If a week is a long time in politics, three-and-a half years is long enough time for a judicial commission. The commission appointed by the previous government to look into the allegations based on the Tehelka tapes spent three-and-a half years investigating the matter, but did not provide any kind of answer. The matter has now been handed over to the CBI, and the commission appointed under Mr S.N. Phukan, retired judge of the Supreme Court, has been disbanded. The time spent by the commission is a little bewildering for the layman. The Tehelka tapes caught on camera some politicians accepting money. One of the incidents was actually filmed in the house of the then defence minister, Mr George Fernandes, and the person taking the money was known to be a close associate of his. The other was a prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and member of the Rajya Sabha. The provenance of the tapes had to be proved genuine. If the tapes were genuine, there was a prima facie case for at least a stricture on the two individuals since they had been engaged in an act of gross impropriety. While no such stricture was forthcoming, the executive went on overdrive to harass in all sorts of ways the staff of Tehelka. There is a body of opinion which believes that the delay and the harassment suited the interests of the BJP government.

The Tehelka affair also raises questions about the validity and efficacy of judicial commissions. Members of the judiciary are trained to sift and evaluate evidence and to interpret law. They are not trained to carry out an investigation and to gather evidence. There exist good grounds to argue that judicial commissions should not be appointed as they force a judge to move beyond his training and expertise. This could be one reason for the inordinate delay involved in the commission appointed to look into the Tehelka tapes and their implications. Judicial commissions make the judiciary ? or more precisely, a member of the judiciary or a former judge ? an extension of the government. Mr Phukan implied this when he said that the government had appointed him and the government had dismantled the commission. The CBI, hopefully, will expedite the resolution of the Tehelka affair, but that will not lead to a review of the prevailing practice of appointing a judicial commission whenever there is a controversy.