Impeachment Exercise Gone Waste

Parmanand Pandey

I am posting it on my blog after fairly a long gap of time. During the interregnum the momentous agitation of Anna Hazare took place for nearly a fortnight. Proceedings to impeach Justice Soumitra Sen of Calcutta High Court were conducted in the Rajya Sabha and it was passed with over whelming majority. Anna's movement got tremendous support, particularly from youth of the country. The government that was initially bluffing and blustering started shivering and shuddering a few days later. Anna came out victorious with thunderous applause all over the country.

However, I am not going to write this time on Anna Hazare but on Mr. Soumitra Sen. It is undoubtedly a very sad saga in the annals of judiciary. Mr. Sen was given nearly two hours time by the Chairman to defend himself and prove his innocence after the motion for his impeachment was moved by Sitaram Yechury in the Rajya Sabha. Mr Sen waxed eloquent in his absorbing style and language. There were many members of the Rajya Sabha, who actually came under the spell of his oratory. At one time it appeared that he had demolished all allegations levelled on him and would carry the day. But thanks to the leader of opposition Arun Jaitley, his insincerity and hypocrisy stood exposed. Jaitley tore asunder all his arguments and turned the table. Later other leaders in their speeches buttressed the viewpoints of Jaitley and said that Mr. Sen had no courage to face any of the three enquiry committees, which were set up to enquire into his misconducts.

It is interesting to note here that Mr. Sen never appeared before any committee where he could be cross examined. He deliberately avoided facing the committees knowing it fully well that examination-in-chief without cross examination has no value in the eyes of law. This is not taken as evidence but it is mere statement of an accused, which invariably contains tons of falsehood and only some grains of truth.

Mr. Sen is a typical Bengali bluff master. While lecturing in the Rajya Sabha he said that he was made a 'sacrificial lamb' but he was not a 'quitter'. He would fight it to the last. He would tell the world from the house tops that he was absolutely guiltless. He was a victim of conspiracy hatched by some judges of the Calcutta High Court, who had been jealous of him. He said that the former Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan, him self a corrupt judge, made him the soft target to show that he was free from corruptions.

There is no doubt that Mr. Sen was not to be impeached for any misconduct during the period of his judgeship but he was being held guilty for the period when he was an Advocate and was appointed a Receiver by the High Court. His conduct as a Receiver was, no doubt, unbecoming to say the least. What actually defies logic is that how could he be appointed in the first place because before the appointment of any person, his bona fides are properly enquired into? People say that Mr. Sen has always been a 'go-getter'. He could induce anybody to do a thing to his own liking. That is how he could pitchfork in the hallowed circle of the High Court judge.

This has compelled every right thinking person to give a new thought to the very system of appointment of High Court and Supreme Court judges. This also proves the point to the hilt that there are a large number of corrupt judges working in the High Courts and the Supreme Court of India and if immediate remedial measures to cleanse the existing judicial appointment system are not introduced, the ingenious and insincere persons would make their way in the judiciary bringing bad name and repute to it.

Mr. Soumitra Sen has now resigned. If he had the courage, as he claimed then he would have not resigned. Although his impeachment was a foregone conclusion yet at least his defence would have become the part of the history in the same manner as the impeachments of Lord Clive and Warren Hastings in the House of Lords have now become the precedents.

The question, therefore, remains, why the impeachment proceedings in the Lok Sabha were dropped? Some say that the impeachment was only for removing the judge, what was the need for the exercise, when he has already resigned? After resignation the impeachment became infructuous. That is very true but the resignation has not washed away his misconducts. Witch-hinting is bad but impeachment should have been gone into, that too, after marathon exercises at many stages. Now all of a sudden when the person concerned has resigned then all his sins do not go in to thin air. This aspect must be kept in mind for the future.

Can Brilliance of Lawyer Obscure Facts?

Parmanand Pandey

Three days back i.e. on 18th of July 2011; I appeared before the Supreme Court of India as the counsel of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ), National Federation of Newspaper Employees (NFNE) and other Unions of Newspaper Employees in a case filed by Anand Bazar Patrika Group of Newspapers of Kolkata. It may be mentioned here that Anand Bazar Patrika group is a big group of newspapers, which publishes the largest Bengali daily, 'Anand Bazar Patrika', prestigious English daily 'The Telegraph' and the business daily, 'Business Standard' and one famous Bengali literary magazine. Two very famous weeklies like; Ravivar (in Hindi) and Sunday (in English) were being published from this house but their publication has been ceased for more than one and half decades.
Before the independence of the country, 'Amrita Bazar Patrika' (English) and 'Jugantar' (Bengali) were ruling the roost in the West Bengal but after the freedom was achieved Anand Bazar Patrika's circulation jumped by leaps and bounds and within no time, it left all newspapers from West Bengal far behind. Its popularity was at zenith during the Bangladesh was in 1971, when it cudgels on behalf of more than ten million refugees, who took shelter in India to save their lives.
This newspaper has although been considered as a good paymaster for its employees. Yet, strangely, it has now filed a petition under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution for scrapping of the Working Journalists Act and also for setting aside the recommendations of the Majithia Wage Boards set up by the Government of India for revising the wages of the newspaper employees.
What has disturbed me a lot is not whether the Act is wrong or right, Wages fixed are high or low; but the way the arguments were advanced by a very very senior counsel of India Fali S Nariman who is considered to be an icon of the legal profession.
Mr. Nariman firstly stated that the draft Wage Board recommendations were not made available to the petitioner. This is patently wrong in the sense that the Wage Board was a tripartite panel consisting of employees, employers and government representatives. Therefore, the employers' representatives were privy to every activity and report or recommendation of the Panel. Secondly; if reports were not available to the petitioner how and why did the petitioner assail the recommendations of the Wage Board? Thirdly; how could a petition be filed when the impugned document is not attached with it? Fourthly; it is responsibility and duty of the petitioner to first avail the report and then impugn it? All these questions prove beyond doubt that the petitioner advocate was undoubtedly not adhering to the principle of 'do no fiddle with facts.'
But Nariman is a Nariman. Even Hon'ble judges give high credence to what he says and utters in the court. What is still more surprising is that the gravamen of the main petition is for scrapping of the Working Journalists Act but the arguments were advanced against the recommendations of the Wage Board.
I bought it to the notice of the Hon'ble Judges— Dalveer Bhanari and Deepak Verma but even then they stayed the notification for two weeks. It was all due to humungous impact of Fali Nariman that he has on the Court.
Blind faith, as they rightly say, is always wrong and should be avoided. Is there not a lesson to learn?

