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EMPTY SEATS

From the Lokpal to green tribunals, the Supreme Court and High Courts, institutes of higher learning and investigating agencies, the vacancies are

piling up and governance is suffering

LOKPALSUPREME

COURTHIGH COURTS

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VICE CHANCELLORS

Prasar Bharati: Smriti Irani at war

Prof Upendra Baxi: Towards superfast trials?

T is ironical indeed that Vladimir IlyichLenin, the founder of the Bolshevik-ruledstate of the erstwhile Soviet Union, shouldmeet his latest iconoclastic demise in soremote a place as India’s hilly North-east

Tripura, a name the Communist giant may nothave even heard of when he penned essays prais-ing the Indian independence movement againstthe British imperialist “jackals” after they jailedLokmanya Tilak in 1908 for “sedition”. Perhapsthe pro-BJP wrecking crew which destroyed the Lenin statue last week in a macho display oftriumphalism did not even know how to spell L-E-N-I-N, or where he had ruled. But theirmindset bespeaks the escalating polarizationwhich is cutting a swath of political hatred ac-ross the land. A veritable demolition derby followed, in which statues of Dravidian hero andrationalist Periyar, Dalit champion and perhapsIndia’s greatest constitutional scholar Ambedkar,and Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjeewere defaced.

At a personal level, I am no fan of statues,unless created as an artistic adornment to give ahappy feeling to some particularly drab corner ofmy study. And (also personally), I oppose thecreation or perpetuation of personality cults.After all, no matter how great our political andspiritual heroes may have been in real life, asstatues, like Shelley’s Ozymandias, they all havefeet of clay. I prefer the intimacy of familyalbums or even my icloud drive.

I have no idea how great a man Lenin was,whether he was an enormous liberator of theoppressed, starving masses from the clutches ofCzar Nicholas and gave his people the promised“peace, bread, and land”, or a demagogic megalo-maniac obsessed with a messianic zeal withwhich he forcibly collectivized agriculture andcreated a brutal one-party state in which hisCheka secret police executed or exiled millions ofdissenters. I suppose those who have faith in thefirst description and built his statue must have

been convinced that he helped bring in socio-economic equality to Tripura, while those whotore him down believed his statue was a symbolof their unemployment or wretchedness.

Erecting one doesn’t bring relief and free-dom, just as placing a moorti inside a templedoes not bring instant salvation. Demolishing itdoes not accomplish much except removingsomething which, to many, may have become aneyesore. But you can accomplish the same bysimply refusing to look at it.

The act of demolition does, perhaps, providea more emotive kick and sense of empowerment.The collective fury this releases also let looseenergies of divisive hatred which, if left uncon-trolled, or exploited for political one-upmanshipcan lead to civil unrest for which democraticsocieties have to pay a heavy price.

One of the best-known toppling in mod-ern times was that of a bronze SaddamHussein in Baghdad during the Ameri-

can invasion of Iraq in 2003. Was this a sponta-neous outburst of Iraqi jubilation? Peter Maass,a journalist for The New York Times Magazine,was an eyewitness. He wrote in a 2011 ProPublica piece that US Marines who werepresent “helped drag the statue down, in part,because they understood the mass appeal of suchan image. He did not personally see it as a defin-ing moment, and he added that the square wasless crowded, and the Iraqis present less enthusi-astic, than it had appeared in many photographsand live broadcasts”.

Tripura’s Lenin is not the first to bite thedust. The Ukranian Week calculated that 376Lenin monuments were removed and/ordestroyed in February 2014. Says an officialaccount in Wikipedia: “The demolition of monuments to Vladimir Lenin in modernUkraine started during the fall of the SovietUnion. During Euromaidan, it has become awidespread phenomenon and dubbed by

IT’S RAINING LENINS ALL THE TIME

Inderjit Badhwar

Letter from the Editor

I

| INDIA LEGAL | March 19, 2018 3

Ukrainians Leninopad, a pun literally translatedas Leninfall.”

On 15 May 2015, President of Ukraine PetroPoroshenko signed a bill into law that started asix-month period for the removal of Communistmonuments (excluding World War II monu-ments) and the mandatory renaming of settle-ments with names related to Communism. Awebsite Raining Lenins tracks the statistics ofthe fall of Lenin statues in Ukraine. Severalother Lenin statues were removed in countries,including Romania, Uzbekistan and Ethiopia,around the time of the implosion of the Soviet bloc.

Lest you should think that I am an incorrigi-ble Leninophobe, let me quickly run you througha quick list of some the institutions and iconswhich have suffered similar fates. So you thinkChairman Mao is sacrosanct in China? PerhapsXi is more so today, while he still lives than theGreat Helmsman of independent China. Re-cently, a massive golden 36-metre statue ofMao—known as “Mega-Mao”—was pulled downin Henan, China, following its erection at a costof about 3 million yuan. According to a report in

The Guardian, the statue was the subject ofscorn and ridicule in the social media. Later,photographs in circulation showed “the GreatHelmsman’s hands, legs and feet appeared tohave been hacked off, and a black cloth drapedover his head”.

“I heard it was destroyed yesterday,” a localdelivery worker, who asked not to be named, toldThe Guardian. “I heard it was because it hadoccupied a farmer’s land.” The People’s Dailynewspaper later confirmed Mao’s demise. Offi-cials said the statue had not gone through thecorrect “approval process” before construction.

‘“Why not use the 3 million to improve localeducation?’ argued one of thousands of critics onWeibo, as photos of the golden statue spread,”The Guardian reported. Henan province, thepaper said, was one of the regions worst hit byChina’s great famine, a catastrophe that claimedtens of millions of lives that was caused by Mao’sdisastrous Great Leap Forward—a bid for break-neck industrialisation.

You think Mahatma Gandhi has beenspared? Not that Bapu was any votary ofhaving statues erected in his image. He

would have been repelled by the idea. YetGandhi statues abound worldwide. In 2016, aMahatma statue was to be removed from a uni-versity campus in Ghana “after professorslaunched a petition claiming the revered Indianindependence leader and thinker was racist,”according to published reports. The petitionstated: “It is better to stand up for our dignitythan to kowtow to the wishes of a burgeoningEurasian super power,” and quotes passageswritten by Gandhi which say Indians are “infi-nitely superior” to black Africans.

More than 1,000 people signed the petition,which claimed that not only was Gandhi racisttowards black South Africans when he lived inSouth Africa as a young man, but that he cam-paigned for the maintenance of India’s caste sys-tem, a primeval collective pecking order that stilldelineates the rank in India of hundreds of mil-lions of people.

Would BR Ambedkar have agreed? Well, hefor one had no love lost for one of the mostrevered Hindu texts of the Sangh Parivar—theManusmriti of the Dharmashastras. OnDecember 25, 1927, in an act as defiant andaggressive as the demolition of any physical icon,he organized a protest march to Mahad, south of

Letter from the Editor

4 March 19, 2018

END OF AN ERA? A statue of Communist

leader Lenin that wasrecently demolished in

Belonia, Tripura

UNI

Bombay, where the participants swore a publicdeclaration of human rights. They pledgedthemselves to equality, abolition of the caste sys-tem and condemned the Manusmrirti, consid-ered to be by many the Hindu code of conduct. Afuneral pit was then dug in front of the Speaker’splatform and the Laws of Manu were consignedto the flames.

The most recent incidents of toppled statueswhich have caught world attention and causedseismic divisions in American society are thoseof confederate leaders who took up arms againstthe American union in the Civil War (1861-1865)in defence of the continuation of slavery. I was inthe US last year and reported on the violencethat was sparked off in Charlottesville, Virginia,centered in part on the city’s plan to relocate astatue of Confederate leader Gen. Robert E Lee.A memorial to Confederate soldiers in Durham,North Carolina, was also pulled down.

“But stiff opposition remains,” reported TheNew York Times. “Debates are raging overwhether the statues should fall because theycommemorate those who fought to uphold slavery, or stand because they remind us of a history that cannot be erased. The United States has been dismantling statues since its very foundation.

“One of the earliest recorded instances camein 1776, just five days after the Declaration ofIndependence was ratified. In a moment thatwas immortalized in a mid-19th-century paint-ing, soldiers and civilians tore down a gildedstatue of Britain’s King George III in Manhattan.

“That dismantling was more than symbolic.The leaden king was to be repurposed ‘to makemusket balls, so that his troops will probablyhave melted Majesty fired at them,’ during the Revolutionary War, said a letter fromEbenezer Hazard, New York’s postmaster, toGen. Horatio Gates.”

Globally, iconoclasm, defined by scholarsas “the social belief in the importance ofthe destruction of icons and other

images or monuments, most frequently for reli-gious or political reasons”, now also includesaggressive statements or actions against the sta-tus quo. Medieval Christians smashed sculpturesof Ancient Rome. And in the 8th century, follow-ing a literal interpretation of the Second Com-mandment as revealed to Moses in the Book ofExodus, the Byzantine Empire proscribed the

erection, painting and worship of all icons andpersecuted those who would follow the practice.

Portraits or statues of Stalin in Budapest,Hitler all over Europe, Christopher Columbus inCaracas, Cecil Rhodes in Cape Town, Hafez al-Assad in Syria, Muammar el-Qaddafi in Tripoli,Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, the Babri Masjid…have all been smashed into smithereens.

But has any of this statue-bashing lessenedtensions or political violence in Egypt or Libya,Iraq or India? Historical legacies cannot bemade or ended by creating or destroying sym-bols. But we will never change our ways. Thepoet Shelley, is still the only one who seems tohave got it right in Ozymandias:

It depicts a wrecked statue of a renownedking of ancient times, lying forgotten in thedesert. The face is distinguished by a frown anda sneer which the sculptor carved on the featureswith these words on its base: “My name isOzymandias, king of kings: Look on my works,ye Mighty, and despair!” Most people agree thatthe poet’s message could not have been moredirect: reminding powerful people that theirpower is only temporary. But the interpretation Ilike best is that “obscurity is the ultimate destinyof the human race. One day all of our works willlie as dust under a dying sun for some alien trav-eller to gaze upon and wonder who or what wewere. The cosmos itself will whirl and condense,rip apart and eventually die too.”


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FALL FROM GRACE A statue of Iraq’s former presidentSaddam Husseinbeing pulled down in central Baghdad on April 9, 2003 by US troops

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ContentsVOLUME XI ISSUE 18

MARCH 19, 2018

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6 March 19, 2018

Empty SeatsFrom the Lokpal to the National Green Tribunal, India’s many institutions needed to keep checksand balances continue to have vacancies or remain headless. This is affecting governance

LEAD

12

Hounded OutThe Greyhound Racing Board has moved thePunjab & Haryana High Court to allow speed contests of this breed and claimed they are not tortured or put to any harm in the process

20

COURTS

Drugs and DrivingA petition in the Kerala High Court has asked that the police be given the means todetect narcotics use by drivers and charge them along the lines of drunken driving

18

R E G U L A R S

Follow us on Facebook.com/indialegalmediaTwitter: @indialegalmediaWebsite: www.indialegallive.comContact: [email protected]

Ringside............................8Delhi Durbar......................9Courts .............................10National Briefs ................29International Briefs..........39Media Watch ..................48Satire ..............................50

Cover Illustration & Design ANTHONY LAWRENCE


BroadcastWarsThe stand-off betweenSmriti Irani and PrasarBharati threatens the livelihood of 28,000employees of DD andAIR. Will parliament stepin to douse the flames?

CONTROVERSY

42

Underground SportTheir illegal status notwithstanding, greyhound races are run not formoney but pride. A first-hand account of how they are conducted

22

Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravishankarwas meant to be mediating in theAyodhya dispute. Instead, he hassparked off another controversy

Art of PolarisingSpeed without HasteThe case of AdditionalSessions Judge KaminiLau who took the evi-dence of 22 witnesseson a single day hasstirred a hornet’s nest

COLUMN

Whither Enlightenment?The lynching of a mentally unstable tribal for allegedly stealing food in India’s most literate state has forced the Kerala High Court to initiate proceedings on its own

44STATES

SPECIAL REPORT

As Highways Go DigitalThe GST E-Way Bill aims at tracking the movement of goods andchecking tax evasion. But will it make the life of transporters easy?

30

COMMERCE

Open forBusinessEven while there is speculation aboutwhether Nirav Modi is in New York, Dubai or Hong Kong, his store inLondon’s prime location,launched with great fan-fare, continues to operate

32

34SPOTLIGHT

40Tihar Jail inmates routinely file applications under the Right to Information Act tolearn about their diet plans, medical records, case files as well as release dates

Resilience and RTIFOCUS

36A bold photo by a well-knownmagazine has led to a case beingfiled under the IndecentRepresentation of Women(Prohibition) Act and also started adiscussion on breastfeeding

Debating DecencySOCIETY

46Pessimism IsIrrationalAmerica’s National Rifle Association’sinfluence depends on the perception of its power. By ignoring its declining punch,liberal fatalists are playing right into itshands on the issue of gun control

GLOBAL TRENDS

26

8 March 19, 2018

“

RINGSIDE

“We removedGeorge V fromIndia Gate, NewDelhi, QueenVictoria from (in)front of her memo-rial in Kolkata...What if the govern-ment similarlydecides to removeLenin’s statue,rename LeninSarani?...”

—Tripura GovernorTathagata Roy ontoppling of Lenin’sstatues in Tripura

“I want to assureyour good office...that I am in nomanner dictatingthe terms of myappearance. How-ever as my passportstands suspended...it is impossible forme to travel back to India... ”

—Gitanjali Gemspromoter MehulChoksi, replying toCBI notice askinghim to come to Indiaand join the probe

“He has tortured me& hasn’t treated melike his wife. He’s abig flirt. I’m notgoing to divorcehim till my lastbreath. I’ve all theevidences & willsoon drag him tothe court.”

—Hasin Jahan, wifeof India cricketerMohammed Shami

“Sometimes youwake up with a joltwith life shakingyou up.... Little hadI known that mysearch for rare sto-ries would make mefind a rare disease...please don’t specu-late as I will myselfshare with you mystory within a week-ten days.”

—Actor Irrfan Khanon Twitter

“I do not celebrateEid, I am a Hinduand I am proud ofit. Wearing a sacredthread at home butcoming out wearinga cap…this kind ofhypocrisy is notsomething the BJPgovernmentindulges in.”

—UP CM YogiAdityanath, replyingto the oppositionattack in the assem-bly that he was a CMonly for the Hindus

"Her contribution towards a Swachh Bharat can never be forgotten. I am deeply inspired

by her noble gesture. I will always cherish thetime when I had the opportunity to seek

Kunwar Bai's blessings…”

——PM Modi on Twitter, referring to the 106-year-oldwoman from Chhattisgarh, on International Women's Day

“It’s a baseless alle-gation that I calledhim in the night atmy residence andgot him thrashed. Iam not a fool to doso... Cowardsindulge in physicalfighting. Kejriwal isnot a coward.”

—Delhi chief minis-ter Arvind Kejriwal,referring to theAnshu Prakash controversy

“There can never beanyone like MGR inthe next 100 or even1,000 years... MGR’srule took care of thepoor, the downtrod-den and the middleclass. I have faiththat I too can pro-vide that rule.”

—Actor Rajinikanth,while addressing agathering in Chennai

The BJP’s electoral sweepin the North-east has gal-vanised the Opposition intoforming a coalition to takeon the ruling party. Theproblem is that there aretoo many rivalries that may

thwart such attempts.The first move has been

made by Telangana CM KChandrasekhar Rao (left)and West Bengal’sMamata Banerjee buttheirs is a bid to form aThird Front, outside theCongress, along withOdisha’s Naveen Patnaik

and the SP and BSP whohave joined forces for localbypolls. Andhra PradeshCM Chandrababu Naidu isready to ditch the NDA buthe cannot see eye to eyewith Rao. Banerjee, Patnaik

and the rest also do notwant the Congress mus -cling in on their fiefdomswhen it comes to nationalelections. Banerjee is op -posed to the idea of ananti-BJP coalition headedby Rahul Gandhi while Akhi -lesh and Mayawati will befacing each other in 2019.

