Final India Legal 31 March 2015

NDIA EGAL I L What constitutes a corporate favor?

The case of the sacked HT staffer

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Wily Godmen: A trail of murders, rapes, frauds and a hypnotizing spell on followers

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www.indialegalonline.com `100

March 31, 2015

STORIES THAT COUNT

CENSORSHIP

The Gathering Storm Ironically, even as the world cheers Indian social progress, the government appears regressing towards repression

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MP Governor: Raj Bhawan’s lure 54

Why corporates lap up well-connected UHWLUHG ,$6 RIĂ€FHUV 550

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INDERJIT BADHWAR

PERILOUS ASSAULT

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uring the many years I spent in America, starting in the mid-1960s, American friends, and mostly without any particular malice, would taunt me about the shame of Indian poverty and people starving to death in famines. This is a peculiar American and equally, a European trait. For the Americans, whose values are puritanical and who survived the economic havoc of the Great Depression and came out richer and smiling, poverty is not only a curse but an immoral state of being—a scourge that can and should be banished.

In those early years, there was no burgeoning Indian middle class, a fistful of millionaires, and India often lived a shameful ship-to-mouth existence on American wheat supplies given virtually free under the PL-480 program. “Basket case India”, as we were often called, even then suffered from dreadful famines, many of which I covered as a reporter for The Indian Express.

The oft-repeated official line which I would repeat to explain away India’s wretchedness was that we were a “developing country,” robbed of our wealth and driven to destitution by the depredations of the extortionist British Raj and so on.

Our detractors would argue that the way out may be firmer governance (read “dictatorship”), something economist Gunnar Myrdal hinted at in Asian Drama.

And here’s where I would score for India. I would point out that while post-war Europe had broken up or sprouted hideous dictatorships, and India’s neighbors had turned into Banana Republics, India, despite its grinding poverty and after having faced the butchery of Partition, had refused to sell its essentially democratic soul to totalitarianism. We had remained adamantly free —free to speak our minds on the streets, free to

excoriate our government, and free to express ourselves through books, newspapers, parliament, and the independent judicial system.

Tagore’s dream, “where the mind is without fear and the head is held high…”, had captured the imagination of Indians and that in itself constituted the wealth of this nation. It was not measurable economic bounty but an investment in the quality of life index, which, one day, would be measured against GDP growth and similar indices of progress established by the IMF and World Bank.

As a rule, this was a face of India that was universally admired and lavishly praised. Today, a paradox has emerged. While the world is recognizing this once “basket-case” nation as a cradle of technological advancements, mounting surpluses, food self-sufficiency and a thriving middle class (despite huge economic disparities) and ranking it among the fastest growing economies, the country is also facing universal condemnation for restraints on freedom, for taking a step back from the qualities for which India was praised when it was a hungry, starving land.

I am reminded of the criticism that India faced during the Emergency. Other nations like Latin American dictatorships or Pakistan would not attract similar denunciation of the curtailment of democratic freedoms because it was alien to their political culture. Mrs Indira Gandhi was singled out precisely because she and her family had

While the world admires us for technological and economic miracles, it’s also noticing our growing intolerance.

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WRONG PRECEDENTS Indira Gandhi ended Emergency only after she came in for criticism from the West

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tenaciously encouraged and upheld a free system that had enthralled the liberal world. What came under widespread censure from the international admirers of India was press censorship which included the expulsion of BBC stalwart Mark Tully, a die-hard Indophile, for his reporting on the Emergency.

It was ultimately the bad press that India, and particularly Mrs Gandhi, received internationally, a close friend of hers living in New York once told me, that persuaded her to lift the Emergency rather than any domestic compulsions. She was, after all Nehru’s child, and that’s how she wanted to be remembered.

Today, while Prime Minister Modi enjoys the admiration of world leaders and most Indians for his determination to make India into the Golden Bird of The World once again, he, along with India, are simultaneously facing flak for seeming to encourage growing intolerance and a neo-ban culture under India. The most talked about issue is the panning of the BBC documentary, India’s Daughter, revealing the mindset of the murdererrapist of Nirbhaya. The most shameful and shaming example of this was the devastating irony of the world’s leading women activists and artists like Meryl Streep and Hillary Clinton attending and cheering the premier of this documentary in New

York, while BJP stalwarts and India’s censorship babus were sticking by the ban.

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atherine Mayo’s book, Mother India, has come full circle with India’s Daughter, as I will explain later. Mayo was an American journalist who, in 1927, published an excoriating indictment, often reprehensible for its inaccuracies, and replete with racial bias, of India, its treatment of women, the caste system, public hygiene and superstitions. She argued that the civilizing influence of imperial rule was the only answer.

According to a brilliant paper on this subject from the University of Wolverhampton (ww.wlv.ac.uk), there were massive demands for banning that book (it’s not available in India).

Nationalist men called it an attack on Indian womanhood, but according to Jayawardena (1995), it was mainly an attack on the behavior and customs of men. No Indian women published attacks on her book.

Liddle & Joshi (1986) quote a 1927 issue of the London journal, New Statesman and Nation, which said that Mother India revealed “the filthy personal habits of even the most highly educated classes in India—which, like the degradation of Hindu women, are unequalled even among the most primitive African or Australian savages”. It went on to say: “Katherine Mayo makes the claims for Swaraj (self-rule) seem nonsense and the will to grant it almost a crime.”

There was massive uproar from Indian nationalists and patriots to ban the book. But Mahatma Gandhi, appalled though he was by its contents and tone, is quoted by journalist Sandipan Deb as saying: “It is the report of a drain inspector sent out with the one purpose of opening and examining the drains of the country to be reported upon, or to give a graphic description of the stench exuded by the opened drains.”

Could this stench, in some perverse way, have had the effect of an antidote? According to historian Mrinalini Sinha: “The controversy had brought the nature of the colonial state, no less than the social condition of India, under intense international public scrutiny. The subsequent mythologizing of Mayo’s contribution in Mother India, by imperialists, imperialist-feminists, and Indian nationalists alike, obscured the mixed results of her imperial propaganda.”

Sinha concluded that Indian Nationalist leaders had to accept some of Mayo’s criticisms. “Her more

A scathing attack of Indian mythology could come only from a fearless Dr Ambedkar; Periyar EVR’s book on Ramayana was sought to be banned in Uttar Pradesh. serious nationalist critics recognized immediately that they could not afford to deny the prevalence of the backward social practices that Mayo had found in India. Many leading nationalists and social reformers in India, such as Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, and KK Natarajan, were thus careful to acknowledge the need for social reform in India even as they criticized Mayo’s imperialist agenda”. (Sinha 2000) One positive outcome, the Wolverhampton report says, was the 1929 Child Marriage Restraint Act, which set the minimum age of marriage at 18 for women and 21 for men.

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his most reviled of all books, criticized for the right reasons because of its Anglo-Saxon racialism, nonetheless, gave a boost to worldwide feminist concerns for the plight of Indian women. One of the obvious results of this has been the ferocity and unity and political activism by Indian women, who persuaded Indian men to join them in condemning the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder. These women rocked parliament, created new, tougher anti-rape laws and played a stellar role in sensitizing India to cruelty against women.

The BBC documentary is just the opposite of the Mayo book. While Mayo’s Mother India condemned Indian society and, by default, galvanized awareness, Udwin’s India’s Daughter celebrates and glorifies the ascent and power of Indian social awareness which created ripples of admiration for

India in its march towards greater human rights and fight against misogyny and injustice.

And we ban this film?

Are we living in the age of Torquemada? Does the Right Wing in India believe that Modi has given them the right to ban, attack, cut, burn anything that displeases their narrow mindsets? The censorship instinct is not peculiar to India. DH Lawrence faced censorship in England. Jean Genet in France.

Henry Miller in the US. Salman Rushdie. Wendy Doniger. Taslima Nasreen.

Indian journalist Govind Thukral writes that the Baron of the Ban in India is self-styled protector of Indian culture Dinanath Batra and his Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti, the chief petitioners against Wendy Doniger.

Now that Batra has tasted blood, writes Thukral, he hopes to achieve more with the coming of the Modi government. He has already: Got the court to remove “objectionable passages” about Lord Mahavira and Jains from NCERT textbooks.

Objected to 75 passages linked to Rana Pratap, Shankaracharya and Arthashastra, among others, in NCERT books. The court ordered removal of 67.

Led the group objecting to inclusion of AK Ramanujan’s essay, Three Hundred Ramayanas in the reading list of DU history undergraduate course. DU dropped the essay.

Protested and forced the government to dilute sex education curriculum.

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THE MUZZLED VOICES Wendy Doniger’s book The Hindus (top) was recalled by publishers, and AK Ramanujan’s work Three Hundred Ramayanas was withdrawn from the reading list of Delhi University

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Filed a case against “objectionable paintings” by MF Husain.

Got Calicut University to drop the poem, Ode to the Sea from English textbooks in 2013, alleging its author, Ibrahim al-Rubaish, was a “terrorist”.

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olitics has played a large role, too, in ensuring the freedom of expression. Had anybody else, apart from Dalit movement leader BR Ambedkar, had the temerity to write The Riddles of Rama and Krishna, he would have been hounded out of the country as was MF Husain. As the book’s blurb explains: “Through this booklet Ambedkar questions the authenticity of so called Lord Rama and Krishna being worshipped as God by Hindus.

He highlights numerous erroneous activities of Rama and Krishna that shakes people’s conscience to accept them as Lord. He quotes Valmiki’s

Ramayana in which Ram’s cunning acts of killing Bali, Ravana and Shambook has been exposed.”

Writer Dilip Simeon wrote in The Indian Express that Shirin Dalvi, the editor of the Mumbai edition of Urdu newspaper Avadhnama, has become the latest victim of the running saga over cartoons.

Since mid-January, when she unwittingly published a Charlie Hebdo cover, she has been slapped with criminal charges, her newspaper shut down, its employees rendered jobless, and she herself forced underground. “The police have opposed anticipatory bail on the ground that it would cause a law and order problem (aren’t they paid to deal with such matters?).

“The man who filed the complaint heads an Urdu journalists’ body. He is cited as saying, ‘I filed a case against her and I am happy that she was arrested. If she was in an Islamic state, she would have been beheaded as per law.

“That the freedom of speech could be so flagrantly attacked in the name of religion is by now a common experience.... But that someone could wish a horrible death to another human being is itself highly offensive to many of us — and this person thinks it earns him merit in the eyes of Allah. I have no access to the mind of the Almighty, but I can venture to suggest that Allah is more considerate than some of his followers.”

“Hurt sentiment,” writes Simeon, has become the cutting edge of tyranny. “It is the perpetually available political tool for preparing ‘spontaneous’ mob violence, violating the law, mobilizing illiberal movements and intimidating everyone—especially within the preferred community—who disagrees with communal politics. It becomes worse when responsible individuals glamorize this fake and vicious form of piety.”

One of the most celebrated cases on censorship and the ban culture is State of Uttar Pradesh vs Lalai Singh Yadav (1977 AIR 202, 1977 SCR(1) 616, decided by the late Justice Krishna Iyer. Every Indian, every politician should read every word of it in order to understand the primacy of free speech even in the context of licentious intention to hurt: Briefly, the appellant Government passed an order under Section 99-A of the CrPC, for the forfeiture of a book entitled Ramayan: A true Reading in English and its translation in Hindi, by Periyar EVR of Tamil Nadu, on the ground that the book

intended to outrage the religious feelings of a class of citizens of India, namely, the Hindus. Thereupon, an application was made by the respondent publisher of the book under Section 99-C of the Code to the High Court, which by its special Bench, allowed the application and quashed the notification on the ground that the State Government had failed to state the grounds of its opinion as required in Section 99-A of the Code.

The appellant contended that a specific statement of grounds by the Government is not a mandatory requirement under Section 99-A of the CrPC, and that it can be made by implication.

Dismissing the appeal, the Court HELD: To relieve the State from the duty to state grounds of forfeiture, is to permit raptorial opportunity for use of such power over people’s guaranteed liberty. Section 99-A says that you must state the ground and it is no answer to say that they need not be stated because they are implied. An order may be brief but not a blank. A formal authoritative setting forth of the grounds is statutorily mandatory. Section 99-C enables the aggrieved party to apply to the High Court to set aside the prohibitory order and the Court examines the grounds of Government given in the order. The Court cannot make a roving enquiry beyond the grounds set forth in the order and if the grounds are altogether left out, the valuable right of appeal to the Court is defeated. [610G-H, 620B-C, G-H] Some cases are apparently innocent on their face and this appeal is one such. It may harbour beneath the surface, profoundly disturbing problems concerning freedoms, the unfettered enjoyment of which is the foundation for a democracy to flourish.

I reproduce verbatim some epic passages of the judgment delivered by Judge Iyer: “Sidestepping this issue the High Court, by majority judgment, struck down the order on the short ground that ‘the State Government did not state the grounds of its opinion as required in s.

99A of the Code. For that reason alone the petition has to be allowed and the order of forfeiture set aside in Court’.

“The anatomy of s. 99A falls to be studied at the threshold so that the pathology, if any, of the impugned order may be discovered. Shorn of phraseological redundancies (from the point raised in this case), the pertinent components of the provision, empowering forfeiture of materials manifesting written expression by citizens, are threefold,

as flow from a reproduction of the relevant parts: “99-A(1) —Where— “(a) any newspaper, or book ... or “(b) any document, wherever printed, appears to the ‘State Government to contain any .... or any matter which promotes or is intended to promote feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes of the citizens of India or which is deliberately and maliciously intended to outrage the religious feelings of any such class by insulting the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, that is to say, any matter the publication of which is punishable under Section 124-A or Section 153-A or Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code, the State Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, stating the grounds of its opinion, declare every copy of the issue of the newspaper containing such matter, and every copy of such book or other document to be forfeited to Government...”

“The triple facets of a valid order therefore are: “(i) that the book or document contains any matter; “(ii) such matter promotes or is intended to promote feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes of the citizens of India; and “(iii) a statement of the grounds of Government’s opinion.

“Thereupon the State Government may, by notification, declare every copy of the issue containing such matter to be forfeited.” ************* “Fundamental freedoms of expression designedly imposed by the Code cannot be whittled down by the convenient doctrine of implication, the right being too basic to be manacled without strict and manifest compliance with the specific stipulations of the provision. After all fundamental rights are fundamental in a free Republic, except in times of national emergency, where rigorous restraints, constitutionally sanctioned, are clamped down. We are dealing with the Criminal Procedure Code and Penal Code and these laws operate at all times.

AT WAR WITH FREE SPEECH Dinanath Batra, who is behind the banning of many books in the last few years

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LIBERATED SPIRIT Justice Krishna Iyer, who gave a landmark judgment on the banning of Periyar EVR’s book

We have therefore to interpret the law in such a manner that liberties have plenary play, subject of course to the security needs of the nation, as set out in the Constitution and the laws.

“Even so, counsel for the appellant contends that the references in the forfeited book, as indicated in the appendix to the order, are so loudly repulsive and malevolently calumnous of “Sree Rama, Sita and Janaka that the court must vicariously visualize the outraged feelings of the Hindus of Uttar Pradesh and hold that the grounds are written in the order in invisible ink. When we assess the worth of this submission we have to notice (a) the constitutional perspective, i.e., whether the basic freedoms are sought to be legally handcuffed; and (b) the existence of alternative possibilities of popular understanding of the prescribed publication which necessitate some statement of the circumstances and the reasons which induced the government in the given conditions of ethos and otherwise to reach the opinion it has recorded.

“The State, in India, is secular and does not take sides with one religion or other prevalent in our pluralistic society. It has no direct concern with the faiths of the people but is deeply obligated not merely to preserve and protect society against breaches of the peace and violations of public order but also to create conditions where the sentiments and feelings of people of diverse or opposing beliefs and bigotries are not so molested by ribald writings or offensive publications as to provoke or outrage groups into possible violent action. Essentially, good government necessitates peace and security

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and whoever violates by bombs or books societal tranquility will become target of legal interdict by the State.” ********* “The fighting faith of our founding fathers respected Mills’ famous statement and Voltaire’s inspired assertion. We quote: ‘If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.’ (Mill in his essay On Liberty, pp 19-20: Thinker’s Library ed, Watts.)

‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.’” ******** “Section 99A of the Code, construed in this candescent constitutional conspectus, bears out our interpretation. In the interests of public order and public peace, public power comes into play not because the heterodox few must be suppressed to placate the orthodox many but because everyone’s cranium must be saved from mayhem before his cerebrum can have chance to simmer. Hatred, outrage and like feelings of large groups may have cryptoviolent proneness and the State, in its wellgrounded judgment, may prefer to stop the circulation of the book to preserve safety and peace in society. No enlightened State, would use this power to suppress advanced economic views, radical rational criticisms or fearless exposure of primitive obscurantism but ordered security is a constitutional value wisely to be safeguarded if progressives and regressives are to peacefully coexist. This is the spirit of s. 99A of the Code. The actual exercise will depend not on doctrinaire logic but practical wisdom. While the American theory of clear and present danger as the basis of restriction on fundamental rights does not necessarily apply in India, the illuminating observations of Holmes J, serve to educate the administrator and Judge. In Scheneck vs US(1) Holmes J drove home the true test: ‘We admit that in many places and in ordinary times the defendants, in saying all that was said in the circular, would have been within their constitutional rights. But the character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done... The law’s stringent protection of free speech, would not protect a man in falsely shouting ‘fire’ in a theatre, and causing panic. It does not even protect a man from an injunction against uttering words that may have all the effect of force... The question in every

case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evil that Congress has a right to prevent. It is a question of proximity and degree.’” ********* “Before concluding, we clarify that we express no view on the merits of the book or its provocative vitriol. It depends on a complex of factors. What offends a primitive people may be laughable for progressive communities. What is outrageous heresy for one religion or sect or country or time may be untouchably holy for another. Some primitive people may still be outraged by the admonition of Swami Vivekananda: ‘Our religion is in the kitchen, our God is the cooking pot, and our religion is don’t touch me, I am holy’ (quoted at p. 339

by Jawaharlal Nehru in Discovery of India). The rule of human advance is free thought and expression but the survival of society enjoins reasonable curbs where public interest calls for it. The balance is struck by governmental wisdom overseen by judicial review. We speak not of emergency situations nor of constitutionally sanctified special prescriptions but of ordinary times and of ordinary laws.

“The possible invocation of the powers under s.

