- The document discusses issues with various public institutions in India like the judiciary, bureaucracy, and elected representatives. It argues that corruption has become institutionalized and citizens are treated poorly.
- It highlights examples of delays in the judiciary and high legal costs preventing many from accessing justice. Reforms like reducing judge holidays and unwarranted adjournments are suggested.
- The bureaucracy is seen to have a stranglehold over government. More accountability and fixed tenures for bureaucrats are proposed along with using technology to collect citizen feedback.
- Elected representatives are criticized for focusing more on inaugurations than lawmaking. Reforms like prohibiting multiple candidacies and pensions for representatives are advocated.
One of three Native women will be raped in her lifetime. According to the U.S.
Department of Justice, the incidence of violence against Native women is
nearly 3 times greater than any other population in the U.S.
This presentation mainly focuses on Lokpal in India. it also deals with the need of lokpal, how corruption became one of the activities of even the common citizens. it tries to reveal the intention of Governments in the matters relating to Lokpal.
One of three Native women will be raped in her lifetime. According to the U.S.
Department of Justice, the incidence of violence against Native women is
nearly 3 times greater than any other population in the U.S.
This presentation mainly focuses on Lokpal in India. it also deals with the need of lokpal, how corruption became one of the activities of even the common citizens. it tries to reveal the intention of Governments in the matters relating to Lokpal.
Current Affairs for Civil Services and other state level exams. for more query please contact us: 9454721860
and also visit our website : www.iasnext.com
and follow for more on instagram and facebook
This ppt gives a structured answer as to the elements of crime and its application in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860. It describes how the different sections of IPC are based on the 4 elements of crime i.e. human being, mens rea, actus reus and injury along with cases.
Corruption is eating India like a cancer. We can no longer ignore it with the hope that it will go away. We need to approach the problem ruthlessly & with a total commitment to eradicate corruption from our society, to make our Nation strong, proud and a world leader.
Under Siege
RBI governor Urjit Patel comes under intense pressure from the Executive and the Transparency Watchdog. The centre has invoked a section of the RBI Act never used before, leading to a stalemate that could have serious financial and political consequences
Plight & Prospects: The Landscape for Cause Lawyers in China ABA IHRC
Leitner Center for International Law & Justice at Fordham Law School, New York - Committee to Support Chinese Lawyers
This report is divided into six sections:
• The first section provides an overview of the context of the report and the background to the research.
• The second section provides an overview of the basic international legal framework governing the independence of lawyers.
• The third section addresses the background of the crackdown, providing a historical perspective as well as an analysis of the origins and triggers of the latest crackdown.
• The fourth section describes the specific government practices being used in the crackdown, including law-based measures to control and restrict the work of lawyers inside and outside the courtroom, and extra-legal measures, including illegal detentions, enforced disappearances, and physical attacks, and other persecution tactics, including direct harassment of lawyers and pressure exerted on their friends and families.
• The fifth section sketches an outline of the ways forward that these lawyers are exploring and the movement for the rule of law in China more broadly, and explains how both legal training and advocacy can help bolster the movement going forward.
• The final section contains the Committee’s conclusions and a series of recommendations to the Chinese government, both in terms of changes to current practice, legislative and other legal reforms, and individual cases, and to the international community.
The Bots Cometh: Major law firms are introducing Artificial
Intelligence systems which could rewrite the role of lawyers. Will this prove a game-changer for the profession?
With the apex court illegally abrogating the NJAC Act and no hope for the even more important NJ Accountability Commission, a fervent request is made to the PM for constituting a National Quasi Judicial Appointments and Accountability Commission
Current Affairs for Civil Services and other state level exams. for more query please contact us: 9454721860
and also visit our website : www.iasnext.com
and follow for more on instagram and facebook
This ppt gives a structured answer as to the elements of crime and its application in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860. It describes how the different sections of IPC are based on the 4 elements of crime i.e. human being, mens rea, actus reus and injury along with cases.
Corruption is eating India like a cancer. We can no longer ignore it with the hope that it will go away. We need to approach the problem ruthlessly & with a total commitment to eradicate corruption from our society, to make our Nation strong, proud and a world leader.
Under Siege
RBI governor Urjit Patel comes under intense pressure from the Executive and the Transparency Watchdog. The centre has invoked a section of the RBI Act never used before, leading to a stalemate that could have serious financial and political consequences
Plight & Prospects: The Landscape for Cause Lawyers in China ABA IHRC
Leitner Center for International Law & Justice at Fordham Law School, New York - Committee to Support Chinese Lawyers
This report is divided into six sections:
• The first section provides an overview of the context of the report and the background to the research.