Now, Sonia Gandhi hasstepped into the ring byhosting Opposition leaderslater this week for dinnerwhere she will try and con-vince them to find commonground to take on the BJP.


An inside track of happenings in Lutyens’ Delhi

Delhi Durbar

Twitter: @indialegalmediaWebsite: www.indialegallive.com


Few people outside Shillongknow that NPP leader ConradSangma, the newly crownedchief minister of Meghalaya, wasnamed after a famous literary fig-ure, Joseph Conrad (Heart ofDarkness, Lord Jim). And the lit-erary theme runs in the family—literally! His sisters are Agathaand Christie and his other brother

is called James. Agatha andChristie are self-explanatory, thename of the world’s best knownauthor of crime fiction, whileJames is named after Irish authorJames Joyce of Ulysses fame.

The reason is their late father,PA Sangma, former Lok SabhaSpeaker and NCP leader, was anavid reader of classics. In fact,the late Sangma’s literary inter-ests were evident in the party hefounded in Meghalaya, the NPP,which has a book as its symbol.

WRITTEN INTHEIR FUTURE

For the Indian government to take theunprecedented step of putting pressure onthe Dalai Lama to cancel multiple eventsconnected to his 60th year in exile in Indiais a huge climbdown. India has alwaysused his presence as a catspaw to needle

the Chinese government which considersHis Holiness to be an enemy of the state,a “splitist”.

The new conciliatory stand is part of adeal worked out between New Delhi andBeijing during the visit of foreign secretaryVijay Gokhale to China late last month.Gokhale is an old China hand—ex-ambas-sador to China—and speaks fluentMandarin. He worked out a deal with theChinese that India would give in to theirdemands on the Dalai Lama in return forChina watering down their blind veto sup-port for Pakistan in international fora—theresult was Pakistan being put on the “GreyList” by the Financial Action Taken Forceand Beijing allowing it to go through.

The new India-China détente will be rein-forced when Defence Minister NirmalaSitharaman visits Beijing later this monthfollowed by the PM in June.

DEAL WITH THE DRAGONThere’s an unwitting fallout thatthe disastrous performance ofthe Congress in the North-eastwill have when Rajasthan goesto polls later this year. Veteranleader and general secretary in-charge of the northeasternstates, CP Joshi, bungled inMeghalaya despite his partyhaving the most seats. This will ensure that he losesout to his intra-party rivalsAshok Gehlot and Sachin Pilotwhen party chief Rahul Gandhibegins drawing up poll strate-gies for Rajasthan. Joshi hadclaimed to have close relationswith the Sangmas—Agatha hadserved under him when he wasa minister in UPA. Their ditchinghim in favour of the BJP has leftJoshi high and dry. In contrast,Gehlot engineered theCongress’s revival in Gujaratwhile Pilot ensured that theparty registered impressivewins in assembly and LokSabha bypolls as well as civicelections in Rajasthan. Congress sources say that thedismal performance of Joshi, aperennial chief ministerial aspi-rant in Rajasthan, has effective-ly killed any prospects of himlobbying for a major role instate politics.

POST-MORTEM

BATTLE STATIONS

In a significant observation on grantingcompensation to accident victims, a three-

judge bench of the Supreme Court said thatthe “yardsticks of compensation” must justi-fy that the law gives due importance tohuman life and dignity. The Court granted a

compensation of `25.38 lakh to a carpenterwho had lost both hands in an accident. TheMotor Accident Claims Tribunal had sanc-tioned `12.81 lakh as compensation, andlater the Rajasthan High Court added another`2.2 lakh to the amount. However, the victimwas not happy and had appealed in the top court.

While pointing out that “awards of com-pensation are not law’s doles but entitle-ments”, the bench emphasised that the “lawmust provide a realistic recompense for thepain of loss and the trauma of suffering”.

The bench came to know that the Tri-bunal had not taken into account the extentof disability while calculating the amount. Inlight of the facts presented, nothing canrestore his lost hands and the man can nolonger earn a living, observed CJI DipakMisra, while stating that the disability was“indeed total”.

Courts

10 March 19, 2018

Real estate company Unitech has beenasked by the Supreme Court to submit

an affidavit listing all its unencumberedassets as well as those of its subsidiaries, inIndia and abroad. The top court warned thatif the information was found to be incorrect,legal action would be taken under Section340 of the CrPC against concerned officials.

The Court’s order came against the back-drop of Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra failing todeposit `750 crore, as directed by it earlier.

The apex court also asked JM FinancialAsset Reconstruction Company to be presentat the next hearing. Unitech had submitted

that the company had inked a deal with it tocomplete all housing projects, but the Courtwas not convinced. Another realtor andUnitech’s partner, Pioneer Urban Land andInfrastructure Ltd, was asked to deposit `40crore in two instalments for getting a stay onall legal proceedings against it.

List all claim-freeassets, SC to Unitech



—Compiled by Prabir Biswas

Bombay HC’s conviction order

If an Indian is convicted by a for-eign court for an offence, courts

or judicial authorities here cantake cognisance of it, BombayHigh Court has ruled. However, itadded that Indian courts or autho-rities were not bound to do so.The ruling came from a three-judge bench of the High Court inresponse to a query from a divi-sion bench on the issue. The casepertains to a trustee’s removalfrom Lilavati Hospital in Mumbaiafter his conviction in Belgium foran act of moral turpitude.

Athree-judge Supreme Court bench headedby Chief Justice Dipak Misra set aside the

contentious Kerala High Court order that an-nulled the marriage of 26-year-old Hadiyawith Shafin Jahan, in what has become infa-mous as a “love jihad” case. Their marriage

is now legally valid and Hadiya can live withher husband. The Court also allowed Hadiyato pursue her future plans as per law.However, the apex court gave its nod to theNational Investigation Agency to carry on itsprobe into the alleged “love jihad” phenome-non in Kerala. The Kerala High Court hadcancelled the marriage in a habeas corpuspetition under Article 226.

Compensation is entitlement: SC

Apex court restoresHadiya’s marriage

Collegium selectspermanent judges

Four additional judges of theAllahabad HC and one from the

Manipur HC were recommendedas permanent judges by theSupreme Court collegium. Thejudges from the Allahabad HighCourt are: Justices Ashok Kumar,Vivek Chaudhary, Saumitra DayalSingh and Akhilesh Chandra Shar-ma, while Justice SongkhupchungSerto is from the Manipur HC. The collegium also said thatJustice Serto would continuework at Gauhati HC where he has been transferred.

Lead/ Governance/ Vacant Positions

12 March 19, 2018

EmptySeatsFrom the Lokpal to the green tribunal, the Supreme Courtand High Courts, institutes of higher learning and eveninvestigating agencies, the vacancies are piling upBy Puneet Nicholas Yadav

N April 5, 2011, activistAnna Hazare began thefirst of three indefinitefasts in Delhi demand-ing that the UPA IIregime must get hisversion of the LokpalBill (called the Jan

Lokpal Bill) passed by Parliament. Now,more than seven years later, the self-styled Gandhian from Ralegan Siddhivillage in Maharashtra is threateninganother stir. This will be launched inDelhi on March 23 with pretty much thesame demand—set up a Lokpal.

Anna’s threat coincides with the cen-tre informing the Supreme Court earlierthis month that it is in the process ofappointing the anti-corruption watch-dog but that it will first need to find an“eminent jurist” who can join the Lokpalselection committee. The committee,according to the Lokpal and LokayuktaAct 2013, must comprise the primeminister, the chief justice of India,

OIllustration: Anthony Lawrence


Lok Sabha Speaker, Leader of theOpposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha andan eminent jurist.

The political landscape of the coun-try has changed drastically since Anna’sfirst agitation and so has his own sta-ture. A brief recap of Hazare’s anti-cor-ruption crusade and its political falloutis, thus, in order. Hazare’s comrades inthe agitation of 2011 and the two yearsthat followed till the enactment of theLokpal Bill were a motley group of “civilsociety” members. A majority of them(Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, BabaRamdev, former Army chief General VKSingh, etc.) used the goodwill that themovement generated to launch theirown political or quasi-political (as in thecase of Ramdev) careers, and immenselysuccessful ones at that.

The BJP, then the principal Opposi-tion party, supported Hazare’s stir sens-ing that the public anger that he wastriggering against the multiple-scamtainted UPA government could be chan-nelised at the hustings to oust the “cor-rupt Congress”. The script played outspectacularly for the BJP in 2014.

If the scams in the allocation of 2Gspectrum and coal blocks and in the2010 Commonwealth Games had paint-ed UPA II as corrupt, Hazare’s hungerstrikes over an effective anti-graft om-budsman convinced voters that it wastime for a change of regime. TheCongress’ efforts at bending over back-wards to bring Hazare’s “civil societynominees” on board to draft and thenenact the Lokpal Act too couldn’t revivethe party’s dwindling fortunes.

All that the BJP’s prime ministerialcandidate in the 2014 general elec-tions—Narendra Modi—had to do wasto ensure that the anger against theCongress continued to boil. And withremarkable proficiency, he promised theelectorate a government which wouldnot tolerate corruption.

It’s been four years since Modiromped to power with a brute majority,promising the voters “naa khaunga, naakhane doonga”. In his weekly column—Across the Aisle—in The IndianExpress, former finance minister PChidambaram wrote on March 4: “Themost misused cliché about governance is‘That country is governed best which isgoverned least’. The clichés have depre-ciated so much that their value, in con-temporary governance, is close to zero.”The column, a scathing critique ofModi’s promise of “minimum govern-ment, maximum governance”, highlight-ed the numerous vacancies in variousconstitutional and statutory bodies

which the centre has been unwilling orunable to fill up.

Chidambaram’s article coincidedwith two events, one personaland the other with a potential for

political leverage. On the personal front,it was the arrest of his son, Karti, in analleged case of bribery during the UPAregime when Chidambaram was thefinance minister. The other event wasthe Supreme Court’s reprimand to thecentre on the delay in appointment ofa Lokpal.

The Lokpal, as of now, is a ghostorganisation existing only on paper. Thegovernment has presented two argu-

FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION(Top right) Anna Hazare’s agitation for aLokpal in 2011; Four SC judges had raked upthe issue of judges’ appointments

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14 March 19, 2018

ments for the delay in appointing aLokpal. First, it says that an amendmentto the Act, moved in 2016, to change thecriteria for constituting the Lokpalselection committee was pending Par-liament’s approval. This is, at best, ahalf-truth, if not a blatant lie, becausethe amendment doesn’t talk aboutchanging the constitution of the selec-tion committee at all and so its penden-cy for parliamentary approval does notarise. Yes, it is a fact that the singlelargest 0pposition party—the Cong-ress—had failed to secure 10 percent ofthe Lower House’s strength in the 2014elections and couldn’t be called theLeader of the Opposition (LoP). Andyes, it is a fact that this thereby createda scenario wherein the Lokpal selectionpanel cannot be constituted as per theconditions laid out in the Act. TheOpposition has been demanding thatthe Act be amended to replace the termLoP to leader of the single largest oppo-sition party.

The second argument made by thecentre’s department of personnel and

training through an affidavit filed in theSupreme Court is that the selectionpanel presently doesn’t have an eminentjurist among its members and that thesearch for one is on. The last eminentjurist on the selection committee wassenior advocate PP Rao, who passedaway in September last year. The centrehas, since Rao’s demise, been unable tofind a worthy legal luminary who couldjoin the Lokpal selection committee.

In January this year, the NationalCampaign for People’s Right to Infor-mation (NCPRI) had written a detailedletter to Modi, stating that the delay inthe appointment of a Lokpal “has creat-ed a strong perception that your govern-ment does not wish to put in place aneffective anti-corruption institutionalframework”. Regarding the absence ofan LoP, which is a hurdle for appoint-ment of a Lokpal, the NCPRI letter stat-ed: “In the absence of a recognised LoP,to operationalise the LL Act, a simpleamendment was required to the law toprovide that in the absence of a recog-nised leader of opposition, the leader of

the single largest party/group in opposi-tion in the Lok Sabha will be includedin the selection panel.”

The government had informed theSupreme Court in February that a meet-ing of the Lokpal selection committeehad been convened on March 1. Did thegovernment not know then that itsselection committee doesn’t have all themembers mandated under the Act?After its submission to the apex court,the centre had requested MallikarjunKharge, leader of the Congress in theLok Sabha, to attend the selection com-mittee meeting as a “special invitee”, anoffer that Kharge rejected.

NCPRI member Anjali Bhardwajfeels that the centre is mislead-ing the country and even the

Supreme Court on the Lokpal appoint-ment issue. She told India Legal: “If thegovernment is claiming that it wants tofollow the Lokpal Act when it comes toconvening a meeting of the Lokpalselection committee, then how is it call-ing Kharge as a special invitee when the


“If the government is claimingthat it wants to follow the LokpalAct when it comes to convening ameeting of the Lokpal selectioncommittee, then how is it callingKharge as a special invitee whenthe Act has no such provision?” -- Anjali Bhardwaj, NCPRI member

“It is the government’s responsibility to sustain institutions. Its failure to do somakes the prime minister’s attractive poll slogan of ‘minimumgovernment, maximum governance’look utterly hollow.”—Wajahat Habibullah, India’s first CIC

“A democracy thrives when itsinstitutions are strengthened,What we are seeing today is thatthe government is not interested inensuring that the institutions workas per their sanctioned strength.”—MM Ansari, former informationcommissioner


Act has no such provision? The onlyoption would have been to either app-oint Kharge as LoP or to have changedthe law so that the leader of the singlelargest party would sit in the selectioncommittee. In the absence of such anamendment, if the government callsKharge a special invitee, then where isthe law to support it?”

The objective to have the LoP in theLokpal selection panel was to ensurethat the government appointed a Lokpalthrough broad political consensus andnot nepotism. Bhardwaj wonderswhether a special invitee to the selectioncommittee would have the same powersas the LoP in the absence of a specificlaw? “If the centre decides to make atainted individual the Lokpal, thenwould Kharge be able to oppose thecandidature and ask for vigilance re-ports compiled by various agenciesagainst this person? Will he have anyreal powers? The centre has not speltout any powers for the special invitee.Would he be able to cast a valid vote and will his dissent be binding on the

panel? None of these issues have beenaddressed by the centre,” she told India Legal.

While Chidambaram’s column in TheIndian Express steered clear of mention-ing the Lokpal appointment issue, ithighlighted the larger issue of headlessorganisations or statutory authoritiesnot being appointed by the centre. “Isthis the minimum government that waspromised by the BJP in the run-up tothe parliamentary elections in 2014?The more important follow-up ques-tions are ‘Who benefits by keeping postsvacant in crucial regulators and authori-ties?’ and ‘Who benefits from fewer RTIdisclosures and fewer tax case judg-ments?’. The answer is obvious... If otherinstitutions of a democracy are weak-ened, it gives greater power, in the realand practical sense, to the Executive,”Chidambaram wrote.

The Supreme Court, various HighCourts, the Central InformationCommission (CIC), the National GreenTribunal, various appellate tribunals, theUniversities Grants Commission, and

various central universities are currentlyfunctioning with varying numbers ofvacancies against their sanctionedstrength. (See box)

The CIC, the final authority onordering the government toreveal details of Executive deci-

sions sought by common citizens underthe RTI Act, had remained headless fora long spell after the BJP came topower. While the Commission now hasRK Mathur as its head, four of the teninformation commissioners sanctionedfor it are yet to be appointed.

Wajahat Habibullah, India’s first CICtold India Legal: “For many monthsafter this government came to power,the central information commission washeadless. One can give the Modi govern-ment a benefit of doubt for the initialphase, assuming that the governmentperhaps wanted to understand the roleof the information commission and itsmembers better before making theappointments... However, I must pointout that the current government hasfailed to ensure that the basic require-ment of filling existing vacancies, not ofthe chief information commissioner butof information commissioners and otherstaff, was fulfilled. As a result, once anofficer retires, it takes the government along time to fill the vacancy.”