99A of the Code of Criminal Procedure by various State Governments on several occasions induces us to enter a caveat. Basic unity amidst diversity notwithstanding, India is a land of cultural contrarities, co-existence of many religions and anti-religions, rationalism and bigotry, primitive cults and materialist doctrines. The compulsions of history and geography and the assault of modern science on the retreating forces of medieval ways—a mosaic like tapestry of lovely and unlovely strands—have made large and liberal tolerance of mutual criticism, even though expressed in intemperate diction, a necessity of life. Governments, we are confident, will not act in hubris, but will weigh these hard facts of our society while putting into operation the harsh directives for forfeiture. From Galileo and Darwin, Thoreau and Ruskin to Karl Marx, HG Wells, Barnard Shaw and Bertrand Russel, many great thinkers have been objected to for their thoughts and statements avoiding for a moment great Indians from Manu to Nehru. Even today, here and there, diehards may be found in our country who are offended by their writings but no Government will be antediluvian enough to invoke the power to seize their great writings because a

Does the Right Wing in India believe that Modi has given them the right to ban, attack, cut, burn anything that displeases their narrow mindsets? few fanatics hold obdurate views on them.” *********** “Harold Laski, who influenced many Indian progressives, in his A Grammar of Politics states a lasting truth: ‘There is never sufficient certitude in social matters to make it desirable for any government to denounce it in the name of the State. American experience of the last few years has made it painfully clear that there will never be present in constituted authority a sufficient nicety of discrimination to make certain that the opinion attacked is one reasonably certain to give rise to present disorder.’” ***** “‘Almost always—there are rare cases in which persecution has proved successful—the result of free expression is such a mitigation of the condition attacked as to justify its use; almost always, also, to prohibit free speech is to drive the agitation underground. What made Voltaire dangerous to France was not his election to the Academy, but his voyage to England. Lenin was infinitely more dangerous to Czarist Russia in Switzerland than he would have been in the Duma. Freedom of speech, in fact, with the freedom of assembly therein implied, is at once the catharsis of discontent and the condition of necessary reform....’”

A note of circumspection. In the current context of constitutionally proclaimed emergency, the laws have perforce to act in the narrow limits inscribed in the Emergency provisions and this decision relates to the pre-Emergency legal order. We dismiss the appeal.

Post Script: In Sorrow It is with deep sorrow that India Legal mourns the death of Vinod Mehta, former editor of Outlook, The Pioneer, Indian Post, Independent and many others. He was one of the greatest champions of free speech in India. He took a deep interest in legal issues. We will always miss him as a brave independent voice.

editor@indialegalonline.com INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

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MARCH 31, 2015

VOLUME. VIII

ISSUE. 14

Editor-in-Chief Inderjit Badhwar Managing Editor Ramesh Menon Deputy Managing Editor Shobha John Senior Editor Vishwas Kumar Contributing Editor Girish Nikam Associate Editor Meha Mathur Deputy Editors Prabir Biswas, Niti Singh Assistant Editor Somi Das Art Director Anthony Lawrence Senior Visualizer Amitava Sen Graphic Designer Lalit Khitoliya Photographer Anil Shakya News Coordinator/Photo Researcher Kh Manglembi Devi Production Pawan Kumar Verma

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We’ve braved many bans

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There’s an artillery barrage of gags on books, films, speeches, and even the food you wish to eat. INDERJIT BADHWAR critiques the culture that stiffles voices, and delienates the legal ironies of the censorship raj

CFO Anand Raj Singh VP (HR & General Administration) Lokesh C Sharma For advertising & subscription queries sales@indialegalonline.com

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BBC showed us the mirror With the world viewing the banned documentary, India’s Daughter, is it time to address the pathological mindset of our men? SOMI DAS and SHOHINI GHOSE provide legal insights into the ban

Who’ll decide my diet?

SOMI DAS provides the judicial background to the Maharashtra beef ban, and the reason behind sparing the cow, and not the buffalo

ECONOMY

Another missed opportunity For the second year in a row, FM Arun Jaitley fails to infuse new life into the economy. SHANTANU GUHA RAY analyzes the shortfalls in the Union budget

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STATES

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Wrong recruit in the Raj Bhawan?

MP Governor Ram Naresh Yadav sticks to his post despite an FIR in the recruitment scam and directives from the Union Home Ministry. RAKESH DIXIT reports

HEALTH

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Sweet menace DEFENSE

For want of a nail…

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Indians are at big risk of sugar-induced problems, thanks to our sweet tooth, festivals and misconceived notions about health drinks, writes SHOBHA JOHN

Parliamentarian AU SINGH DEO, in his letter to Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar, sounds a warning bugle on the unpreparedness of the defense forces in taking on China, Pak

PHOTO ESSAY

CONTROVERSY

When the clouds disperse

Did I ask for a favor?

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The recent Essar leaks involving journalists raise questions of ethics—what’s the fine dividing line between getting a gift and asking a favor? SHANTANU GUHA RAY probes

Vrindavan widows find a savior in Bindeshwar Pathak; celebrate Holi with aplomb. RAMESH MENON and photographer ANIL SHAKYA capture their joy

RELIGION

DIPLOMACY

A Godman for the gullible

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They are charged with murder, rape and frauds of all kinds. Yet, self-styled preachers hold a hypnotizing sway over their followers. BHAVDEEP KANG delves into this phenomenon

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Over to Pakistan

With J&K in its kitty, the Modi government dispatches Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar to Islamabad in a cautious ice-breaker.

Bur Sharif is wary of India’s flip-flop, writes SEEMA GUHA

SPORTS BUREAUCRACY

Second innings

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Retired civil servants with contacts in energy, telecom and other lucrative sectors are lapped up by corporates who want entry into government corridors, writes VISHWAS KUMAR

Volleying to the top

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Serena Williams, with her awesome ability to stage comebacks, and with 19 Grand Slams, is well on her way to break Steffi Graf’s record of 22 titles. ZOYA RASUL’S ode to her grit Cover Design: ANTHONY LAWRENCE

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Aruna

VERDICT “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”

—Elie Wiesel

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SUPREME COURT

Burden is divided T is the duty of the state to pitch in, if the accused—in a case of negligent driving that results in someone’s death—is not in a position to pay satisfactory compensation to the victim’s family, the apex court ruled. While dealing with a road accident case, the court increased the amount of `40,000 granted by the Himachal Pradesh High Court as compensation to the victim’s family, to `4 lakh. The victim had died in the accident.

Keeping in mind the miserable financial condition of the accused, a two-judge bench hearing the case asked him to cough up `1 lakh and directed the state government to contribute the remaining amount. The court also pointed out that in case the driver was not in a position to pay the money, the state government had to bear the burden of the entire amount. And in that case, the driver would go to jail for six months.

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Illustrations: UdayShankar

Time for action URUNATH Meiyappan, Raj Kundra, India Cements and Rajasthan Royals were issued notices by a threemember committee appointed by the Supreme Court.

Headed by former chief justice of India RM Lodha, the panel sought their response to the quantum of punishment for taking part in betting in IPL 2013.

While Meiyappan and India Cements were directed to reply by March 11, Kundra and Rajasthan Royals had to get back to the panel on March 12. The trial proceedings were to be held in the capital.

The committee was appointed by the apex court on January 22 to initiate action and decide the quantum of punishment for those found guilty in IPL betting.

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Finding out the truth HE accusation by a woman judicial officer that she was sexually harassed by a sitting judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court will now be intensely probed. Chief Justice of India HL Dattu himself has taken the initiative and set up a three-judge committee for the purpose. It will have two chief justices of high courts and a high court judge. Dattu has already got the preliminary inquiry report into the alleged offense.

The committee will hold an inquiry, but it will not be on the lines of a regular judicial inquiry. Depending on the veracity of the complaint and the gravity of charges, the Chief Justice of India may ask the concerned judge to put in his papers.

Meanwhile, 58 Rajya Sabha MPs have signed a petition for impeaching the judge and submitted it to Rajya Sabha chairperson. In case the process begins in the upper house, the panel will become null and void.

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SUPREME COURT

Rights for minor child child under five years should stay with the mother in case of custody claims by a couple who decide to live separately. It is in the child’s interests, the apex court observed. However, it clarified that a father can be given the legal right to take care of the child, provided he can cite compelling reasons.

The court struck down the judgment of the Bombay High Court, which

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ruled in favour of the father for custody of a two-year child. The high court felt that the mother wasn’t capable enough for the custody of the child.

The court also alluded to Section 6(a) Hindu Minority and Guardianship (HMG) Act to reiterate its ruling.

According to the section, a father can’t be the custodian of a minor child— unless there are clear-cut reasons for doing so.

Display of rapes HE apex court observed that the criminal justice system in India had failed to prevent people from showing off sexual violence unabashedly on social networking sites.

Deeply concerned and appalled over two rape videos being circulated on WhatsApp, the court asked the CBI to investigate the matter and punish the rapists. It also directed the center to get back with a foolproof system for preventing posting of such obscene material. It also

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issued notices to Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Delhi governments, as there were indications that the rapes may have taken place in Delhi or Uttar Pradesh, and Bengalispeaking region, respectively.

The circulation of videos was brought to the court’s attention through a letter by a Hyderabad-based NGO, which also dispatched the videos to the Supreme Court. The hearing will take place again on March 31, 2015.

Less punishment for rape

Fast track election cases

ONSIDERING that rape is a serious offense, the punishment must be grave. But there are exceptions, if one goes by a judgment of the apex court.

While reducing the jail term of a rape convict, the court clarified that it could be done if the reasons were “special”. As a result, the convicted person could walk free as he had already served the jail term decided upon by the Court.

ASES involving election disputes must be cleared quickly and high courts should allot benches dealing only in such matters. This will save them from opprobrium, which smears the credibility of judiciary. Observing that legislators elected through foul means should not be allowed to remain so even for a day, the apex court pointed out that judgments in such cases are often delivered when the accused has already completed the term. The court made it clear that judges dealing with electoral dispute cases should be completely free from any other case, until they have given their verdict.

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March 31, 2015

While hearing the two-decadeold rape case, the court brought into play relevant provisions of the IPC that allowed it to do so. The reasons cited were: long-drawn trial, the fact that both had married off separately, and the compromise arrived at by both of them after the rape. That the victim herself wanted the case closed (as pleaded by the accused) was also considered.

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Mixing votes HE Supreme Court’s notice to the center on why it was not agreeing to the Election Commission’ suggestion to go for the practice of announcing results after mixing of votes cast in EVMs seems to have worked. The Law Commission is about to conclude its report on the same lines.

Once finalized, the poll results will be announced visà-vis constituencies, rather than according to wards, at present. The Law Commission has veered round to the viewpoint of the Election Commission that the new concept will save voters from getting bullied at the hands of candidates, whom they did not vote for.

Mixing of votes will conceal the information on voting trends of a particular ward.

The matter was brought up before the apex court in 2014 and it saw reason in the Election Commission’s recommendation.

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Ban surrogacy PIL sought to draw the apex court’s attention to uncontrolled commercial surrogacy in India and wanted it banned in public interest. It brought to light several factors that work in favor of its ban: Countries across the world had banned the practice, the detrimental effects on the health and mental welfare of surrogate mothers, weak laws leading to the exploitation of surrogate mothers from the poor and lower strata of society by foreigners, India becoming a surrogate capital of the world, and doctors and hospitals running a prolific business out of the rampant practice.

The petition also objected to commerce ministry notification that okayed import of embryos by categorizing them as “goods” or “services”. It wanted the notification to be scrapped.

A two-judge bench, while taking cognizance of the broad issues involved, sought responses from home, health and family welfare, law and justice, commerce and external affairs ministries, as well as from the Medical Council of India and the Indian Council of Medical Research within a month.

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Reconversion holds

CJI soothes Bar’s frayed nerves

F a person converts back to Hinduism and the same caste to which his forefathers belonged, he can’t be denied quota benefits by the government, provided the community accepts him back. The apex court gave the ruling while striking down a Kerala High Court order in a similar case. A person from Kerala had claimed caste benefits after he reconverted to Hinduism, even though his parents were Christians. His great grandparents were Hindus and from a Scheduled Caste community, but later embraced Christianity. The man was removed from government job by a Kerala government panel, as his parents were Christians. The high court had supported the order.

HE urgent general body meeting of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) to pass resolutions on issues affecting it was deferred indefinitely by its executive committee, following a positive meeting between SCBA president Dushyant A Dave (Sr) and Chief Justice of India (CJI) HL Dattu. It was agreed that all final hearing matters will be listed at least four weeks in advance and fresh matters will be listed in appropriate courts with sufficient notice. The CJI assured Dave that registry officials will be courteous towards SCBA members. It was also agreed upon that CJI will meet the executive committee from time to time to discuss problems and issues facing SCBA and make attempts to resolve them. The CJI asked Dave to meet him anytime for matters requiring urgent attention.

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Compiled by Prabir Biswas INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

15

COURTS

Chautala’s plea dismissed ormer Haryana Chief Minister OP Chautala’s hopes of relief in the teacher recruitment corruption case were dashed, with the Delhi High Court standing by the judgment of the special CBI court. Chautala, his MLA son Ajay Chautala and 53 others were sent to jail for 10 years in January 2013. The Indian National Lok Dal supremo had approached the Delhi High Court questioning the sentence and pleading for doing away with the prison term on medical grounds.

All of them were found guilty of fraudulently recruiting around 3,000 junior basic trained teachers in Haryana in 2000.

Taking a stern view of the offense and calling it “shocking and spine-chilling”, the court gave its stamp on the sentence for Chautala, Ajay, two IAS officers Sanjiv Kumar and Vidya Dhar and Chautala’s political advisor Sher Singh Badshami.

It, however, reduced the jail term of the other 50 convicts to two years, from 4 to 10 years, and held that those who had already completed two years’ sentence could go scot free.

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Illustrations: UdayShankar

Time for a powerful Lokayukta t is time for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to get cracking on his promise to root out corruption. The Delhi High Court pointed out that the AAP government was yet to come up with a law that would grant sweeping powers to Lokayukta for taking legal action against corrupt officials. The court also observed that a year had gone by since the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013 was passed by the center. The act wanted the states to frame laws for empowering Lokayuktas.

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March 31, 2015

The court was hearing a petition from NGO Common Cause.

The petition questioned the Delhi Lieutenant Governor’s rejection of the Delhi Lokayukta report holding eight municipal councilors guilty of taking bribe for allowing illegal construction. It wanted the court to issue directions for legal action against the councilors.

But the court rejected the plea of Common Clause on the ground that there was no such provision for punishment in the original Lokayukta Act.

All in father’s name eacting to a slew of petitions on rejection of passport applications because there was no mention of the name of the biological father, the Bombay High Court asked petitioners to frame questions on the problems faced. However, prima facie it felt that the reason for rejecting such applications could be genuine, as there were chances of manipulation of names by applicants.

The court even wanted to know whether mentioning the

R Relief to Salman he prosecution’s demand that Bollywood actor Salman Khan be asked to produce his driving license in the 2002 hit-and-run case was turned down by a Mumbai sessions court. The court is hearing the case afresh. The court ruled that it could not ask him to furnish any documentary evidence when the trial was reaching a conclusion and all evidence was nearly over. The Indian Evidence Act did not warrant so, the court reasoned.

The prosecution insisted that Khan did not have a driving license at the time the accident took place, and it was only in 2004 that the actor acquired one. But the court felt that since Khan did not claim in court he held a license, there was no need for him to produce it, and he could do so at an appropriate stage, if he felt he should.

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Qureshi granted bail eat exporter Moin Akhtar Qureshi was allowed to proceed on bail by a trial court in a tax evasion case filed by the Income Tax Department.

Qureshi had appeared in the court in response to the summons issued by it. He had to furnish a personal bond of `50,000 and a surety of the like amount. He was asked not to leave the country without the court’s permission. The case will proceed further on April 29.

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name of the biological father was mandatory in other countries as well.

Cases where the passport authorities had rejected applications of children of unmarried and single mothers were put up before the high court. The petitioners pleaded that it was high time rules were changed in the passport manual.

The passport authority submitted that they were in the process of amending the rules in the manual.

Death execution delayed elay on the part of president or governors in deciding on mercy petitions has forced the judiciary to grant relief to many death row convicts. After Nithari serial killer Surinder Koli, it’s time for Sonu Sardar to get relief.

The Delhi High Court stayed the capital punishment of Sardar till April 7, due to “undue and avoidable delay” of two years and two months in dismissing the mercy petition by the president and the governor of Chhattisgarh. It also asked the

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center to respond to delay allegation by two advocates who filed the plea.

Sardar was found guilty and sentenced to death by the Chhattisgarh High Court, later upheld by the Supreme Court, for brutally killing five persons in Chhattisgarh in 2004 during a robbery bid.

The petition cited mental agony faced by the death row convict and his family during the time the mercy petition was lying before the governor and the petitioner.

Pillai free to travel reenpeace activist Priya Pillai, who had not been allowed to board a flight to London by the center on January 11 this year, finally found justice from the Delhi High Court. The court asked the center to cancel the “lookout circular” issued against her and remove the “offload” entry from her passport. The center had objected to her travelling to London to brief British MPs on alleged human rights violation in MP, considering it “anti-national”. The court upheld Pillai’s fundamental right to put forth her views at any fora.

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—Compiled by Prabir Biswas INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

17

LEAD/ censorship/india’s daughter

Fanning the ban while the government has banned this documentary on the december 16 gangrape, a group of activists and lawyers wants its telecast to be delayed due to legal and human rights issues

By Somi Das

Rajeev Tyagi

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HE documentary, India’s Daughter, on the December 16, 2012 gangrape

by British film-maker Leslee Udwin, has been criticized for giving one of the convicts in the case, Mukesh Singh, a platform to air his shocking views on women and rape. There has been widespread demand to stop the telecast of the film. The government responded by banning it.

While it didn’t cite any legalities or procedural lapses for the ban, it primarily reacted to the outrage the interview caused. Though Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh believes the film commercially exploits a very

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March 31, 2015

tragic and sensitive issue, that surely can’t be reason enough to ban a film.

BBC didn’t concede to the home ministry’s demand for an international ban and went ahead with its telecast in the UK. However, on the insistence of the home ministry, it asked YouTube to remove the online version of the film. NDTV, which was supposed to air the documentary on International Women’s Day, protested the ban by running a slate referring to the film’s title during the hour-long slot on March 8.

Questions that have been topmost on everyone’s minds are: Did Udwin have the required permission? Was the footage seen

by Tihar Jail authorities, where Singh was jailed? What are the laws that govern video

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A letter written by a group of feminist activists and lawyers says that though the ban was unwarranted, the film thwarts the sanctity of the evidence recorded in the Nirbhaya trial.

To ban or not Conceding the fact that judges are influenced by media coverage of a subjudice matter, the Delhi High court refused to entertain two PILs that sought lifting of ban on the documentary. The Editors’ Guild, however believes that telecasting the documentary would not interfere with judicial proceedings of the case. In a statement, the Guild said: “To raise the issue of sub-judice now at the stage of final appeal in the Supreme Court and seek to still discussion is absurd. Judges, particularly those in the Supreme Court, are by training and temperament immune to the happenings in the public sphere outside the court, and it is an insult to the Supreme Court to suggest that the airing of the convict’s perverted views would tend to interfere with the course of justice.”

recording of convicts by media?

A letter written by a group of feminist activists and lawyers to NDTV throws light on the legal aspects of interviewing a convict.

The letter, signed by Indira Jaisingh, Vrinda Grover, Kavita Krishnan, Urvashi Butalia and others, says they do not want a ban on the film, but having watched it, they feel “the film thwarts the sanctity of the evidence recorded in the trial thereby threatening to jeopardize the rights of the victim and the accused”. They wanted NDTV to postpone

the telecast “till all legal processes and proceedings pertaining to the December 16, 2012 case have concluded”. The case is still pending before the Supreme Court.

