INDIA LEGAL: 06 March 2017

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ITHEREAL
STORYBEHIND
PUL’SDIARYOur investigation into
the credibility of the
“suicide note”
Ex-Arunachal
Governor
JP Rajkhowa
“An Independent
high level probe is
a must”
Dangwimsai Pul
“This note was
dictated much
ahead of my
husband’s death
after good amount
of planning”
Interview of the Week:
KTS Tulsi
CBI Mess: Directors
in the soup
STSTSTSTTSTSTSTSTTSTTSTSTSTTTSTSTTSTTTTSTSTTTTTTTTTTTSTSTOROROROOOOROOORORORORRORRRROOOROORRRROOROROROOORORRRRROOOOOORRROOOOOOORRRROOOROOOOORRRRROORRRROORRROOOOOORRRORRRROOOROROOOOOOOOOORRROOORRROOOOOORRORRRRIES THAT COUNTSTSSTSTSTSTSTTTTTTTSSSTTTSSTSTSTSTTTTTTTSTSTTTTTTTSTSTSTSTTTSTTTTSTTTTTTSSTTTTTSTTTTTOROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOROOOOOOOROORORRRRIES THAT COUNT
Exclusive
ors
Interviews:
Why lawyer Dave withdrew
the petition
Judicial validity of notes
Analysis

| INDIA LEGAL | March 6, 2017 3
UR current issue yields a boun-
tiful harvest of breaking stories,
investigations and penetrating
legal analyses of top-of-the
mind issues. The cover piece—
the continuing saga of the diaries of former
Arunachal Chief Minister Kalikho Pul,
which were found after his suicide, and
have rattled the establishment—was put
together by our weekly’s senior team assist-
ed by several junior reporters. It is an eye-
catcher. But it also reveals several facets of
the story not generally brought out in the
mainstream media.
Apart from this important—and sensa-
tional—package, the two other stories that
engaged my thoughts are “Let the Light
In,” written by Justice Sreedhar Rao, and
“Down the Memory Hole” by Ajith Pillai.
They seem, on the surface, contradictory—
one suggesting exposure, the other a hiding
place. Actually, both have to do with indi-
vidual rights, fairness, and the rule of law.
Rao makes a strong pitch for open
courts where access to judicial proceedings
is in the public domain—an essential ele-
ment of true and fair trials. He says that
transparency in the conduct of judicial pro-
ceedings is what gives the system its great-
est credibility. This is the practice in the
UK which bequeathed the legacy of
Roman jurisprudence to its former
colony, India.
It is ultimately a legacy of King
John’s 1215 Magna Carta, the harbinger
of the concept of the open court as against
the “judicial arbitrariness and tyranny” of
the Star Chamber Courts which were ulti-
mately abolished in 1641, notwithstanding
the standards promulgated in 1215.
In the UK, all proceedings of the Sup-
reme Court and Appeal Court are filmed
and broadcast. The US Supreme Court
website provides audio recordings of all
oral arguments. In fact, most democracies,
including Australia and South Africa, have
provided access to digital technology.
India lags behind. Rao argues that if
access to the executive can be provided
through RTI, and to Parliament through
video recordings, then why exempt judi-
cial proceedings from the larger public
gaze because “justice is not only to be done
but seen to be done.” That is a command-
ment of democratic governance, he force-
fully argues.
Pillai’s story extols what he calls a
“landmark” judgment which, in effect,
shields an individual or groups from public
scrutiny. As I said, this might look like a
contrarian view to the one expressed by
Justice Rao, but it is not really so. It also
argues for liberty—but liberty of another
kind: the right to privacy.
In the judgment to which he refers, the
Karnataka Hight Court has upheld the citi-
zen’s “right to be forgotten”, thereby open-
ing the door to block personal records from
free public access on the internet. “In this
age of search engines there may be records
from your past which have no relevance to
your present or future life…. Do you have
the right to have irrelevant information
blocked?” asks Pillai.
He rightly argues that while addressing
the issue of public access to personal data,
the High Court was touching upon a
matter of universal concern which will
“inspire our lawmakers to bring clarity into
the IT Act on an issue that needs urgent
attention.”
Two seemingly contradictory proposi-
tions: Open and shut. But both essential to
libertarian ideals.
O
OPEN AND SHUT
Inderjit Badhwar
Letter From The Editor
editor@indialegalonline.com

Contents
Suicide and After
The late Arunachal CM, Kalikho Pul’s diary is sensational. But do his allegations hold
water legally? Also, interviews of ex-governor JP Rajkhowa and the widow, Dangwimsai Pul
14
LEAD
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4 March 6, 2017
Fall of the Titans
Former Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir and senior advocate MN Krishnamani
have passed away. India Legal pays tribute
11
OBIT
Let There Be Light
The idea of open courts, where access to proceedings is in the public domain, is
conducive to true and fair trials
22
COLUMN

Probing Their Own
The CBI booked another of its ex-directors, this time for favours
to businessmen. But it’s the timing of it that poses questions
24
CONTROVERSY
REGULARS
FollowusonFacebook.com/indialegalmedia
andTwitter.com/indialegalmedia
Ringside............................6
Dilli Durbar........................7
Courts ...............................8
Briefs...............................12
Media Watch ..................48
Satire ..............................50
Cover Design:
ANTHONY LAWRENCE
Blaming the Carrier
Drivers aren’t always at fault in accidents involving luxury cars.
Sometimes, sympathy is due
28
Not Popping That Pill
Finally, the government has stepped in to arrest the spread of
antibiotic resistance that is now threatening our lives
HEALTH
SOCIETY
32
Right to Be Forgotten
A recent Karnataka High Court judgment has opened the doors for
blocking defunct personal records from free public access on the internet
TECH
40
Where Have
You Stashed it?
The estranged wife of Africa’s
youngest dollar billionaire, both being
Indian-origin, has accused him of
hiding assets
46
MYSPACE
Patent Battles
Did the method used by University of California (Berkeley) for gene splicing give
it rightful precedence over its rival, Broad Institute’s claim?
42
Whipping Boy
After she was let off the hook vis-à-vis
the Padma bridge scam, the Bangladesh
PM has trained her guns on Muhammad
Yunus, the Nobel Laureate
44
Stemming the Flow
Following an SC ban of highway liquor shops, the Chhattisgarh CM wants the
state to take over the business. Whether it will work is the question
38
STATES
Siege on Kasauli
Too many hotels flouting green norms have come up in this hill
town, but the NGT might yet save the day for residents
ENVIRONMENT
26
“Is the Constitution a success?”
Advocate-politician KTS Tulsi wonders if we can say so when 60
percent of citizens don’t have money to eat or afford healthcare
30
INTERVIEW
Playing with Fire
Though it causes 62 deaths daily, fire safety has never been a
priority in India and the guilty get away lightly and far too often
FOCUS
34 GLOBALTRENDS

6 March 6, 2017
“
RINGSIDE
We live in a time when
politicians and dema-
gogues around the world,
from India to the UK and
the USA, seek to divide
us, to separate us into
“us” and “them,” and to
use fear as a means of
dividing us.
—Author Salman Rushdie,
in Deadline
Captaincy does not allow you to be
complacent at any stage especially with the
bat if that is your only discipline in the game,
in the field as well. In that aspect I think
complacency goes out the window as captain
—Cricket captain Virat Kohli, speaking to media on the
eve of series opener against Australia
If the solution or
the idea is right, it
will go like a hot
knife through butter.
If the idea is not
working, for example
demonetisation, don’t
blame execution. I
think your idea
itself is wrong,”
—Bajaj Auto
Managing Director
Rajiv Bajaj,
in Mail Today
In this election, peo-
ple of UP should get
rid of Kasab… Do not
draw any other con-
clusion when I say
Kasab. What I mean
by Kasab is: Ka for
Congress, Sa for
Samajwadi Party and
B for…
—BJP President Amit
Shah, at an election
rally in Gorakhpur
There is no proof to show
that 15-year-old petrol
and 10-year-old diesel
vehicles cause major pol-
lution. All forms of fuel,
including CNG and
petrol, cause pollution.
—Additional Solicitor
General Pinky Anand,
appearing for the
Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways
in the NGT
ABVP needs more
disciplined cadre.
They're weak in intellec-
tual firepower so act
desperate. Also disad-
vantage of being “Hindi
medium types.”
—Activist Madhu
Kishwar, on the recent
violence in the University
of Delhi, on Twitter
This is DU and
here we won’t
allow any anti-
national to
speak. We won’t
allow DU to
become JNU.
—DUSU President
Amit Tanwar, on
the violence in
Delhi University
following an
event at Ramjas
College, in
Hindustan Times

Delhi
DurbarAn inside track on
happenings in Lutyen’s Delhi
Guess who has virtually become an honorary
Officer on Special Duty at the PMO? Nandan
Nilekani. The former Infosys CEO and ex-
Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority
of India (UIDAI) which launched Aadhar cards,
is often spotted in South Block attending high
powered meetings. One learns that Narendra
Modi’s Principal Secretary, Nripendra Mishra,
often consults Nilekani on issues related to dig-
italizing the Indian economy—one of the Prime
Minister’s priority areas post-demonetisation.
The frequent visits to Delhi by the ex-Infy hon-
cho has not gone unnoticed. In fact, several
Congressmen are keeping close tabs on him
because Nilekani was known to be close to
Sonia Gandhi who inducted him into politics
and gave him a party ticket from Bangalore
South constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha elec-
tions. Nilekani lost to BJP’s Ananth Kumar by a
massive 228,575 votes and exited politics.
Earlier he was appointed by the UPA govern-
ment in 2009 as chairman of the UIDAI—a cab-
inet-ranking post. Given his proximity to 10
Janpath, his former friends are upset with his
closeness to the Modi dispensation. There is
even speculation that Nilekani is toying with the
idea of joining the BJP. But he has apparently
made it clear to confidants that politics is the
last thing on his mind, although he admits to
advising the government on a host of issues
related to digitalisation, in particular, and the IT
sector in general.
Union railway minister, Suresh
Prabhu, has been an unhap-
py man ever since the scrap-
ping of the rail budget. He
has been told by well-wishers
that his ministry has been lit-
erally downsized in status by
the move. Now to add to his
woes he finds himself in a sit-
uation where he may have to
lock horns with Arun Jaitley,
the all-powerful Union finance
minister. The tussle, accord-
ing to reports, is over `850
crore that the railways earns
as dividends from its invest-
ments in PSUs under its
watch. Last month, the
finance ministry pointed out
that after the scrapping of the
rail budget any investments
made by railways must be
considered as coming from
funds allocated to the min-
istry by the centre. A note
from the finance ministry
made this amply clear and
requested the rail ministry to
remit the dividends to the
centre. One does not know if
this is an over-enthusiastic
bureaucrat at work or if
Jaitley means business.
HONORARY
OSD IN PMO
PRABHU VS
JAITLEY?
The Narendra Modi
government made a
big deal out of its bul-
let train project in col-
laboration with
Japan, putting it
literally on the fast
track, and projecting
it as another exam-
ple of the close
relationship
between Modi and his
Japanese counterpart,
Shinzo Abe. The bullet
is, however, stuck in a
familiar bureaucratic
barrel. At a high-level
meeting of the Indo-
Japan Joint Committee
on the bullet train proj-
ect recently, the gov-
ernment faced some
embarrassing
moments when the
Japanese politely
asked when the man-
aging director of the
National High-Speed
Rail Corporation would
be appointed. The
post has remained
headless since the
project was flagged
off. A search commit-
tee headed by the
Cabinet Secretary had
interviewed candidates
sometime ago but
so far, it remains
bogged down in a
bureaucratic tangle.
COVETED POST
The post of official
spokesman in the Ministry
of External Affairs’s XPD
(External Publicity Division)
has come a long way from
the days when the then
incumbent, Mani Shankar
Iyer, was relieved of his
duties during the Non-
Aligned Summit in New
Delhi. Today, it’s a stepping
stone to dizzying diplomatic
heights. Nirupama Rao, the
first woman spokesperson
of the MEA, went on to
become foreign secretary.
Navtej Sarna has been post-
ed as Indian ambassador in
Washington DC while Syed
Akbaruddin is the
Permanent Representative
to the UN in New
York. Current
incumbent Vikas
Swarup has just
been made High
Commissioner
to Canada.
SPEED
BREAKER
— Illustrations: UdayShankar