Trampling of the democracy in Ram Lila Maidan

Parmanand Pandey

'Rule of law' is the basic and quintessence of democracy. It has to be assiduously preserved and protected by all those; who are at the helm of affairs in a democratic set-up. Without observance of the rule of law, the democracy becomes a farce and many a time worse than dictatorship.

What has happened the other day at Ram Leela Maidan of Delhi to spoil the Satygraha of Swami Ram Dev was most shocking and nothing but the mockery of democracy. Anybody would be aghast to see the harrowing scene of the atrocities being perpetrated by the police on the peaceful satyagrahis in the mid of the night, when most of them were fast asleep.

The government owes explanation to everybody as to why the draconian measure was adopted to disperse the Sayagrahis? Any dispensation having the semblance of civility would think at least a dozen times for taking any step to drive away the peaceful people. But, the step of the police action that was taken by the government would be unthinkable and emphatic no.

Baba Ram Dev has been campaigning for nearly two years to bring back the vast sums of Indian money stashed away in foreign banks. It is claimed that if the entire amount is brought back, India would instantly become a rich country.

The whopping amount of Rs. 4 lakh crore that have been spirited away from the country is mind—boggling ,to say the least. It is beyond anybody's comprehension as to why the government of the day is developing cold-feet in this regard? The more the government wants to conceal it, the more the suspicion of the people gets thickened and strengthened about its malafide intentions. Now the people have started saying that those sitting at the top in the government do not want to touch the corruption and corrupt elements. In fact it is they who encourage the corruption. If those like, Baba Ram Dev raise there voice they are subjected to derision, ridicule subjected, lathi-charge and tear gas. This amply exposes the government that it is prepared to compromise with corruption and its generator at every step. It is frightened even with the name of 'corruption' as it is neck-deep into it.

This government accorded the red carpet welcome to Swami Ram Dev on this matter demonstrating its sensitivity, even if it was for public consumption, it cannot say that Baba's demand for bringing back the black money is unjustified. Swami Ram Dev has actually caught the fancy of the people. The government firstly wanted to cause rift between Anna Hazare and Ram Dev but when it failed in its objective, it started the dirty game of vilification, character assassination and defamation of Swami Ram Dev.

People are not fools; they can well see-through it.

But, however, Baba has not to deviate from his path, come what may. The public support is abounding to the cause for Baba Ram Dev; the need is channelise to make a corruption free society. Let us hope for the best

Castration of Culprits: Medicine Worse Than Disease

Parmanand Pandey

A judge of Delhi, Ms Kamini Lau has suggested that the punishment to the convicts of rape case should be made exemplary and extremely deterrent. Her main suggestion, however, is that instead of increasing the period of incarceration of a rape-culprit to life imprisonment or putting him gallows, he should be chemically castrated. Such a person would find that his life has become a virtual hell for him and he would be constantly subjected to derision and ridicule of the society. This mortification will always haunt him to make him realise of his beastly guilt every moment till the last breath of his life.

In fact, according to many theories of punishment, there are mainly its three objectives: Reformative, Retributive and Deterrent. The crimes have also been broadly divided into two categories: One is against individual and the other is against individual plus society. In the second type of crimes; although the sufferer or victim is individual yet, it is considered to be a challenge to the law and order of the state and therefore, it is treated a crime to have been committed against the society. The state prosecutes the accused persons only against the crimes falling into IInd category. Punishment depends on the gravity of the crime.

There is no gainsaying that the rape is the most heinous crime and the trauma of a rape victim is indescribable. No amount of punishment can assuage and ameliorate the pains and sufferings of the victim. The attitude of the society further aggravates her mental agony and torture wreaking havoc on her. Therefore, the foremost thing that is to be done to change the mental attitude of the society as she undergoes almost daily. She often falls prey to deep depression. The rape victim deserves the sympathy and sweet words of the people around her and the culprit needs to be condemned in the harshest possible manner.

Having said it all, we, as a civilised society, will not have to lose the hope of a criminal getting reformed. A criminal's mental framework has also to be taken into account, particularly at the time of crime. It is also possible that he might have committed this dastardly crime under the influence of drinks and drugs. That is why, in criminal jurisprudence 'Actus Reus' is said to be based on 'Mens Ria'.'Tooth for a tooth' and 'eye for eye' is a form of retributive justice. Now it has become a thing of the past except in some hidebound Islamic countries. Genuine remorse and regret have worked wonders for the improvement of a criminal. Hence, the suggestion of the Delhi judge for castration of rape criminal however, well intentioned it may be, must be rejected at the very threshold.

Even the notion of this sort of punishment will push the society to the dark days of medieval period, which no well meaning person would like to return to. Be that as it may, the civil society, the judiciary and the legislature all will have to pool-their minds to see that the horrendous crime of rape is curbed. Punishment must be tinged with meaning intentions.

Medicine should never be worst than the disease. Its purpose is to cure the disease; not to further push the criminal into the vale of the barbaric crimes.

Mamata's Historic Win in West Bengal

Parmanand Pandey

Massive victory of Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal assembly elections is satisfying, momentous and epoch making. Marxists have been blown after 34 years of uninterrupted rule in the strong gale of Mamata's popularity.

Actually, it has been set in the psyche of the people for the last nearly two decades that the Marxists were invincible and it would be impossible to replace them through any democratic exercise because; they have mastered the art of subverting the public opinion by taking recourse to force and coercion and rigging the elections. In fact, the people of West Bengal have been fed up with the dictatorship and goondaism of Marxist rulers and cadres' right from the early eighties; but their anger reached the saturation point from the late nineties. If free and fair elections had been held for the West Bengal assembly, they would have thrown out in 2001 elections, if not before. Notwithstanding the huge wrath of the general public Marxists managed to win the 2001 elections. People, however, were aghast and felt cheated. In 2006 general elections of assembly the patience and anger of the people crossed all limits though; the Marxists were again able to manipulate the results in their own favour. This led to further cynicism among the young men and women and they started taking up the arms in large numbers.

