Sunday, November 22, 2009
CJI Y K Sabharwal article in TOI
A former Chief Justice of India defends his honour The man who delivered one high-profile judgment after another now finds his integrity being questioned. Since his retirement, Justice Y K Sabharwal has been dogged by rumours and insinuations, with motives being imputed to major rulings by him — including the ones on the sealing drive in Delhi. Now, in an exclusive article for Sunday Times of India, the anguished former CJI finally breaks his silence
Ajudge is trained to speak only through his judgments. He does not have to justify his judgments. I retired on January 14 this year as Chief Justice of India. A large number of cases were decided by me. A judge cannot decide cases guided by the number of people who may be pleased or displeased by the judgment.
My judgments on various unauthorised constructions and misuse of residential premises have come in for both praise and criticism. They have been commented upon by those who were adversely affected and also by politicians, RWAs, media and even Parliament. It’s not a judge’s function to respond to such criticism. Judges decide on law and not on populism. An afternoon publication imputed a motive to these judgments and carried a malicious campaign for nearly three months.
FALSE ALLEGATION: Two members of the Bar addressed a press conference and claimed that I had delivered some judicial orders to benefit my two sons in their business. The story appeared only in a weekly newspaper which also carried an interview of a senior advocate. The interview suggested as if the entire media had been managed or was scared and that may be the reason for it to block the story.
My initial instinct was to maintain silence and follow the discipline of a judge even though I have retired. However, I was told that a distinguished predecessor of mine suggested on TV that silence on such allegations was not the option. I decided to break my silence lest people believe that I have no answers to give.
The attack against me is that my two sons — Chetan and Nitin — are small-time exporters and they acquired wealth as a result of my judicial decisions. It is utterly false. My sons made a modest beginning in garment export business more than a decade ago. After struggling initially, their business expanded in the past few years and their turnover to 10 countries and 40 foreign buyers has reached a couple of hundred crores. Their manufacturing units are in Noida. For their consistent growth, they have been recognised as a star export house by the ministry of commerce and industry. Their income and profits are disclosed in their tax returns. They have a large number of employees. They require neither parental support nor government patronage to expand what is a pure private sector business activity in a competitive overseas market.
CONSPIRACY THEORY: It has been alleged that my sons have taken discretionary allotment of certain plots from Noida Authority. The imputation is that one of my judicial orders in a case, which is still pending, favoured an important member of a political party and the allotment of industrial plots was made because of that. I have now asked my sons and have checked the allotment record of the plots. They also have some factories on rent and some purchased from the market.
Four industrial plots were allotted to my sons at different points of time by Noida Authority. These allotments were made in 1999, 2000 and 2006. All allotments were under schemes of Noida Authority where entrepreneurs making investments and generating employment there were allotted plots. These were not stray, solitary or discretionary allotments. Under these schemes, thousands of allotments were made at pre-determined prices.
Let me satisfy those who are bending backward to discover conspiracy theories by saying that when the allotment of three plots — one in 1999 and two in 2000 — were made, the government in power was not the same as in 2004 or 2006. There were two different chief ministers — one in 1999 and another in 2000. The two allotments in 2000 were made at about Rs 2,100 per sqm, which was the pre-determined rate at which allotment was made to every entrepreneur. In 2003, my sons purchased another plot in the same sector from the market and even at that time, the rate was Rs 2,550 per sqm.
RECKLESS INSINUATION: The allotments made in 1999 and 2000 are being used at this stage after my retirement to impute motives for judgments and orders of sealing passed in 2006. The plot allotted in 2006 is not a commercial plot as insinuated. It is an industrial plot allotted in view of their growth in export business as per the scheme. The allotment has no link, direct or indirect, with orders regarding sealing of properties in Delhi. The reckless insinuation is that the prevailing market price of the said plot was 10 times the price of allotment. Are insinuators willing to buy even today at 1/3rd the price being quoted by them?
In addition to their growing export business, my sons have also diversified to development of IT parks. They have, however, no interest, whatsoever, in non-IT buildings. They do not own even one inch of area in any mall or shopping complex. IT plots in Noida are given under institutional category which cover plots for schools, colleges, religious and cultural activities and for IT use. They are not commercial plots. The allotment of IT plots in 2004 in a sector which was almost a jungle was made at the prevailing market price. It is for use of IT only. They have a partner in this project, Kabul Chawla, a childhood friend of Chetan from Punjabi Bagh where my sons grew up. He joined them in 2004. It is preposterous to think that in 2004, I planned that in 2006 I would deliver a judgment as a result of which Chawla would become a beneficiary in some project which has nothing to do with my sons. The inferences drawn are malicious and are based on total distortion of facts.
There is a reference to a company called Harpawan Constructions Ltd which was incorporated with my son’s old friend, P Bhageria. This company has not undertaken any business activities, whatsoever, and does not have even an inch of area. My sons have no interest in any project of Bhagerias or in any of their companies.
What pains me is when sinister motives are attached to even innocuous events. In 2006, Noida Authority advertised allotment of residential plots. Thousands of people applied, including seven members of my family. Six lost out in the draw of lots and one was successful. However, the scheme was challenged and the allotment process cancelled. My daughter-in-law did not get any plot. A conspiracy is being smelt even in that.
WHERE’S THE ACCOUNTABILITY? My sons purchased a house in Maharani Bagh. Ninety per cent of the sale consideration came from loans from public sector banks. On some occasions, they were extra cautious not to mention my full name in their business activities lest they be accused of misuse of my name. Even that is being considered scandalous.
My sons continue to live with me after my wife’s death. Much is being made of the fact that my official residence was temporarily shown by them as their registered office. They did this in 2004 for the convenience of receiving mail. This was without my knowledge. As soon as I came to know of this, I got it corrected in 2004 itself. No commercial activity whatsoever was ever carried on from the Punjabi Bagh house. In various categories, my sons, on credit worthiness of their business, have a combined banking facility of about Rs 75 crore. Should they be denied or deprived of this facility because they are my sons? None of my orders have benefited them in any manner, whatsoever. To the best of my understanding, they have not committed any wrong, but if they have, law has to be applied to them like to any other citizen.
Is it fair to call the proceedings, still pending before Court, motivated? Any price is not heavy for a bold and fearless judge and my worry is also not as much about my individual pain and agony, but about the adverse impact such unwarranted public verdicts can have on the independence of the judiciary. Have not these insinuators any responsibility to the public to give correct information and not falsehoods or half-baked truths? Are they not subject to any accountability? Perhaps, they feel, they are not.
I have used this column to put the record straight. I had desisted from doing so all this time because of the pending proceedings in Supreme Court and High Court, in some of which, the campaigners are appearing as advocates. I have spoken now because silence is not an option any more.
Ajudge is trained to speak only through his judgments. He does not have to justify his judgments. I retired on January 14 this year as Chief Justice of India. A large number of cases were decided by me. A judge cannot decide cases guided by the number of people who may be pleased or displeased by the judgment.
My judgments on various unauthorised constructions and misuse of residential premises have come in for both praise and criticism. They have been commented upon by those who were adversely affected and also by politicians, RWAs, media and even Parliament. It’s not a judge’s function to respond to such criticism. Judges decide on law and not on populism. An afternoon publication imputed a motive to these judgments and carried a malicious campaign for nearly three months.
FALSE ALLEGATION: Two members of the Bar addressed a press conference and claimed that I had delivered some judicial orders to benefit my two sons in their business. The story appeared only in a weekly newspaper which also carried an interview of a senior advocate. The interview suggested as if the entire media had been managed or was scared and that may be the reason for it to block the story.
My initial instinct was to maintain silence and follow the discipline of a judge even though I have retired. However, I was told that a distinguished predecessor of mine suggested on TV that silence on such allegations was not the option. I decided to break my silence lest people believe that I have no answers to give.
The attack against me is that my two sons — Chetan and Nitin — are small-time exporters and they acquired wealth as a result of my judicial decisions. It is utterly false. My sons made a modest beginning in garment export business more than a decade ago. After struggling initially, their business expanded in the past few years and their turnover to 10 countries and 40 foreign buyers has reached a couple of hundred crores. Their manufacturing units are in Noida. For their consistent growth, they have been recognised as a star export house by the ministry of commerce and industry. Their income and profits are disclosed in their tax returns. They have a large number of employees. They require neither parental support nor government patronage to expand what is a pure private sector business activity in a competitive overseas market.
CONSPIRACY THEORY: It has been alleged that my sons have taken discretionary allotment of certain plots from Noida Authority. The imputation is that one of my judicial orders in a case, which is still pending, favoured an important member of a political party and the allotment of industrial plots was made because of that. I have now asked my sons and have checked the allotment record of the plots. They also have some factories on rent and some purchased from the market.
Four industrial plots were allotted to my sons at different points of time by Noida Authority. These allotments were made in 1999, 2000 and 2006. All allotments were under schemes of Noida Authority where entrepreneurs making investments and generating employment there were allotted plots. These were not stray, solitary or discretionary allotments. Under these schemes, thousands of allotments were made at pre-determined prices.
Let me satisfy those who are bending backward to discover conspiracy theories by saying that when the allotment of three plots — one in 1999 and two in 2000 — were made, the government in power was not the same as in 2004 or 2006. There were two different chief ministers — one in 1999 and another in 2000. The two allotments in 2000 were made at about Rs 2,100 per sqm, which was the pre-determined rate at which allotment was made to every entrepreneur. In 2003, my sons purchased another plot in the same sector from the market and even at that time, the rate was Rs 2,550 per sqm.
RECKLESS INSINUATION: The allotments made in 1999 and 2000 are being used at this stage after my retirement to impute motives for judgments and orders of sealing passed in 2006. The plot allotted in 2006 is not a commercial plot as insinuated. It is an industrial plot allotted in view of their growth in export business as per the scheme. The allotment has no link, direct or indirect, with orders regarding sealing of properties in Delhi. The reckless insinuation is that the prevailing market price of the said plot was 10 times the price of allotment. Are insinuators willing to buy even today at 1/3rd the price being quoted by them?
In addition to their growing export business, my sons have also diversified to development of IT parks. They have, however, no interest, whatsoever, in non-IT buildings. They do not own even one inch of area in any mall or shopping complex. IT plots in Noida are given under institutional category which cover plots for schools, colleges, religious and cultural activities and for IT use. They are not commercial plots. The allotment of IT plots in 2004 in a sector which was almost a jungle was made at the prevailing market price. It is for use of IT only. They have a partner in this project, Kabul Chawla, a childhood friend of Chetan from Punjabi Bagh where my sons grew up. He joined them in 2004. It is preposterous to think that in 2004, I planned that in 2006 I would deliver a judgment as a result of which Chawla would become a beneficiary in some project which has nothing to do with my sons. The inferences drawn are malicious and are based on total distortion of facts.
There is a reference to a company called Harpawan Constructions Ltd which was incorporated with my son’s old friend, P Bhageria. This company has not undertaken any business activities, whatsoever, and does not have even an inch of area. My sons have no interest in any project of Bhagerias or in any of their companies.
What pains me is when sinister motives are attached to even innocuous events. In 2006, Noida Authority advertised allotment of residential plots. Thousands of people applied, including seven members of my family. Six lost out in the draw of lots and one was successful. However, the scheme was challenged and the allotment process cancelled. My daughter-in-law did not get any plot. A conspiracy is being smelt even in that.
WHERE’S THE ACCOUNTABILITY? My sons purchased a house in Maharani Bagh. Ninety per cent of the sale consideration came from loans from public sector banks. On some occasions, they were extra cautious not to mention my full name in their business activities lest they be accused of misuse of my name. Even that is being considered scandalous.
My sons continue to live with me after my wife’s death. Much is being made of the fact that my official residence was temporarily shown by them as their registered office. They did this in 2004 for the convenience of receiving mail. This was without my knowledge. As soon as I came to know of this, I got it corrected in 2004 itself. No commercial activity whatsoever was ever carried on from the Punjabi Bagh house. In various categories, my sons, on credit worthiness of their business, have a combined banking facility of about Rs 75 crore. Should they be denied or deprived of this facility because they are my sons? None of my orders have benefited them in any manner, whatsoever. To the best of my understanding, they have not committed any wrong, but if they have, law has to be applied to them like to any other citizen.
Is it fair to call the proceedings, still pending before Court, motivated? Any price is not heavy for a bold and fearless judge and my worry is also not as much about my individual pain and agony, but about the adverse impact such unwarranted public verdicts can have on the independence of the judiciary. Have not these insinuators any responsibility to the public to give correct information and not falsehoods or half-baked truths? Are they not subject to any accountability? Perhaps, they feel, they are not.
I have used this column to put the record straight. I had desisted from doing so all this time because of the pending proceedings in Supreme Court and High Court, in some of which, the campaigners are appearing as advocates. I have spoken now because silence is not an option any more.
Charges against fomer CJI Y K Sabharwal
Contempt Of Judicial Power
Former Chief Justice of India Y.K. Sabharwal's defence becomes murkier -- rebutting the former CJI's rejoinder, point by painstaking point to show how it ignores or sidesteps the inconvenient and emphasises the irrelevant.
Prashant Bhushan , Campaign for Judicial Accountability and ReformsJustice Sabharwal finally broke his silence in a signed piece in the Times of India. His defence proceeds by ignoring and sidestepping the inconvenient and emphasising the irrelevant to evoke sympathy. To examine the adequacy of his defence, we need to see his defence against the gravamen of each charge against him.
Charge No. 1 That his son’s companies had shifted their registered offices to his official residence.
Justice Sabharwal’s response: That as soon as he came to know he ordered his son’s to shift it back.
Our Rejoinder: This is False. In April 2007, in a recorded interview with the Midday reporter M.K. Tayal he feigned total ignorance of the shifting of the offices to his official residence. Copy of the CD containing the said conversation is available as Annexure I. In fact, the registered offices were shifted back from his official residence to his Punjabi Bagh residence exactly on the day that the BPTP mall developers became his sons partners, making it very risky to continue at his official residence. Copies of the document showing the date of induction of Kabul Chawla, the promoter and owner of BPTP in Pawan Impex Pvt. Ltd., one of the companies of Justice Sabharwal’s sons, and Form no. 18 showing the shifting of the registered office from the official residence of Justice Sabharwal to his family residence on 23rd October 2004 are available as Annexure II
***
Charge No. 2: That he called for and dealt with the sealing of commercial property case in March 2005, though it was not assigned to him. It is only the Chief Justice who can assign pending cases to various judges. He was not the CJI at that time. Copy of the order dated 17th March 2005 is available as Annexure III.
Justice Sabharwal’s response: Justice Sabharwal does not answer this charge.
***
Charge No. 3. That he did this exactly around the time that his sons got into partnerships with Mall and commercial complex developers, who stood to benefit from his sealing orders. The chain of events is as follows:
On 23rd October 2004, Kabul Chawla, the promoter of one of the biggest developers of shopping malls and commercial complexes, was inducted in Pawan Impex as a 50% shareholder and Director. On 12.02.2005, Kabul Chawla’s wife, Anjali Chawla was also inducted as Director of Pawan Impex. On 17th March 2005, Justice Sabharwal ordered that the case dealing with the sealing of commercial establishments should also be heard along with the writ of M.C. Mehta which was being heard by him. On 8th April 2005, Chetan Sabharwal and Nitin Sabharwal, two sons of Justice Sabharwal, set up another company, Harpawan Constructors, with the object of constructing Commercial complexes. On 25th October 2005, Purshottam Bagheria, one of the big builders on shopping malls and commercial complexes of Delhi was inducted as a partner in Harpwan Construtors. On 16th Februrary 2006, Justice Y. K. Sabharwal, who by that time had become the Chief Justice of India, passed a detailed order in the aforementioned case setting into motion the demolition and sealing in Delhi.
Justice Sabharwal’s response: That they were his sons friends. That Harpawan Constructors which was set up by his sons with the Mall developer Purshottam Bagheria did not do any business. In fact the courts under him got Bagheria’s 1 MG road mall demolished. That his sons are not developing shopping malls but only an IT Park.
Our Rejoinder: If so many Mall and commercial complex developers were his sons’ close friends, then he should not have dealt with the case anyway since that creates an immediate conflict of interest. Moreover, why should they go into partnership with these developers who stood to benefit from Justice Sabharwal’s orders, and that too exactly at the time when he seizes control of the sealing of commercial property case and starts dealing with it?
He says that the company set up by his sons in partnership with Bagheria has not done any business. If so, why was this new company set up for developing commercial complexes in partnership with this builder? In an interview with ZNews Justice Sabhawal claims credit for the judiciary under him ordering the demolition of the illegal 1 MG road mall owned by Bagheria. But then why do his sons enter into partnerships with such an illegal builder whose buildings have had to be demolished by the Judiciary?
And immediately after this partnership with the Sabharwals, Bagheria went on to announce the construction of “Square 1 mall” in Saket as the most fashionable mall in India. And all the fashion designers who had their shops and outlets at 1 MG road went on to buy space in the Square I mall. What is important to note here is that Bagheria and his partners at 1 MG road had already parted with all the space on 1 MG road. The demolition thus hurt the designers and others who had bought shops there, but did not hurt Bagheria who may have in fact benefited from it by clearing the land of his tenants and getting them to buy space at his new malls at Saket and elsewhere.
An IT park is also a commercial complex like any other. Many commercial establishments sealed were IT centres and BPOs which were forced to buy space in IT parks like that being constructed by his sons and their partners.
***
Charge No. 4 That the Union Bank of India gave a loan of 28 crores to his sons’ company Pavan Impex on a collateral of plant and machinery and other moveables at the site of their proposed IT Park, which were non-existent.
Justice Sabharwal’s response: That his sons’ had a credit facility of 75 crores.
Our Rejoinder: If that were the case, what was the need for mortgaging non-existent assets for obtaining this loan? Moreover, the Banks’ senior manager is on record saying that the loan was given on the basis of projected sales to prospective customers. The conversation with the Bank Manager is in the CD referred to as Annexure I.
***
Charge No. 5. That because of the obvious conflict of interest, he could not have dealt with this case.
Justice Sabharwal’s response: That his orders have never benefited his sons.
Our Rejoinder: His orders of sealing lakhs of commercial properties clearly forced those establishments to buy or rent space in commercial complexes like those that his sons’ company were constructing; and shopping malls etc that their friends and partners were constructing. There was a clear conflict of interest and his orders have clearly benefited his sons and their partners.
***
Charge No. 6 That a large number of industrial and commercial plots were allotted in Noida by the UP government to his sons’ companies, at prices far below the market price. In particular several huge plots were allotted between December 2004 and November 2006 by the Mulayam Singh/Amar Singh government, while he was dealing with Amar Singh’s tapes case, and had stayed the publication of those tapes on the behest of Amar Singh.
Justice Sabharwal’s response: That some of the plots were allotted by earlier different governments. That the prices were not far below the market price. That the allotments were made in the normal course to his sons who were entrepreneurs and were providing employment to hundreds of people in Noida.
Our Rejoinder: Even if one were to look at only the last two allotments of 12,000 metres each made in December 2004 and November 2006, made by the Mulayam Singh/Amar Singh governments, it is obvious that the allotments are definitely not in the normal course.
Consider the allotment to Pawan Impex. The company has Nil turnover and Nil business (as declared in their application) on the date of application on 30/12/04. The very next day they receive a letter from Noida Authority asking them to come for an interview within 4 days on 5/11/04. On that day the authority notes that they want 12,000 sq. M in Sector 125 or Sector 132. The minutes note that because the work of development of Sector 125 is not complete and because in sector 132 the plot size available is only up to 11,000 sq metres, the matter is deferred for the next meeting. In the next meeting on 13/12/04, though Sector 125 is still not developed, a decision is taken to allot them a 12,000 Sq. metre plot in Sector 125 for a BPO. All this without a word about how and why a company with nil business is worthy of being allotted one of the largest plots of 12,000 sq. meters. The previous application of M/s Softedge Solutions Pvt. Ltd for an IT park is rejected on the ground that they could not satisfactorily answer questions about their previous experience in IT and their technical tie up. But Pawan Impex represented by Chetan Sabharwal with Nil business, no previous track record in IT and no technical tie up sails through with no questions asked. All in the normal course, of course!
Copies of the profit and loss accounts of Pawan Impex Pvt. Ltd. for the year ended 31.03.2003 and 31.03.2004 showing its income nil are available as Annexure IV. Justice Sabharwal says that the allotment price of Rs. 3,700/sq M was not below the market price. The current circle rate in Sector 125 is Rs. 11,000/sq metre and the market price is over Rs. 30,000/sq meter there.
Similarly, the huge plot of 3 acres, No. 12 A in Sector 68 alloted to Sabs Exports in November 2006 at a throw away price of Rs. 4000 per square meter is also not in the normal course and was similarly made within days of application and a bogus interview, without any other system. Today, within 10 months of allotment, even the circle rate of plots in Sector 68 is Rs. 8,000 per sq. meter and the market rate is Rs. 20-22,000 per sq. meter. Moreover this allotment has been made at a time when he was dealing with Amar Singh’s tapes case and had stayed the publication of the tapes.
***
Charge No. 7 That his sons have purchased a 1150 square meter house in Maharani bagh, New Delhi in March 2007 for a consideration of 15.46 crores. The source of money for this is unexplained and in the sale deed they seek to conceal their relationship with Justice Sabharwal by writing his name as Yogesh Kumar and giving their factory address instead of the residential address.
Justice Sabharwal’s response: That 90 percent of the money for the purchase of this house was from four banks; that his sons concealed his full name in the sale deed in order to avoid taking advantage of their association with him.
Our Rejoinder: Banks do not normally advance loans of 90% of the value of a property on its security. Otherwise they would end up holding inadequate security if the property prices fall by even 15%. If they have done so in this case, it is either because of an undue favour as in the case of the loan of 28 Crores to Pawan Impex, or they valued the property higher than the declared purchase price. His explanation for concealing his name in the sale deed is hilarious and unbelievable since his sons did not hesitate to use his official residence as the registered office of their companies. Moreover, this was in a registered sale deed with a private party, where there was no occasion for taking any advantage by using his name.
***
It is therefore clear that Justice Sabharwal is guilty of serious judicial misconduct and appears to be prima facie guilty of offences under the prevention of Corruption Act which need to be investigated. It is also significant that highly respected former Judges of Supreme Court of India like Justice V. R. Krishna Iyer, Justice P. B. Sawant, Justice J.S. Verma etc. have all called for a thorough investigation into this matter. This is imperative and could be done by a panel of retired Judges and other eminent members of civil society. We call upon the Chief Justice of India to constitute such an inquiry panel and request Justice Sabharwal to co-operate with it.
