Police doesn't have unfettered rights to arrest someone: SC

We ourselves or through someone we know of have experienced the trauma of living in apprehension of an arrest. Arrest has been the most widely misused a tool in the hands of the police. Its misuse can be imagined by the statistics reported in the third report of National Police Commission. 60% of the arrests made were either illegal or unwarranted. Under what circumstances and what are the reasons warranting the arrest need to be put down in a diary and they need to also put down the name of the person whom the arrested person would like to be intimated. Both these things become part of the official records, available to be referred anytime. 

Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in its judgment for the case titled "Joginder Kumar Vs. State of UP" on 25/04/1994, which it reaffirmed in 2008, has been categorical emphatic in its views on tackling the menace of  police caused torture on the innocent and law-illiterate citizens of this country. 

Judgment of the case is reproduced below.

Judgment:

M. N. Venkatachaliah, C.J.I., S. Mohan and Dr. A. S. Anand, JJ.

Order

1. This is a petition under Art. 32 of the Constitution of India. The petitioner is a young man of 28 years of age who has completed his LL. B. and has enrolled himself as an advocate. The Senior Superientendent of Police, Ghaziabad, respondent No.4 called the petitioner in his office for making enquiries in some case. The petitioner on 7-1-1994 at about 10 O'clock appeared personally along with his brothers Sri Mangeram Choudhary, Nahar Singh Yadav, Harinder Singh Tewatia, Amar Singh and others before the respondent No. 4. Respondent No. 4 kept the petitioner in his custody. When the brother of the petitioner made enquiries about.the petitioner, he was told that the petitioner will be set free in the evening after making some enquiries in connection with a case.

2. On 7-1-1994 at about 12-55 p.m., the brother of the petitioner being apprehensive of the intentions of respondent No. 4, sent a telegram to the Chief Minister of U. P. apprehending his brother's implication in some criminal case and also further apprehending the petitioner being shot dead in fake encounter.

3. In spite of the frequent enquiries, the whereabouts of the petitioner could not be located. On the evening of 7-1-1994, it came to be known that petitioner is detained in illegal custody of 5th respondent, S.H.O, P. S. Mussorie.

4. On 8-1-1994, it was informed that the 5th respondent was keeping the petitioner in detention to make further enquiries in some case. So far as petitioner has not been produced before the concerned Magistrate. Instead the 5th respondent directed the relative of the petitioner to approach the 4th respondent S.S.P. Ghaziabad for release of the petitioner.

5. On 9-1-1994, in the evening when the brother of petitioner along with relatives went to P.S. Mussorie to enquire about the wellbeing of his brother, it was found that the petitioner had been taken to some undisclosed destination. Under these circumstances, the present petition has been preferred for the release of Joginder Kumar, the petitioner herein.

6. This Court on 11-1-1994 ordered notice to State of U.P. as well as S.S.P. Ghaziabad.

7. The said Senior Superintendent of Police along with petitioner appeared before this Court on 14-1-1994. According to him, the petitioner has been released. The question as to why the petitioner was detained for a period of five days, he would submit that the petitioner was not in detention at all. His help was taken for detecting some cases relating to abduction and the petitioner was helpful in co-operating with the police. Therefore, there is no question of detaining him. Though, as on today the relief in habeas corpus petition cannot be granted yet this Court cannot put an end to the writ petition on this score. Where was the need to detain the petitioner for five days; if really the petitioner was not in detention, why was not this Court informed are some questions which remain unanswered. If really, there was detention for five days, for what reason was he detained? These matters require to be enquiried into. Therefore, we direct the learned District Judge, Ghaziabad to make a detailed enquiry and submit his report within four weeks from the date of receipt of this order.

8. The horizon of human rights is expanding. At the same time, the crime rate is also increasing. Of late, this Court has been receiving complaints about violation of human rights because of indiscriminate arrests. How are we to strike a balance between the two?

9. A realistic approach should be made in this direction. The law of arrest is one of balancing individual rights, liberties and privileges, on the one hand, and individual duties, obligations and responsibilities on the other; of weighing and balancing the rights, liberties and privileges of the single individual and those of individuals collectively; of simply deciding what is wanted and where to put the weight and the emphasis; of deciding which comes first - the criminal or society, the law violator or the law abider; of meeting the challenge which Mr. Justice Cardozo so forthrightly met when he wrestled with a similar task of balancing individual rights against society's rights and wisely held that the exclusion rule was bad law, that society came first, and that the criminal should not go free because the constable blundered. In People v. Defore, (1926) 242 NY 13, 24:150 NE 585, 589, justice Cardozo observed:

"The question is whether protection for the individual would not be gained at a disproportionate loss of protection for society. On the one side is the social need that crime shall be repressed. On the other, the social need that law shall not be flouted by the insolence of office. There are dangers in any choice. The rule of the Adams case (People v. Adams, (1903) 176 NY 351: 68 NE 636) strikes a balance between opposing interests. We must hold it to be the law until those organs of government by which a change of public policy is normally effected shall give notice to the courts that change has come to pass."

10. To the same effect is the statement by Judge learned Hand, In Re Fried, 161 F 2d 453, 465 (2d Cir. 1947):

"The protection of the individual from oppression and abuse by the police and other enforcing officers is indeed a major interest in a free society; but so is the effective prosecution of crime, an interest which at times seems to be forgotten. Perfection is impossible; like other human institutions criminal proceedings must be a compromise."

11. The quality of a nation's civilisation can be largely measured by the methods it uses in the enforcement of criminal law.

12. This Court in Smt. Nandinia Satpathy v. P. L. Dani AIR 1978 SC 1025 at page 1032 quoting Lewis Mayers stated:

The paradox has been put sharply by Lewis Mayers:

"To strike the balance between the needs of law enforcement on the one hand and the protection of the citizen from oppression and injustice at the hands of the law-enforcement machinery on the other is a perennial problem of statecraft. The pendulum over the years has swung to the right."

