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Editor: Nagaraj.M.R....vol.4…issue.01......05/01/2008
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Editorial : CITIZENS OF INDIA Vs HONOURABLE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
- Open appeal to shri.sunil Thomas , honourable registrar & CPIO , RTI
Apellate authority , supreme court of India , new delhi
TO,
SHRI.SUNIL THOMAS ,
Honourable Registrar ( ADMN ) / Apellate Authority,
Supreme court of India,
New Delhi.
Subject : appeal no : 91 / 2007 in response to your letter no : F1 /
RTI / A.91 / 2007 dt 13.12.07
Kindly go through the following articles & provide justice by giving
complete truthful information to us.
The constitution of India has prescribed certain FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES to
each citizens of India. It is the duty of every citizen to protect &
uphold the dignity , honour of our democratic institutions , to
protect our national integrity , to respect & protect the rights of
our fellow citizens. No constitutional authority has the right to
obstruct the discharge of these duties by citizens of India. No legal
privileges of constitutional functionaries is superior over the
FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES OF CITIZEN'S OF INDIA.
We need rights to perform our duties. Constitution of India has
guaranteed those rights as FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS to all citizens of India
& by birth itself everyone of us has secured HUMAN RIGHTS as
individuals. To express ourselves , we need information , data feed
back , to ascertain whether we are getting equal opportunity , whether
we are getting equitable justice , etc , we need information . so ,
basically Right To Information is an inalienable part of our
fundamental rights & human rights. What RTI Act has done is fixed time
limit , responsibilities of public servants up to certain extent.
However the citizen's fundamental right & human right to seek
information extends far beyond the scope of RTI Act.
Hereby , HRW seeks complete truthful information from supreme court
of India , with respect to my RTI application appeal no : APPEAL NO.
91 / 2007. HEREBY , WE ARE ONLY SEEKING ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC
SERVANTS IN PUBLIC INTEREST & JUSTICE. Hereby , we at HRW request
you to register this appeal as a PIL petition & to ascertain the stand
of apex court on various matters raised in my RTI Application , in
public interest & euitable justice. JAI HIND. VANDE MATARAM.
Your's sincerely,
Nagaraj.M.R.
CRIMES COMMITTED BY LAW COURTS IN INDIA
- An appeal to honourable supreme court of india
Indian prisons are meant to be reforming schools for the prisoners. By
the corrupt practices of the officials , the prisons have become
factories turning out hardened criminals.
Say , a person was caught by police on suspicion of pick-pocketing.
The police produce the accussed before the magistrate , in turn he
remands him for judicial custody. Let us consider , The punishment for
this offence pick-pocketing as per law is 6 months imprisonment.
However the case drags on for 3 years , finally the court finds him
guilty of offence & orders for 6 months imprisonment. Totally, the
offender serves 42 months imprisonment sentence in practice. In some
cases , the courts consider the time already spent by the accussed
behind the bars while giving judgement. In this example , even if the
offender is let free taking 6 months imprisonment sentence, the
offender has been given excess sentence of 36-6=30 months.
Taking the same example further, say the court finds the accused as
innocent, not guilty of crime & lets him free. However , the poor chap
has suffered 36 months imprisonment for no fault of his.
As per law, no body not even the courts of law are legally empowered
to punish anybody beyond the legal procedures , rules established. In
this way, due to delay in our legal system , faulty bail procedures ,
thousands of under-trials are suffering in various prisons throught
India. Arew not the courts which remanded those accused to judicial
custody responsible for this illegal act of excessive punishment ?
what punishment should be given to those judges ?
The bail procedure in India , is also faulty without considering
quantum of offence & financial status of the accused. A person accused
of stealing rs.100 has to provide bail surety bond of rs.5000 or
personal surety by a wealthy person / government servant. The poor
person having personal contacts , friendship with rich persons /
government servants is quite remote , so he can'nt secure bail on
personal bond. The poor chaps family is not rich enough to spend
rs.5000 surety amount. As a result, unable to secure bail the poor
chap suffers in jail for years.