The activists say that airing the film would be punishable under Section 153A (1) which states: Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony— (1) Whoever—(a) by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, promotes or attempts to promote, on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or

DOCUMENTING CONTROVERSY (Facing page) British Film-maker Leslee Udwin (Left) Convict Mukesh Singh (Above) Women demanding fast-track courts at a dharna in Lucknow

INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

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LEAD/ censorship/india’s daughter

RAISING A LEGAL ASPECT (From Left) Vrinda Grover and Indira Jaising

community or any other ground whatsoever, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities.

The activists invoke Section 2(c) of Contempt of Courts Act 1971 that states: “Criminal contempt” means the publication (whether by words, spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise) of any matter or the doing of any other act whatsoever which— (ii) Prejudices, or interferes or tends to interfere with the due course of any judicial proceeding, or (iii) Interferes or tends to interfere with, or

Lawyers’ defense Despite being sent Bar Council notices to explain their comments against women, the defense lawyers in the case, ML Sharma and AP Singh, refuse to cow down. According an IBNlive report, Sharma expressed shock over the Bar Council’s action against him and said: “People who are accusing me have not seen the documentary. Watching it in India is illegal. We are planning to take action against the documentary being watched in India when the government has banned it.”

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March 31, 2015

obstructs or tends to obstruct, the administration of justice in any other manner.

The activists have also questioned how Udwin obtained permission to interview Singh. “It is necessary to find out how Mukesh Singh’s ‘informed consent’ was sought and given for this interview, as claimed by the film. You would appreciate the vexed nature of assuming free, informed and voluntary consent of a man who is in custody in a jail, convicted of death sentence,” they say.

Apart from the legal aspect, their major concern is that the film does a disservice to the feminist movement in India. “We cannot lose sight of the fact that the unlawful and reprehensible statements voiced by two male lawyers (defense lawyers ML Sharma and AP Singh) are dangerous, inasmuch as they can be received by people as being the opinion not only of lay persons, but informed by law,” they write in the letter. The documentary shows their regressive views on women and why they should be controlled to stop rapes.

India Legal tried to contact some of these activists, but they refused to comment. One of them angrily retorted that the media was making a deliberate attempt to conflate their position with the ban imposed by the government, thus making them look pro-ban. The group is clear that they do not support the ban, but only want the telecast of the film to be delayed, keeping in mind legal and human rights issues. IL

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LEAD/ censorship/india’s daughter/activists’ letter

Why this “Kolaveri” Di?

a letter written to ndtv exposes the misplaced belief of activists that the banned film will provoke men to commit violence against women

By Shohini Ghosh

I

PUBLIC OUTCRY? (Above and facing page left) Protests in Lucknow against BBC’s telecasting of India’s Daughter

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March 31, 2015

am mystified with the stance that some feminists from Delhi have taken in their letter to NDTV dated March 5, 2015. If there is good reason to demand a restraint on the film, it could only be on the grounds that it impedes the second appeal process pending in the Supreme Court. Judicial propriety is perhaps the only good reason to temporarily restrain the screening of the film. If the group of feminists, who are demanding a restraint on the film, share this concern, then they should stick with only this argument and invite a debate on it. But sadly, they have gone on to claim that this film will be a threat to the very gains of the women’s movement.

The other legal concern has to do with the consent of the perpetrators who have been interviewed inside Tihar Jail and who have signed a consent form. The question being asked is whether or not an imprisoned man

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can voluntarily give consent. The acclaimed documentary, Thin Blue Line, by Errol Morris, is an excellent example of how a documentary film-maker is able to tell the story of a man on death row and completely turn the case around. There are several such instances. I do not think that the signatories have been able to make a compelling case that the interviews with the inmates have been coerced.

CONFUSING OBJECTIONS It is not clear from the letter sent to NDTV whether the signatories are asking for a temporary restraint or a permanent one. Would 153A (direct incitement to violence) be applicable only till the judicial process is on or even after it is over? Also, what precisely do they mean by “incitement to violence?”

Violence against whom? If the accused faces violence from other inmates—as is possible— then we must demand that the prison

HELD GUILTY BY LAW (Clockwise from above) MF Husain, Auto Shankar and Arundhati Roy

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authorities give him adequate security. If we are to believe that the film is likely to incite violence against women, then we have to overturn everything that academic research has shown us. (Ironically, 153A had been used among other provisions to press criminal charges against SAHMAT for their exhibition Hum Sab Ayodhya and against MF Husain. And ironically, “hate speeches” by Hindutva elements has rarely attracted this provision. This just goes to show that “hate speech” provisions are almost always used against those who are already marginalized.

It would seem that the signatories of the letter are suggesting that this film would “incite” men to commit sexual violence against women. People commit crimes because they are criminally pre-disposed, not because of a film they have seen or a book they have read. By suggesting that the film will incite men to commit rape, the feminists are handing the rapists a ready legal defense that they can use to mitigate their sentences.

There are several precedents for the “imagemade-me-do-it” argument in Indian legal history, including the famous Auto Shankar case where “blue films” were held responsible for the crimes that were committed.

It is unclear why the feminists are invoking “contempt of court” when only the court can invoke this law. Moreover, those of us who fight for human rights have every reason

to view this law with skepticism as it has frequently served as yet another mechanism for censorship. One of the most notorious invocations of this law has been to demand the arrest of writer Arundhati Roy when she publicly critiqued the Narmada judgment.

The feminists who have written to NDTV have foregrounded a singular interpretation of the film, whereas the audience response to the film—as is evident on the electronic and social media—has been heterogeneous. That is how it is always with every film. Everyone is entitled to have their opinion about a film, but they cannot decide for others what they should think about it. Those who have objections to the film are free to start a public debate without demanding that the film be restrained on grounds that it “amplifies misogynist views” or “adds to the cacophony of hate speech”. To render visible a reprehensible point-of-view is not to condone it. By this logic, Alain Resnais’s classic documentary, Night and Fog, could well be interpreted as a display of anti-Semitism.

At a time when spaces of dissent are being hijacked by right-wing forces, feminists will do well to uphold the fundamental right to free speech and expression without rushing to invoke its “reasonable restrictions”. IL

By suggesting that the film will incite men to commit rape, the feminists are handing the rapists a ready legal defense that they can use to mitigate their sentences.

—Shohini Ghosh is professor at MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

23

LEAD/ beef ban

HOLY COW

the maharashtra government has stirred a hornet’s nest by banning cow slaughter. while most states have similar laws, ironically, india is the second largest exporter of beef

By Somi Das

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N March 3, 2015, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted: “Thanks a lot honourable President sir for the assent on Maharashtra Animal Preservation Bill. Our dream of ban on cow slaughter becomes reality now.” The tweet was written after President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to one of the longest pending bills in the state—the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment Bill),

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March 31, 2015

1995. But Fadnavis should have checked his facts before going public with his jubilation. His “dream” had been realized long back as cow slaughter was prohibited under the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act, 1976. So was the slaughtering of calves. However, Schedule 6 of this Act allowed the slaughter of bulls, bullocks, female buffaloes and buffalo calves on obtaining a “fit-for-slaughter” certificate “if it is not likely to become economical for draught, breeding or milk (in the case of she-buffaloes) purposes.”

But the new law, ie the 1995 amendment, also prohibits the slaughter of bulls and bullocks. Further, it makes the sale and possession of cow, bullock and bull meat punishable with five years in prison and `10,000 fine.

Much to the disappointment of animal lovers, buffalos haven’t been spared.

STATUTE ON SLAUGHTER In the constitution, prohibition of cow slaughter is a Directive Principle of State Policy (Article 48). It reads: “The State shall endeavour… prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.” Many a time, the constitution has been invoked by the anti-cow slaughter brigade.

However, India doesn’t have a national law or policy on cattle slaughter. States have their own laws in this regard. Cow slaughter is banned in most states except Kerala, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, which allow slaughter of all cattle without the need for a “fit for slaughter” certificate. In other states, the degree of prohibition ranges from a blanket ban to a selective age-utility-based ban. For example, in West Bengal, slaughter of all cattle, including cows, is allowed, provided the butcher has a “fit-for-slaughter” certificate, which is issued only if the animal is over 14 years of age and unfit for work or breeding or is permanently incapacitated for either.

Gujarat, predictably, has the most stringent laws. No variety of cattle is allowed to be slaughtered, except buffalo under special circumstances. The fine for slaughtering cattle is `50,000, while the maximum punishment is seven years. Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan too have strict laws. In Jammu and Kashmir, the only Muslim majority state in India, on paper, slaughter of cattle is banned under the Ranbir Penal Code, 1932. Anyone caught violating it is liable to 10 years in prison or a fine of five times the amount that a butcher gets for the animal slaughtered.

Nevertheless, beef is easily available across the valley.

FOOD FOR ALL However, in two major judgments on cow slaughter, the Supreme Court said the issue

India doesn’t have a national policy on cattle slaughter. States have their own laws.

While West Bengal allows slaughter of all cattle, Gujarat has most stringent laws.

Gilbert King Elisa

should not be seen through the prism of religion. In 1958, 3,000 petitioners, mostly Muslim butchers, challenged the constitutionality of the blanket ban on slaughter in several northern states, including Bihar, UP and Madhya Pradesh. While ruling on the case, known as the Mohd Hanif Qureshi & Others vs The State Of Bihar (And connected…), the Supreme Court said: “There is no religious compulsion on the Mussalmans to sacrifice a cow on Bakr Id Day.” However, the court did agree with the petitioners’ argument that maintaining cattle after a certain point of time is a strain on farmers’ resources and a total prohibition would deprive poor people of certain communities of the only source of protein available to them.

The SC said: “Such a ban will also deprive a large section of the people of what may be their staple food. At any rate, they will have to forego the little protein food which may

Haryana ‘s new law THE Haryana government will introduce Govansh Sanrakashan and Gau Samvardhan (Cow Protection and Cow Conservation and Development) Bill for the protection and upkeep of cattle in the state.

The state currently follows the Punjab Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955, that makes cow slaughter and beef sale a non-bailable offense in the state. It can attract a punishment up to two years or a fine up to `1,000 or both.

INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

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LEAD/ beef ban

economic life of cows and bullocks, thus validating the ban in the state.

In a 1958 ruling, the SC said that a total prohibition would deprive poor people of certain communities of the only source of protein available to them.

FOOD SOLIDARITY People queue up for a serving of beef in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, to protest against the beef ban in Maharashtra

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March 31, 2015

be within their means to take once or twice in the week. Preservation of useless cattle by establishment of Gosadans is not, for reasons already indicated, a practical proposition.

Preservation of these useless animals by sending them to concentration camps to fend for themselves is to leave them to a process of slow death and does no good to them. On the contrary, it hurts the best interests of the nation in that the useless cattle deprive the useful ones of a good part of the cattle food, deteriorate the breed and eventually affect the production of milk and breeding bulls and working bullocks, besides involving an enormous expense, which could be better utilized for more urgent national needs.”

However, in its 2005 ruling, the SC reversed its stand on the above observation while hearing the State Of Gujarat vs Mirzapur Moti Kureshi Kassab case. Calling cow dung more valuable than Kohinoor, the court found merit in Gujarat’s assertion that technological development had increased the

ENVIABLE MARKET Despite stringent laws and the Supreme Court upholding the constitutional validity of laws on prohibiting cow slaughter, India has carved out a commendable position in the international beef market, as it is the second largest beef exporter after Brazil. Indian beef is preferred in Muslim countries because of its genuine halal nature.

As per data from the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), in 2013-2014, India exported a whooping 14,49,758.64 metric tons of beef to countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, UAE and many more.

China and Russia are expected to soon open their markets for Indian beef. According to a Business Standard report, in the period between April and October 2014, India exported buffalo meat worth `16,083 crore, a rise of nearly 16 percent over the same period in the preceding year.

What makes India a lucrative beef market is that laws do not extend the same protection to buffalo as to cows. Buffalo meat, in technical terms, is known as carabeef and comes second to Basmati rice in the list of India’s agri-export commodities. Female buffalos are known to produce more milk than cows. But buffalos do not enjoy the same religious status as cows in Hindu mythology.

The distinction made by state governments between cows and buffalos has baffled many. In an interview to DNA, Dalit author and activist Kancha Ilaiah says: “It’s racial because the buffalo is black…. Cow protectionism is in our constitution. It’s an upper caste Brahmanic campaign. Why not other animals? I’m amazed at their cruelty towards the buffalo. It’s not justifiable.”

It is obvious there are caste and religious considerations while banning cow slaughter.

Most state governments fail to address the issue of looking after drought and milch animals after their utility. As long as they are making profits selling buffalo meat in the international market and at the same time pandering to right-wing sentiments, everything else can wait. IL

NATIONAL BRIEFS

The heavy hand of law THE GUJARAT State Assembly has passed the Labour Laws (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2015, which, on the face of it, is aimed at streamlining labor issues from the employer’s perspective.

It comes as a big deterrent to strikes—in public utility services the law has increased the period of prohibition from six months to

Too young to be tried as adults DESPITE THE growing clamor for treating juveniles involved in heinous crimes like rape and murder on par with adults, a parliamentary committee has rejected the government’s proposal in this regard.

In view of the seriousness of the crimes committed by juveniles in the age group of 16 to 18, the Women and Child Development ministry was of the view that there should be longer sentence for them, rather than the present three-year term at a juvenile home.

But the ministry had also ruled out death sentence or life term.

The bill, which had been introduced by Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi last year, was referred to a Standing Committee on Human Resource Development.

Efforts to cut down pendency SINCE ASSUMING charge in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party government has expressed its intention to bring down the backlog of cases in the Delhi high court and for that it’s ready to look into additional infrastructure requirements,

Bar takes note of remarks A POSITIVE outcome of the BBC documentary on Nirbhaya, India’s daughter, that was banned, was that the Supreme Court took note of the repulsive stand of the two defense lawyers in support of their clients. ML Sharma and AK Singh (left) display the same mindset which drove the bunch of lampoons to the inhuman crime on the night of December 16, 2012. The two

one year. At the same time, it has reduced the time a laborer gets to fight his case, from earlier three to one year now. It also allows employers to change the nature of job of an employee without prior notice. It discourages out-of-court settlements by fixing compounding amount for both the employer and employee.

lawyers state that the girl asked for it by being out of home with her boyfriend during night time, and that in the Indian culture, which was “best”, there was no place for women. The Bar Council has given them three weeks’ time to reply, as to why legal action should not be initiated against them. It will decide on further action after receiving their response.

In establishments with more than 20 staff, laborers will now be paid wages in cheque, transferred to their bank account under the Jan Dhan Yojana of PM Modi.

Insurance Bill passed

including judges. It has expressed its support for a PIL by advocate RK Kapoor that wants additional infrastructure, including filling up of posts, and has asked the concerned agencies to meet regularly under the chairmanship of the chief secretary. It’s also proactively looking at the availability of land for the construction of more court complexes in the capital.

Cop nabbed SUB Inspector Shailendra Singh, who allegedly shot dead a lawyer and injured another inside the district court campus in Allahabad, was taken into custody and the matter was to be probed by the CBI. Lawyers had gone on rampage after the incident in the city.

UP CM Akhilesh Yadav and Bar Council of UP had taken a grim view of the incident.

The BJP-led NDA government managed to have the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015, cleared in the Rajya Sabha with Congress support. The bill raises FDI limit from 26 to 49 percent.

It had been introduced by the Congress-led UPA government in 2008 but had been opposed by the BJP.

Lifer for Manjunath killers The Supreme Court has upheld life imprisonment sentence to six men held guilty of killing Indian Oil Corporation sales manager S Manjunath, who had been killed in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, in 2005. The Allahabad High Court had convicted the six men in 2009.

Manjunath had exposed an oil adulteration racket in the state.

INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

27

ECONOMY/ union budget

there were great expectations from this budget, but these seem to have fallen woefully short.

It didn’t set the markets on fire, didn’t spur the manufacturing sector and didn’t curtail subsidies

By Shantanu Guha Ray

A

RUN Jaitley’s second Union budget was a mixed bag.

While it had loads of routine, there were two landmarks too. These will need to be achieved by the NDA government to ensure that its billion-dollar “Make In India” dream is a success.

Weeks before February 28, 2015, India’s $290 billion budget had raised

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March 31, 2015

genuine hopes of reshaping economic policies and supercharging growth in Asia’s third-biggest economy. But now that it has been presented in parliament, the budget needs some serious re-examining. Pray why? Jaitley, to-wards the start of his 90-minute address, had declared incremental change was not going to take India anywhere.

“We have to think in terms of a quantum jump.” His words were in sync with those of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose BJP-led NDA had pledged greater spending to upgrade infrastructure and improve the efficiency of social-welfare programs.

But did it actually happen? Let’s count the marbles: In addition to $11 billion for roads, rails and other infrastructure, the finance minister (FM) announced an 11 percent increase in military spending, reduced corporate tax rate and tighter rules to curb the stashing of wealth overseas.

In addition, Jaitley rolled out new pension, insurance and social security programs. He looked happy in an interview with the state-owned Lok Sabha TV and said: “We have done truly ground-breaking work.”

The finance minister was also happy that he (read the government) had increased the share of total tax revenue being transferred to state governments

and created a sovereign-wealth fund to invest in infrastructure.

DISAPPOINTING BUDGET But economists argued that these were a far cry from the slashing of expensive subsidies and rapid privatization of state-run banks and industrial companies that Indians had hoped to see. Also lacking were plans to end electricity shortages and simplify national and state sales taxes.

NDA’s gradualist approach did not shake the markets, ostensibly because the budget did not ignite India’s manufacturing sector, nor did it improve the business environment.

The Sensex dipped slightly during the day but closed up 0.5 percent.

Additional spending could help cement India’s position as a leading growth driver among emerging markets as China’s economy slows, but that the FM avoided taking stronger steps to curtail subsidies in his budget was linked by many to the BJP’s pathetic loss in the Delhi elections.

“The government’s silence on subsidies is indeed baffling,” said economist Devika Mehndiratta of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. She found support from Sanjay Jha, the India head of Dale Carnegie Foundation and also a senior spokesperson of the Congress. He said the budget offered nothing spectacular. “They have tinkered incrementally in some areas, they have not gone the whole nine yards.”

But Jaitley said he would not take criticisms lightly. He told his interviewers that “big-bang reforms” could not be pushed in one go because the “Indian economy is a super giant which moves surely but slowly.

Even our worst critics would admit that we have moved rapidly.”

SERIOUS DOUBTS The lack of radical moves in the budget isn’t likely to wreck the aura of inevitability that currently surrounds the Indian economy.

The economy could grow between 8.1 and 8.5 percent in the coming fiscal year, the fastest among the biggest emerging markets and based on a revised method for calculating gross domestic product.

Jaitley told his interviewers that big-bang reforms could not be pushed in one go because the Indian economy is a super giant which moves surely but slowly.

But nine months after Modi took office, there are doubts about his government’s ability to tackle some of India’s most-entrenched problems, starting with a long history of government overspending.