Silencing exposure of judicial corruption by contempt:
Meanwhile the Delhi High Court has held the staff of Mid Day guilty of contempt of Court for publishing some of the above allegations in their newspaper in May this year. This is despite the fact that they had pleaded that the allegations were all true and based on unimpeachable, authentic and verifiable documents obtained essentially from the website of the Department of Company Affairs. However, without examining Mid Day’s defence of truth, the High Court held them guilty on the basis that
"The nature of the revelations and the context in which they appear, though purporting to single out former Chief Justice of India, tarnishes the image of the Supreme Court. It tends to erode the confidence of the general public in the institution itself. The Supreme Court sits in divisions and every order is of a Bench. By imputing motive to its presiding member automatically sends a signal that the other members were dummies or were party to fulfill the ulterior design."
It may be noted that Mid Day’s allegations were only against Justice Sabharwal and they had not even mentioned any other judge in their reports.
We regard this view of the Court as highly pernicious which would mean that even truthful exposure of corruption in the judiciary would not be permitted. This view will make a mockery of the basic principles of our democratic republic which is founded on the premise that the people are the real masters and all public servants including the judiciary are working on their behalf and are accountable to them. It would also render irrelevant the amendment in the Contempt of Courts Act by which truth was made a valid defence. A statement signed by several eminent persons in this regard is being issued today and the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms also fully endorses that statement.
Y K Sabharwal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y_K_Sabharwal
Cover of Mid-Day (2007-06-26) showing an IT mall under construction by Pawan Impex, a firm promoted by Justice Sabharwal's sons. The Rs. 560 million, eight story mall in NOIDA is being built jointly with shopping mall giant BPTP. Before the partnership with BPTP, the share capital of Pawan Impex was Rs. 0.1 million.[2]
Career
Sabharwal worked as an advocate for Indian Railways from 1969 to 1981, as an advocate for Delhi administration from 1973 to 1976-1977, later as Additional Standing Counsel and then as Standing Counsel. He also served as Counsel to the Central Government from 1980 to 1986. He represented Delhi in the Bar Council of India from 1969 to 1973.
He became an Additional Judge in the Delhi High Court on November 17, 1986 and a judge soon after.
On February 3, 1999, he was appointed as Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. In less than a year, he was appointed as a judge, Supreme Court of India.
Being the seniormost judge of the Supreme Court of India at the time, Sabharwal was appointed as the Chief Justice of India to succeed Mr. R.C. Lahoti who was retiring on October 31, 2005[1]. He was sworn in as the Chief Justice by the President of India, A P J Abdul Kalam on November 1, 2005 for a period of about 14 months as he would turn 65, the retirement age for Chief Justices, on January 14, 2007.
[edit] Significant judgements
As a judge of the Supreme Court, he delivered several important judgements dealing with constitutional matters.
- A constitutional bench headed by Justice Sabharwal in October 2005 held as unconstitutional the dissolution of Bihar assembly on the basis of the report of Governor Buta Singh but refused to revert the action, thereby paving way for fresh elections.
- He headed the bench which refused to grant any relief in the 2006 Delhi sealing drive in which thousands of illegal constructions were demolished across Delhi. This became controversial after it was later found that his two sons were connected with the real estate business in Delhi.
- In 2007, he headed a nine judge constitution bench which ruled that all laws placed under the ninth schedule after April 24, 1973, shall be open to be challenged in court if they violate the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 14, 19, 20 and 21 of the Constitution. This judgment was made in response to a number of petitions made on various laws including the Tamil Nadu Reservation Act, 1994.
[edit] Allegations of Real Estate Operations by his sons
During the 2006 Delhi sealing drive, the Supreme Court under Sabharwal demonstrated extraordinary zeal in demolishing a slarge number of commercial properties which were illegally running in residential areas. There were very extensive protests every day, and considerable political pressure, due to which demolitions would often be hindered. The court monitored events and regularly reprimanded the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for its tardy progress. As a consequence of the extensive bulldozing of buildings, legal commercial properties, as in the new shopping malls, rose dramatically in price[3]. Particularly, luxury store owners and other upscale businesses were very keen to get into the limited mall floor space.
In May 2007, five months after Sabharwal retired from the bench, the afternoon newspaper Mid-Day brought out a series of articles that presented documents showing that YK Sabharwal's sons, Chetan and Nitin Sabharwal, owned at least four small ventures, most of them oriented towards garment exports, but one in the construction arena. During Sabharwal's tenure as Chief justice, two of these firms suddenly attracted the interest of the very largest players in the shopping mall industry.
The first firm, Pawan Impex, Pvt Ltd, was registered for some time at Justice Sabharwal's official bungalow in the heart of Delhi, and later at his private house. Having the firm registered at his government-furnished house may have been illegal[4]. In a newspaper editorial on Sept 2, 2007, Justice Sabharwal has said that he asked his sons to shift the registered address as soon as he found out about it[5], but in an interview recorded by Mid-Day in April 2007, after the shift, he claims complete ignorance about the matter[4].
More damaging is the fact that Pawan Impex, which had remained with a capitalization of 0.1 million Rs. since its founding in 2002, suddenly attracted the interest of Kabul and Anjali Chawla, owners of the large and rapidly growing real estate firm Business Park Town Planners (BPTP)[6] which had promoted large malls like Park Centra (Gurgaon), Next Door (Faridabad), and the Parklands Shop-In Park (North Delhi). In June 2006, at the peak of the Supreme Court interest in the 2006 Delhi sealing drive, the Chawla's invested in Park Impex, raising the Share Capital 300 fold to Rs. 30 million, with equal shares between the original promoters and the Chawlas[7][8]. Two months later, in August, the company obtained a loan of Rs. 280 million by a bank which happens to be a tenant of a BPTP property. These allegations appear to be well documented in a set of papers released by the Campaign for Judicial Accountability[9] and were not addressed in Justice Sabharwal's public response[5], though he did mention that his sons were creating an IT Mall. After the partnership with BPTP in June 2007 Pawan Impex purchased 4 acres (16,000 m2) of land in NOIDA on which this IT Mall is being constructed; Mid-Day reports it to be a Rs. 560 million project with 300,000 sq ft (28,000 m2). saleable floor area[2].
A second firm, Harpawan Constructors, equally unknown, had also been promoted by the brothers. In October 2005, the promoters of Filatex India, a polyester yarn firm with a turnover of Rs. 3 billion in FY 2007, Purshottam and Madhu Sudan Bhageria, also the owners of real estate firm Fargo Estates, invested in Harpawan. Subsequently, the Bhagerias announced plans for developing the Square One, a mall devoted to luxury brands in Delhi. Justice Sabharwal has said that Purshottam Bhageria was his son's childhood friend, and that Harparwan Construction, despite its name, has not made any real estate or other investments[5].
The business of Chetan and Nitin expanded dramatically after 2005. Besides setting up several garment manufacturing factories, they have embarked on a massive real estate programme in NOIDA.
Possibly the largest project for Pawan Impex is the Rs. 560 million IT Mall being constructed in Noida. In the application to construct this mall, they had given the turnover and business of their company as "Nil". Their application for constructing this mall was approved rather mysteriously, given that in the application they had declared their company to be "Nil turnover" and "Nil business"[4]. An earlier applicant, Softedge Solutions, had been rejected on the ground that they could not satisfactorily answer questions about their previous experience in IT and their technical tie up. But Pawan Impex represented by Chetan Sabharwal with Nil business, no previous track record in IT and no technical tie up, managed to obtain permission. [4]
[edit] Conflict of Interest charges
Whatever the facts of the case, it is widely felt that Justice Sabharwal's being active in such decisions when his sons were even partly involved in the Delhi real estate business lacked propriety, and that he should have recused himself from these cases. To the contrary, the Outlook (magazine) printed a report claiming that he had "called for and dealt with the sealing of commercial property cases in March 2005, though it was not assigned to him."[4].