The former CIC also conceded thatthe malaise of keeping democratic insti-tutions inept in discharging their dutiesis not limited to just the CIC. “It is a factthat the government is not taking theright steps to strengthen democratic andconstitutional institutions. This is visiblenot just by the vacancies in the Infor-mation Commission but a host of otherinstitutions like various courts, theLokpal, etc. It is the government’sresponsibility to sustain institutions. Itsfailure to do so makes the prime minis-ter’s attractive poll slogan of ‘minimumgovernment, maximum governance’ lookutterly hollow,” Habibullah said.

Former information commissionerMM Ansari was even more scathing.“Mr Arun Shourie, a BJP veteran

“The Supreme Court itself is mostlyresponsible for the non-fulfilment ofthe vacancies there and in High Courts.It struck down the ConstitutionAmendment which created a newmechanism as a substitute for the present collegium system.” —Justice KT Thomas, a former SC judge

“The Modi government is moving towardsa dictatorship. It is a big threat to thenation. The entire country agitated forthe Lokpal Bill, which resulted in the UPAmaking a law. When this governmentcame, it formulated another law to dilutethe previous Lokpal Act, 2013.” —Anna Hazare, social activist

16 March 19, 2018

and former Union minister, has rightlysaid that this is a government of two-and-a-half men. The fact is that thesemen who are running the State have nointerest in sustaining constitutionalinstitutions. A democracy thrives whenits institutions are strengthened, butwhat we are seeing today is that the gov-ernment is not interested in even ensur-ing that these institutions work as pertheir sanctioned strength. It appearsthat the government is willing to keephigh offices vacant till such a time thatthey find candidates who are alignedwith its ideology or those who are closeto the powers-that-be,” Ansari said.

Ironically, the Supreme Court whichis now seeking replies from the centreon the delay in appointment of a Lok-pal, is itself battling the charge of notfilling up vacancies for its judges. Of the31 judges sanctioned, the Court is func-tioning with just 24. The Supreme Courtcollegium had unanimously recom-mended Uttarakhand High Court chiefjustice KM Joseph and senior advocate

Indu Malhotra as judges in the topcourt. However, the government is yet totake a call on these appointments.Unconfirmed reports suggest that it hasrejected the collegium’s recommenda-tions. Worse, High Courts are function-ing with 403 fewer judges than theircollective sanctioned strength of 1,079.

In January, four senior judges of theSupreme Court (Justices J Chela-meswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B

Lokur and Kurian Joseph) had, in anunprecedented press conference, high-lighted the continuing delay by the cen-tre in responding to the top court on theissue of Memorandum of Procedure forappointment of judges. The governmenthas, till date, not addressed this issue.

The vacancies in the top court, saysJustice KT Thomas, a former SupremeCourt judge, is a problem of its ownmaking. “The Supreme Court itself ismostly responsible for the non-fulfil-ment of the vacancies there and in HighCourts. It struck down the Constitution

Amendment which created a new mech-anism as a substitute for the present col-legium system. The reasons advanced bythe majority of the five-judge bench forannulling the Amendment are far fromthe range of acceptability. At the sametime, the reasoning adopted by JusticeChelameswar in approving the sameAmendment is very sound and valid,”Justice Thomas told India Legal.

So can the government be completelyabsolved of its responsibility in keepingthe Supreme Court and High Courtsfunctioning with a decreased strength intheir benches? “If there is any delay onthe part of the government in processingthe recommendations already sent to it,it can be called upon by the SupremeCourt on the judicial side to explain thereason,” Justice Thomas said.

Justice Thomas was also the manapproached by the UPA government inJanuary 2014 to head an eight-memberpanel tasked to shortlist candidatesfrom some 400 applications to theLokpal selection committee. The com-


Rajender Kumar

List of vacancies as detailed by P Chidambaram

Constitutional/statutory authority Sanctioned strength Vacancies

Supreme Court 31 07

Chief Justices of High Courts 24 09

High Court Judges 1,079 403

Lokpal* 9 9

National Green Tribunal 11 06

Securities Appellate Tribunal 03 01

Income Tax Appellate Tribunal 126 34

Central Administrative Tribunal 66 24

Central Information Commission 11 04

Competition Commission of India 07 02

Central Vigilance Commission 03 01

IPS cadre 4,843 938

Central universitiesVice-chancellorsTeaching posts

4117,106

035,997

*In addition to institutions mentioned by P Chidambaram


"If other institutions of a democracy areweakened, it gives greater power, in the

real and practical sense, to theExecutive,” P Chidambaram wrote in a

column in The Indian Express.

mittee was to then appoint the Lokpaland his subordinates from this shortlist.But then, Justice Thomas declined theoffer. A few months later, the UPA wasvoted out of power and the Modi gov-ernment made no effort to reinitiate theLokpal appointment process.

Justice Thomas says: “I declined toaccept the post as I found that on theexisting provisions in the Lokpal Actand the Rules, the government was notbound by the decisions of the searchcommittee nor obliged to return thedecision to the search committee for re-consideration. Instead, the Lokpalselection panel under the prime minis-ter could make the appointments on itsown. I felt that the labour exercised bythe search committee headed by mewould be futile. However, I expectedthe Parliament to make an amendmentto the existing Act to correct the systemof Lokpal appointment. The way inwhich parliamentary proceedings arebeing disrupted every day even on veryimportant questions, I do not expectthe amendment to the Lokpal Act to bemade expeditiously. I do not know whocan be blamed for this delay.”

With Hazare on protest mode againand highlighting the same issues thatonce endeared him so much to the BJPthat the Congress had termed him saf-fron hitman, will the Modi governmentbe compelled to expedite the Lokpalappointment procedure?

The possibility of such an eventuality

looks dim. Firstly, Hazare’s sheen hasworn off. His threats no longer makenational headlines. Even his estrangedcomrade-in-arms, Delhi chief ministerArvind Kejriwal, seems to have forgot-ten his anti-corruption fight and hasfailed to appoint a Lokayukta in Delhi.Hazare looks like a caricature of thelarger-than-life status he had achievedduring the UPA era. Unlike the bum-bling and nervous Congress, the BJPseems unaffected by his threats and isunlikely to even engage with him.

On his part, Hazare is trying tobring his Lokpal agitation backinto political and media con-

sciousness. Sources say he might evenget the support of disgruntled BJP lead-ers like Yashwant Sinha and Shatru-ghan Sinha and their recently launchedRashtra Manch. Hazare is also trying todiversify his protest by speaking aboutthe problems faced by farmers—a petpeeve of the Rashtra Manch leaders.

Hazare said: “The agenda for ouragitation will be appointment of aLokpal and farmers’ issues. TheNarendra Modi government is movingtowards dictatorship. It is a big threat

to the nation. The entire country hadstood up and agitated for the LokpalBill, which resulted in the UPA govern-ment making a law.

“When this government came, it wasbelieved that it would help pass the bill.Instead, it formulated another law todilute the previous Lokpal and theLokayuktas Act, 2013 by removing theprovision that required governmentofficials to disclose the property held bytheir spouse. They are giving full-pageadvertisements about a corruption-freeIndia but don’t want to appoint an anti-corruption watchdog.”

Evidently, Hazare is disenchantedwith the BJP. But does it matter toNarendra Modi? There’s another year togo before the 2019 general elections.Despite the taint of corruption seepinginto the Modi government with dubiousindustrialists fleeing to foreign coun-tries, the latest being Nirav Modi, theBJP seems determined to not let graftbecome a rallying issue. The saffronparty’s perception management througha media that’s ever willing to play ball,is likely to drown Hazare’s roars.

To recount Chidambaram’s observa-tion: “Minimum government is intend-ed to acquire maximum control, liberaldemocracy be damned and damaged.”That’s the new normal.



REALITY CHECK (L-R) The Delhi HC still doesn’t have a chief justice; after Justice Swatanter Kumar’s retirement, NGT is headless

Courts/ Kerala/ Driving Under Drugs

18 March 19, 2018

HILE the law is clearon drunken driving,there is little to stop aperson from drivingunder the influence ofdrugs or narcotic sub-

stances in the country. This could wellchange if a case filed by ThoufeekAhamed, a Kerala High Court lawyer,sees a fruitful end.

The petition invokes Article 226 ofthe Constitution before a divisionalbench of Kerala Chief Justice AntonyDominic and Justice Dama SeshadriNaidu. The petitioner prayed that aninterim direction be given to the thirdrespondent, the state police chief, to“enforce and implement Section 185 ofMotor Vehicles Act, 1988 effectivelythrough the Law Enforcing Officersunder him by detecting use of drugs bythe drivers by adopting scientific meth-ods and charge the offenders under therelevant provisions of Motor VehiclesAct, 1988 and The Narcotics Drugs andPsychotropic Substances Act, 1985 inthe interest of justice”.

The Court has asked the DGP to givethe petitioner a hearing and see whetherthis can be implemented in the state at

the earliest. It has given eight weeks forthe state to respond to the petition.

Ahamed told India Legal: “In the lastfew years, the use of drugs in the statehas been high. The number of accidentshappening on a daily basis has also goneup dramatically. Obviously, there aremany who use drugs and drive and atthe moment we do not have a mecha-nism to detect it, unlike drunken driv-ing. Hence, I thought this was a much-needed step.’’

His petition says that unlike wide-spread belief, it is not difficult to detectdrug use in drivers. “This may be new inIndia, but in many European and otherdeveloped nations, use of drug detectiondevices on highways is a common prac-tice. I agree we may not have themachines and technology at present, butit is available in the international mar-ket,’’ added Ahamed.

Citing a report of the Organization

for Economic Cooperation and Deve-lopment (OECD), an intergovernmentalorganisation of 35 countries formed tofurther economic progress and worldtrade, the petition talks about the far-reaching effects that drugs can have ondrivers. A study conducted by the Inter-national Transport Forum (ITF), a bodywithin the OECD, clearly outlines what effect drugs can cause on a driverand it is more far-reaching than what alcohol does.

While cannabis can give rise to hallu-cinations, stimulants such as cocaine,amphetamines and methamphetaminescan reduce one’s concentration whenbehind the wheel. MMDA, commonlyknown as Ecstasy, can cause greaterimpairment and lessen speed, capabilityto see moving objects and much more.

The petition pleaded before theCourt that the State should makedetecting of drug driving a priority simi-lar to drunken driving. The petition alsosays that such detection, if implement-ed, will be a bigger deterrent for law-

Trippingon theRoad

A petition wants the Keralapolice to detect drivers using

narcotics and book them underthe Motor Vehicles ActBy Naveen Nair

in Thiruvananthapuram

While cannabis can give rise to hallucinations, cocaine, amphetamines

and methamphetamines can reduceone’s concentration behind the wheel. MMDA can cause greater impairment.

HIGH ON ADDICTIONNarcotic substances recovered after a raid inKochi, KeralaW


breakers than what is used for alcoholdetection. The argument is that as alco-hol intake is legally permissible, its usewhile driving would not invite the samepenalty as the use of drugs. This isbecause drugs come under the NarcoticDrugs and Psychotropic Substances(NDPS) Act which makes consumptionitself a crime. The main idea is to adddriving under the influence of drugs tothe Motor Vehicles Act. This is possibleonly if it can be detected.

While God’s Own Country wasknown as a liquor paradise,that tag may be replaced by a

bigger evil. According to the latest fig-ures of the state excise department,which looks after drug control, casesunder the NDPS Act are at an all-timehigh. In 2016-17 alone, more than 6,000kg of narcotic and drug-related sub-stances were seized in the state. This isthree times what was seized the previ-ous year.

Also, what is alarming is that from2014 when the phased prohibition onalcohol took off, there was a steadygrowth in drug-related cases and drugsseized in the state. “There is no denying

that Kerala, especially the city of Kochi,is fast becoming the drug capital ofsouth India. Amritsar is the only city tobeat it. Unfortunately, it is not easy todetect the use of drugs. The situation is alarming,’’ said Rishiraj Singh, theexcise commissioner.

What has baffled even the enforce-ment agency is the seizure of five kilo-grammes of Ecstasy worth `30 crore inKochi in February, showing that inter-national drug cartels are eyeing the cityas a big transit point. Against this back-ground, Ahamed’s petition is significant.

However, drug detection is still anamateur area in India and there arequestions whether these measures canbe implemented on city roads and high-ways. Johnson Edayaranmula, who runsAlcohol and Drug Information Centre,asks: “Till now, we could only punishpeople when they were caught withdrugs. But how can you detect drug users on the road like you catchdrunk drivers?”

However, the petition scientificallyoutlines the techniques used in someadvanced nations. While Alere DDS2Mobile Test System is one such test, theother mentioned in the petition is the

Dragger Drug Test 5000. The Alere DDS2 is a portable system

designed for rapid screening and detec-tion of drug use by checking oral fluids,with the results out in five minutes,making it usable on Indian roads.

The Dragger Test, on the other hand,uses different equipment but is similarto Alere. It too uses oral fluids to testthe presence of drugs. Both can detectalmost all forms of drugs.

“It is very easy to say that we cannotdetect drugs because they don’t smell.Worldwide, it has been proved that suchtests are possible. We only need the will to implement it here in India,’’added Ahamed.

It waits to be seen if the police willcrack down on drug driving or whetherthe petitioner will have to seek otherremedial measures to curb one ofKerala’s fastest growing evils.



“In the last few years, the use of drugs inKerala has been high. The number of

accidents happening on a daily basis hasalso gone up dramatically. Obviously,

there are many who use drugs and drive.”—Thoufeek Ahamed, the petitioner and

Kerala High Court lawyer

ON HIGH ALERT According to the petitioner,police in developed nations have the wherewithal to detect drivers using drugs

20 March 19, 2018

HE refusal by the deputycommissioner ofJalandhar to grant per-mission for holding grey-hound races has prompt-ed the registered

Greyhound Racing Board to move thePunjab and Haryana High Court.Asserting that the tradition of holdingraces among this particular breed ofdogs has been going on since time

Courts/ Punjab & Haryana High Court/ Dog Races

The Greyhound Racing Board has approached the Court to allow races of thisbreed and claimed that they are not tortured or put to any harm

By Vipin Pubby in Chandigarh

T

Hounded Out?

tiorari (by which a higher court reviewsa case tried in a lower court), quashingthe order issued by the deputy commis-sioner, Jalandhar, on January 29 thisyear. It sought issuance of a writ in thenature of mandamus directing therespondents to allow greyhound races inthe state of Punjab and not to cause any hindrance in the organising ofsuch races.

The petition has requested the Court

immemorial, the Board has said that“the raison d’etre for the existence ofgreyhound dogs is racing”. It said thatadequate care is taken to ensure thatthe dogs are not tortured or put to anyharm while being trained to race.

The Board, which has filed the peti-tion under Article 226/227 of theConstitution through Gursharan KMann and SS Mann, has prayed forissuance of a writ in the nature of cer-

UNI

to consider whether the refusal toorganise greyhound races was violativeof the principles of natural justice andPrevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,1960 (PCA, 1960) and whether theorder refusing permission to hold thedog race “is arbitrary and illegal withoutjurisdiction, further causing unneces-sary hindrance to greyhound dog races”.The High Court, while taking cogni-sance of the petition, has issued notice to the Punjab government to file its reply.

The petitioner, Bhupinder SinghGrewal, president of theGreyhound Racing Board, has

pointed out that the Board “indulges inorganising greyhound races in an order-ly fashion. The welfare and health of thegreyhound dogs is the primary facet inconsideration while organising suchraces. All such races are organised onlyafter providing proper emergency facili-ties to the dogs in case of any contin-gency. The dog sport is conducted in aprofessional manner and all the estab-lished international rules and regula-tions are followed by the organisers”.