Consider the case of the new accident insurance, pension and social security plans which will broaden the safety net at a lower cost to the government than subsidies. On paper, it looks like a very powerful, self-help program that is market-driven as opposed to government-delivered social welfare.

The programs broaden access to financial services, which have, so far, provided 125 million with bank accounts. The Modi government wants anti-poverty aid to be paid directly as cash into poor families’ bank accounts rather than as subsidies distributed to food, fuel and fertilizer retailers.

But this doesn’t mean expenditure on these giveaways will shrink. For example, the next year’s bill for petroleum subsidies is expected to be half of this year’s total, thanks to lower crude prices. But spending on food and fertilizer subsidies will grow.

As for India’s rural-employment program, $810 million in additional funding has been pledged, guaranteeing non-farm work for poor households. Yet, a day before the budget, Modi had criticized the program as a “living monument” of the previous, Congress-led government’s failure.

RBI governor Raghuram Rajan’s assessment is yet to come. He had said before the budget that he wants “high-quality fiscal consolidation” to further lower one of Asia’s highest interest rates. According to Atsi

MISPLACED PRIDE? (Facing page) Finance minister Arun Jaitley feels the budget is ground-breaking; (below) RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan’s assessment will be a crucial feedback

INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

29

ECONOMY/ union budget

The budget has unveiled two mega reforms. First, Jaitley has placed the average household at the center of all laws.

Second, the budget looks outward and eyes the global financial sector.

Jaitley’s Hits Pushing for startups and MSMEs: The FM has recognized the need to support startups and pushed innovation. Now, startups and MSMEs will have both funds and talent, creating new avenues for growth and employment.

Boost to Digital India: The national fiber optic network will connect rural communities and make governance more effective, thanks to the troika of Jan Dhan– Aadhar–Mobile gameplan of the FM. Keep taxes simple: The government will make tax less adversarial, reduce corporate tax with exemptions.

Inward and outward financial inclusion: A sector-neutral Financial Redressal Agency that address grievances against all financial service providers and an International Finance Center will help New Delhi reclaim lost business from the Asian markets.

More cash to states: This unique decentralization will allow more revenue to be passed to states.

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March 31, 2015

Sheth, senior VP, sovereign risk, Moody’s Investors Service, India’s sovereign rating hinges on whether the country’s competitiveness improves. “The budget underscores our view that government finances are likely to remain a constraint on India’s sovereign credit profile.

Fiscal consolidation appears difficult to achieve even by a government with a considerable parliamentary majority and during a period of accelerating economic growth.”

BOLD MOVES However, the budget has unveiled two mega reforms, both financial. First, Jaitley has looked at the domestic financial sector and placed consumers of finance, the average household, at the centre of all laws. The idea is to ensure a properly functioning capital market that also requires proper consumer protection. Jaitley has plans to create a sector-neutral Financial Redressal Agency (FRA) that will address grievances against all financial service providers. The move is impor-

tant because of numerous financial scandals worrying Indians, thanks to wide-scale institutionalized mis-selling. Under the FRA, Indians will have a single complaint management agency to go to.

Jaitley also hopes to create one of India’s boldest laws, the Indian Financial Code (IFC), which is currently being reviewed by the Justice Srikrishna Committee and soon, will be introduced in parliament for consideration. If passed, the IFC could become one giant law that will place the consumer at its core and change the contours of India’s financial sector.

But the IFC will be tough to implement.

It will need the NDA government to replace 61 existing laws and there could be pressures from a large community of vested interests of insurance agents or companies that benefit from weak regulations.

Now, let’s get to the second mega reform Jaitley pushed into the budget. It looks outward and eyes the global financial sector.

“While India produces some of the finest financial minds, including in international finance, they have few avenues in India to fully exhibit and exploit their strength to the country’s advantage,” Jaitley said. “GIFT (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City) in Gujarat was envisaged as an international finance center that would actually become as good an international finance center as Singapore or Dubai, which, incidentally, are

FINANCE HUB (Facing page) Dubai International Finance Center; (far left) The upcoming Gujarat International Finance Tec-City; the middle class will feel the pinch with Jaitley’s budget

Jaitley’s Misses Who will resolve transfer pricing litigations?: There was just a

largely manned by Indians. The proposal has languished for years. I am glad to announce that the first phase of GIFT will soon become a reality. Appropriate regulations will be issued in March.”

Now, will this happen? The need for an international financial center has been pending ever since reforms started in India in 1991 and Indian companies expanded their global footprints. The idea was first discussed in 2007 in the Percy Mistry report by a high-powered expert committee on making Mumbai an international financial center.

INTERNATIONAL CENTER Once GIFT takes off, it will be a globally benchmarked international centre. Its core operations will include offshore banking; insurance, assurance and reinsurance; regional financial exchanges and back offices.

It will target 8-10 percent of financial services on 84 million square feet of space and create one million new jobs, 30,000 by 2016.

Currently, it employs 700. In short, it will be a smart, urban infrastructure with schools, hospitals, clubs and entertainment centres that will attract top talent from across the world. Jaitley is confident that India’s international financial center will occupy a vacant time zone between Singapore to the East and Dubai to the West and will help New Delhi pull back many markets it lost.

This dual move, in many ways, is the

mention of measures for dispute resolution, but the key is implementation.

When will that happen?

Increased service tax: Many would use pirated software, ostensibly because of the dual tax on software. The net tax rate for software is over 20 percent.

Budget for children: India was one of the first nations to have a separate budget for children. The clock has now reversed with a reduction of 29 percent for children’s programs and 55 percent for the Women and Child Development Ministry budget. The mid-day meal budget too has been reduced by 30 percent and the scheme for setting up of 6,000 model schools at the block level is almost abolished (99.92 percent deduction in allocation).

Fiscal Deficit Target: For 2015-16, this is 3.9 percent, up from the 3.6 percent expected by markets, leading to disappointment.

Missing subsidies: There was no mention of food and fertilizer subsidies, which have been left at same levels as last year. Only the petroleum subsidy is expected to be around `30,000 crore, but that’s due to lower global oil prices. Not touching subsidies means that not only the fiscal deficit, but even the revenue deficit for 2015-16, is going to be higher.

FM’s masterstroke in this budget. If these two reforms can outpace each other in terms of implementation, inbound and outbound financial inclusiveness will be achieved.

So, hopefully, the next few weeks will test the FM’s ability to pass his proposals through parliament. Till now, Rajya Sabha has blocked key initiatives and often raised doubts whether lawmakers will make permanent Modi’s executive orders to ease land purchases, allow more foreign investment in insurance, and make coal mining more transparent. But now, things must move. As Sajjid Chinoy, JP Morgan Chase & Co’s India economist in Mumbai, said on Bloomberg TV India: “It’s very important now that the execution happens.” IL INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

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DEFENSE/ au singh deoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s letter

SECURE OUR BORDERS

a long and well-researched letter by an mp to the defense minister shows the lacunae in this vital sector and the reforms that are urgently needed

By India Legal Team

32

Photos: UNI

March 31, 2015

U

NDER the Narendra Modi government, the earlier moribund defense ministry has opened up and seen some of the biggest changes. Considering that it gives overall policy for the very important defense sector, which is instrumental in providing security to our country, the changes have been hailed by all.

Yet, there is more to be done. Concerned about India’s defense preparedness and the urgent need for reforms, AU Singh Deo, a member of parliament from Odisha, recently wrote a letter to Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar, highlighting the reforms needed.

(India Legal has a copy of this letter.) These are some of his suggestions:

DEFENSE PROCUREMENT There are delays in defense procurement affecting the country’s security adversely, said Deo. These were at various levels because of red-tapism, legal interventions, etc. He said between 1947 and 1962, the expenditure on defense remained below 2 percent of the GDP, leading to a humiliating debacle in 1962. The layout for 2013-14 was 1.8 percent of the GDP. Little has changed even today. “There has been a gigantic gap in availability of regular arms, ammunition and equipment ranging from 30

“Physical specifications should not be deemed sacrosanct unconditionally.... operational needs must be met.”

— AU Singh Deo in his letter

PRESSING CONCERNS (Left and above) India’s combat ratio against prime adversaries is poor; (Top right) Roads for defense forces must be constructed in a minimal timeframe; Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar

to 70 percent. Major weapon platforms are nearing obsolescence. No guns have been inducted since 1986.” In addition, 16 major mishaps in the Indian navy during the last one year and the recent C-130 crash and other crashes in the Indian air force reflect the poor health of the services. “Further, combat ratios against our prime adversaries are at an all-time low. Our forces do not possess the requisite dissuasive deterrence against China and the increasingly important punitive deterrence against Pakistan,” the letter said.

Further, as per current Defense Procurement Procedures (DPP), it takes up to 34 months to conclude a contract and up to five years for any given system to materialize.

INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

33

DEFENSE/ au singh deo’s letter

Deo wrote that the defense acquisition process must be handled by specialized persons, with expertise in technology, military and finance.

The technology, which is contemporary at the time of framing SQR (Services Qualitative Requirements), would be close to becoming obsolescent by the time the equipment gets inducted into the armed services. Thus, DPP needs a serious review in order to deliver effectively. Deo said that the world over, the SQR system had been discarded, while India continues with this “archaic system”. He gave the example of how the SQR had fixed the maximum weight of bulletproof jackets for helicopter pilots at 5kg. So, an excellent jacket weighSORRY STATE (Right) The recent crashes in the Indian air force reflect its poor health (Below) There is need to re-employ and rehabilitate retired armed force personnel

ing 5.2 kg was not accepted. “It is very important that physical specifications should not be deemed sacrosanct unconditionally….operational needs must be met.”

He pointed out that the armed services were often saddled with mediocre equipment.

Aiming to go for the lowest commercial quote, better performance equipment got no credit and became inconsequential. He says: “As a high-tech, high-performance system can never be cheaper than a common-place system, the Services are deprived of superior equipment that may be available for a nominal and acceptable increase in cost.” Talk about being pennywise and pound-foolish.

Then, there is the Performance Evaluation Matrix. Deo said what was needed was a procedure where the Services are asked to spell out minimum required functional parameters with the lower and upper limit specified. Additional credit is given for better performance. A scientifically evolved performance evaluation matrix has many advantages, he says. The buyer can set minimum standards and yet obtain equipment with higher performance by promoting transparency as all vendors know the evaluation criteria in advance and can view field performance in an open competition. This encourages vendors to field their best performing systems since they are no longer worried about the cost criteria alone. Thus, they end up fielding their high-end systems, Deo advised.

Further, time factor was crucial and so the acquisition process should be hastened and scientific tools could be adopted to track its progress. Vendors who did not satisfy key or critical parameters should be eliminated. Even more important, as the defense acquisition process is a cross-disciplinary activity requiring expertise in technology, military and finance, the existing system where acquisitions are handled by unspecialized persons posted for a three-year tenure must change.

The DRDO also came for special mention and criticism. The letter said that despite 52 DRDO labs with 5,000 scientists, India PIB

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March 31, 2015

DRDO

was humiliatingly dependent on foreign manufacturers, thus becoming the largest importer of weapons. The organization needs a huge revamp and reorientation, it said. There was also a need to involve private sector companies, universities, IITs, etc in R&D. “While India can import fully-built Sukhois for $55 million each, it pays $68 million for getting them assembled at HAL,” Deo said.

India’s defense manufacturing too came in for criticism. “There are 8 DPSUs and 41 Ordnance factories, 6 regional OFB HQs, 9 Ordnance factories and 3 regional marketing centers. They have acquired a self-serving life of their own—a workforce of over 1,64,000.

The manufacturing standards are derelict at best and wholly unreliable at worst,” Deo said.

This has left a gaping hole in the armed forces, seriously impacting operational readiness. The answer, here too, was to embrace the private corporate sector which has made substantial initial investments in pilot projects to develop and manufacture weapon systems, UAVs, vehicles and radar systems. Also, the shipbuilding industry needs urgent augmentation, including those specializing in combat boats for coastal patrols. “China has over 500 shipyards, as compared to India’s meager 27.” What a sad state of affairs.

PLIGHT OF EX-SERVICEMEN Deo also brought up the state of ex-servicemen.

Nearly 60,000 armed forces personnel retire or are released every year. Though steps have been taken for their rehabilitation and reemployment, much remains to be achieved.

There should be mandatory job reservations in all ordnance factories and industries related to the armed forces in the public as well as private sector, he suggested.

Further, Eco Task Force (ETF) battalions were highly successful in restoring severely degraded sites, like limestone mining areas in Mussoorie hills, deserts of Rajasthan, Assam, etc through massive afforestation and tree plantation. They had been more successful than the forest department in soil conservation and water resource management.

However, they are not encouraged by the forest departments of states as it exposes their inefficiency. Deo suggested formulation of a policy in this regard. Also, “our paramilitary

forces as well as state police forces are severely under-staffed and are in constant need of trained, efficient personnel. I strongly believe that inducting young ex-servicemen into such forces would complement that demand”. He also advocated the one-rank one-pension scheme for armed forces personnel, which had been in limbo.

BORDER ROADS ORGANIZATION (BRO) BRO today is dependent on policy decisions made by northern states and on environmental and forest agencies for obtaining clearances, which hampers its strategic role. Deo said it should be brought under the purview of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) so that only the ministry has actual control over it.

Further, roads under construction must adhere to laid down PDCs (Probable Date of Completion) to ensure that operationally important roads required by defense forces in forward areas are constructed in a minimal time frame, avoiding regulatory route of sanctions and extended audit. But this doesn’t happen now.

Upgradation of existing roads and construction of new ones must be executed in small stretches (20-25 km) at a time to avoid delays. These stretches must be complete in all respects prior to moving on to the next stretch.

Also, latest technologies to cut down time, effort and reduce costs must be adopted.

It is obvious that the defense sector has exercised the mind of Deo for some time. It remains to be seen whether the defense minister acts on these suggestions. IL

AGEING FLEET (Top) The Indian air force faces a severe shortage of fighter aircraft (Above) An air show at Aero India

INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

35

CONTROVERSY/ media/essar leaks

GROUND ZERO The Essar office from where the confidential emails got leaked

WHAT IS MY CRIME? this plaintive plea of anupama airy, a senior editor of hindustan times, who was sacked for taking “favors” from a corporate entity could well stir a hornet’s nest. it also shows double standards as journos and politicians indulge in the big, gold rush

By Shantanu Guha Ray

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March 31, 2015

I

NDIAN media’s stoic silence over the sacking of three journalists for taking free cars from a conglomerate is as surprising as the leaked e-mails. A former cop’s leak of internal mails— there are a little over 20,000 of them—of the Essar group favoring politicians and journalists with jobs, high-end cellular handsets, car rentals, cocktail lunches and free yacht rides has triggered a debate that many have conveniently brushed under the carpet in the Indian capital: How much of bad is bad?

There are rumors that this former cop, who once worked with Essar, was trying hard to blackmail big bosses of the conglomerate, threatening to share the mails with journalists. He even encouraged a few journalists to—brazenly—walk up the stairs of Essar House to demand ransom cash on his behalf.

When it failed, the former Essar employee found new avenues to tar the company. Essar officials, it is reliably learnt, have filed an FIR about their missing e-mails, worried more dirt will hit the ceiling soon.

In a country where even the courts have not yet decided the contours of what constitutes a “confidential mail”—the incident raked up by an incensed Fali Nariman on seeing a Sahara letter to SEBI being leaked in the media—the last is still not being heard in this case.

GOLD RUSH But the Indian media’s John Wayne gunslinging moment has got its second jolt, disrupting the big gold rush that journalists enjoyed in Delhi for ages but halted temporarily when the Radia tapes went public a few years ago.

So where is the problem?

The problem is with the silence of news organizations and media bodies on action against the three journalists. They all lost their jobs for seeking free car rides from Essar and many are on tenterhooks after a New Delhi-based daily reported details of a PIL filed by Prashant Bhushan, India’s biggest crusader against corruption. Also

embarrassed was top BJP leader Nitin Gadkari who had availed a free vacation on a yacht owned by the Ruia brothers—promoters of Essar—in the high seas of Europe.

Gadkari has calmly defended his right to vacation at the cost of a family friend, but the debate on what a journalist should do or not do rages on. At the center of it were those who lost their jobs—Sandeep Bamzai, editor of Mail Today, Anupama Airy, energy editor of Hindustan Times and Meetu Jain, a senior reporter with Times Now—for seeking vehicles for personal use.

In all probability, the Essar mail leak was a case of selective outrage and a knee-jerk reaction. It is a moot question whether the favor to the three actually transcended

In a letter to editor, Airy asked if she could raise cash for events organized by HT, help editors with book sales and jobs for friends, couldn’t she seek a vehicle for a friend?

Anthony Lawrence

INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

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CONTROVERSY/ media/essar leaks

“There are relatively few editors in India who insist on high ethical standards, and who back up this demand with a newsgathering budget that can eliminate the temptation to accept hospitality from sources.”

—Savyasaachi Jain, senior lecturer, Swansea University

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March 31, 2015

into writing “soft articles” about the group that has interests in steel, coal and shipping across India and the world.

The issue was further stoked by a passionate letter written by Airy to her editor, Sanjoy Narayan. She is a top energy writer, who recently signed a deal to write a book on the slugfest between Ambani brothers over sharing of gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin.

UNFAIR TARGET? Airy, who was seen walking out of the editor’s office weeping inconsolably, wanted to know, probably for the first and last time: “What is my crime?” She claimed in the note that she had asked for a vehicle to help a family friend who couldn’t find a cab during a busy marriage season in Delhi.

The editors did not respond; they had issued a note to reporters in Delhi about Airy’s sacking. Now, pained and frustrated, Airy shot off a long letter (see box) that— actually—set the cat among the pigeons and shook up many in the city, where many—in private conversations—agreed that her termination was hasty and unfortunate.

Airy is out of her job. She told a few friends that she intends finishing her book and then return to a profession she loved like her children.

Slowly, yet steadily, Airy is finding sup-

port in Delhi where many are siding with her, arguing she should not have been sacked overnight without a proper investigation that would have conclusively proved a quid-proquo. There were, of course, other editors who uploaded the e-mails on their websites to offer examples of what they would call as tainted reporters. But somewhere, many were missing the right picture.

“It is a pity that Indian media does not have a system to check flaws, check if reporters are doing biased news reports for favors. Till that happens, these incidents will continue to filter through,” said Ajay Upadhayay, a veteran journalist and a member of the Editors Guild.

Upadhyay should know. He raised the issue of The New York Times that printed a three-page apology for its readers in the wake of the 2003 Jayson Blair incident when the reporter was charged with plagiarism and fabrication. “But even then, with evidence on hand, The New York Times probed the case for long before firing the reporter and printing an apology. I don’t see that happening in India,” argued Upadhyay.

DOUBLE STANDARDS Savyasaachi Jain, senior lecturer, Swansea University, UK, said these revelations are minor infractions when compared to the deeply embedded, institutionalized dishonest practices. “Individual journalists in India have always taken advantage of the relatively lavish hospitality offered by their sources and the widely prevalent stereotype of ‘you can buy a journalist for a bottle of whisky’ has a ring of truth to it. In Indian journalism, we tend to get too close to our sources, and the exchange of favors runs both ways, with journalists massaging the reputations of sources in return for hospitality. So, it is shameful and unethical and an indicator of a very deep and disturbing rot in our journalism.”