Thus the Marxists have been mainly responsible for the growth of naxalism and frustration among youngsters. In fact, Most of the leaders of the Left Front suffer from arrogance and hubris. They still live in the Stalinist era and have refused to come out of time warp. The world has moved millions of miles ahead and away from the ideology of Lenin and Stalin, but they ridiculously harp on that fossilised philosophy. Scientific discoveries and means of production have changed and revolutionised the world beyond recognition, yet the blockheaded Marxists tired to oppress the wishes and aspirations of people with indiscriminate application of force and fraud.

At one point of time, the West Bengal was considered to be the most industrialised state of the country and was in the proud company of Maharashtra and Gujarat which at present is not only the worst governed state but the least industrialised state of India. Hundreds of industrialists and industries had to migrate from West Bengal to other state because of hostile attitude of the Left government. Hundreds of thousands of workers were left high and dry during the misrule of the Left Front. In the name of promoting trade unionism, they killed the hens that were laying eggs to feed the workers. Not surprisingly, therefore, the West Bengal has been posting very high negative trend of growth from all indexes resulting into large scale unemployment.

The most egregious misdeed of the Left Front government was; however, to allow the large scale infiltration of Bangladeshis in India. Needless to mention, crores of Bangladeshis have permanently settled in India by illegally entering through porous borders and the most outrageous act of the Marxist government was to give legitimacy to these Bangladeshis by providing them ration cards and putting their names in the election voters list. Thus the infiltrators are now the bonafide citizens of India As a consequence of it, the original inhabitants have been reduced into minority and they are cursed to live in the constant fear of Bangladeshis. These Bangladeshis have changed the demographic contours of several electoral constituencies not only in the West Bengal but in other neighbouring states like; Assam and Bihar. As these Bangladeshi have been voting in favour of the Left Front en block, therefore, they were always welcome with open arms of the Left government. Bangladeshis have now spread to almost all parts of India thanks to inept handling of the Central as well as the Left Front government of the West Bengal. They (Bangladeshis) are now posed a serious threat of law and order problems in almost every state. Besides, the security of the country is also endangered because of their sizeable pan-India presence.

All said and done; the Left Front leaders must be praised for their monetary honesty and austerity although the same is not true about their cadres. The general cadre of the Left Front has been as corrupt or sometimes more corrupt as the Congressmen and other party workers. It must be borne in the mind that the Left Front leaders and cadres would not easily swallow and tolerate their defeat and, therefore, they will certainly pose problems for Mamata Bangerjee at every step. Since they are well-entrenched at all levels of administration they will create stumbling blocks and hindrances for the new dispensation by all conceivable manners.

Therefore, Mamata Bangerjee will have to tread very cautiously. She will have to use the iron hand to crush the trouble makers but at the same time; she will have to take urgent steps for developmental works, so as to come up to the high expectations of the general public. I am sure she is fully aware of the challenges May she gets the strength to successfully grapple the problems and difficulties and surge the state forward by Godspeed. More about Mamata sometimes later.

Killing of Osama: Pak Exposed

Parmanand Pandey

The precise 40 minute military operation carried out by American navy to kill Osama Bin Laden on the last May 1 at Abbottabad (Pakistan) was absolutely marvellous and breathtaking. This was really unprecedented from many angles. The operation has completely exposed the duplicity and blatant lie of Pakistani authorities for whom Osama Bin Laden was virtually laying golden eggs. What was known to everybody, although Pakistan was trying to cover it with thin veneer, yet became stark clear after the military operation that Osama Bin Laden and numerous other terrorists have been trained, fed and nurtured and sheltered by Pakistan Army. Pakistan, without doubt, is a rogue state which has been thriving on the crop of terrorists. It is the biggest exporter of terrorism across the world, be it India, USA, Britain, Chechanya or Canada. India of course, is the biggest victim, which has to bear the brunt most.

It is very regrettable that western countries, particularly USA, mainly responsible for creating the monsters like Osama Bin Laden, have been feigning ignorance about the Pakistan sponsored terrorism. In fact, USA has often shown insensitivity towards the plights and sufferings of India even when she had to capitulate before Talibani terrorists at the time of hijacking of aeroplane at Kandahar. The ring leader of the hijackers Majhar Masood walked passed into the Pakistan territory in the full glare of authorities after his release by no less a person than the then Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh. His photographs were flashed in newspapers addressing the gathering in a mosque situated in Pakistan. India plaintively pleaded to the world that she was the victim of Pakistan sponsored terrorism but no one heeded to India's cry.

It is also shameful on the part of Indian leadership which developed Goosebumps when it came to sternly dealing with Pakistan trained thugs of Taliban. The families of the hijacked passengers in India showed despicable behaviour by assembling before the P.M. house and orchestrating the demand for release of hardcore terrorists in lieu of the release of their kith and kin. These middle class families would not shed any tear on the death of hundreds of brave jawans on the border but they did not hesitate to make hue and cry or hullabaloo over the impending death of some of their relatives. India Media's role was highly condemnable, which created all hype and hysteria in favour of shameless family members of hijacked passengers. As a result of it, the weak and debilitating government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee buckled under the pressure. Again Indian Parliament was brutally attacked and the country lost many brave policemen but that too could not move even the so-called democratic countries.

The main culprit of Mumbai riots, Dawood Ibrahim is sitting pretty and enjoying the comforts of Pakistani hospitality at Karachi. Similarly, the masterminds of 26/11 of Mumbai are roaming freely in Pakistan. What to say of mimicking the Abbottabad operation of USA, Indian Government has shown the chicken heartedness by not hanging the judicially pronounced culprits like Kasab and Afzal. Entire world knows that Pakistan was responsible for trespassing in Kargil but Pak authorities denied their hands in the war being fought in the name of Mujahdeen. It was ruse for throwing dust in the eyes. It is good that nobody now gives any credence to the denials of Pakistan.