The actions have been condemned as being at best improper and at worst an attempt "to benefit his sons who entered into partnerships with shopping malls and developers of commercial complexes"[10]. Former Solicitor General KK Sud called this behaviour "the height of indiscretion."[11]
In terms of the content of the charges, the most damaging aspect is the participation of the shopping mall construction giant BPTP in his son's export-import business. Both the Chawla's were on the board of the firm by early 2005, around the same time that Sabharwal started taking interest in the demolition drive. What is surprising is that while Justice Sabharwal in his justification[5] addresses the other two (lesser) charges in some detail, but he is completely silent about the BPTP connection.
[edit] Jail term for two Journalists, cartoonist, publisher
In September 2007, four Mid-Day journalists were sentenced to prison by the Delhi High Court for contempt of court (making such allegations about an ex-judge)[12]. The scribes said: "We stated facts in our stories. (in the articles relating to former Chief Justice of India Y K Sabharwal) and that is why we should not be hauled up for contempt. The laws in the country are outdated." The contempt laws in India do not rely on truth as the primary test for judging contempt. The columns were also somewhat tongue-in-cheek, accompanied also by a cartoon (the cartoonist has also been sentenced to four months in jail).
Justice R S Sodhi and Justice B N Chaturvedi of the Delhi High Court, in their judgement, said: "We feel, in this peculiar case, the contemnors have tarnished the image of the highest court and the sentence of four months' imprisonment would serve the justice." M K Tayal, senior journalist, said, "The judges did not go into the merits of the argument. They did not apply their minds while delivering the judgement."[13]. "The Supreme Court in its judgement has clearly laid down the Laxman Rekha which we feel the publications have crossed." (The Laxman Rekha is a Ramayanic reference to a line that should not be crossed). However, the defendants had already processed their bail requests from the Supreme Court, and they were immediately released on bail. Tayal and three others are no more associated with Mid Day. It appears that the management of the newspaper compromised with Sabharwal and BPTP. Tayal, a former Indian army officer, objected Mid Day's policy of refraining from exposing more about the dealings of ex-CJI. Mid Day's MD Tariq Answari had written a note regarding the newspaper not carrying any more article on Sabharwal.
About the judgement, ex-law minister Shanti Bhushan stated that Parliament had in 2006 amended the Contempt of Courts Act to say that "if the allegations against a judge were found to be true, then they would not be considered contemptuous". In view of this, the judgement, he said, may be "only aimed at terrifying the media and an attempt to curb truthfulness."[10]
In any event, the decision of four months imprisonment for the reporters, without establishing the falsity of the reportage, has only brought the matter into far more intense public scrutiny.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
A new magazine
I am planning to start a general, news, infotainment monthly magazine. I know the timing for bringing out such a magazine is not best suited in the present business environment without the backing of any financial group. It is also perhaps not the best time to get into business as over cautious investors are holding on to their resources and plans.
However, I feel that recession trends are not going to last. And instead of waiting for the tide to ebb, I am planning to stand up and start working on the dream which have been nurturing for long.
I am seeking your guidance and views so that it would enable me answer few of the questions any conscious reader would like to address:
1. What kind of content would you like to read at home
A – For time pass
B – For information
C – For news
2. How much time are you able to spare in a month for reading
A – Newspaper
B – Magazines
C – Non-Fiction/Fiction
3. In the era of TV/Mobile/internet – do you think you get all the information/news/infotainment at one go and one platform?
4. What kind of information/news/help do you often seek but are not able to access?
5. What does an ideal magazine mean to you?
These are simple questions and hopefully you will be able to spare a few minutes to answer the questions diligently. Your reply will enable me to understand the requirements of a reader/consumer and will equip me to address the content of the magazine in a more systematic and planned manner.
However, I feel that recession trends are not going to last. And instead of waiting for the tide to ebb, I am planning to stand up and start working on the dream which have been nurturing for long.
I am seeking your guidance and views so that it would enable me answer few of the questions any conscious reader would like to address:
1. What kind of content would you like to read at home
A – For time pass
B – For information
C – For news
2. How much time are you able to spare in a month for reading
A – Newspaper
B – Magazines
C – Non-Fiction/Fiction
3. In the era of TV/Mobile/internet – do you think you get all the information/news/infotainment at one go and one platform?
4. What kind of information/news/help do you often seek but are not able to access?
5. What does an ideal magazine mean to you?
These are simple questions and hopefully you will be able to spare a few minutes to answer the questions diligently. Your reply will enable me to understand the requirements of a reader/consumer and will equip me to address the content of the magazine in a more systematic and planned manner.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
We need a leader
Congress President Sonia Gandhi at a rally in Bhadrak(Orissa) today praised Prime Manmohan Singh for “putting a lot of pressure on Pakistan” for the Mumbai attack. Gandhi also said that Singh had all the qualities to hold the top job.
Sorry, Madam! Singh does not have all the qualities to be the king. Had he really been the KING, he would have attacked Pakistan.
In all fairness, Singh has many qualities but perhaps not all of them. Our king has to be perfect. We cannot, and should not, accept any person less than perfect as our prime minister. Let us evolve a zero tolerance policy towards our PM.
Enough has been written and a lot more has been said about Singh and his qualities or the lack of it… In fact he has been perfect in one thing – becoming the PM and staying put for five years. He has done a great job just being there.
But I am not sure if we can give him full marks in other spheres of general administration of the country, ensuring corruption free governance and complete leadership.
For one thing that the government really deserves full praise is empowering the people with the RTI. The remaining is just filling the gaps (even though this is essential). Like for instance, modernizing the airports – the time has arrived for us as a nation to move into the big league. Of course, who gets to modernize the airports and who pockets what percentage is another question. The bottom line is that airports are being given a better look with improved facilities.
Then of course the schemes – employment guarantee scheme, etc… have been initiated. They do deserve good grades for at least trying to initiate meaning plans. How successful they remain, only time will tell.
But given our administrative structure that empowers our babus, enslaved mindset, archaic laws, rules and regulations and incoherent will of the people we are not making much headway. It is not that we are a young nation craving to compete and succeed in a hurry. They will not be done in a day or two. But we need a good prime minister who can pull in all together.
If Singh had been Sonia Gandhi or Singh had been L K Advani then it would have been different. But Singh was Singh and most of the time he was more interested in saving his skin and keeping Gandhi in good humour. So where is the question of him being an ‘independent person’ or a strong PM. Advani says Singh is a weak PM. Sure! Singh just ended up pressuring Pakistan for the Mumbai attack.
More than two weeks ago, on a TV channel I said that Pakistan would disintegrate in six months to two years time.
Many areas of Pakistan are not in its control. Pakistan Army is on a weak footing. They are constantly being the World for money. Recently their president was seeking aid from Japan to tackle terrorism. More than half the forces are deployed along the Afghanistan border. The Americans are operating inside Pakistan. So we could have, had we had a tough Prime Minister, attacked Pakistan instead of just pressuring Pakistan. We need a PM who will be able to change – not only the administration, legislature and judiciary, but we the people also. We need a PM who will be willing to take bold decisions and eliminate corruption. The country needs a leader.
Sorry, Madam! Singh does not have all the qualities to be the king. Had he really been the KING, he would have attacked Pakistan.
In all fairness, Singh has many qualities but perhaps not all of them. Our king has to be perfect. We cannot, and should not, accept any person less than perfect as our prime minister. Let us evolve a zero tolerance policy towards our PM.
Enough has been written and a lot more has been said about Singh and his qualities or the lack of it… In fact he has been perfect in one thing – becoming the PM and staying put for five years. He has done a great job just being there.
But I am not sure if we can give him full marks in other spheres of general administration of the country, ensuring corruption free governance and complete leadership.
For one thing that the government really deserves full praise is empowering the people with the RTI. The remaining is just filling the gaps (even though this is essential). Like for instance, modernizing the airports – the time has arrived for us as a nation to move into the big league. Of course, who gets to modernize the airports and who pockets what percentage is another question. The bottom line is that airports are being given a better look with improved facilities.