Anupama Airy’s Letter Dear Sir, I have already submitted my resignation and the same would have reached you by now.

However, I would like to put things in perspective and understand how what I have done for a friend has amounted to taking a favour while what I have been doing for my bosses and asked to do for the organisation doesn't amount to taking a favour.

One, after having worked for so many years, none of you held my hands despite my being truly working for the interest of the organisation. If my asking for a help from a friend who I know for years for a vehicle for a third person amounts to a favour what amounts to the following..

1. Arnab asking most of us for helping him sell copies of his book. He called me to seek help from corporates. Essar helped him by buying 250 copies and Reliance was also contacted to push sales amidst other cos.

Then tweets on his book from a few others following a request from him.

2. Arnab asked me for a vehicle support for

He said the firing of journalists over these issues is usually a case of the pot calling the kettle black. “There are relatively few editors in India who insist on high ethical standards, and who back up this demand with a newsgathering budget that can eliminate the temptation to accept hospitality from sources,” he added.

Jain was scathing in his indictment of this industry, and said: “We tend to bury our heads in the sand and to believe that these ethical problems are an acceptable state of affairs. This is rubbish. I’ve worked with editors who set high standards and empower their colleagues to do so as well. It can be done. It requires more spine, some imaginative thinking and a jettisoning of intellectual and ethical laziness.”

Many say the line between editorial and non-editorial is blurred. Last year’s incident of Zee channel’s editors being caught on camera allegedly demanding cash for providing “friendly coverage” was one such example of editors overstepping their jurisdiction to raise cash for the owners. There is also an

his trip to Mumbai and I had even organised the same. However he didn’t take it later.

3. Sanjoy how many times have I been told to help for sponsorships from most energy firms for HT’s leadership summit. More than 1 cr worth of sponsorships every year. I have been used but I considered it my duty to do things for my organisation and my bosses.

4. Sanjoy you asked for a lady’s transfer..known to you.. from NTPC Chairman. I spoke to him.

That was certainly not a favour as i tried balancing all my duties and respect for you all none of you could take a stand for me.

My fault...I came and spoke to you that yes I requested for providing a vehicle to a frnd that to from a personal friend in Essar and not as a company executive. If I was guilty of a wrong doing I

wouldn't have come to you.

Arnab asked me to speak to Anjali Bansal of Spencer and Stuart and other headhunters for his wife's job and the head hunter dealing with Oracle account. I spoke to them and tried to help him. That was certainly not a favour.

But what I have done to help a third person is a favour.

Gaurav Chodhury takes all corporate gifts including I-tab, gold coin and other expensive gifts and PR guys are there to disclose that...none of this is favour. He asks them to leave these things home and not in office.

Why am I then being made to plead guilty by be believing a email which the company had said is fabricated. Just that I came and told you. This is the price I have to pay for being honest. I could hv also easily dismissed it.

Why then none of you stood by me.

I am deeply hurt sir.

argument that the lines are blurred because newspapers are heavily subsidized, offered— mostly at rates lower than `10 a copy despite high printing costs ranging from `18-35 a copy. A recent analysis on media expenses done by students of a private college in India showed that salaries constitute only 17-22 percent of the average revenue of the newspapers. Nearly 70 percent is spent towards buying newsprint.

“These heavily subsidized papers—that do not have enough capital or intellect to pursue the truth—demand a high price from journalists,” remarked a senior journalist. He said that if editors and owners were the biggest financial beneficiaries of corporate interplay with the media, how would gullible reporters know where to draw the line?

Airy is not talking. She messaged to her friends: “When our phone hangs or slows down, we delete all unwanted pictures, files and videos. One should treat one’s life in a similar manner.” Who will re-draw the Thin Red Line and end Indian journalism’s second sleepless night? IL

TAKING A STAND (Facing page from left) Savyasaachi Jain and Sanjoy Narayan, Editor-in-Chief Hindustan Times

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Neither Sant Nor Saint the row over the film of dera sacha sauda head prompted the resignation of the censor board and showed the vice-like grip these so-called religious men with political patronage exert on indian society

By Bhavdeep Kang

M

ASS murder, mutilation, abduction, assault, assassination, child abuse, abetment to suicide, land-grab, extortion, rape, terrorism, torture, tax evasion, hoarding illegal weapons. Rap sheet of a master criminal? Nope. These are all crimes which â&#x20AC;&#x153;godmenâ&#x20AC;? have been accused of, but for which they have rarely been brought to book.

Recently, Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim prompted the resignation of the entire Censor Board of India after the appellate tribunal insisted on approving his film, Messenger of God. Considering that the head of the powerful Haryana-based sect recently appeared in court to answer charges in separate cases of murder and sexual exploitation and the Punjab & Haryana

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High Court directed the CBI to investigate alleged castration of some 400 of his followers, the Censor Board’s reluctance was understandable. Time appears to be running out for the charismatic guru, who entertains viewers on YouTube with such rock gems such as I am your Love Charger.

Those who approach a guru generally do so at their most vulnerable, which makes them easy prey to hypnotism and brain-washing.

LAWLESS GURU Jagat Guru Rampalji Maharaj was jailed in November after four women died in a violent confrontation between his followers and the Haryana police at his ashram in Barwala, triggered by his refusal to surrender to the law. Asaram Bapu has been behind bars for 15 months now, on charges of having sexually abused a minor. His son, too, is in jail on charges of rape. Raghaveshwara Bharathi, Shankaracharya of the Ramachandra math, Shimoga, is currently on bail in a case of alleged sexual assault and abetment to suicide. Nithyanand Swami has been in and out of jail after a video of him making love to a female devotee (a film actor) surfaced.

Recently, the courts asked the Haryana and Punjab police to submit reports on the alleged hoarding of arms and training on the premises of Dera Sacha Sauda—presumably to avoid another Barwala. Stockpiling of weaponry may call to mind Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale barricading himself inside the Golden Temple. But Rampal, Ram Rahim and their ilk cannot be compared with Bhindranwale, who had a clear-cut, if misguided, political agenda and led a separatist

movement. Nor do they have anything in common with the Ananda Marga group, which allegedly purchased sophisticated arms and air-dropped them in Purulia in 1995 for the purpose of fighting communists.

Their agendas are purely personal rather than political or religious. Rampal was simply trying to avoid arrest in a case related to a murder charge against him in 2006.

The cases are not unique, nor is the trend of exploitative godmen confined to India.

Back in 1995, Japanese godman Asahara, anticipating arrest, ordered his followers to release deadly Sarin gas into the Tokyo subway in order to distract the police. Thirteen people died and 54 were seriously injured. In 1993, American cult leader David Koresh defied the police for 51 days along with his followers, refusing to come out of their enclosure and surrender. The death toll: 75.

SEXUAL EXPLOITATION Sexual misconduct by godmen is an all-too frequent charge and inevitably, the hardest to prove, consent being a grey area. In the case of Shimoga Swami Raghaveshwara Bharathi, for instance, the lady in question admitted to a relationship that spanned three years, before she cried rape.

The alleged victims claim brainwashing and coercion, all of which comes under the nebulous head of “sexual exploitation”. For the judiciary, it’s a tough call—after all, Ved Vyasa is said to have fathered Dhritrashtra and Pandu on his visibly reluctant sisters-inlaw, Amba and Ambika (one closed her eyes and the other turned pale in fear)! In the 21st century, he could well have been charged with sexual abuse and his mother, Satyawati, with abetment.

Whether the acts are consensual or coerced, the fact remains that holy men being tested for sexual potency is no longer unheard of. In the past, allegations of this

SELF-STYLED MESSENGERS (Facing page) A poster of the controversial film MSG, which shows Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim performing stunts A video showed Swami Nithyanand (left) in a compromising position with an actress

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UNI

nature were not taken seriously, at least not to the point of seeking judicial recourse. Back in the 1990s, Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi faced multiple accusations of sexual abuse of minors but no case was filed. Jeff Young, a senior office-bearer of Sai Baba’s organization in the US, claimed his son Sam was sexually molested by the godman for over 20 years. Another devotee, Hans de Kraker, told The Sunday Age that the godman had offered oral sex. Conny Larssen made a similar charge in The Daily Mail. So widespread were stories of Sai Baba’s sexual misconduct that the matter came up in the British parliament.

Likewise, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was accused by no less a personage than Beatle John Lennon of having propositioned Frank Sinatra’s former wife, Mia Farrow. Yogi’s alleged sexual peccadilloes were cited by Lennon as being the main reason why the Beatles quit his ashram at Rishikesh. He was to tell Rolling Stone: “There was a big hullabaloo about him trying to rape Mia Farrow or trying to get off with Mia Farrow and a few other women, things like that.” He then penned the number Sexy Sadie, which originally went: “Maharishi, what have you done, made a fool of everyone.”

Chandra Mohan Jain, whom the world knew as Osho and Bhagwan Rajneesh, achieved fame as a sex guru, attracting foreigners and celebrities in droves. A consummate philosopher, described by the late author Khushwant Singh as India’s most original thinker, Osho nonetheless faced a plethora of charges in the US. The most serious of these was a bio-terror attack (using salmonella) on the citizens of Dalles in Oregon, where he had his ashram, apparently to influence local elections. He cut a deal with US attorney general and was deported after a huge fine.

IT’S ABOUT MONEY, HONEY Financial fraud and land grab too are accusations often levelled against godmen. Perhaps the most high-profile of the alleged tricksters was Chandraswami. He was incarcerated in 1997 on charges of financial fraud, perhaps the least of the many cases against him. He occupied an entire volume in the Jain Commission Report on Rajiv Gandhi’s assas-

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The godman can flourish, immune to the law, only because he enjoys political patronage. This renders him safe from police, revenue and income tax authorities. The politician-guru nexus is mutually advantageous. sination (the probe continues to this day) and was fined `9 crore in 2011, to settle seven Enforcement Directorate cases against him.

Asaram Bapu, apart from the rape case, has also been charged with a `700-crore land grab by the Serious Fraud Investigating Office. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, according to a 2011 Tehelka report, was found to have illegally encroached upon government land near Mysore (meant to have been distributed to the poor and landless) but was saved from legal action by the timely intervention of the then chief minister, BS Yeddyurappa.

The plethora of cases against godmen raises three questions. One, how can socalled spiritual leaders defy the law with impunity and behave as if they are above temporal laws? Rampal was allowed to remain at large for eight years after cases of murder and land-grab were filed against him and to stockpile arms at his ashram in Barwala, right under the nose of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government. The present Manohar Lal Khattar government pleaded with the godman to surrender before sending in the police.

Two, what magic do they work on their followers that they inspire them to lay down their lives, perform all manner of illegal acts and in the case of women, make them surrender to sexual abuse? Why, for instance, does a pretty, bright, young woman like Shikha quit her job in Chandigarh to join Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s ashram in Bangalore? Her description of the first encounter: “On the

Photos: UNI

FAITH ABOVE REASON (Facing page, above): Godman Ram Pal being escorted to the high court after his arrest in Chandigarh in November 2014; (below) Despite controversies, Sathya Sai Baba had a huge following (Top): Rape accused godman Asaram Bapu being produced in a Jodhpur court in June 2014 (Above): Mata Amritanandamayi, the “Hugging Amma”

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POWER PLAY (Right) Chandraswami exercised tremendous influence over prime ministers Chandrashekhar and PV Narasimha Rao (Below) Mahesh Yogi’s following included physicists and medical practitioners, including a few Nobel laureates

The modern guru follows a cafeteria approach.

Devotees are seen as consumers and are offered a wide variety of spiritual products.... last day of the (Art of Living) programme, he arrived. He entered the room. All around me, faces lit up with inexpressible joy. They were so in love with him.”

Three, why do we see an increase in religiosity in recent years, with godmen proliferating across India as never before, even though the literacy rate is going up?

POLITICIZED RELIGIOSITY Is globalization responsible, making people assert their religious identity even as they grow more alike economically? “India is not free of the forces of politicized religiosity which expresses itself in a growing sense of Hindu majoritarianism,” says author Meera Nanda in her book, The God Market. She sees “a rising tide of popular Hinduism” going hand in hand with globalization, with the surge in religiosity nurtured by a statetemple-corporate nexus.

Obviously, the godman can flourish, immune to the law, only because he enjoys politi-

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GURU MANTRA (Extreme left): Dhirendra Brahmachari, a spiritual anchor of Indira Gandhi (Left): Osho too had followers from across the world (Below) Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living is very popular among the middle class

cal patronage. This renders him safe from police, revenue and income tax authorities.

The politician-guru nexus is mutually advantageous. The politician gets a ready-made vote bank and a network of contacts in the shape of the guru’s followers, while the guru acquires political influence. Baba Ramdev campaigns openly for the BJP, while Sri Sri Ravi Shankar quietly supports the RSS. Both get tickets for their followers in the elections.

Without political clout, Asaram Bapu would not have survived the mysterious deaths in his ashram or the charges of sexual abuse and land-grab, for as long as he did.

Nor could Shimoga Swami Raghaveshwara Bharathi have managed to turn the tables on a woman, who accused him of molestation, and get her and her entire family arrested.

(Rumour has it that only intervention by the Congress High Command prompted Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah to take belated note of the lady’s complaint against the swami. Although not a devotee himself, he was hamstrung by the “Brahmin lobby” within his MLA fold.)

The politician-guru nexus is dangerous because it is always open to abuse. It is particularly pronounced in India, where many politicians genuinely believe in the power of the gurus to influence their political fortunes.

Chandraswami acquired influence over two Indian prime ministers—Chandrashekhar and PV Narasimha Rao—and a host of world leaders like Margaret Thatcher by predicting that they would rise to the highest position possible. Thus, he fed into their sense of divine purpose, made them believe they had a hotline to higher powers and became an extra-constitutional force.

BEING SUPERSTITIOUS The 2014 general elections were boom time for godmen. Politicians rushed off to their favorite gurus to seek their blessings and had complicated yajnas performed to ensure electoral victory. Politics in India is among the riskiest professions. Job security is zero and investments in terms of time, energy and money are huge. It’s this uncertainty that makes politicians seek supernatural assistance.

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COURTING THE RICH AND FAMOUS (Right) Baba Ramdev cozies up to Narendra Modi (Below) Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev with actor Anupam Kher at Yogi Sabhagruh in Mumbai

Indira Gandhi was the first prime minister to give importance to a godman; she was deeply influenced by her yoga teacher, Dhirendra Brahmachari. She wore a rudraksha string as a talisman. The late Arjun Singh was a follower of the late Devraha Baba, whom Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi visited on the eve of the 1989 elections. Former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) supremo HD Deve Gowda visits the Kodi Mutt in his home district of Hassan regularly and is also known to consult Chennai-based astrologer Balan Nair.

Uttam Swami, the Rajasthan-based guru who claims Chief Minister Vasundhararaje Scindia as a follower and is close to politicians from Madhya Pradesh, is said to have performed yajnas at 12 of the 51 shakti peeths (dedicated to the female deity Shakti) for various politicians. Scindia is also said to admire Jaggi Vasudev. She and her son Dushyant Photos: UNI

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attended a meditation program conducted by him at the Isha Yoga Centre in Coimbatore.

She visited the Pitambara shakti peeth in Datia, Madhya Pradesh and Tripura and Sundari Maa temple in Banswara on the eve of polling.

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh is a long standing devotee of Swami Swaroopananda, Shankaracharya of Dwarka, and proclaims in his blog: “I was given Diksha by His Holiness Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Dwarka and Joshi Math in 1983. I regularly pray every day for half-an-hour and have been doing this since 1969 when I was given Gayatri Mantra after I got my ‘Yagyo Pavit Sanskar’.... I keep fast on all Ekadashis. All night, kirtans are held on every Ekadashi at my residence.... I have been visiting Pandharpur to pray at Vitho Ba’s feet on every Asadi Ekadashi since the last 21 years.”

MOVERS & SHAKERS One the most well-networked godmen in Maharashtra is Uday Deshmukh aka Bhaiyyu Maharaj, spiritual advisor and close friend of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray (and his son, Aditya) and a host of other politicians and Bollywood stars. From time to time, Bhaiyyuji, who was present at Narendra Modi’s swearing-in as prime minister, has been called on to broker peace between the Shiv Sena and the BJP. His efforts during the post-election crisis, so the rumour goes, were stymied by Aditya’s mother.

Among Jaipur-based Pundit Kedar Sharma’s adherents are Rajnath Singh, Scindia, Amar Singh and Sushil Kumar Shinde. The home minister, of course, has his own in-house astrologer in Dr Sudhanshu Trivedi.

He also reposes faith in the Kanpur-based Pundit Chaturvedi, a clairvoyant who predicted way back in 1980 that Singh would become CM of Uttar Pradesh and a cabinet minister.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh goes to Prem Sharma, a retired government servant and well-known soothsayer for a peek into the future and visits Bhima Kali temple before elections.

The most dramatic turnaround from rationalism to credulity is that of Lalu Prasad Yadav. Back in the early 1990s, he adjured his

Unholy deeds Cases that our Godmen have faced, or are still facing Sant Rampal Attempt to murder under Section 307 of IPC Murder under Section 302 of IPC Kidnapping under Section 363 of IPC Unlawful assembly under Sections 143,144 and145 Rioting under Sections 147 and 148 Mischief by fire or explosive substance with the intent to destroy a house under Section 436 Waging war against the state under Sections 121,121A and 122 Asaram Bapu Charged with sexual abuse of 16-year-old girl at his Jodhpur ashram under Section 376, read with 342 (wrongful confinement) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC Involved in land grabbing controversy, a charge being looked into by the Serious Frauds Investigation Office Also investigated in the mysterious deaths of two boys whose decomposed bodies were found on the banks of Sabarmati River near his ashram in 2008 Swami Nithyananda Cases registered under Section 376 for rape, 377 for unnatural sex, 120B for criminal conspiracy, Section 506 for criminal intimidation and Section 420 for cheating (following the release of a video which showed him in a compromising position with an actress).

Chandraswami FERA violation charges were leveled against Chandraswami under Section 25, read with Section13 of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act Jayendra Saraswati Accused of murdering Shankaramanan, the manager of Varadarajperum Temple at Kanchipuram, under Section 302, read with Section 34 and 120B in the 2004. The case is still pending in the Puducherry district court Gurmeet Ram Rahim For his alleged involvement in murders, sexual exploitation and possession of illegal arms, cases were registered under Section 342 (wrongful confinement), Section 25, 28 of the Arms Act 1959, Section 376 of IPC Raghaveshwara Bharathi Charged with rape under Section 376 (rape) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC. CID is still investigating the matter —Shailendra Singh

men: “pothi-patra jalao” (burn religious scriptures). Today, he subscribes to a whole range of superstitions. In 2013, he made a pilgrimage to Shirdi in Maharashtra, the “Jyotirlinga” in Nashik and the Shani temple at Shinganapur. He had the swimming pool in his Patna house filled with mud and sand on the advice of a vaastu shastra expert, wears a 108-bead rudraksha string and is a vegetarian. He is a devotee of Vibhuti Narayan, better known as Pagla Baba. He INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

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Rationalist viewpoint While godmen hold sway over many Indians, SANAL EDAMARUKU, President, Rationalist International, Helsinki, shares his perspective on faith with BHAVDEEP KANG: PEOPLE go to godmen because they subscribe to traditional beliefs, but are not satisfied with them. They pray but God does not reply. The guru represents God and he does respond to you. He presents solutions and this appeals to the vulnerable, who want a leader to follow.

The pressure of a rapidly transforming society creates stresses.

Personal lives tend to be more complicated than those in traditional societies. The speed of transformation is such that there are no safety valves.

Gurus act as family advisors, with a monopoly on decision-making, from children’s education to marriage. So people become dependent on them.

This is cognitive dissonance in action. The majority don’t buy into a particular belief but the minority, which does, will defend it to the hilt. The more you attack the belief, the more they will defend it. Similarly, followers will defend the guru, come what may.

believes the Mirzapur-based guru helped him become chief minister in 1995, by performing the “Baglamukhi jaap” at Bindeswari Devi temple in UP. EXEMPLARY WORK Not all godmen and religious groups abuse their influence in the manner that Rampal did. Many perform valuable social service and render assistance to the state. Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev of Coimbatore, Bhaiyyuji Maharaj of Indore, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of Bangalore and Mata Amritanandamayi of Kerala support extensive social interventions in agriculture, health and education and many charitable institutions with donations from their followers. Radha Soami Satsang Beas too has done exemplary work.

The trend of going to godmen has also become pronounced among the general population. There could be two reasons for this.

One is social change caused by urbanization and migration, which has resulted in community bonds breaking. Many, thus, feel isolated and rootless and cut off from their traditional sources of spiritual solace. The second is growing dissatisfaction with the culture of materialism, which manifests itself in a search for an alternative lifestyle.

Joining a cult or participating in a satsang gives them a sense of identity and even the

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most educated and wealthy are not immune to it. Two, surrendering one’s will to a higher power, in the form of a guru, is an enormous relief as its takes away the burden of decision-making—whatever the master orders, must be right.

SCIENTIFIC TEMPER Being a scientist or a rationalist doesn’t make one any less vulnerable. Every godman’s entourage boasts of a number of scientists.

Mahesh Yogi commanded the devotion of Buckminster Fuller and at least two Nobel laureates, apart from Harvard-trained physicists and medical practitioners. Perhaps the study of science merely underlines how little we know and thus, reinforces the belief in a higher power. Even Albert Einstein was moved to say: “God does not play dice with the universe”.

Those who approach a guru generally do so at their most vulnerable, which makes them easy prey to hypnotism and brainwashing. Thus, they follow the guru’s instructions like robots, even to the extent of committing suicide or murder. Every godman has some skill. Packaged in the form of siddhis, these skills are seen as divine attributes by followers. Even a dyed-in-wool rationalist like S Jaipal Reddy was flummoxed when, as he says: “Chandraswami read my mind. But I

PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH (Facing page): Raghaveshwara Bharathi, facing charges of sexual assault and abetment to suicide (Left) Uttam Swami, who has performed rituals for several politicians, including Vasundhara Raje Scindia

lost interest in him when I found he could guess the questions but had none of the answers”.

Bhaiyyuji Maharaj, himself a godman of repute, has little patience with the majority of those who claim to be spiritual leaders. He says: “Religion has become a way to acquire power and influence. People cheerfully spend `5 lakh for the privilege of putting a garland around the neck of a godman, `11 lakh for being allowed to share a meal with him and `21 lakh if he condescends to visit their home for a meal. But for charitable work, we won’t contribute even `21!”

CAFETARIA APPROACH The most interesting aspect of the modern guru is perhaps his cafetaria approach.

Devotees are seen as consumers and are offered a wide variety of spiritual products, which they can pick and choose according to budgets, time constraints, venue, etc. There is something for everyone. And if one guru does not give satisfaction, you can always move to the next. Meera Nanda, in her book, The God Market, identified three types of gurus: miracle workers like Sathya Sai Baba, health and yoga gurus like Ramdev and philosophy gurus who expound vedic wisdom like Dayanand Saraswati (Arya Samaj).

Harish Vettath, who works with Maa

Being a scientist or a rationalist doesn’t make one any less vulnerable. Every godman’s entourage boasts of a number of scientists.

Amritanandamayi (“Hugging Amma”), says not everyone touted as a sant or saint is necessarily a spiritual leader. “There are some who teach yoga, so they are yoga teachers.

There are others who promote ayurveda so they are vaidyas.... A saint is someone who has achieved self-realization.”

Hinduism is not an organized religion like Christianity, Islam or Judaism. There is no officially recognized clergy or protracted study. Anyone can set himself up as a guru, claiming diksha from some powerful saint and receive knowledge. Hence, it is easy for unscrupulous elements to become highly successful saints.

Having said that, godmen fulfil a genuine social need. In India, the mentally perturbed don’t visit psychologists, but they see no harm in going to a guru. But in a secular country, godmen cannot be allowed to wield influence or assume the powers which are the exclusive preserve of the state. When that happens, Rampals run riot. IL INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

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Come into my Parlor! an increasing number of bureaucrats are taking up corporate jobs. while some have compromised their positions in government, others have made sure this arrangement benefits all parties

By Vishwas Kumar

O

n December 16, 2010, when a CBI team came to the Noida residence of Pradip Baijal, former disinvestment secretary under high-profile minister Arun Shourie, bureaucratic circles were shocked. The CBI came in connection with a probe against corporate lobbyist Niira Radia for her alleged role in the 2G scam.

The probe revealed that Baijal, who had also held the post of chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, besides serving long stints in the Ministry of Steel and Power, had, soon after retirement, joined Radiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s consulting firm, Neosis. He, however, defended himself saying that a consulting firm would have to hire people with domain knowledge.

COSY SET-UP This is not the first time that a top bureaucrat has had links with corporates and joined them.

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Illustrations: Amitava Sen

But these links, more often than not, start when the bureaucrat is working in the government and this could influence his decisions on vital issues. That’s when the problem starts. There are hundreds of bureaucrats, who, on retirement, are gainfully employed in corporate and peddle their domain knowledge, expertise or connections.

Two others cases showed the negative nexus between corporates and bureaucrats.

In 2014, the Income Tax Department caught on tape lobbyist-cum-hawala-dealer Moin Qureshi talking to various people, including former CBI director Amar Pratap Singh. This was to help some “influential businessmen” who were under the CBI’s probe. Singh, who, on retirement was made a member of the UPSC by the then UPA government in 2013, resigned from UPSC in January this year after the NDA government officially disclosed his links with Qureshi before the Supreme Court. Similarly, during CBI’s probe of the Saradha scam, it tumbled upon a close connection between politician-turned-lobbyist Matang Sinh and then home secretary Anil Goswami.

For businessmen, these babus are prized commodities because of their networking skills and experience, which can help them make inroads into the corridors of power.

The symbiotic relationship between a businessman and a bureaucrat, however,

For businessmen, these babus are prized commodities because of their networking skills and experience, which can help them make inroads into the corridors of power. begins while the babu is in service. The businessman cultivates him, and an official relationship blossoms into a personal one. Postretirement, most babus take up jobs in their “friend’s company” or float another one to carry out their jobs. This need not necessarily be a bad thing.

GREENER PASTURES Statistics provided by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) under an RTI in 2010 had revealed that from 20012010, at least 150 IAS officers took VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme) to join private firms, companies or NGOs. As per the list first published by India Today, a few also took up commercial assignments (see box). If a bureaucrat wants to take up a commercial assignment within a year of retirement, he has to take the permission of DoPT. However, no permission is needed after that or if an officer resigns from service.

But a new trend has started. Bureaucrats are no more satisfied simply being employees of a private company. They want a percentage of the profits earned for their work, a kind of partnership. And there are various stages where they can help to beat competitors—in making policies, framing rules and in formulating, awarding or negotiating a contract.

And in a new trend, groups of bureaucrats come together to form a loose association to provide their “services”. They camouflage their lobbying activity in fancy names such as consulting, public relations and NGO activities. A website with a telephone number and an email address is the only investment needed to start a business.

These consulting firms deal in niche sectors such as defense, security, telecom, corporate taxes and energy, often corresponding to those government departments where these bureaucrats have worked. On INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

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Take-two New roles that some bureaucrats have taken over

Bureaucrat

Cadre

Corporate position

1 DK Manavalan

1965 batch, West Bengal cadre

ED, Action for Food Production (NGO)

2 DP Verma

1986, J&K

Secretary, Dharmarth Trust

3 PC Cyriac

1966, Tamil Nadu

MD, Jeevan Telecasting Corporation

4 Chaman Lal

1982, AGMU

ED, Sir Ganga Ram Trust, Delhi

5 Arun Kumar

1965, Kerala

Advisor, Lala Dewan Chand Trust

6 Pranab Ray

1969, West Bengal

CEO, Gujarat Poistra Port Infrastructures Limited

7 D Prakash

1979, Manipur

Advisor, Schoolnet India Limited, Mumbai

8 MD Asthana

1965, Haryana

Director, Council for Social Development

9 HA Badi

1983, Gujarat

MD, Gujarat State Federation of Co-op Sugar Factory Ltd

10 AR Nanda

1965, Orissa

ED, Population Foundation of India

11 Arvind Verma

1963, UP

secretary-general, Indian Beverages Association

Source: DoPT. This list indicates the job for which the concerned officer has taken permission

an average, a bureaucrat’s tenure lasts for 3035 years, a long time to build mutual trust and a personal connection. This, together with experience and juniors who will help them out, leads to a convenient set-up for both the corporate and the bureaucrat.

ALL IN THE FAMILY Take the case of Mukesh Kacker, a 1979 IAS officer, who took VRS to float a consulting firm with his daughter. Their company, Kacker & Daughter Infrastructure Consultancy Services Pvt Ltd, claims to be “a policy advisory and business strategy advisory company, offering a variety of services, both to governments as well as to the private sector, across a wide spectrum of sectors—physical infrastructure, core economy, economic regulation, competition policy and law and

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governance”. Their website claims that it “is driven by the knowledge and skills of a group of widely experienced professionals—civil servants, diplomats, public sector executives and private sector professionals, lawyers— who bring tremendous value to the company. The PM&AG (Professional Management and Advisory Group) not only charts the strategy of the company but handles specific projects, assigning them to a combination of members and experts, depending upon the nature of the project.”

In the list of advisors, the company also lists the name of Ashok Pratap Rai, who had held senior positions in the government and the private sector. His bio-data claims he “started his career as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) with the minister of telecommunications. He has also been associated with the ministries of railways, water resources and petroleum & natural gas”. In the private sector, “Mr Rai has been associated with a number of infrastructure development companies such as Club One Air, Gujarat Positra Port Infrastructure Ltd, Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd, Gujarat Pipavav Shipyard Ltd, Mumbai Integrated SEZ Ltd and Himachal Tourism & Infrastructure Development Ltd,” it claims.

Then, there is former home secretary GK Pillai, who, on retirement, joined venture

capitalist firm IvyCap Ventures as chairman.

Last September, the firm raised `244.5 crore for its maiden fund from domestic investors, which it wants to invest in early-to-growthstage start-ups (from incubation to growth) founded by graduates of select top colleges like IITs and IIMs. Pillai’s bio-data boasts that he sits on the board of various companies. Some of them are: Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Zuari Agro Chemicals Limited, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited and Data Security Council of India, and in all of them, he served as director.

LINING ONE’S NEST? There is also the case of another high-profile bureaucrat, VK Shunglu, former Comptroller & Auditor General of India, who also headed the committee to probe Commonwealth Games fraud during the UPA II government.

He is now chairman of a think-tank called Arbitrage Research Institute, which claims to “work with the Government of India and state governments and engages with a number of stakeholders across the spectrum to find delimitative answers using quantitative and qualitative techniques”. Shunglu is also chairman of the DPS Society.

There are also officers who claim to be

engaged in “public awareness” work. Among them is Sudhir Chandra, former chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes, who, after retiring in May 2011, floated an organization called CTAR (Center for Tax Awareness & Research), which claims to be “India’s first tax research center being anchored by former tax officers”. He explains on CTAR website how he started it: “For a while I was restless (on retirement). Already, I had got myself enrolled as a member of the Bar Council of Delhi and as an advocate of the Delhi High Court Bar Association... Yet, I was not sure how I could help the vast majority of taxpayers who somehow maintain a safe distance from the taxmen. I then tossed the idea of creating a tax think-tank with some of my former colleagues and highly spirited individuals.”

Other retired bureaucrats who are part of CTAR are: Ex-telecom secretary PJ Thomas, who was forced to resign from the post of Central Vigilance Commission, former CBI director DR Karthikeyan, former chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs SK Goel, and Indian Revenue Service officers RK Sharma, BN Dutta and Anjani Kumar.

It is obvious these bureaucrats have reinvented themselves innovatively even after retirement. Talk about a second innings. IL

WHY CALL IT A DAY? (L-R) Former home secretary GK Pillai, now chairman of IvyCap Ventures; former CAG VK Shunglu, now chairman of Arbitrage Research Institute; former telecom secretary PJ Thomas, now part of CTAR; 1979 IAS officer Mukesh Kacker, who started Kacker & Daughter Infrastructure Consultancy Ltd

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STATES/ mp/recruitment scam

SYMBIOTIC TIES? Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav (left) with chief minister of the state Shivraj Singh Chouhan

WHAT’S UP, GUV? madhya pradesh’s humongous recruitment scam has tainted even its governor. will he quit office or bank on chief minister shivraj singh chouhan to bail him out?

By Rakesh Dixit 54

March 31, 2015

A

governor is the president’s nominee in a state and would, therefore, be expected to be a man of integrity. However, Madhya Pradesh (MP) governor Ram Naresh Yadav has the dubious distinction of being the first governor to cling to his post even after an FIR was filed against him on February 24 for cheating, destroying evidence and entering into a criminal conspiracy.

This, despite the home ministry advising him to step down after a special task force (STF) probing a multi-crore admission and recruitment scam found him guilty.

There are indications from Bhopal Raj Bhawan sources that if Yadav, 88, doesn’t step down, the center may even dismiss him.

The governor has been charged under Sections 120 (B), 467 and

“There is no question of my resigning from the post. I have been nominated by the President of India.”

—Ram Naresh Yadav, Madhya Pradesh governor

468 of the IPC and 13 (1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act for cheating and conspiracy.

All the sections are non-bailable.

SMALL CHANGE? While the STF was investigating the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) recruitment and admission scam, it found that the governor had allegedly recommended the names of five candidates for appointment as forest guards and taken `4 lakh from each candidate. If that wasn’t bad enough, STF filed a charge-sheet against his son, Shailesh Yadav, and others in a local court for allegedly taking `3 lakh in Raj Bhawan premises from 10 candidates appearing for the contract teacher examination held in 2012 by MPPEB. Shailesh has been absconding since February 17.

Incidentally, the governor’s former officer on special duty (OSD) Dhanraj Yadav is already in jail for involvement in rigging premedical tests for the state’s medical colleges.

The scam surfaced in July 2013 in Indore

when the city’s crime branch arrested eight imposters from various hotels before they were to sit for the examination in lieu of genuine candidates.

This scam grew in size and brought within its ambit fake recruitments by MPPEB in other exams too, including government departments and medical colleges. It entrapped bureaucrats, middlemen and politicians, all of whom fell for the lure of big money. So far, 1,800 persons have been arrested, over 45 charge-sheeted and 450 are absconding. Among those arrested are two dozen officers, the brother and husband of a senior IPS and an IAS officer respectively, a former minister, two BJP leaders and a mining baron.

LEGAL SAFEGUARDS However, detection of the governor’s involvement had put the STF in a quandary. To initiate action against the constitutional head of the state, investigators needed adequate legal safeguards. They approached Justice INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

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STATES/ mp/recruitment scam

The STF found that the governor had allegedly recommended the names of five candidates for appointment as forest guards and taken `4 lakh from each candidate.

GUIDING THE PROBE Chandresh Bhushan, head of the special investigation team (SIT) monitoring the STF investigation

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(retired) Chandresh Bhushan, head of the special investigation team (SIT) monitoring the STF investigation, who, in turn, sought direction from Chief Justice AM Khanwilkar of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The court ordered the SIT to monitor the probe in November last year and keep it posted.

On February 17, the SIT chief submitted a sealed envelope to the chief justice, naming the governor as an accused. Three days later, a division bench of Chief Justice Khanwilkar and Justice Alok Aradhe ruled that “the STF is free to proceed against the high dignitary”.

That’s when the STF lodged an FIR against the governor.

This evoked a political storm in the state.

On February 18, the governor was to address the state’s budget session and speculation was rife whether he would resign before it.

Union minister Uma Bharti called Yadav on the eve of the session and reportedly conveyed home minister Rajnath Singh’s message to him to step down. However, he refused. “There is no question of my resigning from the post. I have been nominated by the President of India,” he later told the media.

Yadav also questioned the legality of any FIR against him, saying that no action could be taken against a governor without prior approval of the president. But six days later, the STF went ahead with the plan to lodge an FIR as directed by the high court.

Of course, all this was fodder for the opposition Congress, which threatened that it would not allow Yadav to address the state assembly. While its MLAs boycotted the address, the BJP, ironically, defended the governor appointed by the Congress-led UPA government in September 2011.

Yadav was a veteran Congress leader from UP, and before joining the party was in the Janata Party.

He was also the chief minister of UP, briefly from June 1977 to

February 1979. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan contended that it was wrong to seek the governor’s resignation merely on the basis of allegations. The leader of opposition, Satya Dev Katare, hit back, saying Chouhan was defending Yadav as both were sailing in the same boat.

UNDER THE SCANNER Chouhan, too, is facing allegations that he tampered with crucial evidence in the scam to save his own skin.

On February 16, top Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh, Kamal Nath, Jyotiraditya Scindia and others addressed a joint press conference in Bhopal, where they alleged that the original excel sheet retrieved from the computer of the then MPPEB chief system analyst, Nitin Mahindra, was tampered with. The original excel sheet had the CM’s name in 48 places, but it was deleted at his behest, they claimed.

They also alleged that the CM got his name replaced with those of “a minister...Raj Bhawan...Uma Bharti” in the excel sheet.

Later, Digvijaya Singh submitted the original excel sheet to the SIT and dared Chouhan to take action against him if the evidence proved incorrect. Mahindra, who is in jail, used to maintain the names of those who had recommended various candidates in excel sheets. In one sheet, the governor’s name was also detected.

As pressure on Yadav mounted to resign, he flew to New Delhi, ostensibly to attend the marriage of SP leader Mulayam Singh’s grandnephew with RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter on February 26. But his real motive was to meet President Pranab Mukherjee, but despite waiting for five days in Madhya Pradesh Bhawan, he didn’t get a call from him.