Coming to OBL, Pakistan Government crossed all the limits of lie and hypocrisy, when it has been befooling the world for nearly a decade that it was actively involved in anti-terror campaign and tracking down of Osama Bin Laden, while the reality was totally different and OBL was being harboured by it. America must have pumped in more than thirty billion dollars in Pakistan just to get hold of Osama Bin Laden but every time, when American forces were close to catch the dreaded terrorist, the move was invariably jeopardised by Pak army as it always alerted the target. Alas! The money that was given to Pak was used for propping terrorism in India.

This meticulous military operation of Abbottabad has also exposed that Pakistan's bluff and bravado was hollow to the core as American choppers carried out their operation well within the entrenched garrison of the army and its army could know about it only when the entire would was rejoicing the death of the dreaded criminal Osama Bin Laden. It would have been better if OBL had been caught alive as that would have further laid bare Pakistan's schemes and lies. The death is hardly is rejoiced except in the cases of demons like the mass killer Osama Bin Laden. Let us join the world to celebrate the obliteration of the devil.

Support Drafting Committee Of Jan Lokpal

Parmanand Pandey


An unnecessary controversy is raging these days with regard to the presence two Bhusans - father son duo— Shanti and Prashant in the Jan Lokpal Drafting Committee. Right from the day, the government accepted the demand of Anna Hazare to draft and enact the Jan Lokpal Bill with the help of the representatives of the Civil Society, a section of influential persons is not able to digest it. These people are raising innumerable objections, which are frivolous in nature but ulterior in motive. There are some publicity hungry people, who are knocking at the doors of the various courts and questioning the very constitutionality of the Drafting Committee. They say that it is the job of Parliament, which cannot be given to others under threat and duress. They are umbrage as to how the civil society can subvert the democracy and usurp the powers of Parliament.


As it is was not enough, a group of people, whose interests would be hit hard after and who do not have any hesitation in serving as the lackeys of the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, have spearheaded the smearing campaign against Bhushans. There are some, who are shamelessly and brazenly painting the image of even Anna Hazare with the black brush. They are referring to some report by Justice P.B. Savant Committee, which is totally rubbish one and which has no relevance at all to the task of the Drafting Committee. One can well understand, if there were any substance in Justice Savant's report, the Maharashtra government would never have remained quiet and spared Anna Hazare, who has become a permanent sore in its eyes because of his relentless struggle against corruption.


Now for the last so many days, some infamous corrupt persons like; Amar Singh and Digvijay Singh have launched attack on Bhushan every day with new allegations. One day for their alleged involvement a CD and the other day in availing the largesse from the Mayawati government in U.P. or on third day for evading the income tax and the next day branding them as Public Interest Litigation blackmailer.


Now the question arises as to why, these controversies are being raked up at this stage? Obviously, the corrupt elements know that they will have to face the heat of the stringent law most, that is why, they are up in arms against the very legislation itself. Nobody is asking a question to these self serving and self styled righteous people that even if Bhushans were involved in misdemeanours, how will that have bearing on their competence of drafting the bill? If they have done something wrong, they should be hanged for that but why the public cause be stalled? Moreover, if the strict law comes into the existence, then all those found in corruption would be prosecuted and penalised including Committee members. Therefore, the need of the hour is to extend fullest possible support to the Drafting Committee, so that strong and effective law is enacted soon to curb and control the menace of corruption.


Bogey being raised by the agents and advocates of corrupt elements must be smashed at any cost and that is where lies, the future of Aam Aadami and this great country with bright future but dismal present and bleak future.

Hail The Bail To Binayak Sen

By: Parmanand Pandey

Bail to Binayak Sen by the Supreme Court of India must be hailed because justice stands for liberty and equality. In fact, it has sent the right signal to millions of young men and women across the country, who feels frustrated with the existing judicial system. Supreme Court has rightly opined that to have sympathy with Naxalism does not mean that the person is naxalite and it cannot be construed to be sedition at all.

As a matter of fact, the old definition of sedition must be changed. It is often misused by the insensitive and cruel state apparatus to settle scores with those, who oppose them or the system that they foster.

Dr. Sen has been working among poor tribal of Bastar for the last many-many years as a children's Doctor. Although he is a specialised Paediatrician but, more often than not, he doubled up as general practitioner of medicines with the aim to providing succour and relief to poor adivasis. It is no secret that the tribal are the most exploited people. The pace of development has not only been slow and tardy in tribal areas but at many places there has been no development at all. This has been the cause of frustration among tribal and this was, in turn, has been capitalised by the naxals to the hilt. The reach of law and order machinery cannot be expected to have any impact in the areas, where the life is still primitive. This again has provided fertile grounds for naxalites to flourish.

There is no doubt that the nexus of corrupt officials, politicians and middlemen are primarily responsible for the growth of naxalism and the brunt of the same is invariably borne by ordinary and innocent people.

The time has now come to call spade a spade. Naxalites and Christians missionaries have been able to make deep inroads in these tribal areas and their activities, undoubtedly, border on the sedition. They excite and provoke the gullible Adivasis against the government and make every possible effort to win over them. While Christian missionaries make unabashed effort to convert the tribal brethrens to their religious fold, naxalites instigate them for armed uprising which; by every stretch of consideration, is against the interests of the nation. But here again the corruption of those at the helm is the top culprit.

The civil society will, therefore, have to take the lead to effectively deal with this menace. The fight has to be is two-fold. One is to fight against the cancer of corruption, which is eating into the vitals and made the system completely rotten and hollow. The second one is to awaken and enlighten the people for their rights and also about naxalites and Christian missionaries, who are not their friends but they are their enemies. The naxalites are also equally guilty of blocking the development. If there is no peace and tranquillity, how can there be development? Christian missionaries, on the other hand, are most adept in fishing in the troubled waters. They are having the good of both worlds. This duplicity must be exposed. It should also serve as an eye-opener for the Hindus, who have hardly cared for the vast section of the society because of their culpability of neglect and greed. If Hindus do not behave and reach out to tribal and scheduled castes, they will be doing so at the perils of their own religion.