Asenior minister in the
Akhilesh Yadav cabinet in
Uttar Pradesh, Gayatri
Prajapati, found himself in the
dock as the Supreme Court
ordered registration of a First
Information Report against
him in a gang-rape case. The
Court order came after a 36-
year-old woman, who is also
a corporator in Uttar Pradesh,
alleged that she was gang-
raped by Prajapati and his
associates. She also com-
plained that her life was
under threat.
Terming the allegations
“very serious” the Court
wanted them probed by the
Uttar Pradesh Police within
two months. It also ordered
that the report be submitted
by the police in a sealed
envelope.
Prajapati is contesting the
on-going assembly elections
in the state from Amethi.
The Court was not happy
with the UP police for being
hesitant in taking legal action
against the minister and reg-
istering a case promptly.
The state government
tried to put up the argument
that a crime branch report
filed by CID did not nail
Prajapati.
FIR against UP
minister
Unhappy with the progress made by the
Special Investigation Team set up by the
centre in 2015 to probe the 1984 anti-Sikh
riots cases, the Supreme Court asked the
centre to set up a high-level committee for
keeping a close watch on the probe and
trial proceedings.
Out of the total of 650 cases registered
by the Delhi police, 293 cases were exam-
ined by the SIT. And out of those, around
240 cases have been closed by the team.
The status report of SIT on the progress
made was unclear on the roadmap ahead.
The Court agreed with the plea from
senior lawyer Arvind Datar that the probes
could not go on endlessly and must be
completed within a given time-frame and
trials must happen daily. Datar was repre-
senting SGS Kahlon, who had approached
the apex court seeking justice for the vic-
tims as soon as possible.
The centre pleaded that the SIT had
enough people, an official holding the
same rank as an IG Police was heading it
and the progress made was fast enough
and comprehensive. However, the Court
remained firm on its stand for a high-level
committee. The matter will be taken up
again on March 6.
Anti-Sikh riots: SIT
needs supervision
Publishing negative surveys about the
lower judiciary could invite legal action,
the Supreme Court ruled, and trial courts
could seek contempt proceedings.
The top court was dealing with a case
wherein two organisations, Transparency
International India (TII) and Centre for Media
Studies (CMS), were slapped with a show-
cause notice by a magistrate in Kangan,
J&K. The reason—a write-up in Greater
Kashmir had referred to a survey (done by
CMS and published by TII), citing unbridled
corruption in the lower judiciary.
The notice said that they should be legal-
ly prosecuted for contempt of court and
criminal defamation, and sought their expla-
nation against the notice.
Later, the magistrate even issued bailable
warrants against top officials of the organi-
sations to ensure their presence. But the
Supreme Court stayed the warrants.
The top court observed that the magis-
trate’s stand was justified, but he had gone
too far by issuing the warrants. Top-rung
officials from TII and CMS were asked by
the Court to appear before the magistrate
and explain. But if they didn’t, the trial court
could send the matter to the J&K high court,
seeking contempt action. TII and CMS could
later plead against the trial court action in
the high court, the apex court ruled.
Negative
surveys
invite
contempt
Courts
8 March 6, 2017

Concerned over the cleaning up of the
Yamuna river, the top court has directed
all authorities concerned to speed up the
process. It has been keeping a close tab on
the efforts to check pollution in the river
from 1994 onwards.
The Delhi Jal Board was asked to pro-
vide a report on the status of projects
meant for controlling pollution within two
weeks’ time.
The Court felt that all efforts made so
far by the Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana
governments were not enough to bring
down pollution in the river. The centre
pleaded that it had now become an onerous
task to clean the river on the ground that
untreated sewage flowing into it had grown
by leaps and bounds.
DJBhauledupover
Yamunacleaning
The Supreme Court reserved its judg-
ment on referring all petitions challeng-
ing restrictions to women's entry into the
Sabarimala Temple, to the constitution
bench. The Court is yet to decide the
legality of the ban on women, aged bet-
ween 10 and 50, from entering the temple,
and even walking up to the shrine. It also
asked all parties to submit within one
week their points in writing and also sug-
gest questions that could be put up before
the bench.
Verdictreservedin
Sabarimalacase
Those serving long imprisonment
for “indiscriminately” killing peo-
ple, did not deserve parole or interim
bail for family duties, the apex court
observed. Referring to terrorists, it
pointed out that all relations with their
families come to an end the moment
they are held guilty of such a grave,
despicable offence.
The court went ahead to proclaim
that these people do not have the right
to seek “short-term” relief (bail or
parole) after the lower and high cou-
rts hold them guilty. But they could
certainly challenge the verdicts in the
higher court.
The Court’s observation came
while striking down the plea for inter-
im bail by Mohammad Naushad, held
guilty in the 1996 Lajpat Nagar bomb
blast, both by a Delhi court and later
by the Delhi High Court. He is serving
life imprisonment as per Delhi High
Court ruling. He has already chal-
lenged his conviction in SC but the
CBI has sought capital punishment.
The apex court is yet to take a call on
both pleas.
Naushad wanted bail to attend his
daughter’s wedding. Earlier, his req-
uest to Delhi government for parole
did not get him any response.
No concessions for
terrorists
In a major decision that would see
industries without operational efflu-
ent treatment plants being shut down
throughout India, the Supreme Court
gave them three months to fall in line.
The Court wanted to ensure that there
is a check on water bodies (rivers)
being rampantly polluted by industries
across all states. It was not satisfied
with the approach of state govern-
ments and did not accede to some
requests that implementing the deci-
sion would not be easy.
The Court was addressing con-
cerns raised in a petition filed by
Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, which
had sought specific directions for pol-
luting industries across India.
As per court’s order, state pollu-
tion control boards (PCBs) should
check all industries spewing effluents
into rivers, to find out whether they
have an operational effluent treatment
plant installed that conformed to pollu-
tion norms. Those found at fault
would be deprived of power on the
direction of PCBs and given three
months’ time to fall in line. Power
would be restored after they set up
effluent treatment plants or repair dys-
functional ones. And those still in a
defiant mode will have to shut shop.
As far as setting up of common
effluent treatment plants in areas dot-
ted with industries is concerned, the
Court ruled that the onus lay on state
governments and local self-bodies to
do the job within three years.
Strict guidelines for
polluting industries

Aggrieved that there were no takers for
the mentally-ill people even after they
had fully recovered in mental hospitals or
any other place, the Supreme Court
asked the centre to come up with norms
or a policy so that they could be properly
rehabilitated. The Court felt that the issue
was “sensitive” and was at pains
to observe that even the family
members of mentally-sick people
were not ready to accept them
once they had recovered.
The apex court also took a
strong stand that people cured of
mental illness could no longer be
allowed to stay in a mental asylum
or nursing home and asked the
centre to follow its diktat. The cen-
tre must evolve a procedure so
that they are integrated with the
civil society, the Court observed.
A scheme could easily be evolved,
the Court felt, and ruled once that was in
place, state governments could be direct-
ed to follow.
On the centre’s request that it will
need some time to frame a policy as
other ministries like health and social
justice had to be consulted, the Court
granted eight weeks’ time to the centre
to do the needful.
Frame policy for the
mentally ill
There was no way Punjab could
avoid following its order on the
Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal, the
Supreme Court ruled. It had earlier
asked the state to build the canal. An
order on execution of decree would
be issued if Punjab and Haryana tried
to act smart and refrained from solv-
ing the matter, the Court thundered.
The canal must be constructed
either through a legal process or by
hammering out a solution amicably
by the two states, the Court ruled.
The controversy could not be
allowed to linger, it pointed out.
Punjab’s request that the matter be
taken up after the assembly election
results was struck down by the
Court, which said that it would strike
down the Punjab Termination Act if
that was a problem.
Construct SYL
canal as per order
— Compiled by Prabir Biswas; Illustrations: UdayShankar
Courts
The apex court took strict cog-
nizance of toxic wastes being
dumped by the centre in various parts
of the country. It took strong objection
to the centre “taking waste from other
countries” for money without bothering
about the health consequences. The
Court observed that regulations regard-
ing dumping of waste could not be
flouted at any cost.
The issue was raised by an NGO
Research Foundation for Science, which
alleged that the concerned authorities
had been giving a go-ahead to dumping
of hazardous and contaminated waste in
different parts of the country. The NGO’s
counsel said that a high-powered com-
mittee had already suggested in a report
that waste dumps coming up were pos-
ing health risks and needed to be
removed. He also pointed out that this
was happening despite the apex court’s
directions on the issue.
The court wanted the centre to file
within four weeks a report on action
taken, after considering all issues raised
by the petitioner. The matter was posted
for March 31.
Can’t allow dumping
of wastes
Search engine Google pleaded in
the Supreme Court that it was
not possible for it to identify obscene
videos being posted on websites and
prevent them from being uploaded. It
wanted the centre to allot the task of
tracking such videos to a nodal
agency, which could then inform
search engines or ISPs to block
them. The centre, however, argued
that they should have a mechanism
for the purpose. It submitted that it
was spending close to `200 crore
to set up cyber crime cells and train
policemen and judicial officers to
ensure that obscene videos are not
uploaded and those doing so are
punished.
Can’t identify
obscene videos
10 March 6, 2017