• The second section provides an overview of the basic international legal framework governing the independence of lawyers.
• The third section addresses the background of the crackdown, providing a historical perspective as well as an analysis of the origins and triggers of the latest crackdown.
• The fourth section describes the specific government practices being used in the crackdown, including law-based measures to control and restrict the work of lawyers inside and outside the courtroom, and extra-legal measures, including illegal detentions, enforced disappearances, and physical attacks, and other persecution tactics, including direct harassment of lawyers and pressure exerted on their friends and families.
• The fifth section sketches an outline of the ways forward that these lawyers are exploring and the movement for the rule of law in China more broadly, and explains how both legal training and advocacy can help bolster the movement going forward.
• The final section contains the Committee’s conclusions and a series of recommendations to the Chinese government, both in terms of changes to current practice, legislative and other legal reforms, and individual cases, and to the international community.
The Bots Cometh: Major law firms are introducing Artificial
Intelligence systems which could rewrite the role of lawyers. Will this prove a game-changer for the profession?
With the apex court illegally abrogating the NJAC Act and no hope for the even more important NJ Accountability Commission, a fervent request is made to the PM for constituting a National Quasi Judicial Appointments and Accountability Commission
A REPORT ON THE ATTACKS ON MINORITIES AND THEIR PLACES OF WORSHIP IN KARNATAKA
PEOPLE’S TRIBUNAL ENQUIRY THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH
AND
NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
Conducted at the instance of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties,South Kanara
And
Transparency International India, Karnataka Chapter
By:
Justice Michael F. Saldanha,
Retired Judge, Karnataka High Court. President, The Catholic Association of South Kanara.
Chairman, Transparency International India, Karnataka Chapter.
Prudence dictates it is better to let sleeping dogs lie. But wisdom demands that the unpalatable and unpleasant, at least those in public domain, be discussed publicly and thrashed out in public interest.
With 4 senior judges of the apex court casting aspersions on the Chief Justice of India the credibility of the judiciary in particular and the whole justice delivery system has hit an all time low. The row may ultimately be shoved under the carpet but it is high time that responsible citizens woke up to the perversion that justice delivery system headed by the judiciary in India actually is.
With 4 senior judges of the apex court casting aspersions on the Chief Justice of India the credibility of the judiciary in particular and the whole justice delivery system has hit an all time low. The row may ultimately be shoved under the carpet but it is high time that responsible citizens woke up to the perversion that justice delivery system headed by the judiciary in India actually is.
corruption in India!!!!!1
completely kills the growth of an economy!!!!
so we the YOUTH OF THE NATION should do something to stop this ...
we the youth should fulfill the vision of Dr. APJ ABDUL KALAM
by not encouraging the bribe with traffic police,
bribe in government offices
bribery,
then we the youth are responsible for the development of the ECONOMY!!!!!!!!!!!!
Democracy’s Dark Hour
Why did the resignation of Congress legislators in Karnataka require the intervention of the Supreme Court? The apex court’s judgment favours the rebels and, with the governor stepping in, questions are raised about separation of powers among the Legislature, the Judiciary and the Executive
It is 15 years since the Right to Information Act was introduced as another piece of legislation, only to cheat the masses once again. Touted as a sunshine act, as a panacea for corruption and introduce accountability of the public servants to the public, it has grown into one of the biggest, yet unrecognized, scams over the last 15 years.
The title is a quip from Malayalam, the regional language of Kerala, India. It means for the king who kills, the minister who eats. It is used to describe an unholy nexus where no evidence of any crime is left. This was written in the context of a scam where the Government of Kerala shared private information of Covid patients to a software firm in the US of A, flouting all laws on such transactions. A bureaucrat, the Principle Private Secretary of the Chief Minister claimed that he had done it on his own, absolving his boss, secure in the feeling that his boss would not give permission to prosecute him, a ridiculous requirement of our laws.
This is the copy of a leaflet prepared for distribution during a protest against Palat Mohandas, the then Chief Information Commissioner, Kerala State Information Commission, when he had come to Palakkad on 08 Dec 2007 to address a seminar on Right to Information. The original is in Malayalam and this post includes the original and its translated version in English.