He said that, as per the order no.28/6/2011-4 PP-1/9858, datedNovember 25, 2013, passed by the ani-mal husbandry, fish and dairy develop -


ment department, the permission of thedeputy commissioner or deputy direc-tor, animal husbandry, has been madecompulsory and further district com-mittees have been formed. The order“has been passed on the ground ofassumed and presumed cruelty to theanimal”. Describing it as an illegal andarbitrary order, the petitioner has saidthat greyhound dog races “are organ-ised under total control [sic] environ-ment and it is categorically and specifi-cally taken care that only mentally andphysically healthy greyhound dogs takepart in the race”.

�A greyhound has stereoscopic vis ion.This means that it is best suited to see-ing moving objects. They often don’tsee stationary objects—so when callingyour greyhound back to you, you arebest moving around.

�The greyhound is built for speed witha streamlined, muscular body. The neckand head are long. Their characteristicrose ears are usually folded flat against the neck when the dog isrelaxed, but prick forward and may even

stand somewhat erect when the grey-hound is at attention. The loin is slightlyarched, the chest is deep, and the waistis narrow, giving the dog a distinctiveappearance.

�The running style of a greyhound is similar to that of a cheetah, employingwhat is known as double suspensiongallop. Unlike horses which only haveone period during their galloping stridein which all the four legs are off theground at once, the greyhound has twoperiods of suspension during the fastest gallop.

�The feet of the greyhound touch theground only 25 percent of the time. Thedog’s long legs, flexible spine, smallwaist and slender body work together

to make it run fast.

�The greyhound has a huge heart forits body size. It ranges from 1.18 to 1.73percent of its body weight whereasmost other dog breeds’ heart size is0.77 percent. The human heart to bodyweight is only 0.5 percent and the race-horse’s heart is 1-1.3 percent.

�A racing greyhound has the highestblood volume compared to body size at 11.4 percent whereas it stands at10.5 percent for a racehorse, 9.5 per-cent for a human sprinter and 7.2 per-cent for a average pet dog.

�The breed has the highest packed cell volume of any dog at 60 percent,compared to 35 percent for most dogsand 40 percent for racehorses.

The petition mentioned at lengththe care taken for the benefit of thesedogs. It said that the length of the racetrack is not longer than 100 m, which iswell short of the scientifically provenfact that a greyhound can run at itsmaximum speed for a distance of 250m, which is even more than a cheetah.It said that the dogs are not exhaustedand that utmost care is taken in organ-ising the dog races. Proper medicalfacilities are ensured when such grey-hound races are organised. “Throughempirical research and data by the sci-entist and doctors it has been proved

The petition explains various bodycharacteristics of a greyhound

A unique dog

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pursuit till he informed us that wewere headed for an illegal greyhoundrace nearby. He is a dog lover butgreyhounds are literally a breedapart and are, to quote BruceSpringsteen, born to run. Like allunderground activities, greyhoundracing in Punjab operates on a needto know basis, which includes thecops and district officials who merelylook the other way. Occasionally,

22 March 19, 2018

beyond doubt that the greyhound dogslove running,” it said and added that the“evidence of the association of the grey-hound dog can be traced from Bible,and it has been estimated that the dogbreed is around 5,000 years old. InEgypt, the dog has been found mummi-fied with humans in the graves. The spe-cific dog has been revered for its speed,agility and grace since time immemori-al,” it added.

The petition has said that there are300 breeds of dogs. Some of them, itsaid, are suited for different tasks suchas guarding, surfing, tracking, herding,hunting, cart-pulling, sniffing, rescue,running, and so on. It said the specifictraits and adaptations of the dog makethis breed perfect for racing. “Over theyears through evolution, the grey-hound’s body is structured in such a waythat it can run at very fast speed withleast amount of effort. The greyhound

breed instead of being similar to otherdog breeds is actually in consonancewith the cheetah,” it asserted.

Giving details of how the races are conducted, the petition saidthat the track length varies from

80 m to 100 m. The hounds, two ab -reast, dash behind a manually operatedartificial lure. An average dash takesabout six seconds and there are, at themost, two dashes a day per dog, with arest period of about two hours betweenthe dashes. It said that greyhound rac-ing is an organised, competitive sport inwhich these dogs are raced around atrack. “There are two forms of grey-hound racing, track racing (normallyaround an oval track) and coursing.Track racing uses an artificial lure (nowbased on a windsock) that travels aheadof the dogs on a rail until the grey-hounds cross the finish line. In coursing,


the dogs chase an artificial lure, henceno cruelty on any animal,” explained thepetition. It said the dogs have a gooddiet and are taken care of “in a mannerwhich even the most privileged” cannotafford. It stressed that `300-500 isspent daily on each dog for the purposeof diet. This includes mutton, chicken,eggs and other high-protein food.

Taking its plea further, the petitioncontended that such dog races organisedby the Board “help in the integration ofthe rural population and bridging socialgaps and differences. It brings togetherthe rural people from all the walks oflife and such events act as catalyst forthe assimilation of different cultures.Such events help in inculcating a pas-sion and compassion for living creaturesand further the cause imbibed [sic] inthe fundamental duties in the form ofArticle 51-A(g)”. Will the High Courttake a sympathetic view of this plea?

The craze for greyhound racing in pockets of Punjab hasmade it into an underground sport, facing the wrath of animal

lovers. Even as a petition to allow the sport is introduced,Dilip Bobb provides a first-hand account of how it operates

The RunningBattle

Y host gets a call on hismobile and immediate-ly his face lights up.“Great news,’’ he tellsme, “today we aregoing underground.’’

We are in Bathinda, where my host, anaffluent landowner and bon vivant, wastrying to convince us poxy city dwellersof the benefits of the outdoors. Goingunderground seemed paradoxical to his

M

imported greyhound with a racingpedigree will cost `6 to `8 lakh onaverage and my new ‘mate’ fromManchester told me it costs him `500 aday for each hound: their normal feedis mutton, chicken and eggs in milk orcurd, apart from imported vitaminsand medicines.

By now, the area had already takenon the atmosphere of a village fair.Canopies had sprung up for the ownersand VIPs, a loudspeaker system wasbeing tested, a snack stall had sprungup, and, to my absolute astonishmentconsidering it was an illegal sport, anOB van arrived to film the race andbroadcast it on NRI channels abroadpopular with the Punjabi diaspora wholike to remain connected to their roots.This was rural Punjab in all its earthyglory. A tractor and a tiller were mark-ing out the race track in the middle offields of sugarcane. It would be around80 metres long, I was informed by theorganisers, local farm owners, andwould be along a straight line and notthe oval track that greyhound racing isrun on in stadiums abroad. Villagersfrom surrounding areas were arriving


One gentleman I met was fromManchester and, being a football fan as

well, had three greyhounds whom heraced in turns, named after famous

footballers Messi, Ronaldo and Beckham.

also meant to keep the pedigreed grey-hound cool in the rear seat so it wouldbe in peak condition for the race). Therewere about 10 racers, almost all import-ed from the US, UK or Ireland—manyare brought in by NRIs from Punjabwho also participate in the races. Onegentleman I met was from Manchesterand, being a football fan as well, hadthree greyhounds whom he raced inturns, named after famous footballersMessi, Ronaldo and Beckham. Like thenamesakes, his dogs were sprawled outon thick quilts while the handlers gavethem oil massages to get their blood cir-culating and their legs in running order.Punjabis walk with a distinct swaggerand the greyhounds have been infectedwith similar traits. Post-massage, theyare walked around to get them ready forthe race and they preen and prance likeroyalty, which, in a sense, they are. An

greyhound owners willapply for a race to be runto the district magistratewho routinely turns itdown. The race is runanyway, mainly for prideand not a big purse, and,like all things to do withPunjabis and Sikhs, it’salso a macho thing to beinvolved in, albeit illegal.It is much like Jallikattuin Tamil Nadu which hasbeen officially banned butthe local passion and tra-dition for the sportensures it carries on inparts of the state. InPunjab, while greyhoundracing was officiallybanned in the 1990s, itslegality is, appropriately, agrey area since Punjabactually has a GreyhoundRacing Board which argues that dogracing is a traditional element ofPunjab’s sporting culture. Its latest peti-tion counters the naysayers in terms ofhow the dogs are treated and will nowbe heard by the Punjab and HaryanaHigh Court.

Maneka Gandhi and her posseof animal lovers have declaredit as being cruel to animals—

originally it was aimed at the live harewhich was used as a lure to make thegreyhounds chase it at full speed.Nowadays, they use a fake hare which isoperated manually so the focus has nowshifted to cruelty to the greyhounds.Having watched a greyhound race liveand mingled with the owners, I cansafely say that the greyhounds I sawwere better looked after than most ofthe spectators. The race event was totake place some 15 kilometres outsideBathinda and by mid afternoon, whenwe reached the venue, the crowds hadalready started trickling in from sur-rounding villages and farms. Then camethe participants—the dog owners intheir air-conditioned SUVs (The AC was

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24 March 19, 2018

in droves, alerted by the mobile networkof race lovers. A local vet had beencalled in to tend to any problems—pedi-greed greyhounds are sleek, fast andbred for racing but they are also fragilecreatures because of the work they do.They run the track in about six secondsand hit speeds of around 60 kmph.

The race was about to start andthe greyhound owners, alongwith assorted family members

(all male) and expert handlers, moved information towards the starting line. Amock hare, a leather ball covered rough-ly in rabbit skin, was being rigged upattached to a long cord which would bepulled by a manual contraption. Thethree greyhounds in the first race linedup and a starter seated on a chair raiseda white flag.

The hounds were straining at theleash, their long, thin bodies stretchedto the limit of the leash. The flag camedown, the leashes were un hooked, andthey were off in a blur of movement.They run, said Manchester, like a chee-tah does, and I could see what he

meant thanks to National Geo graphic.Their bellies are inches from theground and they streak across the trackin a flash, with the results being metwith either exuberant high fives orcolourful Punjabi curses. There are fiveraces in all and most races are betweenjust two dogs. I find myself wishingManeka Gandhi was here—no racelasts more than six seconds, the tracklength is far less than the stipulatedmaximum length of 250 metres, thedogs get enough rest between one raceand the next. Messi runs in three races,finishing first in two, but there isenough time between races for him torecover and the crowds to indulge insome friendly banter with the owners.Also, in case of a photo finish as hap-pened in one of the races. Thankfully,all was resolved peacefully with the

help of slow motion replays from theOB van’s cameras.

By the time the last race ended itwas dusk and the light was fading.There is token prize money, unlike inthe UK, so the motivation is pride andpassion for the sport. The winners aregiven trophies and the rustic atmos-phere is spotlighted with the mostunusual sight—the SUVs lined up withtheir headlights switched on to provideillumination for the prize-giving cere-mony. Mr Man ches ter’s two race winswill, he says, buy him enough petrol forthe day for his Ford Endeavour and acouple of days’ feed for his prized ani-mals. What the local villagers find soappealing about this esoteric sportremains a mystery but then this isPunjab, where swag does not mean thegunny bags they normally carry on theirmuscular shoulders, but closer to theHindi phrase Tashan, which meansstyle, or let’s just say swagger.

The winners are given trophies and therustic atmosphere is spotlighted with themost unusual sight—SUVs lined up with

headlights switched on to provide illumination for the prize-giving ceremony.




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26 March 19, 2018

NGER and arrogance inIndian governance cantake bizarre forms. It canupturn laid-out norms,throw ethics out of thewindow and destroy even

autonomous institutions that used con-stitutional powers to survive and flour-ish in the country’s democratic set-up.

Nothing can exemplify this betterthan the current stand-off between Information and Broadcasting (I&B)Minister Smriti Irani and Prasar Bhar-ati. Known for her autocratic ways, shehas, in an unprecedented step, attempt-ed to block the salaries of thousands ofemployees of Doordarshan (DD) and AllIndia Radio. The I&B ministry is sup-posed to release around `200 croreevery month to Prasar Bharati to meetits routine expenses.

Prasar Bharati managed to pay theJanuary and February salaries usingcontingency funds. It may be able topull along for another month with itsremaining funds. But if Irani has herway, there will be no money to pay Pra-sar Bharati employees in April.

Incidentally, Prasar Bharati CEO SSVempati had tweeted: “Noticed reportsin sections of media on non-disbursal ofsalaries to DD & AIR staff. Rs. 208 crtowards salaries were released on the28th Feb 2018. Attempts to create panicmalafide. PB (Prasar Bharati) has so farreceived Rs. 1989 crores from MIB(Ministry of Information and Broad-casting) as grants-in-aid for salaries

by the ministry to document the Inter-national Film Festival of India (IIFI)2017 in Goa and had submitted a whop-ping bill of `2.92 crore.

Prasar Bharati is within its rights notto pay the bill when all this while thesame job was being done by DD. Andthat is one question that Irani will finddifficult to answer—why did she hire anexternal agency when DD had all thetechnology and talent to execute it?

Though the public broadcaster isridiculed for its comparative subtlercontent than private broadcasters who

are loud and often ridiculous, it is afact that it has numerous

experienced technicians,camerapersons and pro-ducers who can do com-

Controversy/ Smriti Irani vs Prasar Bharati

The stand-off between the minister and the public broadcaster threatens the livelihood of28,000 employees of DD and AIR. Will Parliament step in to douse the flames?

By Ramesh Menonduring FY2017-18.” He did not mentionthat this money was released fromPrasar Bharati’s reserves.

However, hours later, he again tweet-ed: “Rs. 208 crores were released by@prasarbharati towards salaries for on28th February 2018 from IEBRreserves.” This makes the CEO’s stand inthe whole issue suspect.

VESTED INTEREST?Irani’s move is seen by the top brass inPrasar Bharati as an attempt to punishthem and strangulate the working of thepublic broadcaster just because itdid not cave in to her demandsto okay payment to a pri-vate operator. The oper-ator had been asked

A

Ruling with an Iron Fist!

TURF WAR(L-R) Information andBroadcasting MinisterSmriti Irani; PrasarBharati chairmanSurya Prakash

plex shows using multi-cameras. Theyare well-versed in telecasting importantevents such as the Republic Day Parade,state-sponsored events and festivals.After all, the shoot at the film festival inGoa required just 15 cameras operatingat the same time. DD is known to oper-ate double that number.

As it is, the public broadcaster isstrapped for funds and has to competewith many news and entertainmentchannels which are owned by mediahouses with deep pockets. So, what wasthe logic of hiring an expensive privateplayer when DD could have done it at afraction of the cost?

A retired official who held a seniorpost in DD attested that it had veryexperienced people who could handleany show or shoot with ease. Even thosehired on contract are well-qualified and talented.

Irani’s move has spurred uncomfort-able questions about why she hired aprivate player to do a simple job.

The minister had adroitly shifted themanagement of the Goa festival, IFFI,to the National Film DevelopmentCorporation (NFDC). Earlier, it used tobe under the I&B ministry. NFDC thenaccorded the telecast rights for the Goafestival to SOL Production Private


Limited, a private production housethat produces entertainment shows.

DING-DONG BATTLEThere were other irritants in the testyties between Irani and Prasar Bharati.The broadcaster had raised objectionsto the hiring of two journalists atsalaries which were seen as very highand which would not go down well withother employees in similar senior posi-tions. Irani was reportedly interested ingetting these two journalists on board.One of them was an editor of a dailynewspaper whose reputation had comeunder a cloud for pushing fake newsabout a communal conflagration inUttar Pradesh. The other was a journal-ist with a business television channel.They were reportedly being offeredannual salaries that ranged between `75lakh and `1 crore.

Jawhar Sircar, former CEO of PrasarBharati, told India Legal: “There issheer anarchy going on. The ministrymay not like the chairman of PrasarBharati but that does not mean it canhold back salaries of around 28,000employees on silly grounds. Ego clashescannot be the reason to stop the func-tioning of such a large and importantorganisation. There are scores of em-ployees in remote places like Kargil andKutch manning transmitters. They can-not be denied salaries. A move like thisis just not legally tenable.”

