The old man and democratic reforms

Jagdeep Singh Chhokar at the age of 80 is the grand old man of the Association for Democratic Reforms ADR which has waged many a battle for making our democracy transparent It was to satisfy my curiosity as to why a retired management professor took to the task of reforming democracy that I met Chhokar ldquoMy life has many twistsrdquo he saidHe was once in the Indian Railways where one day he bumped into a colleague who was on his way to attend an MBA class Whatrsquos this MBA he asked An explanation later Chhokar enrolled in 1974 at Delhirsquos Faculty of Management Studies for its evening course Wishing to stay in Delhi until his wife completed her MPhilPhD he opted for a deputation to a public sector undertaking A management trainee there pestered Chhokar to apply for a PhD course abroad even getting him addresses of American universities To get the boy off his back Chhokar appliedHe flew in 1980 to the Louisiana State University where during a break he visited a friend teaching accounting at the University of Chicago Join academia the friend suggested ldquoMy university is known more for its basketball team than academicsrdquo Chhokar quipped The friend persuaded Chhokar to write to the Indian Institute of Management AhmedabadA year and a half later during which his research papers were published in various journals Chhokar received a cable could he meet I G Patel the iconic IIM Ahmedabad director in New York A tad arrogant about his academic credentials by now Chhokar replied sure if they were to fly him to New York and put him up in the hotel where Patel was The next thing Patel was offering him a job over the phone To IIM Ahmedabad he went on deputation from the Railways which he quit in 1990 as he climbed up the academic ladder to eventually become the institutersquos dean then director incharge before retiring in 2006The next twist in Chhokarrsquos life was a quadruple heart bypass surgery he underwent in 1998 during a oneyear teaching assignment in New Orleans The ephemerality of life spun him into a condition bordering on depression Back in India in his darkled mood he accompanied his brotherinlaw on a 10day tour of Gujarat to photograph its birds their majestic plumes injecting a colour into the man with a mended heartTo appreciate better the winged beauties Chhokar secured a certificate in ornithology through a correspondence course from Bombay Natural History Society Bird watching demands extreme patience also a prerequisite for any endeavour to reform democracy which became Chhokarrsquos mission through a twist his IIM colleague Trilochan Sastry 14 years younger than him inspiredAghast at media reports on criminals in politics Sastry was curious to know the details about candidates contesting the 1999 Lok Sabha elections from Ahmedabad He secured the nomination paper a candidate is required to fill and shared it with eleven academicians including Chhokar They were stunned the nomination paper only asked for the candidatersquos name address voter registration number and his fatherrsquos or her husbandrsquos name How can voters make an informed choice about who to vote for Just the condition conducive to criminals entering politicsThey decided to file a petition in the Delhi High Court Their search for a lawyer took them to Kamini Jaiswal who suggested they form an association of persons Eleven people showed up for a meeting to which Sastry had invited many and they constituted themselves into the Association for Democratic Reforms In November 2000 the Delhi High Court ordered that candidates contesting the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections must give a sworn affidavit disclosing their educational qualification their income and liabilitiesmdashand above all details of criminal cases pending against them where the court has framed chargesBut the Union government went in appeal to the Supreme Court which in May 2002 gave the Election Commission two months to implement the High Court order The political class unanimously resolved to nullify the Supreme Court judgment by amending the Representation of the People Act 1951 Since the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die the Vajpayee government decided to promulgate an ordinanceChhokar and 29 others took their case to President A P J Abdul Kalam who returned the ordinance But the ordinance was sent back to Kalam who constitutionally had no choice but to sign it The ADR went to the Supreme Court which in March 2003 declared the amendment unconstitutionalHurrahThe stonewalling of the political class shocked Chhokar ldquoThis turned me into a diehard activistrdquo reminisced Chhokar who during this dingdong battle with the political class qualified as a lawyer later going on to even argue for the ADRThe ADR has waged lengthy legal battles to make democracy transparent at times suffering setbacks yet doggedly regrouping for another round The ADRrsquos crowning glory is the Supreme Court judgment declaring the electoral bond unconstitutional It propels the struggle to firewall the EVM from manipulation ldquoMy takeaway from 25 years of activism is that our democracy cannot be vibrant as long as political parties remain nondemocraticrdquo Chhokar said Guess they will never become democraticThe writer is a senior journalistSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper