Crime and Corruption were Inherent to MS Yadav’s Socialism

The day before yesterday i.e. on 22nd of November Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party leader completed 81 years of his life. We wish him a happy and long life. Some journalists, who had been benefitted by the largesse’s and the neck-deep corruption prevailing at the time of Mr Yadav, hailed him as one of the towering leaders and the messiah of the poor, which is quite understandable but laughable. Most of the journalists in Lucknow and other places in Uttar Pradesh were regularly and extensively given crumbs by Shri Yadav in cash and kind to sing his paeans.

Posterity will remember him if at all he is remembered, for his rank opportunism, stinking corruption, brazen nepotism, shameless casteism and naked hooliganism with no vision for the future or understanding of the statecraft. It has been the misfortune of the State that practically an illiterate muscleman ruled the state for many terms as the Chief Minister of the largest state of the country. It was largely because of him that an equally, if not more corrupt, uncouth and eccentric woman like Mayawati, whose only qualification was of her being born in a Dalit family, also became the Chief Minister of the state many times.

Nobody has been more shameless in amassing money and perpetuating and favouring his family dominance in Uttar Pradesh than Shri Yadav. All developmental activities had literally come to a nought during his tenure. The education system was systematically destroyed by him. He used to openly make fun of education and wanted the copying to be freely used in the examination halls. Can there be anything more ludicrous than to say that if you cannot provide jobs to students then why not allow them to have degrees? Yes, these Aristotelian wise words were of Shri Yadav.

The biggest damage was done by him to the Hindi as he promoted and got saddled such persons in the important positions, who had neither Will nor talent to work for the service of Mother Hindi. Important constitutional positions were offered to those who were thoroughly undeserving to the posts they held.

Instead of solving the problems of Ayodhya and Uttarakhand, he started dealing with them like an arrogant and lunatic politician. He got killed dozens of karsevaks and innocent agitators at Ayodhya and Rampur. He had the cheek to say that he would not have hesitated in killing hundreds to get the support of a particular religion and was happy with the honorific of Mulla. How can a politician like him be fit to be at the helm?

He had, of course, excelled the art of keeping media persons bribed. The way the government houses were allotted to pick and choose persons, plots were distributed, advertisements were poured to select media houses was unparallel and unheard of in other dispensation. There were many journalists who used to get extensive cash and kind benefits from him and his administration and therefore there is no surprise if they owe allegiance to him.

Socialism was converted into a grammar of anarchy and lawlessness by Shri Yadav and, that too, without and any qualms and compunctions.

Justice Ramana l’affaire Must be Inquired for the sake of Judiciary

This is for the first time that constitutional authority,  no less than the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Jagan Mohan Reddy  has levelled direct allegations against another very high constitutional authority  NV Ramana, who is the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court of India. Mr Reddy has not minced words and said that Justice Ramana has been acting against him and his government. Some judges of the Andhra Pradesh High Court are not only in cahoots with Justice Ramana, but they are working at his instance to often put the government in a spot. As a result of it, the developmental works of his government are getting hampered. This is no longer an issue between two individuals but it is now a matter between the two rather all three  pillars of democracy.

   Mr Jagan Reddy’s letter to the Chief Justice of India Justice AS Bobde against Justice Ramana, who is in the line to become the next Chief Justice of India, should not be consigned to the dustbin by dismissing as frivolous and baseless. It should be taken with all seriousness that it demands because it is the question of the integrity and majesty of the Judiciary. Mr Reddy has not written any anonymous letter in a surreptitious manner. He has said it publicly and the former Chief Secretary of the State, who is now an advisor to the Chief Minister has circulated it to the media and that is the reason that his letter has come into the public domain has assumed significance.

  One wishes that what Mr Reddy has said is found to be wrong, but can this matter be allowed to rest at that? Only a proper enquiry by some top judges and the at least two chief justices of the High-Courts should be formed to probe into the matter as that will restore the solid faith of the people in the judiciary.

  In fact, Justice Ramana should himself volunteer for an independent enquiry to come clean of all allegations. If the high-powered independent enquiry finds that allegations are wrong and motivated then the contempt of court proceedings must be initiated against Mr Reddy and the harshest punishment should be meted out to him and he should be declared unworthy of holding any post, be it elective or nominated. That will serve as a deterrent for others from making any allegations against any judge of the High Court or the Supreme Court.