Sources told India Legal that PrasarBharati chairman Surya Prakash hadbeen appointed as he was close to theRSS and BJP leadership. So it came as asurprise when he openly locked hornswith Irani after her unprecedentedmove undermined the authority ofPrasar Bharati. His stand would havethe blessings of the RSS leadership,

they felt, as the top brass there wasnot seeing eye to eye with Irani.

STIFF OPPONENTPrakash, with his journalistic

background, has friendsacross all parties. A

source close to him

said that he walked around with a resig-nation letter in his pocket. He was alsodisturbed that numerous officers of theIndian Information Service were arbi-trarily transferred by the ministry. Asource said that a senior cabinet minis-ter was very upset when an officer fromher office was transferred in a similarmanner and attempts were made tofoist another officer whom she was notkeen on.

One of those who was arbitrarilytransferred was Anindya Sengupta, thepresident of the Indian InformationServices Officers Association. Thisreportedly happened when he com-plained to the PMO about how she wason a spree, transferring officers.

If the confrontation continuesbetween Prasar Bharati and Irani, itcould spell trouble for PM Modi, whowould rather not have such a controver-sy when the parliamentary elections area year away. Irani was reportedly nothappy with the reappointment of SuryaPrakash as chairman for another termas she probably wanted someone whomshe could control.

In mid-February, Prasar Bharatirejected a proposal of the ministry to

“There is sheer anarchy going on. Theministry may not like the chairman of

Prasar Bharati but that does not mean itcan hold back salaries of around 28,000employees on silly grounds....A move like

this is just not legally tenable.”— Jawhar Sircar, former CEO, Prasar Bharati

28 March 19, 2018

appoint an IAS officer to its board whowould be in charge of human resourcesand administrative decisions, saying itwent against the Prasar Bharati Actpassed by Parliament.

Sometime last year, the ministrypassed an order that its secretary wouldnow write the Annual PerformanceAppraisal Report of the Prasar BharatiCEO. This shocked Prasar Bharati offi-cials as Section 6 (7) of the Act clearlylays down that the CEO will not func-tion under the control or supervision ofthe ministry or its bureaucrats. Earlylast month, the ministry ordered PrasarBharati to terminate all its contractualemployees. This is again something thatthe ministry cannot dictate.

PRASAR BHARATI ACTIncidentally, every government wants tocontrol the public broadcaster and use itas a propaganda tool and not grow as anindependent entity. Few know that thePrasar Bharati Act requires the constitu-tion of a 22-member parliamentarycommittee under Section 13. Its job is tosupervise the working of Prasar Bharation behalf of Parliament. Its members

would be from both Houses throughproportional representation. However,what is interesting is that no govern-ment has shown any interest in settingit up as it would then give Parliament anupper hand and diminish the control-ling role that the I&B ministry can oth-erwise have.

As the tiff continues, the ministrysent out a statement through the PressInformation Bureau that Prasar Bharatimust sign a memorandum of under-standing with it as general financialrules of the government specify that ithas to be accountable for the way it usesgovernment grants. Prasar Bharatireceives grants from the ministry, but isan autonomous body created by an Actof Parliament.

Irani is one of the youngest ministersin the NDA government and the generaltalk in the party is that she is being gro-omed to fight Rahul Gandhi in Amethiin the coming Lok Sabha elections. Hermeteoric rise in the party and the cabi-net has made her feel that she is indis-pensable and that is why she has resort-

ed to such high-handed action, said aformer DD employee.

Rajya Sabha TV, which was veryunlike a government channel as it hadprogrammes that critically took on thecurrent government, also changed whenshe took over, said a former televisionpersonality who quit in disgust.

A source who knows Prakash wellsaid that he is not one to be cowed downas he is very clear that the law of theland gives Prasar Bharati completeautonomy. That is why he said that nowit was for Parliament to get the salaryissue resolved. Clearly, Irani wants aniron curtain around. Soon after she took over, she instructed senior officialsof the ministry not to talk to the mediaunless they had specific permission and only a designated spokesman coulddo so.

Modi will not want the current con-troversy to be exploited by the Oppo-sition in this Parliament session. Iranialso knows that it will go against herand would not like to lose the covetedcabinet position she has. But how shewill wriggle out of this impasse remainsto be seen. Will this controversy begiven a decent burial?

BLATANT FAVOURITISM I&B Minister SmritiIrani (fourth from left) at the closing ceremonyof IFFI 2017 along with other dignitaries; thePrasar Bharati headquarters in New Delhi



Controversy/ Smriti Irani vs Prasar Bharati

If the confrontation continues betweenPrasar Bharati and Irani, it could spell

trouble for PM Modi, who would rathernot have such a controversy when the

parliamentary elections are a year away.

prasarbharati.nic.inUNI


Briefs

Lawrence Liang, a law pro-fessor in the national capi-

tal, has been held guilty of sexu-al harassment by the Committeefor the Prevention of SexualHarassment at Delhi’s Ambed -kar University. The committeerecorded its findings in a reportdated February 20, four monthsafter Liang’s name featured in asocial media list of alleged sexu-al harassers in In dian universi-ties. Liang had allegedly har -assed a female researcher fromanother university by forciblykissing her and sending her sex-ually explicit text messages. Hehas been asked to step downfrom his position as dean ofAmbedkar University’s School ofLaw, Governance and Citizen -ship. The probe committee hassuggested that Liang be barredfrom holding any administrativeposition for two years. It hasalso directed that he be warnedof serious consequences, such assuspension, should anothercomplaint come up against him.

Law professorindicted for sexualharassment



—Compiled by Sucheta Dasgupta

THE Telugu Desam Partyhas pulled out of the cen-

tral government in protestagainst its refusal to giveAndhra Pradesh a special sta-tus category on grounds thatit is constitutionally unviable.President Ram Nath Kovindaccepted the resignations ofTDP ministers AshokGajapathi Raju Pusapati and

YS Chowdary. The work of theministry of civil aviation, heldby Raju, will now be lookedafter by the Prime Minister.Chowdary was the minister ofstate for science and technolo-gy. However, TDP will contin-ue in the National DemocraticAlliance. There are 17 mem-bers belonging to the TDP inparliament.

Banks sue 17,000 defaulters for over `2.5 lakh crore

TDP ministers exit government

Banks have filed suits indifferent courts

against 17,000 borrowerswho have defaulted onloan repayments worth`2,65,908 crore at the endof September 2017. This is

just 31.73 per cent of thetotal defaults of `8,38,000crore recorded by banksduring the period. StateBank of India tops the listwith cases against 3,684crore defaulters for recov-

ery of `74,649 crore. Pun -jab National Bank has filedsuits against 1,364 borrow-ers for recovery of `25,608crore. The IDBI Bank hasalso slapped suits against1,738 defaulters.

Karnataka Lokayukta P Vishwanath Shetty wasattacked and injured with a knife in his office.

The 73-year-old was taken to Mallya Hospital fortreatment, and is out of danger. The assailant, TejasSharma, has been arrested. Sharma attacked Shetty,a former high court judge, as the complaint he wentto him with—regarding a tender—was not enter-tained and he was apparently told that the case wasshut, a statement by Karnataka Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah said.

The Serious Fraud InvestigationOffice has summoned ICICI Bank

CEO Chanda Kochhar, Axis BankManaging Director Shikha Sharma anda few others in connection with loansand guarantees extended to firms pro-moted by diamantaire Nirav Modi andhis uncle Mehul Choksi. ICICI Bankleads a consortium of 31 banks thatextended loans and guarantees of Rs5,280 crore to the Gitanjali Group pro-moted by Choksi between November2010 and April 2014 against a collateralof only about Rs 100 crore. ICICI Bank

has lent Gitanjali Group over Rs 400crore. Union Bank of India, AllahabadBank and Axis Bank are also said tohave offered credit based on letters ofundertaking issued by PNB.

Karnataka Lokayukta stabbed

Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati (right) and YS Chowdary

Top bankers get summons inNirav probe

30 March 19, 2018

ECENTLY, two newsitems appeared concern-ing Additional SessionsJudge (ASJ) KaminiLau—she apologised forsome remarks which had

so offended the Delhi High Court that itinitiated criminal contempt proceedingsagainst her.

A bench of the Supreme Court of In -dia, presided over by Chief Justice ofIndia Dipak Misra, is now consideringthe case on its merit. The CJI (who wasfor some time the chief justice of theDelhi High Court) has assured Lau thather interests will be protected. JudgeLau is supposed to have said that areviewing court should judge the judg-ment and not the judge.

In an unrelated case, Justice (Dr) SMuralidhar and Justice IS Mehta of theDelhi High Court found “merit” in thecontention that grave prejudice wascaus ed to the accused by “disproportion-ately” taking the evidence of 22 witness-es on the first day itself of the trial.

“Unable” to appreciate the “super-fast”track procedure, it wondered why it was“necessary to rush through the prosecu-tion evidence in a case of this nature”and how “she failed to realise that itwould result in a grave injustice”. In anexquisite irony, upholding the appealafter nearly two years, their Lordshipsreiterated a famous maxim: “Justicehurried is justice buried.”

The High Court reversed the convic-tion because “circumstances proved donot form a complete chain” and it re -mains “difficult… to conclude… unerr-ingly… the guilt only of the two ac -cused”. In substance, this should havebeen sufficient to decide the matter. Butit was perhaps unnecessary to establishthe nexus between speedy trial and

death sentence; we here only explore thejudicial observations on delay in thetrial process.

The Court found that the learnedadditional sessions judge has “not forthe first time” in her “enthusiasm forspeeding up the trial process” “seriouslyerred in examining many prosecutionwitnesses on a single day”. This is notwhat the “the mandate in the CrPC(Code of Criminal Procedure) is”. Nodoubt, the obligation to conduct thetrial on a day-to-day basis is a seriousconstitutional responsibility of all jus-tices, but it is also an integral part of fairtrial to accord due time for taking evi-dence and hearing arguments. Criminallaw, the Court said, does not share the“extreme proposition that the entireprosecution evidence” is to be “recordedon a single day in such cases involvinggrave offences”. What the Court charac-terised “an over-reaction” was the judi-cial tendency to have the “entire prose-cution evidence of as many as 22 wit-nesses recorded on a single day”.

The right to speedy trial is now declared aconstitutional right. Although the

Constituent Assembly declined it, theSupreme Court has declared it basic viathe ever-expanding scope of Article 21.

R

Column Prof Upendra Baxi / Timely Trials

Towards aSuper-Fast

Trial?The case of Additional SessionsJudge Kamini Lau who took the

evidence of 22 witnesses onthe first day of a trial stirred

a hornet’s nest. But surelyjustice hurried need not be

justice buried

AGENT OFCHANGE?The Delhi HighCourt has initiated contemptaction againstAdditionalSessions JudgeKamini Lau (left)

GROWING PENDENCYA crowd of litigants before the chiefjustice’s court


Time and privacy are of the essencewhen a person is charged with offences“punishable with the death sentence andparticularly where they are representedby legal aid counsel”. The trial court“should exercise some caution as well asrestraint to ensure that the counsel hassufficient time to prepare for the cross-examination”, though the Court shouldbe “vigilant against defence tactics thatmight seek to unreasonably postponethe trial and use the interregnum to winover witnesses….” The advice from theHigh Court is well-crafted, though theadmonition may be anxiously queried.

In our legal system, all justices aresupreme in their appointed jurisdiction,even when subject to review in appellatecourts. The obligation to conduct thetrial in day-to-day proceedings is also anobligation to device in-house judicialprocedures that may contribute both toexpeditious and effective justice; speedytrial is not an adversary of a fair trial.

The conduct of parties to the trial isalso relevant. The record (as available tome) does not disclose whether the pros-ecution objected. Assuming it did, wasthe objection not judicially disposable?It is evident, too, on the face of therecord, that although the witness testi-

mony was taken on May 23, a supple-mentary chargesheet was filed on June2, and the prosecution case was closedon July 17, 2013. The point simply is:While judicial handling of as many as22 witnesses may seem unfair, was itreally so? Is not the trial court the bestjudge of speedy and just trials, answer-able in appeal only in case of egregiouserror in procedure since not all speedytrials are unfair ones?

It is noteworthy that the learnedHigh Court does not take account ofthe fact that the right to a speedy

trial is now declared a constitutionalright. Although the ConstituentAssembly debated, and declined it, theSupreme Court has declared it basic via the ever-expanding scope of Article21 which deals with the right to life and liberty.

The right was expressly upheld inHussainara 1 which held that “reason-

ably expeditious trial is an integraland essential part of the funda-mental right to life and libertyenshrined in Article 21”. This wasexpressly referred to, and reaf-firmed, in Champalal [1981]which held that Article 21, ofnecessity, confers this right. AndJustice Chinnappa Reddy, for theCourt, reinforced this positionwith the helpful observation thatthe denial of “a speedy trial maywith or without proof of some-thing more” lead to “an inevitableinference of prejudice and denialof justice”. And he added that “afair trial implies a speedy trial”even when dwelling on the leg-

endary prowess of prosecuting anddefence lawyers to manipulate judicial time.

Where does the future of an expedi-tious justice delivery system lie? Surely,two gems of national wisdom are quiteunhelpful. They summed up five region-al workshops convened by the BarCouncil of India in the early eighties:“Justice Hurried is Justice Buried” and“Justice Delayed is Justice Denied”.

These twin empty slogans cry aloudfor stern social action by the Bench and the Bar. Undoubtedly, implementa-tion of legal norms entails interpreta-tion, always a matter of quotients oftime. But criminal justice may not entailslices of infinity. Investigation and pros-ecution ought to be expeditious andeffective; so must be criminal justicelawyering. And appellate courts shouldexperiment with specific timelinesrather than dispense general guide-lines.Timely justice is an overdue consti-tutional duty which all justices andlawyers should now deliver.

—The author is an international lawscholar, an acclaimed teacher and awell-known writer. He was recently

felicitated by India Legal

Two “gems of national wisdom” summedup five workshops convened by the Bar

Council of India in the early eighties:“Justice Hurried is Justice Buried” and

“Justice Delayed is Justice Denied”.

Anil Shakya

32 March 19, 2018

HE latest change in theGST system is the E-WayBill (EWB), an electronicdocument to be generatedon GSTN (GST Network,which manages the IT sys-

tem of the GST portal) whenever thereis transportation of goods worth morethan `50,000. Even after the introduc-tion of GST, some states such as UP andKarnataka had a Way Bill system wherethey had different models of state VATWay Bills. This resulted in compliancedifficulties for transporters and delay atinter-state check-posts. EWB is said toremove such bottlenecks by bringing inuniform provisions without needingroutine checks at inter-state check posts.It is also said that the EWB mechanismwill ensure that goods being transportedcomply with GST laws and thus, it willbecome an effective tool to track theirmovement and prevent tax evasion.

Initially, when GST was introducedin July 2017, not many people wereinclined to introduce EWB. It was,therefore, decided to defer its introduc-tion. However, the GST Council decidedto introduce it from February 1, 2018.But the IT system collapsed on the veryfirst day, forcing the government todefer it again.

MANY GLITCHESMeanwhile, the Group of Ministers(GOM) formed to resolve the IT issuesof GSTN, led by Sushil Modi, Bihar’sdeputy chief minister, has recommendedApril 1 for the roll-out of EWB acrossthe country. In fact, the trigger for

reconsideration ofintroducing EWBhas been the lowrevenue collectionfrom GST asagainst the expect-ed amount.

But first, a fewwords about theEWB. The person doing the transporta-tion may be the consignor himself, theconsignee or the transporter. He has toupload information relating to thegoods, their transportation and thetransporter before the goods actuallymove. It will be in two parts. Part A willcontain details of the goods and particu-lars of the recipient/consignee, includ-ing his GST Identification Number(GSTIN), while Part B will have all thevehicle details required.

