Coimbatore Human Rights Forum

2012-01-30T23:57:00.001-08:00

George orwell's '1984' to be a reality soon

John Villasenor, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, Center for Technology Innovation

Within the next few years an important threshold will be crossed: For the first time ever, it will become technologically and financially feasible for authoritarian governments to record nearly everything that is said or done within their borders—every phone conversation, electronic message, social media interaction, the movements of nearly every person and vehicle, and video from every street corner. Governments with a history of using all of the tools at their disposal to track and monitor their citizens will undoubtedly make full use of this capability once it becomes available.

The Arab Spring of 2011, which saw regimes toppled by protesters organized via Twitter and Facebook, was heralded in much of the world as signifying a new era in which information technology alters the balance of power in favor of the repressed. However, within the world's many remaining authoritarian regimes it was undoubtedly viewed very differently. For those governments, the Arab Spring likely underscored the perils of failing to exercise sufficient control of digital communications and highlighted the need to redouble their efforts to increase the monitoring of their citizenry.

Technology trends are making such monitoring easier to perform. While the domestic surveillance programs of countries including Syria, Iran, China, Burma, and Libya under Gadhafi have been extensively reported, the evolving role of digital storage in facilitating truly pervasive surveillance is less widely recognized. Plummeting digital storage costs will soon make it possible for authoritarian regimes to not only monitor known dissidents, but to also store the complete set of digital data associated with everyone within their borders. These enormous databases of captured information will create what amounts to a surveillance time machine, enabling state security services to retroactively eavesdrop on people in the months and years before they were designated as surveillance targets. This will fundamentally change the dynamics of dissent, insurgency and revolution.

The coming era of ubiquitous surveillance in authoritarian countries has important consequences for American foreign policy as well, impacting issues as diverse as human rights, trade, nuclear nonproliferation, export control, and intellectual property security.

full text (pdf, 15 pages) at http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2011/1214_digital_storage_villasenor.aspx

2012-01-30T23:33:00.001-08:00

Britain may Consider Infidelity as Murder Defense

Sexual infidelity could be a defense in murder cases as it can cause people to lose control, Britain's most senior judge has ruled.

Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice, said juries should be allowed to consider the fact a victim had been unfaithful as a possible provocation - in defiance of a new law that banned it as an excuse.

It restores a defence in so-called "crimes of passion" but Lord Judge insisted infidelity cannot be the sole reason for the murder and other "triggers" must be shown, the Telegraph reported.

Sitting in the Court of Appeal, he quashed he conviction of a man who killed his wife after she admitted sleeping with five men and then goaded him about it.

The last Labour Government changed the law surrounding murder defences to exclude sexual infidelity in "loss of control" killings.

But Lord Judge said to exclude it in cases where it was integral was to risk "injustice" and that the law was likely to "produce surprising results".

His ruling risks a fresh conflict between the judiciary and MPs after effectively dismissing a law drawn up by parliament.

When the law was first drawn up in 2009, it was met with fierce opposition in the House of Lords, where one peer described the move as "outstandingly obnoxious".

The Coroners and Justice Act 2009, which came in to effect in 2010, replaced the murder defence of provocation with a new partial defence of "loss of control", but exempted sexual infidelity as a reason for such a loss.

However, following the Appeal Court ruling, those accused of murder can once again use evidence that their victim was unfaithful to them as part of the reason why they snapped and killed them.

Lord Judge, sitting with two other judges, gave the general guidance after hearing three "loss of control" test cases.

2012-01-30T05:48:00.001-08:00

Madras High Court: buyer of land notified for acquisition doesn't acquire title

A person who purchases land from another person after a notification under section 4 (1) of the Land Acquisition Act has been issued does not acquire title to the property. Such a sale is void and the purchaser acquires no right, title or interest in the land and, therefore, cannot challenge the validity of the notification or the regularity in taking possession of the land, the Madras High Court has held.

The First Bench of Chief Justice M.Y. Eqbal and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam was allowing appeals by the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) against a single Judge's order setting aside a notification under section 4 (1) of the Act by which the board took over the lands of petitioners for the Tambaram Neighbourhood Housing Scheme initiated in 1978.

The petitioners had prayed before the single Judge to declare the section 4 (1) notification in respect of their lands as lapsed and abated and, consequently, forbear authorities from interfering with the enjoyment of their property.

In its judgment, the Bench observed that the petitioners had purchased the lands from the erstwhile owners in 2004-05. The fact that the purchases were effected after the award was passed had not been controverted.

The court pulled up the petitioners and Special Tahsildar K. Muthu, who issued the notification in their favour. Even though it was subsequently cancelled, the petitioners had taken a copy of it and obtained planning permission for buildings.

This was a clear case of fraud for which action should be initiated against all concerned. Even before the notification issued by the Special Tahsildar, the possession of the lands had been taken over by the housing board. Thus it was evident that the petitioners had not only 'managed' to obtain certain orders/proceedings from the department, but also misused the jurisdiction of the High Court to achieve their sinister design.

At no stretch of imagination, such an action would be permitted by the court.

The Bench allowed the appeals. It set aside the single Judge's order.

Bench allows appeals by Tamil Nadu Housing Board against single Judge's order

"Petitioners 'managed' to obtain orders and misused jurisdiction of court".

2012-01-22T22:31:00.001-08:00

HC asks EC whether EVM can have column for negative vote

PTI | 10:01 PM,Jan 19,2012

Mumbai, Jan 19 (PTI) The Bombay High Court today asked the Election Commission of India and State Election Commission to inform the court whether they can add a column for 'Negative Vote' in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) on the lines of inclusion of Braille symbols in the machine to aide the visually impaired while voting. A division bench headed by Justice D D Sinha sought the information from the EC after it was informed that the Supreme Court had directed the Election Commission in 2007 to make EVMs Braille capable. Accordingly, the facility was provided. "If the Braille system was introduced after Supreme Court orders, then the column for negative vote can also be included. The Election Commission should state whether it is possible," Justice Sinha said posting the matter for hearing on January 25. The direction came during the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by Thane-based doctor Mahesh Bedekar seeking for inclusion of negative vote column in EVMs. Bedekar's PIL contended that secrecy is maintained while a voter casts his vote for a candidate. The same should also be ensured when a person wants to cast a negative vote. Sanjeev Gorwadkar, advocate for Bedekar, argued that by casting a negative vote, a voter decides not to vote for any of the candidates contesting elections. Presently, when a voter wants to cast a negative vote, he/she is asked to fill out a separate form. Even a register is maintained with name and details of the voter opting for negative vote. "In this case, there are chances of the person being harassed," argued Gorwadkar.

2012-01-22T20:43:00.001-08:00

`FRAUD' Private parties wrote judgments in I-T tribunal cases

Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia has asked the government to take "appropriate action" against at least 20 members of the country's top income tax tribunal who are on the CBI's radar for having allegedly `outsourced' writing of judgments to private parties.

Justice Kapadia is understood to have conveyed his displeasure to law minister Salman Khurshid over inaction on the issue since 2008, HT has learnt.

Khurshid met the CJI earlier this month.

The meeting was followed up by justice Kapadia writing to Khurshid on January 5, reminding the minister about his communication with the ministry in February last year.

Following justice Kapadia's letter, Khurshid has directed the legal affairs department "to expedite the matter".

The CBI has been seeking sanction from the ministry since 2008 to register a preliminary inquiry against at least 20 members of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal posted in different parts of the country.

The agency alleged that these members had outsourced writing of judgments to private parties to favour them.

Khurshid told the Rajya Sabha on January 12, "The matter is under consideration in consultation with the Central Vigilance Commission."

The law ministry, which has administrative control over the tribunal, recently granted sanction to the CBI to file a chargesheet in a Kolkata court against suspended tribunal member Jugal Kishore and five others. But it hasn't responded to the agency's request for a probe against other members pending for more than three years.

Following a tip-off, the CBI in May 2008 recovered R28 lakh from Kishore's Kolkata residence. A chartered accountancy firm allegedly paid the amount to him.

Subsequently, the CBI seized computers from the firm and scrutiny of discs led to retrieval of 75 documents that showed striking similarities with 69 orders passed by the tribunal's benches in Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati.

2012-01-18T17:28:00.001-08:00

INTER CASTE MARRIAGE - Quota benefits based on how kid is brought up: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that children born out of inter-caste wedlock cannot be denied the benefits of reservation merely on the ground that one of the parents belongs to an upper caste.

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Determination of caste of a person born of an inter-caste marriage ... can't be determined in complete disregard of attending facts of the case Supreme Court

What would be the caste status of a child born out of an inter-caste marriage between a forward caste man and a scheduled caste/tribe woman to avail of quota benefits in education and government jobs?

Maintaining that it would depend upon the facts and circumstances of a particular case, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that children born out of inter-caste wedlock cannot be denied the benefits of reservation merely on the ground that one of the parents belonged to an upper caste.

A bench headed by justice Aftab Alam reversed the Gujarat high court's verdict denying quota benefits ST category to Rameshbhai Dabhai Naika whose father was a Kshatriya (a forward caste) and mother an ST.

The HC had upheld the Gujarat's governement's decision cancelling the tribal certificate earlier obtained by Naika on the sole ground that his father was a non-tribal, belonging to the Hindu caste Kshatriya. As a result, Naika lost his tribal status and a fair price shop allotted to him on that basis.

The SC said: "In an inter-caste marriage or a marriage between a tribal and a non-tribal the determination of the caste of offspring is essentially a question of fact to be decided on the basis of the facts adduced in each case.

"The determination of caste of a person born of an intercaste marriage or a marriage between a tribal and a non-tribal cannot be determined in complete disregard of attending facts of the case," the SC said.

The SC said in an inter-caste marriage or a marriage between a tribal and a non-tribal there may be a presumption that the child has the caste of the father.

"This presumption may be stronger in the case where in the inter-caste marriage or a marriage between a tribal and a non-tribal the husband belongs to a forward caste. But by no means the presumption is conclusive ... it is open to the child of such marriage to lead evidence to show that he/she was brought up by the mother who belonged to the SC/ST," it said.

2012-01-18T06:50:00.001-08:00

The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) organised a two day National Consultation on the implementation of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act , 2005 (PWDVA) and the Dowry Prohibition Act , 1961 (DPA) at Vigyan Bhawan on the 11th and 12th January 2011. The meeting was chaired by Additional Secretary, MWCD and was attended by the Secretaries/ representatives of the State Departments of Women and Child Development/Social Welfare, Home and Law, representatives of the State Legal Services Authority, Police, Protection Officers and Service Providers. Ms Indira Jaising , Additional Solicitor General of India and Director, Lawyers Collective also addressed the participants on the issues and challenges relating to the implementation of the PWDVA on the first day.

The State Governments made brief presentations on the steps taken by them to put in place structures for enforcement of both the legislations. In this context information on the status of appointment of protection officers, service providers, notification of medical facilities and shelter homes and budget allocated under the PWDVA, 2005, was shared. Details relating to the appointment of Dowry Prohibition Officers (DPO) and constitution of Advisory Boards under the DPA, 1961 were also discussed. Presentations were made on the role of health professionals in addressing domestic violence and on various other issues relating to the PWDVA, 2005 and the DPA, 1961.

The focus of the discussion was on challenges faced in implementation of these Acts and the best practices adopted in the States, which could be replicated by other States. The key issues discussed in respect of the PWDVA, 2005 included appointment of independent protection officers, service of notice within and across the States, enforcement of Orders , time taken in the judicial process and coordination amongst various agencies. In respect of the DPA, 1961, the key issues discussed included appointment and role of DPOs, constitution and effectiveness of Advisory Boards, reasons for limited recourse to the DPA, 1961 and whether there was a need to strengthen the law.

2012-01-17T03:32:00.001-08:00

Can't remove objectionable words: Google & Facebook

Social networking sites Google and Facebook on Monday challenged the practicability of filtering the contents on their websites saying it would immensely impair the flow of information to billions of its users around the world. Arguing before the Delhi High Court, the defence counsels said filtering the words like 'virgin' and 'sex', which may be considered objectionable, would restrict the web users from getting vital information, including those related to the medical field.

Appearing for Facebook, senior criminal lawyer Sidharth Luthra argued that a check on the word 'sex' would even deny access to all judgements of various courts that contain this word in any context. Justice Suresh Kait, who is hearing the matter, adjourned the arguments till January 19.

Luthra questioned the authenticity of the CD containing the alleged offending contents on the basis of which the criminal complaint has been filed against Facebook and Google.

"The complaint is based on the excerpts of the recording contained in a CD. Has the magistrate in the 'so-called inquiry' sought opinion of the experts? It is an established fact that an electronic record cannot be valid evidence without proper certification. Where is the certification of the CD," he said while citing the Supreme Court judgement in the Tehelka expose case.

Regarding the alleged obscene posts on Facebook, Luthra submitted that the contents posted on it are not for public use but they are used by its registered users in a group of their own choice.

Earlier, senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for Google India too cited the practical impossibility of filtering the contents or blocking the sites saying India was not a 'totalitarian' regime like China. Though a pictorial representation, Kaul elaborated that the contents posted on Google were not contained by it but they were user-generated contents.

He said an online search for a word like 'virgin' has 82.30 crore search results within 0.33 seconds and the idea of blocking a word like this would deprive net-users the required information. "The queries could relate to Virgin Atlantic Airlines or for that matter 'virgin areas for inventions'," Kaul said.

He told Justice Kait that filtering the word 'sex' would further restrict the users from accessing information pertaining

to passport, ration card and airline among others where it is compulsorily found. He reiterated that Google is a search engine and it only transports the web users to their desired destination website. "The destination website is under the control of its owner and no search engine including Google has any control over its contents. However, Google can remove the objectionable materials if reported abuse by the user," he maintained.

Seeking quashing of the summons issued against the firm by a lower court, he said Google India is neither a search engine nor a web hosting site and was a distinct legal entity from its US-based holding company Google Inc, a search engine. "No criminal liability can be fastened on Google India," he said. He alleged that the trial court of acting in haste while issuing the summons. "The summons have been issued casually. They reflect complete lack of understanding as to how the system (social websites) works. There has been no application of mind in issuing the summons and even no sincere efforts were made to identify or trace the author of the objectionable contents," he added.

However, Vinay Rai, who had filed the complaint against 21 websites, opposed the plea of Google India. "Google India, like its holding firm Google Inc, is also a search engine and in fact, they are same as out of 1,91, 295 shares of Google India, 1,91, 294 shares are being held by its holding company," the counsel for Rai said. "If the corporate veil is lifted, then it would become clear that they were the same and equally culpable," he said adding the veil could be lifted for a public cause. Google India is culpable because it is earning for its US-based holding company, he added.

2012-01-17T03:14:00.001-08:00

NEW DELHI:There is no way to e services rendered by a homemaker (housewife) but the value must be recognised, the Supreme Court said on Monday.

A bench of justice GS Singhvi and justice SJ Mukhopadhyaya chided the National Consumer Commission for reducing the compensation awarded to a woman's husband for medical negligence on the grounds that she was a homemaker. It also directed the nursing home to undertake liability for the negligence.

Accepting the contention of the husband's advocate Himanshu Gupta, the bench restored the Chandigarh state consumer commission's November 2005 order that directed Santokh Nursing Home and one of its doctors to pay R12.34 lakh as compensation with a monthly interest of 6%.

The national commission had in July 2009 drastically reduced it to just R8 lakh without giving any cogent reason. "The mere fact that the deceased was a homemaker was not sufficient to deny adequate compensation to her husband," the bench ordered.

While the doctor has been ordered to pay R3 lakh, as ordered by the state commission, the apex court said the nursing home would pay the balance.

It dismissed the hospital's contention that it was insured for just R5 lakh and the doctor was liable for negligence.

Gupta contended that his client was 50 years old when she was operated for fibroids in the abdomen in June 2004. While it was a successful operation, the doctor left swabs inside her abdomen, resulting in septicemia that led to her death in November 2004.

2012-01-15T10:15:00.001-08:00

Marginal dip in crimes against women in 2011

A Subburaj, TNN Dec 27, 2011, 02.54AM IST

COIMBATORE: Is Coimbatore a safe city for women? Though a sizable section of women in the city continue to suffer dowry-related harassments and many of them opt to end their lives by consuming banned products like cow dung powder, law enforcers say there is a considerable decline in the number of crimes against women in the city. Major crimes against women like rape, molestation, abduction and dowry-related deaths are in the decline if the statics available with city police is anything to go by.

As per police records, only nine rape cases were reported in the city in the last 12 months while there were 15 cases in 2010. Police have registered 30 cases of molestation this year while there were 35 such cases reported in 2010. There were nine abductions in the last 12 months while it was 10 in 2010. Only two dowry related deaths were reported in 2011, while five such cases were reported last year.

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"Strict police surveillance across the city coupled with quick arrest and conviction of those who harass women, have created an atmosphere that make women feel safe and secure in Coimbatore considerably. Unlike other cities, women who travel alone in buses and trains seldom make complaints of sexual harassment. Cases of harassment at work places are also very negligible in the city though Coimbatore has a sizable population of working women,'' says Hema Karunakaran, deputy police commissioner.

Early this year, police have ensured constitution of anti-sexual harassment committees in all offices and industrial units in the city. "We are regularly monitoring whether the institutions and entrepreneurs are effectively operating their anti-harassment committees,'' said Hema.

"While comparing with other cities with similar population of Coimbatore, women are almost safe here. Travelling alone after 10pm may be troublesome for women in the city. But during the rest of the time, nobody feel insecure here. Women seldom face harassment in public places and the involvement of women in public sphere is high in Coimbatore,'' says Vanitha Mohan, managing trustee of Siruthuli, an NGO. She also cites high educational level and living standards of Coimbatore residents as the reason for safety of women in the city.

According to police sources, the rape and murder of two school children last year and the encounter death of the prime accused in the case have played a significant role in dispiriting a number of habitual offenders known for crimes against women. Even the general crime rate started diminishing since then, claims the city police.

According to Bindu Rajiv, a city-based women rights activist, women in Coimbatore are facing more domestic violence than public harassments. "The media often reports suicide of a number of women by consuming cow dung powder. In most of such cases, the reason may be dowry or cruelty on the part of husband and family. It is the duty of police to give a satisfying explanation on how poor housewives easily get cow dung powder for suicide though it is officially banned,'' she asks.

"While sexual harassments and abuses often gets reported and the responsible persons are being subjected to quick police action, most domestic violence cases often gets unreported in the city. Family pressures are preventing women from even approaching helplines. But the number of women finding treatment for mental trouble are on the increase in the city,'' she points out.

2012-01-15T09:29:00.001-08:00

CIC tells high court to get its act right on RTI

HYDERABAD: The AP High Court was pulled up by the Central Information Commission (CIC) for its failure to adhere to the RTI Act. Nine other high courts besides AP's have been given three months time to get their act right.

The CIC was reacting to a complaint filed by Hyderabad-based RTI activist C J Karira and Mani Ram Sharma of Rajasthan between December 2009 and March 2010. The complainants had stated that there was no disclosure of information under section 4 (1) (b) of the RTI Act by the courts. The case came up for hearing on December 30, 2011 and the order was passed on Thursday, ordering the high courts to fall in line within three months.

2012-01-15T08:57:00.001-08:00

Treat those who drink and drive as criminals.

The Supreme Court's landmark ruling to uphold the Bombay High Court's decision to try a case of drunken driving with fatal consequences as one of culpable homicide is as much welcome as it has been long overdue. On Thursday, a three-member Bench of the apex court, hearing the case of Alister Anthony Pereira, upheld the High Court's sentencing of the accused under the harsher provision of Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code to three years in prison and observed that such crimes really deserved the maximum sentence prescribed of 10 years for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

After all, a thoroughly drunk Pereira had run over five migrant workers and two children who were sleeping on a pavement in Mumbai on November 12, 2006. On April 13, 2007, Pereira was convicted by a lower court of causing death by a rash and negligent act under Section 304A, and awarded the maximum sentence of six months in jail and fined Rs 5 lakh. The huge public outcry that followed prompted the Bombay High Court to take up the case, which then convicted Pereira of culpable homicide and awarded him three years of incarceration.

It was an unprecedented ruling that changed the fundamental interpretation of a crime — death caused by drunken driving became culpable homicide. For the first time in the history of India's criminal justice system, it has now been made clear that those who drive under the influence of alcohol do so in the full knowledge of its dangerous consequences and hence are indeed responsible for any untoward incident that may take place.

Up until this point, all cases of death due to drunken driving had been tried on the assumption that, since the accused was drunk and not in control of his or her actions, he or she did not have the requisite mens rea or the intent to kill. By that lopsided logic, those guilty of causing death and injury due to drunken driving got away with insignificant punishment.

Now that the Supreme Court has effectively demolished that defence, those who choose to drink and drive will also be held fully accountable for their actions. Indeed, there is a long list of such people — some of them hailing from influential families who have gone free on bail within hours of snuffing out lives through their drunken driving — who deserve to be tried for a crime no different from that of cold-blooded murder.

It will be interesting to see whether the numerous cases of deaths caused by drunken driving pending before courts across the country, with some in the Supreme Court, will be treated with the harshness that the apex court has suggested. Only when people behind such deaths are made to pay for their crime will their examples become effective deterrents for others who now do not think twice before taking to their killer wheels.

