‘Nehru’s India- contains only anti-Modi narratives

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention, so said Francis Bacon. Putting the book ‘Nehru’s India’ by Professor Aditya Mukherjee in any of the above categories is difficult. The book is more like a pamphlet bereft of any seriousness as it does not make any in-depth study about Jawahar Lal Nehru. It can also be called an adulatory hagiography because the author fails to make a critique of Pandit Nehru.

The foreword of the book has been written by a known distortionist of history, Irfan Habib. By reading the book anybody will conclude that the writer is a diabolical Modi hater, therefore, everything looks yellow to a person with a jaundiced eye. The writer fails to see or deliberately ignore the fact that the country has made tremendous progress in the last more than ten years of Narendra Modi’s rule.

There is no doubt that the medieval history written under the supervision of Jawahar Lal Nehru and the Congress rule was skewed. It gave much importance to the Mughal rulers, although they were cruel, brutal, unscientific, and backward-looking. They (the Mughals) spent the country's resources not for the benefit or welfare of the masses but for their pleasure and suppression of the people.

In the pre-independence days, Nehru and his bandwagon did not make any effort to awaken the Muslim masses. Still, they subjected the Hindus by attacking them in the name of majority communalism ignoring the fact that it was minority communalism that was responsible for the vivisection of the country. Muslims, on the other hand, were in thrall of Jinnah, who led to the partition of India. If the properties and population had been transferred at the time of the partition, the country would have made formidable progress in all fields. Surprisingly, the left-leaning thinkers and politicians who kept themselves aloof during the freedom struggle, became the supporters of Nehru and Gandhi, not because they loved them or were inspired by them but because of their hatred towards Hindus. The writer has quoted rabid anti-India journals like ‘The Economist’ to prove that India has been lagging behind many unknown countries as far as economic progress is concerned but the fact is that these have been fake narratives.

India has been a living example of a robust democracy, and it is not because of the idea of Nehru but it has been innate and inherent in India’s culture. During Nehru’s time, the press was overawed and almost servile, but now the vested interests are preparing their agenda and narratives to criticise the Modi government which can subserve their cause. The writer has given credit to Jawahar Lal Nehru for setting up some industrial organizations and educational institutions. Still, if we compare it to the last ten years of Modi, we can safely say that the country has made giant strides in almost all fields. The biggest achievement has been the construction of toilets for every household and a roof over the heads of all families even those living in the remote corner of the country.

The book is very shallow on every parameter. It is based on fake data and dubious newspaper reports by an author who has made an all-out effort to denigrate the Modi government by using Jawahar Lal Nehru.

Justice Chandrachud will be remembered for modernising the Courts functions

Justice Chandrachud will be remembered for modernising the Courts functions

Justice Dr D Y Chandrachud's judgments are in the public domain, and the people will scrutinize them when necessary. However, his administrative reforms are momentous. He is credited with introducing live-streaming of court hearings. As a result, most of the High Courts and even the District Judiciary have followed suit.

Now, anybody from any part of the country can watch the court proceedings and the advocates argue their cases. Because of the hybrid hearings, any advocate can argue many cases from around the country, nay the world. There is no need for him/her to rush to the Supreme Court at the time of the hearings. An Advocate can handle many cases by switching with the click of a computer button, which was almost unthinkable before Justice Chandrachud introduced them.

E-filing of the cases and curing of defects have become very easy and time savers for the Advocates. Now the case files can be inspected from anywhere. Cause lists of cases are easily available in Advocates' emails.  Only ten years ago, it used to be said in a lighter vein that going through the thick bundles of cause lists was no less than doing the research. digitalisation has saved crores of trees and a massive amount of money from the courts across the country.

What is most remarkable is that the concerned Advocate is informed through SCI about the case number and its listing date in the Courts, which used to be a Herculean task only a few years ago. Justice Chandrachud will go down in history as a great reformer in the courts' functioning, making them paperless and more people-friendly. I hope that his successors will carry on his legacy by introducing more modern technology like Artificial intelligence (AI).

Mughal Rule was the darkest period of Indian history

Book review of the book BABUR

Parmanand Pandey

Although I finished reading the book BABUR by Aabhas Maldahiyar almost four months ago, for reference's sake, I had to go through it again. This book was recommended to me by a friend, a well-read veteran journalist Jagdish Upasane, when I visited his house in Raipur a few months ago.