The governor then explored legal options

SNIFFING TROUBLE (Left) Top Congress leaders had pointed out the critical documents exposing the scam had been tampered with by Chouhan (Above) AM Khanwilkar, chief justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court

to get the FIR quashed and met noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani on March 2. According to Raj Bhawan sources, the governor is confident that the law is on his side and he will succeed in getting the FIR quashed. His confidence stems partly from the fact that Chouhan is supporting him to the hilt.

Bonhomie between them is an open secret, much to the discomfort of the Congress.

When the Narendra Modi government came to power in May last year, Yadav’s ouster seemed imminent like those of other UPA-appointed governors. But Chouhan reportedly prevailed upon the BJP leadership to allow Yadav to stay. The governor, too, lobbied hard for his survival and was prompt to greet Modi with a bouquet in New Delhi.

TURNCOAT NOMINEE? A senior Congress leader said on condition of anonymity: “Soon after he was sworn-in, the governor had publicly acknowledged that he owed this post to the blessings of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. We assumed he would proactively support us. But Yadav chose to ignore the opposition and befriend

the chief minister.” The party was aghast in July 2013 when the governor allegedly connived with Chouhan to facilitate defection of the then deputy leader of the opposition, Rakesh Choudhary, to the BJP just before the assembly was set to debate a no-trust motion against the government. The debate was scuttled by the Speaker and the Congress’s plea to Yadav to help restore the assembly session went unheeded. The then leader of the opposition, Ajay Singh, had accused the governor of murdering democracy.

It was hardly a coincidence that the governor’s alleged connivance with the BJP government happened when the PEB scam first surfaced. As the STF probe progressed, involvement of Dhanraj Yadav came to the fore. Dhanraj fled to his home town in UP and the Raj Bhawan promptly issued a statement that the governor was deeply hurt by the report that his OSD was involved in the scam. However, the OSD later surrendered and was put in jail.

It remains to be seen what the governor’s fate will be and more importantly, Chouhan’s. Their fates seem to be linked. IL

The scam entrapped bureaucrats, middlemen and politicians, who fell for the lure of big money. So far, 1,800 persons have been arrested, over 45 charge-sheeted and 450 are absconding.

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HEALTH/ lifestyle diseases

Lalit Khitoliya

EATING SUGAR? N...N...N...NO

PAPA 58

March 31, 2015

india has more than 65 million diabetics. experts are now asking indians to cut sugar consumption to less than 10 percent of the daily energy intake. will it stop the looming health crisis?

By Shobha John

J

uicy jalebis, plump rasgullas, delicious kheer, delectable chutneys…it’s easy to get a sugar high in India.

And with numerous festivals and traditions where sweets are the norm, the possibilities of not indulging in your sweet tooth are remote. No wonder India is the largest consumer of sugar and has more than 65 million diabetics, second only to China.

Experts say that if the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) such as aerated drinks, fruit drinks, and energy and vitamin drinks containing added sugars continues at the present rate, then the percentage of Indian overweight and obese people could increase from 39 percent to 49 percent and the incidence of Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) could rise from 319 to 336 per 100,000 annually from 2014 to 2023.

In fact, recent WHO guidelines warn that the world is eating too much sugar and people should slash their sugar intake to just 5 to 10 percent of overall calories. The guidelines especially focus on added sugars in processed food and those in honey, syrups and fruit juices as against naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables and milk.

In addition, there have been global calls recently for the ban on “addictive” energy drinks to children, which, in some cases contain up to 10 teaspoons of sugar per 250ml—more than three times the maximum an adult should consume daily.

Action on Sugar, a UK health campaign group, asked for the ban on these drinks to youngsters, with the worst offender being Sainsbury’s Orange Energy Drink (it had 15.9g per 100ml of sugar) among 197 drinks surveyed from supermarkets and online. It said that children were being deceived into drinking this stuff, thinking it would improve their performance in school and during sports, when, in fact, they were increasing their risk of developing obesity or Type 2 diabetes by drinking them. Action on Sugar has called for strict limits on added sugars, saying the body can generate the energy it needs from other sources such as fruits, vegetable and starch.

SUGAR KILL Common foods containing natural or added sugars: MAIN MEALS: all carbohydrates (rice, wheat, buckwheat, oats, millets, barley, breads, etc.); sugar/jaggery, Indian bread SNACKS: Fruit cakes, cookies, chikki, processed foods DESSERTS: Halwa, kheer, kulfi, puddings, ice creams BEVERAGES: sugar cane juice, shikanjvi, sweetened lassi, sharbat, aam panna, milk shakes, fruit juices ADDITIONAL: sweet chutneys, pickles, aam ras, murabbas, honey, khandsari, jams, tomato ketchup

UNHEALTHY MESS So what exactly does sugar do to the body? It leads to the accrual of body fat. These fatty acids, in turn, can impair critical functioning of the liver, pancreas, and cellular functions. And with Indians having higher fatty acids and insulin resistance than white Caucasians, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Sweets fall into many categories, be it traditional sources such as jaggery and khandsari, processed sugars and SSBs. Along with decreased physical activity, this has led to Indians developing insulin resistance, abdominal adiposity, “epidemic” T2DM and cardiovascular diseases.

And that is why we should heed calls from various international medical associations asking us to cut sugar consumption to less than 10 percent of the total energy intake daily.

After all, sugar leads to “empty” calories (1g of sugar gives 4 kcal). While the WHO expert panel had recommended decreasing sugar intake to 5 percent of total calorie intake, the American Diabetes Association said INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

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One should avoid sugary drinks, sweet tea and fruit juices, as these raise blood glucose and provide several hundred calories in just one serving.

UNI

WITH BAPPA’S BLESSING (Above) Devotees pleasing Lord Ganesh with laddoos, his favorite delicacy (Right): Consumers spoilt for choices at a sweet shop (Facing page) Consumption of aerated drinks and fruit juices could lead to obesity and diabetes

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that the consumption of sucrose should be minimized to avoid displacing nutrientdense food choices. The panel specifically said that one should avoid sugary drinks, sweet tea and fruit juices, as these raise blood glucose and provide several hundred calories in just one serving. The Institute of Medicine, a US NGO, has even suggested increased access to free, safe drinking water in public places to encourage water consumption instead of SSBs. SITTING DUCKS A research paper brought out recently by Dr Anoop Misra and Dr Seema Gulati of the Delhi-based National Diabetes, Obesity, and Cholesterol Disorders Foundation (N-DOC) and Diabetes Foundation, has thrown light on why India, of all countries, is so sugarladen. Much of it has to do with numerous festivals and the Indian culture of “sweetening the mouth” after every meal or during auspicious occasions. This, together with SSBs and western sugar-loaded food items, has led to Indians being sitting ducks for

many lifestyle diseases.

What is scary is that increased calorie intake, which leads to obesity, is increasing at a rapid pace in India. “Increased purchasing power and availability of high fat, energydense foods, along with reduction in the energy expenditure consequent to urbanization and mechanization, has led to a parallel rise in overweight individuals, obesity and T2DM,” says Dr Misra.

The research paper says that sugars come under three subgroups, as defined by the WHO and FAO: Monosaccharides: Glucose, fructose and galactose Disaccharides: Sucrose (glucose and fructose), lactose (glucose and galactose), maltose (glucose and glucose), trehalose (glucose and glucose) Free sugars: All monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods by the manufacturer or consumer; sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, and fruit juices Trials have shown that fructose more than glucose may increase total cholesterol, uric

Anil Shakya

WATCH OUT! A recent New York Times article, What Causes Girls to Enter Puberty Early? says: “Sugary drinks contribute to today’s kids’ being more overweight than in previous generations. In fact, according to one study, at least 20 percent of the weight gained by the population from 1977 to 2007 can be attributed to sweetened beverages…. New research announced last week by the Harvard School of Public Health suggested that girls who drank more sodas were also more likely to reach puberty early, regardless of whether they were overweight.”

Anil Shakya

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SWEET MEASURES How can the intake of sugar by Indians be reduced?

BY CONSUMERS

BY GOVERNMENT

Free sugar should constitute less than 10% of total calories per day Use alternatives to sugar-sweetened beverages such as water, skimmed buttermilk, tender coconut water, low fat milk Restrict intake of sweets; opt for fresh fruits for dessert Avoid gifting sweets; go for nuts and fresh fruits Indulge in more physical activity

Formulate strict guidelines for sugar intake and spread awareness Increase taxation on SSBs; ban their sale in schools Increase access to free, safe drinking water in public places Restrict ads for commercial foods during prime time TV and children’s programs Encourage food companies to make healthy snacks and beverages

“Increased purchasing power and availability of high fat, energy-dense foods, along with reduction in the energy expenditure, has led to a parallel rise in overweight individuals.”

—Dr Anoop Misra, Chairman, Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Disorders Foundation

acid, and postprandial triglycerides, says Misra. Then, there are SSBs, many of which are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, the most common added sweetener in processed foods and beverages, and some with sucrose or fruit juice concentrates.

However, a distinction has to be made between “sugar” which means white sugar, honey or brown sugar and “traditional sugars” such as jaggery and khandsari, which are produced from sugarcane.

Jaggery is obtained by boiling clarified sugarcane juice until a solid residue is left after evaporation and usually contains 65-85 percent sucrose. It is a source of calcium, potassium, and iron. Khandsari is finely granulated crystallized sugar that contains 94-98 percent

Anil Shakya

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sucrose and retains some calcium.

The report also shows that while the per capita consumption of jaggery and khandsari was 8.72 kg per annum in 2001, it dropped to about 5 kg per annum in 2011. Indian sugar production, meanwhile, exceeded 27 million tons during 2012–2013, a jump from 15 million tons in 2005. The increase was mainly due to the intake of SSBs, making the total sugar intake among Indians higher than the average global per capita consumption. Shockingly, SSBs have attracted direct foreign investment of over $1 billion in recent years. While the production of SSBs was about 6.6 billion bottles in 2001–2002 in India, it increased by 13 percent per year, exceeding 11 liters per capita per year.

NO KIDS’ STUFF Sadly, the higher consumption of sugar has also affected children. Misra says that the easy availability of SSBs and other sugar-containing high calorie foods within and around schools has made matters worse. “A study conducted by our group of 1,800 school children between 9-18 years and their mothers from Delhi, Bangalore, Pune and Agra in 2013, showed high consumption of sweetened food among them. It highlighted the role of mothers in deciding food choices of children and showed that surprisingly, mothers considered any food ‘healthy’ if it was ‘hygienically’ prepared,” says Misra. “Another study by our group recorded the consumption of colas among children at approximately 1.8 cans per week (1 can of 300 ml is equivalent to 132 kcal and 33-40g sugar), and could result in nearly 1.3 kg of weight gain per child per year.”

The deleterious effects of sugar can be reduced, say experts, by a 20 percent soda tax, which could lead to a reduction of 3 percent in obesity (or prevent 11.2 million new cases), and a 1.6 percent decline in T2DM, (or prevent 4,00,000 cases) from 2014–2023.

After all, too much sugar can lead to a bitter end. IL

INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

Hillary’s candidature in trouble?

FORMER SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton’s decision to use her personal email during her tenure in Obama administration has jeopardized her second shot at presidency.

Top officials in the US are expected to use the official email account and all official correspondence is supposed to be archived for any future investigations, law suits, or for reference by the public. Questions are being raised about why she conducted official communication using her personal email, and could she have deleted some important documents. There is also the concern that private accounts are more prone to hacking, and some sensitive correspondence could have been viewed by those for whom it was not intended, including terror outfits.

Egypt court rules on election law THE SUPREME COURT of Egypt has ruled that part of the country’s election law is unconstitutional, according to a BBC report. This part of the law pertains to defining of electoral districts. This verdict will delay the elections in the country, which are aimed to complete the country’s transition from military rule, and were due to start on March 21, President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi had okayed the creation of 567 parliamentary seats in the country.

Of those, 420 would have been contested by individual candidates, 120 by party candidates and 27 assigned by the president. With the SC verdict, new constituencies will have to be drawn.

Fair play, China style

Okay to adultery THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT of South Korea has annulled a 62-yearold law that had criminalized extramarital sex and that had been seen as a big bulwark of family morals. In a nine-judge bench, seven voted in favor of striking down the law.

This signals a big shift in a hitherto traditional country, where nearly 900 people were brought to book on adultery charges in 2014. Earlier, in 1990, 1993, 2001 and 2008 too there had been efforts to annul the law but had failed because of insufficient numbers in the jury in support of change.

CHINA’S SUPREME PEOPLE’S Court has announced a five-year comprehensive legal reform plan to establish rule of law and safeguard national unity, reports The Jurist. The reforms will be accomplished as per a time frame decided by the court. According to a press release issued by the court, the reforms will “focus on fairness and justice so that the people feel justice in every case.” But whether the reforms will allow any room for dissent, activism and environmentalism, is a big question, given China’s poor track record.

Algeria’s progressive step ALGERIA’S 462-MEMBER parliament has passed a law that criminalizes violence against women, reports Press TV. The legislation makes killing one’s spouse punishable by death sentence. For domestic violence, a person could get a 20-year prison term.

It was natural that there would be opposition to the law from orthodox quarters, and in this case the opposition came from El Adala party on account of fear of break-up of family system. But Amnesty International has objected to the new law on other grounds. It wants that a clause which allows the survivor of domestic violence to pardon the perpetrator should be dropped, because women will be coerced into pardoning the perpetrators of violence.

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PHOTO ESSAY/ vrindavan widows / holi

Just Color My World singer petula clarkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s song by this name seems apt for the widows of vrindavan, who, on holi, saw their world suffused with sunshine yellow, grassy green and blue from the sky up above. it was happiness all the way as they forgot their colorless, drab lives for once

By Ramesh Menon Photos by Anil Shakya

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I

T is not often that they see so much joy sparkle in their lives. But this year during Holi, hundreds of widows in Vrindavan danced with gay abandon without a care in the world. Many had not danced in years. Or even celebrated for any occasion. Birthdays, for instance, meant nothing to them. Many had faint memories of their last birthday celebrations when their husbands were alive. Ever since they were widowed, they were discarded by their families who didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to take on the burden of looking after them. They have lived in utter loneliness and penury and depended on dozens of ashrams in the holy city of Vrindavan for their daily meals. Most begged as they trudged in white cotton sarees to meet their daily needs. Colorful clothes was a no-no as they were not expected to associate with

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PHOTO ESSAY/ vrindavan widows / holi

A NEW LIBERATION (Above) For the last three years, activist Bindeshwar Pathak has been ensuring that the widows of Vrindavan enjoy Holi like any one of us. Legal activism helped him to do this

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anything bright or happy. Many tonsured their heads to remove the last traces of beauty, discarded jewelry, ate just basic food and sang bhajans all through the day. They denied themselves the songs of life.

But this year, Holi was full of joy. About 1,000 kg of gulal was given to them, creating a riot of color.

Suddenly, the uneasy silence of the ashrams was shattered, there was music, there was joy, there was a new energy as they sang and danced without inhibitions.

Some cried. The stigmas slapped on them by society were finally broken. It felt beautiful to be normal.

Fifty year old widow Nanu Ghosh from Kolkata, who has been in Vrindavan for 21 years, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was so happy. We all were surrounded by joy. I have no apt words to describe the feeling. How I wish we were allowed to live normal lives. Our life is so routinely boring, but this was truly wonderful.â&#x20AC;? Added

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PHOTO ESSAY/ vrindavan widows / holi

Kusum Mandoli, 70, who has been in Vrindavan for the last six years after her husband died of a heart attack: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Holi was a great experience. We were all looking forward to it. It feels so wonderful to be accepted by society. We feel so grateful for all those who organized this for us.â&#x20AC;?

Among those who celebrated with them was Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, who for years has been heralding a movement in India to build toilets with his Sulabh Sauchalayas.

The widows smeared color on him as they abandoned themselves to the sheer joy of the moment.

Many watched him with tears in their eyes and blessed him for having given them a new lease of life. He said he wanted them to break from the tradition of not celebrating Holi (see box).

Though India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, even today, many Hindu families shun widows, blame them for the death of their husbands and see them as bad omens. As they often donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to take on the financial burden of looking after them, many widows leave their homes and head for Vrindavan, hoping to live with dignity.

But it hardly turns out like that as they have to fend for themselves by begging and get only meager amounts as there are many like them roaming the streets for sustenance.

And it is during Holi, one of the most joyous festivals in India, that the drab lives of these widows is reinforced as orthodox traditions prevent them from taking part in it. This is what Pathak wants

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Supreme Court push In 2011, Sulabh International Social Service Organization was approached by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) following a directive from the Supreme Court to explore whether it could render relief and sustenance to Vrindavan widows. NALSA had earlier filed a social justice litigation plaint before the Supreme Court, seeking protection and amelioration of the situations faced by old and destitute Vrindavan widows. The petition said the widows lived in Mathura in ashrams and temples as they were abandoned by their families or because of extreme poverty. There were others who lived in homes run by government in pathetic conditions without proper food, medical and hygiene facilities, it added.

Acting on the petition, the Supreme Court directed District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Mathura, to conduct an enumeration of these widows. After doing this, DLSA, under the chairmanship of the district judge of Mathura, told the court that there was a serious shortage of food for the widows. They managed with the meager rations bought from money they got by singing bhajans outside temples. Many were suffering from severe geriatric problems like poor eyesight and broken bones. As the shelters had no money to cremate the dead, the bodies of many widows were often cut into pieces for easy disposal by sweepers.

In August 2012, the Supreme Court asked NALSA to find out if Sulabh International, which was involved in social service, was willing to supply food to destitute women in government-run homes in Vrindavan.

Pathak visited Vrindavan with some of his officials.

Moved by their tragic lives, he decided to lessen their pain and loneliness by earmarking a monthly budget of `20 lakh for the purpose. He told NALSA: “From now on, no widow of Vrindavan will sleep without food. We will take care of those who are forced to beg on the streets here.

Sulabh will ensure that they get food, clothing and proper healthcare."

Pathak said able-bodied widows would be motivated to undergo vocational training so that they could earn their livelihood and live with pride. “It is easy to train them in areas like weaving and food processing.

Only then, can they live normal lives and be respected,” the Sulabh mentor said.

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PHOTO ESSAY/ vrindavan widows / holi

WIDOWS’ DAY OUT (Below) Over a hundred widows enjoyed their trip to Agra for seeing the Taj Mahal.

It was a memory they would always cherish

to break. He told India Legal: “Spring is enjoyed by all. But widows are not allowed to enjoy. They are not even allowed to attend marriages as they as seen as precursors of bad luck. We have to bring the spring back into their lives. They have a right to enjoy a good life. We have to learn how to treat them like human beings. We must empower them, help them get jobs and emotionally rehabilitate them.”

Two days after Holi, Pathak took a group of 40 widows from Varanasi and 80 widows from Vrindavan to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. It was one more move to make them feel normal and be a part of the mainstream. For most of them, it was like another breath of fresh air. Ghosh who saw the monument for the first time, said: “The Taj was so beautiful. We kept looking at it. My feet are hurting walking so much, but it was worth it.”