2012-01-13T02:20:00.001-08:00

CREATE MORE COURTS FOR SPEEDY JUSTICE-Supreme Court of India

DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday said pendency of 3 crore cases could not be effectively dealt with unless the government created more courts and filled vacancies because annual disposal of cases by trial courts, high courts and the Supreme Court only matched the numbers filed every year, leaving the backlog untouched.

If a bench of Justices A K Ganguly and T S Thakur questioned additional solicitor general Harin Raval on the Centre's policy decisions on judicial reforms including speeding up of justice delivery, another bench of Justices A K Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar was critical of the UPA government's decision to scrap fast-track courts.

The bench of Justices Ganguly and Thakur accepted Raval's contention that it would be a mismatch if the government was asked to create more posts of judges when a large number of such posts was lying vacant.

But it wanted to know from the ASG whether any of the policy decisions intended to create more courts in view of a finding that the country would require 75,000 more trial judges in the next three decades.

It asked the Centre to refer to the Law Commission, which is doing a comprehensive study in this regard, to include in its terms of reference the need for increasing the number of courts and ways and means to deal with the vacancy problem.

On the other hand, amicus curiae and senior advocate P S Narasimha drew the attention of a bench of Justices Patnaik and Kumar to the scrapping of fast-track courts from March 31, 2011.

The bench said during the All India Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Ministers, there was unanimity that FTCs had played a constructive role in reducing arrears and should be continued.

It looked into the law ministry's file relating to discontinuation of these courts and found that a decision had been taken to run morning and evening courts in place of fast-track courts. Narasimha said whenever there was an attempt to hinder speedy justice, constitutional courts had inherent power to take necessary corrective measures to ensure financial grants to sustain existing justice delivery system. The bench reserved verdict on the issue.

2012-01-06T07:05:00.001-08:00

2 yrs after he got plot, HC judge ruled on allotments

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Debabrata Mohanty

Posted: Jan 04, 2012 at 0124 hrs IST

Federalism, a ruse

Sudhanshu Ranjan

Anti-corruption law

The anguish expressed by different parties over the trampling of the states' rights is an excuse to block the anti-corruption law.

Certain shibboleths are invoked time and again to put a façade on the real intention. This is exactly the case with federalism over which not only the Opposition parties but also some constituents of the UPA lambasted the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 introduced in Parliament in the last winter session. In fact, the session was specially extended to pass the bill but the issue of federalism proved to be the Gordian knot which could not be untied.

These parties fulminated against the provision to set up the institution of lokaykta in states under Article 253 of the Constitution which empowers Parliament to make law for the whole or any part of the territory of India. They, instead, wanted such a law made under Article 252 under which Parliament can legislate for two or more states with their consent and the legislation may be adopted by any other state.

Federalism is a basic feature of the Constitution as held by the Supreme Court in S R Bommai vs Union (1994). It was for the first time that the presidential notification under Article 356 was tested on the touchstone of the basic structure doctrine though earlier only constitutional amendments were put to such a test. However, the Supreme Court as itself accepted it in a catena of decisions that India is a quasi-federal state. It is so because the Union has been bequeathed many overriding powers over the state. The most draconian of these powers is given under Article 356 under which the Union can dismiss any state government.

Parliament can legislate for states in the national interest (Article 249) or during the pendency of Emergency (Article 250). Articles 252 and 253 are such provisions but the difference is that under Article 252,states are not enjoined to legislate but under Article 253, it is mandatory for states to make the law accordingly. Several laws have been made under Article 253 earlier also like The Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985; The Consumer Protection Act, 1986; The Protection of the Human Rights Act, 1993; The Right to Information Act, 2005, etc., but no brouhaha was created. However, in the present Lokpal Bill,setting up of the office of Lokayukta by the state has been made optional.

In such a case, some states may never create such an office as happened in the case of human rights commission.

Not much use was made of Article 253 for about two decades after the commencement of the Constitution, but recourse to it is being taken quite frequently since mid-1970s. Almost all legislations pertaining to environment have been made under it. Besides, laws relating to TRIPS in conformity with WTO are being enacted under it.

However, questions have been raised about the desirability and legality of the treaties becoming operative and binding without prior or subsequent participation of Parliament in their making. That is why, the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (2002) recommended the involvement of people's representatives in Parliament in the exercise of the treaty making power of the government as treaties may encroach upon the rights of the states or even of the Union.

After a failed experiment

In fact, modern sovereign nation-states emerged in the wake of the treaty of Westphalia (1648) at the collapse of the Austro-German Holy Roman Empire. The first modern federal nation-state came into existence in 1787 in the aftermath of the failed experiment of The Articles of Confederation (1777) created by the Continental Congress. The attempt at confederation failed as the centre proved to be too weak to hold the states.

So, a decade later, the Philadelphia Convention (1787) created a Constitution which was characterised by a sense of nationalities that was more regionalist than nationalist.

Commenting on the US federal system in 1939, Harold Laski predicted the death of federalism saying that "the epoch of federalism was over, and that only a centralised system can effectively confront the problems of the new time."

After independence, India opted for a strong Centre to check fissiparous tendencies as the independence had been achieved at the cost of country's vivisection and several provinces were crying hoarse for freedom. So, the Union was given many powers which should not have been given under normal circumstances as some of these powers legitimately belong to states. All India services like the IAS, IPS, etc., are also an anathema to federalism as even the selection is done by the UPSC and officers are foisted on states.

It is a unique feature of the Indian Constitution which is not found in any other country. But since it was adopted by the Constituent Assembly, and Sardar Patel spoke eloquently in its favour, not much noise was made. Still, four states had demanded the abolition of all India services before the Sarkaria Commission. Similar is the case with the judiciary. The subordinate judiciary works under the high court which is not set up by the state and its judges are appointed by the Centre.

However, there has been a paradigm shift after 1989 when the first coalition government took over at the Centre. Now, states have become quite powerful and regional satraps dictate terms to even the prime minister. So, the Union government cannot crush the rights of states as was common under one-party rule. Now, there is no misuse of Article 356 which was earlier imposed at the drop of a hat.

Therefore, states are quite strong and the Centre cannot misbehave with them. However, quite clearly, the anguish expressed by different parties over the encroachment of the jurisdiction of states is only a shenanigan to block the anti-corruption law. It is a bitter truth that no party wants the Lokpal to be set up, and so, everyone has a coruscating argument to block it.

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2012-01-01T04:31:00.001-08:00

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2011-12-23T18:21:00.001-08:00

The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955(PCR Act), prescribes punishment for practice of untouchability. The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989,(PoA Act), is an Act , inter-alia, to prevent the commission of offences against members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, to provide for special courts for trial of such offences and relief and rehabilitation of victims of such offences. Nevertheless, this Ministry does not administer any statute in regard to development of Scheduled Castes.

As per the data of National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, number of Scheduled Castes related cases registered by police, under the PCR and PoA Acts, percentage of cases ending in conviction, acquittal and pendency thereof, during 2008-2010, is indicated in the table below:-

Year	Number of cases registered under:		% of cases disposed of by courts, ending in:-				% of cases pending in courts under:
	Number of cases registered under:		Conviction under:		Acquittal under:		% of cases pending in courts under:
	PCR Act	PoA Act	PCR Act	PoA Act	PCR Act	PoA Act	PCR Act	PoA Act
2008	248	33367	12.8	32.0	87.2	68.0	79.3	76.8
2009	168	33426	16.7	29.7	83.3	70.3	80.4	81.6
2010	143	32569	21.7	35.2	78.3	64.8	78.7	81.9

It is seen from the above table that whereas the number of such cases registered during 2010 under the two Acts declined vis-à-vis cases registered during 2009, the percentage of disposal of cases, ending in conviction, increased during the corresponding period.

The two Acts are implemented by State Government/Union Territory Administrations, which are provided Central assistance mainly for strengthening of enforcement and judicial machinery, publicity and awareness generation, relief amount to the victims of atrocities etc. This Ministry has been addressing them to implement provisions of the two Acts in letter and spirit, with specific emphasis on setting up of exclusive special courts for speedy trial of cases, sensitization of investigating officers, mass awareness programmes, review of cases ending in acquittal. Ministry of Home Affairs has also been advising them, inter-alia, regarding steps that need to be taken to afford a greater measure of protection to SCs and STs.

A Committee under the Chairpersonship of Union Minster for Social Justice & Empowerment which was constituted in the year 2006, also reviews implementation of the two Acts in State/UTs. The Committee has so far held seventeen meetings wherein implementation of the two Acts in 24 States and 4 Union Territories has been reviewed.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri D. Napoleon in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha in December,2011.

Donation

2011-12-23T07:57:00.001-08:00

Donation

I'm Sister Rebecca native from France: I'm married to Late Mr John Barry of blessed memory who was a well known as cocoa dealer in Ivory Coast Abidjan to UK for through out his life before he died in the year 2010. We were married for eleven years without a child.He died when Ivory Coast are having political crisis started on 28 November 2010. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of 2.5.Million (USD) in one bank here.

Presently this money is still with the bank and I'm ill from cancer of the lug despite the fibroid and tumor which denied me a child as a result I may not last till the next Two Months according to my doctor report. Having known my condition I decided to handle you this Funds with trust and direction from GOD as donation. Meanwhile I want you to claim this Funds from the bank as I'm going to direct you which will benefit you and needy. I decided to donate 80% of the Funds to needy like Orphanages Widows Charity through you. Moreover 20% is for your compensation in cause any expenses along. My doctor said that I did not need any telephone communication do to my health.

Whoever that wants to serve GOD must serve him in spirit and Truth. Contact me back if you can handle this transaction project with sincerity and truth. I Need Your Full Name, Your Occupation, Your Office or Home Address, Your Age, so that will give you more details about this donation. Forward them with my private email mrsrebeccabarry01@yahoo.co.jp. Asalamalakum. Always pray for me. GOD Bless You. From Sister Rebecca.

2011-12-22T06:00:00.001-08:00

Women cannot be accused of adultery as the law considers the position of a married woman "almost" as a property of her husband, ruled the Supreme Court in a recent judgement.

The judgement rendered by a Bench of Justices Aftab Alam and RM Lodha discussed the criticism emerging out of this controversial provision of Section 497 dealing with the offence of 'adultery' under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). However, it failed to redress the same and instead, followed the letter of the law to acquit a woman accused under this crime.

The case related to Andhra Pradesh where the police had accused a married man and his girlfriend of having illicit relationship on a complaint given by the man's wife. She alleged cruelty and torture ever since her marriage in February 2007, claiming that her husband maintained illicit relationships with the girlfriend even in her presence.

On the complaint given by wife, an offence of adultery (Section 497) was slapped against the man and his girlfriend although Section 497 specifically states, "In such case, the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor."

Using the benefit of this exception under law, the accused woman approached the apex court after the Andhra Pradesh HC dismissed her petition and directed her to be prosecuted for the crime.

Realising the prevailing confusion which possibly could have led the High Court to order so, the apex Bench said, "The provision is currently under criticism from certain quarters for showing a strong gender bias for it makes the position of a married woman almost as a property of her husband."

Even the language of Section 497 is worded in like manner, "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man…." Justice Alam, who wrote the judgment for the Bench said, "In terms of the law as it stands, it is evident from a plain reading of the Section that only a man can be proceeded against and punished for the offence of adultery."

Giving effect to this reasoning, it went on to quash the case against the petitioner woman by saying, "The mere fact that the appellant is a woman makes her completely immune to the charge of adultery and she cannot be proceeded against for that offence."

2011-12-22T03:36:00.001-08:00

UID Project scrapped

The report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee(PSC) on Finance has
dealt a fatal blow to the UID project. In terming the project
"directionless" and "conceptualised with no clarity of purpose", the
Standing Committee report resonates with concerns that have been raised in
civil society since the inception of the project. The PSC report endorses
the issues raised in the Statement of Concern of Eminent Citizens that was
released in New Delhi on September 28,2010 at the press conference in the
Press Club.
Confidentiality of data, errors in enrolment, the linking up of data bases,
the risks of outsourcing, duplication of enrolment and of costs have led
the Standing Committee to the conclusion that this is a project that
was carried on in haste and entirely lawless. Collection of biometrics, in
both the UID project and the NPR, has been found to be illegal in both the
UID project and the NPR.

This delegitimises the MoUs and contracts entered into by the UIDAI with
multiple registrars including state governments and banks. The project has
been asked to be taken back to the drawing board.

For Details:Ramesh, Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF), Phone:
+91-11-2651781,

Fax: +91-11-26517814, Mb: 9818089660

2011-12-09T03:28:00.001-08:00

Mohd Umar, suspected of rape and murder, was taken to the Haldi police station in Uttar Pradesh in March 2010. On the night of his arrest at around 5.30am, police claim Umar tried to commit suicide by hanging himself with a towel. Barely alive he was rushed to hospital, where he died.

According to a recent report from the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), four people die every day in Indian police cells. Over 90 percent of those who die have been tortured. In Umar's case the magisterial report found that his death was due to police torture. Two main officers of the Haldi police station were accused of tampering with documents in an attempt to make Umar's death look like suicide.

Banning torture
"The Indian government has shown no commitment to addressing the issue of custodial torture," says, Suhas Chakma, director of the ACHR. "They're afraid that by implementing laws against torture, they'll have to start prosecuting their own police officers and start paying large compensations to the victims."
India is still not part of the UN Human Rights committee, and has failed to introduce the Prevention of Torture Bill in parliament. This bill would show the UN that the government is committed to change. But banning torture from Indian police departments has not been high on the government's to-do list.

Poorly trained
Unable to cope with the responsibility of bringing justice, many Indian policemen resort to the use of physical violence. Police brutality has become the norm in Indian departments, it appears from the ACHR report. Beating, blackmail and using electric shocks have all become accepted methods of questioning.
"Most Indian policemen lack the skills to find convincing evidence after a crime is committed. The conviction rate in incredibly low in India and most of the convictions are based on forced confessions," Says Meenakshi Ganguly, head of Human Rights Watch India.
Between 2001 and 2010, 14,000 people died in police custody. Though most of these deaths were due to the effects of torture, bad hygiene was a factor in some cases as well. And ACHR chief Suhas Chakma thinks this figure is only the tip of the iceberg.
"This is only the number of deaths reported to the National Human Rights Watch, were we get our numbers from. The armed forces are not obligated to report what happens in their holding cells. I believe this number is only 50% percent of the actual incidents that occur," says Suhas Chakma.
There is a second reason why the numbers given by the NHRC are skewed, according the ACHR report. Many of the deaths that happen in police custody are written off as accidental deaths, suicides or natural deaths. Post mortem investigation often refutes these police claims.

A vision of reform
Since 1978 various committees have been set up to reform a police system that dates back to British rule. But to date not a single suggestion they have made has been implemented by the Indian government. The lack of legislation has allowed the Indian Police system to deteriorate over the years.
The committees have pointed out obvious flaws. Police are underpaid, there is a lack of strong leadership and little accountability for officers that go astray. Another major cause of concern is the strong influence politicians have on the police departments. This makes reforming the system especially difficult.
"The committees have advised a reform that would decrease the political influence. The Supreme Court has even ratified it, in the Prakash Singh Judgement, but the implementation of this report has been pathetic," Says Navaz Kotwal, who works for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative on a police reform programme aimed at increasing police accountability.
The Kerala police department is one that Navaz Kotwal is working closely with. Guided by Director General of Police Jacob Punnoos, it sets a standard for other departments, says Kotwal.
"DGP Punnoos has managed to involve the community and work together with them. The department is open to feedback by organizations like mine. We're really happy to see how willing they are to become more transparent"
But Kotwal realizes to that much of this change is led by the vision of one man, Jacob Punnoos, who is due to retire shortly. She can only hope his successor is equally dedicated to the cause.

Fwd: Fw: SMALL STATE CONCEPT ORGANISED BY ABSU

2011-11-28T10:59:00.001-08:00

dear all,

THIS IS INVITATION.........

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: vindhyala jaya <jaya_pucl@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 12:09 AM
Subject: Fw: SMALL STATE CONCEPT ORGANISED BY ABSU
To: jaya12265@gmail.com

DEAR ALL,

THIS IS INVITATION..

With Regards

JAYA VINDHYALA
ADVOCATE
PRESIDENT, PUCL-AP
16-8-908/7, MALAKPET "X" ROADS
HYDERABAD-500 024.

PHONE: 094404-30263.
FAX: 040-24414736

--- On Fri, 25/11/11, vindhyala jaya <jaya_pucl@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: vindhyala jaya <jaya_pucl@yahoo.com>
Subject: Fw:
To: "professor vinod" <professorvinod@gmail.com>
Date: Friday, 25 November, 2011, 11:34 PM

Vinodgaaru,

please see these invitation AND CONCEPT LETTER which was send by PRAMOD BORO...

With Regards

JAYA VINDHYALA
ADVOCATE
PRESIDENT, PUCL-AP
16-8-908/7, MALAKPET "X" ROADS
HYDERABAD-500 024.

PHONE: 094404-30263.
FAX: 040-24414736

--- On Fri, 25/11/11, vindhyala jaya <jaya_pucl@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: vindhyala jaya <jaya_pucl@yahoo.com>
Subject:
To: jaya_pucl@yahoo.com, jaya12265@gmail.com
Date: Friday, 25 November, 2011, 11:25 PM

Madam,

Please see the invitation letter and concept paper of the national seminar.

and forward it to Gaali Binod Kumarji also.

Pramod Boro
With Regards

JAYA VINDHYALA
ADVOCATE
PRESIDENT, PUCL-AP
16-8-908/7, MALAKPET "X" ROADS
HYDERABAD-500 024.

PHONE: 094404-30263.
FAX: 040-24414736

2011-11-22T19:37:00.001-08:00

 "Torture in India 2011" report states that a total of 14,231 persons i.e. more than four persons per day died in police and judicial custody in India from 2001 to 2010. This includes 1,504 deaths in police custody and 12,727 deaths in judicial custody from 2001-2002 to 2009-2010 as per the cases submitted to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).  A large majority of these deaths are a direct consequence of torture in custody. These deaths reflect only a fraction of the problem with torture and custodial deaths in India as not all the cases of deaths in police and prison custody are reported to the NHRC. Further, the NHRC does not have jurisdiction over the armed forces and the NHRC also does not record statistics of torture not resulting into death.  The failure of the Ministry of Home Affairs to introduce the Prevention of Torture Bill drafted by the Rajya Sabha Select Committee headed by Shri Ashwani Kumar, the current Minister of State for Planning, in December 2010 in the parliament session beginning on 22 November 2011 demonstrates India's lack of political will to stamp out torture.  "India is yet to realize the cost of not having anti-torture law in compliance with UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) that led to rejection extradition of Kim Davy, the prime accused in the Purulia arms drop case by the Danish High Court in June 2011; the direction of a British Court in July 2011 to depute a human rights expert to visit the prisons in Gujarat to examine the prison conditions before it grants extradition of Mohammad Hanif Umerji Patel, alias Tiger Hanif, the alleged mastermind of the 1993 bomb blast in Surat; and cancellation of the extradition of Abul Salem by the Portuguese High Court in September 2011 on the ground that he was tortured in custody following extradition. That torture is non-derogable even in war and a crime against humanity is yet to be recognized by India." – stated Asian Centre for Human Rights in its press release.   TORTURE AND DEATHS IN POLICE CUSTODY: MAHARASHTRA TOPS THE CHART  During 2001-2010, Maharashtra recorded the highest number of deaths in police custody with 250 deaths; followed by Uttar Pradesh (174); Gujarat (134); Andhra Pradesh (109); West Bengal (98); Tamil Nadu (95); Assam (84); Karnataka (67); Punjab (57); Madhya Pradesh (55); Haryana (45); Bihar (44); Kerala (42); Jharkhand (41); Rajasthan (38); Orissa (34); Delhi (30); Chhattisgarh (24); Uttarakhand (20); Meghalaya (17); Arunachal Pradesh (10); Tripura (8); Jammu and Kashmir (6); Himachal Pradesh (5); Goa; Chandigarh and Pondicherry (3 each); Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland (2 each);  and Sikkim and Dadra and Nagar Haveli (1 each).  "About 99.99% of deaths in police custody can be ascribed to torture and occur within 48 hours of the victims being taken into custody. Though Maharashtra has a total population of 112 million in comparison to 199 million in Uttar Pradesh according to 2011 census, the fact that 76 more persons were killed in police custody in Maharashtra shows that torture is more rampant in police custody in Maharashtra than Uttar Pradesh." - further asserted Mr Chakma.  Citing the case of Mohd Umar alias Badkau (http://www.nhrc.nic.in/display.asp?fno=10570/24/9/2010-AD), accused of kidnapping and rape, who allegedly committed inside Haldi Police Station in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh by hanging himself with a towel inside the lock-up on 21 March 2010, Asian Centre for Human Rights stated that the post mortem report found eight contusions on various parts and ligature mark around the neck and indicated that the cause of death was due to asphyxia as a result of ante mortem hanging. The magisterial enquiry report opined that deceased died due to police torture and held In-charge of the Police Station, Brij Kishore Yadav, Head Moherar Sanjay Verma, Lock up Sentry, Constable Ishwardin Shukla and Co-prisoner Vijay Shankar Pandey jointly responsible for this death. The Investigating Officer of case S.K. Surya (Sub Inspector) and Constable Dev Baksh Singh were also found responsible or tampering with the documents.   TORTURE AND DEATHS IN JUDICIAL CUSTODY: UTTAR PRADESH TOPS THE CHART  During 2001-2010, 12,727 deaths in judicial custody took place. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of deaths in judicial custody with 2171 deaths, followed by Bihar (1512); Maharashtra (1176); Andhra Pradesh (1037); Tamil Nadu (744); Punjab (739); West Bengal (601); Jharkhand (541); Madhya Pradesh (520); Karnataka (496); Rajasthan (491); Gujarat (458); Haryana (431); Orissa (416); Kerala (402); Chhattisgarh (351); Delhi (224); Assam (165); Uttarakhand (91); Himachal Pradesh (29); Tripura (26); Meghalaya (24); Chandigarh (23); Goa (18); Arunachal Pradesh (9); Pondicherry (8); Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland (6 each); Mizoram (4); Sikkim and Andaman and Nicober Island (3 each); and Manipur and Dadra and Nagar Haveli (1 each).  A large of number of these deaths are a result of torture, denial of medical facilities and sub-human conditions in Indian jails.  CUSTODIAL DEATHS IN CONFLICT SITUATIONS NOT COLLECTED:  ACHR stated that the number of deaths in police custody recorded from conflict afflicted states like Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur do not reflect the gravity of the situation. The NHRC registered only six deaths in police custody in Jammu and Kashmir from 2001-02 to 2010-11, while only two cases of deaths in police custody were recorded from Manipur during the same period. This is despite the fact that on 31 March 2011 Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in a written reply before the Legislative Council stated that 341 persons had died in police custody in the state since 1990.  CUSTODIAL RAPE OF WOMEN:  ACHR stated that custodial rape remains one of the worst forms of torture perpetrated on women by law enforcement personnel and a number of custodial rape of women takes place at regular intervals.  The NHRC recorded 39 cases of rape from judicial and police custody from 2006 to 28 February 2010.  Citing the case of Maloti Kalandi (http://www.nhrc.nic.in/display.asp?fno=169/3/0/2010-PCR), wife of Badal Kalandi who along with children were rescued from being trafficked, were handed over to the Tamulpur police station, Baksa district of Assam for safe custody. Instead of providing safety, Sub-Inspector Sahidur Rahman summoned the victim to his official quarter and raped her. The accused has since been suspended and is being tried before the Courts. The NHRC awarded interim compensation of Rs 100,000/- to the victim.  TORTURE BY THE ARMED OPPOSITION GROUPS: MAOISTS THE WORST VIOLATORS  Asian Centre for Human Rights stated that the Maoists remain the worst violators of human rights including torture and they have been responsible for brutal killing of their hostages after abduction. Often the hostages were killed by slitting their throats or beheading. The suspects were tried and handed over death sentences or subjected to torture through the socalled "Jan Adalats" (Peoples' Courts) in full public view to instill fear among the people.  On the night of 25 March 2010, Maoists slit the throat of Chhotu Manjhi after kidnapping him from Gamahariatard village under Pirtard police station in Giridih district of Jharkhand. He was taken to a forest where he was killed in the presence of villagers after Jan Adalat found him guilty of passing information to the police.  RECOMMENDATIONS:  Asian Centre for Human Rights called upon the Government of India to enact the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010 as drafted by the Parliamentary Select Committee without any dilution into a law. ACHR also recommended the NHRC to recommend prosecution of the guilty public officials in all the cases in which compensation is recommended.

2011-11-22T10:18:00.001-08:00

Set back to 'right to silence'

MADURAI: In a recent judgement, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court has ruled that an accused cannot claim absolute right to silence and is bound to give truthful answers to all relevant questions put to him during the course of investigation. However, he can refuse to reply only such questions the answers to which are likely to incriminate him.

Justice S Nagamuthu gave the ruling while dealing with an important question relating to the conflict between the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution, which an accused possesses, and the larger societal interest in effecting crime detection.

The state government filed a petition challenging an order of the Judicial Magistrate, Karur, declining to authorize the detention of DMK MLA K C Palanisamy in police custody during the initial period of 15 days of remand. The DMK MLA is already facing three cases which relate to alleged sand quarrying from the Cauvery river. Though he was earlier arrested and lodged in prison in connection with the case filed by the Mayanur police, he was formally arrested by the Vangal police on October 1.

Later, the Vangal police sought custody of the accused. When he was produced before the court, Palanisamy submitted that he had no information to pass on to the investigating officer and so not willing for custody. Accepting the submission, the Judicial Magistrate dismissed the police plea. Aggrieved, the state preferred the present criminal original petition. During the hearing, Additional advocate-general K Chellapandian contended that interrogation of the accused in the case was a significant part of the investigation, and therefore, the judicial magistrate was not right in declining custody of the accused.

However, contending that the magisterial order was right, senior counsel for Palanisamy, N R Elango, said the accused enjoyed the right to freedom of speech and expression, which included the freedom to keep silent. In this case, the accused duly submitted before the magistrate that he wanted to exercise his right to keep silent and therefore, there would be no purpose served in authorizing his detention.

Rejecting the contention put forth by the senior counsel, Justice Nagamuthu, after analyzing various judgments of the Supreme Court, said, "During the course of investigation, an accused cannot be compelled to make any statement that is likely to incriminate him. However, for an accused, the freedom to keep silence, emanating from Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India, is subject to reasonable restrictions provided in Section 161(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Thus, if an accused is sought to be interrogated by the police, he is bound to truly answer all questions relating to the case and cannot claim absolute right to silence. The only exception is that he need not answer any question, the answer to which is likely to incriminate him.

2011-11-02T05:11:00.001-07:00

India

Country Profile: Human Development Indicators

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National Human Development Reports for India

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HIGHLIGHT

2011 Report

Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All is available for free download

Year	India	Medium human development	South Asia	World
2011	0.547	0.630	0.548	0.682
2010	0.542	0.625	0.545	0.679
2009	0.535	0.618	0.538	0.676
2008	0.527	0.612	0.532	0.674
2007	0.523	0.605	0.527	0.670
2006	0.512	0.595	0.518	0.664
2005	0.504	0.587	0.510	0.660
2000	0.461	0.548	0.468	0.634
1995	0.437	0.517	0.444	0.613
1990	0.410	0.480	0.418	0.594
1985	0.380	0.450	0.389	0.576
1980	0.344	0.420	0.356	0.558

Human Development Index

Read more about the Human Development Index

Indicators	Value	Notes
Expenditure on health, public (% of GDP)	1.1
Under-five mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)	66
Life expectancy at birth (years)	65.4
Health index (life expectancy)	0.717

Indicators	Value	Notes
Public expenditure on education (% of GDP)	3.1
Expected years of schooling (of children under 7) (years)	10.3	¹
Adult literacy rate, both sexes (% aged 15 and above)	62.8
Mean years of schooling (of adults over 25) (years)	4.4	²
Education index (expected and mean years of schooling)	0.450
Combined gross enrolment in education (both sexes) (%)	62.6

Indicators	Value	Notes
GDP per capita in PPP terms (constant 2005 international $)	2,993
GNI per capita in PPP terms (constant 2005 international $)	3,468
Income index (GNI per capita)	0.508

Indicators	Value	Notes
Income Gini coefficient	36.8
Loss due to inequality in life expectancy (%)	27.1
Loss due to inequality in education (%)	40.6
Loss due to inequality in income (%)	14.7
Inequality-adjusted education index	0.267
Inequality-adjusted life expectancy index	0.522
Inequality-adjusted income index	0.433
Inequality-adjusted HDI	0.392

Indicators	Value	Notes
Multidimensional Poverty Index (%)	0.283	³
MPI: Intensity of deprivation	52.7	⁴
Headcount of MPI poor (% of population)	53.7	⁵
Population living below $1.25 PPP per day (%)	41.6

Indicators	Value	Notes
Population with at least secondary education (Ratio of female to male rates)	0.528
Adolescent fertility rate (births per 1,000 women aged 15-19)	86.3
Labour force participation rate (Ratio of female to male shares)	0.404
Gender Inequality Index	0.617
Shares in parliament, female-male ratio	0.119
Maternal mortality ratio (deaths of women per 100,000 live births)	230

Indicators	Value	Notes
Endangered species (% of all species)	13
Ecological footprint of consumption (global hectares per capita)	0.9
Adjusted net savings (% of GNI)	24.1	⁶
Greenhouse gases per capita (tonnes of CO2 equivalent)	0.7
Fresh water withdrawals (% of actual total renewable water resources)	40.1	⁷
Natural resource depletion (% of GNI)	4.2
Carbon dioxide per capita emission (growth 1970-2008) (%)	3.8
Forest area (thousand ha)	68,144	⁸
Change in forest area (%)	6.6	⁹
Impact of natural disasters: number of deaths (average per year per million people)	2
Impact of natural disasters: population affected (average per year per million people)	41,245
Environmental Performance Index	48.3
Forest area (% of total land area)	22.9
Carbon Dioxide Emissions per capita (tonnes)	1.5

Indicators	Value	Notes
Population, total both sexes (thousands)	1,241,492.0
Population, urban (% of population)	30.3	¹⁰
Population, female (thousands)	600,477.34
Population, male (thousands)	641,014.62

1.	Data refer to 2011 or the most recent year available.
2.	Data refer to 2011 or the most recent year available.
3.	Published in 2011 using data from 2000-2010.
4.	Published in 2011 using data from 2000-2010.
5.	Published in 2011 using data from 2000-2010.
6.	Data refer to the most recent year available during the period specified.
7.	Data refers to latest year between 2008-2012.
8.	The Global Forest Resource Assessment 2010 (FRA 2010) is the main source of forest area data in FAOSTAT. Data were provided by countries for years 1990, 2000, 2005 and 2010. The data collected from official national sources through the questionnaire are supplemented with information from official secondary data sources. The secondary sources cover: official country data from websites of national ministries, national publications and related country data reported by various international organizations. Data for intermediate years were estimated for FAO using linear interpolation and tabulation.
9.	The Change is over the period 1990-2008.
10.	Because data are based on national definitions of what constitutes a city or metropolitan area, cross country comparison should be made with caution.

n.a.	Data not available

Human Development Index: Trends 1980 - present

19801985199019952000200520100.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.80.91.0South AsiaMedium human development WorldIndia

The Human Development Index - going beyond income

Each year since 1990 the Human Development Report has published the Human Development Index (HDI) which was introduced as an alternative to conventional measures of national development, such as level of income and the rate of economic growth. The HDI represents a push for a broader definition of well-being and provides a composite measure of three basic dimensions of human development: health, education and income. India's HDI is 0.547, which gives the country a rank of 134 out of 187 countries with comparable data. The HDI of South Asia as a region increased from 0.356 in 1980 to 0.548 today, placing India below the regional average. The HDI trends tell an important story both at the national and regional level and highlight the very large gaps in well-being and life chances that continue to divide our interconnected world. Learn more

Human Development Index: Health, Education and Income

HDI Health Education Income00.250.50.751Value

FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/IND.html

2011-11-02T04:45:00.001-07:00

2011 Human Development Index covers record 187 countries and territories, puts Norway at top, DR Congo last

HDRO/UNDP
2 November 2011

Inequalities lower HDI rankings for US, Republic of Korea, others

Copenhagen, 2 November 2011—Norway, Australia and the Netherlands lead the world in the 2011 Human Development Index (HDI), while the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger and Burundi are at the bottom of the Human Development Report's annual rankings of national achievement in health, education and income, released today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The United States, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Germany and Sweden round out the top 10 countries in the 2011 HDI, but when the Index is adjusted for internal inequalities in health, education and income, some of the wealthiest nations drop out of the HDI's top 20: the United States falls from #4 to #23, the Republic of Korea from #15 to #32, and Israel from #17 to #25.

The United States and Israel drop in the Report's Inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI) mainly because of income inequality, though health care is also a factor in the US ranking change, while wide education gaps between generations detract from the Republic of Korea's IHDI performance.

Other top national achievers rise in the IHDI due to greater relative internal equalities in health, education and income: Sweden jumps from #10 to #5, Denmark climbs from #16 to #12, and Slovenia rises from #21 to #14.

The IHDI and two other composite indices—the Multidimensional Poverty Index and the Gender Inequality Index—were designed to complement the Human Development Report's HDI, which is based on national averages in schooling, life expectancy, and per capita income. The 2011 HDI covers a record 187 countries and territories, up from 169 in 2010, reflecting in part improved data availability for many small island states of the Caribbean and the Pacific. The 2011 country rankings are therefore not comparable to the 2010 Report's HDI figures, the authors note.

"The Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index helps us assess better the levels of development for all segments of society, rather than for just the mythical 'average' person," said Milorad Kovacevic, chief statistician for the Human Development Report. "We consider health and education distribution to be just as important in this equation as income, and the data show great inequities in many countries.

The 2011 Report—Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All—notes that income distribution has worsened in most of the world, with Latin America remaining the most unequal region in income terms, even though several countries including Brazil and Chile are narrowing internal income gaps. Yet in overall IHDI terms, including life expectancy and schooling, Latin America is more equitable than sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia, the Report shows.

To assess income distribution, as well as varying levels of life expectancy and schooling within national populations, the IHDI uses methodology developed by the renowned British economist Sir Anthony Barnes Atkinson. "We use the Atkinson approach to measure inequalities in health, education and income, because it is more sensitive to changes at the lower end of the scale than the more familiar Gini coefficient," Kovacevic said.

Average HDI levels have risen greatly since 1970—41 percent globally and 61 percent in today's low-HDI countries—reflecting major overall gains in health, education and income. The 2011 HDI charts progress over five years to show recent national trends: 72 nations moved up in rank from 2006 to 2011, led by Cuba (+10 to #51), Venezuela and Tanzania (+7 each to #73 and #152, respectively), while another 72 fell in rank, including Kuwait (-8 to #63) and Finland (-7 to #22).

The 10 countries that place last in the 2011 HDI are all in sub-Saharan Africa: Guinea, Central African Republic, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Chad, Mozambique, Burundi, Niger, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Despite recent progress, these low-HDI nations still suffer from inadequate incomes, limited schooling opportunities, and life expectancies far below world averages due in great part to deaths from preventable and treatable diseases such as malaria and AIDS. In many, these problems are compounded by the destructive legacy of armed conflict. In the lowest-ranking country in the 2011 HDI, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than three million people died from warfare and conflict-linked illness in recent years, prompting the largest peacekeeping operation in UN history.

Gender Inequality Index

The Gender Inequality Index (GII) shows that Sweden leads the world in gender equality, as measured by this composite index of reproduce-tive health, years of schooling, parliamentary representation, and participation in the labour market. Sweden is followed in the gender inequality rankings by the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, Germany, Singapore, Iceland and France.

Yemen ranks as the least equitable of the 146 countries in the GII, followed by Chad, Niger, Mali, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, Liberia, Central African Republic and Sierra Leone. In Yemen, just 7.6 percent of women have a secondary education, compared to 24.4 percent for men; women hold just 0.7 percent of seats in the legislature; and only 20 percent of working-age women are in the paid work force, compared to 74 percent of men.

"In sub-Saharan Africa the biggest losses arise from gender disparities in education and from high maternal mortality and adolescent fertility rates," the Report's authors write. "In South Asia, women lag behind men in each dimension of the GII, most notably in education, national parliamentary representation and labour force participation. Women in Arab states are affected by unequal labour force participation (around half the global average) and low educational attainment."

Multidimensional Poverty Index

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) examines factors at the family level—such as access to clean water and cooking fuel and health services, as well as basic household goods and home construction standards—that together provide a fuller portrait of poverty than income measurements alone.

Some 1.7 billion people in 109 countries lived in 'multidimensional' poverty in the decade ending in 2010, by the MPI calculus, or almost a third of the countries' entire combined population of 5.5 billion. That compares to the 1.3 billion people estimated to live on US$1.25 a day or less, the measure used in the UN Millennium Development Goals, which seeks to eradicate "extreme" poverty by 2015.

Niger has the highest share of multidimensionally poor, at 92 percent of the population, the Report says, followed by Ethiopia and Mali, with 89 percent and 87 percent, respectively. The 10 poorest nations as measured by the MPI are all in sub-Saharan Africa. But the largest group of multidimensionally poor is South Asian: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have some of the highest absolute numbers of MPI poor.

The MPI provides insight into environmental problems in the poorest households, including indoor air pollution and disease from contaminated water supplies. The Report notes that in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, more than 90 percent of the multidimensionally poor cannot afford clean cooking fuel, relying principally on firewood, while some 85 percent lack basic sanitation services.

ABOUT THE Human Development Index (HDI): The HDI has been published annually since the first Human Development Report in 1990 as an alternative measurement of national development, challenging purely economic assessments of progress such as Gross Domestic Product. HDI rankings are recalculated annually using the latest internationally comparable data for health, education and income. The Inequality adjusted HDI (IHDI) was introduced along with the Gender Inequality Index (GII) and Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) in last year's Human Development Report to complement the original HDI, which as a composite measure of national averages does not reflect internal inequalities. Due to data limitations these composite indexes do not gauge other factors considered equally essential elements of human development, such as civic engagement, environmental sustainability or the quality of education and health standards.

2011-10-30T06:37:00.001-07:00

The 2010 UNDP Global Human Development Report- The Real Wealth of Nations:
Pathways to Human Development, introduced a new index, the
Inequality-adjusted HDI aimed at capturing the distributional dimensions of
human development. Three dimensions of HDI i.e. income, education and
health are adjusted for inequalities in attainments across people.
Globally, India is ranked 119 out of 169 countries but loses 32 percent of
its value when adjusted for inequalities.

The 2010 UNDP HDR entitled The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human
Development focuses specifically on inequalities in human development
attainments across countries. To quantify the potential loss because of
such inequalities, the Report introduces three new indices, viz.,
Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI), Gender Inequality Index
and Multi-dimensional Poverty Index.

The Government of India (GoI) has been concerned about rising inequalities
and uneven distribution of the benefits of growth. Accordingly, the thrust
of the 11thFive-Year Plan (2007-12) was on inclusive growth. The
forthcoming 12th Five-Year Plan is expected to deepen and sharpen the focus
on inequalities.

In view of the above, this report presents a methodology and provides
estimates for the Inequality-adjusted HDI for Indian states. The report is
organized as follows: The first section focuses on the methodology adopted
to arrive at these estimates and data sources utilized.

The second section outlines the IHDI estimates for India's states and
findings from the analysis. The paper concludes by highlighting key areas
for further research and policy interventions.

Amidst growing concern over these persistent inequalities, and in light of
government emphasis on inclusive growth, this report calculates the HDI and
Inequality-adjusted HDI for states in India. The methodology adopted is
similar to the approach of the HDR 2010 and data utilized from different
rounds of the National Sample Survey on appropriate variables. To
facilitate a cross-country comparison, the indices are normalized with
reference to the goalposts outlined in the HDR 2010.

When ranked according to global goalposts, Kerala's rank is 99 (between
Philippines and the Republic of Moldova) whereas Orissa is ranked 133
(between Myanmar and Yemen). Amongst India's states, Madhya Pradesh suffers
the greatest loss of HDI due to inequality with 35.74 percent. Variations
in IHDIs across states and a comparative analysis with global averages
reveal that inequality in the distribution of human development is
distinctly more pronounced in India than elsewhere.

Further, loss resulting from inequality varies across dimensions and is
highest in education (43 percent), followed by health and income. Loss
resulting from inequality in education is much higher than the global
average of 28 percent and loss due to inequality in health is 34 percent,
compared to the global average of 21 percent.

The findings of this report suggest that human development outcomes alone,
without measurement of inequalities, may significantly mask the performance
of individual states.

Full report is available at:
http://www.undp.org.in/sites/default/files/reports_publication/IHDI_I...<http://www.undp.org.in/sites/default/files/reports_publication/IHDI_I...>

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2011-10-22T08:10:00.002-07:00

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2011-10-19T03:42:00.001-07:00

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MURDEROUS ATTACK ON ADVOCATE ANANTHEESWARAN BY THUDIYALUR POLICE, COIMBATORE. LAWYERS' SIT-IN PROTEST INSIDE OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE CONTINUES FOR THE 12TH DAY( AND NIGHT ) DEMANDING THE ARREST OF THE UNIFORMED CRIMINALS.

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VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS....

2011-10-17T11:40:00.001-07:00

Date:17-10-11

The Hon'ble Home Minister

Government of Andhra Pradesh (Telangana State)

Hyderabad.

Madam

Sub:- To take action officers who are violating/oppressing the human rights under the guise of arrests during the ongoing agitation of "SAKALA JANULA SAMME" and further to withdraw all the cases registered against agitators. Req. Reg.

It is to be stated that the action of the Government through its Police force would clearly show that they have been violating the Human Rights under the guise of curbing the Sakala Janula Samme agitation demanding for the separate statehood of Telangana ( September 13, 2011). It is clearly understood that the actions initiated by the Police i.e., the recent attempt to murder on Swamy Goud who is leading the Telangana NGO's, the indiscriminate lathi-charge on students, women and all other sectors of the Society who have been participating in the agitations demanding the Separate Statehood of Telangana. The highhanded action of the Government in sending armed forces to the places where agitations have been taking place without any arms and illegally detaining the Osmania University students campus and such other things would crystal clearly goes to show that the human rights are being violated. Earlier also your Government did not take any action against the persons who violated Human Rights. Further your Government has also failed to implement the Orders of Justice Subhashan Reddy, Former Chairman State Human Rights Commission which is very unfortunate.