Again in para 21 at page 1033 it was observed:

"We have earlier spoken of the conflicing claims requiring reconciliation. Speaking pragmatically, there exists a rivalry between societal interest in effecting crime detection and constitutional rights which accused individuals possess. Emphasis may shift, depending on circumstances, in balancing these interests as has been happening in America. Since Miranda ((1966) 334 US 436) there has been retreat from stress on protection of the accused and gravitation towards society's interest in convicting law-brakers. Currently, the trend in the American jurisdiction according to legal journals, is that 'respect for (constitutional) principles is eroded when they leap their proper bounds to interfere with the legitimate interests of society in enforcement of its laws............(Couch v. United States (1972) 409 US 322, 336). Our constitutional perspective has, therefore, to be relative and cannot afford to be absolutist, especially when torture technology, crime escalation and other social variables affect the application of principles in producing humane justice."

13. The National Police Commission in its Third Report referring to the quality of arrests by the Police in India mentioned power of arrest as one of the chief sources of corruption in the police. The report suggested that, by and large, nearly 60% of the arrests were either unnecessary or unjustified and that such unjustified police action accounted for 43.2% of the expenditure of the jails. The said Commission in its Third Report at page 31 observed thus:

"It is obvious that a major portion of the arrests were connected with very minor prosecutions and cannot, therefore, be regarded as quite necessary from the point of view of crime prevention. Continued detention in jail of the persons so arrested has also meant avoidable expenditure on their maintenance. In the above period it was estimated that 43.2 per cent of the expenditure in the connected jails was over such prisoners only who in the ultimate analysis need not have been arrested at all."

14. As on today, arrest with or without warrant depending upon the circumstances of a particular case is governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure.

15. Whenever a public servant is arrested that matter should be intimated to the superior officers, if possible, before the arrest and in any case, immediately after the arrest. In cases of members of Armed Forces, Army, Navy or Air Force, intimation should be sent to the Officer commanding the unit to which the member belongs. It should be done immediately after the arrest is effected.

16. Under Rule 229 of the Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, when a Member is arrested on a criminal charge or is detained under an executive order of the Magistrate, the executive authority must inform without delay such fact to the Speaker. As soon as any arrest, detention, conviction or release is effected intimation should invariably be sent to the Government concerned concurrently with the intimation sent to the Speaker/Chairman of the Legislative Assembly/Council/Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha. This should be sent through telegrams and also by post and the intimation should not be on the ground of holiday.

17. With regard to the apprehension of juvenile offenders S. 58 of the Code of Criminal Procedure lays down as under:

"Officers in charge of police stations shall report to the District Magistrate or, if he so directs, to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, the cases of all persons arrested without warrant, within the limit of their respective stations whether such persons have been admitted to bail or otherwise."

18. Section 19(a) of the Children Act makes the following provision:

"the parent or guardian of the child, if he can be found, of such arrest and direct him to be present at the children's court before which the child will appear."

19. In England, the police powers of Arrest, Detention and lnterrogation have been streamlined by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, 1984 based on the report of Sir Cyril Philips Committee

(Report of a Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure, Command-papers 8092 19811).

20. It is worth quoting the following passage from Police Powers and Accountability by John L. Lambert, page 93:

"More recently, the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure recognised that "there is a critically important relationship between the police and the public in the detection and investigation of crime" and suggested that public confidence in police powers required that these conform to three principal standards: fairness, openness and workability."

(Emphasis supplied)

21. The Royal Commission suggested restrictions on the power of arrest on the basis of the 'necessity of principle'. The two main objectives of this principle are that police can exercise powers only in those cases in which it was genuinely necessary to enable them to execute their duty to prevent the Commission of offences, to investigate crime. The Royal Commission was of the view that such restrictions would diminish the use of arrest and produce more uniform use of powers. The Royal Commission Report on Criminal Procedure - Sir Cyril Philips at page 45 said:

"..........We recommend that detention upon arrest for an offence should continue only on one or more of the following crtiteria;

(a) the person's unwillingness to indentify himself so that a summons may be served upon him;

(b) the need to prevent the continuation or repetition of that offence;

(c) the need to protect the arrested person himself or other persons or property;

(d) the need to secure or preserve evidence of or relating to that offence or to obtain such specified guidelines evidence from the suspect by questioning him; and

(e) the likelihood of the person failing to appear at court to answer any charge made against him."

22. The Royal Commission in the abovesaid Report at page 46 also suggested:

"To help to reduce the use of arrest we would also propose the introduction here of a scheme that is used in Ontario enabling a police officer to issue what is called an appearance notice. That procedure can be used to obtain attendance at the police station without resorting to arrest provided a power to arrest exists, for example to be fingerprinted or to participate in an identification parade. It could also be extended to attendance for interview at a time convenient both to the suspect and to the police officer investigating the case..............."

23. In India, Third Report of the National Police Commission at page 32 also suggested:

"....An arrest during the investigation of a cognizable case may be considered justified in one or other of the following circumstances:-

(i) The case involves a grave offence like murder, dacoity, robbery, rape etc., and it is necessary to arrest the accused and bring his movements under restraint to infuse confidence among the terror stricken victims.

(ii) The accused is likely to abscond and evade the processes of law.

(iii) The accused is given to violent behaviour and is likely to commit further offences unless his movements are brought under restraint.

(iv) The accused is a habitual offender and unless kept in custody he is likely to commit similar offences again.

It would be desirable to insist through departmental instructions that a police officer making an arrest should also record in the case diary the reasons for making the arrest, thereby clarifying his conformity to the specified guidelines......."