Obit
LTAMAS Kabir, the 39th Chief
Justice of India who died on
February 19 in Kolkata, was one
of the leading lights of the legal world.
He died due to complications leading
from renal disease, type 2 diabetes mel-
litus, coronary artery disease and uri-
nary TB. He was 68.
Justice Kabir was appointed to the
Supreme Court on September 9, 2005
and was promoted to Chief Justice of
India on September 29, 2012. He held
office till July 18, 2013.
Justice Kabir, M.A.,LL.B. was born
on July 19, 1948. He was enrolled as an
advocate in 1973 and practised in the
district court and the Calcutta High
Court in civil and criminal sides. He was
appointed as a permanent judge in the
Calcutta High Court on August 6, 1990
and later (March 1, 2005) moved to the
Jharkhand High Court as Chief Justice.
He was responsible for the comput-
erisation of the Calcutta High Court and
the City Civil Court among others. He
became Executive Chairman of the
National Legal Services Authority in
2010 and it was under him that legal
services to transgender people were
taken up as a new project of NALSA.
At the Supreme Court he delivered
strong judgements in many important
cases including one in which he, with
Justice Cyriac Joseph ruled that female
relatives of a husband can also be book-
ed under the Domestic Violence Act.
He took up the contempt case of adv-
ocate Prashant Bhushan who had alle-
ged that half out of the last 16 CJIs were
corrupt. He gave bail in 2012 to a senior
journalist, arrested in the Israeli emba-
ssy vehicle blast case, as the court failed
to appreciate the procedure “adopted by
the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate.”
BORN INTO LAW
He was born in a prominent Kolkata
family that was active in politics. He
learnt the intricacies of the workings of
law and the system of legislation from
his father Jehangir Kabir, who was a
leading Congress politician and trade
union leader of West Bengal.
He started his education at Mount
Hermon School in Darjeeling and then
went to the famous Calcutta Boys’
School (CBS). It is said that his solid
arguments so impressed a teacher at
CBS that he advised him to pursue a
career in law. His future course of stud-
ies were decided there.
He graduated in history from
Presidency College and then went on to
study law at the University of Calcutta.
—Sujit Bhar
ORMER president of the
Supreme Court Bar Associa-tion
MN Krishnamani passed away
on February 15.
The senior advocate studied
Geology from the Presidency College,
Madras and also law from Madras
Law College. He was enrolled as an
advocate in 1971 in Madras.
He received the “National Law
Day Award” for Excellence in Civil
Law in 1998. In 2005, he received the
“Seva-Ratna Award” instituted by the
Centenarian Trust and the “Secular
India Harmony Award.” He was
awarded “Sreshta Kala Pracharak
Award” by Ganesh Natyalaya and
Gayatri Fine Arts Society in 2009.
Last year, Krishnamani recei-
ved the Padmashree in the field of
public affairs.
He was also a scholar of Sanskrit,
history and religion. He was very
fond of musical discourses and had
written large number of books, inclu-
ding Bhajgovindam and Godlymen
and their Golden Words. He com-
posed poems and wrote a large num-
ber of articles on various subjects.
He was associated with Delhi
Tamil Sangham. He was also the
founder member of Ved Parishad.
—Navank Shekhar Mishra
Altamas Kabir
passes away
Krishnamani
no more
A
F
HonourableJustice
Kabirwasavery
courteousand
humanitarianper-
son.Hewasan
embodimentof
humility.Hisbiggestcontribution
wastotheNationalLegalService
Authoritywherehedidalotforfar-
flungareas.Hewasverydiligent
andwouldgiveapatienthearing
evenaftercourthours.It’sabigloss
tothelegalfraternity.
—JusticeRBMisra,former
actingchiefjusticeofthe
HimachalPradeshHighCourt

12 March 6, 2017
Briefs
After cardiac stents saw
a huge price regula-
tion, 14 more devices
including orthopaedic
implants, intraocular lens-
es and artificial heart
valves, syringes, needles
and catheters may witness
a dip in prices. The
National Pharmaceutical
Pricing Authority (NPPA)
has started short-listing
such devices and has asked
manufacturers to log in
every detail about the
costs. In terms of steep
retail markups, orthopedic
implants probably come
closest to stents. The
imported hip and knee
implants easily see profit
margins in the range of
500-1,000 percent, The
Times of India reports.
Law aspirants above 30 years
will be able to appear for the
common entrance test for admis-
sions to the three-year law pro-
gramme in 2017-18. However, their
admissions will be confirmed sub-
ject to the final outcome of the mat-
ter in the Bombay High Court.
The legal education advisory
committee, during its second meet-
ing, decided to relax the age criteri-
on following the HC’s interim order
restraining the state government
from cancelling provisional admis-
sions granted to students aged
above 30 and above 20 years in
2016-17.
The National Green Tribunal
has issued a notice to Himachal
Pradesh Pollution Control Board
(HPPCB) on illegal constructions
by hotel owners and others at
Kasauli in Solan. The HPPCB has
been directed by the Tribunal to file
replies within a week and to be
present before the Tribunal for the
next hearing. After the Society
for Preservation of Kasauli had
filed a petition, the NGT’s principal
bench headed by its chairperson,
Justice Swatanter Kumar, issued
notices to a prominent boarding
school and a private hotel in Solan.
Law aspirants above
30 can appear for CET
Queueing for
benefits
Poll-bound Uttar Pradesh
has seen another scam
recently. The Union ministry for
women and child development
has been receiving lakhs of
application forms signed by
parents of girls from UP
seeking cash benefits under the
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme
of the Centre. The reality is
that the scheme does not have any
cash benefit component at all.
However, parents have been buying
fake forms at various stationary
shops and Jan Suvidha Kendras for
`5-10. The parents are told that the
form will entitle them to cash bene-
fits worth `2 lakh each in the name
of their daughters.
CCI to examine
airline pricing
After receiving complaints against
sudden surge in fares on some
routes, the Competition Commission
of India (CCI) has taken suo motu
cognisance of the issue to examine
if there is any anti-competitive
behaviour being followed by airlines
in ticket pricing. The CCI may
restrain the airlines depending upon
the findings of its inquiry. The civil
aviation ministry and the CCI are
also evaluating pricing of tickets in
Indian market to see how it com-
pares with global practices.
NGT sends notice to
HPPCB
Priceregulationfor
medicaldevicessoon

It is feared that millions of
European Union nationals living
in the UK will be left stranded in a
legal no man’s land due to Brexit.
The reason being cited is the weak
British immigration system which
was presided over by Theresa May
for six years. The Labour party has
been asking Prime Minister May to
end unnecessary uncertainty for
EU nationals but a recently leaked
document reveals that Home Office
might not have systems in place to
select who has the right to stay.
One of the hurdles in sorting out
the issue is due to the fact that the
government does not track EU
nationals when they enter and
leave the country.
The Hindu marriage bill, which
had been approved by the
lower house of Pakistan’s Senate
in September 2015, has also been
passed by the upper house. Now it
just awaits the President’s signa-
ture to become law. It will not
only be the first personal law for
Pakistani Hindus, it will also help
Hindu women get documentary
proof of their marriage. The law
will be applicable in Punjab,
Balochistan and Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa provinces. The bill
also has implications for the con-
stitutional guarantee of protection
of family as well as protective
measures ordered by the Supreme
Court for the Hindu minority.
Malaysian Prime Minister
Najib Razak’s support of a
contentious bill that seeks to
incorporate parts of the Islamic
penal code, or hudud, into
Malaysia’s existing Islamic legal
system saw tens of thousands of
Malaysian Muslims rallying
for it. However, presidents of
three parties representing the
Chinese and Indian ethnic
groups in Najib’s ruling
Barisan Nasional coalition
have threatened to quit
their cabinet posts if the bill
is passed. The bill, which seeks
to increase punishment caps in
the Syariah Court to a maxi-
mum of 30 years’ imprison-
ment, a fine of 100,000 ringgit
(79,000 baht) and 100 lashes of
the cane, is scheduled to be
debated in parliament next
month. Najib, who is currently
embroiled in a corruption scan-
dal, is hoping to burnish his
Islamic credentials in order to
boost his chances in national
elections slated for August 2018.
—Compiled by Karan Kaushik and Shailaja Paramathma
The Goods and Services Tax (GST)
council has approved a law to
compensate states for any loss of rev-
enue from the implementation of the
new national sales tax policy. The
GST Council will meet on March 4
and 5 to approve the legally vetted
draft of the supporting legislations
for Central GST and Integrated GST,
days before the start of the second leg
of the budget session.
States to be compensated
for GST-related losses
To protect farmers against price
volatility, especially in perish-
ables like onions, tomatoes and pota-
toes, NITI Aayog is soon going to
finalise a model law on contract
farming for approval by the Cabinet.
The centre’s think-tank is considering
options that can reduce the risks for
farmers by balancing entry of private
players with safeguards for agricul-
turalists. A law on contract farming
is considered important for the entry
of private players into the sector as it
would trigger competition and
ensure better prices of agriculture
and horticulture produce to farmers
through prior agreements.
NITI Aayog mulls over
contract farming
Muddle in Malaysia
Respite for Pakistani
Hindus
Brexit
forebodings

Lead/ Investigation/ Kalikho Pul’s Suicide
14 March 6, 2017
mitted suicide on August 9 last year.
Before he ended his life, Pul left
behind a sensational 60-page diary
strangely titled Mere Vichar (My
Thoughts), in which he levelled serious
charges of corruption and bribery
against ministers from his state, senior
politicians in Delhi and relatives of sit-
ting and former judges of the Supreme
Court (see picture). It spared no one,
including the highest levels of the judici-
ary, and the President.
Pul lost his chief ministership when
his five-month old government was dis-
missed by the Supreme Court in July
2016. The following month he commit-
ted suicide.
NTI-CLIMAX! That
succinctly sums up
the tame end of Part
I of the “Kalikho Pul
Suicide Note” saga. It
was a crowded Court
No 13 that waited in
anticipation on the afternoon of
February 23 for Justices Adarsh Kumar
Goel and Uday Umesh Lalit of the
Supreme Court to take up Item No 61
on the cause list. The matter before the
two judges dealt with a letter addressed
to the Chief Justice of India (CJI),
Justice JS Khehar, by Dangwimsai Pul,
the widow of former Arunachal Pradesh
Chief Minister Kalikho Pul, who com-
The deceased chief minister’s widow
had written to the CJI on February 17,
seeking directions to register an FIR
based on the allegations in the suicide
note. The case was suddenly listed for
hearing and Dangwimsai Pul’s letter was
taken up as a writ petition. Dangwimsai
expected the Supreme Court to either
hand over the case to the CBI or set up
an SIT to probe the allegations.
B
ut that was not to be. Her coun-
sel, Dushyant Dave, concluded
proceedings rather quickly by
withdrawing her prayer before the court.
It was subsequently “dismissed as with-
drawn.” Dave cited reasons why his
client was forced to make such a move
(see box). Dangwimsai Pul will have to
take her fight elsewhere. She told India
Legal that she will “soon be petitioning
the Vice-President” since the suicide
note also alludes to the President.
While Dangwimsai’s plea in its pres-
ent form is a closed chapter, the focus
still remains on the curious “suicide
note” that surfaced almost six months
after Kalikho Pul’s death. Several ques-
tion marks hover over the note. Were
the allegations all true? Was it backed
by an evidence? Was Pul actually
approached by middlemen (in some
instances the kith and kin of apex court
judges) who were acting on behalf of the
honourable judges? When did he write
the 60-page suicide note? Was it hand-
written or had he got it typed and then
More than
Meets the Eye
A
The60-pagenoteoftheformerArunachalPradeshChiefMinisterhascreatedasensationin
legalandpoliticalcircles.Butdoesitofferenoughevidencetopassthelegallitmustest?
By Ajith Pillai with Bureau Reports
UNI