   Trust and impartiality are the sine qua non of the judiciary and it should be saved and protected steadfastly by everyone but more so, by the judges themselves. It must begin right from the time of the selection and appointment of the judges. NJAC was a step forward in that direction for instilling confidence among the people about the impartial appointment of judges but that was spiked by the constitution bench of the Supreme Court.

  One fails to understand as to why many Bar Associations are bending backwards to trenchantly criticise Jagan Mohan Reddy. It defies all logic why anybody should be condemned without confronting him/her in an impartial enquiry.   The one-sided view is anathema to the judicial system and yet some Bar Associations are passing the judgments. It is unfair, to say the least. Therefore, in all fairness, Justice Ramana should himself keep away from judicial works and ask for the constitution of the independent enquiry committee, which should be asked to conduct and submit its report in a time frame.

This will go a long way in enhancing the prestige of the judiciary. Ethical values play an especially important role in the glory of a person and the profession. Justice bereft of morality is like a body without the soul, which should be burnt or buried. 

 

 

 

Fudging of Circulation by Newspapers and TRP by TV Channels is an Open Secret

 

  Fudging and fraud in showing the inflated figures of circulation of newspapers and Television Rating Points (TRP) is not a new phenomenon. It has been going on for decades. However, a new trend in journalism of naming and shaming of one media house by the other or by one journalist by other has been emerging extremely fast and I personally welcome it. Keeping the malpractices under practice promotes corruption and the media industry badly inflicted with it. Some media houses have been building empires, some journalists have been making money, getting coveted posts and many more facilities by sheer dint of their connections with the powers that be. The principle of ‘dog does not bite dog’ has been saving corrupt journalists and blackmailers.

    The credit for it certainly goes to some trend setting journalists, who have exposed the nexus and complicity of the journalists, media houses with those of the political parties, foreign-funded establishments, and ruling dispensations. It is said that the attrition generates electricity which enlightens and ensures transparency.  Mumbai police have started investigations against certain channels for fudging the TRPs. There is no doubt that the Mumbai police is doing it at the instance of the political masters, out of vendetta and vindictiveness against one TV channel but the result is certainly going to be good as it  will help expose the rampant corruption in the media.

    We often hear the rags to riches story of some journalists and their organisations because of largescale corruption and cronyism. There have been 73000 newspapers in the country according to 1915 records of the RNI. Every newspaper including the big ones has been submitting increased figures of circulation to the government for obtaining advertisements at high rates. There have been newspapers which have been publishing only the file copies and yet they used to claim exceedingly high circulations. Big newspapers like the Times of India, Hindustan Times, the Hindu, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, Nav Bharat Times, Hindustan, and India Today etc, have been giving incentives to swell their circulation.

   The reasons are not far to seek when most of the newspapers were up in arms when the Government of India introduced six parameters to release DAVP advertisements. Some of the conditions were like giving the GST receipt on the newsprints used by them, the name of the Printing Press and the number of employees and the PF being paid to them. It was found that the name of a small printing press was being used by thirty to forty daily, weekly, and fortnightly newspapers, and the total circulation of them was no less than twenty to twenty-five lakhs, which was far beyond the capacity of the printing press, which did not have more than four of five employees. No PF was deducted for them. Thus, everyone from the printing press to owners of newspapers chartered accountants, and the minions of DAVP was found to be neck-deep in fraud and the mess. When the attempts were made to stop it, most of them raised the banner of revolt terming it as the onslaught on the freedom of the press. Fly by night media associations sprung up all over the country and orchestrated in one voice that the government was out to stifle and strangulate the small and medium newspapers.  

It is an open secret that almost all TV channels have been managing and manipulating the TRPs but it is undoubtedly a matter of great satisfaction that the investigations will go a long way in exposing and cleansing the fraud and forgery of the channels. It is bound to a blessing in disguise for the people of the country, so, we must welcome it. The Government must also wake up to the occasion to ensure that malaise from  media is removed.