24. The above guidelines are merely the incidents of personal liberty guaranteed under the Constitution of India. No arrest can be made because it is lawful for the Police Officer to do so. The existence of the power to arrest is one thing. The justification for the exercise of it is quite another. The Police Officer must be able to justify the arrest apart from his power to do so. Arrest and detention in police lock-up of a person can cause incalculable harm to the reputation and selfesteem of a person. No arrest can be made in a routine manner on a mere allegation of commission of an offence made against a person. It would be prudent for a Police Officer in the interest of protection of the constitutional rights of a citizen and perhaps in his own interest that no arrest should be made without a reasonable satisfaction reached after some investigation as to the genuineness and bona fides of a complaint and a reasonable belief both as to the person's complicity and even so as to the need to effect arrest. Denying a person of his liberty is a serious matter. The recommendations of the Police Commission merely reflect the constitutional concomitants of the fundamental right to personal liberty and freedom. A person is not liable to arrest merely on the suspicion of complicity in an offence. There must be some reasonable justification in the opinion of the officer effecting the arrest that such arrest is necessary and justified. Except in heinous offences, an arrest must be avoided if a police officer issues notice to person to attend the Station House and not to leave Station without permission would do.

25. Then, there is the right to have someone informed. That right of the arrested person, upon request, to have someone informed and to consult privately with a lawyer was recognised by Section 56(1) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, 1984 in England (Civil Actions Against the Police -Richard Clayton and Hugh Tomlinson; page 313). That Section provides:

"where a person has been arrested and is being held in custody in a police station or other premises, he shall be entitled, if he so requests, to have one friend or relative or other person who is known to him or who is likely to take an interest in his welfare told, as soon as is practicable except to the extent that delay is permitted by this section, that he has been arrested and is being detained there."

26. These rights are inherent in Articles 21 and 22(1) of the Constitution and require to be recognised and scrupulously protected. For effective enforcement of these fundamental rights, we issue the following requirements:

1. An arrested person being held in custody is entitled, if he so requests to have one friend relative or other person who is known to him or likely to take an interest in his welfare told as far as is practicable that he has been arrested and where is being detained.

2. The Police Officer shall inform the arrested person when he is brought to the police station of this right.

3. An entry shall be required to be made in the Diary as to who was informed of the arrest. These protections from power must be held to flow from Articles 21 and 22(1) and enforced strictly.

27. It shall be the duty of the Magistrate, before whom the arrested person is produced, to statisfy himself that these requirements have been complied with.

28. The above requirements shall be followed in all cases of arrest till legal provisions are made in this behalf. These requirements shall be in addition to the rights of the arrested persons found in the various Police Manuals.

29. These requirements are not exhaustive. The Directors General of Police of all the States in India shall issue necessary instructions requiring due observance of these requirements. In addition, departmental instruction shall also be issued that a police officer making an arrest should also record in the case diary, the reasons for making the arrest.

HELD:

Order accordingly.

How to get rid of that extra fat on your belly!!!

Get rid of the extra fat on the belly has been the most uttered statement of my folks to me. It's not that I have too much of it but people who love you want to see you fit and healthy. I am sure that the same has been the case with almost all men and may be women as well. 

Recently I came across on the site of ToI, the following which after a sincere reading I felt to be the thing to put in practice to get rid of that extra fat.

Get rid of your belly fat now 

Apr 3, 2010, 12.00am IST

Whether you have a major paunch or just a tiny pooch and want to slim down, we have the answers for you.

Looking for the simplest way to a flat belly? Go for this creative 20-minute fat-blasting workout and you’ll begin to see a toned tummy in just three weeks and drop up to two inches from your belly in just four weeks. These four crunch-free moves are the best way to hit all your ab muscles, sculpting your belly into its best shape ever. Do them four times a week, with a day of rest in between.

Work out

Straight-leg scissors: Lie on your back with arms by your sides, legs raised, and toes pointing toward the sky. Flatten your lower back, engaging lower tummy muscles.

Inhale while lowering your right leg, so your toes are in line with your nose. Exhale, switching your legs scissor-like, so your right leg lifts back up and your left comes down. (Don’t touch the ground with your foot.) Do 3 sets of 8–10 reps.

Front plank with twist: Get on your knees and forearms with your elbows directly under your shoulders, fingers interlaced. Stretch your legs long, and come up on your toes into plank position. Exhale while twisting slightly to the left from your waist only. Inhale, returning to the starting position, then repeat on the opposite side – that’s 1 rep. Do three sets of 10-12 reps.

Reverse curl plank on ball: Kneel in front of a stability ball, draping your abs and hips over the ball. Place your hands on the ground in front of you, and walk them out until the ball rolls beneath your shins; contract your lower abs and lift your hips slightly, then slowly lower them down. Do three sets of 10-12 reps.

Straight-line side lifts: Lie on your left side with your legs straight and stacked on top of one another and your feet flexed. Rest your head on your straight left arm. Inhale while lifting both legs off the ground, then exhale while slowly lowering them until they’re about 1 inch off the ground. Do 10-12 reps, then switch sides and repeat to complete 1 set; do three sets.

Major paunch: Do 3 sets of 15 bicycle crunches 2-3 times a week, plus 30-45 minutes’ worth of run-walk intervals (2 minutes each) 4-5 times a week. You’ll notice big results in just 4 weeks.

Tiny pooch: Do 3 sets of 12-15 crunches on a stability ball 2-3 times a week to sculpt your belly in 3 weeks.

Eat this

Major paunch: Cut or burn 500 calories and drink 2 cups of green tea daily: Green tea alone helped exercisers drop ab fat in 12 weeks.

