Shikha Mukerjee | Of bulldozers, bail & bad faith in Leviathan State

Backed by a legislative majority, there is a noticeable difference in how the executive power of coercion that is vested in elected governments is skewing the balance. The Supreme Court called out Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami over the appointment of a director of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve; it reportedly observed: “The chief minister cannot take a decision like this… We are not in the feudal era when raja jaise bole waisa karein”. Every time the Supreme Court reminds an “agency” of the Union government that bail, not jail, is the rule of law, it is a warning that might is right is becoming normalised, and extended incarceration is possible merely because the ruling regime thinks that an individual should remain incarcerated. If Mr Adityanath is held to be the inventor of bulldozer justice, then Mr Dhami is the example of a new feudatory order and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the role model because he crafted the cult of a leader who had the “courage” to get things done, like the sudden announcement of demonetisation and the shock of a sudden shutdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. There is a difference between mafia raj and elected rajas and chief ministers who believe that it takes courage to use bulldozers and reasonably sane elected government that will act in good faith.