Daily Post 1523
TO RULE IS LAW
How many times have you heard of rule of law in normal discussions in this country? You would be one the rare ones, if you have got such a chance. Rule of law has still not reached the psyche level. That is why it has not become a common parlance in this country. The rule of law concept erupts out of the blue, more as an escapism when somebody / organisation gets caught on wrong side of the law. In a power starved country, stuck up in the conventional / feudal mode, the only way you arrive in life, is when you able to deliver above or below the law and tangentially too. That is what is termed as, to rule is law. The intention and the agenda is to be a power centre delivering at your whims and fancies.
It is the job of the professionals to locate, dissect, interpret and provide a legal camouflage to everything that is done. The interpretation of law gives immense scope to prove that everything is done the right way. More so when you yourself are the validating authority. Unfortunately, rule of law is a concept like socialism and capitalism and creating a pure / true version is the job to be done. This is the job of people seated in positions of constitutional power in a vibrant democracy. The job is not to find the lacunae and make the best out of it.
Justice should not only be delivered, it should to be delivered as well. In the same vein law should not just be implemented, it should seem to justifiably implemented. Rule of law as a concept is even beyond the justice delivered one because this is at the fountainhead of democracy. Only this practice would help facilitate creation of democratic institutions of ever lasting values. They bind the country, they inculcate democratic values in all of us. These are institutions which lead to the smooth transition of power, in the present circumstances, USA, whatever any stakeholder or party thinks of it. Only rule of law is supreme.
Simple concepts hard in practice are most difficult to understand. If you do have to practice it too, makes it even more difficult. It is next to impossible for a person or an organisation for whom positional power is the be all and end all of life. Power as we understand and rule of law are antithetical to each other. It makes the positional power a waste because it means not only equality before law, but to operate under the whole plethora of laws and come out successful. In that untidy process you also have to deliver maximum welfare for maximum people. Thus in practice the rule of law seamlessly gets transformed into, to rule is law. Semblance, nonetheless, is maintained. That is what democracy is all about.
TO RULE IS LAW IS LIKE DE FACTO TAKING OVER THE DE JURE.
Sanjay Sahay