Tiny pooch: Eat snacks with belly-busting monounsaturated fatty acids daily: 23 almonds, 6 olives, or 2 squares dark chocolate. MUFAs can reduce ab fat in a month.

Fake it

Major paunch: Dress in a way that your belly flat is kept hidden. Go for lacy camisoles to pull in and shape your middle, plus give your chest a lift.

Tiny pooch: Get a belt that’s at least 3 inches wide and made of a stiff material or leather. A belt that won’t bend like a corset helps to hide your tummy.
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A great poem to help the man realize that God has equipped the man with all of HIS powers.

Almost from the day when I came to my senses, I realized that we, human beings, are nothing but the embodiments of God-the supreme power. Each of us were born unique and brought along with us something unique. Each of us are so uniquely designed, so uniquely crafted by the almighty that each of us are empowered with the power like God, to create a world as magnanimous as the world created by the God himself. But the society for selfish reasons does everything and anything to kill that uniqueness with which we were born with in a systematic way in order to bring in homogeneity amongst the fellow human beings for it to comfortable enough in ruling over us.

I have been of realization that there is nothing called coincidence. Whatever happens happens for good and happens only when needed/warranted/required. While going through my old papers, I laid my hands on a poem titled "Believe in Yourself" by Edgar A. Guest. A remarkable poem, indeed!!! The same is presented below in as it is form. 

Believe in yourself! Believe you were made

to do any task without calling for aid.

Believe, without growing too scornfully proud,
that you, as the greatest and least are endowed.

A mind to do thinking, two hands and two eyes
are all the equipment God gives to the wise.

Believe in yourself! You are divinely designed
and perfectly made for the work of mankind.

The truth you must cling to through danger and pain;
the heights others have reached you can also attain.

Believe to the very last hour, for it’s true.
That what ever you will, you’ve been gifted to do.

Believe in yourself and step out unafraid.
By misgivings and doubt be not easily swayed.

You’ve the right to succeed; the precision of skill
which betokens the great you can earn if you will!

The wisdom of the ages is yours if you’ll read.
But you’ve got to believe in yourself to succeed.

From a talk by Khurshid Batliwala (MSc in Maths from IIT Bombay), a practicer of Art of Living

It was not a sheer coincidence (in my experience there is nothing called coincidence) that a friend shared with me links of a talk by Mr. Khurshid Batliwala (MSc in Maths from IIT Bombay), a practitioner of Art of Living who, in addition to many interesting aspects of Hindu Ancient Wisdom Treasure, shared the traits of three gunas or qualities of nature vuz. Tamas, Rajas and Sattva and how theirs imbalance can cause change in human nature.

Tamas (Brings Sleep): Excess of Tamas guna leads to Laziness and Lethargy which in turn leads to Habitual Procrastination->Loss of Interest->Depression-> Suicidal Tendencies

Rajas (Allows Activity): Excess of Rajas guna will result in "Can't sit still, restless in the body" which in turn leads to "Bombardment of thoughts"->Impatience and Indecisiveness-> Anger and Aggression->Violence

Sattva(Purity, Beauty, Peace, Joy, Enthusiasm) (When Tamas and Rajas are in balance): Presence of Sattva will result only when Tamas and Rajas are in perfect balance and then Meditation will be effortlessly easy and will result in Lightness, Centeredness and Cheerfulness->Your efforts bear fruits very easily-> Results more and earlier than you expect-> Success and Extreme Good Luck

Hope the above helps you as well in figuring out what's wrong where and then you can accordingly bring in changes your life to lead to a stage of enrichment of Sattva guna.

Do you find contents of help file .chm not displaying?

Inspired and coaxed by my brother, I have been moving to the world of OPEN SOURCE and first application to be replaced, I decided, was my mail server. Opted to move to hmailserver instead of paying hefty money to upgrade erstwhile mail server. Installation was not tough at all once I got hold of its help file which needs to be downloaded separately. But downloaded help file was in the format of .chm and did not show up its contents on my windows XP machine till I figured out the reason to be inherent security measures deployed by Microsoft.

Downloaded help file in the format of .chm for want of security gets disabled by Microsoft in showing up its contents. To see the contents, you need to right click the downloaded file and unblock (UNBLOCK) to see the contents therein.

Hope it does save your hours which i spent before I figured out the solution.

CAMPAIGN FOR JUDICIAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND REFORMS

Have been quite busy with my work in the new year and have been getting almost no time to write/put my thoughts on various topics, including but limited to Judicial accountability and judicial reform. Today an email arrived in my inbox containing the resolution passed at 3rd National Convention on “Making the Judiciary Accountable and Responsive to the People” held on 6th - 7th February 2010 at Nehru Memorial Library, Teen Murti House, New Delhi. The event was organized by an NGO named 'CAMPAIGN FOR JUDICIAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND REFORMS'. Whole my life, lived so far, I have believed that the an institution inherits its qualities from its founders. This NGO, to my knowledge, has Advocate Prashant Bhushan as one of its founders and that is enough for me to believe its credibility and genuineness. Though I am not personally involved with the NGO but mentally I do support them in their endeavors and would stand by them in the time of need. I would like to share with you the resolutions passed in the convention and the same is provided below.

The two day 3rd National Convention on “Making the Judiciary Accountable and

Responsive to the People” organised by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms was held at the Nehru Memorial Library, Teen Murti House, New Delhi on the 6^th - 7^th of February 2010. The Convention was attended by over 200 people representing various organisations and movements from across the country. The Convention was addressed by a range of distinguished speakers on the twin issues of judicial accountability and reforms specifically dealing with the issues of appointment of judges and complaints against and removal of judges, the judiciary and public discourse, the judiciary and the environment development dichotomy, the judiciary and civil liberties as well as the judiciary and the poor. At the conclusion of the convention, the Campaign resolved as follows:

The present system of appointments by the Collegium of Judges suffers from nepotism, arbitrariness and lack of transparency. We need a full time Judicial Appointments Commission for selecting judges of the higher judiciary as well as members of Commissions, Tribunals, etc. This should not comprise merely of retired judges, but should include other eminent members of civil society. This Commission must first lay down the criteria for selection and the method for selection as per the criteria. In particular the understanding of and sensitivity towards the social conditions of the common people must be an important criteria for judging the suitability of judicial appointments. The selection process must be transparent and the credentials and qualifications of the prospective appointees must be in the public domain.