about corruption and bribery both in
Arunachal Pradesh and in the corridors
of power in Delhi. So, it was not a “sui-
cide note” written just before he ended
his life. It was a preplanned exercise.
A lawyer who knew him closely had
this to say. “He often told me about the
diaries. He said he was writing things
that would create a sensation. He also
talked several times about committing
suicide but I dismissed it as loose talk.
The diaries were handwritten and writ-
ten over many months. He never typed
himself so he has obviously got it typed
by someone.” According to him the orig-
inal handwritten diaries are with his
first wife Dangwimsai. (Pul,who
was 47 when he ended his life had
married three times. Entering into
multiple marriages is not unusual
in several tribal communities in
the North-east).
Though he denies having seen
any handwritten suicide note, Jyoti
Prasad Rajkhowa, who was
Governor of Arunachal Pradesh
when Pul committed suicide, was
aware of the typed version of the
diary (see interview).
In fact, he was the first to
bring the suicide note to light in
Sep-tember last year. It is alleged
that he may have done so to rattle
the higher judiciary which had
come down sharply on his guber-
natorial interventions into
signed it? (The copies doing the rounds
of the media are typed in Hindi and
have his signature at the bottom of
every page.)
India Legal tried to make some sense
of the curious case of Pul’s “suicide
note”. Here are some pointers:
The so-called “suicide note” was writ-
ten much before Pul’s eventual death.
India Legal has learnt from those who
knew the former chief minister that he
maintained a diary and had been plan-
ning a book even before he became CM.
He had two diaries—one in which he
wrote his “good thoughts” and one in
which he penned his selected exposes
Why did lawyer Dushyant Dave
counsel his client Dangwimsai
Pul, the wife of former Arunachal
Pradesh chief minister Kalikho
Pul, to withdraw the letter she
had written to the Chief Justice of
India JS Khehar?
She had sought the CJI’s instructions
to file an FIR based on the allegations
of corruption against several sitting
judges of the apex court made in a
suicide note left behind by her
deceased husband.
Dave’s reasoning was this:
•The plea should have come up only
on the administrative side and not
taken up before a judicial bench in an
open court as a writ petition. He felt
that if the bench heard the petition
and dismissed it, then all alternate
options would be closed for the peti-
tioner. He had therefore advised his
client to withdraw her letter.
•Dave cited that there was conflict of
interest involved vis-à-vis a judge on
the bench. Justice Goel was a col-
league of a judge in a state HC,
whose name also figures in the alle-
gations made in Pul’s suicide note.
•He quoted the K Veerasamy judg-
ment to point out that the matter
should have been heard by five
judges, not two.
The apex court registry’s explana-
tion for listing the case before a judi-
cial bench was that a registration of
an FIR could not be facilitated by an
administrative order and could be
done only through a judicial order.
When contacted by India Legal,
Dangwimsai was measured in her
words: “This is a legal matter on
which I cannot speak much. But I
withdrew my petition because I
sought intervention on the adminis-
trative side but the matter came up
before a bench.”
However, sources say she may
have decided to withdraw her petition
lest she and a middleman, Shyam
Arora, who allegedly had regular
financial dealings with Kalikho Pul, be
exposed for these shady deals run-
ning into thousands of crores. Arora,
a Delhi businessman, is untraceable,
though Dangwimsai has been trying
to get in touch with him.
PleaWithdrawn
ItwasacrowdedCourtNo13that
waitedinanticipationontheafternoon
ofFebruary23forJusticesAdarsh
KumarGoelandUdayUmeshLalitof
theSupremeCourttohearthewrit
petitionfiledbyDangwimsaiPul.
HASTY RETREAT: Kalikho Pul’s widow Dangwimsai interacting with media after withdrawing
her petition before the Supreme Court
AnilShakya

16 March 6, 2017
Lead/Kalikho Pul’s Suicide/ Legal Angles
S
uicide notes, and their content, are
different from dying declarations.
Dying declarations enjoy a unique
status. It is based on the maxim Nemo
moriturus praesumitur mentire, i.e. a man
will not meet his maker with a lie in his
mouth. Since the situation when a man
is on his death bed is so solemn and
serene, that is the reason in law to
accept in veracity his statement, even
dispensing with the requirements of oath
and cross-examination. As such, dying
declaration is taken a lot more seriously
than suicide notes. Suicide notes can be
taken as evidence in Court, but not as
conclusive evidence.
One issue with suicide notes is that
they need to be authenticated. Courts
need proof that the note was not written
by someone else—the handwriting must
be authenticated.
The question which arises is, can a
suicide note be termed to be a valid
dying declaration for the police/ investi-
gating authorities to act upon. The ele-
ment of admissibility of such a dying
declaration was considered by the
Supreme Court of India in Sharad Birdhi
Chand Sarda vs. State Of Maharashtra.
LEGAL POSITION
The relevant provision in law is Section
32(1) in The Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
It states:
“When it relates to cause of death —
When the statement is made by a per-
son as to the cause of his death, or as
to any of the circumstances of the
transaction which resulted in his death,
in cases in which the cause of that per-
son’s death comes into question. Such
statements are relevant whether the per-
son who made them was or was not,
at the time when they were made,
under expectation of death, and whatev-
er may be the nature of the proceeding
in which the cause of his death comes
into question.”
From a review of the various authori-
ties of the Courts and the clear language
of Section.32(1) of the Evidence Act, the
following propositions emerge:
Whether the cause of the death of the
person making the statement comes into
question in the case? The expression
“any of the circumstances of the trans-
action which resulted in his death” is
wider in scope than the expression “the
cause of his death”; in other words,
Clause (1) of Section 32 refers to two
kinds of statements: (1) statement made
by a person as to the cause of his death,
and (2) the statement made by a person
as to any of the circumstances of the
transaction which resulted in his death.
The words, “resulted in his death” do not
mean “caused his death.”
Thus it is well settled that declara-
tions are admissible only in so far as
they point directly to the fact constituting
the res gestae of the homicide; that is to
say, to the act of killing and to the cir-
cumstances immediately attendant
thereon, like threats and difficulties, acts,
declarations and incidents, which consti-
tute or accompany and explain the fact
or transaction in issue.
Section 32 is an exception to the rule
of hearsay and makes admissible the
statement of a person who dies. Whe-
ther the death is a homicide or a sui-
cide, provided the statement relates to
the cause of death, or relates to circum-
stances leading to the death.
In this respect, Indian Evidence Act,
in view of the peculiar conditions of our
society and the diverse nature and char-
acter of our people, has thought it nec-
essary to widen the sphere of Section 32
to avoid injustice.
The first step to resolving anything
involving a suicide note requires some-
one to lodge a first information report
(FIR). In the Kalikho Pul case, the alle-
gations are on the Supreme Court’s
judges and other prominent political and
public figures.
ACTION AGAINST SITTING JUDGES
Can an FIR be lodged against incum-
bent judges and the procedure to be
followed in case of serious allegations
against the incumbent Judges? In K
Veeraswami Vs. UoI [1991SCC(3)655],
the Supreme Court, while considering
the question regarding the applicability
of the provisions of the 1947 Act to
judges of superior courts, has held that
judges of superior courts fall within the
purview of the said Act and that the
President is the authority competent to
grant sanction for their prosecution.
But keeping in view the need for pre-
serving the independence of the judici-
ary and the fact that the Chief Justice of
India, being the head of the judiciary, is
primarily concerned with the integrity and
impartiality of the judiciary, the Court has
directed that the Chief Justice of India
should be consulted at the stage of
examining the question of granting
sanction for prosecution.
The judgment further said that if the
allegations are against the Chief Justice,
then the permission required would
ComplexProceduresInvolvedCan a suicide note be evidence and can allegations in it against sitting apex court judges be investigated? To proceed
against a judge isn’t easy because judges are left to decide their own case
SUDDEN END: Kalikho Pul’s body being
taken for final rites
UNI

Arunachal politics which led to Pul, a
Congress rebel, becoming CM with the
support of BJP MLAs. His actions were
dismissed by the court as “unconstitu-
tional” and the Pul government was dis-
missed.
Pul’s interactions with middlemen and
those who claimed to peddle influence
in Delhi were after he was sworn in as
CM on February 19 2016. His appoint-
ment was first challenged in the Gauhati
High Court by the ousted chief minister
Nabam Tuki and the Congress party.
The case later moved to the SC.
It is reliably learnt that Pul operated
through several point persons in Delhi-
—a senior Congress leader, now largely
out of active politics, and a former law
minister; and Shyam Arora and Pra-
shant Tewari, both businessmen, once
said to be linked to Congress leaders.
According to a source, Pul may well
have paid money to some fixers as he
has claimed in his “suicide note.” But the
key question is whether those who took
crores from him actually paid money to
SC judges and constitutional functionar-
ies as they promised.
So far there is no evidence to prove
any financial transactions did take place.
But one thing is clear—the fixers failed
to get any judgements in favour of Pul.
Which brings us to another crucial
point. Was Pul taken down the garden
path by influence peddlers who milked
him of his money? A lawyer in the know
had this to say to India Legal: “One is
not saying that there is no corruption in
the higher judiciary. But there are eno-
ugh people around who claim they can
fix judgements when they actually can’t.
Their logic is that if someone is willing
to part with money why not take it.”
Most politicians will tell you in private
that politics in the North-east is run on
corruption money like nowhere else in
the country. Money has to be pumped
in to ensure the support of MLAs, to get
tickets and votes. Pul won five consecu-
tive assembly elections—in 1995, 1999,
2004, 2009 and 2014—on a Congress
ticket. According to sources, after the
2014 elections he was unhappy with the
low-profile health and family welfare
portfolio allocated to him when he had
already served as the finance minister.
That was when he started toying with
the idea of toppling CM Nabam Tuki.
He sent feelers to BJP organisational
leaders willing to support him. But to
seal the support of rebel Congressmen
and BJP MLAs, money had to be invest-
ed. It is believed that hundreds of crores
were spent on the CM project and a
chunk of it was paid to a BJP func-
tionary in Delhi with strong RSS links.
W
here did Pul, who claimed he
comes from a humble back-
ground, acquire all that
wealth? Also, if he indeed paid crores to
fixers and relatives of SC judges as he
has alleged in his suicide note, where
did he source all those funds from?
Perhaps some clarity will emerge if
the middlemen mentioned in the suicide
note are questioned. But will their testi-
monies, unless backed by incontrovert-
ible evidence, prove anything? It rem-
ains to be seen if the suicide note will
pass the legal litmus test.
The government, India Legal has
learnt, is not inclined to move in the
matter that could cause much institu-
tional harm to the judiciary. Also, the
home ministry is not convinced that
the suicide note is a credible enough
document. So as things stand, its
curtains for now.
be of other judges, which would obvi-
ously mean the next-most senior judge
available.
In the administrative side, the
Supreme Court, by a full Court meet-
ing held on December 15 1999, adopt-
ed the Report of the Committee con-
sisting of Justice SC Agrawal, Justice
AS Anand, Justice SP Bharucha,
Justice PS Mishra and Justice DP
Mohapatra for the “In-House Pro-
cedure” to be followed to take suitable
remedial action against judges, who,
by their acts or omission or commis-
sion, do not follow universally accept-
ed values of judicial life. As per the
report, if a complaint is received
against a judge of the Supreme Court
and the CJI, after examining it, finds
the complaint is of a serious nature
involving misconduct or impropriety,
he shall ask for the response thereto
of the judge concerned.
And after his response if he finds
that the matter needs a deeper probe,
he would constitute a committee con-
sisting of three judges of the Supreme
Court to hold an inquiry. If the commit-
tee finds that there is substance in the
allegations then the CJI shall either
advise the judge concerned to resign
and if he refuses to resign, he may
intimate the President of India and
Prime Minister to initiate proceedings
of removal.
The Constitution of India, under
Article 124 (4), holds that “A Judge of
the Supreme Court shall not be remo-
ved from his office except by an order
of the President passed after an
address by each House of Parliament
supported by a majority of the total
membership of that House and by a
majority of not less than two thirds of
the members of that House present
and voting has been presented to the
President in the same session for such
removal on the ground of proved mis-
behaviour or incapacity.”
The procedure followed to proceed
against incumbent judges is a com-
plex one. And judges are left to decide
their own case.
—By Mary Mitzy and
Aditya Kr Singh
Kalikho Pul meets PM Narendra Modi
in April 2016
UNI