Then of course the schemes – employment guarantee scheme, etc… have been initiated. They do deserve good grades for at least trying to initiate meaning plans. How successful they remain, only time will tell.
But given our administrative structure that empowers our babus, enslaved mindset, archaic laws, rules and regulations and incoherent will of the people we are not making much headway. It is not that we are a young nation craving to compete and succeed in a hurry. They will not be done in a day or two. But we need a good prime minister who can pull in all together.
If Singh had been Sonia Gandhi or Singh had been L K Advani then it would have been different. But Singh was Singh and most of the time he was more interested in saving his skin and keeping Gandhi in good humour. So where is the question of him being an ‘independent person’ or a strong PM. Advani says Singh is a weak PM. Sure! Singh just ended up pressuring Pakistan for the Mumbai attack.
More than two weeks ago, on a TV channel I said that Pakistan would disintegrate in six months to two years time.
Many areas of Pakistan are not in its control. Pakistan Army is on a weak footing. They are constantly being the World for money. Recently their president was seeking aid from Japan to tackle terrorism. More than half the forces are deployed along the Afghanistan border. The Americans are operating inside Pakistan. So we could have, had we had a tough Prime Minister, attacked Pakistan instead of just pressuring Pakistan. We need a PM who will be able to change – not only the administration, legislature and judiciary, but we the people also. We need a PM who will be willing to take bold decisions and eliminate corruption. The country needs a leader.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Throw a shoe at a politician
Gift a shoe or spit at… depends on what you prefer!
Jarnail Singh is hardly the kind of journalist who could have thrown a show at anyone. He is one of the few low profiles scribes, who recently lost a dozen of kilos. Not only does he become a worldwide hit but also may contest elections to sit amongst these bloody suckers and eventually get a bigger and better opportunity to … stack the moolah in a Swiss bank account or drive a comfortable sedan in one his swanky islands in the Panama with babes by his arms.
But P C Chidambaram is the kind of minister who could have attracted such kind of attack. And interestingly he is not the only one. …
I can think of hundreds of such netas and ministers who journalists like Singh and even ‘Aam Admi’ would not mind not only throwing a shoe at but even spitting… Please join the boot it camp. This is a serious effort to tell the politicians where they stand. Shall we start alphabetically or start from who comes first.
Amar Singh – for being our famous dalal and for his awful parodies
Mulayam Singh Yadav – What has he done? For being an alleged American man, for promoting gunda raj in UP, promoting Yadavs and Muslims, for taking crores in bribes and possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income (this we will let is pass – since it is the norm of any politician), recruitment scam, for opening Mayawati’s nada
Mayawati - for the Taj Express corridor scam, float pump scam, for openly accepting money for her happy birthday and for taking action against her own MLA who was collecting the cash, for getting hooked to Kanshi Ram and Ambedkar, for allowing Mulayam Singh to open that nada
Laloo Prasad Yadav – for fodder and other scams (just too many)
Jayalalitha – For possessing too many sarees, sandals, accessories, and just being horribly fat (this is just for kicks)
L K Advani – Damn it. He is not worth it. For being a shame of a home minister, for allowing Kandhar to happen, for not taking action against BDR after they slaughtered BSF men
A B Vajpayee - for the Kargil fiasco, for letting his crony Mahajan get away with murder, for Shining India, for Rs 20,000 crore highway projects, for promoting Ambanis (this again we will let is pass – since it is the norm)
Jansanghis – For accepting crap from leaders like Advani and Vajpayee
Shivraj Patil – for changing three dresses on the terror attack evening. Just this is enough. (the only place where a full stop is essential)
Manmohan Singh – For making the PM’s post insignificant, for allowing Tamils to be killed in Sri Lanka, for going soft on Pakistan, for accepting nuclear terms of the US
Sonia Gandhi - for being an agent – KGB or CIA or whatever, for smuggling, for removing Sitaram Kesri, for becoming God Mother of Congress
Congressmen – for accepting a person like Sonia Gandhi as their leader
Rahul Gandhi – for being the Casanova around town, for that sex and rock and roll thing when the country needs him
Left (Karat, Bardhan and Gang) – for taking their cut in deals, for having their cake and pudding and eating it too, for backing naxals in Nepal and India, for following the Chinese model of communism, for Nandigram and Singur
Menaka Gandhi – for not taking off that towel in the advertisement
Please send a shoe to the neta’s address who you think deserves one. You must tell your reasons for sending your shoe. I can help you find the address or phone number of any place.
Jarnail Singh is hardly the kind of journalist who could have thrown a show at anyone. He is one of the few low profiles scribes, who recently lost a dozen of kilos. Not only does he become a worldwide hit but also may contest elections to sit amongst these bloody suckers and eventually get a bigger and better opportunity to … stack the moolah in a Swiss bank account or drive a comfortable sedan in one his swanky islands in the Panama with babes by his arms.
But P C Chidambaram is the kind of minister who could have attracted such kind of attack. And interestingly he is not the only one. …
I can think of hundreds of such netas and ministers who journalists like Singh and even ‘Aam Admi’ would not mind not only throwing a shoe at but even spitting… Please join the boot it camp. This is a serious effort to tell the politicians where they stand. Shall we start alphabetically or start from who comes first.
Amar Singh – for being our famous dalal and for his awful parodies
Mulayam Singh Yadav – What has he done? For being an alleged American man, for promoting gunda raj in UP, promoting Yadavs and Muslims, for taking crores in bribes and possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income (this we will let is pass – since it is the norm of any politician), recruitment scam, for opening Mayawati’s nada
Mayawati - for the Taj Express corridor scam, float pump scam, for openly accepting money for her happy birthday and for taking action against her own MLA who was collecting the cash, for getting hooked to Kanshi Ram and Ambedkar, for allowing Mulayam Singh to open that nada
Laloo Prasad Yadav – for fodder and other scams (just too many)
Jayalalitha – For possessing too many sarees, sandals, accessories, and just being horribly fat (this is just for kicks)
L K Advani – Damn it. He is not worth it. For being a shame of a home minister, for allowing Kandhar to happen, for not taking action against BDR after they slaughtered BSF men
A B Vajpayee - for the Kargil fiasco, for letting his crony Mahajan get away with murder, for Shining India, for Rs 20,000 crore highway projects, for promoting Ambanis (this again we will let is pass – since it is the norm)
Jansanghis – For accepting crap from leaders like Advani and Vajpayee
Shivraj Patil – for changing three dresses on the terror attack evening. Just this is enough. (the only place where a full stop is essential)
Manmohan Singh – For making the PM’s post insignificant, for allowing Tamils to be killed in Sri Lanka, for going soft on Pakistan, for accepting nuclear terms of the US
Sonia Gandhi - for being an agent – KGB or CIA or whatever, for smuggling, for removing Sitaram Kesri, for becoming God Mother of Congress
Congressmen – for accepting a person like Sonia Gandhi as their leader
Rahul Gandhi – for being the Casanova around town, for that sex and rock and roll thing when the country needs him
Left (Karat, Bardhan and Gang) – for taking their cut in deals, for having their cake and pudding and eating it too, for backing naxals in Nepal and India, for following the Chinese model of communism, for Nandigram and Singur
Menaka Gandhi – for not taking off that towel in the advertisement
Please send a shoe to the neta’s address who you think deserves one. You must tell your reasons for sending your shoe. I can help you find the address or phone number of any place.
Monday, April 6, 2009
The Prime Minister is sorry
"The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has strongly condemned the blasts at Maligaon area and Dhekiajuli in Assam. He has expressed profound grief and shock over the incidents and conveyed his condolences to the near and dear ones of those killed in the blasts and his sympathies to those injured. The PM has said that the Government remains committed in its resolve to thwart the designs of terrorists and adequate measures would be undertaken to ensure peace and stability in the State."
