DID INDIA HAVE ‘UNCLE’ CHIEF JUSTICE TOO?

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

(Guinness Record Holder & RTI Activist)

Nothing can be more disgraceful for Indian judicial system when a former Chief Justice of India was caught by TV cameras first lying and then backtracking from his earlier stand on being countered for his lie by a sitting judge of Supreme Court on question of the then Union Minister A Raja said to have approached Justice R Raghupati of Madras High Court through minister’s lawyer-friend.

Fortunately India presently has a Chief Justice known for honesty and integrity. But present system cannot avoid posting of some undesirable person as head of Indian judiciary. Chief Justice SH Kapadia should direct that all judges from lower courts to Supreme Court to compulsory make complete details of approaches and influences immediately on the case-files apart from reporting these to respective Chief Justices, and all such reporting should be in public domain. He should ensure fast-track decision on Supreme Court’s petition at Supreme Court against CIC-verdict allowing to provide all correspondence and information relating to Justice R Raghupati having been approached by a Union Minister.

It was wrong on part of Union Law Minister to recues himself from the bitter episode by terming it merely as opinion-difference of two judges. Union government has duty to ensure legislation for ensuring non-entry of ‘rotten eggs’ and ‘Uncle’ judges in Indian judicial system. Union government should also reject plea of former CJI KG Balakrishnan to dilute RTI Act in respect of judiciary. Union government should publicly seek resignation of Justice KG Balakrishnan from post of NHRC chairperson in case he does not resign at his own.

Tainted CVC has brought season of scam

Kundan Pandey

Philosophers claim that various shades of life enrich it and all its ups and downs to make it beautiful.  PJ Thomas, who has experienced many 'ups in life' and might be agree with the notion also. But, now it would be interesting to know his perception about the shades, as he is undergoing  an extraordinary phase of his life i.e. 'the second phase'. Credit goes to the Apex Court of India.

The rare stance of Supreme Court has put fourteenth Central Vigilance Commissioner of India PJ Thomas in hot water now days, which he would definitely not be able to forget ever in his life.

When, Thomas was charge-sheeted in Palmolive oil scam, working as the secretary of food and civil supplies department in Kerala, he would not even guessed that it might bring such a huge trouble to him at the juncture, when he is enjoying an apex post .

Now, two players Former Chief Election Commissioner JM Lyngdoh and People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) are continuously endangering his chair of CVC of biggest democracy.

Subsequently, the Apex Court has asked Thomas, why should he not be quashed from the CVC designation and he refused to talk with media, saying the matter is sub-judice. We all are eagerly waiting to see the final result in the case.

In the season of scams, the case of Thomas drew attention, especially due to hue and cry over 2G Scam in which Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai has said, caused a presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 crore of the exchequer.

Thomas was secretary in the department of telecommunication in October 2009 when communication minister A Raja allocated 2G spectrum at an off the cuff price to certain non-players and interestingly, he received the responsibility to probe the biggest scam in the history. Now, viewing the outcry of opposition, he has rescued himself from the ongoing probe of 2G Scam.

He assumed the office on September 6 in which all big personalities participated but Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) boycotted the oath taking ceremony; even when the leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj was one of three-member team including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram, who recommended Thomas for the CVC post.

A 1973 batch IAS officer of Kerala Cardre, Thomas has enjoyed a number of significant designations in Kerala government including secretary of finance, Industry, Agriculture, Law and Justice and Human Resource Development. He was the founder director of IIM Kozhikote for six month.

He became Kerala Chief Secretary in 2007 and moved to central government as Parliamentary secretary in 2009 and later became the telecom secretary in Government of India.

He is the successor to incumbent Pratyush Sinha, a 1969 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, who assumed office in September 2006. 

commonness in 'The Solitary Reaper' and 'तोड़ती पत्‍थर', two poems

The Solitary Reaper


William Wordsworth.

BEHOLD her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain;
O listen! for the Vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.

No Nightingale did ever chaunt
More welcome notes to weary bands
Of travellers in some shady haunt,
Among Arabian sands:
A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard
In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what she sings?—
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago:
Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of to-day?
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
That has been, and may be again?

Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang
As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o'er the sickle bending;—
I listen'd, motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill,
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.
*******        



तोड़ती पत्‍थर

Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’



वह तोड़ती पत्‍थर;
देखा उसे मैंने इलाहाबाद के पथ पर-
वह तोड़ती पत्‍थर।

कोई न छायादार
पेड़ वह जिसके तले बैठी हुई स्‍वीकार;
श्‍याम तन, भर बँधा यौवन,
नत नयन प्रिय,कर्म-रत मन,
गुरू हथौड़ा हाथ,
करती बार-बार प्रहार:
सामने तरू-मालिका अट्टालिका, प्राकार।

चढ़ रही थी धूप;
गर्मियों के दिन
दिवा का तमतमाता रुप;
उठी झुलसाती हुई लू,
रूई ज्‍यों जलती हुई भू,
गर्द चिनगी छा गई,
प्राय: हुई दुपहर:
वह तोड़ती पत्‍थर।