JYOTI PRASAD RAJKHOWA was Arunachal Pradesh
Governor from May 12, 2015 to September 12, 2016. On
February 19, 2016, Rajkhowa had sworn in Kalikho Pul—
the rebel Congress leader backed by BJP MLAs—as the Chief
Minister. The move was seen as the Governor displacing an
elected Congress government bypassing constitutional
norms. The apex court dismissed the Pul government in July
2016. A month later, on August 9 Pul committed suicide at his
home in Itanagar. Rajkhowa spoke to INDIA LEGAL about
his suicide note and why the allegations made in it must be
investigated by an independent agency. Excerpts:
Did you see any hand-written “suicide
note” written by Kalikho Pul?
I have not seen any handwritten note.
What I have seen was the typed version
which was signed on each page by the
late chief minister. The same one that is
doing the rounds of the national media
now and everyone is talking about.
There are some very serious allegations
Lead/ Interview/ Governor Rajkhowa
18 March 6, 2017
“There is Every Reason to Believe
Pul’s Allegations”
made in that note…
Yes, the allegations are indeed of a
very serious nature and involve very
powerful people—politicians, members
of the higher judiciary, prominent
lawyers and what have you. It also talks
of the rampant corruption that exists
in the North-east.
Is there some truth in these allegations?
There is no reason to disbelieve Pul’s
allegations. In fact, there is every
reason to believe them. Everyone in
Arunachal Pradesh knows that such
things happen here all the time.
What do you think needs to be done
now that the “suicide note” is out in
the open?
Given the persons who are named in the
note, a thorough probe has to be initiat-
ed to verify the allegations. It is also very
essential that the investigations are car-
ried out by an independent agency, if
not the truth will never come out. I
don’t know whether it should be the CBI
or the CVC or some specially constituted
team—an SIT monitored by the court—
that should carry out the probe. But the
verification exercise has to be conducted
in a thorough manner.
Do you believe a high-level probe can
really get to the bottom of things?
Well, for a start we have to verify and
establish the truth of what has been
alleged. He has alleged that several
local politicians, ministers and others
were involved in siphoning government
funds meant for development. Let us
look at these corrupt people and the
wealth that they and their families
acquired suddenly. How did they amass
so much wealth? Let us find out the
source. That could be the start; then we
can move up the ladder and investigate
the bigger people involved.
If we are serious about preserving
and protecting our democracy, then we
have to root out such corruption. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi keeps harping
on fighting corruption. What has been
alleged in Pul’s suicide note is corrup-
tion at the highest levels, including sit-
ting judges of the highest court in our
land. Pul’s suicide note must not and
should not be ignored.

Dangwimsai Pul, the widow of the late chief minis-
ter of Arunachal Pradesh, Kalikho Pul, has been
pressing for a probe into those mentioned in her
husband’s suicide note. However, her withdrawal of
the petition came as a surprise. In an interview to
Yilobeni Valerie Patton, she spells out her reasons.
Why did you withdraw your petition in
the Supreme Court?
Actually, on 17th we put forth our peti-
tion at the Supreme Court seeking per-
mission to register an FIR against all
the individuals mentioned in my hus-
band’s note. But today the judge seemed
in a mood to dismiss the case full and
final in the courtroom itself. We had
asked for administrative permission but
since it came up before a judicial bench,
we got apprehensive and hence we with-
drew the case.
Were you expecting such an outcome
from the Supreme Court hearing?
Maybe, yes. Because a lot of big person-
alities from the public sphere are named
in the note. So I was anticipating some
manipulation and political drama from
the beginning.
What is the next legal action or strategy
that you are going to follow?
Lead/ Interview/ Dangwimsai Pul
20 March 6, 2017
“Judge Wanted
to Dismiss the
Case in the
Courtroom”
I’m not aware of the legalities so we’ll
just have to wait and see.
The CM himself had assured a thorough
investigation into Pul’s suicide. Yet,
the state government seems to be doing
nothing now.
The state government is doing nothing
because the sitting CM himself has been
named in the note, along with his
deputy CM. So maybe that’s why the
police have been pressurised not to
reveal any findings and close the case.
It’s now over six months since your hus-
band’s death. Have any of your hus-
band’s ex-colleagues or politicians tried
to get in touch with you or the family?
No, not really. I am fighting this alone.
There are contradictory reports regard-
ing the suicide note, whether it was a
handwritten one with his signature, or
typed out on a computer and then print-
ed and signed by Kalikho Pul. If you
could clarify this for us? And how did
you stumble upon those notes?
It was typed. He made 10 copies. We
found those copies strewn everywhere
on the floor in the very room where we
discovered his dead body hanging from
the ceiling. It was the same day itself.
Dated August 8, 2016 , his signature
was found on every page of the note.
This should not be ignored.
It is being speculated that your hus-
band’s Hindi was not strong. If he did
not write it himself, do you know who
wrote it for him?

What was his state of mind during the
last days of his life? Was your husband
in depression? Was he meeting people?
Yes he was under severe depression but
even then he did meet a few people. My
husband would often wonder out loud
about what he should actually do to
teach corrupt people a lesson.
How have your lives changed since the
suicide?
We were hoping that the government
will do something for us but they have
failed us. But in our heart of hearts, we
are still hoping that someone, some-
where will help us get justice and we
will get a free and fair probe. I am sure
there are a lot of people who support us.
It’s also written in his notes that even if
0.1 percent change can be brought about
in eradicating corruption with the help
of his notes/information, he will be at
peace. We are fighting for this.
This note was written after a good
amount of planning. He had engaged
someone to write it for him while he
dictated it. From the writing to the
printing, everything was done secretly
behind our back, none of the family
members knew about this. Sometime
after his demise, we got to know that he
had requested the person not to tell any
of us. We were never aware. We found
them only on the day he died.
Can you tell us who wrote the notes
for him?
One of the employees from the CM’s
office had written it for him.
“Inourheartofhearts,weare
stillhopingthatsomeone,
somewherewillhelpusget
justiceandwewillgetafree
andfairprobe.”
Anil Shakya

Column
22 March 6, 2017
RANSPARENCY in the
conduct of judicial pro-
ceedings is what gives it
the greatest credibility. In
the UK, from where India
inherited its judicial sys-
tem and practices, the tradition of open
courts ensures transparency. The con-
cept of open court proceedings is an
invaluable contribution by the common
law tradition of England. In common
law, the “open court” means either a
court that has been formerly convened
and declared open for the transaction of
its proper judicial business or a court
that is freely open to spectators, includ-
ing the media. This is pop-
ularly called a public trial.
There is one theory
that the Magna Carta, a
charter signed by King
John in 1215, is the har-
binger of the concept of
the open court. However
the Magna Carta does not
expressly refer to the con-
cept of open courts. Clause
40 merely declares that “to
no one will we sell, to no
one deny or delay right or
justice” and this has
inspired the constitutions
of the other democratic
countries to adopt public
trial as a constitutional
right.
The horrendous experi-
ence of Star Chamber
Courts constituted under
Star Chamber Act of 1487
which sat at the royal
palace in Westminster reveals the short-
comings of secretive proceedings the
defendant in criminal trials was exam-
ined by the official of the court in the
absence of his counsel and co-defen-
dant. The judicial arbitrariness and
tyranny of the Star Chamber Courts ulti-
mately led to its repeal in the year 1641.
In England in the past, the parties and
probably their witnesses were admitted
freely in the courts, but all other persons
were required to pay in order to obtain
admittance. Sir William Black Stone, in
his commentaries, advocates that “the
open examination of witnesses viva voce
in presence of all mankind is much
more conducive to the clearing up
of truth”.
The Washington State Supreme
Court has waxed poetic about what it
believes to be a history of public access
to legal proceedings: For centuries, it
says, publicity has been a check on the
misuse of both political and judicial
power. As a leading theorist of the
Enlightenment Movement wrote: “Let
the verdicts and proofs of guilt be made
public, so that opinion, which is, per-
haps, the sole cement of society, may
serve to restrain power and passions; so
that the people may say, we are not
slaves, and we are protected—a senti-
ment which inspires courage and which
is the equivalent of a tribute to a sover-
eign who knows his own true interests.”
In England, all proceedings of the
Supreme Court and the Appeal Court
are filmed and broadcast. Some of the
crown courts in England were chosen as
pilot projects for digital experiment. The
House of Commons is contemplating to
initiate legislation in this regard. In the
USA, the 1994th session of the Judicial
Conference after consideration of the
report and recommendation of the court
case management committee approved
recording, telecast and broadcasting of
civil proceedings in federal trial and
appellate courts.
The US Supreme Court website pro-
vides access to audio recordings of all
oral arguments before it which may be
downloaded or heard online by the pub-
lic. The recordings are maintained by
the National Archive Records and
Administration.
After incessant crusades and churn-
Justice K Sreedhar Rao
Theideaofopencourts,whereaccess
toproceedingsisinthepublicdomain,
isinclusivetotrueandfairtrials
Let the Light in
FAIR BALANCE
The Supreme Court
of India
Bhavana Gaur
T