There is no doubt that the book epitomises deep learning and, the painstaking hard work of the Author. The Mughal rule was established by Babur, who came from Ferghana. He lived only for 47 years and ruled in India only for three years. He had a diabolical hatred for Hindus and Buddhists and his insensitivity knew no bounds.

During the entire Mughal rule, India remained an exploited and backward country. Some pro-Mughal historians keep on saying day and night that, unlike Britishers, Mughals did not loot Indian money to be sent abroad. But there is no denying the fact that despite vast resources at their command they did no developmental work. People were thrown to live in abject poverty. No canals, no roads worth name or arrangements for safety and security were developed.

While people were dying of hunger, Babur used to send huge offerings to Mecca and Madina. Money was paid to the people of Kabul by forcibly extracting it from the people of Hindustan. He gave one crore forty-eight lakhs and fifty thousand to one Shaikh Bayazid as a reward for crushing the rebellion. Babur granted ninety lakhs and thirty thousand to Mahmud Khan and 23 lakhs to Qazi Jia for the same task. The reward used to be given in Shahrukhi, which was an Islamic silver coin of roughly 4.6 grams and continued to be for almost the entire Mughal period.

Babur was suffering from the vice of pederasty i.e. he used to have with young male persons. Huge money used to be spent on Eid celebrations. Lakhs of rupees used to be sent every year to the descendants of Prophet Mohammad. Records tell that Akbar tried hard to become a Caliph but when things did not work well, he insisted on declaring himself ‘Padshah-i- Islam.’ A few years later he established’ Din-e- Illahi, as the religion was deeply embedded in the Timurid psyche. After Akbar came to Jahangir, who resumed the tradition of patronage for Haji. He writes in Tarikh-i-Salim Shahi that Rs two lakh was allocated for Haji.

The fame of India as a soft milch cow spread throughout the Middle and Near East. Records state that around Rs 30 lakh was spent by Aurangzeb between 1661 to 1667 for Islamic purposes. He used to send a gift of Rs lakh to Abdullah Khan, who was a deposed king of Kashgar. The cash flow to Mecca continued flawlessly under Aurangzeb through his agents. And this was done when the weavers who spun the finest brocades and garments went about half-naked.

Shah Jahan had organised a grand feast on Nauroz in AD 1628 and had gifted abundantly to each member of royalty. The imperial consort, Mumtaz Mahal received Rs 60 lakh from the treasury. Jahan Ara, his daughter from Mumtaz was granted 20 lakhs. The Mughal state was largely unproductive. Their investments were made in two main forms: hoarding precious metals and jewels. That was the British period in contrast was highly progressive, evolved systems and undertook many developmental works, but it is equally true that they also stashed away huge money to their own country.  

Thus, we find through this book that the Mughal period was the darkest period of India when subjects were exploited to satisfy the whims and caprices of Mughal rulers.

Artificial Intelligence Must be Introduced in the Judiciary to Make it Timesaving, Transparent and Corruption-free

. By Parmanand Pandey

"The millions mired in poverty here can only get rid (of it) when science is used in their interest. Such maximum application of science is only possible when scientific knowledge is available to Indians in their own country.” Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya spoke these immemorable words, emphasizing the importance of science and technology. What was true in those days is truer today. The need is to encourage and augment its use in all spheres of life.

Today the dockets of courts, from sub-ordinate courts to High Courts and Supreme Court, are cluttered with new and old cases. Some have been pending for decades together. Some two decades ago when I became an Adorate-on-Record in the Supreme Court of India, I went to the Registrar of the Supreme Court, along with my clerk to seek his help for E filing of the cases. He was courteous but in no position to help. E-filing was at the nascent stage.

As a result, one could see the long queues of Advocates, mostly young ones and clerks before filing and defect-curing counters. Filing and curing defects were the most tedious jobs. The Process of litigation was, undoubtedly, a big punishment, not only for both lawyers but also for clients. However, today with the introduction of technology things have completely changed. Earlier, after drafting on the computer, the printouts had to be taken. Many Advocates had to draft the cases in their own handwriting, then go for typing or composing.