The History says that the demand for Separate Statehood of Telangana will be there till the peoples dream is achieved and it cannot be oppressed by any means. However, we request you to stop these unethical attempts for oppressing the agitation and further we demand you to stop taking any sort of decisions that is depriving the legitimate rights of the People of Telangana in various sectors such as Employment, Education, Industries, and Socially, Economically, Politically and other related issues and to save guard the interests of People of Telangana.

The Central and State Governments are thinking that they are taking steps for curbing the demand for separate statehood but at the same time they are forgetting that they are violating the Human Rights. The recent arrests of the Women and many other students and agitators who participated in the Rail Roko incident would clearly show how the human rights have been violated and further it also shows that how the false cases have been registered against innocents.

Hence, we therefore strongly demand your Government to take stringent actions against the officers who violated the human rights and further we also demand to withdraw all the cases registered against the agitators.

With Warm Regards,

Jaya Vindhyala, Iqbal Khan, Muthyal Yadav, Chandrakala, Aslam, Vital Rao, Riazuddin, Rajendra Prasad AND Prakash, PUCL,AP #16-8-908/7, Malakpet Xroad, Hyderabad—24, cell: 9440430263, 9396320723

With Regards

JAYA VINDHYALA
ADVOCATE
PRESIDENT, PUCL-AP
16-8-908/7, MALAKPET "X" ROADS
HYDERABAD-500 024.

PHONE: 094404-30263.
FAX: 040-24414736

LETTER TO HOME MINISTER OF AP

2011-10-17T11:30:00.001-07:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: vindhyala jaya <jaya_pucl@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, Oct 17, 2011 at 11:49 PM
Subject:
To: "jaya12265@gmail.com" <jaya12265@gmail.com>

With Regards

JAYA VINDHYALA
ADVOCATE
PRESIDENT, PUCL-AP
16-8-908/7, MALAKPET "X" ROADS
HYDERABAD-500 024.

PHONE: 094404-30263.
FAX: 040-24414736

2011-10-15T20:41:00.001-07:00

14 October 2011 – United Nations agencies tasked with tackling global hunger today highlighted the need for concerted efforts to address the root causes, focusing on the need to ensure that children have enough to eat, and addressing the factors that make food unaffordable for so many.

To mark the annual World Food Day, which falls on Sunday, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) noted that price fluctuations, especially upswings, are a major threat to food security in developing countries, where the poor are particularly hard hit.

It cited World Bank data indicating that rising food costs pushed nearly 70 million people into extreme poverty in 2010-2011.

Good nutritious food is the very foundation of healthy children and nations. It is time for us to end hunger and malnutrition among children once and for all.

FAO chose the theme of 'Food Prices – From Crisis to Stability' for this year's Day to shed light on the trend and what can be done to mitigate its impact on the most vulnerable.

"Greater policy coordination in international food trade can reduce volatility by helping maintain an assured flow of goods. FAO supports the multilateral negotiations under the World Trade Organization and the elimination of trade-distorting agricultural subsidies in rich countries," according to the agency's information note.

On food commodities speculation, FAO research suggests that while it might not trigger price movements, it could exaggerate their size and duration.

Mitigating the effects of price volatility, national or regional safety nets, possibly featuring emergency food reserves, can help ensure food supplies to needy and vulnerable groups during crises, according to FAO. Poor consumers can also be assisted with cash or food vouchers and producers helped with inputs such as fertilizer and seeds.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP), for its part, is marking the Day with an effort to connect the lives and dreams of hungry children in developing countries with activists and supporters who are in a position to help them, through a new online platform.

"Good nutritious food is the very foundation of healthy children and nations. It is time for us to end hunger and malnutrition among children once and for all," said Josette Sheeran, the WFP Executive Director.

"But many children never get to realize their ambitions. Good nutrition provides the basic foundation for a better future. The onus is on all of us to mobilise the resources and awareness to make the dreams of every child come true."

WFP also launched its "Feed a Child, Feed a Dream," initiative ahead of World Food Day to provide a glimpse into the lives and aspirations of some of the children around the world who are receiving food from the agency, and to demonstrate how easy it is to help.

Visitors to www.wfp.org/dreams can meet children such as Guilaye of Senegal who likes talking about football during his school breaks, and aspires to be president, or Shiva from India, who is scared of nothing but snakes, and wants to become a sweetshop owner.

The platform also invites visitors to share their dreams of what they wanted to be when they were children, and to provide a donation that can feed a child for as little as 25 cents a day.

"It's heart-warming to hear what each of these children want to achieve in their lives, and inspiring to help them dream big," said Ms. Sheeran. "When I was young, I dreamed of helping build a better world. Each and every one of these children is our future – we owe them the basic right to be free from hunger," she added.

In a related development, WFP and LG Electronics have unveiled an innovation in digital technology to help in the fight against hunger.

On the latest LG Smart TVs, which combine the advanced technology of Internet-linked television, owners will have access to an application that allows them to directly participate in global efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1, which calls for the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. The launch of the application will take place during World Food Week, which runs from Monday until 23 October.

"This partnership allows us to use LG's cutting edge technology to make a dent in the biggest global social problem of our time – world hunger," said Nancy Roman, the WFP Director of Communications, Public Policy and Private Partnerships. "With this app, we can reach new audiences and enlist their support for this crucial work."

The Smart TV application will allow owners to donate to WFP through the WeFeedback campaign, the agency's social media tool that encourages users to make a difference in the lives of hungry schoolchildren.

UN News Service

2011-09-30T07:07:00.001-07:00

UIDAI PROJECT - A NATIONAL WASTE

It seems as if Nandan Nilekani's grandiose Aadhaar Unique ID project will not be all that it is cracked up to be: a simple 12-digit number that will serve as both identity and authentication for all 1.2 billion-and-odd resident Indians.

Many players are planning to throw a spanner in the works.

The Reserve Bank says Aadhaar is not good enough to open a bank account – for its address proof rigours are skimpier than what the central bank has mandated in its know-your-customer (KYC) rules. Even without Aadhaar, KYC rules are giving nightmares to customers anyway.

The home ministry says the data collected by the Unique ID project is not good enough for its own National Population Register (NPR) – a project to provide citizens with identity cards. A Business Standard report says the home ministry wants to collect its own data since it finds the Unique ID Authority of India's (UIDAI's) data unreliable. It also thinks iris scanning is a waste of money.

The newspaper quotes a top NPR source as saying: "We can collect the data for the whole country by 2014 and at half the cost." Not unthinkable, since the home ministry uses free census workers at the state level to gather its NPR data, while UIDAI pays Rs 50 per person to registrars involved in biometric data collection.

The finance ministry, eager to trim expenses where it can, is now planning to take a pair of scissors to Nilekani's budget saying the same work is being duplicated.

Chidambaram and Nilekani are planning to spend real money to do essentially the same thing. AFP

While the home ministry's NPR-cum-national identity cards project is budgeted to cost Rs 13,438 crore, UIDAI's project for collecting biometric information from every resident India is to cost Rs 17,864 crore.

That's a total cost of Rs 31,302 crore for two ID projects that are essentially gathering the same data from the same people.

The Planning Commission is planning to stick a knife in by saying UIDAI's finances must be subject to proper oversight. It is suggesting a full-time financial advisor to look at Nilekani's books.

Dr Manmohan Singh, here's a scam you can take credit for nipping in the bud.

You and Soniaji have just made Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram shake hands over the 25 March 2G note. Mukherjee and Chidambaran – whatever their private quarrel – are your right and left hands.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia of the Planning Commission is your pal. And Nandan Nilekani was hand-picked by you to create the Unique ID architecture and issue 12-digit numbers to all residents of this country.

Dr D Subbarao, Reserve Bank Governor, is also a good man doing a job you did earlier. So you know his sensitivities, too.

But if each one of them is doing his own thing, we may end up with two ID projects at double the cost. And, at the end of it all, if we get a UID number that the Reserve Bank won't accept, why pour so much money down the drain?

Your government is saying 2G did not result in any loss as it was a policy decision to give spectrum to all comers in 2008 at 2001 prices.

But Chidambaram and Nilekani are planning to spend real money to do essentially the same thing.

Surely, this is one thing you can stop before it becomes a full-blown scam? All you need to do is get these five gentlemen in one room to sort things out.

2011-09-30T06:57:00.001-07:00

UIDAI AUTHORITY SAYS IT IS NOT ACCOUNTABLE TO PLANNING COMMISSION

The slugfest between Nandan Nilekani headed Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and the Planning Commission continues with both refusing to budge from their stated position.

Nilekani claimed his office can't report to the plan panel on daily basis saying the rules did not allow whereas the panel officials insisted that UIDAI is under its administrative control.

As per government notification, UIDAI is attached to the plan panel, which is responsible for the authority's budgetary spending. The panel had objected to UIDAI sending financial proposals for Cabinet and finance ministry approval without getting vetted from line ministry, the commission.

"I have powers delegated by the prime minister. Ram Sewak Sharma (Director General, UIDAI) was appointed by panel's deputy chairman. Ganga was appointed by the finance ministry. This is the decided structure of our function," Nilekani said, adding that if the government wants it can change the rules.

The Infosys co-founder was reacting to recent plan panel note accusing UIDAI of not having proper financial monitoring and seeking the powers for the same.
Nilekani had spoken with panel's deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who he described as his mentor, on the note on Wednesday night.
Ahluwalia on his return from his foreign visit on Monday is expected to sort out the differences.

Sudha Pillai, panel's member secretary, said: "We have raised the issue of double and excessive expenditure and had been trying to prevent any adverse comment later on." Another official said financial proposals of other offices attached with the panel such as Innovation Council headed by Sam Pitroda is examined by the commission before sending for approval of higher authorities. But, UIDAI is an exception.

The authority also made it clear that the issue of iris scan as third biometric requirement raised by the panel was a "closed chapter". It contradicted the panel's claim that iris will lead to huge costs without much benefit. Till now 10 crore people have been enrolled and 3.75 lakh Aadhaar numbers have been generated.

2011-09-29T03:24:00.001-07:00

MOUNTING ARREARS OF CASES WITH RAISING VACANCIES IN JUDGE-SHIPS IN INDIA

9/27/2011
27.9.2011 (UNI) The appointment of three high court judges was announced by President Pratibha Patil today while more than 290 High Court judgeships have been vacant and 32 million cases pending nationwide.

Justices Brij Kishore Dube, Gulab Singh Solanki and Naresh Kumar Gupta have been appointed Judges of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in that order of seniority, the Law and Justice Ministry reported.

Going by Department of Justice figures published by the Supreme Court, as of February 1, 2011, India's 21 High Courts had a 32.51 vacancy rate-- 291 of 895 judgeships vacant.

Madhya Pradesh High Court at the time had nine of 43 judgeships vacant. Its website now indicates only five vacancies. The Justice Department figures published periodically by the Supreme Court have not been updated.

But knowledgeable sources say the level of vacancy remains very high, especially considering the high levels of pendency in courts and the low levels of deterrence ensured by law.

The level of vacancy in district and subordinate courts as of September 30, 2011, was placed by the Department figures at 3,170 of 17,151 sanctioned judicial posts.

Such vacancies have been a cause of serious concern in a nation with rampant corruption and serious discipline issues which are compounded by court delays fuelled by mounting pendency.

Indian courts between them have an estimated 32.23 million cases pending, the Justice Department reported in the last quarter of 2010-- up from 32.12 million cases it reported in the 3rd quarter and 31.54 million cases in the 2nd quarter.

The figures reflect unresolved wrongs, injustices and conflicts Indians live with. They also provide a perspective on vacancies, not to mention the state of law and justice. For many victims, critics say, courts have become a system of last resort, given competence and accountability issues surrounding the bar and the bench, often expensive and dilatory processes.

Deterrence, a key to any effective system of justice, indeed, it's very raison d'tre, suffers from long-winded litigation, low rates of conviction and inconsistent practices of sentencing.

Guidelines suggested by an Administrative Reforms Commission 'so that sentencing across the country for similar offences becomes broadly uniform' have yet to take effect.

Oddly, even where certain laws provide for imprisonment, few are so sentenced or suffer incarceration, altogether undermining the role of deterrence in Indian jurisprudence.

Even in judicial appointments, reforms have been discussed for many years but have yet to materialise.

The United Progressive Alliance government acknowledged in Parliament last month demands to change the system of appointing judges or making it transparent but said it has 'no specific proposal' under consideration to effect such change.

'The procedure has been debated in various fora and there have been demands to change the same,' Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

But, he said, 'there is at present no specific proposal under consideration of the government to bring about any change.' The existing procedure he referred to was based, he said, on a Supreme Court Judgement dated October 6, 1993 and advisory opinion dated October 28, 1998.

That was when and how the task of appointing Judges was turned over to the judiciary-- Chief Justice of India and Chief Justice of the concerned High Court.

Another idea, an All India Judicial Service, which has been around for more than 25 years, has yet to take off, too.

'The government is seized of the matter of creation of an All India Judicial Service under Article 312 of the Constitution,' Khurshid told a Member in the Lok Sabha.

Khurshid's predecessor, M Veerappa Moily, is on record in Parliament that 'delay in filling up the vacancies of Judges is one of the main reasons for accumulation of pending cases in courts.' Moily said 'the main reason for the large number of vacant posts is that the government has not received sufficient proposals to fill up these vacant posts.' Experts question the notion of government helplessness in making the justice system truly functional and accountable.

Critics say what is needed is a disincentive to allowing such vacancies.

Experts agree that with 32 million plus cases pending, many for decades, and barely 18,000 judges sanctioned against a recommended 55,000 strength, vacancies are the last thing Indian courts or justice seekers can afford.

The point 'that the vacancies of judges in the High Court should be expeditiously filled up' was also underscored by a Parliamentary panel headed by Jayanthi Natarajan.

'As far as the need of more judges is concerned,' the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice 'reiterates its earlier recommendation that the vacancies of judges in the High Court should be expeditiously filled up.

The government should vigorously pursue the matter with the Chief Justice of the High Courts for necessary actions.' That was more than a year ago.

Nor has there been any let-up in more than two years since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stressed the urgency of filling up Court vacancies.

'I am told that almost 3,000 posts of judges in the country are vacant because of delay in recruitment,' Dr Singh told a Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices in August 2009.

'All these vacant posts at the subordinate levels need to be filled up without any further loss of time... The existing vacancies in High Courts are quite high in number and need to be filled up urgently.' Far from being filled, more vacancies have cropped up since.

2011-09-27T22:43:00.001-07:00

வறுமைக் கோடு - ஏழைகளை ஏளனம் செய்யும் மத்திய திட்டக்குழு

சென்னை, மும்பை போன்ற நகரங்களில் நாளொன்றுக்கு 33 ரூபாய் அல்லது அதற்கு மேல் சம்பாதிக்க முடிந்தவர்கள் ஏழைகள் அல்ல என்பது திட்டக் குழு தெரிவித்துள்ள புதிய ஆராய்ச்சி முடிவு. இந்திய நகரங்களில் மாதம் 965 ரூபாய்க்கு (சராசரியாக நாளொன்றுக்கு 32 ரூபாய்) மேல் சம்பாதிப்பவர்களை வறுமைக் கோட்டுக்கு கீழ் இருப்பவர்களாகக் கொள்ளக் கூடாது என்று உச்சநீதி மன்றத்தில் மத்திய திட்டக் குழு வாதிட்டுள்ளது. அது மட்டுமின்றி வறுமைக் கோட்டுக்குக் கீழ் இருப்பவர்களுக்கு வழங்கப்படும் சலுகைகள் இவர்களுக்கு வழங்கப்படக் கூடாது என்றும் அது கோரிக்கை விடுத்துள்ளது. திட்டக் குழுவின் வாதம் ஏற்கப்படும் பட்சத்தில் மாதம் 965 ரூபாய்க்கு மேல் வருமானம் ஈட்டுபவர்களுக்கு இலவச மருத்துவ வசதி உள்ளிட்ட சலுகைகள் அனைத்தும் பறிபோகும்.

சென்னை, மும்பை, டில்லி, கொல்கத்தா, பெங்களூரு போன்ற பெருநகரங்களில் வசிக்கும் ஒருவர் நாள்தோறும் 32 ரூபாய்க்கு மேல் சம்பாதித்தால் அவர் வறுமைக் கோட்டைத் தாண்டியவர் என்னும் திட்டக்குழுவின் வாதத்தைச் சற்றே யோசித்துப் பார்த்தால் அது எவ்வளவு பெரிய வன்முறை என்பது புரியும். மாதம் 966 ரூபாய் வருமானம் ஈட்டும் ஒருவர் இந்த நகரங்களில் தன் அடிப்படைத் தேவைகளில் ஒன்றைக்கூட ஓரளவுக்குக் கூட நிறைவேற்றிக் கொள்ள முடியாது. இந்த நிலையில் அவருக்கு வழங்கப்படும் சலுகைகள் நிறுத்தப்பட வேண்டும் என்பது அவரது வாழ்வாதாரத்தை அழிக்க முயல்வதன்றி வேறல்ல.

32 ரூபாய்க்கு மேல் சம்பாதிக்கும் ஒருவர் ரேசன் கடைகளில் கிடைக்கும் மானிய விலை தானியங்களையும் பெற தகுதியற்றவர் என்கிறது திட்டக் குழுவின் வாதம். அப்படி அவருக்கு மானிய விலையில் தானியங்கள் வழங்குவதைத் தடுப்பதன் மூலம் அவர் வாழவே முடியாத நிலை உருவாக்கப்படுகிறது. ஏனென்றால் மாதம் 966 ரூபாயில் அவர் தன் குடும்பத்துக்குத் தேவையான மூன்று வேளை உணவு, குறைந்த பட்ச ஆடைகள், வீட்டு வாடகை (!?), பிள்ளைகளின் கல்வி, போக்குவரத்து என இவையனைத்தையும் நிறைவேற்றிக் கொள்ள வேண்டிய சூழலுக்கு அவர் தள்ளப்படுகிறார்.

நேர்மையாக உழைத்து மாதம் 966 ரூபாய் மட்டுமே வருமானமாக ஈட்ட முடிந்த ஒருவரை திட்டக் குழு தன்னுடைய வாதத்தின் வழியாக ஏளனம் செய்கிறது. அரசின் சலுகைகள் இன்றி இந்த வருமானத்தை வைத்து குடும்பத்தைக் காப்பாற்ற முடியாவிட்டால் நீ எதற்காக வாழ வேணடும் என்பது போல் இருக்கிறது இந்த வாதம். ஏற்கனவே நகர்மயமாதலால் எகிறும் நில மதிப்புகள், நகரங்களை விட்டு ஏழைகளை வெளியே துரத்துகின்றன. நகரம் சார்ந்த தொழில்களில் ஈடுபடும் ஏழை மக்களை அரசும் தற்போது கைவிடுகிறது.

நகரங்களில் வறுமைக் கோட்டுக்கான வரையறையாக வெறும் 32 ரூபாயை நிர்ணயிப்பது என்பது வறுமைக் கோட்டுக்கு கீழ் வாழும் மக்களின் தொகையை மறைக்கும் முயற்சி என்பது ஒரு பக்கம் இருக்கட்டும். 32 ரூபாய்க்கு மேல் வருமானம் ஈட்டினாலும் அடிப்படைத் தேவைகளைக் கூட பூர்த்தி செய்ய முடியாமல், வாழவே முடியாத வறுமையில் சிக்கித் தவிக்கும் கோடிக்கணக்கான மக்களுக்கு சலுகைகள் வழங்க வேண்டிய பொறுப்பை திட்டக் குழுவின் மூலம் மத்திய அரசு கைகழுவுகிறது.

இந்திய அதிகார மையங்களை நிறுவும் அரசியல்வாதிகள், தொழில் அதிபர்கள், திரைப்படத் துறையினர், கிரிக்கெட் வீரர்கள் உள்ளிட்ட யாரும் கோடிகளுக்குக் குறைவாக வார்த்தைகளில் கூட பேசுவதில்லை. இப்படி ஒரு நாட்டில் மாதம் 966 ரூபாய் சம்பாதிக்க முடிந்த ஒருவனை பணக்காரன் என்று சொல்வது நினைத்துப் பார்க்க முடியாத கொடூரம்.

2011-09-27T22:35:00.001-07:00

Boycott UID/Aadhaar Number

27 September, 2011
Countercurrents.org

This is to appeal to you and to draw your most urgent attention towards the world's biggest database project unfolding through Unique Identification (UID)/Aadhaar Number in India without legislative approval since January 2009. It is about a 12-digit identification number which is linked to the National Population Register (NPR), Census and National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) under Home Ministry among other initiatives.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia and P. Chidambaram have recommended the cut in the budget of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) because of "unnecessary spending" by it. UIDAI operates under the same Planning Commission that has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in the PUCL vs Union of India & Others wherein it has said that any citizen who spends more than Rs 965 per month in urban India (around Rs.32 per day) and Rs 781 in rural India (around Rs.26 per day) "at June 2011 price level" would be considered not to be poor. It is the same agency that claims that UID scheme is for providing social services to the poor.

The UIDA had asked for Rs 3,500 cr for 2012-13, but the Planning Commission has recommended a figure of Rs 1,400 cr. UIDA was given Rs 3,000 cr for fiscal 2011-2012. The proposal has been forwarded to the Ministry of Finance for final approval.