ing, the present concept of open courts
emerged as a fundamental facet of
human rights. In India, ancient and
medieval history has no record of the
practice of open courts. Section 327 of
CrPC 1973 is substantially a replica of
Section 352 of CrPC 1898 which incor-
porated the general rule of open courts,
with reasonable restrictions for public
attendance like availability of accommo-
dation and in-camera trials for rape and
other sexual offences against women.
The concept of open courts is not con-
fined to criminal trials but extends to
all civil proceedings in all courts.
However, in some high courts and the
Supreme Court, only the counsel and
the litigants are permitted attendance
for security reasons.
The demand for public accountabili-
ty of the performance of the executive is
secured in Right to Information Act.
The live telecast of the proceedings of
the assembly and parliament is in place.
There has been a constant campaign for
video recording and telecast of court
proceedings for achieving greater trans-
parency and access for larger public
gaze. That justice is not only to be done
but seen to be done, is one of the com-
mandments of democratic governance.
The concept of Open Court should not
only give right to all the litigants to be
present in the Court but also the public
in general should have right of access for
observing the court proceedings to
assure the public about the fairness,
the quality and integrity of the judicial
functioning.
T
he division bench of the Madras
High Court presided by Justice S
Tamilvanan and Justice CT
Selvam heralded the beginning of live
telecast of the contempt proceedings
initiated against two lawyers of the
Madurai District bar association in
September, 2015. The Calcutta High
Court deviated from the conservative
approach on July 15, 2015 and directed
the recording of courtroom proceedings
in a particular case.
The Supreme Court of India in the
Pradyuman Bisht case recently passed
an interim order directing installation of
CCTV cameras in court halls of
Gurugram without the facility of audio
recording. The Additional Solicitor
General and R Venkatramani, senior
counsel, are appointed as Amicus Curie
in implementing the order and to report
about the feasibility of the experiment.
The order further states that after
receipt of the report of the learned
counsels, installation of CCTV cameras
in one district in every state under the
direction of the concerned high court
would be considered. The order of the
apex court although is inchoate, but
is a laudable historic step in the
process of digitalisation of the court
room proceedings.
The Article 227 of the Constitution
invests the power of superintendence
over the all courts and tribunals
throughout the territories in relation to
which its jurisdiction. The Article 235 of
the Constitution invests the High Court
the control over the subordinate courts.
The order of the Supreme Court would
have been in sync with the constitution-
al jurisdiction of the High Court had the
order directed the Chief Justice of the
Allahabad High Court to carry out the
said exercise instead of appointing the
advocates as amicus in implementing
the order.
The perception that videographing
and telecasting of court proceedings will
have an intimidating impact on justice
dispensation and impinges the inde-
pendence of judiciary is flawed logic.
A litigant who wants to know the con-
duct of his case by his counsel in the
courtroom through digital technology
instead of his personal presence in the
court cannot be rejected as an
untenable demand.
The aspiration and the right of gen-
eral public to have access to courtroom
proceedings in cases of national and
public importance could be ensured
through digital technology. The litigants
and the public in all democratic coun-
tries like the USA, the UK, Australia
and South Africa have access to court-
room proceedings through digital tech-
nology. It is a settled proposition of law
by the apex court that freedom of speech
and expression guaranteed under Article
19 of the Constitution imbibes the right
to have proper and authentic informa-
tion. In that sense, the holistic purpose
of open courts is better served when the
litigant and the public have the benefit
of video graphing and telecasting of
courtroom proceedings.
Therehasbeenaconstant
campaignforvideorecording
andtelecastofcourtproceedings
forachievinggreater
transparencyandaccessfor
largerpublicgaze.
IN FULL VIEW: The UK Supreme Court where all proceedings are filmed and broadcast

The Hidden
Half-truths in
ex-CBI Director
Singh’s Case
Controversy/ CBI/ AP Singh
24 March 6, 2017
Theinvestigativebodyisgearinguptoprobeanotherpast
boss.Alookintothemazewithinthelabyrinth
By Sujit Bhar
HE case of former Central
Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) director Amar
Pratap Singh is a quizzical
one. The agency has filed
an FIR against its own
director, a first, but questions arise as to
the timing of the “sudden revival of
interest” and as to who let the cat on the
mouse, and why?
The CBI hasn’t just stumbled onto
Singh’s case. By Singh’s own admission,
his BBM messages “are mostly personal
and innocuous in nature as between
friends. Majority are after I retired from
CBI in 2012 November,” he has been
quoted as saying. The messages were
available even on social media sites for a
long time.
The allegations against Singh are
serious. Initially it was a case of him
securing illegal favours for businessmen
in collusion with meat exporter and
prominent hawala operator Moin
Qureshi. By top-level corruption stan-
dards of India, this is chicken feed.
Now the CBI is looking into whether
Singh’s actions were impacting the very
functioning of the agency.
During his tenure, Singh’s agency
was involved in investigating the huge
Andhra Pradesh Industrial
Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC)-
Emaar township project scandal, in
which BP Acharya (IAS), former
Chairman and Managing Director of
APIIC, allegedly entered into a conspir-
acy with officials of Emaar Group and
some public servants to cheat APIIC
and secure wrongful gains for Emaar.
Not only was APIIC’s equity in the
project diluted, Emaar was allowed to
bring in its group company Emaar MGF
Land Ltd as co-developer for the 258-
acre integrated township project (at
Gachchibowli, a prime area of
Hyderabad). Then, when plots were
sold, they were heavily under-invoiced,
resulting in huge gain for the developers
and their agents and loss for the
government. The CBI first arrested
Acharya and later Koneru Prasad, one
involved in the sales.
T
THE PAST CATCHES UP
The CBI is looking into whether AP
Singh’s actions were impacting the
very functioning of the agency

Now the CBI has filed an FIR against
Singh on a complaint from the Enforce-
ment Directorate, agency spokesperson
RK Gaur has been reported as saying.
The allegation is that the agency had
gone soft on the accused and Singh and
Qureshi were involved in it. No figures
on the money involved have been men-
tioned, but it is said to be astronomical.
A
s it stands, two things come out.
Firstly, how is it that the CBI
has, again, been given the
responsibility of investigating another of
its own directors? Earlier Ranjit Sinha,
former director, was put under the CBI
scanner in the coal scam.
As a senior former Intelligence
Branch (IB) official disclosed to this cor-
respondent on the condition of
anonymity: “I have no issues with any
agency investigating a former employ-
ee/boss; unless any personal loyalty
exists between the investigating officer
and the accused, it will go as per norms.
My contention is about the timing of the
prod from ED. This has been in the air
for a while and it was just a case of a
former director getting favours done
through government agencies with a
hawala trader as a front. Now the scope
has been widened.”
So what does the former IB official
suspect? Which, is the second part. “I
suspect this to be, firstly, a case of politi-
cal bickering on the spoils of a scam.
The spoils add up to hundreds of crores
(it was estimated at `136 crore, but
other estimates point upwards), there
has to be some sharing, without which
the corrupt system is bound to hit back.
Remember, the state of Telangana was
carved out only in June 2014. Dig a little
and you will come up with more politi-
cal wheeler-dealers,” he said.
“Secondly, also, remember that 2G
and coal allocation cases were registered
during Singh’s tenure,” said the former
official. The indication was clear. The
other CBI director under investigation,
Ranjit Sinha, Singh’s successor, was
being probed for the 2G and coal scams.
Singh headed the agency between
November 30, 2010 and November 30,
2012. Qureshi had become close to him
through Singh’s wife, who was a friend
of Qureshi’s wife. Singh (who was not
yet the CBI chief) and Qureshi devel-
oped an extraordinary “working rela-
tionship”. When Singh became head of
the agency, this relationship
blossomed.
With his term coming to an
end, Singh needed to protect his
“investments”. Singh and Sinha
were close and it was only natu-
ral that Singh recommend
Sinha’s name to the ministry to
be his successor. That was done
and hence Sinha also benefited in
getting to know Qureshi and
according to the visitors’ diary
(log) kept at the CBI director’s
residence, Qureshi was a fre-
quent visitor of Sinha.
The relationship between
Sinha and Singh was always
good, and if it did sour, it cer-
tainly sprung from an unspoken man-
date of faith that was breached. This
could lead from several internal as well
as external factors.
The dependence of the agency (CBI)
on its political bosses has always cloud-
ed its decision-making process. There is
a possibility now that even internal
equations maybe have been altered
because of this. No clear internal system
exists within the agency to separate
internal lobbying from the operational
side. This is what the senior ex-IB offi-
cial was referring to.
Sandhi Mukherjee, a former senior
IPS officer, who has campaigned for the
true independence of investigative and
law enforcement agencies, believes that
the case of the Supreme Court directing
an agency to investigate its own boss is
technically a correct one, though it was
not up to the Supreme Court to decide
or know the internal politics and loyal-
ties in the agency. “There is too much
political interference. No agency would
be in a position to deliver an impartial
investigation. There has to be a different
level of oversight. The public needs to be
told that justice is available at all times.”
Mukherjee indicated that each boss
of an agency creates his own team of
loyalists, who remain loyal even after
the boss has been removed. So was this
the result of a clash of two sets of loyal-
ists? Or was it a loss of faith between
two headstrong leaders?
An interesting case just got even
more interesting.
UNVEILING THE TRUTH
India Legal had investigated the
questionable dealings of former
CBI chief Ranjit Sinha
NAILING THE CORRUPT
BP Acharya (above), former CMD APIIC, was
indicted during AP Singh's tenure as CBI chief