Even computer typing or composing was considered to be a luxury. It was a tortuous exercise. Printouts were to be taken to be photocopied and then paper books were prepared for their filings. One can only imagine how much boring legwork had to be done before any case came for hearings before the judges. Only after that did the second phase of pummelling start. However, e-filing and curing defects have immensely reduced the burden and have proved to be time-saving. This process is eco-friendly. It has saved hundreds of tonnes of papers to be used in the Supreme Court itself.

Therefore, the live-streaming and virtual hearings in the courts are no less than a revolution. Its effect is very much visible to the judges, lawyers and litigants as well. Virtual hearings and live streaming should be made a rule to make better use of technology. A litigant or lawyer can address the court from anywhere in the country or even from abroad. With the abundance of availability of the internet, it has become all the more useful for every section of society, even for maintaining records.

The time has now come for the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Only Artificial Intelligence can root out corruption from the judiciary. It will help decide the cases at the earliest possible for which a litigant has to wait, nobody knows how long. Most of the cases can be decided through Artificial Intelligence, requiring an almost negligible number of judges or judicial officers. With the non-interference human faces, everything will be transparent and corruption-free.

It is expected that it will be introduced sooner than later by the government of dynamic Narendra Modi.

All reactions:

4Pandey Dewesh, Bipin Agarwal and 2 others

Introduction of e-filing in Allahabad High Court is a Welcome Decision

Parmanand Pandey

It is bizarre and surprising to learn that Advocates of Allahabad High Court are up in arms over the e-filing initiative of the High Court from all districts of Uttar Pradesh. It is beyond any logic that when the whole world is moving with science and technology, why lawyers are opposed to this welcome decision. It is also learnt that a Special Leave Petition (SLP) has also been filed in the Supreme Court against the introduction of e-filing.It hardly needs to be stated that the e-filing system in High Courts in India offers several benefits that streamline the legal process and make it more accessible. The keyadvantages are:

            Time and Cost Efficiency:

E-filing saves significant time and money for both advocates and clients by

eliminating the need to physically visit the court for filing documents.

Convenience: It allows for the online submission of cases and documents, making the process more convenient and less time-consuming.

Reduced Physical Meetings:

The need for in-person meetings between clients and advocates can be reduced, as much of the communication and document exchange can happen online.

Automatic Digitization:

As documents are filed electronically, they are automatically digitized, which

helps in creating a more efficient record-keeping system

Environmental Impact: By

reducing the reliance on paper, e-filing has a positive impact on the

environment.

Accessibility: The system

is designed to be bilingual (English and local languages), which makes it

accessible to a wider group of advocates and litigants

Portfolio Management:

Litigants and advocates can manage their cases more effectively with an online

portfolio and planner tools provided by the e-filing system.

Online Payments: Court fees

and other payments can be made online, which adds to the convenience and

efficiency of the process.

E-filing represents a significant step towards modernizing the judiciary and making the legal process

more efficient and user-friendly.

In this regard, the Supreme Court in general and the Chief Justice in particular deserve kudos for the use of greater technology including the increased use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the country. The Advocates are considered to be forward-looking persons in society and if they behave in such a manner, then it can only be condemned and chastised.

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Indian courts is an evolving area, with several applications being explored and implemented to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the judicial system. Here are some key points on the use of AI in Indian courts: AI in Legal Research and

Administration: AI is currently being used for tasks like automated contract review, legal research, and transcription services. It helps in processing information and making it available to judges for decisions.

Translation Services: The Supreme Court of India uses an AI tool called SUVAS (Supreme Court Vidhik Anuvaad Software) for translating legal documents between English and vernacular languages. Case Analysis: In some instances, AI tools like ChatGPT have been used to provide a wider perspective

on legal matters, such as in the case of Jaswinder Singh v. State of Punjab, where the Punjab & Haryana High Court sought input from ChatGPT for a bail petition. 

Transcription of Hearings:

The Supreme Court has utilized AI for the live transcription of proceedings, which aids in streamlining the administration of justice and could significantly benefit the district judiciary with increased efficiency.

Future Prospects: There is potential for AI to be used for case prioritization, categorization, scheduling, docket management, and even predicting outcomes based on records in the future.

It’s important to note that while AI can assist in various administrative and research tasks, it does not participate in the court's decision-making process. The human element remains crucial, especially in matters that involve complex legal reasoning and interpretation of laws. Integrating AI in the judiciary aims to complement the work of legal professionals, not replace it.

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