Binayak Sen is a symbol for many things; he has become the beacon light. What he is doing must be encouraged. Naxalites, if they are actually not the slaves of the forces that are out to create chaos and confusion, then they must also wake up and stand up against corruption.

Hail The Bail To Binayak Sen

By: Parmanand Pandey

Bail to Binayak Sen by the Supreme Court of India must be hailed because justice stands for liberty and equality. In fact, it has sent the right signal to millions of young men and women across the country, who feels frustrated with the existing judicial system. Supreme Court has rightly opined that to have sympathy with Naxalism does not mean that the person is naxalite and it cannot be construed to be sedition at all.

As a matter of fact, the old definition of sedition must be changed. It is often misused by the insensitive and cruel state apparatus to settle scores with those, who oppose them or the system that they foster.

Dr. Sen has been working among poor tribal of Bastar for the last many-many years as a children's Doctor. Although he is a specialised Paediatrician but, more often than not, he doubled up as general practitioner of medicines with the aim to providing succour and relief to poor adivasis. It is no secret that the tribal are the most exploited people. The pace of development has not only been slow and tardy in tribal areas but at many places there has been no development at all. This has been the cause of frustration among tribal and this was, in turn, has been capitalised by the naxals to the hilt. The reach of law and order machinery cannot be expected to have any impact in the areas, where the life is still primitive. This again has provided fertile grounds for naxalites to flourish.

There is no doubt that the nexus of corrupt officials, politicians and middlemen are primarily responsible for the growth of naxalism and the brunt of the same is invariably borne by ordinary and innocent people.

The time has now come to call spade a spade. Naxalites and Christians missionaries have been able to make deep inroads in these tribal areas and their activities, undoubtedly, border on the sedition. They excite and provoke the gullible Adivasis against the government and make every possible effort to win over them. While Christian missionaries make unabashed effort to convert the tribal brethrens to their religious fold, naxalites instigate them for armed uprising which; by every stretch of consideration, is against the interests of the nation. But here again the corruption of those at the helm is the top culprit.

The civil society will, therefore, have to take the lead to effectively deal with this menace. The fight has to be is two-fold. One is to fight against the cancer of corruption, which is eating into the vitals and made the system completely rotten and hollow. The second one is to awaken and enlighten the people for their rights and also about naxalites and Christian missionaries, who are not their friends but they are their enemies. The naxalites are also equally guilty of blocking the development. If there is no peace and tranquillity, how can there be development? Christian missionaries, on the other hand, are most adept in fishing in the troubled waters. They are having the good of both worlds. This duplicity must be exposed. It should also serve as an eye-opener for the Hindus, who have hardly cared for the vast section of the society because of their culpability of neglect and greed. If Hindus do not behave and reach out to tribal and scheduled castes, they will be doing so at the perils of their own religion.

Binayak Sen is a symbol for many things; he has become the beacon light. What he is doing must be encouraged. Naxalites, if they are actually not the slaves of the forces that are out to create chaos and confusion, then they must also wake up and stand up against corruption.

17B OF THE ID ACT MUST KEEP PACE WITH TIMES

Labour laws in India are welfare laws, where the role of State is undeniably very high; unlike those countries, where the policy of laissez faire is followed. There have been many changes and amendments in labour laws from time to time to safeguard the interests of the workers, but some of the most beneficent laws have now become inadequate. One of them is 17B of the 'Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. Recently, I wrote an open letter to the Shri Mallikarjun Khare, the Labour Minister of India, which is reproduced below.

To

The Labour Minister

Government of India

Shram Shakti Bhavan

Rafi Marg, New Delhi- 110001

Sub.: Need to amend section 17B of the Industrial Disputes Act.

Sir,

Labour laws in India are welfare laws, where the role of State is undeniably very high unlike those countries, where the policy of laissez faire is followed. There have been many changes and amendments in labour laws from time to safeguard the interests of the workers, but some of the most beneficent laws have now become inadequate. One of them is 17B of the 'Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. Recently, I wrote an open letter to the Shri Mallikarjun Khare, the Labour Minister of India, which is reproduced below.

You are fully aware that the fight between a workman and his/her employer is, indubitably, an unequal fight. On account of dilatory tactics, which is often adopted by the employer, the workman suffers. This was the reason that the Legislature in its wisdom thought it fit to introduce section 17B to the Industrial Disputes Act in 1982, which became effective from 21st August 1984. The amended section 17B reads "Payment of full wages to workman pending proceedings in higher courts— where is any case, a Labour Court, Tribunal or National Tribunal by its award directs reinstatement of any workman and the employer prefers any proceedings against such award in the High Court or the Supreme Court, the employer shall be liable to pay such workman, during the pendency of such proceedings in the High court or the Supreme Court, full wages last drawn by him, inclusive of any maintenance allowance admissible to him under any rule if the workman had not been employed in establishment during such period and an affidavit by such workman had been filed to that effect in such court.

Provided that where it is proved to the satisfaction of the High Court or the Supreme Court that such workman had been employed and had been receiving adequate remuneration during any such period or part thereof, the court shall order that no wages shall be payable under this section for such period or part, as the case may be.”

Before the enactment of this section, the awards directing re-instatement were often contested by the employers in High courts or the Supreme Court without paying an interim relief to workers. Delay in implementation of awards invariably caused hardship to the workman. There are innumerable instances where workmen have been dragged by the endless mire of litigation with the sold aim to tire them out. But 17B proved to be a boon for the victimised employees as it considerably eased their pathetic financial condition. Thus, this amendment was, without doubt, a revolutionary piece of legislation in conformity with the avowed aim to have welfare labour laws. However, with the passage of time, this legislation has virtually been reduced to be dysfunctional particularly; due to reactionary and anti-labour judiciary.

Needless to tell, that the current trend of the adjudication is to award either lump sum amount or 50% or 75% of the last drawn wages till time of retirement in lieu of reinstatement even if the dismissal or discharge of the employee is found to be unjust and illegal. As a result of it, the workmen are denied of reinstatement. Employers, almost without fail, challenge such awards in the High Court without giving a single paisa to the workers. Workers cannot claim interim relief under section 17B because the precondition of reinstatement is missing in such awards. Ultimately, the workers are left high and dry.