Every EWB generated will have aunique number, which will be madeavailable to the consignor (supplier),consignee (recipient) and the trans-porter. The rules relating to EWB pro-vide for different ways that goods aretransported, for example transportationin the consignor’s own conveyance,goods handed over to a transporter, useof a single vehicle for transportation ofone consignment from one location toanother, use of multiple vehicles for one

consignment and use of a single vehiclefor carrying multiple consignments. Thevalidity of EWB depends on the distancetravelled. For less than 100 km, theEWB will be valid for 24 hours. Forevery 100 km thereafter, the validity willbe one additional day. Thus, EWB is acompliance requirement which willinvolve a lot of additional work for theconsignor and the transporter.

ENFORCING EWBAs for enforcement, a GST officer fromthe centre and one from that particularstate are empowered to intercept anyvehicle to verify the EWB for all inter-state and intra-state movement ofgoods. He can also do a physical verifi-cation of vehicles and their goods. If avehicle is detained for more than 30minutes, the transporter will uploadthat information. But for a few excep-tions, the generation of EWBs is manda-tory. If EWBs are not issued in accor-dance with the provisions contained inGST Rules, the same will be considereda contravention of rules and will invitepenal action. Further, the goods trans-ported without the cover of EWB will beliable to be seized and confiscated.

So what are the pros and cons of the

This Bill, to be rolled out on April 1, aims attracking goods and checking tax evasion. Butwill it make the life of transporters easy? By Sumit Dutt Majumder

Commerce/ GST E-Way Bill

Every E-Way Bill generated will have a unique number, which will be

made available to the consignor (supplier), consignee (recipient)

and the transporter.

Revolutionary Road?

T


EWB system? First the pros. It willboost revenue collection by tracking themovement of goods and thus check taxevasion. Second, some states are contin-uing with Way Bills with different mod-els. This causes hardship to the trans-porters. A uniform EWB system, withthe help of technology, will alleviatetransporters’ problems. Also, the pro-posed system will be user-friendly, andwith the back-up of technology, EWBcan be self-generated. Finally, there willbe no check-post at inter-state bordersfor routine check of EWBs, and henceno long queues of trucks.

However, with the unpleasant experi-ence of GSTN crashing during the intro-duction of GST in July 2017 and EWBon February 1, 2018, critics opine thatGSTN should be given time to settledown so that its core functions such asregistration, return filing, in-voicematching and refunds go smoothly.

HUGE BILLSOnce the system starts running, around50 lakh EWBs will be generated per day.In February, more than 9.5 lakh taxpay-ers and 8,500 transporters were regis-tered on the EWB portal. Even as GSTNauthorities have claimed that the load

capacity will be checked for 75 lakhEWBs a day, critics have reservationsafter the February crash.

Second, EWB has been deferred forintra-state supplies and will be launchedin phases. Once that is implemented,the load on GSTN will increase mani-fold. It is not clear whether the EWBsfor intra-state supplies will have anotherset of forms and compliance require-ments, particularly in cases where thesame truck carries goods for both intra-state and inter-state supplies. This willadd to the woes of transporters.

Also, it is felt that the Way Bill sys-tem which was prevalent in states dur-ing the pre-GST era could be justifiedon the ground that different states haddifferent rates of state VAT, and someVAT-payers resorted to illegal tax-shop-ping in different states. That reason isnon-existent in the GST era where therates of CGST (central GST) and SGST(state GST) will remain the same acrossthe country. Besides, for checking taxevasion, there is an elaborate scheme ofinvoice matching of credits; that shouldbe put in place quickly.

The EWB is hardly an improvementover the state VAT Way Bill; it’s basicallythe electronic version of it. Further,

notwithstanding the safeguards by wayof policy directions on EWB against themisuse of power to intercept trucks onhighways, the ground reality is thatthere is every likelihood of recklessinterception and search of transport onremote highways. This will lead to dis-ruption of flow of goods and breed cor-ruption. This will definitely hit the logis-tics sector directly and others indirectly.

Also, the Directorate General of GSTIntelligence, which is spread across thecountry, should be further strengthenedso that it can develop intelligence onsurreptitious supply of goods withoutpayment of GST, and should be able tointercept transport carrying those goodson specific intelligence.

Seeing the government’s determina-tion to bring in the EWB system, a sug-gestion has been made in some quartersthat the threshold limit should be raisedfrom `50,000 to `5 lakh. That will, nodoubt, reduce the burden on the systemand transporters. But many apprehen-sions remain. Perhaps EWB should bedeferred for two more years to allowGSTN and GST to stabilise first.

—The writer is former chairman,Central Board of Excise and Customs,

and author of “Know Your GST–GST Unravelled”.



THE RIGHT ROAD? (Left) Trucks loaded with goods waiting forclearance on a highway;(above) a transporter paying toll

UNI

Spotlight/ Nirav Modi/ London Store

34 March 19, 2018

IRAV Modi opened a flag-ship store for Europe inSeptember 2016. Set atLondon’s 31 Old BondStreet, it is in an upmarket

shopping area in West End. Simplycalled Nirav Modi, it is housed in a her-itage townhouse spanning four floors.The boutique is designed by the highlyacclaimed French interior design prac-tice Atelier Marika Chaumet, renownedfor their expertise in creating sumptu-ous retail environments.

N

Even as there is speculation aboutwhether the jewel

thief is in New York,Dubai or Hong Kong, his

flashy store openingswere the talk of the

town and they are operating as before

By Sajeda Mominin London

Open for Business

The launch event commenced withcocktails and exclusive “by invitationonly” guests were shown some of Modi’sprized creations and given an insightinto the making of the jewellery.

British actress and supermodel RosieHuntington-Whitely walked the red car-pet in his creations and was one of thefaces of his new campaign. Bollywoodactress Lisa Haydon is considered one ofhis muses and attended the event wear-ing his jewellery.

At the event, Modi said: “Europe is

one of the most important destinationsfor an international luxury brand. Weare delighted to showcase our exquisitejewels to the discerning woman of todayin one of the most iconic luxury shop-ping streets of the world.”

Later in the evening, guests attendeda private dinner hosted by Modi at 5Hertford Street, an exclusive members-only club. This Mayfair-based club isconsidered to be the most secretivemembers-only club in London andwould not divulge even a ball park fig-

CROWNING GLORYNirav Modi’s jewellerystore on Bond Street

in London thejewelleryeditor.com




Although sources at the Indian HighCommission in London have confirmedthat Nirav Modi has not landed in the UK,his store at Old Bond Street is open andbusiness is running as usual. Modi hadopened the flagship store in 2016.

ure for its membership. Among the British actresses who

have worn his jewellery, Oscar winnerKate Winslet of Titanic fame is the most prominent and has worn them to red carpet events of various award functions. At this year's GoldenGlobes in January, Dakota Johnson ofthe raunchy Fifty Shades trilogy toowore his jewels to the awards ceremony.

The store at Old Bond Street isopen and business is running asusual. When India Legal asked

about Modi’s whereabouts, the supervi-sor of the store, who refused to give hisname, said: “I am afraid we don’t knowwhere he is at the moment.” All otherqueries were answered with “I am afraidwe are not allowed to comment on his whereabouts.”

Sources at the Indian High Commi-ssion in London have confirmed thatModi has not landed in the UK. He isnot a British national, nor does he havea residency permit like the other Indianabsconder, Vijay Mallya, who is holed upin his mansion in Hertfordshire, under-going an extradition trial. Sources herethink he has fled to the US.

“I hope he doesn’t land up here.Britain is fast becoming an escape homefor absconders who have committedfinancial fraud in India.

“Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya arealready here. We don’t want Nirav Modito come here too. They give us honestIndians a bad name,” said a prominentnon-resident Indian who didn’t wish tobe named.

FAME AND STYLE (Top) British actress and supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley with Nirav Modi; (above) a section of the Nirav Modi jewellery boutique in London that caters to his private clients

thejewelleryeditor.com

OMS tell Kerala—don’t stare, we wantto breastfeed,” readthe caption of aphoto used on thecover of one of

Kerala’s leading women’s magazines,Grihalakshmi. The photo shows actressand model Gilu Joseph staring into thecamera as she breastfeeds an infant. Thecover was part of the magazine’s cam-paign—“Breastfeed Freely”—timed torelease around International Women’sDay, which fell on March 8.

The photo created quite a stir, bothin Kerala and outside. Some saw it as aprogressive and much-needed steptowards increasing awareness aboutbreastfeeding, while others felt it was anoffensive business move to increase circulation as they argued that Keralahad never looked down on breastfeed-ing mothers.

However, Vinod Mathew Wilson, aKochi-based lawyer, filed a criminal caseagainst the magazine at the chief judi-cial magistrate’s court in Kollam under

representation or figure which containsindecent representation of women inany form.”

However, the Act provides someexceptions for material, the “publicationof which is proved to be justified asbeing for the public good on the groundthat such book, pamphlet, paper,slide, film, writing, drawing, painting,photograph, representation or figure isin the interest of science, literature, art, or learning or other objects of gen-eral concern”.

INCREASING RATING?The question that arises is whether acover aimed at promoting breastfeedingcan be seen as being for the public good.Wilson told India Legal: “This does notfall under the exceptions of the IndecentRepresentation of Women Act. Theexception given is that of good faith. Butis there good faith in this cover? As afather and as a husband, I felt there wasno such good intention in this cover. Itis simply an act to increase their rating.”

But is this yet another case of moral

Society/ Malayalam Magazine/ Breastfeeding Cover

A bold photo in a well-known magazine has led to acase being filed under the Indecent Representation

of Women (Prohibition) Act and has done little tocreate awareness about breastfeeding

By Lilly Paul

Sections 3 and 4 of the IndecentRepresentation of Women (Prohibition)Act of 1986.

The managing director ofMathrubhoomi publications, PVGangadharan, the managing editor ofGrihalakshmi, PV Chandran, the editor-in-charge, MP Gopinath, and Josephwere made accused in the complaint.

Section 3 of the Act reads: “No per-son shall publish, or cause to be pub-lished, or arrange or take part in thepublication or exhibition of, any adver-tisement which contains indecent repre-sentation of women in any form”.Section 4 reads: “No person shall pro-duce or cause to be produced, sell, let tohire, distribute, circulate or send by postany book, pamphlet, paper, slide, film,writing, drawing, painting, photograph,

M

Dare to Bare?

When the magazine received flak from various quarters, it gave

the explanation that it had approachedreal mothers but could not

find any who agreed to pose.

36 March 19, 2018

“

policing? Wilson says no. “I am not atall a person who wants to do moralpolicing in this entire incident, nor do Iwant to punish the magazine. I don’twant society to move according to mywish. I am free to express what I feel inthis case and I have done that,” he said.

Wilson alleges that the magazinetook up a noble cause and instead ofcreating awareness about breastfeedingamong mothers, turned it into a genderissue with the focus being on men star-ing at breastfeeding women, which is afalse perception. He said Kerala hadnever had such a problem. “Can you find any such complaint or petition from any part of the state? Even afterthe case was filed, all those who spoke tome about this issue said women hadnever been subjected to such stares,”said Wilson.

PRIVILEGED WOMEN He also alleged that the magazine hadinterviewed only privileged women. Butit is ordinary women who actually formthe reader base of the magazine and


MATERNAL RIGHTS(From facing page L-R) Grihalakshmi’s coverthat has created a stir; Australian MP LarissaWaters breastfeeds inside parliament; a GAPmodel takes a break to breastfeed her child

move around the state using buses andtrains. He referred to the entire inci-dent as a “disgusting trend” wherein anon-issue was being hyped and made aruckus about. He gave the example ofAmritha, a 23-year-old whose photo ofbreastfeeding her child had gone viralafter her husband put it on the internet.Wilson said that “there was no objec-tion against that photo. It was a pictureshowing a mother breastfeeding herchild. But this magazine chose to pub-lish an actual breastfeeding photoinside the magazine, whereas it used amodel on the cover.”

When the magazine received flakfrom various quarters, it gave the expla-nation that it had approached realmothers but could not find any whoagreed to pose. Wilson said that if the

magazine could find a photo of an actu-al mother for its inside pages, whycouldn’t that be used on the cover?

Strangely, a case was also filed withthe Kerala State Commission forProtection of Child Rights. The objec-tion here was that Joseph was not thereal mother of the infant shown andtherefore it was a violation of the child’srights in using the photo. ShobhaKoshy, outgoing chairman of theCommission, said that there was nothing from the child’s perspective to comment on. Koshy told India Legal:“If you look at the picture, you will seethat a sleeping baby is being held. Idon’t know which right is being violated here.”

DEBATE TRIGGEREDIntentionally or not, Grihalakshmi’scover has definitely started a debate onbreastfeeding in India. The stigmaaround this natural act has to beremoved. India at present ranks lowestamong South Asian countries in breast-feeding practices. Koshy said: “As far

“This does not fall under the exceptionsof the Indecent Representation of Women

Act. The exception given is that of goodfaith. But is there good faith in this cover?

As a father and as a husband, I felt therewas no such good intention in this cover.”

—Vinod Mathew Wilson, lawyer

What seems to have triggered so muchnegative reaction, besides the commer-

cial aspect of the cover, is that the modelis looking straight into the camera without any emotion on her face.

Twitter/@larissawaters Facebook

38 March 19, 2018

as breastfeeding is concerned, Kerala issomewhere in the middle position, sobreastfeeding needs to be encouraged.What the cover has conveyed is thatnobody should scare women frombreastfeeding in public. If a woman happens to feed her baby in public, sheshould not feel awkward. It is her right to feed her baby; why should any-body stare?”

However, she also said that the mag-azine’s approach has been rather shallowin terms of promoting breastfeeding. “Toencourage a woman to breastfeed, manythings need to be done. Ideally, what amother and child need is a privatespace. The cover does not promotebreastfeeding in any way.”

The sensibilities of Indians, however,seem to be far different from peopleabroad. GAP, the retail giant, recentlyput a breastfeeding photo on its Face-book page and in contrast to India, itreceived much appreciation. The pictureshowed a woman of colour breastfeed-ing her child, wearing a GAP T-shirt. Itwas later revealed that the photoshootwas not organised but accidentally takenas the model started breastfeeding herhungry child on the sets of the shoot.Compared to this, Koshy found theGrihalakshmi cover artificial. She said:“I have never seen a woman breastfeed ababy in that particular pose.”

NEGATIVE REACTIONSWhat seems to have triggered so muchnegative reaction, besides the commer-cial aspect of the cover, is that the modelis looking straight at the camera withoutany emotion of a mother—sacrifice orlove—on her face.

However, three decades back, Indiawas much more open and accepting asis evident from a postage stamp releasedin 1984. The stamp shows a ruralwoman breastfeeding her child andmakes it clear that India has always sup-ported such a cause. Moreover, recently,

the government published an image of abreastfeeding woman in an advertise-ment aimed at marking the launch of anationwide breastfeeding programmecalled “Mother’s Absolute Affection” orMAA.

Ranjana Kumari, director, Centre forSocial Research, told India Legal: “It isobnoxious that such a normal part of ahuman body and human development isbeing seen this way.” She vehementlyobjected to a case being filed in thisregard. “Our laws are very archaic. Theymust be reformed or changed. This isnot how we are looking at 21st centuryIndia. It is unacceptable that such an

issue should be taken to court,” saidKumari. She referred to parliamentari-ans in the West who breastfed theirbabies inside parliament. LarissaWaters, an Australian MP, gained widepopularity for breastfeeding her 14-weekbaby inside parliament. Waters evenaddressed the House while she wasbreastfeeding her child.

But it is a moot question whethersuch bold moves would go down well in India.

A HEALTHY TREND A recent government advertisement

encouraging breastfeeding



“It is obnoxious that such a normal part ofa human body and human development is

being seen this way. Our laws are veryarchaic. They must be reformed or

changed. This is not how we are lookingat 21st century India.”

