer welcomed us. Before the question was placed, he said, “Goenkaji! The worry and related question are getting answered, as we speak. You may call your office after ten minutes to ascertain it”. We spoke for few minutes. Then, Goenka made a call to his office and got the good news that President has accepted the recommendation and signed the bill at 6.05 pm. When we came out, I had asked, “Ramnathji, why did he sign at that time and how did the astrologer know about that”?. Goenka smiled & replied, “ Guru, Jatti had faith in astrology and he was waiting for the Rahukaal to get over at 6 pm”. I had the thought this astrologer may be counselling the President too. We returned to our guest house.