The RTI Act has been murdered by the bureaucrats appointed as CIC and ICs. This is an application of 21 Apr 2007 whihc i had filed with the President of India to remove the first CIC, Wajahat Habibullah
On 19 feb 2009 there was open war in the Madras High Court premises when the police tried to control an unruly mob of advocates. Sree Krishna, former judge of the apex court, who inquired into the above incidence submitted an interim report on 4 Mar 2009. This report is documentary proof of how biased and unreliable our (former) judges are.
The only citizen friendly law in India- the Right to Information Act- has been totally subverted by the very commissioners appointed to enforce it. One of them, the Chief Information Commissioner of the Central Information Commission has been recently designated as the 1st Lt Governor of the newly created union territory of Ladhak. Shouldn't it be considered as a reward for treason?
The judiciary in India is a law unto itself. Recently, an apex court bench dusted an appeal of 2015 vintage and ordered 5 apartment complexes in Kochi to be demolished within one month- without having ensured that even one of the 350 odd owners of the flats had been heard.
For all the failures of the authorities to implement the laws the blame is invariably palmed off to the masses and their ignorance of the laws. This is a fraud. The performance of the authorities can be easily seen to be indifferent, incompetent and wayward by just studying their functions objectively. Whether it is the judiciary or the quasi judicial organisations they can all be seen most brazenly violating the laws which they are tasked, empowered, equipped and paid to enforce. The experience of those who know these laws is sufficient to indict these authorities.
Indian democracy is a unique system where unelected babus (bureaucrats) and judges dictate the terms. The civil military relationship should be the worst in India given the self serving nature of both the babus and judges and the helpless politicians acting as the sikhandi in the Mahabaratha though the former two can never be compared with Arjun.
The only thing that marks India as a democracy is the periodical visits to the polling booths. Government administration, led by the bureaucrats of the Indian Administrative Service, is a synonym for corruption and treason. The politically elected government is just a puppet in the hands of these bureaucrats. And the judiciary is a law unto itself.
The Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in the states have been established to deal with corruption and impropriety at the higher levels of government. But sad to say, these have been turned into another rehabilitation home for retired judges.
Short of a decade after Anna Hazare led Anti Corruption Movement took the nation by storm from Jantar Mantar, the Lokpal is a reality in the country. As soon as the agitation had begun gathering momentum, the then UPA government led by Man Mohan Singh brought in a Bill in 2011 that was derided by the activists as Jokepal. They came up with a draft bill touted as Jan Lokpal. After some stalemate the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 became a reality in 2014. To be precise it became effective from 16 Jan 2014. But the appointment of the first Chairman and members of the Lokpal took another five years.
The Constitution of India, touted as the most voluminous and most detailed, has the dubious reputation of its own architect, DR Ambedkar stating that "I was a hack. What I was asked to, I did much against my will. I am quite prepared to say that I shall be the first person to burn it. It does not suit anybody.” It has also been criticised as a revised version of the Government of India Act 1935 which had been legislated by the colonial rulers to grant limited self government to the locals. Suffice to say that on completion of almost 7 decades, it retrospect it can definitely be said that it needs to be rewritten keeping the aspiration of the new generation in mind.
I cannot say if the apex court judgment in the hands of Pinarayi led Government can be compared to a bouquet of flowers in the hands of a monkey or a murderous weapon in the hands of a serial murderer. The fact remains that the fear of their rights related to their faith being violated was writ large and there were reports of protests from devotees even in far away Australia, Canada and the US of A. This is a complaint to the CM, Pinarayi Vijayan, himself
Kerala, a small state in southern India has faced one of its worst natural disasters in recent times- a flood since the last one 1924! How the indifference of the government of the day made it worse and almost man made is the topic of this article.
The only pro-democracy, citizen friendly law, the Right to Information Act, has been subverted blatantly by the very information commissioners who have been appointed at exorbitant cost to the exchequer to enforce it. Here is another example of such subversion by none other than the Chief Information Commissioner of Kerala, Vinson M Paul, former DGP and Direcor Vigilance of the State.
This is the 3rd part of a 5 part series wherein an effort has been made to expose how the public servants in India has subverted the only pro democracy, citizen friendly law in the country- the Right to Information Act. Here are some more examples of how the acts are perpetrated.