This the official press release from the Prime Minister's office. I carry it as it is.... This is so ordinary, unemotional, dispassionate, least reassuring statement by the Prime Minister of India. It is the same drab copy-paste job that comes out from the office of the PMO. It just shows how much regard the PM has for the life and liberty of the people of India. The PM strongly condemns the blast. Even if does not, what is the big deal. Ironically, there is no action. WE will continue to strongly condemn any such blast that may happen in the future. There is no price of death. It comes with a phrase – ‘strongly condemn’.
The PM has express profound grief. Big Deal! And has conveyed his condolences. Does anyone in the country or world, who is human , not share the sad moments of the families of those who die in such attacks.
Last but not the least – the consolation prize: The PM still remains committed in the “resolve to thwart the designs of terrorists” and “adequate measures would be undertaken to ensure peace and stability in the State”.
Hello! Bloody suckers. Its their job, damn it. The government has to fight the terrorists. They are not doing anybody a favour. Either do it or just be booted out from the air conditioned plush office in South Block.
The SPG was quick to cancel the PMs’ rally in Dibrugarh – 500 km away from the blast town of Guwahati.
The people want to know what measures has the government taken to ensure peace and stability in the STATE, not just Assam.
Last year, after the Army has surrounded a village in Assam with more than 30 ULFA members trapped inside the cordon, the operation was called off. WHO ordered that the operation be called off? The government has not replied to this question, which till today haunts those who wonder what measures the government of the day takes.
I am sorry to say that we have such a ‘shame of an excuse’ heading us. I am sorry that we had PMs who have been just routinely sorry, so far.
I am sorry.
This the official press release from the Prime Minister's office. I carry it as it is.... This is so ordinary, unemotional, dispassionate, least reassuring statement by the Prime Minister of India. It is the same drab copy-paste job that comes out from the office of the PMO. It just shows how much regard the PM has for the life and liberty of the people of India. The PM strongly condemns the blast. Even if does not, what is the big deal. Ironically, there is no action. WE will continue to strongly condemn any such blast that may happen in the future. There is no price of death. It comes with a phrase – ‘strongly condemn’.
The PM has express profound grief. Big Deal! And has conveyed his condolences. Does anyone in the country or world, who is human , not share the sad moments of the families of those who die in such attacks.
Last but not the least – the consolation prize: The PM still remains committed in the “resolve to thwart the designs of terrorists” and “adequate measures would be undertaken to ensure peace and stability in the State”.
Hello! Bloody suckers. Its their job, damn it. The government has to fight the terrorists. They are not doing anybody a favour. Either do it or just be booted out from the air conditioned plush office in South Block.
The SPG was quick to cancel the PMs’ rally in Dibrugarh – 500 km away from the blast town of Guwahati.
The people want to know what measures has the government taken to ensure peace and stability in the STATE, not just Assam.
Last year, after the Army has surrounded a village in Assam with more than 30 ULFA members trapped inside the cordon, the operation was called off. WHO ordered that the operation be called off? The government has not replied to this question, which till today haunts those who wonder what measures the government of the day takes.
I am sorry to say that we have such a ‘shame of an excuse’ heading us. I am sorry that we had PMs who have been just routinely sorry, so far.
I am sorry.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Terror Problems of Pakistan
There is more to the bloody madness in Lahore or Peshawar than what is seen and shown to the world.
If security agencies and feeds of intelligence agencies via the media reports are to be believed then the attacks have been launched by the Taliban (Haqqani Network), al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba… Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, and a host of Pakistani jihadi terror groups that have joined forces.
Who are they? Where to do they get their money from? Who are the real people behind this industry called terrorism?
The ISI says it is a good spy organization and is trying to show that it is not behind the guns these guys carry. Then could it be the CIA. The CIA may be interested in getting more action and could be likely interested in fiddling with the state called Pakistan. But they say that RAW also has a good network in Pakistan (which anyone who knows the cops in India would doubt) and could be involved. Frankly, most of the people serving in RAW or IB or any police organization have a lot to think about their homes and career rather than what is happening in Pakistan or the US or Mumbai. They are more concerned what is happening in the headquarters top floors.
But this is a bad sign for Pakistan. Eventually, the nation will face a lot of problems like the ones we are seeing in Iraq or Afghanistan. Pakistan may go the USSR way. The future for Pakistan is not very bright and the world needs to stand up and take a serious note of the happenings in the region.
If security agencies and feeds of intelligence agencies via the media reports are to be believed then the attacks have been launched by the Taliban (Haqqani Network), al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba… Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, and a host of Pakistani jihadi terror groups that have joined forces.
Who are they? Where to do they get their money from? Who are the real people behind this industry called terrorism?
The ISI says it is a good spy organization and is trying to show that it is not behind the guns these guys carry. Then could it be the CIA. The CIA may be interested in getting more action and could be likely interested in fiddling with the state called Pakistan. But they say that RAW also has a good network in Pakistan (which anyone who knows the cops in India would doubt) and could be involved. Frankly, most of the people serving in RAW or IB or any police organization have a lot to think about their homes and career rather than what is happening in Pakistan or the US or Mumbai. They are more concerned what is happening in the headquarters top floors.
But this is a bad sign for Pakistan. Eventually, the nation will face a lot of problems like the ones we are seeing in Iraq or Afghanistan. Pakistan may go the USSR way. The future for Pakistan is not very bright and the world needs to stand up and take a serious note of the happenings in the region.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The people know more than you think they know
Where are our NETAs
I have been wondering if all the ruckus about Varun Gandhi is worth it or its just media hype. Firstly, we don’t have a great leader or even a decent leader who talks or does anything sensible, worthwhile and really meaningful. Varun’s cut the hands remarks are just meant to get him where he desperately wants to reach – the Parliament.
These Gandhis and Nehrus and Advani and Maywatis and Yadavs and Singhs are destroying the country. When I say destroy – I Mean just that. No leader is above board…. They all have flaws… Who to chose and what to reject?
You take Mayawati – She cannot rise above Lord Kanshi Ram and the parks. It just takes a few lakhs to contest elections on a BSP ticket or sit in the front row on her birthday bash.
Mulayam - the less said the better. As Defence Minister, the MOD officials had refused to show him top secret files... Everyone knows the Phelwan.
Advani as home minister did not know if Foreign minister Jaswant Singh was taking Masoor Asad to Khandhar. He did not demolish the Babri Masjid. The so-called 'iron man' cannot be more politically correct than anyone else.
Sonia Gandhi .... If you believe even one percent of what Subramaniam Swamy says - then God save our country!
Hey, this time I am not contesting elections. I am not a NETA either but I am ready to cut hands if it takes me to the Parliament. But my father is not a Gandhi, you know.
I have been wondering if all the ruckus about Varun Gandhi is worth it or its just media hype. Firstly, we don’t have a great leader or even a decent leader who talks or does anything sensible, worthwhile and really meaningful. Varun’s cut the hands remarks are just meant to get him where he desperately wants to reach – the Parliament.
These Gandhis and Nehrus and Advani and Maywatis and Yadavs and Singhs are destroying the country. When I say destroy – I Mean just that. No leader is above board…. They all have flaws… Who to chose and what to reject?
You take Mayawati – She cannot rise above Lord Kanshi Ram and the parks. It just takes a few lakhs to contest elections on a BSP ticket or sit in the front row on her birthday bash.
Mulayam - the less said the better. As Defence Minister, the MOD officials had refused to show him top secret files... Everyone knows the Phelwan.
Advani as home minister did not know if Foreign minister Jaswant Singh was taking Masoor Asad to Khandhar. He did not demolish the Babri Masjid. The so-called 'iron man' cannot be more politically correct than anyone else.
Sonia Gandhi .... If you believe even one percent of what Subramaniam Swamy says - then God save our country!