The Ministry of Home Affairs wants to curb UID/Aadhaar Number's scope to promote its own National Population Register (NPR), which is tasked to collect information about Indian citizens in a similar manner. At present both UIDAI under Nandan Manohar Nilekani and NPR under C Chandramouli, the Census Commissioner are collecting demographic details along with biometric data. In a classic case of pretending ignorance the Ministry of Home Affairs has questioned the legality of UIDAI. "Until the NIAI Bill 2010, is passed by parliament the UIDA does not become an authority, and should not be allowed to function so independently". The fact is Union Home Minister is a member of the Cabinet Committee on UID Authority and related matters and he was also the member of the Empowered Group of Ministers that decided both the initiative of NPR and UID. Revealing the sad state of affairs even without the passage of any legislation from the Parliament, UIDA has issued 1 crore UID/Aadhaar Numbers and plans to issue 60 crore UID/Aadhaar Number by 2014.

This project has been implemented in Pakistan under its Home Ministry. In India, NATGRID Chief Executive Officer, Capt Raghu Raman has proposed intervention of commercial czars and creation of private territorial armies in a a document titled "A Nation of Numb People".

It may be noted that ASSOCHAM, representing 3 lakh companies and KPMG, a Swiss consultancy have underlined the ramifications of UID number in their report titled "Homeland Security in India".. Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Annual Report, 2010 claims NATGRID will be started in 2011 after "approval from the competent authority (Union cabinet)". When Hard News, a news magazine asked Nilekani about the relationship of UID/Aadhaar Number, his response was "No comments".

It may be noted that we already have at least 15 identity proofs including Voter I card. What creates a compelling logic for a 16th identity proof?

Providing bio-metric data like finger prints of ten fingers, iris scan etc for the identification number to public and private institutions is akin to wearing a radio collar. This is an act of subjecting oneself to constant surveillance which in itself is a dehumanizing act. How can students submit themselves to such indignity unthinkingly.

It is quite alarming that the enrollment for it has started where gullible citizens and even chief ministers are queuing up for it not knowing its dangerous implications. Similar identification schemes have been rejected by in China, UK, Phillipines, Australia and USA. Pakistan has been awarded for the successful implementation of identification project. According to World Bank, it is unfolding in 14 developing countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Uganda.

The National Identification Authority of India (NIAI) Bill, 2010 for UID/Aadhaar Number is pending with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance. We have given testimony to it. Its classic case of putting the cart before the horse wherein the project precedes the legislation. The Bill does not define bio-metric data implying that it could include DNA profiling and voice identification. Section 57 of the Bill reveals that the Indian National Congress led UPA government holds Parliament in contempt. It is also linked to several other proposed legislations and initiatives.

Bio-metric identification based UID/Aadhaar Number for residents of India is essentially a surveillance project which will last for centuries to come. It is an assault on the human rights of present and future citizens of India. It is being bulldozed down our throats at behest of US bio-metric technology companies which manifestly work with intelligence agencies. This will neutralize political resistance in India to a huge extent. It will ensure profiling of minorities of all ilk for good.

The entire data base of UID/Aadhaar Number will be stored in a Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) which will be handed over to US based security, intelligence and bio-metric technology companies like Accenture Services Pvt Ltd and L1 Identities Solution Pvt Ltd as per a contract awarded to them on July 30, 2010. It is germane to recollect that Wikileaks' latest disclosure reveals that former Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak had transferred the identity database of Egyptians to US Federal Bureau of Investigation. Is it not relevant to this so called e-governance initiative of UPA Government?.

I also wish to draw your considered attention towards the manifesto titled "2083: A European Declaration of Independence" brought out by Norwegian gunman and neo-Crusader, Anders Behring Breivik who carried out the heinous attacks on his fellow citizens. This 1500 page manifesto refers to the word "identity" over 100 times, "unique" over 40 times and "identification" over 10 times. There is reference to "state-issued identity cards", "converts' identity cards", "identification card", "fingerprints", "DNA" etc. The words in this manifesto give a sense of deja vu.

In a significant development following rigorous deliberations, an Indian development support organization founded in 1960, Indo-Global Social Service Society (IGSSS) has disassociated itself from UID Number project which was being undertaken under Mission Convergence in Delhi. Withdrawal of IGSSS that works in 21 states of the country across four core areas India: Sustainable Livelihood, Youth Development, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Urban Poverty merits the attention of all the states and civil society organisations especially those who are unwittingly involved in the UID Number enrollment process.

In its withdrawal letter IGSSS said, "we will not be able to continue to do UID enrolment, as we discussed in the meeting of 10th May 2011." It added, it is taking step because `it's hosted under the rubric of UNDP's "Innovation Support for Social Protection: Institutionalizing Conditional Cash Transfers" [Award ID: 00049804, Project: 00061073; Confer: Output 1, Target 1.2 (a) & Output 3 (a), (b)]. In fact we had no clue of this until recently when we searched the web and got this information.'

A Statement of Concern calling for halting of UID Number project was issued in September 2010 by 17 eminent citizens led by Justice V R Krishna Iyer, Prof. Romila Thapar, Late K.G.Kannabiran, Prof. Upendra Baxi, Bezwada Wilson, Late S.R.Sankaran, Prof. Trilochan Sastry, Prof. Jagdeep Chhokar, Justice A.P.Shah among others at a Press Conference in New Delhi but corporate media chose to ignore it.

Let me also request you to forward this message to concerned legislators, lawyers, students, teachers and citizens for their perusal and consideration of this grave issue.

I can share more reference documents to enable the fellow citizens to adopt a resolution or issue a appeal calling for UID/Aadhaar Number boycott within our own states and spheres.

Gopal Krishna
Member, Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties (CFCL)
ToxicsWatch Alliance
New Delhi
Email:krishna2777@gmail.com
Web: toxicswatch.blogspot.com

2011-09-27T22:15:00.001-07:00

Reading between the 'poverty lines'

26 September, 2011
*Countercurrents.org*

PUDR wishes to draw public attention to the recent controversy where
Planning Commission informed the Supreme Court that anyone earning more than
Rs 32 in urban and Rs 26 in rural areas per day is considered above the
poverty line. Article 43 of India's Constitution lays down that "(t)he state
shall endeavour to secure by suitable legislation or economic organisation
or in any other way to all workers, agricultural, industrial or otherwise,
work, a living wage conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life
and full enjoyment of leisure and social and cultural opportunities".
India's low ranking in major human development indices and the fact that an
overwhelming majority of the population continue to be denied this
conceptualisation of what would be considered a "fair wage", raises
disturbing questions with regard to the official standpoint on poverty.

In 1957 at the 15th Indian Labour Conference (ILC) moves were made towards
setting down norms for fixing Minimum Wage, a euphemism for a "living
wage.'' The 15th ILC recommended that in the first place the standard
working class family should be taken to mean husband, wife and two children
below the age of 14 yrs. Second, minimum food requirement should be
calculated on the basis of 2700 calories daily per adult man, 2160 for woman
and 1620 for the child. Further clothing requirement of 72 yards for a
family per annum would be added while housing allowance corresponding to the
minimum area provided for under the governments industrial housing schemes.
Lastly fuel, lighting and other items of expenditure should constitute 20
percent of the total Minimum Wage.

While the Government did not accept these recommendations, Supreme Court
approved these norms through its judgement in the case of U.Unichoyi v.
State of Kerala (AIR 1962 SC 12) and thereby acquiring the force of law
behind it. The apex court through its judgement in Workmen v. Reptakos Brett
& Co Ltd (AIR 1992 SC 504) added a sixth norm – 25 percent of the total
Minimum Wage was supposed to cover children's education, medical treatment,
recreation etc. The Court observed that these six norms would be nothing
more than Minimum Wage at "subsistence level" which the workers must get "at
all times and under all circumstances".

Adherence to the six norms, let alone the five norms laid down by the 15th
ILC, has been followed in breach. As a "living wage", at current wage rates
declared under Minimum Wage Act, comes to Rs 247 per day for unskilled. Rs
32 touted by the Planning Commission as "below poverty line" is less than
seven times the Minimum Wage which itself is a "subsistence wage". Thus
Minimum Wage is seven times that of BPL rate. What this implies is that mass
of our people are being robbed of their right to life by artificial
constructions of poverty line. PUDR reiterates that the letter and spirit of
Article 43 which forms part of the Directive Principles of State Policy be
the basis for providing basic requirement to all citizens of India so that
their right to a life of dignity and liberty can be ensured.
Harish Dhawan and Paramjeet Singh
Secretaries PUDR

http://www.countercurrents.org/pudr260911.htm

--
Best,
V.P.Sarathi, Chief Legal Adviser,
VPS Law Firm,
Head office : Old No. 23/1, Govt. Arts College Road,
Coimbatore - 641 018, Tamil Nadu, ( branches and associate offices all over India).
Registered Office Tel : +91- 422 - 4394101
Mobile: +91 98422 49605
Fax : +91 - 422 - 4377125
Website : www.vpslawfirm.com
www.facebook.com/vpsarathi
e-mail : sarathi@vpslawfirm.com

2011-09-27T04:29:00.001-07:00

UID is discriminatory: NHRC OF INDIA

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is of the opinion that the
government's move to provide citizens with 'Aadhaar' or unique
identification numbers in its present form could lead to
discrimination.
The NHRC's remarks came in response to views from it sought by the
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance headed by Yashwant Sinha
on National Identification Authority of India Bill introduced last
December.

The Bill seeks to establish National Identification Authority of India
for issuing 'Aadhaar' numbers to Indian residents to facilitate access
to benefits and services.

The Commission was of the view that in the proposed provisions in the
Bill, the "possibility of discrimination cannot be ruled out" as the
Bill provides that every resident shall be entitled to obtain an
Aadhaar number, but does not say that it would be issued to all
citizens.

Emphasising the need for adequate safeguards against discrimination,
the Commission noted that the issuance of an Aadhaar number has not
been made compulsory under the Bill and residents who do not obtain
one may find themselves at a disadvantage vis-a-vis those who do.

"Since the Aadhaar number is to be used and applied 'for delivery of
various benefits and services', a citizen who does not have one may be
denied access to these, while a resident, who may not be a citizen,
would have access if he had obtained an Aadhaar number," the NHRC
said.

The Commission also expressed similar concerns raised by a section of
activists that the stored bio-metric information could be tampered
with. "The possibility of tampering with stored biometric information
cannot be ruled out, though the Bill sets out the precautions
envisaged," it said.

The NHRC noted that the "biometric information" and "demographic
information" have not been clearly defined and while framing the
regulations under the Act, precautions should be taken to ensure that
individuals are not required to disclose confidential information
about themselves.

Noting that the Bill does contain provision for punishment and
penalties for those who violate the protection of information clauses,
the NHRC pointed out the need to include provisions for compensation
to the victim.

The Commission was also of the view that the verification of the
details provided by an applicant should be done before the number is
issued.

The rights body said it appeared that the process of verification of
the correctness of the information or data furnished by the individual
will be done from the person concerned after issuing an Aadhaar
number.

The NHRC also did not agree with issuance of guidelines to courts for
exercising its discretion on use of information related to Aadhaar
numbers.

"The courts follow judicial principles in issuing directions and it
would not be advisable to lay down guidelines for the exercise of
their discretion. However, guidelines may be laid down in the
regulations for officers who may issue directions for the disclosure
of information in the interest of national security," it said.

The NHRC also recommended that the Authority should take into
consideration the difficulties and problems which women, children,
senior citizens and persons with disability are likely to face in
registering or verifying their biometrics.

2011-09-27T01:11:00.001-07:00

What actually happened in Paramakudi and how it happened ?- Karthik Navayan*

[*Karthik Navayan was a member of a fact-finding team that visited
Paramakudi town on 19th and 20th September, 2011, and interacted with the
victims and also with the district officials in Ramanathapuram. This article
contains his observations and analysis- Round Table India*][image:
pkudi_13_copy]

On September 11th the police killed six among the several Dalits who had
assembled in Paramakudi to observe the 54th death anniversary of their
leader, Immanuel Sekaran. Another 30 were seriously injured and are
undergoing treatment in various hospitals.

Among those killed were 1) R. Ganesan (65), 2) T. Panneerselvam (50) and S.
Vellaichamy (65). It is the argument of the police and the revenue officials
that these three old people had attacked the police and burnt their vehicle
and were hence shot at and killed! Three youngsters called P. Jayapal (20),
Theerthakani (25) and Muthukumar (26) were also killed. Among the older
persons, 65 year old Vellaichamy was not killed by any bullets but died from
the severe lathi blows the policemen had inflicted on him. Therefore around
forty policemen accompanied his body to his village and threatened his
family that his last rites should be completed within fifteen minutes and
left the village only after the rites were completed, as ordered. R.
Ganesan, also 65, who had gone to Paramakudi on that particular day with the
intention of distributing his son's wedding invitation cards as he thought
he would get to meet a lot of relatives and acquaintances on Immanuel
Sekaran's death anniversary, was shot dead before he even realized that
trouble was brewing in Paramakudi.[image: pkudi_9]

*All those who died in the firing were daily wage labourers.*

They'd all gone to Paramakudi to pay respects to their leader, Immanuel
Sekaran, and not with any plans to create trouble or clash with the police.
On the other hand, it is the police who are now busy conducting raids on
several villages and are arresting many Dalits. *The victims are being
harassed and implicated in false cases!* This can't happen without any
political motives—it seems like the police firing and the subsequent
repression let loose on Dalit villages are all part of a deliberate strategy
to further marginalize the Dalits of this region economically,
politically.[image:
pkudi_11]

According to Chandra Bose, leader of the*Immanuel Peravai*, the immediate
cause for the police firing was the Rasta Roko held by the protesters on
that day. On the 11th, the police had arrested the Dalit leader, John
Pandian, near a village called Vallanaadu and had taken him away to an
unknown destination. When the Dalits gathered in Paramakudi learnt about
this arrest, around two hundred of them started holding a Rasta Roka
demonstration. They demanded to know the whereabouts of the arrested leader
John Pandian and sought his immediate release. They also expressed doubts
that Pandian's arrest was the result of a plan hatched by his political
adversaries and that he could be killed in a fake encounter. *John Pandian's
arrest and the subsequent demonstrations were the immediate causes for the
police firing, but when you carefully examine the events that have been
unfolding since the first week of September in Ramanathapuram, you'll
realize that the killing of the Dalits wasn't an unplanned event.*

The police and the Collector are trying to justify John Pandian's arrest by
saying that they had received some information that he was going to create
unrest at the Immanuel Sekaran memorial event. A collector has to examine
all aspects of a situation before arriving at a decision based on such
information. But who's responsible for the decision taken to detain John
Pandian, the resultant unrest and the subsequent loss of lives? *The
officials thought that John Pandian's presence at the event could cause a
law and order situation. But it was the detention of John Pandian that
actually created the law and order situation and led to the killing of the
Dalits. *The full responsibility for this massacre lies on the shoulders of
the police and revenue officials' inept handling of the situation.[image:
pkudi_1]

The following three incidents make it very plain that the police and revenue
officials had acted in a very partisan manner since the beginning of
September. The first incident was the stabbing to death of sixteen year old
Dalit youth, Palani Kumar, in Pallapacheri. The second was the removal of
the banners erected by the Dalits, by the police. The third was John
Pandian's arrest. The fourth event, the police firing, was the logical
culmination of the first three incidents. It was something the police had
anticipated. There is clear evidence for this conclusion. It seems to be a
matter of common agreement among lower cadre policemen, government employees
and common citizens discussing the event that the police firing happened as
a result of instructions received from 'above'. Common people seem to veer
toward the view that it was on the orders of Sasikala, Chief Minister
Jayalalithaa's companion and Thevar political leader. Who should verify the
degree of truth in these charges? Can CBI do that? *If these issues are
investigated without political interference, the common people's perceptions
will be proven true.*

The police and other public officials are trying to justify the firing and
the subsequent deaths, to the media and to the rights' activists, by saying
that the protestors had attacked the police and destroyed public property.
But it wasn't the intention of the Dalits, who had come in lakhs to
Paramakudi on that day, to destroy public property, or to attack anyone.
They had only gathered to observe the death anniversary of their leader,
Immanuel Sekaran.[image: pkudi_12]

Killings of Pallar/Mallar/Devendrakular Dalits have been happening over a
half a century in southern Tamil Nadu. A short list of the first killings:

• Immanuel Sekaran was killed on 11th September, 1957.

• On 13th September, five Dalits, including one woman, were burnt alive in
Arumkulam by a band of Thevar killers.

• On September 16th, Thevar groups killed sixty Dalits in veeraMbaal^,
arumbakan^ , arunlandakaTTi, saMdakOTTai villages.

• On September 17th, police shot dead dead a Dalit in keeraMtai village.

• On September 18th, in taMDikuDi village, homes belonging to Dalits of the
Devendrakular community were burnt down. Similar attacks have continued
since then.

*Who is Immanuel Sekaran?*

Immanuel Sekaran was a prominent social reformer and freedom fighter. A
contemporary of Dr. Ambedkar, he was a Dalit leader who fought against caste
discrimination and untouchability in southern Tamil Nadu. On 11/9/1957, this
Dalit leader was killed by people owing allegiance to the Forward Bloc
leader Muthuramalinga Thevar, of the Thevar community.

Immanuel Sekaran, who was martyred at the very young age of 33, has attained
demigod like status among the Dalits in the region. That's why lakhs turn up
on his death anniversary to pay tributes to him. According to some
estimates, over a million ordinary Dalits, apart from many leaders,
participate in the Immanuel Sekaran Memorial day events. This has been
happening regularly since 1988 but was never reported in the mainstream
media.

This year's anniversary marks the 54th since his death. This year too, like
every year, the Dalits started making earnest preparations for the Memorial
Day. But the Government and the officials of various departments, like every
year, started imposing many strictures and placed many hurdles, and made all
efforts to scuttle the event. They did not permit the installation of food
and water stalls. The Dalits endured all that and remained immersed in their
preparations.[image: pkudi_2]

*The pre-September 11th series of events are part of a conspiracy*

If we carefully examine all the events unfolding since the beginning of
September, we realize that the killings of Dalits in Paramakudi were part of
a meticulous plan orchestrated by the police and the political leaders of
the local Thevar community. It can't be said that all the government
officials and all the Thevar political leaders were a part of this
conspiracy, but one has to recognize that this plan couldn't have been
executed without the participation of some political leaders, police
officers and revenue officials. The fact that the Dalit leader John Pandian
(TMMK) was arrested in Vallanaadu to prevent him from attending the memorial
reinforces the impression that a deliberate strategy was at work. Pandian's
arrest resulted in his supporters, around two hundred of them, sitting on a
dharna near the five road junction. The police could have easily rounded up
these two hundred Dalits conducting an impromptu Rasta Roko agitation, but
they resorted to firing instead, which clearly shows that the police had no
intention of arresting them. According to the District Collector, two
thousand policemen had been mobilised in Paramakudi on that day. *It is
difficult to believe that those two thousand policemen could not have
controlled two hundred, unarmed Dalits.*

Moreover, the Dalits were conducting Rasta Roko on only one road. The police
also diverted the traffic moving towards from this road because it would
gradually be filled with people arriving for the Immanuel Sekaran
anniversary. So why did the police conduct a lathi charge and then open fire
on the Dalits in a street from which all traffic had been diverted? It seems
quite clear that John Pandian's arrest led to the firing incident. Did the
police have no inkling that John Pandian's arrest could lead to a law and
order problem? It needs to be investigated whether such a tense situation
was deliberately created. The reasons cited by Arun Roy, the District
Collector of Ramanathapuram, for John Pandian's arrest seem implausible. The
District Collector's response to our fact finding team's query on the issue
was that John Pandian's arrival in Paramakudi would have sparked off a law
and order problem and hence he had to issue orders to detain Pandian. But
the law and order problem that arose out of Pandian's arrest doesn't seem to
have appeared as a problem to the police and the authorities. Probably,
whatever the problems that Dalits pose, in those authorities' view, can be
suppressed easily, without being questioned. *But why do problems of the
upper castes or the problems of the castes like the Thevars become problems
of the police and the authorities?*[image: pkudi_4]

Similarly, the police removed the banners that the Dalits had erected, on
the Collector's orders, citing the reason that the local Thevars found the
text on the banners ('daiva tirumagaanar immanuyaal saekaraN')
objectionable. The collector ordered their removal after the Thevars met him
to complain. The Collector is very cleverly trying to justify that decision
by saying that it's the Dalits who have been suffering the most in the
continued conflict between the Pallars and the Thevars over the last half
century, hence he had ordered the removal of the banners that angered the
Thevars to prevent any new loss of Dalit lives. *The Collector seems to have
great sympathy for the Dalits and their lives, but there is no need for it
now. Dalits who are not lowering their raised heads even when their throats
are being slit don't need any sympathy. It would have been enough if the
Collector had respected his constitutional duties and performed them. What
the Dalits expect from a District Collector is not sympathy at all.*

Senthilvelan, an I.P.S officer, was appointed as in-charge of the bandobast
arrangements for the Immanuel Sekaran memorial event. It was under his
charge that a laathi charge and firing were conducted on the Dalits. But the
police started firing a mere five minutes after the laathi charge had
begun. *No warning shots were fired into the air, no precautionary shots
aimed below the knees were fired, no rubber bullets and no water cannons
were used.* The fact that none of those regular precautionary measures were
adopted, makes it very plain that the police and the authorities were acting
with the clear objective of launching a lethal assault on the Dalits and
their struggle for self-respect.