Say, a rich industrialist is accused of rs.20 crores tax evasion, he
is let free on a personal bond of rs.1 lakh. Stamp paper scam kingpin
karim lala telgi has swindled government to the tune of thousands of
crores of rupees, only few cases are registered against him. That too
in one out of those cases involving rs.45 lakh worth stamp sale ,
judge has given him rigorous imprisonment plus a fine of rs.50000.
Considering the above examples it is quite clear the bail amount, fine
amount are peanuts for the rich just a fraction of quantum of their
crime , while for the poor it is huge many times more than the quantum
of their crime.. it is biased towards rich & mighty criminals. As a
result poor always suffers in jail, while rich are out on bail.
Even within prisons , the number of prisoners per sq.ft area , no of
doctors , hospital beds , medicines available, weight of food per day
given to prisoners , are all less & much below the statuotary limits.
The food , health care , living conditions of prisoners ,
under-trials are worse than pigs. The prison authorities are utterly
corrupt, which has been brought into light again & again by the media.
If a poor prisoner questions the illegal acts of the officials , he is
subjected to 3rd degree torture , roughed up by rowdy prisoners on the
instigation of the officials themselves. Many poor prisoners are
suffering from health problems , many are dying due to lack of proper
health care & food in the prisons.
Whereas , the rich & mighty prisoners , by payting bribe get non-veg
, alchoholic drinks from outside restaurants daily. They even secure
drugs . they get spacious VIP rooms , television , mobile phones.
They easily get parole & easily gets admitted in outside hospitals &
roam free , while on record they are in-patients in hospitals.
The law of limitation which stipulates time limits for filing various
cases is also biased towards the government as a party & rich ,
mighty. For the purposes of evidences , filing of cases one needs
various government records. The concerned officials don't provide
those records for years unless bribed & sit over the files for years.
Some times by making absurd , illogical file notings , rejects it
back. There is no time limit for the performance of duties by public
servants. When a commoner don�t get relevant records , files ,
evidences in time , how can he file cases in time without those
records , evidences ?
Nowadays , numerous cases of irregularities , charges of corruption
against judges are coming to light. However , in such cases judges
are asked to resign from service but no criminal prosecution against
them is instituted , only in cases involving lower court judges it is
done. When a case of irregularity by a judge in a specific present
case comes , there are every possibility that in the past also he has
committed the same in cases handled by him which has not come to
light. In such instances , all the cases handled by that particular
judge throught his career must be reviewed , but is not done why ?
does not it amount to cover-ups ?
In many cases the higher courts have turned down the verdicts of the
lower courts , let free the innocents , absolved innocents of charges
& annulled death sentences when appeals came before them. However ,
in all such cases , the lower court judges must be punished for
giving out wrong judgements, meating out injustice to innocents. Here
a fact must be noted , only a fraction of cases goes in appeal to
higher courts, as in majority of cases the poor people lack the
financial might to make the appeal. The so-called free legal services
authority pre-judges the cases before giving legal aid. As a result ,
many innocents poor people resign to their fates suffer injustice in
courts of law , undergo imprisonment punishment , some times even
death sentence. So , the urgent need of the hour is to incorporate
jury system or some outside monitoring system to review cases as &
when decided.
In many cases involving the rich & mighty like telgi , case
proceedings are conducted in-camera in judge's chambers or proceedings
are conducted through video conferencing . outside from public gaze.
The tapes are not made public and the public cann't even ascertain
the validity of tapes , whether it is edited , doctored .
One of the basic reasons for delayed justice & worse prison
conditions in India , is low number of judges , police personnel ,
higher rate of case adjournments and finally low amount of financial
grants made by the government to judicial department / police
department. The government states that it doesn't have enough money
to provide for judiciary & police. As a result, fundamental / human
rights of innocent commoners are thwarted. The state governments & GOI
, is one of either parties in 75% of cases before various courts in
India, it is the biggest litigant & is influencing the judiciary by
controlling the grants , recruitment to judiciary & by enticing some
with post-retirement postings.