The difference in the retirement age of High Court and Supreme Court judges has made many High Court judges subservient to the Collegium who decide their elevation. This has led to lobbying among High Court judges and Chief Justices as well. The Campaign believes that there is no justification for a different retirement age for High Court and Supreme Court Judges.

The fact that there is considerable corruption in the higher judiciary is evident from the string of recent scandals such as the Ghaziabad Provident Fund scam, the Chandigarh cash at judges door scam, the Justice Soumitra Sen and Justice Dinakaran cases, etc. The present system of impeachment has proved to be totally impracticable and ineffective for disciplining judges. There should be a similar commission for dealing with complaints against judges. This must have its own independent investigative machinery and should be empowered to examine the complaints and recommend the action against the errant judges, which would include removal and registration of criminal cases against them. The commission may appoint a tribunal of three jurists to adjudicate on the misconduct of judges before its final decision. These complaints must also be dealt with transparently. A code of conduct for judges must be framed with full public consultation and made strictly enforceable.

The Campaign notes that misconduct of the bar has also grown enormously in recent times. The Bar Council of India has completely failed in disciplining misconducting lawyers due to conflicts of interest and corruption within the Bar Council of India. The Bar too must be made accountable to a completely independent statutory body. This is important because the bar is also an important actor in the administration of justice. It is the principle feeder cadre for judges and is often complicit in judicial corruption. We feel there is no justification for retaining “scandalising the court or lowering the authority of the court” in the definition of criminal contempt and this should be deleted. Respect for or public confidence in the judiciary depends upon how the actions of the judiciary are perceived and not on preventing people from making any kind (including harsh) criticism. The laws of civil and criminal defamation are adequate to protect judges from scurrilous abuse.

The Campaign notes with regret that though the judiciary had itself declared the Right to Information as a fundamental right and had applied it to various institutions including candidates contesting elections, it is now dragging its feet and resisting the application of the RTI Act to itself. This is being done by framing rules which deter citizens from asking for information and put unreasonable restrictions on the disclosure of administrative or financial information about the court. This is also being done by the interference of the Courts with judgments of the Central Information Commission ordering disclosure of information with the judiciary such as for appointments of judges and complaints against judges, etc. The judiciary is thus defeating the object of the Right to Information Act which is to make every institution including the judiciary accountable to the people.

The Campaign finds that the judiciary has of late rendered many decisions displaying gross insensitivity to human rights and civil liberties particularly of the weak and the poor.  Draconian laws such as POTA, TADA, AFSPA has been upheld and progressive laws such as the IMDT Act have been struck down and other pro people laws such as Contract Labour Act, Industrial Disputes Act are not being implemented. The insensitivity towards human rights is also apparent from the fact that even where prosecutions of innocent persons were found to be malafide and based on fabricated evidence, no action was ordered against the offending police officers. This has led to impunity in the police and the spectre of innocent persons being framed in a large number of bogus cases. The Supreme Court has gone to the extent of saying that laws made by Parliament should be interpreted in accordance with the economic policies of the executive government. In certain instances, this has led to a peculiar situation where economic policies of the government are given the judicial stamp. This often strangulates political debate, as well as mobilisation of public opinion.

In particular, in the area of workmen jurisprudence and land acquisition disputes, the

Campaign notes the attitude of the judiciary as being dismal. The current judicial system is getting far removed from the needs and rights of the poor and deprived section of society in substantial deviation from the directive principles of state policy as enshrined in the Constitution of India and even restricting the interpretation “right to life” as delineated in earlier pronouncements of the court. In fact the common people have virtually no access to the judicial system being unable to afford lawyers and also often because the language of the court is alien to the culture. The security obsession of the superior courts is also preventing access even to visitors thus destroying the very concept of open courts. With the current technology is would be easily possible to video record and indeed web telecast court proceedings which must be started immediately.

Courts have often been used to execute the desires of the incumbent government even against the law. Thus jhuggis along the Yamuna Pushta were demolished on the orders of the court to pave the way for the common wealth games village and the Akshardham Temple , in violation of formal government policy.

The Courts have acted whimsically and arbitrarily on environmental matters and have often invoked environment to demolish jhuggis, displace forest dwellers, etc. However the same considerations have not prevented them from allowing the use of the same spaces for corporate interests. There is a clear need for the courts to strengthen and rationalise the systems of environmental appraisal and clearance. Environmental approval committees should be given statutory status and appointed in a transparent manner to represent particularly the interests of the concerned masses rather than “technical corporate or bureaucratic interests”. The statutory appellate authority should also be transparently appointed through the judicial appointments commission.

