The awfully tainted Atmaram Nadkarni is again desperately trying to manipulate and covertly manoeuvre his elevation as a Supreme Court Judge. Atmaram Nadkarni is known to be very close to the current Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde.
As a Bombay High Court Judge while posted in Goa, Atmaram Nadkarni had claimed to have helped Justice Bobde in a sensitive domestic issue. More recently while as Advocate General, Atmaram Nadkarni had appointed Bobde’s novice nephew as Government Advocate and later took him along to Delhi after his appointment as Additional Solicitor General. Chief Justice Bobde retires on 23rd April next year so Atmaram Nadkarni knows he is running out of time. Atmaram Nadkarni who was known to be a side-kick of late Manohar Parrikar moved to Delhi after Parrikar’s appointment as Defence Minister with an eye on becoming a Supreme Court Judge. Through Parrikar’s clout he managed to be appointed as Additional Solicitor General and was also representing Goa in the Supreme Court. But in July last year the Pramod Sawant government sacked Atmaram Nadkarni from representing the State in the Supreme Court, National Green Tribunal and Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal. The central government has now also removed Atmaram Nadkarni as Additional Solicitor General. I had earlier this year written to Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde and all the other Supreme Court Judges drawing their attention to Atmaram Nadkarni’s blatant acts of omission and commission over the years as Advocate General of Goa and as Additional Solicitor General of India while giving them detailed reasons as to why the name of the very awfully stained Atmaram Nadkarni should not be considered for the coveted post as Supreme Court Judge. Atmaram Nadkarni has looted crores from the Goan exchequer in the name of Mhadei and Mining besides Casinos. He is known for his Black magic and Tantriks while he has for so long got away with all his misdeeds. Atmaram Nadkani has been known to be wining and dining Judges. Some very good Judges have been led astray. If a person like Atmaram Nadkarni is allowed to occupy the August Chair as Judge of India’s highest temple of Justice, the Supreme Court would be reduced to a den for fixing matters – and become a trader’s paradise.His penchant for lavish life (which he never enjoyed in his younger days) and his greed for money, has been well known. The Supreme Court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts and hears cases of the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the whole population. It is for this reason that every officer of the court must ensure that the integrity and sanctity of the Court is preserved at all costs and be judicial in its proceedings without fear or favour and without interference. To act otherwise, would be a catastrophic blunder and an erosion of faith of the people who see them as their final hope of justice.The authorities must probe all the huge disproportionate and mind-boggling assets acquired by Atmaram Nadkarni through sheer loot and plunder. All his ill-gotten gains must be confiscated and could be used for the COVID-19 relief measures. When Jesus Christ drove away the traders and money changers from the temple with a whip of cords, he said “my house shall be a house of prayer but you have turned it into a den of thieves’’. Francis Bacon wisely observed: Judges ought to be more learned than witty, more reverend than plausible and more advised than confident. But above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue. Integrity is a life where your beliefs and intentions are aligned with your words and actions. If you don’t have integrity you have nothing. You can’t buy it. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not a moral and ethical person, you really have nothing. It should not be seen that this letter is being written *just when the name is being considered for elevation *or as some last-minute attempt to fox it, but these matters have been in the public domain before he was Advocate General of Goa, and brought to public knowledge at that time, much before he moved to Delhi and became the Additional Solicitor General of India and began eyeing the position of a Judge in the Hon. Supreme Court. Samuel Johnson, the famous English writer, believed that ‘Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful’. Atmaram Nadkarni’s track record and his sacking by the Government of Goa and in Delhi from his short lived appointments obtained through favour rather than on merit indicates that he has neither sufficient Integrity nor knowledge to justify being elevated to the Supreme Court. An image, no matter how false is what some people think we are. Integrity is what we really are! The Supreme Court must never lose sight that its reputation is its biggest asset. It is essential that the public have faith not only in the Court’s intellectual ability but also in its fairness, impartiality and incorruptibility. An independent and honourable judiciary is indispensable to justice in our society. A judge should maintain and enforce high standards of conduct and should personally observe those standards, so that the integrity and independence of the judiciary may be preserved. The appointment of Atmaram Nadkarni would be a big blow to the reputation and virtues of the highest Court in the land, and citizens’ respect for judgements coming from such a court would be greatly diminished as a result. Aires Rodrigues Advocate High Court C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat, Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: [email protected] Or [email protected] You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires www.airesrodrigues.com