*Who are Thevars?*

The Thevar community is recognized as a Most Backward Class in Tamil Nadu
and its members are responsible for all kinds of oppression practiced
against the Dalits in southern Tamil Nadu. The goons who attacked the Dalit
students in the Ambedkar Law College in Chennai a few years ago belonged to
the 'Mukkulathor Manavar Peravai', a students' organization also associated
with the Thevars.

The SC/ST employees association of Tamil Nadu's transport department had
installed a banner at Immanuel Sekaran memorial day venue. On it was
written: 'Deshiya Thalaivar, Daiva Tirumaganaar, Immanuel Sekaran'. Which
means: 'National Leader, Son of God, Immanuel Sekaran'. One Prabhakaran,
belonging to the Thevar (Maravar) community and leader of the 'Mara Tamilar
Senai', unable to digest such high praise being showered on Sekaran, a Dalit
leader being eulogized as a national leader, lodged a complaint with the
local police station demanding that the banner be removed. He also lodged a
complaint with the District Collector. It is their argument that only
Muthuramalinga Thevar of their community (Thevars), and no one else, could
be referred to as 'daiva tirumagaanar'. Makes one shiver thinking of the
kind of democracy we live in. Earlier, a Tamil film by the name of 'daiva
tirumagaanar' also faced protests and the producer was forced to change the
title to 'daiva tirumagaan'.[image: pkudi_5]

This community, whose members act in such a barbaric, unconstitutional and
undemocratic manner, is even now recognized as a Most Backward Class and
avails itself of reservations. In the current Tamil Nadu assembly, 90 MLAs
belonging to different parties are from this community (Maravar). This
community, which has a prominent presence in the fields of cinema,
education, industry and politics, is indulging in atrocities and killings in
southern Tamil Nadu every day. Now that Jayalalithaa has become the Chief
Minister, they have become more emboldened because Jayalalithaa's closest
companion, Sasikala, also belongs to the Thevar community. There exists a
public perception, based on information yet to be verified, that it's
Sasikala's hidden hand that's behind the killings in Paramakudi and a lot of
atrocities before that. The Dalits opposed the threats issued by Thevar
leaders and the police to remove the banners. Some Dalits working in
government removed the banners they had erected in deference to the threats
of the police and revenue officials. But rest of the Dalit associations
refused to oblige and their banners remained, and caused annoyance among the
police. It also made the police react in this fashion: '*Because the Dalits
are not co-operating with the police, the police shall also not co-operate
with the Dalits*'. This reaction signaled the tone of events, including the
firing, to come.

*The killing of Palani Kumar*

On September 9th, a sixteen year old Dalit Intermediate student, Palani
Kumar of Pallapacheri village, was stabbed to death by some Thevars from
Mandalamanickam village when he was returning home after watching a play
staged in the village. They say he was killed because he wrote
'Muthuramalinga Thevar is a eunuch' on the wall of the fair price shop in
the village. Despite being erased, there are still traces of what was
written on the wall, but they're at a height quite above what a sixteen year
old could normally reach. So it doesn't seem possible that the Dalit youth
could have written that.[image: pkudi_16]

Another important fact to remember is: in reality, Dalit villagers from
Pallapacheri are too scared to ever visit the village of Mandalamanickam
because it is totally Thevar dominated. While there are around two hundred
Dalit (Pallar) families in Pallapacheri, the number of Thevar households in
Mandalamanickam is around a thousand. That is the main reason why the Dalits
of Pallapacheri have been demanding a direct access road to the main road
because they don't wish to travel to the main road through Mandalamanickam
village. That is also the reason why 49 Dalit students from Pallapacheri
prefer to study in a high school eight kilometres away from home, rather
than go to the high school in Mandalamanickam which is only a kilometer
away! Under such circumstances, it is very difficult to believe that a Dalit
teenager from Pallapacheri could ever have written a comment abusing
Muthuramalinga Thevar on the walls of the fair price shop in the Thevar
village of Mandalamanickam.

The villagers in Pallapacheri say that the police have registered the murder
of Palani Kumar, who was killed by the Thevars, as having been committed by
'unknown persons'. No one has been arrested so far. This murder had caused a
lot of fear among the Dalits of Pallapacheri, and they had invited their
leader John Pandian to the village. But the local police and revenue
officials barred John Pandian from visiting the village. John Pandian's
visit could cause a law and order problem, they said. Therefore John Pandian
canceled his visit to Pallapacheri and promised to visit the village after
the Immanuel Sekaran memorial on the 11th. But the police who arrested him
on the 11th didn't release him until the 13th. He was released by the police
only after a Habeas Corpus petition was filed in the High Court.[image:
pkudi_20]

*The partisan attitude of the government officials*

When Palani Kumar, the Dalit student from Pallapacheri, was killed by the
Thevars of Mandalamanickam the police registered the offence as committed by
'unknown persons'. This reflects nothing but a partisan attitude.

It was the Dalits' democratic right to erect banners in honour of their
leader Immanuel Sekaran. But the police action of summoning them to the
police station and pressurizing them to remove the banners, definitely
indicates the readiness of the officialdom to serve the local Thevar
interests, in order to secure the patronage of the Thevar political leaders.

There are indications that the Thevar political leaders' hands were also
behind John Pandian's arrest. Were the police and revenue officials not
aware that it would cause anxiety among the Dalits if a Dalit leader was
arrested on Immanuel Sekaran's memorial day, an important annual event for
them? Even if they were aware, they had decided to follow only their
political masters' dictates; and hence they arrested John Pandian and killed
six Dalits during the Rasta Roko demonstration which naturally followed it.
This was perhaps their way of killing two birds with one shot.[image:
pkudi_21]

It is clearly evident that in Tamil Nadu, the police and all the wings of
the administration are controlled by the Thevar (Maravar) leaders. This is
against the law and the constitution.

*Conclusion*

The Paramakudi killings bring to light once again the pervasive lack of
democratic consciousness and respect for human rights among those wielding
power in the state apparatus. There is an urgent need to work for the spread
of more democratic values and norms in governance. Paramakudi is a good
place to begin this mission. Political and civil society needs to fight for
the Government to undertake the following remedial measures as a first step:

The police officials who participated in the Paramakudi massacre should be
arrested and tried for murder.

Immanuel Sekaran's memorial should be allowed to be observed without any
hindrance every year.

Government and police officials should act in an impartial manner and follow
the constitution and not the dictates of Thevar leaders.

There is a lot of evidence to prove that Dalits are being hindered from
joining the police force. On the other hand, unemployed Thevar youth, even
if unqualified, are being recruited into the police in large numbers. This
has resulted in lopsided representation in the Tamil Nadu police department
with the Thevars claiming 30% of all positions. How can Dalit victims expect
justice under such circumstances? The Thevar employees who obtained jobs in
the department through questionable means should be removed.

The Thevars should be removed from the Most Backward Classes category.

*Karthik Navayan is a Dalit human rights activist.*

[Translated from Telugu by Kuffir. Pictures courtesy: Karthik Navayan]

--
B.Karthik Navayan,
http://karthiknavayan.wordpress.com/
https://sites.google.com/site/karthiknavayan

2011-09-17T01:16:00.001-07:00

'No parole until rules framed therefor- Madras High Court

Until a legislation is made or appropriate rules are framed by the State government regulating the grant of parole (temporary release), there should be no release of any prisoner on parole at all, the Madras High Court has held.

"In the event, any statute is made or the government frames appropriate rules regulating parole, the said Act or rules may provide for the manner in which the period of parole may be treated either as part of the sentence period or not," a Full Bench, comprising Justices K.N. Basha, T. Sudanthiram and S. Nagamuthu, said in its judgment.

The question before the Full Bench was "whether the period spent on parole by a convict shall be counted as sentence period or not?"

The Bench ruled that since there was no statute or administrative rule or regulation to grant temporary release on parole, such release granted hitherto should be treated only as suspension of sentence. It should not be counted towards the sentence period.

Yesu alias Velaiyan, a life convict lodged in the Central Prison, Palayamkottai, spent around 480 days on parole. But the authorities did not count the period as period of sentence spent by him. He moved the Madurai Bench for a direction to consider the parole period as part of the period of sentence. A single Judge by an order on October 7, 2009, allowed the plea. Challenging this, the State filed an appeal.

There was also a writ petition before the Madurai Bench seeking to quash an order of the Home Secretary of May 2009 and a consequent direction to the authorities to include the period of parole availed of by Chelladurai in his total period of imprisonment undergone and release him.

When the appeal came up before a Division Bench, the Additional Public Prosecutor referred to a judgment wherein it was held that the parole period should not be counted as sentence period. In a separate case, another Division Bench had held that parole period should be counted as sentence period. However, later, the same Bench reviewed its order and held that the parole period should not be counted as sentence period.

The detenu's counsel cited Supreme Court judgments in his favour. The Division Bench, which was considering the appeal, said the issue needed to be placed before a larger Bench.

The Full Bench said the government had framed the Tamil Nadu Suspension of Sentence Rules. Outside its scope, the government could not grant any suspension of sentence. The Tamil Nadu Prison Rules did not regulate temporary release of prisoner on parole. It dealt only with suspension of sentence. No rules had been framed by government by way of administrative instructions under Art.162 of the Constitution regarding grant of parole. Thus, neither the government nor any other authority had power to grant parole for want of rules or a statute.

2011-09-17T01:10:00.001-07:00

Remorse time for ex-Indian Supreme Court judges

After Mr.K.T.Thomas, (the former judge of Supreme Court of India who confirmed the court verdict that three convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assasination case should be killed by the State as a legal punishment) who now campaigns for abolition of death penalty, it is now the turn of ex-chief judge who supported powers-that-be for achieving selfish ends.

Over 35 years after he signed off — with the majority on a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court — to rule that even the right to life could be abrogated, former Chief Justice of India P N Bhagwati today said he was sorry for that ruling. "I was wrong. The majority judgment was not the correct judgment. If it was open to me to come to a fresh decision in that case, I would agree with what Justice (H R) Khanna did. I am sorry (for the judgment)," Bhagwati told The Indian Express today.
In the 1976 ADM Jabalpur vs Shivkant Shukla case, popularly known as the habeas corpus case, Justices Bhagwati, A N Ray, Y V Chandrachud and M H Beg agreed with the then Indira Gandhi government that even the right to life stood abrogated during the Emergency. The verdict constitutes one of the darkest chapters in the history of the court as it struck at the very heart of fundamental rights.

"I don't know why I yielded to my colleagues," said Bhagwati. "Initially, I was not in favour of the majority view. But ultimately, I don't know why, I was persuaded to agree with them. I was a novice at that time, a young judge...I was handling this type of litigation for the first time. But it was an act of weakness on my part."

Justice H R Khanna, incidentally, was the only judge on that bench who dissented with the majority view arguing that the Constitution didn't permit the Right to Life and Liberty to be subject to any executive decree. This cost him the job of CJI.
He claimed that his later judgments dealing with fundamental rights did uphold the Constitution. Was it the lure of high office? "I can't say this. It would not be right for me to say this," he said.

Incidentally, during the Emergency, Bhagwati praised the Indira government but after the Janata Government came, he was critical of her. After Indira's return, he sent her a gushing letter: "...I am sure that with your iron will and firm determination, uncanny insight and dynamic vision, great administrative capacity and vast experience, overwhelming love and affection of the people and above all, a heart which is identified with the misery of the poor and the weak, you will be able to steer the ship of the nation safely to its cherished goal."

2011-09-15T03:01:00.001-07:00

No signboard caution for drainage pit - Authorities to compensate for injuries
MADURAI: The Madurai bench of Madras high court on Wednesday ordered public authorities to pay Rs 18 lakh as compensation to a former bus conductor, who fell down in a pit dug for constructing an underground channel and suffered serious spinal injuries.

Justice Vinod K Sharma gave the order on a petition filed by P Ravichandran, former conductor in the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Ltd, at Musiri, seeking compensation from the authorities such as the Government of Tamil Nadu and The Tiruchirapalli City Municipal Corporation, the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board, and two private construction companies.

Ravichandran, a devotee of Vadapathra Kaliamman, used to visit the temple situated near his house twice a week.

On April 20, 2007, at about 8pm, Ravichandran was proceeding to the temple near his home on bicycle. The road was dug in the centre, to carry out underground drainage work, and sand extracted from the earth was heaped on both sides.

He got down near the pit from his bicycle and slipped and fell right inside. No warning signs or boards were kept indicating the existence of an open pit. Nor was the road closed to traffic. There was no light either, exposing the pit. On hearing screams, residents of the locality came to his help and it was only with the help of two ladders that he was brought out.

On account of the fall, Ravichandran suffered severe spinal injuries. Several surgeries were performed on his spinal cord and the disc, but he could not be normalized. In a petition before the bench, Ravichandran submitted that he suffered the injuries solely due to the negligent handling of earth work by the authorities. He prayed for grant of damages of Rs 25,00,000 on account of financial loss, permanent disability and pain and suffering.

The petitioner suffered 100% disability, which forced him to take voluntary retirement from the department. Nirmala Rani, counsel for the petitioner, said the accident was attributable to the negligence of the construction contractors and the Trichy Municipality and the Tamil Nadu Water Supplies Board.

Delivering an order on the petition, Justice Vinod K Sharma said, "The admitted facts show the failure on part of the respondents to exercise care in performance of statutory obligations. Facts further show that no care was taken to heap the sand and to leave a reasonable passage for people to move without threat to life."

The Judge said the petitioner was aged 45 and suffered 100% disability. The lump sum compensation would take care of his medical treatment and attendant care. The Judge said the liability should be joint and several and also be open to statutory authorities to seek remedies as per contract with the private parties for recovery of amount.

If the compensation was not paid within three months of receipt of certified copy of order, the petitioner shall be entitled to interest on this amount at the rate of 9% per annum, from the date of passing of order till its realisation.

After hearing the judgment, Ravichandran said, "In the injury, my lower half was completely paralyzed and I was unable to stand or walk without help. For the past four years, I had to suffer a lot and would have committed suicide. My sheer will to bring up my daughter, who is solely dependent on me, made me live on. Today's judgment is a great solace."

2011-09-13T04:34:00.000-07:00

Media noise must not drown out voices for death penalty abolition

Sukumar Muralidharan, 7-September-2011

The death penalty has forced its way into the political agenda after a number of mercy petitions were turned down by the President. Among the many now facing the imminence of death by hanging are those convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination of 1991, a 1993 bomb attack on a Youth Congress leader which killed numerous innocent bystanders, and the armed assault on Parliament in 2001.

As with all issues today, there is a serious danger that the debate over the death penalty will be hijacked by loud and uninformed commentary on the TV news channels. Illustratively, in the course of a widely-viewed English news channel's studio-based discussion on September 3, a member of the audience expressed his dismay that criminals guilty of the most heinous acts were enjoying the hospitality of the Indian state for indefinite lengths of time. A panelist on the programme, the Kashmiri academic Syed Abdur Rahman Geelani, speaking from the experience of a year spent on death row in the Parliament attack case, interjected to protest that an Indian prison – especially the parts reserved for death convicts – is a veritable hell on earth, which often has its inmates wishing fervently for death as a final release.

This was the cue for the programme anchor to introduce, without a hint of irony, the theme of "deliverance by death". Considering the sheer inhumanity of prison conditions, especially on death row, would not a swift execution be the more compassionate option?

At no point in the debate did key points about the death penalty come up for discussion: its finality and irreversibility, the fallibility of the judicial system that administers it, and its inefficacy as a deterrent against violent crime. Geelani was allowed on a few occasions to argue that Mohammad Afzal Guru, the sole convict in the Parliament attack case, had not been afforded a fair trial and that in fact, the Delhi High Court had held the prosecution guilty of fabricating evidence against him. But these were narrow questions easily suppressed by two compelling arguments deployed by the other side: the Indian Constitution and the criminal law written under it mandated the death penalty in certain cases; and the ends of justice for those who suffered terrible atrocities, would only be met by putting the perpetrators to death.

The question of retribution has a moral dimension. The Supreme Court verdict in the Bachan Singh case of 1980 is still cited as the authoritative ruling on the constitutional validity of the death penalty. In his minority judgment, which dissented on virtually all the central questions, P.N. Bhagwati, later to be the Chief Justice of India, observed that retribution has no moral basis in law. Modern penal theory, he said, discounts it as a motive for determining the nature and quantum of punishment in particular cases.

The only two rationales that survive then are prevention and reform, both of which are objectives better served by lesser sentences.

The other issue needs careful attention: is the Indian Constitution fixed and immutable or is it a live, evolving body of doctrine that reflects the changing needs and aspirations of the Indian people? The Constitution defends the right to life and liberty and lays down the norm that no individual can be deprived of either, except under the process of the law. How sound then is the process of the law as applicable in India or for the matter, anywhere?

In a recent Amnesty International report on the theme of the death penalty, eloquently titledLethal Lottery, the legal scholar and human rights campaigner Bikramjeet Batra has laid out much of the grounds on which reasonable conclusions could be arrived at.(1)

V.R. Krishna Aiyar, as a judge of the Supreme Court, had posed the fundamental moral dilemma as far back as 1977: "It seems to me absurd that laws which are an expression of the public will, which detest and punish homicide, should themselves commit it". In an earlier pronouncement, he had deplored the fact that it was left to "ad hoc forensic impressionism to decide for life or for death".

In his dissent in the Bachan Singh case, Justice Bhagwati revisited this theme of ad hoc determinations being the norm. The Criminal Procedure Code, as revised in 1973, had recognised the death penalty as an exceptional form of punishment, requiring that convincing reasons be specified every time it was imposed. Yet, as Justice Bhagwati observed: "The views of judges as to what may be regarded as special reasons are bound to differ … depending upon .. value system and social philosophy, with the result that whether a person shall live or die depends very much upon the composition of the Bench which tries his case and this renders the imposition of death penalty arbitrary and capricious".

Despite the judicial orthodoxy handed down by the Supreme Court majority in the Bachan Singh matter, the norm that capital punishment should be imposed only in the "rarest of rare" cases, has been variously interpreted.

The last person to be executed under Indian law was Dhananjay Chatterjee, who spent thirteen years on death row before being sent to the gallows in August 2004. As noted in Lethal Lottery, three days after his execution, an almost identical case of rape and murder involving a minor was heard on appeal by the Supreme Court. The crime committed by the accused, Rahul, alias Raosahab, was on the face of things, even more heinous than Chatterjee's. Yet the Supreme Court which had termed Chatterjee a menace to be eliminated for the good of society, held otherwise for Rahul, commuting his death sentence to one of life imprisonment.

In December 2006, a bench of Justices S.B. Sinha and Dalveer Bhandari, in hearing an appeal against a capital conviction, observed that "different criteria have been adopted by different benches of this Court, although the offences are similar in nature". Almost admitting to its helplessness and frustration, the Court declared while commuting the sentence to one of life imprisonment: "No sentencing policy in clear cut terms has been evolved by the Supreme Court. What should we do?"

The Supreme Court has meanwhile added other grounds on which the death penalty would be warranted, such as a collective shock to the national conscience. Despite the infirm evidence and his very remote culpability in the crime, if any, Mohammad Afzal Guru was sentenced to death under this rather vague and flexible criterion.

Human thinking evolves and the law has necessarily to reflect these changes. Y.V. Chandrachud, who was Chief Justice of India and part of the Supreme Court majority which upheld the death penalty in the Bachan Singh case, came to the realisation after retirement, that the "death penalty has served no purpose" and that "neither logic nor experience would justify its continuance on the statute book". Yet, the debate on the death penalty has since failed to engage the attention of India's best legal minds in the manner that judges of the eminence of Krishna Aiyar, Bhagwati, O. Chinnappa Reddy and D.A. Desai, grappled with its legal and ethical dimensions all through the 1970s.

Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights lays down a clear norm: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". As a signatory to the declaration, the Indian State must now frontally address how far it is in compliance with this clause. The reality simply is that there is no humane and compassionate means of administering the death penalty. Keeping a person in a state of limbo between life and death for years together is no option. Neither is it an option that the Indian State should, to meet the demands of a "collective conscience" that is shocked by certain crimes, short-circuit the process of law and expedite the execution of the death penalty.

Basic morality indicates that the choice in any such situation should be for life rather than death.