What is the point of small housing associations.pptxPaul Smith
Given the small scale of housing associations and their relative high cost per home what is the point of them and how do we justify their continued existance
Understanding the Challenges of Street ChildrenSERUDS INDIA
By raising awareness, providing support, advocating for change, and offering assistance to children in need, individuals can play a crucial role in improving the lives of street children and helping them realize their full potential
Donate Us
https://serudsindia.org/how-individuals-can-support-street-children-in-india/
#donatefororphan, #donateforhomelesschildren, #childeducation, #ngochildeducation, #donateforeducation, #donationforchildeducation, #sponsorforpoorchild, #sponsororphanage #sponsororphanchild, #donation, #education, #charity, #educationforchild, #seruds, #kurnool, #joyhome
A process server is a authorized person for delivering legal documents, such as summons, complaints, subpoenas, and other court papers, to peoples involved in legal proceedings.
Many ways to support street children.pptxSERUDS INDIA
By raising awareness, providing support, advocating for change, and offering assistance to children in need, individuals can play a crucial role in improving the lives of street children and helping them realize their full potential
Donate Us
https://serudsindia.org/how-individuals-can-support-street-children-in-india/
#donatefororphan, #donateforhomelesschildren, #childeducation, #ngochildeducation, #donateforeducation, #donationforchildeducation, #sponsorforpoorchild, #sponsororphanage #sponsororphanchild, #donation, #education, #charity, #educationforchild, #seruds, #kurnool, #joyhome
ZGB - The Role of Generative AI in Government transformation.pdfSaeed Al Dhaheri
This keynote was presented during the the 7th edition of the UAE Hackathon 2024. It highlights the role of AI and Generative AI in addressing government transformation to achieve zero government bureaucracy
ZGB - The Role of Generative AI in Government transformation.pdf
rtiexposingthetraitorsamoungpublicservantspt4wake up call
1. RTI-EXPOSING THE IDIOTS AND TRAITORS AMOUNG PUBLIC SERVANTS
-P M RAVINDRAN, raviforjustice@gmail.com, http://raviforjustice.blogspot.in, 20 Mar 2018
PART 4- WAKE UP CALL
“Power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters; all Indian leaders will be of low
caliber & men of straw. They will have sweet tongues & silly hearts. They will fight amongst
themselves for power & India will be lost in political squabbles. A day would come when even
air & water would be taxed in India.”- Winston Churchill, opposing grant of freedom to India
'...stop not until the goal is reached!’- Swami Vivekanada
‘You are not defeated until you give up!’- old quote
On 15 Aug 1947 this country is believed to have woken up to a new dawn of freedom. But
shortly after that a one man commission was appointed to assess the extent of corruption in
government offices. On submitting the report the author had reportedly exclaimed that the
experience had made him believe in God. On questioned how, he had said ‘there is so much
corruption but still the people seem to be happy. It has to be the hand of God!’
There is no need to harp on the status of citizens in a democracy. They are the sovereign
entities. But the way our institutions of governance were set up and nurtured the claim of
our’s being a democratic society may look preposterous. Nowhere are citizens of a
democratic society treated so shabbily as in this ever developing nation. So it was that in the
1970s itself Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan gave a call for a second freedom struggle, even
asking the soldiers in uniform not to obey illegal orders of their superiors. What followed was
Emergency. Inflicted on us by a power hungry PM, Indira ( I am omitting the surname Gandhi,
because I consider it a misuse of the surname of the person who is revered as the Father of
the Nation) convicted for electoral malpractices by a high court and upheld by the apex
court, but had not only not (repeat not) been punished but quite illogically been allowed to
continue in office. But the citizens rose to the occasion and at the first opportunity they got
gave her the punishment she deserved. But those who came to power squandered the
opportunity. People decided that a known devil is better than an unknown angel. On
returning to power though Indira tried to do better, it was impossible for her to do so what
with her nature not being tuned to democratic needs. Every institution of governance
suffered irrevocably. Corruption got institutionalized. Sycophancy ruled the roost.
Meanwhile in Hong Kong a silent revolution took place. When corruption had hit an all time
high, the Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC) was established in 1974.
Gradually, the ICAC gained momentum and power. The ICAC adopted a three-pronged
strategy of effective law enforcement, prevention and education in the fight against
corruption, respectively undertaken by the Operations Department, the Corruption
Prevention Department and the Community Relations Department. No doubt corruption
took a nose dive there, though not completely eliminated.
