In the dock, again

The justices should remain true to the ideals of impartiality and incorruptibility.

Just when we start to think that the judiciary cannot sink any lower, it surprises us by going lower. A leaked audio call purportedly between lawyer Rudra Pokhrel and Kathmandu District Court Judge Raj Kumar Koirala, negotiating a deal to have businessman Ichchha Raj Tamang, who is accused of bank fraud, released from jail, has been doing the rounds. A three-member judicial council has been formed with a 45-day deadline to investigate the matter; and if the allegations turn out to be indeed true, it exposes how justice has become a commodity that can be purchased through closed-door dealings. If proven to be true, the case exemplifies how the justices themselves are undermining the idea of justice by making corruption the mainstay of their profession; it proves how the last citadel of justice is hollowed out by the very people who lead it.