PRINCIPAL REFERENCE: Amnesty International India and Peoples' Union for Civil Liberties (Tamil Nadu and Puducherry), Lethal Lottery: A Study of Supreme Court Judgments on the Death Penalty in India, 1950-2006, May 2008, available at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA20/007/2008/en/16f59d0b-15fc-11dd-8586-f5a00c540031/asa200072008eng.pdf

2011-09-13T03:12:00.000-07:00

'Death Penalty is nothing but a brutal murder by the State'- K.T.Thomas

Indian President's dismissal of mercy petition, unanimous resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly and J&K chief minister's latest tweet on Afzal Guru have brought to the forefront the debate on capital punishment. It, in fact, finds its fuel whenever courts pass verdicts in sensational cases sentencing the accused to the extreme penalty. However, at other times, the subject remains dormant. Interestingly, when a sessions judge of Madras sentenced to death all the 26 accused in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, it went without a debate. The Supreme Court later set aside the sentence against 22 of the accused and confirmed death sentence against only four. Even then, the volatile subject escaped public debate.
However, the issue was winched to the fore when the Supreme Court handed down death sentence to a rapist whose mercy petition was dismissed by the President of India. The accused was finally hanged after a very long period. In the case of Rajiv Gandhi assassination convicts too, the situation is not any different as they've spent a very long period in cells with the noose hanging before their eyes.
It was my misfortune to have presided over the Supreme Court bench which pronounced the judgement as per which the four accused were sentenced to death.
I, in fact, don't remember to have come across any other case in the history where such a record number of persons were sentenced to be hanged initially as in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. When I started my practice as an advocate, capital punishment was very frequently imposed and the law then required the sessions judge to give his special reasons for not awarding capital sentence. That law was changed and when life imprisonment became the normal sentence the sessions judge was required to give special reasons for awarding capital punishment!
The law was tightened by the Supreme Court further when it later ruled that unless the case is rarest of the rare, the court can't impose the extreme penalty. This expression of "rarest of rare cases", however, remained only in semantics.
The high courts and the Supreme Court had awarded death penalty whenever they felt the facts of a particular murder case showed more cruel overtones than others. Most murders being gruesome in character, it became the choice of a judge to employ his vocabulary to describe the offence in a particular case as rarest of rare cases. You'll be surprised to know most murders in terrorists' attacks were not counted as rarest of rare cases. But, whenever the victim of a murder happened to be a celebrity, then, the death penalty was awarded describing it as rarest of rare case.
The verdicts on Indira Gandhi's assassination case, Rajiv Gandhi's assassination case, General Vydiya's murder case only confirm this. But none of the murder cases during 1984 Sikh riots was treated as rarest of rare cases. It was Justice Sarkaria who authored the well known judgment of the Supreme Court in Bachen Singh case who propounded the doctrine of the rarest of rare cases.
Articulating a standard for discerning such cases he said rarest of rare case is the one in which the alternative sentence of life imprisonment would be unquestionably foreclosed. I point out this because, something interesting happened when Supreme Court pronounced judgment in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
It was a bench of three judges with me, and Justice Wadhwa and Justice Mohammed Quadri. When it came to Nalini, the Supreme Court, of course, held she was also to be convicted. But, one of the three judges advancing his reasons held she could not be hanged to death.
However, the other two judges pronounced she was also liable to be hanged till she was dead. Thus, going by the majority judgement she was given capital punishment. The verdict, however, came up for a review when a petition was filed in the Supreme Court. As a senior judge of the bench, I told the advocates the scope of review was extremely limited. This was because the Supreme Court would not correct its judgment in review unless there was any error apparent on the face of the record. So, we decided to dismiss the review petition. However, I'd a new flash in my mind before the order on the review petition was pronounced. So I pronounced my order allowing the review petition on a new ground.
I said when capital penalty was imposed by two judges of a bench of three with one rooting for life imprisonment, then, the standard laid down for the rarest of rare cases doctrine would come to play. That's to say the lesser alternative was not unquestionably foreclosed since one judge had voted against capital punishment. The other two judges didn't agree. But, finally the constitutional head accepted what I said. Article 21 of the Constitution says no man shall be deprived of his life and liberty save in accordance with the procedure established by law. It means if the law is just, fair and reasonable then even your life can be taken away by that law. Capital punishment is killing a human being. Now the law is that killing a person is not an offence when it has the protection of law! Can a human being be killed with legal sanctity?
Jurists and human-rights activists have divided themselves into two classes, retentionists and abolitionists. How can you be exempted from punishment when you kill a person? What is a punishment? You punish your child for what? Evidently you punish a person to reform him.
In the past, punishment had a three-fold objective: reformation, deterrence and retribution. The notion of retribution is now regarded as outmoded and uncivilised. The tooth for a tooth and eye for an eye doctrine is not accepted by most modern day criminologists. Of the remaining two, the objective of reformation becomes out of range when you eliminate an offender.
Then, what remains is the theory of deterrence. I think the only justification advanced by retentionists is that capital punishment operates as a great deterrent. But, does it really? Even today public beheading of offenders is a dreadful sight required to be witnessed immediately after the Juma worship on Fridays in Saudi Arabia.
This means even after 1,000 years offenders have not come to an end in such countries where population is very insignificant. I do agree an offender escaping punishment encourages others commit similar offences. Yet, we need to conduct a study to find out whether capital punishment works as a real deterrent. As far as I know, no one has made a comparison on the impact of death penalty and life imprisonment.
But, we've a record relating erstwhile states Travancore and Cochin. Maharaja of Travancore was the first one to abolish death penalty in 1940. Later, the Maharaja of Cochin issued a similar proclamation in the same year. Later, when they became part of the Indian Republic in 1950, death penalty had to be restored. Meanwhile, criminologists made a comparison of the murders which took place in these two states between 1940 and 1950 and 1950 and 1960. They're flabbergasted to find that the murder rate during 1950-1960 was much above than corresponding period when death penalty was not in the statute book. It shows death penalty would act as a deterrent is only a myth. Great philosopher Aurther Koistler narrates another interesting episode when in the earlier years death penalty was imposed even for pickpockets in England. Death penalty was introduced under the impression it would check pick-pockets and whenever the hang-man killed the convict the ritual was witnessed by huge crowds. After completing the function of one such hanging episode, the police received reports that the pockets of 63 persons were emptied as they enjoyed the public hanging. That again proves death penalty is not a deterrent. Now what remain are the inhuman aspects surrounding death penalty. First, it destroys the objective of reforming the offender. Second, it forces you foreclose yourself of the obligation to correct your decision, particularly, when it's discovered later that decision was wrong.
Third, by killing the offender you're really committing a murder though you protect it with the cover of law. Fourth, when you kill a person empowered with law, you only share the vengeful mindset of the murderer.
Fifth, you can't, spiritually speaking, take a person's life which you can't give back. Sixth reason revolves around arriving at the decision of death penalty depending on eye witnesses' account. From my experiences, both as an advocate and trial judge, I can say with authority eye witnesses are invariably coached up. The kith and kin of the victim would generally exaggerate the ferocity of the murder. This being so, your conclusion that a murder was committed in a very gruesome manner could be based on a fragile foundation. Besides, if you can count convicted offenders in murder cases, you'll discover 90% belong to society's lower strata. I don't commit murder or perhaps none of you will. This is because of our upbringing. But, those who live in slums and those who're the children of vagabonds might not know the value of life as much as the children of the educated class. Neither would they know spirituality. So, they resort to violence without any moral inhibition. After reading the book authored by Magsaysay winner Kiren Bedi, I'm convinced every offender can be reformed.
But, unfortunately neither government nor public pay its attention to the issue of human issue of reformation. They know only short-cut; liquidate the criminal and rejoice in the wild pleasure that brings about. Let me caution you from my long experience. It's quite possible that guilty could be found innocent by court. But, sometimes, though very rarely only, even innocent might be found guilty.
This is the consequence of sensationalisation of cases. We've one solitary instance in history when a Judge found that the accused was actually innocent.
Yet, he'd to sentence him to death penalty to appease a hostile crowd. It happened 2000 years ago in Jerusalem city. Now, I don't need to tell the name of that judge is Pontius Pilothouse and the name of the condemned prisoner was Yeshua the Nazarene!
K.T. Thomas, former Supreme Court judge, presided over the bench which awarded capital punishment to four convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
(As told to T.S. Sreenivasa Raghavan)

2011-09-08T06:05:00.001-07:00

Amnesty International Press release
7 September 2011

The Sri Lankan government's inquiry into the country's civil war is fundamentally flawed and provides no accountability for atrocities, according to a new Amnesty International report.

When will they get justice? exposes the shortcomings of the inquiry, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). These include its failure to properly pursue allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity levelled against both government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

"The Sri Lankan government has, for almost two years, used the LLRC as its trump card in lobbying against an independent international investigation. Officials described it as a credible accountability mechanism, able to deliver justice and promote reconciliation. In reality it's flawed at every level: in mandate, composition and practice," said Amnesty International's Asia Pacific Director, Sam Zarifi.

The LLRC was established by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in May 2010, after he made a joint commitment to an accountability process in Sri Lanka alongside UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The commission's mandate falls far short of international standards for such inquiries.

Amnesty International's analysis of the LLRC's publicly available transcripts found it failed to appropriately investigate credible allegations of systematic violations by both sides to the conflict, including illegal killings and enforced disappearances, widespread shelling of civilian targets such as hospitals, and use of civilians as shields.

Its Commissioners include former Sri Lankan government officials who have publicly defended the Sri Lankan government against allegations of war crimes.

During the LLRC's first field session, the panel's Chairman made no mention of human rights abuses, telling witnesses to "forget the past". Instead, he asked them to tell the Commission about any problems accessing education, medical care and housing.

"Analysis of LLRC sessions exposes a catalogue of missed opportunities, negligence and political bias," said Sam Zarifi. "The LLRC's panel of Commissioners ignored crucial questions about the role of government forces in war crimes and crimes against humanity."

The LLRC published an interim report in September 2010, which did not contain any recommendations aimed at achieving accountability for past human rights abuses. It will submit its final report in November 2011.

For more than two decades, numerous national commissions of inquiry have failed to effectively deliver justice to victims of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka.

"The LLRC is the latest in a long line of failed domestic inquiries. Impunity has been the rule rather than the exception, now exacerbated by a post-conflict triumphalism that rejects all responsibility for abuses carried out by government forces," said Sam Zarifi.

A UN Panel of Experts' report on Sri Lanka submitted to Ban Ki-moon on 12 April 2011 found credible allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both government forces and the LTTE, and recommended establishing an "independent international mechanism" to investigate allegations.

Amnesty International called on the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council to support this call in order to pursue justice for victims and their families.

"The international community must not be deceived into viewing the LLRC as a credible replacement for an international inquiry – this would allow war crimes and crimes against humanity to go unchallenged," said Sam Zarifi.

"Only an international, independent investigation can deliver justice to the thousands of victims of Sri Lanka's brutal conflict. Only then will the voices of victims really be heard. And only then can the process of post-conflict reconciliation begin to move forward."

2011-09-06T17:50:00.001-07:00

It's high time the subterfuge of contract labour system ends: Supreme Court

"Globalisation cannot be at the human cost of exploitation of workers"

The Supreme Court on Friday deprecated the unfortunate state of
affairs prevailing in the field of labour relations in the country
wherein employers often resorted to contract employment and thereby
curtailed the statutory rights of workers.

A Bench of Justices Markandey Katju and C.K. Prasad in its judgment
said: "in order to avoid their liability under various labour
statutes, employers are very often resorting to subterfuge by trying
to show that their employees are, in fact, the employees of a
contractor. It is high time that this subterfuge comes to an end."

The Bench expressing its anguish said: "Labour statutes were meant to
protect the employees/workmen because it was realised that the
employers and the employees are not on an equal bargaining position.
Hence, protection of employees was required so that they may not be
exploited. However, this new technique of subterfuge has been adopted
by some employers in recent years in order to deny the rights of the
workmen under various labour statutes by showing that the workmen
concerned are not their employees but are the employees/workmen of a
contractor, or that they are merely daily wage or short-term or casual
employees when in fact they are doing the work of regular employees."

The Bench made it clear that the Supreme Court could not countenance
such practices any more. "Globalisation/liberalisation in the name of
growth cannot be at the human cost of exploitation of workers."

In the instant case, appellant Bhiklwara Dugdh Utpadak Sahakaris Ltd.
was aggrieved against the Rajasthan High Court judgment upholding the
Labour Court's finding that the contract employees were workmen of the
company and not that of the contractor.

Dismissing the appeal, the Bench said: "It has been clearly stated by
the Labour Court that subterfuge was resorted to by the appellant to
show that the workmen concerned were only workmen of a contractor. The
Labour Court has held that the workmen were the employees of the
appellant and not employees of the contractor. Cogent reasons have
been given by the Labour Court to come to this finding. The Labour
Court has held that, in fact, the workmen concerned were working under
the orders of the officers of the appellant, and were being paid Rs.
70 per day, while the workmen/employees of the contractor were paid
Rs. 56 per day."

The Bench said it was implicit in the finding of the Labour Court that
there was subterfuge by the appellant to avoid its liabilities under
various labour statutes.

"We are of the opinion that the High Court has rightly refused to
interfere with this finding of fact recorded by the Labour Court.
There is no infirmity in the impugned judgment of the High Court."

2011-09-05T06:44:00.001-07:00

JAN LOKPAL: AN ALTERNATE VIEW

K.N.PANIKKAR

After forty two years of hesitation and uncertainty an institutional mechanism for dealing with the all pervasive incidence of corruption is now within sight. What apparently moved the state machinery was the agitation spearheaded by Anna Hazare, which drew spontaneous support primarily in metropolitan cities. Within five days of Anna Hazare undertaking a 'fast unto death' at Jantar Mandir in New Delhi the government of India conceded his demand to constitute a committee to draft a bill for establishing the institution of Lokpal at the centre. This is quite different from the past practice of the Indian state. Remember Potti Sriramalu who at the end of a prolonged fast sacrificed his life for the formation of Andhra Pradesh and Irom Sharmila who has been on hunger strike for more than ten years, demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Nevertheless, the developments leading to the constitution of the committee for drafting the Lokpal Bill and the provisions of the draft Bill raise several fundamental questions about the working of Indian democracy. Some of these questions demand urgent attention before the Bill is piloted through the Parliament.

In deciding the composition and terms of reference of the committee Anna Hazare appears to have exercised decisive influence. The 'representatives of the civil society' were chosen by him and the government accepted his suggestions. The committee consisted of five 'representatives' of the civil society and five ministers representing the government. Welcoming the imitative the Prime Minister has said that the 'coming together of the government and civil society is a step that augurs well for democracy.' But it should be apparent that no democratic principle was followed in the constitution of the committee. The representatives of civil society were handpicked by Anna and the government nominees do not reflect diverse political opinion represented in the Parliament.

A Magsaysay awardee, Anna Hazare brought to the movement against corruption considerable reputation and moral strength derived from his social work in a village in Maharashtra known as Ralegan Siddhi. But the methods he has adopted to press his demand has raised several eyebrows. Many believe that the hunger strike and the ultimatum he had served are coercive in nature and have no place in a democracy. The attempt of some of his followers to equate him with Gandhiji need not be taken seriously,as neither his ideas nor his methods justify such a claim. Nevertheless, his Gandhian credentials have earned him recognition from the state and civil society. Although claiming himself to be apolitical he entertains deep distrust of politics and politicians. Paradoxically he has sought the help of the political system to deal with the malaise of corruption. If he had chosen the moral path he would have addressed the social conditions which made corruption possible. Yet, supported by a few civil society activists and projected by a section of the English media as a saviour of the nation, Anna acquired a larger than life stature which appears to have punctured the self assurance of the government. His agitation has been lionized by some as second freedom struggle. But it appears to have escaped notice that 'the assertion of a few to represent the majority', without any representative character is essentially anti-democratic. The emotional and even unthinking support Hazare commanded is understandable, given the widespread corruption indulged in by the political elite and the bureaucracy.

However, it is the timing of the agitation rather than the moral content of the campaign that accounts for the popular response. The neo-liberal policies pursued by the ruling elite had opened up the possibilities of corruption in massive transfer of public assets and promotion of corporate interests through political patronage. Both the National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the United Progressive Alliance under the leadership of the Congress were bed fellows in promoting privatization and inviting foreign capital to modernize the country. The unprecedented incidence of corruption in recent times is a concomitant of economic conditions created by liberalization.

The corruption is a complex issue embedded in bureaucratic rigidity, economic access and political power. In this sense the state is the main promoter of corruption. It can not be reduced as a question of morality alone, nor can a solution be found in the punishment of individuals as a deterrent. Such a solution, however, would be most welcome to the state and its functionaries and even to the liberal intelligentsia. It appears that corruption is a great unifier. For Anna's anti-corruption platform attracted former police officer Kiran Bedi and Arya Samaj leader Swami Agnivesh, along with communalists like Ram Madhav and religious entrepreneurs like Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravidas on the same platform. Not only the communalists and rightwing elements were part of his entourage but Anna also extended his 'blessings' to the likes of Narendra Modi by praising the Gujarat model of development, ignoring in the process the moral problem so dear to his heart. That a person who believes that morality is neutral is celebrated as the 'saviour' of the nation in some quarters, including the government, is a tragedy. But the favorable demeanor of the state towards Anna is not surprising. So long as Anna Hazare or for that matter anybody else does not raise systemic and institutional issues, and only champions reformist measures the state will have no problem to promote them. In fact, the attempt of the state would be to 'instrumentalise' them. As a result Anna Hazare and his committee may end up as apologists for the state run machinery of corruption. For, it is not the absence of law which prevents action against the guilty but the political will to do so. The periodic appearance of Anna Hazares and their reformist agenda are safety valves for a crisis ridden government. The government functionaries sharing the table with Anna may help to create another fortress around the beleaguered state.

The Committee quickly constituted by the mutual consent of Anna and the government has already started its deliberations. There are more than one draft bill presented in the first meeting of the Committee and therefore it is premature to discuss the provisions of the Bill. Yet, there are some visible directions. Anna Hazare's authoritarian approach to social problems, as evident in the social ambience created in Ralegan, and the principle of centralization of authority the state follows (National council for higher education and research bill, for instance) find common resonance in the drafts. They envision the Lokpal to function in a social vacuum as a super judicial authority, undermining the existing judiicial system, which all said and done, has withstood the pressure and preserved the rights of the citizens. There is nothing in the draft to suggest that Lokpal will bring to bear a greater sense of transparency and accountability in the system than what the existing institutions have so far achieved.

The aim of the bill is not to prevent corruption but to punish the corrupt. In this respect the draft does not provide a qualitatively different approach than that of the existing institutions of the State. Only when a system which is transparent is put in place prevention of corruption is possible. Social audit does not necessarily create such a transparency. The process of decision making has to be fundamentally altered to ensure transparency. The target should be the conditions which make corruption possible which demands a complete overhauling of the existing mode of government management.

Given the scale and influence of corruption in the country the constitution of Jan Lokpal is a welcome initiative. But the proposed Lokpal has the making of a super monster. By absorbing all existing anti-corruption agencies the Lokpal will have complete powers of independent investigation and prosecution. It would be an institution with overriding powers without any accountability. As such it goes against all norms of democratic functioning. If the Jan Lokpal is to live upto its jan character its authoritarian and centralized structure should be dispensed with and it should be turned into an instrument of people's empowerment. A beginning towards that end should be made at the formative stage itself by sending the draft bill to every panchayat for discussion so that nation's conscience is truly aroused.

(Author is a former professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University. He can be contacted at knpanikkar @gmail.com)

2011-09-02T05:30:00.001-07:00

PERSPECTIVES ON ANNA HAZARE JUGGERNAUT

Interview telecast on 31.08.2011 in CNN-IBN

In an exclusive interview, writer Arundhati Roy said there are serious concerns about the Jan Lokpal Bill, corporate funding, NGOs and even the role of the media.

Sagarika Ghose: Hello and welcome to the CNN-IBN special. The Anna Hazare anti-corruption movement has thrown up multiple voices. Many have been supportive of the movement, but there have been some who have been sceptical and raised doubts about the movement as well. One of these sceptical voices is writer Arundhati Roy who now joins us. Thanks very much indeed for joining us. In your article in 'The Hindu' published on August 21, entitled 'I'd rather not be Anna', you've raised many doubts about the Anna Hazare campaign. Now that the movement is over and the crowds have come and we've seen the massive size of those crowds, do you continue to be sceptical? And if so, why?

Arundhati Roy: Well, it's interesting that everybody seems to have gone away happy and everybody is claiming a massive victory. I'm kind of happy too, relieved I would say, mostly because I'm extremely glad that the Jan Lokpal Bill didn't go through Parliament in its current form. Yes, I continue to be sceptical for a whole number of reasons. Primary among them is the legislation itself, which I think is a pretty dangerous piece of work. So what you had was this very general mobilisation about corruption, using people's anger, very real and valid anger against the system to push through this very specific legislation or to attempt to push through this very specific piece of legislation which is very, very regressive according to me. But my scepticism ranges through a whole host of issues which has to do with history, politics, culture, symbolism, all of it made me extremely uncomfortable. I also thought that it had the potential to turn from something inclusive of what was being marketed and touted and being inclusive to something very divisive and dangerous. So I'm quite happy that it's over for now.

Sagarika Ghose: Just to come back to your article. You said that Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia have received $ 400,000 from the Ford foundation. That was one of the reasons that you were sceptical about this movement. Why did you make it a point to put in the fact that Arvind Kejriwal is funded by the Ford foundation.