Song of SHUNYA-The Dramatic Society of Ramjas College

While going through old papers, I came across a paper with the following inscribed in my handwriting. The song re-freshened old memories of college time and of struggles, friends, fights, strives for perfection and so on so forth. I clearly remember how Himanshu (the founder of Shunya and director of the Play "तूफान से पहले") helped me i.e. Bakshu of the play overcome my inhibition in mixing with Anjali i.e. Paro of the play. The play helped me in a big way and played a significant role in shaping me up. Today I went through the lyrics of the song, I found it nothing less than words of Lord Buddha. The song seems to have summarized whole of the spirituality in few lines. How pure, how pragmatic, how powerful!!! I am sure that each of the team members of SHUNYA would be with me on my feelings about the song.
शून्य से शुरु हुए हम, शून्य पर हैं खात्मा;
शून्य ही हैं ये धरा, और शून्य हैं परमात्मा;
इस शून्य की आवाज़ सुन तू-२;
कह रही हैं आत्मा-२;

मान कर हम केन्द्र बिन्दु, शून्य पर दृष्टि उठायें;
मुस्किले राहो में आयें मंजिले पायें न पायें;
पाँव अपने ना हटायें;
इस शून्य की आवाज़ सुन तू-२;
कह रही हैं आत्मा-२;

शून्य मैं हूँ, शून्य तुम हों;
शून्य अब हैं, शून्य तब हैं;
शून्य छाया, शून्य काया;
शून्य खोया, शून्य पाया;
इस शून्य की आवाज़ सुन तू-२;
कह रही हैं आत्मा-२;

An empire of lies-an article appeared in The Pioneer

The following article appeared in The Pioneer and is available at http://dailypioneer.com/194420/An-empire-of-lies.html.

Corruption and flow of Indian moneys to Zurich — both were assured continuity by the UPA Government through the new Companies Bill, which revealed no intent of preventing more Satyam scams from recurring

Eight months have passed since the Satyam Computers scandal, but public memory, being notoriously short, has given the benefit of time and space to the real culprits behind the multi-billion dollar loot. The promoter of the fraud company, B Ramalinga Raju, may be in jail, but the country's largest financial crimes operation, the brotherhood of chartered accounts, with Price Water House at the apex, has merrily avoided scrutiny.

This week, the government reintroduced the Companies Bill in the Lok Sabha after a hiatus of 10 months. It is supposed to be based on the recommendations of an expert committee headed by JJ Irani, the former Tata Steel chairman, and seeks to make firms and their promoters responsible for their actions. But this is far from accurate. Irani’s most important proposal, institutionalising the whistleblower in corporate, was given the go-by. Irani had stated on record: “If the CEO and CFO of a firm get together to do a fraud, there is nothing an independent director can do to detect or prevent it, even if they are professors of corporate governance. Companies must install a confidential whistleblower system."

The new Companies Bill, which seeks to replace the 53-year-old Companies Act, hardly scratches at the surface of the deceitful system that has built up over the years and has manifested itself through various inglorious episodes like Harshad Mehta, the MS Shoes scam, the murder of IIT engineer Satyandra Dubey and Satyam. Irani's call for a whistleblower system assumes significance because the UPA

Government has studiedly avoided implementing this long-felt demand of honest corporate houses. Neither the Companies Bill of 2003 nor its present avatar has clauses institutionalising whistleblowers. Of course, it may be argued that even whistleblowers can be reduced to ciphers — Satyam, irony of ironies, had one since 2005. However, that may be countered saying the lack of a firm law giving the whistleblower legal backing was responsible for the duplicity carried out by the Raju empire.

The Satyam scandal has shaken the country's morale and its financial system stands exposed before the whole world. The rotten core of the chartered accountancy profession was laid bare before the public when PW House and Coopers' hand-in-glove role in cooking books over several years became known. The bubble burst only when the fraud became too huge to handle in a market hit by recession. Had the global economy not been hit by the biggest calamity since 1929 in October 2008, chances of the goings-on at Satyam coming out were remote. Clearly, Satyam was the tip of the iceberg.

In my opinion, there is hardly a balance sheet or profit and loss account filed with the Income Tax department which is an honest reflection. Financial discipline, corporate governance and tax reforms are oft-repeated jargons at seminars. But of what use are they if the underlying criminality of the financial sector is not addressed?

Routinely, there are two occasions when the corporate world cooks financial documents. One, when they have to file income tax returns, and second, when they have to put on a show before shareholders and the public that all is hunky dory in their company. It is usually seen that when a sinking or underperforming company is trying to find a buyer, its performance improves dramatically in the books. All sorts of fraudulent mechanisms are adopted to shine the face of the company and all is done by the auditors at the behest of the owners and board members of companies.

In the aftermath of the scam coming to light, we had heard that PW House and Coopers would be banned for the malpractices it adopted in league with Raju. But nothing happened to the high-profile auditors. Earlier this week, Minister of State for Finance SS Palanimanickam declared in a written reply in the Lok Sabha that Satyam's outstandings with the Income Tax department is to the order of Rs 541 crore.

I kept on looking for something substantive in the findings of the investigators into the Satyam scandal, but I learnt nothing that I didn't know. Auditors are hired by the companies to audit their accounts and paid for their services. The job of a chartered accountant is to whet a company's accounts as an independent observer upholding the Laws of the land. But, the whole system has been distorted. Today, the only loyalty shown by the auditor is to his client. Their engagement is completely at the mercy of the companies and, in a competitive environment, they perform all kinds of financial skullduggery to remain in the good books of their clients. That even PW House and Coopers could fall in line was the only education for old cynics like me.

To understand the intensity of the rot afflicting the system, wide reforms are necessary. The process of correction must begin at the stage when the chartered accountant is being groomed for his career. Let’s just know who these auditors are and how they become qualified chartered accountants. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is entrusted with a larger-than-life responsibility. ICAI has the responsibility of creating professionals who get paid by their hirers-companies to keep their accounts in accordance with the rules and provisions enacted by the government of India. It would be worthwhile to have a look at the kind of training and education these professionals are imparted with by ICAI before we expect morality from them. The CA course involves theoretical self-learning (by rote) and articled training under a qualified chartered accountant. But there is complete disconnect between what they learn in their articled training and what is required to clear the theoretical papers i.e. they draw no help from their articled training to clear their theoretical papers.