— Ranjana Kumari, director, Centre forSocial Research

“To encourage a woman to breastfeed,many things need to be done. Ideally,

what a mother and child need is a privatespace. The cover does not promote

breastfeeding in any way.”— Shobha Koshy, outgoing chairman,

Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights

Society/ Malayalam Magazine/ Breastfeeding Cover

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon hasrejected a plea for acquittal by one of four

suspects on trial in absentia in the Rafik Haririassassination case. The former Lebanese primeminister was killed in a truck bomb blast in2005. The case against Hussein HassanOneissi will continue, judges at the UnitedNations-backed tribunal said, ruling that theevidence was strong enough for the long-run-ning trial to go forth against Oneissi and thethree others, who are suspected members ofthe Lebanese group Hezbollah. PresidingJudge David Re also said that the killing ofHariri, father of incumbent Prime MinisterSaad Hariri, was an “act of terrorism”.

Go-ahead in Hariri murder case


Briefs

The Israeli parlia-ment has passed a

law that allows theminister for interioraffairs, Aryeh Deri(left), to revoke theresidency rights of anyPales tinian in Jeru -salem on grounds of“breach of loyalty” toIsrael. Criticisedworldwide by activists,the law will also applyin cases where residen-

cy status was obtainedon the basis of falseinformation as also inthose where “an indi-vidual committed acriminal act”, accord-ing to the ministry.Hanan Ashrawi, a sen-ior member of thePalestine LiberationOrganisation (PLO),described the law as“an extremely racistpiece of legislation”.

—Compiled by Sucheta Dasgupta

#MeToo: Politician quits office

Governor of South Chungcheong provincein South Korea and future presidential

candidate Ahn Hee-jung has resigned after hissecretary publicly accused him of repeatedlyraping her. In an emotional interview on TV,Kim Ji-eun said she was raped by Ahn on fouroccasions. The most recent assault was onFebruary 25. Ahn,whose departurecomes even as the#MeToo move mentspreads across the world,was widely expected to runto replace president Moon Jae-in when his term ends in 2022.

For removing hijab, 2 yrs in prison

An Iranian woman who publicly removedher veil to protest Iran’s compulsory

headscarf law has been sentenced to two yearsin prison. Tehran’s chief prosecutor AbbasJafari Dolatabadi said the rebel took off herheadscarf in Tehran’s Enghelab Street to “en -courage corruption”. The woman will ap pealher sentence. Over 30 Iranian women havebeen arrested since 2017-end for removingtheir veils. Women showing their hair in pub-lic in Iran are usually sentenced to far shorterterms of two months or less, and fined $25.



Nominated for aminority senate seat

from the Sindh Assemblyby the Pakistan People'sParty, Krishna KumariKohli has become thefirst-ever Hindu Dalitwoman member of theupper house of the coun-try’s bicameral legislature.

The 39-year-old works forwomen’s and minorityrights. Her story is inspir-ing. She comes fromNagarparkar village inThar. As a child, Kohliand her family were heldcaptive as bonded labour-ers for three years.Married at the age of 16,Kohli still pursued a mas-ter’s degree in sociology. “Iam a human rightsactivist. PPP could havenominated any other

woman for the seat butthey showed they haveregard for minorities aswell,” she said.

Slave labourerPak’s firstHindu senator

Israel passes controversial law

THE Maithripala Sirisena govern-ment has imposed a nationwide

state of emergency in Sri Lanka, ini-tially for a period of 10 days. Policesaid that a group of Muslim men inDigana town allegedly killed aSinhalese Buddhist on March 3 fol-lowing which over 150 shops belong-ing to Muslims were burned. Curfewwas imposed in two cities, including

Kandy. However, following the emer-gency imposition, conditions haveworsened with two more deathsoccurring, even as observers blamedthe nationalist Buddhist organisation,Bodu Bala Sena, for the violence. Inan effort to contain it, the governmenthas blocked social media, while for-mer cricketer Kumar Sangakkara hasjoined others to appeal for peace.

Sri Lankadeclares

emergency

Focus/ Tihar Jail/ RTI Filing

40 March 19, 2018

T is not only lawyers and NGOswho seek information about prisoninmates in various jails under theRight to Information (RTI) Act.The Act has also becomeimmensely popular among prison-

ers in Tihar Prison Complex, one of thehighest security prisons in India.

From their diet plans, medicalrecords, evidence in their case files, toinquiring about their release dates, theinmates are using their right to informa-tion in every possible way. In January,the prison received 59 applications, withan average of two queries per day. “Thequeries are varied. They ask about the

quantity of milk distributed every day,whether kheer is provided as per theschedule, if sugar or jaggery is added inkheer, details of the doctor and medi-cines, missing facilities, and so on,” saida prison official.

EMPOWERED PRISONERSThe inmates seek information fromcourts, investigating agencies and thepolice with the hope that it might proveuseful in their defence. While some ofthem file only once, many persist con-tinuously, he said. Most of the RTIs arefiled by undertrails. “The RTI Act is aguaranteed right under Section 19 of the

Constitution. A prisoner can seek infor-mation using the guaranteed right aboutthe facilities being made available tohim in jail,” former state informationcommissioner of Uttar Pradesh BrijeshKumar Mishra had observed in the caseof convict Gulab who was incarceratedin Varanasi jail and had sought informa-tion through RTI.

It is mostly the inmates who havebeen in jail for several years who helpothers in filing the RTI queries. One ofthem was RK Sharma, a former IPS offi-cer, who served more than nine years inTihar. He was convicted for the murderof journalist Shivani Bhatnagar. He used

ISuch questions are being routinely asked by Tihar inmates as they file numerous RTI applications about their diet plans, medical records and case files By Usha Rani Das

“What’s Our Quota of Milk?”

Anil Shakya


to file at least one RTI application everymonth. It was his letter to the chief jus-tice of the Delhi High Court in 2008that expedited the process of providingtelephone facilities to the inmates. Now,all nine jails within the Tihar complexprovide this facility to the inmates onthe basis of their track record. Sharmahad also enquired about the criteria fol-lowed for paying wages to inmates,maintenance cost of inmates and payrollfacilities in Tihar.

Some RTIs indirectly allege thatprison officials have misbehaved, saidanother official. “Queries about thequality of food and supplies are com-mon. Some have alleged that we deprivethe inmates of the proper quantity ofmilk and sell the extra stock in the blackmarket. We try and answer these as bestas we can,” he said.

Shehjad, an inmate, asked throughhis RTI application: “If non-volunteers

do not get their quota of milk, does thatstock of milk go into the black market?Which officer is responsible for deficien-cy in distribution of milk in central jailnumber 5 in Tihar?”

Prisoners also often file RTIs toaccess their case reports and questionthe authenticity of the prosecution evi-dence in court. In one such case, thepolice claimed that the convict wasarrested in Rohini in Delhi but accord-ing to him, he was arrested inMoradabad. To prove this, the inmatesought the details of his arrest, names ofthe policemen involved in his arrest andtheir call details through RTI.

RTI is also used to access medicalrecords which the inmates do not haveaccess to. Such records are used for bail.

JUSTICE THROUGH RTIOP Gandhi was arrested in a chequebouncing case on November 23, 2010.Though he was granted bail after amonth, he was convicted on November26, 2013, and sentenced to a year’simprisonment in Tihar. His sentencewas till October 24, 2014, but he earneda remission of 83 days. He was to bereleased on August 2, 2014, but was ille-gally detained for an extra 18 days. Hefiled 36 RTIs enquiring about his illegaldetention. When he approached theCentral Information Commission, thecommissioner directed the Tiharauthorities and the Delhi government topay suitable compensation and `1,000for detaining him beyond his sentence.

He had filed several RTI applicationsto ascertain the reasons for non-pay-ment of wages. The public informationofficer of the concerned jail had claimedthat there were no dues. When Gandhishowed the attendance sheet marked bythe medical officer (MO) in charge,claiming that he had done menial jobslike data entry, the superintendent anddeputy superintendent stated that theMO had no authority to mark atten-dance. Hence, they would not considerit as work for which they must payremuneration. They said that the seniorMO could not issue such an attendancesheet unless sought by the authority.Gandhi claimed that he had workedwith the SMO in January, February andfor 15 days in March, but he did not gethis wages for these days. After examin-ing, the appellate authority directed theconcerned officials to release his wages.

Such reforms were started whenKiran Bedi took over Tihar Jail in the1990s. It is obvious that the RTI Act is bringing about a change for these prisoners.

BASIC RIGHTSTihar Jail inmates

share meals with theirfamilies; (right) heavy

security outside CentralJail No. 4; (facing page)

prisoners enjoy a concert on the premises

“Under RTI, a prisoner can seek information about the facilities being

made available to him in the jail.” —Brijesh Kumar, former state information

commissioner of Uttar Pradesh

delhi.gov.in

UNI



PIRITUAL leaders aremeant to provide a healingtouch to matters they getinvolved in. Sri Sri RaviShankar, the founder of theArt of Living Foundation,

has done exactly the opposite while sup-posedly mediating between the sidesinvolved in the decade-long dispute atAyodhya. Instead of cooling the embers,he only added fuel to the fire by ques-tioning the role of the Supreme Court inthe dispute. This even as the apex courtwas hearing the case.

Sri Sri stated that he believes thefinal judgement of the Supreme Courtwas incapable of resolving the dispute.He added that it would instead create

Special Report/ Ayodhya Dispute/ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

The spiritual leader was meant to be mediating in the complicated and politicallysensitive Ayodhya issue even as the case is still in the Supreme Court. Instead, he hassparked off another needless controversyBy Govind Raju in Lucknow

temple, the Muslim majority will feeldefeated. They might lose their trust inthe judiciary, possibly moving towardsextremism.’’, Ravi Shankar claimed.

He then, in the name of negotiation,visited Lucknow to carry on the dia-logue, which included a meeting withchief minister Yogi Adityanath. Thechief minister stayed away from dis-cussing the Ayodhya issue with him.However, Sri Sri seemed determined tostay in the news. During the visit, hemet a lot of controversial individuals,none of whom were connected to thesides involved in negotiating the dis-pute. Maulana Salman Nadvi, then partof the All India Muslim Personnel LawBoard, lost his membership as a result

S

Art of Dividing

42 March 19, 2018

‘’Syria like conditions’’ here as whicheverside loses will end up feeling cheatedand deprived. This he believes will leadto people losing confidence in the insti-tution and further catalyse violence andpossible acts of aggression. Such contro-versial statements in a series of mediainterviews point towards an even moreserious issue of contempt of court andquestioning the decisions of the courteven before the hearings are complete.

“Will the people happily accept thefact if the court decides that this place isa mosque? It will be a bitter pill to swal-low for people who have been on theother side in this 500-year-old dispute.It will just lead to more bad blood. If theCourt delivers judgment in favour of the

Twitter

of his meeting with Sri Sri. Later, SriSri’s host at Lucknow, Amarnath Mish-ra, claimed that Nadvi had demanded`5,000 crore in exchange for a peacefulresolution. This allegation created further ripples and Sri Sri was ridiculed for his frivolous attempts atnegotiating peace.

In an attempt to dodge controversy,Sri Sri only made matters worse bypredicting Syria like conditions in

India, further raising questions abouthis self-anointed sainthood. All-IndiaAkhara Council Chairman, NarendraGiri and the Vishwa Hindu Parishadopenly criticised his views, while several Muslim personnel bodies threat-ened to lodge an FIR against Sri Sri, on the grounds that such statements aredefamatory and may mislead the Mus-lim population.

What Sri Sri failed to realise is thatthe hearing in the Supreme Court isabout the ownership of that land andnot about the construction of RamMandir. The Supreme Court has pub-licly stated that it will proceed on thebasis of pure facts and the judgment hasno place for feelings or beliefs.


The spiritual leader is not new tocontroversies. In March 2016, theNational Green Tribunal had imposed ahefty fine of five crore rupees on his Artof Living Foundation for environmentaldamages on the Yamuna bank where ithad organised the World CulturalFestival. The tribunal’s report men-tioned that the environment there wasso heavily damaged that it could not becompensated for.

Commenting on farmer suicides lastApril, Sri Sri had mentioned that lack ofspirituality in farmers is a big reason fortheir suicides. He had even questionedthe Nobel Peace Prize being awarded toPakistani school girl, Malala Yousafzai,claiming she had done nothing action-able to achieve the honour. A few yearsago, during a Pakistan tour, he evenpromised to undertake peaceful conver-sion of Talibani militants and otheraffiliated terrorists.

In spite of all these controversies, SriSri seems perpetually in search of head-lines, and the hype surrounding hisspiritual and peace-making qualifica-tions is quite elaborate. The Art ofLiving Foundation’s website introducesits founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, alsoreferred to as Gurudev, and claims hehas “played vital roles in peace negotia-tions globally. From Kashmir, Assam,and Bihar in India, to Colombia, Koso-vo, Iraq and Syria, and Cote d’Ivoire, hisprograms have had documented impacton people involved in armed conflict topursue the path of peace”. It endorseshim and his programmes for rehabili-tating prisoners, mobilising trauma anddisaster relief, empowering margin-alised and underprivileged communitiesand protecting the environment, all thiswhile proclaiming that the foundationruns its courses in 150-plus countries.

Whatever the real truth, by cloudingthe Ayodhya issue with his statements,the Art of Living seems to have edgedcloser to the Art of Dividing.

SEEKING LIMELIGHT(Facing page) Sri SriRavi Shankar with UPCM Yogi Adityanath

(Left) Uttar PradeshShia Central WaqfBoard ChairmanWaseem Rizvi (right)and Akhil BharatiyaAkhara ParishadChairman Narendra Girireleasing the Ayodhyaformula for an out-of-court settlementin Lucknow



What Sri Sri Ravi Shankar failed to realiseis that the hearing in the Supreme Courtis about the ownership of the disputed

land in Ayodhya and not about the construction of the Ram Mandir.

UNI

OR literate Kerala, there wasnothing more shocking inrecent times than a mob beat-ing to death Madhu, a tribalfrom Attappadi, for allegedlystealing some food items on

February 22. With both his hands tiedby his own lungi, the 35-year-old, whowas mentally unstable, was tried by akangaroo court of local men and beatenmercilessly. He succumbed to hisinjuries before reaching hospital.

The provocation was that the crowdfound a few grams of rice, some spicesand a torch inside the polythene bag hewas carrying and believed that Madhu

States/ Kerala/ Attack on Tribal

The lynching of a mentally unstable tribal in Attappadi hasforced the High Court to initiate proceedings on its own anddirect the state government to file a reply within 15 daysBy Naveen Nair in Thiruvananthapuram

dozen people for murder and paidMadhu’s mother and sister `10 lakh as compensation.

The matter would have ended therebut a senior judge of the Kerala HighCourt, Justice K Surendra Mohan, wrotea letter to the chief justice stating thatthe incident was a “blot” on society andan “eye opener” to the atrocities done on tribals.

Based on this letter, the Kerala HighCourt initiated proceedings on its ownin the case and directed the governmentto file its response within 15 days. Adivision bench comprising Chief JusticeAntony Dominic and Justice Dama

F

A Blot on India’sMost Literate State

44 March 19, 2018

MERCILESSACTA photograph of35-year-oldMadhu takenjust before hewas beaten to death

had stolen it from a local shop. Madhu,who had even undergone skill trainingunder the Tribal Skill DevelopmentScheme, had, however, been living in acave in the forests nearby. He wouldcome out to eat when he was hungry.This was after he had quit his job fol-lowing alleged harassment by co-work-ers for being a tribal.

As the news spread, along with avideo of him being questioned a fewminutes before his death, it shocked thepeople of Kerala. The social regressionin India’s most literate state was becom-ing a cruel reality. Following mediapressure, the government booked half a

Sheshadri Naidu issued directions inthis regard.

Justice Mohan called this act ashameful episode for the state and itspeople. “The incident is a blot in oursociety and our state as a whole and weare all forced to hang our heads inshame that such an incident has takenplace in our state that boasts of 100 percent literacy,’’ the letter said. He went onto stress five areas of degradation whichled to this incident.

On top of the list, he stressed howin spite of being a literate state,levels of tolerance and public

order had been reduced to the mini-mum. “It is a sad reflection of thedecline in the moral values of our socie-ty that projects itself as the most literatein the country. If this is the state towhich our education has led us, we needto take a closer look at our educationsystem,’’ he said in the letter.