Arundhati Roy: Just in order to point to the fact, a short article can just indicate the fact that it is in some way an NGO driven movement by Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal, Sisodia, all these people run NGOs. Three of the core members are Magsaysay award winners which are endowed by Ford foundation and Feller. I wanted to point to the fact that what is it about these NGOs funded by World Bank and Bank of Ford, why are they participating in sort of mediating what public policy should be? I actually went to the World Bank site recently and found that the World Bank runs 600 anti-corruption programmes just in places like Africa. Why is the World Bank interested in anti-corruption? I looked at five of the major points they made and I thought it was remarkable if you let me read them out:

1) Increasing political accountability

2) Strengthening civil society participation

3) Creating a competitive private sector

4) Instituting restraints on power

5) Improving public sector management

So, it explained to me why in the World Bank, Ford foundation, these people are all involved in increasing the penetration of international capital and so it explains why at a time when we are also worried about corruption, the major parts of what corruption meant in terms of corporate corruption, in terms of how NGOs and corporations are taking over the traditional functions of the government, but that whole thing was left out, but this is copy book World Bank agenda. They may not have meant it, but that's what's going on and it worries me a lot. Certainly Anna Hazare was picked up and propped up a sort of saint of the masses, but he wasn't driving the movement, he wasn't the brains behind the movement. I think this is something very pertinent that we really need to worry about.

Sagarika Ghose: So you don't see this as a genuine people's movement. You see it as a movement led by rich NGOs, funded by the World Bank to make India more welcoming of international capital?

Arundhati Roy: Well, I mean they are not funded by the World Bank, the Ford foundation is a separate thing. But just that I wouldn't have been this uncomfortable if I saw it as a movement that took into account the anger from the 2G Scam, from the Bellary mining, from CWG and then said 'Let's take a good look at who is corrupt, what are the forces behind it', but no, this fits in to a certain kind of template altogether and that worries me. It's not that I'm saying they are corrupt or anything, but I just find it worrying. It's not the same thing as the Narmada movement, it's the same thing as a people's movement that's risen from the bottom. It's very much something that, surely lots of people joined it, all of them were not BJP, all of them were not middle-class, many of them came to a sort of reality show that was orchestrated by even a very campaigning media, but what was this bill about? This bill was very, very worrying to me.

Sagarika Ghose: We'll come to the bill in just a bit but before that I want to bring in another controversial statement in your article which has sparked a great deal of controversy among even your old associates Medha Patkar and Prashant Bhushan, where you said, 'Both the Maoists and Jan Lokpal Movement have one thing in common, they both seek the overthrow of the Indian state.' Why do you believe that the movement for the Jan Lokpal Bill is similar to the Maoist movement in seeking the overthrow of the Indian state?

Arundhati Roy: Well, let's separate the movement from the bill, as I said that I don't even believe that most people knew exactly what the provisions of the bill were, those who were part of the movement, very few in the media and on the ground. But if you study that bill carefully, you see the creation of a parallel oligarchy. You see that the Jan Lokpal itself, the ten people, the bench plus the chairman, they are selected by a pool of very elite people and they are elite people, I mean if you look at one of the phases which says the search committee, the committee which is going to shortlist the names of the people who will be chosen for the Jan Lokpal will shortlist from eminent individuals of such class of people whom they deem fit. So you create this panel from this pool, and then you have a bureaucracy which has policing powers, the power to tap your phones, the power to prosecute, the power to transfer, the power to judge, the power to do things which are really, and from the Prime Minister down to the bottom, it's really like a parallel power, which has lost the accountability, whatever little accountability a representative government might have, but I'm not one of those who is critiquing it from the point of view of say someone like Aruna Roy, who has a less draconian version of the bill, I'm talking about it from a different point of view altogether of firstly, the fact that we need to define what do we mean by corruption, and then what does it mean to those who are disempowered and disenfranchised to get two oligarchies instead of one raiding over them.

Sagarika Ghose: So do you believe that the leaders of this movement were misleading the crowds who came for the protest because they were not there simply as an anti-corruption movement, they were there to campaign for the Jan Lokpal Bill and if people knew what the Jan Lokpal Bill was all about, in your opinion, setting up this huge bureaucratic monster, many of those people might well have not come for the movement, so do you feel that the leaders were misleading the people?

Arundhati Roy: I can't say that they were deliberately misleading people because of course, that bill on the net, if anybody wanted to read it could read it. So I can't say that. But I think that the anger about corruption became so widespread and generalised that nobody looked at what, there was a sort of dissonance between the specific legislation and the anger that was bringing people there. So, you have a situation in which you have this powerful oligarchy with the powers of prosecution surveillance, policing. In the bill there's a small section which says budget, and the budget is 0.25 per cent of the Government of India's revenues, that works out to something like Rs 2000 crore. There's no break up, nobody is saying how many people will be employed, how are they going to be chosen so that they are not corrupt, you know, it's a sketch, it's a pretty terrifying sketch. It's not even a realised piece of legislation. I think that, in a way the best thing that could have happened has happened that you have the bill and you have other versions of the bill and you have the time to now look at it and see whatever, I just want to keep saying that I'm not, my position in all this is not to say we need policing and better law. I'm a person who's asking and has asked for many years for fundamental questions about injustice, which is why I keep saying let's talk about what we mean by corruption.

Sagarika Ghose: And you believe that the reason why this movement is misconceived is because it's centered around this Jan Lokpal Bill?

Arundhati Roy: Yes, not just that, I think centrally, that I was saying earlier, can we discuss what we mean by corruption. Is it just financial irregularity or is it the currency of social transaction in a very unequal society? So if you can give me 2 minutes, I'll tell you what I mean. For example, corruption, some people, poor people in villages have to pay bribes to get their ration cards, to get their NREGA dues from very powerful vested interests. Then you a middleclass, you have honest businessmen who cannot run an honest business because of all sorts of reasons, they are out there angry. You have a middleclass which actually bribes to buy itself scarce favours and on the top you have the corporations, the politicians looting millions and mines and so on. But you also have a huge number of people who are outside the legal framework because they don't have pattas, they live in slums, they don't have legal housing, they are selling their wares on redis, so they are illegal and in an anti-corruption law, an anti-corruption law is naturally sort of pinned to an accepted legality. So you can talk about the rule of law when all your laws are designed to perpetuate the inequality that exists in Indian society. If you're not going to question that, I'm really not someone who is that interested in the debate then.

Sagarika Ghose: So fundamentally it's about service delivery to the poorest of the poor, it's about ensuring justice to the poorest of the poor, without that a whole bureaucratic infrastructure is meaningless?

Arundhati Roy: Well Yes, but you know as I said in my article, supposing you're selling your samosas on a 'rehdi' (cart) in a city where only malls are legal, then you pay the local policemen, are you going to have to now pay to the Lokpal too? You know corruption is a very complicated issue.

Sagarika Ghose: But what about the provisions for the lower bureaucracy. The lower bureaucracy is going to be brought into the Lokpal, they're going to have a state level Lokayukta, so there is an attempt within the Lokpal Bill to go right down to the level of the poorest of the poor and then you can police even those functionaries who deal with the very poor. So don't you have hope that there, at least, it could be regularised because of this bill?

Arundhati Roy: I think that part of the bill will be interesting, I think it's very complicated because the troubles that are besetting our country today are not going to be solved by policing and by complaint booths alone. But, at the lower level, I think we have to come up with something where you can assure people that you're not going to set up another bureaucracy which is going to be equally corrupt. When you have one brother in BJP, one brother in Congress, one brother in police, one brother in Lokpal, I would like to see how that's going to be managed, this law is very sketchy about that.

Sagarika Ghose: But just to come back to the movement again, don't you think that the political class has become corrupt and has become venal and you have a movement like this it does function as a wake up call?

Arundhati Roy: To some extent yes, but I think by focusing on the political class and leaving out the corporations, the media that they own, the NGOs that are taking over, governmental functions like health, you know corporates are now dealing with what government used to deal with. Why are they left out? So I think a much more comprehensive view would have made me comfortable even though I keep saying that for me the real issue is what is it that has created a society in which 830 million people live on less than Rs 20 a day and you have more people and all of the poor countries of Africa put together.

Sagarika Ghose: So basically what you're saying is that laws are not the way to tackle corruption and to tackle injustice. It's not through laws, it's not through legal means, we have to do it through much more decentralisation of power, much more outreach at the lowest level?

Arundhati Roy: I think first you have to question the structure. You see if there is a structural inequality happening, and you are not questioning that, and you're in fact fighting for laws that make that structural inequality more official, we have a problem. To give an example, I was just on the Chhattisgarh-Andhra Pradesh border where the refugees from Operation Greenhunt have come out and underneath. So for them the issue is not whether Tata gave a bribe on his mining or Vedanta didn't give a bribe in his mining. The problem is that there is a huge problem in terms of how the mineral and water and forest wealth of India is being privatised, is being looted, even if it were non corrupt, there is a problem. So that's why we're just not coolly talking about Dantewada, there are many a places I mean what's happening in Posco, in Kalinganagar . So this is not battles against corruption. There's something very, very serious going on. None of these issues were raised or even alluded to somehow.

Sagarika Ghose: So basically what you're saying is that it is not the battle against corruption which is the primary battle, it's the battle for justice that has to be the primary battle in India. Just to come back to the point about the law, many have said that this is a process of pre-legislative consultation, that all over the world now civil society groups, I know you don't like that word, are co-operating with the government in law making and a movement like this institutionalises that, institutionalises civil society groups coming into the law making process. Doesn't that make you hopeful about this movement?

Arundhati Roy: In principal, yes, but when a movement like this which has been constructed in the way that it has, you can talk about, sort of calls itself the people or civil society and says that it's representing all of civil society. I would say there's a problem there and it depends on the law. So right now I think the good thing that has happened is that the Jan Lokpal Bill which probably has some provisions that will make it into the final law, is one of the many bills that will be debated. So, yes, that's a good thing. But if it had just gone through in this way, I wouldn't be saying yes, that's a good thing.

Sagarika Ghose: Let's talk about the media. You've been very critical about the media and the way the media, particularly broadcast media has covered this movement, do you believe that if the media had not given it this kind of time, this movement simply wouldn't have taken off? Do you believe that it's a media manufactured movement?

Arundhati Roy: Well, I'm not going to say that's entirely media manufactured. I think that was one of the big factors in it. There was also mobilisation from the BJP and the RSS, which they've admitted to. I think the media, I don't know when before campaigned for something in this way where every other kind of news was pushed out and for ten days, you had only this news. In this nation of one billion people, the media didn't find anything else to report and it campaigned, not everybody, but certainly certain major television channels campaigned and said they were campaigning, they said, 'We're the channel through whom Anna speaks to the people and so on. Now firstly to me that's a form of corruption in the first place where presumably, a broadcast licence as a news channel has to do with reporting news, not campaigning. But even if you are campaigning and the only reason that everybody was reporting it was TRP ratings, then why not just settle for pornography or sadomasochism or whatever gives good TRP ratings. How can news channels just abandon every other piece of news and just concentrate on this for 10 days? You know how much of spot ad costs on TV, what kind of a price would you put on this? Why was it doing this? Per se if media campaigns had to do with social justice, if the media spent 10 days campaigning on why more than a lakh farmers have committed suicide in this country, I'd be glad because I would say okay, this is the job of the media. It is like the old saying - to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.

Sagarika Ghose: But don't you think one man taking on the might of the government is a big story and don't you think that that deserves to be covered?

Arundhati Roy: No, I don't. For all the sorts of reasons that I've said, it was one man trying to push through a regressive piece of legislation.

Sagarika Ghose: Let's come to the role of the RSS which you have also eluded to. You've spoken about the role of aggressive nationalism or Vande Mataram being chanted, of the RSS saying that we're involved in this particular movement, but then your old associates Prashant Bhushan and Medha Patkar are in this movement as well. Is it fair to completely dub this movement as an RSS Hindu right wing movement?

Arundhati Roy: I haven't done that though some people have. But I think it's an interesting question to talk about symbolism and this movement. For example, what is the history of Vande Mataram? Vande Mataram first occurred in this book by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1882, it became a part of a sort of war cry at the time of partition of Bengal and since then, since in 1937 Tagore said it's a very unsuitable national anthem, very divisive, it's got a long communal history. So what does it mean when huge crowds are chanting that? When you take up the national flag, when you're fighting colonialism, it means one thing. When you're a supposedly free nation that national flag is always about exclusion and not inclusion. You took up that flag and the state was paralysed. A state which is not scared of slaughtering people in the dark, suddenly was paralysed. You talk about the fact that it was a non violent movement, yes, because the police were disarmed. They just were too scared to do anything. You had Bharat Mata's photo first and then it was replaced by Gandhi. You had people who were openly part of the Manovadi Krantikari Aandolan there. So you have this cocktail of very dangerous things going on, you had other kinds of symbolism. Imagine Gandhi going to a private hospital after his fast. A private hospital that symbolises the withdrawal of the state from healthcare for the poor. A private hospital where the doctors charge a lakh every time they inhale and exhale. The symbolisms were dangerous and if this movement had not ended in this way, it could have turned extremely dangerous. What you had was a lot of people, I'm not going to say they were only RSS, I'm not going to say they were only middle-class, I'm not going to say they were only urban. But yes, they were largely more well off than most people who have been struggling on the streets and facing bullets in this country for a long time. But in some odd way the victims and the perpetrators of corruption of the recipients of the fruits of modern development, they were all there together. There were contradictions that could not have been held together for much longer without them just tearing apart.

Sagarika Ghose: But weren't you impressed by the sheer size of the crowd? Weren't you impressed by the spontaneity of the crowd? The fact that people came out, they voiced their anger, they voiced their protest, surely it can't just all be boxed into one shade of opinion.

Arundhati Roy: Should I tell you something Sagarika? I have seen much larger crowds in Kashmir. I have seen much larger crowds even in Delhi. Nobody reported them. They were then only called 'traffic jam bana diya inhone'. I was not impressed by the size of the crowds apart from the fact that I'm not that kind of a person. I'm sure there were larger crowds chanting for the demolition of the Babri Masjid, would that be fine by us? It's not about numbers.

Sagarika Ghose: Is that how you see this movement? You see it as a kind of Ram Janmabhoomi Part 2?

Arundhati Roy: No, not at all. I've said what I feel. That would be stupid for me to say. But I see it as something potentially quite worrying, quite dangerous. So I think we all need to go back and think a lot about what was going on there and not come to easy conclusions and easy condemnations, I think we really need to think about what was going on there, how it was caused, how it happened, what are the good things, what are the bad things, some serious thinking. But certainly I'm not the kind of person who just goes and gets impressed by a crowd regardless of what it's saying, regardless of what it's chanting, regardless of what it's asking for.

Sagarika Ghose: But what about the persona of Anna Hazare? Many would say that he evoked a certain different era, he evoked the era of the freedom struggle, he is a simple Gandhian, he does lead a very austere life, he lives in a small room behind a temple and his persona of what he is evokes a certain moral power perhaps which is needed in an India which is facing a moral crisis.

Arundhati Roy: I think Anna Hazare was a sort of empty vessel in which you could pour whatever meaning you wanted to pour in, unlike someone like Gandhi who was very much his own man on the stage of the world. Anna Hazare certainly is his own man in his village, but here he was not in charge of what was going on. That was very evident. As for who he is and what his affiliations and antecedents have been, again I'm worried.

Sagarika Ghose: Why are you worried?

Arundhati Roy: Some of things that one has read and found out about, his attitude towards Harijans, that every village must have one 'chamaar' and one 'sunaar' and one 'kumhaar', that's gandhian in some ways, you know Gandhi had this very complicated and very problematic attitude to the caste system, anyone who knows about the debates between Gandhi and Ambedkar will tell you that. But what I'm saying is eventually we live in a very complicated society. You have a strong left edition which doesn't know what to do with the caste system. You have the Gandhians who are also very odd about the caste system. You have our deeply frightening communal politics, you have this whole new era of new liberalism and the penetration of international capital. This movement just did not know the beginning of its morals. It could have ended badly because nobody really, you know, you choose something like corruption, it's a pot into which everyone can piss, anti-left, pro-left, right, I mean, I was in Hyderabad, Jagan Mohan Reddy who was at that time being raided by the CBI was one of his great supporters. Naveen Patnaik…

Sagarika Ghose: But isn't that its strength? It's an inclusive agenda. Anti-corruption movement brings people in.

Arundhati Roy: It's a meaningless thing when you have highly corrupt corporations funding an anti-corruption movement, what does this mean? And trying to set up an oligarchy which actually neatens the messy business of democracy and representative democracy however bad it is. Certainly it's a comment on the fact that our country suffering from a failure of representative democracy, people don't believe that their politicians really represent them anymore, there isn't a single democratic institution that is accessible to ordinary people. So what you have is a solution which isn't going to address the problem.

Sagarika Ghose: So a corporate funded movement which seeks to lessen the power of the democratic state and seeks to reduce the power of the democratic state?

Arundhati Roy: I would say that this bill would increase the possibilities of the penetration of international capital which has led to a huge crisis in the first place in this country.

Sagarika Ghose: Just on a different note, what do you think of the fast-unto-death? Many have criticised it as a 'Brahamastra' which shouldn't be easily deployed in political agitations, Gandhi used it only as a last resort. What is your view of the hunger strike or the fast-unto-death?

Arundhati Roy: Look the whole world is full of people who are killing themselves, who are threatening to kill themselves in different ways. From a suicide bomber to the people who are immolating themselves on Telangana and all that. Frankly, I'm not one of those people who's going to stand and give a lecture about the constitutionality of resistance because I'm not that person. For me it's about what are you doing it for. That's my real question - what are you doing it for? Who are you doing it for? And why are you doing it? Other than that I think I personally believe that there are things going on in this world that you really need to stand up and resist in whatever way you can. But I'm not interested in a fast-unto-death for the Jan Lokpal Bill frankly.

Sagarika Ghose: So what is your solution then. How would you fight corruption?

Arundhati Roy: Sagarika, I'm telling you that corruption is not my big issue right now. I'm not a reformist person who will tell you how to cleanse the Indian state. I'm going on and on in all the 10 years that I've written about nuclear powers, about nuclear bombs, about big dams, about this particular model of development, about displacement, about land acquisition, about mining, about privatisation, these are the things I want to talk about. I'm not the doctor to tell the Indian state how to improve itself.

Sagarika Ghose: So corruption really does not concern you in that sense?

Arundhati Roy: No, it does, but not in this narrow way. I'm concerned about the absolutely disgusting inequality in the society that we live in.

Sagarika Ghose: And this movement has done nothing to touch that. What precedents has it set for protest movements in the future? Do you think this movement has set a precedent for protest movements in the future?

Arundhati Roy: For protest movements of the powerful, protests movements where the media is on your side, protests movements where the government is scared of you, protest movements where the police disarm themselves, how many movements are there going to be like that? I don't know. While you're talking about this, the army is getting ready to move into Central India to fight the poorest people in this country, and I can tell you they are not disarmed. So, I don't know what lessons you can draw from a protest movement that has privileges that no other protest movement I've ever known has had.

Sagarika Ghose: Just to re-emphasise the point about Medha Patkar and Prashant Bhushan, these are old time associates of yours in activism. They are deeply involved in this particular movement. How do you react to them being involved in this movement of which, you're so critical?

Arundhati Roy: With some dismay because Prashant is a very close friend of mine and I respect Medha a lot, but I think that their credibility has been cashed in on in some ways, but I feel bad that they are part of it.

Sagarika Ghose: You have voiced fears in your article as well that in some ways, this movement and this bill is an attempt to diminish the powers of the democratic government and to reduce the discretionary powers of the democratic government. So you feel that this is a corporate funded exercise to reduce the powers of the democratically elected government?

Arundhati Roy: Well not corporate funded, but there's a sort of IMF World Bank way of looking at it, fuelling this whole path because if you remember in the early 90s when they began on this path of liberalisation and privatisation. The government itself kept saying, 'Oh, we're so corrupt. We need a systemic change, we can't not be corrupt,' and that systemic change was privatisation. When privatisation has shown itself to be more corrupt than, I mean the levels of corruption have jumped so high, the solution is not systemic. It's either moral or it's more privatisation, more reforms. People are calling for the second round of reforms for the removal of the discretionary powers of the government. So I think that's a very interesting that you're not looking at it structurally, you're looking at it morally and you're trying to push whatever few controls there are or took the way once again for the penetration of international capital.

Sagarika Ghose: But people like Nandan Nilekani have argued this movement and this bill could stop reforms actually. It could actually put an end to the reforms process by instituting this big bureaucratic infrastructure - this inspector raj. But you don't go along with that. You believe that this is a way of taking the reforms agenda forward.

Arundhati Roy: I think it depends on who captures that bureaucracy. That's why I'm worried about this combination of sort of Ford funded NGO world and the RSS and that sort of world coming together in a kind of crossroads. Those two things are very frightening because you create a bureaucracy which can then be controlled, which has Rs 2000 crore or whatever, 0.25 per cent of the revenues of the Government of India at its disposal, policing powers, all of this. So it's a way of side-stepping the messy business of democracy.

Sagarika Ghose: That's interesting the combination of Ford funded NGOs, rich NGOs and the Hindu mass organisations. That's the combination that you see here and that's what makes you uneasy.

Arundhati Roy: yes, and when you look at the World Bank agenda, it's 600 anti-corruption plans and projects and what it says, what it believes, then it just becomes as clear as day what's going on here.

Sagarika Ghose: And what is going on, just to push you on that one?

Arundhati Roy: What I said, that you stop concentrating on the corruption of government officers when you know of governments, politicians, and leaving out the huge corporate world, the media, the NGOs who have taken over traditional government functions of electricity, water, mining, health, all of that. Why concentrate on this and not on that? I think that's a very, very big problem.

Sagarika Ghose: So it was a protest movement of the entitled and the protest movement of the privileged. Arundhati Roy thanks very much indeed for joining us.