The government has got money to spend on lavish parties of VVIPs ,
IAS officers serving non-veg foods , alchoholic drinks . their foreign
jaunts , 5-star bungalows , limousines , interior decorations of their
bungalows, etc. which is of higher priority , importance , whether the
luxury of VVIPs or the fundamental / human rights of commoners ? the
courts should answer. The courts have the legal powers to order
governments to provide enough financial grants to it , however it is
keeping mum , turning blinds eye to crimes of VVIP�s. the government
rewards such judges with salary hikes , promotions , luxury cars ,
bungalows , perks and post-retirement postings , sites at judicial
lay-out , yelahanka , Bangalore , etc.
We at HRW has utmost respect for the judiciary , but hereby humbly
bringing the crimes of judiciary before the honest few judges seeking
justice to the common folk.
Indian judiciary's contempt for accountability and scrutiny is a shame
The Delhi High Court on September 21, 2007 sentenced the editor, the
resident editor, the publisher and the cartoonist of English daily
Mid-Day guilty in a contempt of court case. The charge against the
convicted journalists was that they published a report and a cartoon
concerning the former Chief Justice of India, Mr. Y.K. Sabharwal. The
report and the cartoon were published after Mr. Sabharwal retired from
service.
The report, relying upon documentary evidence, alleged that the
judge's two sons Mr. Chetan and Mr. Nitin had made material benefits
out of their father's position in the Indian judiciary as a senior
judge and also as the Chief Justice of the country. The report alleged
that the judge's sons managed their business from their father's
official residence at 6 Moti Lal Nehru Marg, New Delhi. The report
further alleged that the Chetan and Nitin also availed huge loans from
a nationalised bank in favour of their business concerns without
providing adequate collateral security. There were also allegations
that the judge's two sons were allotted prime land by the Uttar
Pradesh state government with heavy price concessions, an act which
was under investigation. The investigation was however stayed later by
the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court of India is known for using the constitutional
mandate and authority to initiate actions of public interest. The
court in the past has even taken note of newspaper reports to initiate
suo motu actions against suspected breach of law and misuse of office
by public servants. This earnestness and enthusiasm has not been thus
far reflected in the Indian courts' approach against scrutinising the
activities of the courts and its judges. On the contrary, the Indian
courts have been very parochial in its approach in facing criticism.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of India had forced Mr. Vijay
Shekhar, a journalist with a television news channel, who exposed the
caucus of a corrupt magistrate, his court staff and some lawyers in
Gujarat state in the "Warrants for Cash" scam to apologise to the
court or to face a term in jail for contempt of court. The court staff
and the lawyers were caught on camera negotiating and accepting bribe
for the magistrate for issuing arrest warrants. In the episode which
was telecast nationwide, the magistrate after accepting bribes, issued
arrest warrants on false charges against the President of India and
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court took up the matter and directed the Gujarat High
Court to initiate an internal enquiry against the concerned judicial
officer and his staff. The judge was however absolved by the Gujarat
High Court without examining the complainants. Thereafter, the Supreme
Court of India condemned the journalist who had carried out this
operation and threatened to send him to jail for contempt unless he
apologised.
The conviction and sentencing of journalists of Mid-Day for publishing
information about the conduct of Mr. Sabharwal has brought to the fore
the issue of judicial accountability. The Indian judiciary is one of
the most powerful judiciaries of the world. The conduct of the
judiciary has a direct impact upon the life of the ordinary people of
the country. It is imperative in these circumstances that a state
institution of such high powers must be transparent and accountable
for its actions. The courts in India have however consistently avoided
calls for accountability despite there being many instances of serious
allegations of misconduct and misdemeanour. At one time Justice S. P.