 

 

 

New Farm Acts: Better Late than Never

 

 Politics in the name of farmers is a flourishing and beneficial trade for the politicians and dalalas. Otherwise, there is no reason why no drastic changes have been brought in the agricultural policy of India for decades. The number of small and marginal farmers is rising with every passing year and the load on the agriculture sector is increasing day by day. The need, therefore, is not only to modernise agriculture but also to offload it as much as possible. There should not be any doubt left in anybody's mind that the opposition to three new Farm Bills recently passed by both houses of Parliament is specious and it is being orchestrated and motivated, not by genuine farmers, but by those intermediaries whose interests are getting hurt.   These politicians and middlemen have been reaping earning huge profits by fleecing the farmers and consumers. That was why there have been no takers for their protest marches and demonstrations organised on 25th September.  

  The three Bills,  which have been attracting the attentions are:  Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Protection and Facilitation Bill, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement and  Price Assurance and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill but only two points which are being thrown by the opponents are the MSP( Minimum Support Price) and APMCs  (Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees), which opponents say will wither away by these Bills, which have since become Acts. These Acts will facilitate and permit the farmers to sell theirs produces outside the Mandis (wholesale markets) regulated by Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees constituted by different state legislations. Many states have passed their own laws to mandate 'agricultural trade' through APMCs. Although the purpose of the APMCs was to ensure fair prices to be paid to the products of the farmers yet they have not only miserably failed in their objectives but have practically become the centres of corruption and the exploitation of the farmers. 

 Here are two examples, which I can cite with my own personal knowledge that how deep the corruption has gone down in in the APMC.  There is one small wholesale grain market,(Mandi) in Kharkhoda in Panipat district of Haryana and another one that I am talking about is of the Azadpur vegetable and fruit  Mandi of Delhi, which is considered to be one of the biggest   Mandis of Northern India.  Any person having even the elementary information about the functioning of these Mandis will vouchsafe that it is middlemen and profiteers with the help of the corrupt minions of Samiti, who rule the roost. Hundreds of trucks make a beeline every day particularly at Azadpur mandi to unload their produces but those who go through the intermediaries or by greasing the palms of the shenanigans of mandi they get priority, but others suffer and lose heavily. Moreover, if anyone wants immediate payment of the produces, he/ she has to cough up at least five per cent of the total amount to the rogues. But the new Act provides for the immediate payment.  One can easily understand about those persons, who are standing against the new Acts. Farmers and consumers have been the ultimate losers till now which the new Acts will ensure that they are no longer exploited. 

These Acts permit the electronic trading of their produces. With heavy teledensity, the farmers are now well connected, and they can sell theirs produces online, which was well-nigh impossible in the APMCs. However, the government has not completely done away with APMCs, they will continue to co-exist along with new arrangements.  Minimum Support Price will not be the part of the Acts, as it exists even today, but that will continue to be announced by the government for different crops from time to time. Thus, we find that APMCs will not have suffocating dominance, which they have in the present circumstances. Therefore, it is abundantly clear that the bogey of the MSP and APMCs, is being created more by non-farmers than by farmers but that too is unfounded. The new laws unshackle the farmers and give them the freedom to sell their products anywhere in India.

  Farming, to say the least, is not an attractive occupation. Nearly fifty per cent of farmers want to move out of it because it is becoming non-remunerative. Farm sizes are getting smaller day by day. The number marginal farmers have gone up in the last few decades and their condition is getting pathetic and is no better than those of the farm labourers. Tiny farms are the big hindrances in the modernization of agriculture. So, the contract farming will provide the good impetus for the modernization of the agriculture and the new Acts seek to encourage them but that will not be binding for the farmers as they will have the freedom to opt into or out of it. Recently Simranjit Kaur Badal wife of Akali leader Sukhvinder Singh Badal resigned from the Union cabinet of ministers opposing the new farm laws. Shri Badal has written an article in a newspaper, where he has simply expressed his fear that it will lead to corporatization. The farmers will get a good price to their yields for a few years and thereafter they will be exploited by the corporates. He has, however, given no reason or logic in favour of his contentions. He has forgotten the fact that the establishments of E-chaupals and E-procurement centres will go a long way in removing the roles of middlemen. 

  The Essential Commodities Act was enacted decades ago to stop hoardings, but it has essentially hurt the farmers. They were not protected if the prices of potatoes or onions fell because they were prevented from taking them to other places for obtaining higher prices. Warehousing is so essential for the storage of the produces but that cannot be built by the farmers of small landholdings, so again the need for the contract farming hardly needs to be emphasized.