In India the greatest disaster has been the judiciary. Even the judges can be heard admitting
the huge back log of cases. But instead of trying to do anything about it (like reducing their
2. holidays or denying unwarranted adjournments) they are seen simply passing the parcel by
demanding more judges, more infrastructure and more resources. They can be heard quoting
an irrelevant judge to population ratio to justify their demands. This is blasphemy. Any judge
who quotes such a ratio should be immediately considered unfit for the job he is tasked to
perform. The US of A which has only 25 percent of our population has many more times
cases filed than in our country where a large percentage of population is still illiterate and
the majority are concerned only of their next meal. And of the remaining too, many, like me,
cannot even think of approaching a court for justice not only because of denial of justice
through preposterous delays but also due to the high cost involved. I am among those who
believe that the denial of justice is not only through preposterous delays but it is quite often
denied even at the end of it. Adv Prashant Bhushan, talking on the need for a simpler judicial
system, had said that ‘Not even 1 % get justice in present system’. This 1% cannot be 1% of
the population but only 1% of those who approach the judiciary hoping to get justice. Please
see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udJjDwGDREA&feature=youtu.be
I had the opportunity to attend the valedictory function of a seminar on Access to Justice
organized by the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association a few years back. Ravi
Shankar Prasad, then Union Law Minister had painted the right picture then when he said
that at the beginning of the litigation proceedings the litigant went by car and the advocate
by cycle and by the time the litigation was over, the litigant was on cycle and the advocate
was driving by in a car! Recently, it was reported in the media of Senior Advocate Ram
Jethmalani claiming that his fee, only for conference, was Rs 1 Cr!
Speaking of Ram Jethmalani, there is an interesting incidence that was reported when he had
been Union Minister in A B Vajpayee cabinet. He had directed that all documents in his
ministry be made available for scrutiny to members of the public and if they required it they
could take copies also at a nominal fee. This was long before the RTI Act was enacted and its
predecessor the Freedom of Information Act was being debated. The report said that the
Secretary in the ministry took up the matter with the Cabinet Secretary who told him he
could hold on to the proposal as the FoI Act was in the offing! And that shows the strangle
hold of our bureaucracy on the government. In an article titled ‘Survival by blackmail or art of
governance’ (Available at http://www.vijayvaani.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?aid=4595) I have
dwelt on this in a little more detail.
Of the three organs of our Constitution we have been freely blaming the politicians for
everything. While it is warranted only because it is them that we have empowered to steer
this country on the road to progress there is a need to appreciate their handicaps also.
Firstly, it is the short term for which they are elected. On this, of course, nothing can be
done. But what can be done is that certain qualifications and experience have to be
prescribed for the candidates aspiring to be people’s representatives. Next, the
accountability of the bureaucrats has to be defined and all such protective armour like prior
permission for their prosecution has to be done away with. When being prosecuted or
prosecuting they should go through the litigation process in their personal capacities,
investing their own time and resources and being rewarded only if there is material savings
to the state. R.K.Raghavan writing in the Hindu of 23 Jan 2017 (‘Dealing with the deadwood’,
available at http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/Dealing-with-the-
deadwood/article17078468.ece?homepage=true) has stated ‘The only obstacle in the way of
3. drastic civil service reform — like the one pursued by the present government at the Centre —
is the judiciary that overturns or stays every administrative action against an erring senior
officer. Courts would earn the admiration of a harassed public if they stopped interfering in
disciplinary matters once they are satisfied that prescribed procedures had been followed in a
case coming up before them and there is no malice writ large on a decision. Judicial
overstepping, while correcting unjust action against a few honest civil servants, unwittingly
promotes the cause of many unscrupulous elements. The track record of administrative
tribunals in the country is a matter of great concern to those looking for a balanced and
objective bureaucracy.’