Bharucha, former Chief Justice of India, admitted that about 20
percent of the higher judiciary in India is corrupt. According to
Justice Michael Saldahna of the Karnataka High Court it is 33 per
cent. Despite there being such admissions, no enquiry has ever been
initiated against any judge for past 15 years.
Under the Constitution of India, the only way to remove a judge from
the High Court or the Supreme Court is by way of impeachment. This
constitutional provision has failed miserably. Its ineffectiveness was
clearly demonstrated in the case of Justice V. Ramaswami. At the same
time, despite verbal homilies, the courts and judges have been the
most reluctant to evolve even a self-monitoring mechanism for
accountability. Such a situation has caused enormous arrogance and
abuse of power.
This is reflected in the procedure adopted for appointment of judges
in the higher judiciary as well. Even though the appointment is made
by the President of India, the selection is made by the collegium of
judges. The selection process is non-transparent and all attempts to
make the process transparent have been resisted by the judiciary thus
far.
Demanding judicial accountability has almost certainly caused
initiation of contempt proceedings, thereby, stifling of free
discussion on the issues plaguing the judiciary in India. Unwarranted
use of contempt of court proceedings in fact diminishes the public
perception about the judiciary's openness and transparency, of which
the case against the Mid-Day publishing house is the latest.
There are judicial systems within Asia which are considered to be
failed beyond the point of recovery. Of this, the most glaring example
is the judiciary in Sri Lanka, which is now facing criticism on all
counts including politicisation of the judiciary to meet the ends of a
corrupt Chief Justice. The Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, an infamous
figure in the country, is feared for abusing contempt of court
proceedings against anyone who opposes his questionable actions.
The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has now stooped down to a stage where
public perception about the impartiality of the court and its
competency to decide matters on merits is at an all time low. As a
result the general public views the courts in Sri Lanka as a failed
state apparatus which in fact adds to the decades long ethnic conflict
in that country.
The term democracy implies the notion that the people are supreme. All
state institutions, whether it be the judiciary, legislature or the
executive are merely the servants of the people. The basic principle
behind the contempt of court proceedings is that the use of this
authority by the court must be only in circumstances where otherwise
the functioning of the court is impossible or obstructed.
In India under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, the term 'contempt'
is not defined. Therefore if any person makes adverse comments against
the court or a judge, the power to punish for "scandalising the
court…" is frequently invoked. This approach is considered obscure in
most established jurisdictions.
The contempt of court action must not be an attempt to protect the
dignity of the court, but to promote the administration of justice.
The dignity of the court is promoted by the court being humble enough
to face criticism, whereas promotion of justice is to be carried out
by removing all hindrances in the delivery of justice. By the
unrestrained use of contempt of court actions the courts in India are
in fact derogating from their duty to safeguard the Constitution of
the country, which also guarantees freedom of speech and expression in
Article 19 (1).
The honour of the judge and the judiciary - a state institution
through which a judge is supposed to serve the people - is promoted
and protected by the openness of the judge and the judiciary to face
any criticism. Intolerance to scrutiny and lack of openness equates
the judge and the judiciary with a dictator.
At this pace the Indian judiciary once known for its eloquence and its
contribution to the advancement of free thought and expression will
soon be reduced to an egotistical institution. Such a judiciary is
definitely not what modern India aspires for. India as of today
requires a transparent, accountable and sensitive judiciary.
The imperatives for the judiciary in India are obvious. It has a duty
to protect, promote and fulfil the Constitutional guarantees. The
judiciary must be open and transparent with a clear conscience that it
is not beyond criticism. For this, it must be accountable to the
people, which it is bound to serve. The judiciary in India is the last
hope of a fragmented society, which when fails to respect its
responsibilities, will soon bring insurmountable peril to the country
and its people.
Crimes Chief Justice of Supreme Court Of India , Union Home Secretary
& Director-General of Police for Karnataka - RTI Act violations ,
constitutional rights & Human rights violations
The above stated public servants have failed to provide full
information to us ie HRW as per RTI Act , thereby covering up the
criminals. The requested informations were no state secrets , no
defense secrets but the accountability of above stated public offices.