Secondly, the letter threw light onthe present social set-up in Kerala thatled to people like Madhu being forced tosteal to even have one meal a day. Hequestioned the effectiveness of variousschemes to help tribals in the state andalleviating poverty among them.

“If the victim had been forced tosteal rice because he has nothing to eat,it shows that the schemes that are beingimplemented are not reaching theneedy. It is necessary to revamp ourimplementation procedures to ensurethe schemes reach the beneficiaries,’’ the


letter said.CR Neelakandan, an activist, said

that successive state governments havea big role to play in pushing tribals tothis level of desperation. “All this is hap-pening when the state gets crores ofrupees for tribal rehabilitation and wel-fare. But in reality, the land of theseadivasis is usurped and their livelihoodstolen by settlers from outside the area.Little is being done to prevent thatbecause the adivasi is not an importantvote-bank, but all others who steal fromthem are,’’ said Neelakandan.

Thirdly, the letter talks about risingatrocities against the tribal population.Madhu, as per reports and his family,was forced to leave his earlier workafter he faced harassment for being atribal. Justice Mohan asked the judici-ary to bring in place better law enforce-ment procedures to ensure that suchwork place harassment of tribals istackled with an iron hand.

His letter only reinforces the beliefthat Kerala is fast-becoming an inse-cure place, not just for tribals, but evenfor migrant labourers and transgenders.Many social activists say that today inKerala, if a person stands out in acrowd in terms of physical appearance

or behaviour, he/she runs the risk ofbeing physically attacked. Over the lastfew months alone, close to a dozen suchattacks have taken place on the migrantwork force and transgender communityin Kerala.

That Madhu was mentally ill wasknown to his attackers, as per localreports from the area.

The fact that he was still attackedshows the changing mindset of theaverage Malayalee, said an activist. Nowonder Justice Mohan has asked theCourt to ensure that a thorough investi-gation and a wholehearted prosecutionof the offenders is carried to send outthe right message.

He ended his letter by saying thatthe court should step in to provide allnecessary assistance and compensationto the family of Madhu as it was laxityon the part of the government to giveprotection that resulted in Madhu los-ing his life.

All eyes are now on the state govern-ment regarding the corrective steps itwill take so that more Madhus are notattacked in Kerala again.



Justice K Surendra Mohan’s letter throws light on the present social set-up in Kerala that led to people

like Madhu being forced to steal to even have one meal a day.

EXAMINING THE ISSUE(L to R) Senior judge of the Kerala HighCourt Justice K Surendra Mohan, ChiefJustice Antony Dominic and Justice DamaSheshadri Naidu

Global Trends/ Gun Culture in US

46 March 19, 2018

T’S predictable after every newmass-shooting horror: The politicalright’s reflexive call for “thoughtsand prayers,” which is then mockedby people who favour more gunrestrictions for lacking any accom-

panying ideas for preventing future kil-lings. But there’s an equally predictablerefrain on the center-left and in themedia, too: “Once again, nothing will be done.”

Barely had the death toll of 17 beenannounced... after the shooting at a highschool in Parkland, Florida than TheWashington Post declared, “The gundebate is going nowhere quickly afterParkland.” CNN offered: “Amid contin-ued string of mass shootings, gun con-trol going nowhere in Congress.” After59 concert-goers were mowed down inOctober, former Democratic congress-man Steve Israel put to rest any hope forreform in a New York Times op-ed col-umn titled, “Nothing Will Change Afterthe Las Vegas Shooting.”

This fatalism is borne of hard-wonexperience. Congress has failed repeat-edly to pass any gun-control measuresafter past calamities, even the 2012massacre of 20 first-graders and six tea-chers at Sandy Hook Elementary Schoolin Newtown, Connecticut.

Yet this world-weary defeatism isself-fulfilling in its own way, and helpsexplain why Washington hasn’t takenaction to address the killing.

For one thing, such pessimism de-moralises, and dismisses, those who aremotivated to fight against gun violence,such as the network of angry moms thatsprung up after the Sandy Hook mas-sacre and the organisation led by formerArizona congresswoman Gabby Giff-ords, which have managed to achieve aseries of state-level successes even as re-form stalls at the national level.

For another thing, it lets off the hookthose who are opposed to stronger gunlaws. Declaring preemptively that anynew effort at gun-law reform is doomedspares opponents from even having tomake their arguments for protecting thegun lobby.

Most importantly, liberal fatalism ongun control overstates the strength ofthe opposition. The National RifleAssociation’s (NRA) influence dependsheavily on the perception of its power.By building up the gun lobby as anindomitable force, pessimists are play-ing directly into its hands.

No doubt, the NRA is influential.Not so much because of the campaigncontributions it makes to candidates,but because it can count on an energisedgrass-roots base of gun-rights support-ers to turn out at the polls and badgerelected officials with calls and emails.But that influence has limits, and thereare plenty of reasons to believe that it ison the wane.

For one thing, the proportion ofAmericans with guns has been steadilydeclining to its lowest level in decades,though there are recent signs that thedecline has levelled off. (The reason whythe number of guns continues to risedespite this demographic trend is thatthe remaining gun owners are buyingmore and more weapons.) Meanwhile,gun ownership is growing more heavilyclustered in certain states. That limitsthe voting power of the gun lobby.

For another thing, the aforemen-tioned notorious failure, to pass back-ground checks following the Sandy

How Political Pessimism HelpsDoom Tougher Gun LawsSaying “nothing will change”has empowered the NationalRifle Association and ignoresits declining punchBy Alec MacGillis

IPhotos: UNI


Hook massacre, was a closer call thanmany people realised. It got 55 Senatevotes, just five short of a filibuster-proof60. Six senators with A ratings from theNRA voted for it. It would still have hadto get through the GOP-controlledHouse, but that was not out of the ques-tion: there would have been tremendouspressure from Sandy Hook families onthen-Speaker John Boehner to hold avote, and unlike in the Senate, it wouldhave required only a majority, whichmeant getting fewer than 20 Republi-cans to vote for it.

And consider what happened afterthat vote. Two of the four red-state Democrats who voted no,

Arkansas’ Mark Pryor and Alaska’sMark Begich, got zero NRA back-up inreturn for that vote and lost re-electionin 2014, proving to other centrist Demo-crats that there’s no point in curryingNRA favour. It’s hard to tell now, withRepublicans in control of Washington,but the NRA’s decision to become apurely partisan organisation, after yearsof courting Democrats as well, couldcome back to haunt it in the near future.

Meanwhile, one of the purple-stateRepublicans who voted no, New Hampshire’s Kelly Ayotte, lost in 2016in a race in which the pro-gun-lawgroups went after her hard for that vote. No longer is voting with the NRA the obvious safe tack for a self-interest-ed politician...

Meanwhile, the empirical case forreducing gun violence through tougherrestrictions has been growing stronger,providing counter to the oft-heardclaims that “laws wouldn’t make a dif-ference anyway”. Missouri has seen asharp rise in shooting deaths after elimi-nating in-person background checks forgun purchases. Connecticut, on theother hand, has seen a sharp decline inshooting deaths after it instituted strin-gent gun-permitting requirements fol-lowing Sandy Hook.

Of course, with Republicans now incontrol of Congress and the WhiteHouse, the odds are stacked against fed-eral legislation. But that’s the case withplenty other issues that liberals still seereason to keep pushing forward on at all levels of government, from health-

care to climate change to the minimumwage, even if momentary prospects arenot bright. Bottomline, the widespreadfatalism on guns is self-fulfilling. Itinflates the power of the opposition,undermines activists, and gives off theair of defeat, never a good thing in acountry that prizes winners.

But now a new generation may beshowing a different way. A remarkablewave of student outrage and activism isspreading from Parkland, serving as arebuke not only to conservatives whohave blocked gun-law reform, but alsoto liberals who had given up the fight.

“When we’ve had our say with thegovernment—and maybe the adultshave gotten used to saying ‘it is what itis,’ but if us students have learned any-thing, it’s that if you don’t study, you willfail,” declared Emma Gonzalez, a Park-land student, in a speech that has goneviral on the Internet. “And in this case ifyou actively do nothing, people continu-ally end up dead, so it’s time to startdoing something.” Such youthful deter-mination will run up against plenty ofhard realities. But in this she is right:The worst odds of all lie in declaring anyeffort hopeless.

—Courtesy: ProPublica



TIME TO ACT (Left) US President DonaldTrump with students of the Parkland school atthe White House; (above left) the shooter,Nikolas Cruz; (above right) grieving families atthe first church service after the shooting

A remarkable wave of student outrageand activism is spreading from Parkland,serving as a rebuke to conservatives whohave blocked gun-law reform and liberals

who had given up the fight.

Journalists assigned to the BJP beat—and their tribe is increasing—werequite thrilled that the party was mov-

ing to a swanky new headquarters withmodern amenities, wi-fi and proper air-con-ditioning. The government bungalows thatmade up the Asoka Road HQ were startingto show their age and parking was a peren-nial problem. Now that the move to PanditDeen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg is complete,their happiness has proved shortlived.

The new headquarters are modernenough but so is the security. As a blow to

many inflated egos, journalists who hadfree passage at the earlier HQ now findthemselves restricted to the ground floor.That is a problem because all the topoffice-bearers, including BJP chieftain AmitShah, occupy the top floor. Other seniorfunctionaries are also on the upper floors.

Earlier, journalists who were veterans ofthe BJP beat could walk into most of theoffices unannounced. Now, they have toseek an appointment and are given a passonce clearance is obtained. On the groundfloor, the only person they have access to isthe party’s media in-charge, Anil Baluni,and he gives no exclusives, so not manyare lining up to meet him.

Anybody who annoys orembarrasses this govern-ment should be prepared

to pay the price. Ask two seniorjournalists who find themselvesout of a job after they wrote sto-ries on Kulbhushan Yadav, theIndian jailed in Pakistan oncharges of being a spy and fac-ing execution.

The Indian government hadconsistently denied that he wasindulging in espionage activitiesand that it had any links with theformer naval officer who, theymaintained, was abducted fromIran. The matter even reachedthe International Court of Justice.

While most media outlets fol-low the government’s line when itcomes to Pakistan, two journal-ists, both well versed in mattersof national security, wrote thatYadav did indeed have a back-ground in espionage. Pakistanimmediately pounced on the sto-ries and held a press confer-ence, claiming victory and sentan official letter to the Indiangovernment on the issue. InIndia, pressure was put on themedia owners—of a prominentwebsite and a leading nationaldaily—and both the journalistswere asked to put in theirpapers. Not a good time forindependent journalism.

In its bumbling attemptsto reach out to the citi-zens of Kashmir, the gov-

ernment tries all sorts ofstrategies—free medicalcamps, sporting events, et

al—and now come gameshows! The Ministry ofInformation & Broadcastinghas asked public broadcast-er Doordarshan to jazz up itslocal TV channel DD Kashirand include more showswhere participants getrewards—money, gifts, trav-el, modelling and music

contracts, and so on. DDKashir has limited viewershipin the Valley but I&B man-darins are hoping that a localversion of Kaun BanegaCrorepati, Indian Idol, quizshows and even Big Bosswill draw in the crowds and,more important, encouragelocal participation.

Media Watch



The KulbhushanEffect on Scribes

One of the more promi-nent faces on India’sleading Hindi news

channel, Aaj Tak, has decid-ed to literally switch chan-nels. Popular anchor andExecutive Editor of Aaj TakPunya Prasun Bajpai hasreportedly put in his papers.According to sources in thegroup, his next stop will berival Hindi news channel ABPNews Network, headquar-tered in Kolkata.

Bajpai will continue to be

based in Delhi and his desig-nation is still to be revealed,but it is a big loss for Aaj Tak.Bajpai started his career withthe channel in 1996 andmoved to various media out-lets—NDTV, Sahara Samay,Zee News—before returningto Aaj Tak where his bearded face, incisive com-mentary and seriousdemeanour made him a star. He was twice conferredthe prestigious RamnathGoenka award.

48 March 19, 2018

Bruised Egos

Big Boss isComing

SwitchingChannels

Statue of LamentationsLast week witnessed a historic

event; an emergency meeting ofthe Famous Statues of India

(FSI), a grouping of famous personali-ties from history. Though preserved instone and atop pedestals or inside tem-ples of learning and prayer, they nowfind their foundations undermined andin danger of losing their FSI ranking.Here’s how the discussion went.

Gandhi: As the most famous FSI alumniand as the official Father of the Nation,I face no statue of limitations. In anycase, since I have the maximum num-ber of edifices, I will head this meeting.Lenin: What about me? I had centralavenues named after me and now Ihave been rendered headless. Howhave the mighty fallen! Tagore: Full marx to Lenin and hisfollowers for surviving for so longbut history has taught us that dog-mas do get overturned. However, Iagree, we have all been shaken toour foundations. Till now, our great-est threat came from pigeons. Wenow need to put our heads togeth-er—unfortunately Lenin seems tohave lost his. Gandhi: I hereby call this meeting toorder. Let me assure the other FSImembers that I am the same Gandhi asI was in 1920. I have not changed inany fundamental aspect, apart from thepigmentation changes added by theaforementioned pigeons, but I have thesame approach to non-violence that Idid then. Let me assure all present thatthere is no contradiction between thepresent crisis and my previous writingsand utterances. Ambedkar: I seem to remember thatspeech back in 1942 but the contextseems to be similar. It was Quit Indiathen and the current attacks on statuesseem to be with the same objective…

Nehru: Yes, I have been hearing thisphrase Congress-Mukt Bharat quiteoften these days but now this quit Indiacraze seems to be more broad-based. Subhas Chandra Bose: I agree, it is a wor-rying trend. There are many statues inmy name even though people refuse tobelieve I am dead or even give me adecent burial. As kids, we all played agame called statue, but now we havecemented our place in history, this isnot fair to my comrades in cement.What will happen if Bengal falls along the lines of what happened inMeghalaya—will I fall victim to thetoppling game? Sardar Patel: I can take comfort in theknowledge that I will be the last man

standing. As the current icon, my foun-dations are as powerful as I was, accor-ding to the other national icon, Naren-dra Modi: he says that all of Kashmirwould have been India’s had I been PMinstead of Nehru. Nehru: Then there would have been notryst with destiny, no awakening atmidnight, not to mention my place inhistory as the man who laid the foun-dations of modern India. Now, thosevery foundations are being under-mined. From a giant I have been madeout to be a pygmy. Patel: That’s why I stand head andshoulders above you. The foundation of

my statue has been laid in Gujarat andit will be 597 feet high, the world’s tall-est, in keeping with my image as thetallest leader. Nehru: Do you realise that your support-ers are building you up while dividingthe country? Patel: (loftily): It will be called the Stateof Unity. Periyar: Look at me? I started the Self-Respect Movement and those vandalsare disrespecting me. Tirupattur is notTripura so clearly the attacks are onDravidian ideology. I was also de faceof the move against idol worship andthat’s what they have done to me. Shivaji: Talking about defacing, my stat-ue is sea facing, once it comes up in

Mumbai. I will restore lost glorysince I will have my sena behind me. Ambedkar: In my humble opinion, wehave far too many statues in thiscountry. I call it idle worship. I wasthe only Dalit icon for so manydecades, and now we have statues ofKanshi Ram all over UP along withthose of that lady with the handbagclaiming my legacy. In fact, thereare more statues of her than of me.So we come back to the centralquestion; we desperately need a

statue of limitations. I really shouldhave included that in the FifthSchedule of the Constitution onScheduled Tribes and related matters.Syama Prasad Mookerjee: Even my statuesare not safe in Kolkata; it’s become an eye for an eye. Lenin’s revenge Iwould say.Gandhi: You know what I famously saidabout this eye for an eye syndrome. It only ends up making the wholeworld blind.Nehru: Or bust.

Satire/Dilip Bobb



50 March 19, 2018

Anthony Lawrence

RNI No. UPENG/2007/25763Postal Regd. No. UP/GBD-197/2017-19

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