We have come across many such cases where workers have left to their heavenly abodes without availing any benefits of labour laws. This is nothing but mockery of justice.

The intentions of the legislature are laudable but insensitive judicial pronouncements have defeated the very objective of section 17B of the I.D. Act.

Therefore, it would now be in the fitness of the time and occasion that this provision of 17B should be revisited by the Legislature so as to help the workers in their fight against mighty employers and it would be a great relief to the working class.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

Parmanand Pandey

Copy to: Shri Prabhat Chaturvedi IAS,

Labour Secretary, Government of India

Shram Shakti Bhavan

Rafi Marg, New Delhi- 110001

Cricket Mania And Its After Effect

Parmanand Pandey

Entire country has been in the grip of cricket fever for more than one and half months. It reached its peak at the time of semi-final with Pakistan and in the final against Sri Lanka. Cricket has obtained the status of the cult game in the country mainly because of two reasons. Firstly; it is a colonial game and is played exclusively in commonwealth countries which were the slaves of Great Britain once upon a time. The subjects of slave countries took pride in emulating the game of their Saheb masters. Thus, it became popular because of the Britishers. Secondly; the big money is involved in this game, particularly in India where the number of cricket fans is growing by leaps and bounds with every passing year. Paranoia about cricket can be gauged from the fact that so much so; a villager, who does not know about the game of cricket, suffers from a complex.

Business houses and gamblers make huge money out of this game. They just capitalise the emotions of the public by further whipping it up though media.

India have won the world cup; after a gap of 28 years, under the captaincy of M.S. Dhoni. He and his team deserve our kudos. He is said to be now a man of Rs. 600/- crores and his other worthy colleague; Sachin Tendulkar is now the master more than Rs. 3,000/- crores. Some of his team mates are super rich but none of them is short of money. However, what is objectionable is that one after another government is vying with each other in announcing crores of Rs. to award these cricketers as if they are distributing their personal money. These largesse distributors are oblivious of the fact that this is the money of the tax payers; but ministers and chief ministers are going over board in silly announcements of cash, land and other rewards to these already opulent cricketers.

It will be a blasphemy to raise this issue but even at the risk of being ridiculed must say that I fail to understand as to what is the social contribution of these cricketers? How the cricket has been helpful in solving the poverty, illiteracy unemployment and health problems of the country?

I have my serious grievances with media. The way the cricket has got coverage in the media betrays its lumpenisation. The media persons did not have even a little bit of concern for the feelings of the people of neighbouring countries and India's relationship with them.

On the day of final match, many T.V. channels announced it the day of 'Lanka Dahan' (burning of Lanka). These idiots were projecting India's victory as if they would set ablaze to Sri Lanka to destroy it; totally forgetting the fact that the game should be played to foster good relationship and not to increase bitterness, but that was what the media did.

Lo and behold! Sonia Gandhi too danced standing on the bonnet of the car disregarding her own security. She caused traffic jam at the ITO at midnight. Any other person would have been challaned but not she. In fact, she was applauded for being the cheer girl or woman. Crores of man hours were lost during the world cup series in offices and workshops but who cares? We take pride in winning the world cup and watching it by purchasing the ticket in black, indulge into illegal match fixing and gambling and yet feel like marching of the Alexander the great. What a pity?

When Human Rights Is Used As a Shield

By: Parmanand Pandey

I read a front paged lead story in the daily 'Mail Today' of today. The news story is based on a petition of an Advocate to the President of India. It has high lighted the nexus between some advocates and the judges of the Supreme Court. It also tells about the modus operandi of some manipulative advocates, who sow the seeds of corruption to reap the fruits later for their enrichment. The story is bound to shock the conscience of any conscientious person.

It is an open secret although much talked about in the circles of legal practitioners that some advocates believe more in manoeuvring than in the lawyering. They often give the impression that justice is manageable and this is how they have accumulated fortunes. These unscrupulous advocates and the judges do not realise the damage they cause to the very institution of judiciary.

In the instant story a senior advocate PH Parekh has floated an organisation for the protection of Human Rights of which he is the Secretary General from its inception twenty years ago. Its Presidents keep on changing but the post is exclusively reserved for the sitting judges of the Supreme Court. Currently two senior most judges are associated with this organisation in different capacities.

There can be no bar for the judges to be associated with such organisations, which have lofty aims and objects. But the judges should not be naïve to get associated with such associations and persons whose credibility has never been impeccable and above board. One would be within his/her rights to know as to how many Human Rights issues have been raised by this organisation and PH Parekh on any fora. Has this organisation ever taken up the cause of any body whose human rights have been openly violated? Has any struggle been ever launched by this organisation at any point of time for the cause of human rights? Certainly never.

Except organising some lectures to be delivered by important judges in some air conditioned halls from time to time, I don't think this person or his organisation has done anything else. Most interestingly when thousands of persons live in abject poverty and innumerable people are suffering because of host of reasons and their human rights is shredded day in and day out but this organisation either remains mum or takes its members on foreign jaunts.

PH Parekh has never been known for the legal lucidity, commitment to the cause of law or for siding with those who are denied with justice. He has always taken up the cases of rich and opulent persons and establishments. Making money is the yardstick of the success for him. Law is not an instrument to mitigate the sufferings of the depressed and denied but it is a means for personal enrichment. It is highly deplorable that Human Rights is used a cover for manipulation and for developing proximity with judges. It is a mockery and insult to the Human Rights.

Judges must, therefore, immediately dissociate themselves to save the sanctity and prestige of the judicial system of the country.

Notify Majithia Recommendations

Parmanand Pandey

The Confederation of All India Newspaper and News Agency Employee Organisations organised today i.e. 24th March 2011 an impressive demonstration outside Shram Shakti Bhawan, situated at Rafi Marg of New Delhi for immediate notification of the recommendations of the Majithia Wage Board for newspaper and news agency employees. Shram Shakti is the headquarters of Union Ministry of Labour and also of the Ministry of Power. I along with scores of friends of newspaper industry participated in the demonstration in the capacity of the Secretary General of Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ).