The information was requested for public welfare , to secure
equitable justice to public , to stop corrupt practices in public
service , in exercise of my FUNDAMENTAL DUTY as a citizen of India.
However the above stated public servants preferred to violate law
themselves & to protect the criminals.
The public servants & the government must be role models in law
abiding acts , for others to emulate & follow. if a student makes a
mistake it is excusable & can be corrected by the teacher. if the
teacher himself makes a mistake , all his students will do the same
mistake. if a thief steals , he can be caught , legally punished &
reformed . if a police himself commits crime , many thieves go
scot-free under his patronage. even if a police , public servant
commits a crime , he can be legally prosecuted & justice can be sought
by the aggrieved.
just think , if a judge himself that too apex court of the land
itself commits crime - violations of RTI Act , constitutional rights &
human rights of public and obstructs the public from performing their
constitutional fundamental duties , what happens ?
it gives a booster dose to the rich & mighty , those in power ,
criminals in public service to commit more crimes. that is exactly
what is happening in india. the educated public must raise to the
occasion & peacefully , democratically must oppose this
criminalization of judiciary , public service. then alone , we can
build a RAM RAJYA OF MAHATMA GANDHI'S DREAM.
Our indian armed forces is one of the best professional forces in the
world. They are guarding our borders on 365*24*7 basis , enabling we
the common indian people to live in peace. Where as , the soldiers
themselves are facing lot of hardships ,they are far removed from
their homely comforts and working in very adverse , hostile environs.
The indian soldiers are sacrificing their comforts , lives for
guarding the lives of us –crores of indians. However , now it seems
the threat to the lives of brave indian soldiers are not from the
pakistani or chinese bullets , it is from their own indian brother's.
In the recent past , a joint director of RAW – an intelligence agency
defected to USA , there were repeated thefts at defense HQ , war room
leak at naval HQ, the senior most naval officers were kicked out of
office for speaking out about illegal defense deals by higher-ups.
Recently, former union minister mr.jaswant singh has stated that , a
very highly placed person in the PMO was passing nuclear secrets to
USA. Just a few years back , former union minister mr. Subramaniam
swamy has stated that former prime minister rajiv gandhi's family has
received money from foreign intelligence agencies. A former KGB
officer mitrokhin , in his autobiography has stated that smt.indira
gandhi , former prime minister of india herself was a KGB agent.
VVIPs occupying constitutional positions are privy to defense ,
national & economic secrets. They are in a sound position to decide
over it , to manipulate it. Some VVIPs , film stars were hobnobbing
openly with terrorist leaders , underworld dons & attending dawood
ibrahim's parties , etc in gulf countries. Some VVIPs have even aided
terrorist outfits in other sovereign countries like LTTE in srilanka.
VVIPs strikes deals with arms dealers & awards them defense contracts.
As a result indian forces are flush with technologically obsolete
aeroplanes , war ships , artillery , etc bought by paying crores of
dollars. If any defense personnel questions these actions , he is
court-martialled & put behind bars. If any ordinary citizens questions
them , he is silenced through the brute force of police. Even election
commission of india , didn't give information about criminal
antecedents of certain VVIP candidates tom an indian citizen on
request. The courts have suo motto powers to take action on news
reports , but they have not taken any even on appeal. The police don't
take action against such VVIPs & are not even registering complaints
against them. Most public servants are only bothered about their
position , favours , post-retirement postings , etc. In their scope of
things , national security is nowhere on their mind or actions.
On the public side , the same VVIPs condemn terrorism & other foreign
countries. They deploy indian soldiers on the borders , terrorist
infected areas , to contain the mafia . they send our soldiers with
3rd class arms & ammunition , riding 3rd class aeroplanes , ships &
artillery to contain violence , as a result our soldiers get killed
like flees , like sitting ducks to be shot at, by enemies who are
armed with latest weapons. As a result more number of soldiers are
dying in plane crashes , terrorist bullets than to pakistani or
chinese bullets.