Though ICAI charges high fees from students, it provides no class room teaching to equip them with the fine nuances of financial auditing. The only meaningful interaction that a student has on the way to become a CA, is with the senior CA who gives the young rookie a chance to get mandatory articleship.

It is high time the government takes a close look at what these up coming auditors are taught at that early stage. How to make fake balance sheets, fake profit and loss accounts, fake account books, fake vouchers, enter fake entries, and manage fake receipts and what have you. In short, a new generation is equipped with dangerous weapons to sabotage the economy of the country. They are trained to make a Satyam happen every day. How can the graduates of this institute of lies be expected to be loyal to the government of India. Articleship is all about picking up the tricks of a trade that thrives on loopholes.

In short, the ICAI is producing generations of white collar criminals. The country's financial system is hemorrhaging. Our credibility before the international investor community is eroding. Under the circumstances, it is futile to talk of Swiss bank accounts. The need of the hour is bold reforms. But, sadly, the Finance Bill introduced by the UPA Government, is nothing short of ridiculous.

-- The writer is a Supreme Court advocate and an alumnus of IIT Delhi. He can be reached at somnath@bhartiassociates.in)

How close you are to your loved ones?

Usually we crave for physical proximity with our loved ones and unfortunately we all get trapped in evaluating the strength of bonding with our loved ones by how often and how long you have been physically together. The story narrated below will be of considerable help in helping you understand what is that which we really need to be concerned about in an relationship viz. quality or quantity of time you spend with your loved ones.

A saint asked his disciples, 'Why do we shout in anger? Why do people shout at each other when they are upset?'

Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, 'Because we lose our calm, we shout for that.'
'But, why to shout when the other person is just next to you?' asked the saint. 'Isn't it possible to speak to him or her with a soft voice? Why do you shout at a person when you're angry?'

Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the saint.

Finally he explained, 'When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other through that great distance.'

Then the saint asked, 'What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly, why? Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is very small...'

The saint continued, 'When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that's all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.'

MORAL: When you argue do not let your hearts get distant, do not say words that distance each other more, else there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return

Root cause of all the problems humanity is confronted with:

Strange is the world where problems are loved more than their solutions because its the problems which keep them going while the solutions bring a full stop and that brings restlessness of having nothing any more to be busy with/in.

After a deep and thorough analysis and deep contemplation, to me it seems that all problems have their origin in the institution called "marriage".

With the disappearance of marriage, major ills humanity is confronted with viz. prostitution, rape, adultery, molestation, slavery etc. will also disappear within no time. And with this human beings will be freed from the cluthes of society and will be able to smell and experience the ultimate freedom.

With this freedom, every religion, sect, guru and mutt will be freed from prescribing the human beings the list of dos and donts and human beings will be freed from the disgrace of having been treated as kids.

Marriage is a sweet candy which humanity have been made to believe it to be tasty and hence they are made to crave for it. Marriage is a great tool available in the hands of society to domesticate the human beings. With marriage, a new family comes into existence and with family comes the ambitions, attempts of securing happiness and other related nuisances. Once married, forever unhappy.

With marriage steps in the great race of hording the maximum wealth in order to secure the future of not only the present generation but generation after generations.

The smallest unit i.e. family forms the basis of all the conflicts. And a nation, which is nothing but a conglomerate of such families with diverse aspirations and conflicting interests, is thus born. With the advent of nations, truth of wars appear. Wars lead to bloodshed and merciless killing of fellow human beings. I wonder what prompts the man to go to the extent of taking a fellow human being's life, what pleasure, what satisfaction does such a killing bring!!!

Just a step backward of the family is the individual and just a step forward of the nations is the universe and both these extremities are the true forms of emancipation and true manifestation of the ultimate power which we term as GOD.

For wars to stop, nations must go and for nations to go, concept of family must be abolished and to make that happen, marriages must be done away with. No marriages, no divorce. No marriages, no breaking of the families!!!

Let the man be unto himself. Let the man taste the fruit of FREEDOM and enjoy his being. Let the man be free from self-condemnation. Let the man be free from the guilt of having committed sins. Let the man see himself to be an embodiment of the Almighty.

You know you work for the government when...

The following was shared with me on email and I found it to be worth sharing with you.

You know you work for the government when...

* The process becomes more important than the product

* You don't see anything wrong with attending a meeting on a subject you know nothing about

* You feel you contributed to the meeting just by being there

* You stop raising issues/problems because you know you will be the one answering them.

* You fly first class across the country to attend a conference with 100

+

people to discuss the fact that the project does not have enough money.

* You work for an acronym, on an acronym, and your job title is an acronym.

* You understand the rationalization of an acronym composed of acronyms.

* You know that the location of a meeting is directly related to its importance.

(1) A meeting at Fort Hood requires a subordinate or a contractor

(2) The same meeting at Lake Tahoe requires your personal attention

* You've sat at the same desk for 3 years, done the same thing for 3 years, but have had 3 different business cards.

Whose opinion after all matters???

Whose opinion after all matters in my life??? This has been the base of all and almost every conflicts.

The Man in the Glass

When you get what you want in your struggles for pelf

And the world makes you king for a day,

Just go to a mirror and look at yourself

And see what that man has to say.

For it isn't your father or mother or wife

Whose judgment upon you must pass,

The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life

Is the one staring back from the glass.

Some people might think you're a straight-shooting chum

And call you a wonderful guy.

But the man in the glass says you're only a bum

If you can't look him straight in the eye.

He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest

For he's with you clear to the end

And you've passed your most dangerous test

If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years

And get pats on the back as you pass

But your final reward will be heartache and tears

If you've cheated the man in the glass.

Protests against Mumbai attack all over the country.