Kasauli Fights Back
NCE known for its pristine
environment, Kasauli,
located in Solan, Himachal
Pradesh, is currently under
stress due to a boom in the
number of hotels in this hill town over
the last two decades.
Many of these hotels have been oper-
ating unauthorisedly and flouting con-
struction rules and green norms.
However, coming to the rescue, the
National Green Tribunal has asked the
Himachal Pradesh government and
state pollution control board to issue
notice to several of these properties.
The petition had been filed by
SPOKE (Society for Preservation of
Kasauli and its Environs), a non-govern-
mental organisation, founded by former
Indian ambassador to the US BK Nehru
who was its first president, Sampooran
Parashar, its first secretary, social acti-
vist Baljit Malik, longtime resident of
Kasauli Rabindra Grewal and others.
SPOKE has been fighting to protect
the environment of Kasauli for over
25 years.
The first such matter that came up in
a court of law and, indeed went up to
the Supreme Court, was that of the Hill
Crest Cooperative Society, Grewal tells
India Legal. It originated around 1992.
An “atrocious” 14-storey building had
come up on the Lower Mall Road. “The
owner was one Mr Dhindsa. He ens-
conced himself in the town by joining
Kasauli Club and becoming its secretary.
He was misusing the club as his pulpit.
About 40 people bought into the proj-
ect,” it is reported by SPOKE. But he
was evicted from the club. SPOKE took
the state government to court.
The case was fought in the Supreme
Court by Arun Jaitley and Soli Sorabjee.
At the end of it all, the top court came
out with its verdict. It declared the
property illegal.
That was over 10 years ago. Around a
year ago, Dhindsa, ignoring the Sup-
Environment/ Himachal/ Illegal Hotels
26 March 6, 2017
reme Court order, approached the Solan
district collector and sought permission
to resume building the society once
again. SPOKE got word of it and filed a
case in the Kasauli tehsil court, obtain-
ing a stay on this order.
O
ne battle won but there were
scores waiting to be fought. In
December 2015, SPOKE moved
NGT over a 42-room property being
planned on the narrow Kshetrapal Marg
near Roscommons. “It was in the wrong
place. Apart from the ecological impact,
which would be huge, it would cause
massive traffic congestion,” says
Brigadier WS Choudary (retired), who is
the incumbent SPOKE secretary. The
case was filed against the Himachal
Pradesh Tourism Department
Corporation. An experts’ committee
report was filed by the central ground-
water department and a stay was made
out on its basis.
However, this opened up the prover-
bial can of worms. About 72 new hotels,
mainly privately-owned, had come up
outside the protected Cantonment area,
and they were operating without requi-
site authorization for digging borewells
from the groundwater department, with
no sewage treatment plants, with a per-
mit for only 13 rooms but having over
50 of them in one instance and, indeed,
flouting PCB rules with impunity. About
11 of these hotels were asked to respond
to the expert committee report.
In its ruling dated January 30, the
tribunal’s principal bench—headed by
its chairperson Justice Swatanter
Kumar—has asked the HPPCB to sub-
mit its comments on the list of these
properties within a week, while extend-
ing the time limit for filing a reply to it
by one week to two of them—the others
having already submitted their respons-
es. The government and state PCB must
also serve them notices.
The order in the Roscommons mat-
ter will be delivered on February 28.
Regarding the case pertaining to the 11
private properties, March 7 is the date of
the next hearing.
NGThassummonedownersof11hotelsinthehilltown
floutingenvironmentallaws.ThehearingisonMarch7
By Sucheta Dasgupta
About72newhotels,mostly
privately-owned,havecomeup
outsidetheCantonmentarea,and
theyareoperatingillegally.
O
SIEGE ON BEAUTY
Real estate boom in the
hill town has put a strain
on its resources
Inderjit Badhwar

Society/ Rash driving
28 March 6, 2017
HE prejudice in India
against the make of a car
involved in an accident is
palpable. It is as if an Audi
or a Beamer or a Merc
immediately indicts the
driver or owner as guilty of criminal
conduct. He must have been drunk, he
must have been speeding, he must have
no concern about the lives of poor peo-
ple and he must be twice as guilty even
before the facts are in… after all an acci-
dent in an Audi is tantamount to proof
of arrogance and conceit and pure evil.
The tenor of the media reporting dis-
plays such social bias and class division.
It would be comical if it wasn’t so gross-
ly unfair. There is no sympathy, only
glee, as if somehow the foreign car
owner deserves his comeuppance and in
no way could he or she be innocent…
Why does a reckless driver in a
smaller car somehow get the benefit of
doubt, as if his flouting of the road rules
were less indictable because his vehicle
wasn’t a brute of a beaut and indicative
of a rich man’s possessions?
What the prejudice also does is make
a mockery of the law in relation to hit
and run drivers or those who get behind
the wheel in a stupor.
On both counts a person can be held
under Section 279 or 304(A) of the
Indian Penal Code and also under 134A
and 134B of Indian Motor Vehicle
(IMV) Act. In 2012 the Supreme Court
of India upped the ante when it con-
firmed a three-year High Court sentence
on Alistair Anthony Periera after he
mowed down seven people in Mumbai
in a Mercedes but as a deterrent it
hasn’t yet worked its way through the
natural indifference to reckless driving.
The unspoken agreement on our
roads is to hit and run to “save” oneself.
Also, it gives one time to hole up some-
where and dry out so that any alcohol
test becomes moot. For this reason, hit
and runs often disappear till they have
got their legal ducks in a row…or bought
and paid for a surrogate scapegoat.
Ten times as many accidents report-
ed have indigenous “toy cars” involved in
Stop
Blaming
the CarInaccidentsinvolvingluxurycars,thereisnosympathy,
onlyglee,asifsomehowtheforeigncarownerdeserveshis
comeuppanceandinnowaycouldheorshebeinnocent
By Bikram Vohra
T
Illustration: Anthony Lawrence

them. Of the nearly 400 people killed
every day hardly a few are victims of an
Audi or a BMW to make it even statisti-
cally an issue. But they do not make for
a story. The moment it is an imported
car that is in the picture all hell breaks
loose. Even the headline has the make of
the car to give it more heft. Killer Audi,
Beastly Beamer, Murderous Merc.
Anchors on TV go hoarse repeating the
model of the car as if the car and not the
person at the wheel was at fault and had
to be held accountable.
R
egrettably, lesser “deaths” by
lesser vehicles do not get the
same publicity and often are
closed after a suitable financial payoff is
arranged. They are written off as acci-
dents or just bad luck.
It is time to make a new law for
hit-and-run, one that has common
application and allows only for the driv-
er to only “run” to the police station in
case he fears a mob attack. Anything
else by way of disappearing is to be seen
as at least manslaughter and not negli-
gence or simply rash driving under sec-
tion 279 of the penal code.
What we also find murky and diffi-
cult to admit is the uneven field in
which each “accident” occurs. I use the
word “accident” advisedly because even
by law proving rash or negligent driving
is a confusing business with too many
permutations and the impact of outside
influences often making a dog’s break-
fast of the law and the cops themselves
treating this issue casually.
Take the case of the doctor whose
Audi 7 car killed four people in an auto
rickshaw in Hindon Delhi last month.
It is a perfect example of how an investi-
gation into death by car unravels rather
than unfolds.
Two days after the gruesome crash
the police could not figure out who
owned the car. This is inexplicable.
Aren’t these cars registered and cleared
by Customs and the RTO? By the very
fact that it is not some garden variety
clunker of a car with a changed number
plate but a top of the range Q 7 the
owner should have been identified with-
in a few minutes and traced… or if he
was on the lam his address discovered.
Clearly, much power and pelf was at
work to thwart this whole gory mess.
Although the car was finally identified
as belonging to a doctor this worthy had
disappeared. Okay, accepted that he was
in hiding and has done a runner in
panic. But by now you would think the
police would have been able to obtain
his photograph and put out an all-points
bulletin to look for the man. There was
nothing. After all, if a well-known well-
heeled doctor owns a top of the range
vehicle it is reasonable to assume he also
has a social standing and relatives and
people who work for him and know him
but even his data is spotty at best as if
keeping all this information confidential
was, in some way, going to lead the
police to the bigger fish.
There are no bigger fish…or
are there?
Seeing how Dr Rawat ran away from
the gathering “crowd” rather than do his
job as a medical practitioner, the police
took him on his word that he was not
driving the car and have registered no
case against him.
Nor are they puzzled he took several
days to fetch up and confess his inno-
cence.
Ah well, blame the Audi.
Ofthenearly400peoplekilled
everydayhardlyafewarevictims
ofanAudioraBMWtomakeit
evenstatisticallyanissue.But
theydonotmakeforastory.
January 28, 2017: A 19-year-old riding
a scooter killed when hit by a car
coming from behind in Ultadanga,
Kolkata
December 12, 2016: Four die after
their Maruti Alto hits a stationary truck
on the Yamuna Expressway, Delhi
December 11, 2016: A couple gets
injured when a speeding SUV driven by
a class X student hit a scooter on
which the two were travelling in
Kukatpally, Hyderabad
December 5, 2016: Three die and 19
pedestrians injured after a speeding
sedan jumps a red light, hit two motor-
bikes and climbs a footpath in Kolkata
November 14, 2016: Four people,
including three women and a child, die
when a Mahindra XUV 500 had a tyre
burst, jumped the divider on the
Yamuna Expressway and hit
a Ford Figo
November 5, 2016: Six persons
including two children killed and three
others get hurt when the driver of their
taxi loses control and hits the road
divider near Wadi Bunder, Mumbai
October 31, 2016: Four killed when
the driver of a car carrying six people
loses control on the Chennai-
Kumbakonam national highway
October 16, 2016: Three undergradu-
ate students of SRM University in
Chennai killed when their speeding car
hit the road median
October 15, 2016: Three engineering
students of Amity University, Noida,
killed and seven injured after their
rental SUV, Scorpio, collided with a
tractor on National Highway, Murthal
September 24, 2017: A 25-year-old
biker killed and the person riding pillion
injured after they are hit by a Honda
City coming from the opposite direc-
tion, near Rabindra Sarobar Metro,
Kolkata
September 10, 2016: Four killed when
their speeding car collides with a con-
tainer on Pune-Mumbai Expressway
at Lonavala
BleedingRoads
A look at some of the worst road
mishaps in the last six months:

KTS TULSI, an Indian politician and sen-
ior advocate of the Supreme Court, is noted
for representing Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law
Robert Vadra, who was accused by Arvind
Kejriwal of having taken an interest-free
loan of `65 crores and heavy bargains on
land in exchange for political favours. He
also handled cases related to the assassina-
tion of former Prime Minister of India
Rajiv Gandhi. He became the Additional
Solicitor General of India in 1990. He had
represented the government in the Supreme
Court in a number of cases, the most
remarkable being that of the constitutional
validity of the now extinct Terrorist and
Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act
(TADA). The most remarkable case that
describes his tenacity as a lawyer is the
case of the Uphaar cinema hall fire tragedy
which he fought for 10 long years to bring
justice to the victims. He is also a symbol of
courage in the legal fraternity. While ter-
rorism was raging in Punjab and no
lawyer was willing to come forward and
prosecute the terrorists, Tulsi took the cases
for prosecuting ‘A’ grade terrorists includ-
ing Operation Black Thunder case and
attempt on the life of JF Rebeiro case. In an
interview with NAWANK SHEKHAR
MISRA, KTS Tulsi talks about his greatest
inspiration and how even after 67 years
our Constitution has failed to fulfill its
objectives. Excerpts from the interview:
As an eminent advocate, you have been
an inspiration for many. Who is your
inspiration?
My mother has been my inspiration. She
taught me to think. She taught me to chal-
lenge and encouraged me to speak out
against any injustice in society. Whatever I
am today, I am because of her.
You have handled many notable cases in
your career. What is that one case that
you remember as the turning point in
your career?
Interview/ KTS Tulsi
30 March 6, 2017
“How Can We
Say the
Constitution
Has Been
Successful?”
indianbarassociation.org