The Wage Board submitted its report to the Government of India on 31st of December last year. The Wage Board report is although highly flawed, inadequate and unsatisfactory for employees yet; the Government is taking inexplicably so much time to notify is really intriguing.

Wage Board is constituted as per the provision of section 13 of the Working Journalists Act for the revision of Wages. But now the Working Journalists Act itself has become outdated and redundant because it covers only the print journalists. In 1955, when this Act was enacted the only electronic medium was All India Radio, which was under government control and its employees have been entitled to government pay scales. But the situations have completely changed after 1990. Television channels have proliferated and now web portals are becoming extremely popular. Therefore, the need is to bring them within the ken of Working Journalists Act.

No wonder, that the Majithia Wage Board may perhaps be last Wage Board because of two reasons. The primary one is that the employees in newspapers are now appointed on the contract basis. The number of regular employees is therefore shrinking very rapidly.

In a few years from now, there will possibly be no regular employee in most of newspapers. Secondly; most of the newspapers have decoupled and outsourced their production and distribution departments. Only the editorials and administrations are being kept by them. Because of the dwindling number of employees, there are hardly any unions in media industry to raise their voice in favour of the employees.

In the name of liberalisation the government is also moving towards the policy of laissez faire. This presents a bleak picture for the working class. It is, nevertheless, hoped that government must still be having some sense of shame and will not further delay the notification of the recommendations to benefit the newspaper employees, whose number is, no doubt, now very small.

Alok, You Will Always Be With Us.

By: Parmanand Pandey

Alok Tomar, a well known journalist died young. Killer cancer snatched him on the day of Holi festival, which is celebrated with joy and gaiety soaked in colours. If I am not mistaken, it was the most liked festival of Alok, which gelled well with personality, affability and temperament.

Alok and I were selected in the first batch of Jansatta newspaper in 1983. Both of us were in twenties; he was in early and I was in late twenties.

He was a vivacious, talkative, full of energy and always impatient. Although he was a junior reporter but was the best in the reporting section of the newspaper in the sense that he had wonderful command over the language and had assiduously developed inimitable style, which was highly compelling and absorbing. No body could afford to ignore his stories largely because of his engrossing presentation. It is an altogether different matter that his stories used to be laced with heavy spicy doses. His imaginations often overtook the factual realities and this was the reason; sometimes it was difficult for ordinary readers to sift the facts from fiction. In the process facts, in general; were the casualty.

Alok was very well-read journalist, a quality that is difficult to find among most of the journalists. He was helpful and humane. But in certain respects he was very much like his mentor Prabhash Joshi; who was more like a subaltern propagandist of his master than a journalist. A woolly headed and boastful Prabhash Joshi had no qualms for self respect before his highly corrupt, dishonest and exploitative master Ram Nath Goenka. He had no hesitation in bending backward to please that cunning and clever Lala.

Alok used to narrate about his high connections with people from politics, film, literature, bureaucracy, media and industry. At one point of time he had shown some interest in trade unionism also. In fact, both of us had contested elections to the Executive Committee of Delhi Union of Journalists in 1985. Both of us were new to Delhi journalists' circle; yet we both won the election. This was something remarkable in the sense that we had contested the Union's election for the first time; we were from the same newspaper and both of us had no clout, nevertheless, our victory margin was very comfortable.

We had our differences during the strike in Indian Express in 1987. He brazenly sided with Ram Nath Goenka's cohorts led by Prabhash Joshi and I vehemently opposed them. As a result of which, I lost my job of the Roving Special Correspondent. He was like most of other journalists with strike breakers. However, after sometime he also fell foul with the wily management for the reasons not know to me, and had to leave the Jansatta newspaper. To the best of memory; except three journalists; me, Achche Lal Prajapati and the Late Sujanpuria all journalists of Indian Express Group had gone to the management in sackcloth and ashes.

Alok was very jovial, innovative, spin master journalist and wordsmith. It is very difficult to find a person and journalist like him. It is, no doubt, a huge loss to journalism. May his soul rest in peace! May God give enough strength to his wife, daughter and the whole host of his relatives and admirers to bear this irreparable loss! Adieu Alok.

JAPAN WILL, NO DOUBT, RISE LIKE PHOENIX

Parmanand Pandey

The enormity of death and destruction by horrific Tsunami and trembler in Japan is heartrending, to say the least. It is worst tragedy in the known history in terms of loss of men and material. It has again made us feel that man is helpless before the nature. Every scientific development has been claimed to be a victory of man over nature. Harnessing of the natural resources has been gloated over as the feat of man. But no modern man has ever imagined that the nature can be so ferocious and furious as to humble the man in a trice.

In fact, every natural calamity must spur the scientists to unravel the mysteries of the nature's boons and banes. We have been hearing for quite long time that very soon the science would be able to forecast the earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and other devastating incidents but that is still a mirage. It, however, does not mean that man should sit on his haunches and make no efforts for scientific inventions. It is said that the nature will manifest its wrath in many ways if it is disturbed beyond certain limits. But how to know the limits and contain them is another task before the scientists?

My heart goes out for the brave, courageous, sincere and industrious people of Japan in this hour of untold sufferings. I deeply mourn the death of hundreds of innocent people, whose lives have been snatched suddenly by the killer Tsunami. May their soul rest in peace and May God give strength to Japanese to rise again from the ashes like phoenix and continue to remain the world leader!

This Tsunami and earthquake must serve as a wake-up call for other countries. India as a developing country does not have the state-of-art technology for the fool-proof protection of her nuclear power plants. The example of Fukosima should be taken as an eye-opener and the safety of nuclear power-plants needs to be revisited. India being a densely populated country can ill afford the havoc of radiation emanating from the nuclear plants. The noxious gas leak of Bhopal in 1984 took the lives thousands of people and that reminds us that many generations of survivors would have to bear to brunt of that calamity; which was caused by the carelessness of the people who were manning the factory of Union Carbide.

Another important point is reconsideration of the nuclear liability bill. God forbid if something untoward happens the sufferers would get little compensation, which needs to be drastically revised and enhanced.