My inbox is flooded with emails from angry citizens over Mumbai attack. One of such emails was from a very dear friend and the email was to thank the soldiers we sacrificed in the combat. Again it took its toll on me and I exploded. My reply was.....
I wish that we do much more than just saluting. Psychology behind this saluting is to encourage others to join the slaughter houses named defense forces, police, NSG etc. Such a pathetic use of humans to safeguard the interest of perpetrators and criminals must be avoided.
Humanity has witnessed so many wars and so much of bloodshed just because of ego of some ambitious and crazy ruler. There is enough on this earth to meet our needs. We must identify the misuse of human lives by these politicians to upkeep their ongoing power thirst.
We as a nation must ensure that each of our brothers and sisters enjoys as much and as good sleep as we enjoy. While our countrymen is J&K and North East are living a life of uncertainties, we should not and must not live a life of luxuries unless the peace dwells there.
I am shocked to see the different attitude of media, industrialists and politicians. When Mumbai witnessed just few months ago series of blasts in the local trains, no one demanded resignations from home minister or chief minister of Maharashtra. No media did a show as passionate as they are doing today. No bollywood actor or actress came forward to hold a dharana. No one organized a candle march. Today such events are organized in all metros. And the reason behind is very obvious that this time the attack was on the elitist. And all actors, actresses, the famous and ill-famous were startled when Taj hotel was attacked because they could see themselves dying in this attack. I am not saying that they are wrong in doing what they are doing today. After all everyone has a right to worry for his/her life. I am only saying that the poor who died in the train blast deserved the same treatment. CM of Maharashtra used it as an excuse of not resigning and paving the way for someone better.

This attack strangely did a wonder. It could successfully unmask the politicians across the parties. CPM through its CM of Kerala, BJP through its leader Mr. Naqvi and Congress through its CM Deshmukh and Patil went unmasked. People of India witnessed the ugly most faces hiding behind white clad politicians. It was a shock to see the CM of ill-fated state giggling on camera while answering questions of media on the attack. They have so thick-skinned that they don’t hesitate in driving mileage out of innocent’s death.

I don’t understand what will a Candle march do. May be candles are no longer in use and candles manufacturer might have some vested interest in this marches.

What will a dharana or shouting slogans do? We need people who are willing to put at stake their luxurious lives and contest elections. Unless we have clean people, people who can think unbiased, at the helm of the affairs of the ruling nothing will help.

Fortunately new generation has collapsed the old and does not have its roots anywhere but unfortunately it’s a very dangerous situation wherein they may catch hold of path of destruction.

Today’s youth has witnessed no WAR and hence perfect for spreading the message of brotherhood across the world.
But they do need some to lead them and unfortunately I find no one to play the role of that someone.

Time is ripe, I invite you to think over it and if you feel that you are that someone, please write to me and I believe that we together can and will make a difference.

India-Europe And outsourcing: A Win-Win Game?

IIT Delhi Seminar Hall witnessed another important discussion on a topic too relevant to the present times in the view of the financial crisis of which no country could remain unaffected, few worst and rest worse. As the customary duty I was again put to the task of proposing the vote of thanks. The discussion was well attended by people from various institutes in addition to IIT alumni, its students and faculty members. Panelists were Mr. Ashish Gupta( COO, Evalueserve), Mr. Jean Joseph Boillot(Economist-India & China, Co-founder, EIEBG-Paris), Mr. Laveesh Bhandari (Economist & Director, Indicus Analytics) and Mr. Joy from Sodexo Food. The discussion was moderated by Ms. Mythili Bhusnurmath (Consulting Editor, Economics Times).
Other than the usual thanks giving statements the vote of thanks consisted of the following.
.............Today’s topic for the discussion “India-Europe Outsourcing-A win-win game for both” is too apt for today’s time when the world is facing financial crisis and huge uproar in job insecurities. Thanks to Internet, world today seems as one big platform, available to everyone to be used for the betterment of oneself and humanity. Boundaries dividing the nations seem to be facing a virtual collapse. Internet is a big threat to selfish politicians because it is really a boon in uniting the world and thus defeating the purpose of the politicians to keep humanity divided and separate from each other. Today’s problems, humanity is facing, have outgrown the capacity of any one nation and hence world must seek solutions of large scale problems united. I must say that in the new world economy, boundaries today or tomorrow will vanish in their original sense and each person would be a world citizen. India has attracted the whole world to herself, owing to the huge talent pool she enjoys. I am sure that today’s discussion has succeeded in bringing India and Europe together to solve the problems both civilizations are facing. And discussion stirred today in this hall of IIT Delhi will go a long way. Discussion held here will definitely prove to be fruitful in bringing the two civilizations closer and making them work together in almost all the areas including KPO.
Leveraging the talent pool available in India has been top most priority of all companies in developed countries. Indians by the virtue of having a rich spiritual heritage (though they are unaware of it) are the most contented and best people to partner with. No wonder, the world is looking forward to patner with India and its people.
I agree with Mr. Boillot that possible benefits of bringing the talent pool spread worldover within the accessible reach of everyone and anyone are tremendous.
I agree with laveesh that this is the era of specialization and that's what should be the driving force for the upcoming economics. Unfortunately, Indian economy is woven around services, serving the world, assisting the companies world wide in customer support and we are yet to come out something original and too significant other than the excellent talent pool India possesses.
I would disagree with Ashish for his concept behind cost cutting to be the only reason for the world to turn to India for its work. Cost saving is indeed a prime reason for European or US companies to outsource their work to India but that is not the only reason. In addition to cost saving, companies are able to leverage the excellent Indian minds for a cost 1/10th of what they would have paid elsewhere.................................

Why did American economy collapse?

A friend shared with me an interesting video which is apprently funny but says a lot about the present economy crisis the world is witnessing.....