Controversy around Bhushans will harm PIL cause in Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The CD and land controversy around the Bhushans, intrinsic to many public interest litigations (PILs) in the Supreme Court, is not a happy augury for those who have benefited from the adeptness of the public spirited father-son duo in using the legal device to organize succour for those who had lost hope and in goading reluctant governments to uphold the law.

The success of Bhushans has as much to do with their familiarity with law as the moral force they were supposed to pack in the fight, thanks to their impeccable credentials.

Right from the Dehradun-Mussoorie deforestation case in 1986 to challenging the appointment of P J Thomas as central vigilance commissioner ( CVC), either Shanti Bhushan or Prashant Bhushan had been in the forefront , fighting the cause of the general public who feared initiating litigation in courts.

It was mainly Prashant, sometimes aided by Shanti Bhushan, who doggedly fought cases relating to irregular allotment of 2G spectrum , corruption in judiciary amplified by the Ghaziabad PF scam case, justice for post-Godhra riot victims, unregulated field trials of genetically modified seeds posing threat to traditional crops, growing NPA assets of nationalised banks and financial institutions.Prashant always brought in facts and forcefully argued them.

The judges entertained the issues raised by Prashant through PILs because they sounded true whenever he took up a cause and argued passionately.

But with a damaging CD surfacing and the Noida land deal along with the Allahabad house sale incident threatening to pale the moral halo around the Bhushans, a worrying question emerges — will it lessen their usual weight in courts when they next take up a cause in public interest?