Quashing of CVC's appointment is laudable

Parmanand Pandey

The Supreme Court of India by striking down the appointment of the Central Vigilance Commissioner has done a commendable job in the public interest. It has retrieved the constitutional dignity to a large extent, which has been going down very rapidly in the recent years.

Some people say that Mr. Thomas should have resigned long back from the post of CVC to avoid mortification to the government, particularly the Prime Minster and the Home Minister, who were the members of the appointment committee. But then that would not have set the controversy at rest. Therefore, I think that Mr. Thomas has done, although unwittingly, well by not resigning from the post and thereby allowing the Supreme Court to settle the law.

The Supreme Court has also done a good job by declaring, among other points, that only (a) bureaucrats should not be considered for the post of CVC; other qualified and persons of eminence should also be taken in account, (b) that the three member committee should not exercise only 'veto power', member disagreeing with the proposal should provide the reasons for the same. So if Mr. Thomas had rendered his resignation in the face of public outcry; the country would have been deprived of the transparent measures to be adopted for future CVCs. Thus, it is, in fact, a sort of a blessing in disguise.

My personal opinion is that the government has adopted all sorts of foolish, cheap and illogical tactics to defend the appointment of CVC. It got its Attorney General to say that complete files about Mr. Thomas were not put up before the committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Leader of Opposition, which was debunked by the Home Minister Shri Chidambaram, the next day. Thus high constitutional authority like the Attorney General had to eat humble pie. Even otherwise also the palm oil case, in which Mr. Thomas was involved, was so controversial that every conscientious person was in the know of it.

Needless to say, that in our country the constitution is Supreme. All organs, be it judiciary, legislature or executive derive their powers from the constitution. Judiciary is supposed to keep check on other organs, if they go adrift or do something unconstitutional. If the judiciary fails to perform its assigned duties properly, it would send a body blow to the constitutionalism.

Therefore, this verdict needs to be welcomed.

Strike by Lawyers Can Have No Logic

Parmanand Pandey

I have always been of the view that lawyers have no legal, ethical or social right to go on strike unless, of course, something egregious has happened which has bearings on the safety, security of the people and the country.

Now we hear that lawyers in Uttar Pradesh have gone on agitation for reasons which no sensible persons can justify. Let me hasten to add that I have no love for the present government in Uttar Pradesh. To be fair and frank, I have not taken any benefit as a lawyer from Uttar Pradesh government, at any point of time either by the present or previous dispensations. Therefore, I am under no obligation of any body.

I have been informed from my sources that lawyers are demanding that after the age of sixty every lawyer should be given a decent pension benefit. The State in India is known as a 'Welfare State'. The duty of the state is to see that nobody suffers from hunger of deprivation. When I use the word 'nobody' it includes lawyers also; but it does not mean that lawyers should form a different class of beneficiaries. If the demands of lawyers were to be accepted then why not the same benefits be extended to others like; private doctors, chartered accountants, labourers and shopkeepers etc.? After all, there contribution to the society is by no means less than the lawyers.

What is really shocking is that the so-called agitation of the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh has been hijacked by some political goons, who have their own personal axe to grind. In a highly politicised atmosphere, where most of the lawyers owe allegiance to one party or other, it is impossible for the Bar Council to take any dispassionate decision. It would, therefore, be in the fitness of things that the State Bar Council should immediately withdraw the agitation and start a debate on its charter of demands, which it has presented to the state government. Demand for some subvention is alright, which is given to journalists and other professionals from time to time but the strike or agitation without any consensus of the legal community, resorting to violent agitation is highly condemnable. It is the time that the Bar Council understood its prime responsibilities otherwise; it would cause irreparable damage to its image.

K.G. Balakrishnan Must Resign From NHRC Chairman

Parmanand Pandey

Shri K.G. Balakrishnan, Ex-chief Justice of India and presently the Chairman of Human Rights Commission is doing more damage to the institution of judiciary than to himself by clinging on to the post without any sense of shame or remorse. Now when it has come to light that he and his relatives have amassed huge amount of wealth and property in the period when he held the office of a judge of the High Court and the Supreme Court. Inexplicably, instead of clearing the cloud of suspicion, he is maintaining mysterious silence, which is further strengthening the doubt. The conduct of justice Balakrishnan, in fact, has not been above board for quite long time. For instance; he stubbornly opposed the applicability of the Right to Information Act on the judges of the Supreme Court. This was ludicrous to say the least. Being the Chief of the Apex Court, he should have been first to welcome the idea of declaring the assets and liabilities by the judges but he resisted it to the last minute till he was forced to do so by an order of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi. So much so, he directed the Supreme Registry to file an Appeal in the Supreme Court impugning the judgment/order of the High Court.

He brazenly raised technical and hyper technical points to conceal his assets. At long last, the information that he posted on the website of the Supreme Court was very sketchy. In fact, it was more concealing than revealing one. This was the reason he got a rebuff from Justice Shylendra Kumar of Karnataka, who was very forthcoming in declaring his assets. Surprisingly he even tried to prevent Justice Shylendra Kumar from writing on his blog under the ploy that judges should speak only through their judgments.

Secondly, he made last the ditch efforts for the elevation of the discredited judge of Karnataka High Court, Mr. Dinakaran, who has been found to be a highly corrupt judge by more than one government agency; apart from, the team of eminent persons, who enquired into the allegations against him. When the pressure was building up for the resignation of Dinakaran, he was advised K.G. Balakrishnan to simply keep away from the judicial work for some time. Dinakaran, the shameless; as he is, stuck to his post; bought time and ultimately accepted the transfer to the Sikkim High Court.

Now when the stories of amassing of wealth, highly disproportionate to his known source of income have come to light, the minimum that is expected from him is to resign from the post of the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission. As the former Chief Justice of India, JS Verma has rightly said that corruption is the biggest violation of Human Rights, and therefore, you cannot expect the protection of human rights from a corrupt violator like Justice Balakrishnan. He must immediately vacate the high post of the NHRC Chairman to same the dignity of the institution. If he fails to see the reason, he must be removed because nobody can be above law.