 Be that as it may, these new farms acts, therefore, must be welcomed with open arms as they will remove the dominant roles of middlemen who have been holding the farmers to ransom without any qualms and compunction.

 

 

Dear Harivansh, Never Deviate from the Principled Stand

 

For the last few days, the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Shri Harivansh is under flak from some people. I can only say that they are less than fair to him. Harivansh Narayan Singh, which he possibly shortened at the advice of his political mentor Chandrasekhar ji, is a man of high principles. Harivansh and I have been together in the Banaras Hindu University for five years. Hardly a day had passed during our stay in the hostel, when we had not gossiped, discussed, debated, and argued, sometimes even hotly on almost every subject we could think of under the sun.

He has been the admirer of Jai Prakash Narayan from his university days and had told us many unknown stories about him. JP‘s education in America by doing even menial works and his absconding from Hazaribagh jail by jumping the walls of a prison is known to the whole world. However, the stories of JP’s visits and meetings with the villagers in Doab of the holy rivers Ganga and Ghaghara, inspiring them for pursuing education, working relentlessly for the eradication of casteism and poverty were always a pleasure to hear from Harivansh. It will not suffice to say that Harivansh was awfully in the influence of JP as he was like a demigod for him. We used to joke among ourselves that the easiest way to anger Harivansh was to criticize JP. He never brooked even the slightest criticism of JP.

Harivansh used to be a voracious reader of the books, periodicals and newspapers during his university days. He used to read more such books as were not prescribed in the course curriculum. I am sure he must still be continuing with his good old habits. He must have changed and mellowed like all others during the last more than forty years but the elan' of a person seldom change. I have last met him when he was the media advisor to the then Prime Minister Chandrashekhar. Once or twice he sent his car to fetch me to his office in the South Block and he used to come with me up to Bengali Market to glance over and purchase new books.

When he became a Member of Parliament, I sent my greetings but never met or even intended to meet him personally. When he became the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, I felt happy that an honest, abstemious and well-read person will get the opportunity to preside over the upper house, which is considered to be the house of the mature and experienced Parliamentarians. However, when I saw the unruly, ugly, and uncouth behaviour of some of our Parliamentarians in the video clippings of the news channels, my heart sunk in deep despair.

A sensitive person like Harivansh must have been deeply hurt by the conduct of some of our MPs, who threw all parliamentary norms and decorum to the wind but I am sure that it will strengthen his resolve to follow the right path.

Dear Harivansh, you come from Ballia, the soil of rebellions, which does not know to be subdued or bowed down by any onslaughts. Therefore, I have the benign hope that you will go by the inner voice of your conscience, which I believe, is serene and will always be conforming to the high traditions of Parliamentary democracy in the larger interests of the country.

Ms Bachchan’s Speech Exemplifies her Reprobate Nature

Ms Jaya Bachchan’s speech yesterday i.e on 14th of September 2020 on the floor of the Rajya Sabha was laughable, highly disappointing, thoroughly illogical, and supportive of the corruption that is prevailing in the film industry. It has been an open secret that Bollywood, which outwardly gleams, is rotten inside and stinks to the high heaven. It is controlled by Mafia dons, is a den of smugglers, tax evaders, drug addicts and criminals of different types. It does not mean that all those who are in the industry can be tarred with the same brush but the influential section of it certainly suffers from the vices of nepotism, drug addiction and casting couches.

Ms Bachchan did not name anybody in her speech but her innuendo was unmistakably towards Kangna Ranaut, who has shown the extraordinary courage to speak about the gutter that has been flowing in the filmdom. This rot has, of late, overpowered most of the activities of the industry. The influence of ‘ Dongri to Dubai’ is visible in all walks of the Bollywood. As the saying goes that not a leaf moves without the permission of the Lords of Crimes. Conjure up any illegal and unlawful activity and that is there in plenty in Mumbai.