Having said that, there are many important and urgent changes required in the way we elect
and compensate our elected representatives themselves. Some of the existing practices are
an insult to the very concept of democracy. Among these are permitting candidates to
contest from more than one constituency and allowing even candidates rejected by the
electorate to be a representative for six months and then getting him elected to the Rajya
Sabha or getting an elected member to resign and make way for this ‘exalted’ candidate. On
tasking, the way elected representatives are seen doing things one is left wondering whether
we elect them to go about inaugurating various functions in their constituencies or be our
representatives in the law making bodies? Should they not be expected to hold consultations
and consolidate their constituency’s opinion on various issues being taken up in the law
making bodies and project them appropriately? (For some out of the box thoughts on
reforming our democracy please see the blog at
https://www.scribd.com/document/124887823/Democracy-East-is-East-and-West-is-West)
And then there is the matter of compensation. While ministers may be considered full time
employees the other elected representatives are not. Any citizen with an above average
knowledge of the environment in which he is living and can effectively take up issues that
needed attention and legislation should be able to represent his constituency on a pro bono
basis. They may also be provided an ex gratia payment on completion of their tenure. But
what we find is that they are made eligible for salaries and even pension for themselves and
their spouses on highly objectionable terms. For example they become eligible for a
minimum pension from the moment they take oath, full pension on completing one tenure
and an increment for every year of additional service as an elected representative. (This is
when even short service commissioned officers of the armed forces who do up to 10 years of
service are not eligible for any pension whatsoever!) As per information gathered under the
RTI Act, the pension disbursed to 3857 ex MPs/family pensioners of MPs, during the three
months Jan-Mar 2013 were Rs 38648441, 46891359 and 43554552 respectively. That is an
average of Rs 11150 per month. But that is peanuts compared to an amount of Rs 2,545
crores paid by the Lok Sabha Secretariat to the railways towards travel expenses of these ex
MPs/family pensioners for the same quarter. And that works out to Rs 22,00,000/- per
pensioner MP/family pensioner per month. And we are all familiar with the reference to
Parliament as the cheapest rehabilitation home for the aged, going by the subsidized food
served in the Parliament Canteen. Then there is also the objectionable practice of having
politicians who have outlived their political career enter the Parliament through the Rajya
Sabha. Conceptually atleast it is meant for representing experts from various fields who
cannot get elected through a popular ballot. But apart from defanged politicians all you can
find are film stars and cricketers being provided berths there. Doctors, engineers, soldiers,
artists, litterateurs, industrialists etc need to be given representation, not only for making
4. their voices heard but also for using their expertise while framing laws that pertain to their
domain of expertise.
Taming the bureaucracy is easily done provided there is a political will. Today most of the
bureaucrats are made to toe the line by unfair practices like threat of transfer to places or
appointments that are not generally coveted. In one instance the people of Kasargode in
north Kerala openly opposed the tendency to transfer employees from southern districts to
their district in what is popularly known as punishment postings. There is definitely a need to
provide fixed tenures for these babus to perform effectively. In exceptional circumstances
when they have to be transferred before completion of their prescribed tenure a detailed
explanation should be made mandatory. But it should also be ensured thereafter that they
deliver their services to the satisfaction of the public. Even technology can be used to collect
feedback from citizens on their satisfaction level in the matter of ease of doing business with
public servants and this should be a parameter for their career progression.
Making the judiciary transparent, accountable, effective and efficient will remain a challenge
as things are now. Not only judgments but also the docket sheets should be published on the
websites of courts so that the public can study how effectively and judiciously the judges are
performing their duties. Since the judiciary has unwarrantedly kept these out of purview of
the RTI Act, let me quote an example of a consumer dispute that was decided by the District
Forum at Palakkad. For the uninitiated the Consumer Protection Act has prescribed a period
of 3 months to dispose of a dispute.
In OP 282/1999 (OP No 85/1995 transferred from Malappuram), the opposite party had
produced interim stay order on 28/10/99 and the stay was vacated only on 8/6/2005 but
through out this period the case was listed 58 times and adjourned! It was finally posted for
orders on 6/7/07 but was opened for re-hearing suo moto on 15/2/08 and went on an
adjournment spree from 3/3/08 to 31/5/2010. It was adjourned 17 times, including 5 times
for want of members/President and 10 times for orders only! It was dismissed when an
application was submitted under the RTI Act to find out the status!
Similarly, on a particular day, while all the disputes listed had been adjourned enmass due to
absence of staff, the attendance register showed the complete staff as present!
Suggestions to the CM, Kerala to set up a cell to monitor the performance of all the quasi
judicial bodies have fallen on deaf ears.
In the case of judiciary, it is aborable that provisions like the contempt of court still exist in
our Constitution and other statutes. The only justification for its existance could be the need
to ensure compliance with orders of courts. But the truth is that you can hardly find it being
used for that prupose while being used freely to supress scrutiny and criticism. The most
recent conviction of a high court judge, C S Karnan, for contempt of court when he had made
specific allegations of corruption and the compromise reached in the matter of 4 judges who
cast aspersions on the Chief Justice of India speak for itself.
Let me conclude with a parting question: doesn’t democracy demand a Contempt of Citizen
(Prevention of) Act?