Changing attitudes in a country like India is not easy. But Pathak has made a beginning. And it is for the rest of the country to give these widows a new dream, a new horizon. Their smiles will be rewarding enough. IL

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FILM REVIEW/ dum laga ke haisha

Fat of the Matter

this simple and realistic film is a courageous one for tackling matters of everyday angst

By Ramesh Menon

W

HEN a film-maker has the courage to break a stereotype, it catches the imagination of the viewer. But it takes courage to do that. Dum Laga Ke Haisha, produced

by Yash Raj Films and directed by Sharat Katariya, is a refreshingly new and simple film based on reality. Down to earth characters with their convincing performances take us back into the early nineties when simple things like a music cassette brought in so much of unadulterated entertainment.

In our films, all Bollywood heroines have to be figure-perfect and beautiful. How about one real character that is overweight? After all, so many of us are. Newcomer Bhumi Pednekar (Sandhya), a Marathi actress, was asked to put on weight for this film. Other heroines would have missed a heartbeat in sheer apprehension. Not Bhumi. She loved eating and it was like a dream come true. She loved her rotund figure and it shows in her role. We are definitely going to see a lot of her as she has put in a memorable performance here as a woman who is not at all bothered about her weight. She is educated and intelligent and that is what matters to her. Actually, size does not matter. After her Bachelor of Education (B.Ed), she wants to be a teacher.

She says yes to a marriage proposal from Prem, played by Ayushmann Khurana, who failed in the 10th standard and then decided that he would spend the rest of his life man-

aging a song recording shop and spends his time listening to golden hits of the seventies.

He is uncouth, but that is how he is and wants to be. But Sandhya likes his down-toearth attitude and thinks love will conquer everything after marriage.

But size does matter to Prem and he hates being even seen with his overweight wife. So, does she go on a diet or run to a gym?

Nothing of the sort. She would rather go to a library. She is a no-nonsense girl and cannot be pushed around. Despite Sandhyaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts, there is absolutely no chemistry between the two. Intimacy seems impossible.

She files for divorce. There are numerous hilarious moments in-between, typical of middle class India. The judge insists that mutual divorce will be granted only if they stay together for six more months and still feel that they cannot mend their relationship.

So, the couple are back together.

There are some sensitive moments when mutual respect and concern for each other surfaces. Meanwhile, the village announces a competition where husbands have to carry their wives on their back and run through numerous artificial hurdles. Both of them are forced by their families to seize the opportunity. They hesitatingly do.

With some slips and lots of determination and care, they end up as the only couple who breast the tape in the end.

Life is, after all, all about the little hurdles to overcome. IL

Rating *** out of ***** DUM LAGA KE HAISHA DIRECTION: Sharat Kataria ACTORS: Bhumi Pednekar, Ayushmann Khurana, Sanjay Mishra.

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Iron fists in velvet gloves?

indo-pak ties have often frozen and thawed, depending on domestic compulsions. with a successful kashmir election over, will the tenor of ties change?

By Seema Guha

P

rime Minister Narendra Modi is sending conflicting signals to Pakistan. His blow hot, blow cold strategy is not conducive to serious diplomatic engagement with Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arch rival.

After starting on a promising note by inviting Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with other SAARC leaders for his oath-taking last May, India suddenly called off talks three months later. The ostensible reason given was that Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit had met the Hurriyat for consultations ahead of discussions with India. This has been a routine practice for the Pakistani mission here. A similar situation arose in 2001 when Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf came Getty Images

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Modi’s strategy vis-a-vis Pakistan has been dictated by the need to keep his voters and the Sangh Parivar in good humor. So much so that Foreign Secretary Jaishankar’s visit was given the garb of “Saarc Yatra”.

UNI

for the Agra Summit and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the host. Before the summit began, a reception was held at Pakistan House in Delhi, where Musharraf had a private meeting with the Hurriyat. So Modi’s sudden turnabout comes as a surprise.

KASHMIR CALLING Many believe the Indian government’s hardline posture is directly related to the Kashmir elections. Modi’s popularity won the BJP the general elections in 2014. With the party now sniffing a chance in Kashmir, where the Hindu-dominated Jammu region is solidly backing Modi, the BJP hopes to make further inroads into the Valley. A tough line towards Pakistan would consolidate Hindu votes, not just in Kashmir, but in many states like UP, Bihar and West Bengal, where byelections will be held soon.

All through this period, guns continued to boom along the LoC. The Indian and Pakistani armies accused each other of starting the provocation, while the votaries of peace kept a low profile, sensing the bitter mood.

Traditionally, Pakistanis have believed that a BJP government led by a strong leader like Modi would be in a better position to make peace, rather than a Congress government which has to constantly look over its shoulder at the BJP. So there was hope when Modi won his massive mandate. The initial signs from him were also positive. Even before winning the elections, an emissary of Modi’s had flown to Pakistan for talks with Sartaz Aziz, Pakistan’s top foreign affairs adviser, in order to touch base with Sharif.

After the Kashmir elections and BJP’s talks with the PDP over government formation, the Indian government again changed track and showed a warming of ties. Modi picked up the phone on February 13 and called Sharif to inform him that he was sending his new foreign secretary, Subramanyam Jaishankar, to Islamabad in a couple of weeks.

TROUBLED TIES (Facing page) Despite Kargil War and a failed Agra Summit, Musharraf and Vajpayee shared a good rapport (Above) Partly due to Modi’s flip-flop, Sharif is no more desperate for talks with India

TIGHT-ROPE WALK But India took care not to project this visit as a bilateral event, but rather as a SAARC INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

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DIPLOMACY/ indo-pak ties

REASON FOR RIFT? The meeting of Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani (above), JKLF chairman Yasin Malik and Awami Action Committee chairman Mirwaiz Farooq with Pak High Commissioner Abdul Basit in New Delhi in August 2014 was cited as reason for calling off diplomatic talks

“India is not top priority for the Pakistan army. It has its hands full with Afghanistan and India can wait. Improving trade with India can also wait.’’

—Mariana Babar, Islamabad-based journalist yatra, as part of which Jaishankar would visit other SAARC countries too.

But Jaishankar’s visit was mainly to break the ice with Pakistan. SAARC was thrown in to make the messaging easier for those who believed that Modi, as a strong Hindu leader, must continue to talk tough. After all, the extended Sangh Parivar as well as his Hindutva supporters have to be kept in mind. Jaishankar’s visit to Islamabad was essentially on “talks about talks’’, though SAARC would have figured too, considering that Pakistan will host the summit next year.

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When Jaishankar called on Sharif, the Pakistan PM once again stressed his desire for peace between both countries. Ever since he took office, and, indeed, even before taking charge, he has always spoken of improving relations with India. But since the LoC incidents and India calling off dialogue, Sharif has been much more circumspect.

During the Kathmandu SAARC summit, as well as in the UN General Assembly last year, neither Modi nor Sharif held bilateral talks with each other. India believes that the Pakistan army always calls the shots, while Sharif has consistently raised Kashmir at international fora and at home of late.

KABUL EQUATION Also, the relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have changed considerably ever since Sharif came to power in 2013. A strategic space is opening out for Pakistan there and it is on a firmer ground vis-à-vis the

TIME FOR THAW? (Left) J&K elections over, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar (left) was dispatched to Islamabad for diplomatic talks

HCINDIA Islamabad/Twitter

international community.

Earlier, Sharif had to contend with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, who never lost an opportunity to blame Pakistan for Afghanistan’s problems. Karzai was close to India and helped it spread its wings in Afghanistan. He had also signed a defense agreement with India, which was viewed with suspicion in Rawalpindi (headquarters of the Pakistan army). The military establishment feared the Indian army would squeeze it from both its eastern and western borders.

The Pakistan army has long believed in gaining strategic depth in Afghanistan and to that end it has been keen to have a proIslamabad regime in Kabul. In fact, the Pakistan army complained bitterly to the US about New Delhi, saying it would try to disturb it on its eastern borders, as most of its forces were fighting terrorists in its border with Afghanistan. This argument, initially, led the US and its NATO allies to be wary of India and they did not want it to have anything to do in Afghanistan except development work.

But as the US and Pakistan army began having their own problems, that argument was no longer taken seriously by the Americans. However Pakistan-US relations too have changed today. With a majority of NATO and US forces out of Afghanistan, the US wants Pakistan to play an important role

(Below) Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s “Thank You” to Pakistan for peaceful elections in J&K perturbed the Indian establishment

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in getting the Taliban to talk to the new government of President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul.

Unlike Karzai, Ghani has excellent ties with Islamabad and Rawalpindi. He has visited Pakistan several times. He took the unusual step of breaking protocol and calling on the Pakistan army commander General Raheel Sharif. The general also has been to Kabul several times. Pakistan is playing a crucial role in getting the Taliban for talks with the Afghan government.

TURMOIL AT HOME While the Pakistan army supports the Afghan Taliban, at home, the military is INDIA LEGAL March 31, 2015

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fighting the Tehrik-i-Taliban. These homegrown extremists have hit out not just at army personnel, but their families. The attack on an army school in Peshawar, in which 132 school kids died, was the proverbial last straw on the camel’s back. The Taliban said the attack was in retaliation for the army’s operations against it in North Waziristan. The army has naturally hardened its stand against the terror outfits since then.

Islamabad-based journalist Mariana Babar tells India Legal: “India is not top priority for the army. It has its hands full with Afghanistan and India can wait. Improving trade with India can also wait.’’ She further says that Sharif, who has always spoken of peace with India, is now not as enthusiastic as he, too, has his hands full. Today, the Pakistan army is publicly accusing India of supporting the Pakistan Taliban and interfering in Balochistan, she said. Her take is that Sharif is now not so desperate for talks as he was at the beginning of his term.

MANAGING CONFLICT (Above) The attack on a Peshawar school in December 2014 has hardened the Pakistan army’s attitude towards militants

THE K FACTOR The changing political set-up in Kashmir with chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in the saddle is good news for Pakistan. “Mufti knows that if Pakistan is a problem, it is a solution too. Pakistan has, as yet, not reacted to him as he holds out his hand,’’ says Babbar.

Jaishankar’s visit is unlikely to lead to early resumption of talks. Both sides are making the appropriate noises however.

Modi knows that he cannot be seen as turning his back on Pakistan. There is international pressure to ensure that peace moves are made. Added to this is Modi’s domestic compulsion in Kashmir. Mufti would have insisted on renewing talks with Pakistan before working out the deal for a coalition government in the state.

“It is difficult to sustain the no-talks view indefinitely,’’ says former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh. As of now, the first moves have been made, but neither side is in a hurry. India is in no mood to have the eightpoint composite dialogue format, which so far has yielded no result. Mufti is the new element in the Indo-Pak equation. How this pans out has to be seen. IL

(Right) Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s closeness to Pakistan will enable it to ensure strategic depth on its western frontier

Photos: UNI

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QUOTE-UNQUOTE

“I am upset but this is part of life.

I have always said I am open for legal scrutiny…. I hope in a fair trial, I will prove my innocence”

“The idea of AAP is bigger than any of us. Do not write off the Aam Aadmi Party”

— Former prime minister Manmohan Singh after being summoned by a special CBI court for his alleged complicity in the coal scam

— Senior AAP member Yogendra Yadav after his ouster from the party’s political affairs committee, NDTV

“When I go to Sonia with a problem, she says please go to Rahul Gandhi. When I go to Rahul Gandhi, he says the Congress president will resolve (the issue)”

“If someone tries to break into my house, I can shoot. If he gets killed law allows me to do that”

— Congress leader Kamal Nath on the party suffering because of two power centers, Headlines Today

— Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe justifying the firing on Indian fisherman if they intrude into Lankan waters

“If your law was so good, why was the Congress wiped out in a series of elections?”

— Narendra Modi referring to land acquisition act of UPA during his motion of thanks to the President's address speech in the Lok Sabha

“The judge-population ratio should be increased and all vacancies must be filled up. Unless this is done, we can’t expect disposal of cases within a timeframe” —Chief Justice, Delhi High Court, G Rohini on reforms in Delhi judiciary, The Times of India

“Everyone thinks a woman’s dream is to find the perfect man..

Balls... It’s to eat everything without getting Fat!” — filmmaker Farah Khan, on Twitter

“What is wrong in showing mirror to the society? Why are we not ready to accept the bitter truth that exists in our social system?”

—Nirbhaya's father in defense of India’s Daughter, The Times of India

“I want to produce more Mary Koms, more world champions” — Mary Kom on plans to devote time to her boxing academy after she quits after Rio Olympics in 2016, NDTV Sports

“We must credit Hurriyat, Pakistan, militant outfits for the conduct of assembly elections” — J&K PM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed at a press conference

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SPORTS/ tennis/serena williams

UNI

Serve…toss and SMASH I

the number one ranked woman tennis player is just three grand slam titles away from breaking steffi graf’s 22 wins. and considering serena’s current form and past record, the goal is not far away

By Zoya Rasul 78

March 31, 2015

T was the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of 2007—the Australian Open. Serena Williams was out of form and practice and was ranked 81 in the world. Media was talking more about her being overweight than her ground strokes.

Sponsors were threatening to drop her from their endorsement lists. Many experts had already written her off. But at 26, Serena believed she was yet to play her best tennis. She

reached the final of that tournament and pulled off perhaps the most spectacular victory of her career by defeating the top-seed Maria Sharapova, 6-1, 6-2.

The win was special as she had spent most of the previous three years away from the game, battling depression that engulfed her following the murder of her older sister Yetunde in 2003. By the end of 2007, Serena was back in the top 10.

Eight years later, the final of the Australian Open 2015 also had the same opponent. And the result was also the same.

The win fetched Serena her first Australian Open title in five years. More than that, it was her 19th Grand Slam singles title, surpassing Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert’s tally of 18 Grand Slams. Steffi Graf is the only open era player ahead of her with 22 major titles—a milestone which appears well

within her reach if she continues to play the kind of tennis she is playing right now for another couple of years.

Serena brings great energy to the world of women tennis. Her serve is considered the best in the game. While most women on the tour serve in the 95 miles per hour zone, Serena’s serves break well into triple digits.

Her style of play is often described as “power game”—no wonder she keeps her opponents on the edge, making for some of the most memorable contests in tennis history.

Her mental toughness and ability to come back from improbable situations compliment her physical strength. She has won three Grand Slam singles titles after saving match points (2003 Australian Open versus Kim Clijsters; 2005 Australian Open versus Maria Sharapova; and 2009 Wimbledon versus Elena Dementieva)—more than any

QUEEN OF THE COURT (Facing page) Serena with the Australian Open 2015 trophy (Below) One of the high points of Serena’s game is her power-packed serve, considered the best in the game

Serena’s greatness doesn’t come because she is almost invincible, but in her ability to stage unlikely comebacks, both in a match and career, and her knack for reaffirming her place at the top after lengthy layoffs or less than perfect form.

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MAJOR MILESTONE Serena surpassed Martina Navratilova (right) and Chris Evert’s (far right) tally of 18 Grand Slams

other player in history, male or female. There is an evident gap between her and the rest.

Her dominance over the game can be gauged by the fact that the world number two Maria Sharapova has lost to her 16 times in a row.

The last the Russian managed to defeat Serena was in 2004.

Serena’s greatness doesn’t flow merely from the fact that she is difficult to defeat, almost invincible, but in her ability to stage unlikely comebacks, both in a match and career and her knack for reaffirming her place at the top after lengthy layoffs or less than perfect form.

Aggasi applauds Serena Former world number one tennis star Andre Aggasi (left) and husband of Steffi Graf, recently told Reuters TV that fellow American Serena Williams is arguably the greatest ever, and it would be easy to argue whether she is able to equal 22 Grand Slam titles scripted by his wife. At 33, Williams has won five Wimbledon, two French Open, six US Open, and six Australian Open titles.

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The time following her half-sister’s murder in 2003 isn’t the only instance when she roared her way back to the top of tennis from nowhere. In July 2010, just four days after lifting the Wimbledon title after beating Vera Zvonareva in straight sets, Serena tramped on a glass bottle in a Munich restaurant, injuring her foot and requiring 18 stitches.

The next day, she played an exhibition match against Kim Clijsters, but the injury worsened and the American professional tennis player was unable to compete again in 2010.

Then, in February 2011, things got considerably bad: a pulmonary embolism—or blood clot—was discovered on Serena’s lung.

Although she survived this life-threatening condition, it resulted in a flood of speculations as to whether she would ever again compete at the highest level. Yet just four months on, Serena was back. She was twotime defending champion at Wimbledon 2011 but was defeated by Marion Bartoli in the fourth round. The defeat saw her dropping to 175 in world rankings from 25th, her worst ranking since 1997, when she was 304th. She fought her way back, reached the final of the year’s last Grand Slam, the US Open, where she lost to Samantha Stosur and ended the year as world number 12. She came back next year to lift the Wimbledon and US Open crown and was back in top five.

Disease, injury and emotional stress aren’t the only things which challenged Serena in the course of her career spanning almost 20 years. In a sport that has traditionally been an all-white preserve, success of Serena and Venus stands out. They were suspected of fixing their matches. (Elena Demetieva once said at a press conference before William sisters’ match: “I think he (Richard—their father) will decide who’s going to win tomorrow.”) Serena often voiced the supposed prejudice of tennis authorities, be it about controversial line calls or scheduling their matches away from the show courts.

The most upfront and ugly incident of racial bias faced by Serena happened in the 2001 Indian Wells final, a place which happens to be barely two hours away from the place Serena grew up playing tennis. It is said to be the most hostile crowd in tennis history as it booed, chanted and whistled at not only Serena on court, but her father and Venus in stands. A 19-year-old Serena was broken,

afraid and made to look like an outsider in her own country. After boycotting the tournament for 14 years, Serena has now decided to go back to Indian Wells.

“As a black tennis player, I looked different. I sounded different. I dressed differently.

I served differently. But when I stepped onto the court, I could compete with anyone… The under¬current of racism was painful, confusing and unfair. In a game I loved with all my heart, at one of my most cherished tournaments, I suddenly felt unwelcome, alone and afraid,” writes Serena, in an article for the Time magazine, recounting what happened at Indian Wells.

What Serena has achieved has blurred all boundaries and distinctions. She is the pride of not only her father Richard Williams and mother Oracene Prince, who coached her together since she was four, but the entire tennis world. She does not need any patronage as the whispers of her being the greatest women tennis player gains chorus. IL

MAKING A MARK (Above left) Serena and Venus have carved a niche for themselves in a sport dominated by the whites (Above) Steffi Graf is the only player ahead of Serena with 22 Grand Slams

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PEOPLE / colorful sadhus

CHAI AND CHILLING Naga sadhus, smeared with ash, drink tea inside their makeshift camps near the confluence of the Ganges and the Bay of Bengal, ahead of Makar Sankranti at Sagar Island.

DEEP MEDITATION A sadhu prays while sitting inside a circle of burning cow dung cakes, while marking the beginning of the spring festival of Basant in Allahabad.

SACRED LOCKS A sadhu enjoys washing his long hair while bathing in the Ganges.

ON A HIGH A sadhu smokes cannabis inside a makeshift shelter on the banks of the Ganges.

Photos: UNI Compiled by Kh Manglembi Devi

BLESSED ARE THE MEEK Naga sadhus bless pilgrims at Sagar Island.

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