There are some people, that includes almost the entire film industry consisting of Jaya Bachchan and her husband Amitabh Bachchan, who is objecting to Kangana Ranaut’s comparison of Mumbai with PoK . These people possibly unaware of the expression like Hitlershahi or Ravanraj is used even in India to describe the tyranny of those who are at the helm of affairs. When anti-social elements have the field day on the roads of Mumbai and a famous female actress like Kangna is not allowed to speak her mind, then how could her description of Mumbai, as if it were in PoK, be outrageous and wrong?

The self-styled civilized people want her to address the Chief Minister not as ‘tu’ at a time when her house was dismantled at a notice of fewer than 24 hours, that too when she was not in the house to receive the notice. A person in pain, anguish, and anger over the forcible breaking of her house cannot be expected to be the personification of civility. If she had been all smiles and presented herself to be the embodiment of civility by using sweat words, then it would have been an act of fakery, not having any remote connection with reality.

Now coming again on Madam Jaya Bachchan’s speech in Parliament where she said that ‘those who have made name and fame and earned money from the film industry do not have any right to speak badly about the industry’. It is like allowing the rot to remain wrapped under the carpet. Does it mean that who earn their livelihood by legal practice have no right to raise voice over the prevailing corruption in the profession? She wants to deprive a journalist, a businessperson, or a politician of speaking against the malpractices that have crept up in journalism, politics, and business.

This is not only the reflection of her absurdity, but it also speaks volumes of the triviality, frivolousness and the reprobate behaviour of the lady Bachchan. It is also a sad reflection of the party, which has sent her to the Rajya Sabha, who has not done any service or work for the people and society.

Kesavanad Bharti Judgement Needs to be Set aside

     

Kesavanand Bharti vs the State of Kerala, more known as the Fundamental Rights case, as decided by the Supreme Court of India, way back in 1973, has again come into focus, due to the death of Swami ji. I pay my respectful tribute to Swami ji. This case, without doubt, brought a paradigm change in judicial history. It is the longest judgement by the largest bench till date.  However, with the greatest of deference, it must be said that it is totally erroneous judgment and therefore, needs to be revisited and reconsidered. Firstly, this case was not decided by all 13 judges of the bench as it was signed only nine judges. Four judges outrightly refused to sign on the judgement.

   Thus, the wafer-thin majority of 7:6 in this judgement was obtained by dubious means. Chief Justice S M Sikri wrote a summary on behalf of the judges to assert the principle of the basic structure, which was dealt at length by Justice H R Khanna. There is no concept of writing the summary of the judgement and hence the ratio decidendi is missing. Every judge is supposed to write his/ her own judgement or concur with the judgement authored by a fellow judge. But how can one judge write the summary of the judgement?

  Out of nine judges, who signed on the judgement, two had categorically spoken about the supremacy of the Parliament, which had unfettered powers to amend the constitution. Since Chief Justice Sikri was to retire in a day so the judges could not get time to write their own independent judgement. It was the reason that four of the judges did not at all append their signatures on the judgement.  So, how can it be treated to be a bench of 13 judges?  Even otherwise also, it is the Will of the people that are represented through Parliament, which is supreme and that cannot be shackled. Courts cannot usurp or appropriate the powers of Parliament from legislating any law which reflects the people's Will. Unfortunately, this tendency has more grown in the courts after the Kesavanand Bharti case.

  The concept of ‘basic structure’ is very vague and ambiguous. We find that it has been increasing like the ‘Saari of Draupadi’ depending on the caprices of the judges. Here is a hypothetical question if some people say that Westminster form of democracy is unfit for this country and they seek the vote of the public of the country on this plank itself. Suppose for a moment that the overwhelming majority positively responds to in favour of discarding the Westminster form of democracy. Then can anybody stop them from changing the so-called basic structure of the constitution?

This theory of 'basic structure' is hogwash and fallacious theory. The constitution is a living organism and it has to constantly evolve itself as per the changing social, economic and political needs of the people. The scientific and technological developments must provide the push to the constitution, which cannot remain tethered to the rigidity. Hence, the basic structure does not fall in the domain of the Courts, it is the sole prerogative of the Parliament. What we have seen in the NJAC case is nothing but the negation of the Will of the people. The Parliament will have to take a call to ensure that the freedom obtained after a long struggle and sacrifices of countless heroes remains well preserved. It cannot be left to be the subject matter of the skullduggery of the judges and the obfuscation created by the luxury-loving advocates.