Hereby , HRW appeals to your excellency to protect our brave soldiers
, by making public the following information & providing that
information to HRW as per RTI Act on the following questions :
1. how GOI is monitoring VVIPs of foreign origin , those with spouses
of foreign origin & those with ties , links to foreign nationals ?
2. how GOI is monitoring the activities of VVIPs , while on foreign tour ?
3. how GOI is monitoring activities of ex-VVIPs ?
4. how transparent are defense contract / tender procedures ?
5. how you protect whistle blowers / defense personnel who expose
illegal defense deals ?
6. why don't the Election Commission of India fully make public the
criminal antecedents of VVIP candidates ?
7. is former union minister mr.jaswanth singh's words true ? what action ?
8. is former union minister mr.subramaniam swamy's words true ? what
action ?
9. did GOI aid & sponsor LTTE terrorists in srilanka ?
10. did GOI pay any compensation to victim's of LTTE's terrorism ?
11. are the charges made by former admiral mr.bhagawath & rear-admiral
mr. Arun true ? what action ?
12. how many MPs , MLAs , VVIPs have links with underworld , mafia &
terrorist outfits ?
13. how many film stars , sportsmen , politicians have attended the
parties hosted by dawood ibrahim & others in gulf & else where ? what
action ?
14. are the statements made by former KGB officer mr.mitrokhin true ?
what action ?
15. how you are ensuring the safety of whistleblowers ?
god save my country , our brave soldiers from traitors in the garb of
VVIPs.
BMW Expose – pointer to failure of indian judicialsystem
- OPEN YOUR EYES SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
Recent NDTV BMW Expose points towards , how rottenour judicial system
has become. In a democracy like India , for a common man judiciary is
the last saviour . When thatsaviour himself becomes a demon , to whom
he should turn . the said case pointtowards cases involving rich &
mighty , whether it is a criminal case ,civil or tax cases , etc ,
when rich & mighty are involved they purchaseboth defence &
prosecution side involving witnesses , governmentofficials
testifying. Those who don'tfall into their lines are threatened
,assaulted & even murdered. As awhole the judicial process is
derailed. The honest judge who is presiding overthe case remains as a
mute spectator & forced to acquit the criminal forfailure of
prosecution , for lack of evidences. In some cases , the
judgesthemselves are also corrupt , which makes the job much easier
for the rich& mighty criminals to go scot-free.
Take thecase of editor of e - voice of human rights watch , inspite of
suffering numerousinjustices , physical assaults , murder attempts ,
etc and repeated appeals to the authoritiesincluding the chief
justice of India & president of India , justice is nowhere in sight ,
police have repeatedly enquired the sufferer of injustice butthey
never questioned the perpetrators of injustices. It is the
constitutionalduty of president of India &chief justice of India as
custodians of law , to safe guard thefundamental rights & human rights
of every Indian citizen , but till datethey have failed to do their
duty. The supreme court of India has evenfailed to provide information
, reply to the application dated 27/04/2007 of editor of this
publication seeking information as per RTI Act 2005. All
theseactions & inactions of supreme court of India & president of
India , has emboldened the rich & mightycriminals that they can do any
thing in India & go scot-free. In thisback drop , further if any thing
untoward happens to editor of e – voice of human rights watch or to
his family members , to his dependents ,IT IS H.E.PRESIDENT OF INDIA &
HONOURABLE CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA WHO WILLBE BOTH RESPONSIBLE FOR IT.
What is needed is protection of witnesses , protectionof both defense
& prosecution side witnesses , transparency in the judicialsystem ,
accountability of judges & advocates , code of conduct foradvocates &
judges. By these measures alone , we can protect & respect our
constitution of India , citizen's rights.
Edited, printed , published owned by NAGARAJ.M.R. <at> #LIG-2 / 761,HUDCO
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