four, the number of cases increased to
40, and from 40 to 100. I went there
every week almost. My salary was `1,100
per day. This case was the most impor-
tant turning point. While handling this
case, I met many important lawyers.
One day the then governor of Punjab
came and told me to file cases for con-
viction of terrorists in Punjab. I was
scared and told him: “You will go away
but I have to spend my entire life in
Chandigarh.” To this he replied: “This is
your bloody Punjab. If you are not wor-
ried why should I stick my neck out?”
My mother was with me then. She
reminded me that duty comes before
safety. So I handled a couple of terrorist
cases too. After this Dr Subramanian
Swamy made me the Additional
Solicitor General. This brought me in
the national forefront and gave me an
opportunity to fight notable cases.
What is your opinion on Dr Subrama-
nian Swamy?
He is a close friend. When I came to
know that he had became a minister, I
went to meet him, he hugged me and
said right there: “You are my Additional
Solicitor General”. He is a man of his
words.
The preamble to our Constitution is so
beautifully written. Has the Constitution
been able to achieve its objectives?
Where 60 percent of citizens do not
have roof above their heads, do not have
food to eat, lack resources for education,
have no resources for healthcare, how
can we say the Constitution has been
successful in fulfilling its objectives?
Till poverty is eradicated, we will be
behind the rest in the race.
What do you do in your spare time?
I like reading and listening to music.
Chetan Bhagat is my favourite author. I
have read all his books. I also read
Sidney Sheldon, John Grisham. I even
play tennis. I also like to travel. Hence I
make it a point to indulge in four long
vacations every year—two in India and
two abroad.
Who is your favourite actor?
Aamir Khan. The conviction with which
he speaks has made me his fan. Also, a
lot of research goes into the films he
makes. All the issues are based on real-
life incidences and experiences.
What are your favourite book and
movie?
All of John Grisham’s books are my
favourite. The movie which had affected
me the most was Guide.
The first five years of any lawyer’s career
are the most rigorous years. But I was
fortunate to land a part-time job as a
lecturer. It was just three years since I
had started my career as a lawyer and I
had already started earning `400 per
month. After this, the then Chief Justice
of India made me the reporter of the
Indian Law Reports, which added `250
to my monthly income. It was during
this time that I started my own journal.
My entire earnings went into bringing
out the journal. Even the work I had to
put behind it was immense. I had to
work from 6 am till 12 in the night. I
studied each and every judgment, made
head-notes, send it to print and then
proofread it again. Then I also had to go
to the Bar Association to sell it. All these
efforts made me more confident.
There was a law firm in Delhi, JB
Dadachandji and Company, whose part-
ner came to me to consult on a case—
four criminal cases had been filed
against Lipton. So I filed the entire peti-
tion while he was sitting there. He draft-
ed it and went to Kolkata. The lawyer
who was handling the case in Kolkata
said he wanted to meet me and discuss
it. For the first time I got a fee of `1,100
and went to Kolkata by air. There I
learnt a lot while working with him on
this case. I learned all the criminal laws
from him. I now laugh at my ignorance
that I had filed the case without even
thinking about it.
In 1979, Kanwar Pal Singh Gill came
to me. He had four cases filed against
him in Assam and no lawyer was willing
to take up his case. He had got death
threats and posters were there all over
Assam saying “Wanted Gill’s head” and
“Cash Reward `50,000”. I hesitated at
first, for the case was a risky business.
That evening, my cousin who was a
brigadier in the army came to visit me
with his wife and son. When I asked
him if I should take the case, his wife
criticised me for my cowardice and said:
“You should be ashamed. Is your life
dearer to you than your duty as a
responsible citizen?” So I went there,
fought the case and even won. From
Iwasscaredofhandling
terroristcases,butmymother
remindedmethatdutycomes
beforesafety.SoIhandleda
coupleofthosecasestoo.
UNI

Health/ Audit Prescriptions
32 March 6, 2017
ance which threatens the effective treat-
ment of numerous diseases like tubercu-
losis, malaria, typhoid, urinary tract
infections and many others. It plans to
enforce prescription audits to control
careless consumption of antibiotics that
are pushed by hospitals and doctors
when they are not needed. Hospitals
and pharmacists will soon be required
to upload all the prescriptions issued
and received by them for evaluation. It
will start in select hospitals and then be
extended to the rest of the country.
Justice Narendra Chapalgaonkar,
who retired from the Bombay High
Court, told India Legal: “The nexus
between doctors and pharmaceutical
companies should be investigated as
both have pushed antibiotic use. Why
has the Indian Medical Association not
cracked down on doctors who unneces-
sarily prescribe antibiotics? Just having
a law will not help as it has to be sup-
ported by public education that must be
in local dialects and languages so that
the messages gets easily absorbed.”
Today, the threat of Superbugs is
global. But India is going to be most
seriously affected as there is rampant
and careless prescribing of antibiotics by
general practitioners and even special-
ists. Doctors say that patients demand
NE of the scariest
medical realities that
have hit India and the
world is the emergence of
Superbugs. Overuse of
antibiotics has made
bacteria resistant to drugs. Increasingly,
doctors are helplessly witnessing their
patients battle diseases like tuberculosis
and pneumonia with medicines not hav-
ing any effect as the bacteria has
developed immunity to antibiotics.
Many just die.
India has the highest rate of antibiot-
ic resistance in the world. It is, there-
fore, hardly surprising that it is the
largest consumer of antibiotics. The
State of the World’s Antibiotics 2015, a
study by Delhi-based Centre for Disease
Dynamics, Economics and Policy, points
out that resistance to some medicines
has touched almost 50 percent.
According to a World Bank report,
antibiotic resistance could push 28 mil-
lion people into extreme poverty. A
review by the United Kingdom predict-
ed that anti-microbial resistance would
end up killing nearly ten million people
every year by 2050!
On February 22, India’s health and
welfare ministry rolled out a strategy to
fight anti-microbial or antibiotic resist-
prescription of strong antibiotics as they
want quick cures that will help them
bounce back to work.
But with Superbugs on the horizon
threatening our lives, doctors need to
counsel patients and not get pressurised
by pharmaceutical companies who also
seduce them with gifts like foreign trips
if the sales of their products rise in near-
by medical shops around their clinics.
Most of them are camouflaged as spon-
sored visits for overseas conferences.
Points out Justice Chapalgaonkar:
Fighting
Antibiotic
Resistance
Finally,thegovernmenthassteppedintoarrest
thespreadofantibioticresistancethatisnow
threateningourlives.Itwillsoonhavetoensure
thatlawsareformulatedtoensurethatitworks
By Ramesh Menon
O
What is the way out? Here are
some of the steps that could help:
•Crackdown on the over-the-counter
sale of antibiotics
•Get doctors actively involved in pre-
scription audits to make them more
alive to the threat that patients face
•Promotion of delayed antibiotic pre-
scribing strategies
•Encourage doctors to spend more
time with patients talking to them of the
dangers of carelessly consuming
antibiotics
•Promotion of pragmatic studies in
primary care which details out compli-
cations and clinical outcomes
EasySolutions

“The concept of the family doctor has
vanished who was trusted and genuinely
did not advise for medicines that were
not required. Now, we are all in the
hands of specialists who over-prescribe.”
That is why the recent government
move to audit prescriptions is a move in
the right direction. In fact, it should
have come long ago as the threat of
Superbugs started haunting India over a
decade ago.
U
nion health minister JP Nadda
says that the idea is to jointly
strategise with nine ministries
so that they are on the same page as far
as the action plan was concerned. Hea-
lth secretary CK Mishra points out that
only a multi-sectoral approach would
help to deal with the problem. He has a
point as it is not just humans who are
affected but animals too. There are envi-
ronmental factors like overuse of chemi-
cals in farming, aggravating the prob-
lem. Clearly, antibiotic resistance is a
frightening health threat that has no
easy answers. Urgent action is called for
if we have to fight infectious diseases.
Points out Sunita Narain, director
general of the Centre for Science and
Environment: “It is critical that environ-
mental policymakers in developing
countries are actively involved along
with policymakers from the agriculture
and health sectors to address environ-
mental spread of antibiotic resistance.”
Another worrying factor is the
increasing misuse of antibiotics in farm-
ing. Nearly 63 percent of the world’s
antibiotics are used in farming. It is
mixed with the animal feed or water
used for irrigation to stop diseases
spreading through cramped, unsanitary
factory farms.
Meat from animals and chickens also
contain antibiotics as it is mixed in their
feed under the guise of preventing them
from falling sick, but the actual goal is
to fatten them before slaughter. The
Superbugs pass from the animal’s dung
and spread through the air, soil, and
water into rivers and sewers.
Dr Vikram Sarbhai, senior consult-
ant in chest medicine, critical care and
sleep medicine at the National Heart
Institute, New Delhi told India Legal:
“The idea of auditing prescription to
regulate use of antibiotics may be won-
derful. But the question is how do we
ensure compliance? The magnitude of
logistics is huge and there is no appara-
tus to deal with it. India has not yet
standardised healthcare and created
even minimum standards format. We do
not have health records for every indi-
vidual. The question is how do we regu-
late prescriptions and then monitor its
use; punish those who are not comply-
ing. It will be a logistics nightmare as
we are not prepared.”
What are other governments doing?
Countries that took stringent actions
and used regulations to control the use
of antibiotics, have shown positive
results. Penicillin, Streptomycin and
Tetracyclines used as feed additives over
45 years ago were banned by European
countries. Sweden banned all antibiotic
growth promoters in feed in the mid-
eighties. In the nineties, Denmark, a
major livestock producer in Europe and
the largest exporter of pork in the world,
started regulating the use of antibiotics.
Between 1995 and 1998, it banned
Avoparcin, Virginiamycin, Tylosin,
Spiramycin and Zinc Bacitracin that
were used as growth promoters. Then it
restricted the use of Fluoroquinolones, a
crucial antibiotic for humans, in animals
in 2002. The cattle and broiler industry
voluntarily stopped use of all antibiotics
as growth promoters in 1998. In 2000,
the pork industry also stopped it.
There has been growing awareness in
the US about the problem of over using
antibiotics. Way back in 1977, the US
Food and Drug Administration had pro-
posed banning Tetracyclines and
Penicillins as additives in food given to
livestock and other animals. It said it
wanted to phase out the use of medically
important antibiotics in food-producing
animals and bring therapeutic uses of
such drugs under the oversight of
licensed veterinarians.
Chandra Bhushan, deputy director
general, CSE, points out that countries
must concentrate on reducing environ-
mental entry of antibiotic residues and
resistant bacteria by managing waste
from livestock and aquaculture farms,
slaughter houses and meat processing
units. Discharge effluents from the
pharmaceutical industry, particularly in
India, also need urgent attention to
minimise antibiotic contamination of
the environment, he said.
It is a worrying scenario. Antibiotic
resistant infections are very complicated
to treat. It also calls for long stays in
hospital. Obviously, there would be fat
bills that would be painful to pay.
It is not a pretty picture. The gov-
ernment does not have an easy job to
execute.
“Thenexusbetweendoctors
andpharmaceuticalcompanies
shouldbeinvestigatedasboth
havepushedantibioticuse.
WhyhastheIndianMedical
Associationnotcrackeddown
ondoctorswhounnecessarily
prescribeantibiotics?”
JusticeNarendraChapalgaonkar
Illustration: Anthony Lawrence

INDIA LEGAL: 06 March 2017

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INDIA LEGAL: 06 March 2017