देखते देखा मुझे तो एक बार
उस भवन की ओर देखा, छिन्‍नतार;
देखकर कोई नहीं,
देखा मुझे उस दृष्टि से<
जो मार खा रोई नहीं,
सजा सहज सितार,
सुनी मैंने वह नहीं जो थी सुनी झंकार
एक क्षण के बाद वह कॉंपी सुघर,
ढुलक माथे से गिरे सीकर,
लीन होते कर्म में फिर ज्‍यों कहा-
'मैं तोड़ती पत्‍थर।'

Premonition of the death and Indian State

The very bollywood story, in which a person predicts that police is going to kill him in an encounter and desperately seeks the help of Indian state, but fails to get any. Ultimately, promising police of the State kills him in exactly the same manner in which he predicted his death to be staged.

Though, I am scared that the patriotic society could term my comment as sedition to the country, but I am talking about the very same patriotic society, which conspirated the murder of a person, whom I am talking about.

Ultimately, he is killed and the great judiciary remained a mute spectator in the whole scene and denied help even to the person.

The third party, which also claims itself, a patriot, defends the murder mystery, stating that anyhow a criminal has been killed and allow these real criminals in khaki and other such dressed to continue their gundagardi.

On Saturday, a national newspaper, citing the document of CBI, published a news item in which Tulsiram Prajapati, the sharpshooter from Ujjain and Sohrabuddin Sheikh’s accomplice predicted his stage killing in front of court, but to no avail.

The document says that a month before he was killed, Prajapati told the Ahmedabad

Principal Judge, that the police would help him to escape from the custody and then kill him framing it as an encounter.

As he did not get any relief in the term of proper security from the court, police accounts of the night of December 26-27, 2006, record that Prajapati escaped from the custody of his four-man police escort on his way back from the Ahemdabad to Udaipur and he was tracked and killed two days later in an encounter.

Reading the story, the only thought which haunted me was that what would have been the psychological state of the person who was living in the continuous fear of being killed. I was unable to think history and geography of the case. Just consider that what step could save his life at that moment.

Even after giving his complete, if he failed to receive any help from all part of so called welfare state, either judiciary or anything else. Subsequently, what the impression he, his relatives and people like me would have made of India.

SC ON POSTPONING PRINTING OF PICTORIAL WARNINGS ON TOBACCO PRODUCTS

Subhash Chandra Agrawal

(Delhi based RTI activist)

It refers to a Full Bench of Supreme Court asking Union government to file affidavit for postponing printing of more stringent pictorial warnings on tobacco-products from 01.06.2010 to now for 01.12.2010. It is indeed a matter of regret that in India, even life of citizens is on sale when powerful tobacco-lobby was again successful in getting postponed Evidently role of money in getting the poisonous postponement can and should not be ruled out. In all likelihood, postponed deadline will continue to be further postponed after receipt of required ‘convenience fees’ is paid to concerned ones by super-rich tobacco lobby!

Indian government solemnly celebrates ‘No-Tobacco-Day’ on 31st May as a ritual ignoring even the bitter fact that tobacco-companies are now targeting women to develop smoking-habits amongst them. Earlier also tobacco-lobby was successful to dilute area and design of pictorial-warnings on cigarette-packs against wishes of the then Union health Minister Dr A Ramadoss and other senior officials of his ministry. Proportion of pictorial-warning area on cigarette packs in India is lowest in the world with Brazil even having 100-percent area on both front and pack panels of cigarette-packs.

However only remedy for effectively curbing smoking is to follow sensible countries like Bhutan and Ireland by imposing a complete ban on manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the country. Even family-members of smokers will support such a bold step, because it is the family which suffers from death of persons caused by smoking.

Completed half-century of by-line news

Yesterday, I have got my 50^th by-line news, working as a reporter in the English daily, ‘The Pioneer’ in Bhopal.

Getting by-line was not as easy a task as it sounds. Many ups and downs at emotional and physical front come in the path of getting by-line. It is surely tough job to mention each and every thing, but I know if it could be penned, would be a good piece to be read.

One thing could convey the story of whole scene of getting by-line. When I was probably on 40^th or 41^st, thought that I would write a blog-post after completing the half-century and after that I failed to get even a single by-line for almost a month. A time came, when I was about to leave the job. Do you know friends; this was the issue hurting me most at that time that the target of completing a half century will be left unachieved

So, completing the half-century in the field of by-lines was tougher than the Sachin’s one in the cricket against Pakistan or Australia. He just has to struggle physically and that too for just two to three hour, under a pressure but, in my case I struggled for so long, on every front including intellect, physical effort and emotional front as well to achieve the target.

A scene from the flooded Pakistan

The photograph was published in the English daily, 'The Hindu' on September 7, which depicts the tragic scene of people entrapped  in the flood in Pakistan. The pertinent information here is that, these children belong from the country, which embarks at every front but has failed to deliver the basic amenities to protect human dignity.