Hey, this time I am not contesting elections. I am not a NETA either but I am ready to cut hands if it takes me to the Parliament. But my father is not a Gandhi, you know.
RAW, IB heads were not chopped off
While CM had to go, IB and RAW chief managed to hang on just because they had little time to retire after 26/11
Sonia defers decision on Deshmukh
By: MK Tayal
Date: 2008-12-03
Loyalty pays. If you have any doubts, just ask beleaguered Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. Nothing else could have saved his skin with all the mayhem in Mumbai and party colleagues baying for his head. It all started at 10 Janpath, the residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, where top Congress leaders went into a huddle to discuss the pressure on the Maharashtra chief minister to resign.The calls for his resignation got vociferous after he went to the Taj Hotel with filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma and his deputy, RR Patil, put in his papers. Emerging from the one-and-a-half hour long meeting, Deshmukh said, "The matter is with the high command. They will take the decision. I have explained the entire situation, including the steps I took after the incident."Defence Minister and party incharge of Maharashtra affairs, AK Antony, said the situation was discussed in detail and the final decision will be taken by Sonia Gandhi. Deshmukh flew to Delhi on a special plane with President Pratibha Patil who reached Mumbai, cutting short an official trip to Indonesia. He met Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel. Later External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee accompanied Deshmukh to 10 Janpath.Gandhi has kept it in suspended animation. But, Congress sources say Deshmukh would get a new lease of life. Meanwhile, speculation is rife that the government may sack some top intelligence officials for their failure to "generate actionable intelligence" to prevent the terror attacks.
More heads to roll
>>Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) secretary Ashok Chaturvedi may be asked to go on leave.
>>The axe may also fall on Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief PC Haldar, a source said on Tuesday.
>>The agencies are responsible for generating "credible and actionable" information. However, there was no specific input by them on terrorists' movement, the source said.
Maha plan of action
>>Establishing State Security Council on the lines of the National Security Council.
>>Setting up of Maharashtra State Security Guard on the lines of NSG.
>>First battalion of 200 commandos will be raised in the next four months.
>>Setting up 12 new coastal police stations and strengthening the old ones
>>Issuing smart cards to fishermen
Sonia defers decision on Deshmukh
By: MK Tayal
Date: 2008-12-03
Loyalty pays. If you have any doubts, just ask beleaguered Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. Nothing else could have saved his skin with all the mayhem in Mumbai and party colleagues baying for his head. It all started at 10 Janpath, the residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, where top Congress leaders went into a huddle to discuss the pressure on the Maharashtra chief minister to resign.The calls for his resignation got vociferous after he went to the Taj Hotel with filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma and his deputy, RR Patil, put in his papers. Emerging from the one-and-a-half hour long meeting, Deshmukh said, "The matter is with the high command. They will take the decision. I have explained the entire situation, including the steps I took after the incident."Defence Minister and party incharge of Maharashtra affairs, AK Antony, said the situation was discussed in detail and the final decision will be taken by Sonia Gandhi. Deshmukh flew to Delhi on a special plane with President Pratibha Patil who reached Mumbai, cutting short an official trip to Indonesia. He met Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel. Later External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee accompanied Deshmukh to 10 Janpath.Gandhi has kept it in suspended animation. But, Congress sources say Deshmukh would get a new lease of life. Meanwhile, speculation is rife that the government may sack some top intelligence officials for their failure to "generate actionable intelligence" to prevent the terror attacks.
More heads to roll
>>Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) secretary Ashok Chaturvedi may be asked to go on leave.
>>The axe may also fall on Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief PC Haldar, a source said on Tuesday.
>>The agencies are responsible for generating "credible and actionable" information. However, there was no specific input by them on terrorists' movement, the source said.
Maha plan of action
>>Establishing State Security Council on the lines of the National Security Council.
>>Setting up of Maharashtra State Security Guard on the lines of NSG.
>>First battalion of 200 commandos will be raised in the next four months.
>>Setting up 12 new coastal police stations and strengthening the old ones
>>Issuing smart cards to fishermen
Previous article
Don't know if this still holds any meaning?
Date : 2003-12-24
Is Rahul Gandhi married?
By M K Tayal
New Delhi, Dec. 24: Among the guests accompanying the Gandhi family for New Year celebrations on the Lakshadweep Islands is Rahul Gandhi’s girlfriend Juanita, a Columbian.Some reports have even claimed that Rahul has married Juanita, but 10 Janpath has refused to either acknowledge the fact or deny it.According to reliable sources Juanita, who has been in the city for over a week had been staying at a farmhouse in South Delhi, before shifting to 10 Janpath yesterday.
Sources have said that Juanita is from an affluent family but one of her uncles in Colombia has nefarious antecedents and is reportedly a wanted person in that country. He reportedly has interests in drugs and other illicit businesses.Sources have said that Rahul, his girlfriend and grandparents (Sonia Gandhi’s parents) will fly to Lakshadweep Islands today. The special flight will make a brief halt at Mumbai
However, a member of Parliament said that Sonia is also likely to stop at Kerala.In the meantime, Sonia Gandhi’s programme in Mumbai on December 27 may or may not have Priyanka Gandhi on board. The schedule is being kept a secret.
Even Congress in-charge of Maharashtra Vayalar Ravi is not aware of Priyanka’s itinerary. “I am not aware if Priyanka is coming or not,” was all he said. The suspense is being made out to attract more crowd, explains a source.However, according to sources, Priyanka’s in-laws are also likely to be a part of the holiday, signalling the first positive sign of her joining politics, keeping the 2004 general elections in mind.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Truth as defence
FRONTLINE - Article on the story on Ex CJI Y K Sabharwal
Volume 24 - Issue 20 :: Oct. 06-19, 2007
Truth as defence
V. VENKATESAN in New Delhi
IN 2006, Parliament amended the Contempt of Courts Act (CCA) to introduce Section 13(b), which states: “The courts may permit, in any proceedings for contempt of court, justification by truth as a valid defence if it is satisfied that it is in public interest and the request for invoking the said defence is bona fide.” The object of this amendment was to introduce fairness in procedure and meet the requirements of Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.
The amendment failed to achieve its object when the Delhi High Court Bench comprising Justices R.S. Sodhi and B.N. Chaturvedi found three journalists and the publisher of Mid-Day, Delhi’s afternoon daily, guilty of contempt of court, and sentenced them to four months’ imprisonment on September 21.
The Bench found journalists M.K. Tayal and Vitusha Oberoi, cartoonist Md. Irfaan Khan, and publisher S.K. Akhtar guilty of contempt. In its view, they, in the garb of “scandalising” a retired Chief Justice of India through their publications, have, in fact, attacked the very institution of judiciary. The Bench arrived at this conclusion through convoluted reasoning and a procedure that is glaringly flawed.
Mid-Day published on May 18 a story hinting that the sons of the former Chief Justice of India, Y.K. Sabharwal, benefited by the Judge’s orders directing the sealing of commercial properties in the residential areas of Delhi, and that the sons were operating their businesses from the Judge’s official residence. Irfaan Khan’s cartoon, which was carried in the daily on May 19, depicted Justice Sabharwal in his robes holding a bag bursting with currency. It also depicted a man sitting on the sidewalk saying, “Help! The mall is in your court.”
In response to the notices issued to them by the Bench, the accused journalists claimed in their affidavits that whatever was published in Mid-Day about Justice Sabharwal was the truth, which is a permissible defence. They also contended that the stories carried in the daily focussed on the life of the former Chief Justice of India after he had left office and, therefore, could not be termed as denigrating the authority of the Supreme Court. They also argued, through their counsel Shanti Bhushan, that the Chief Justice ought not to have been on the Bench that passed orders concerning the sealing of properties in Delhi where non-conforming activities were going on and further that it was the duty of a journalist to expose corruption in the judiciary at the highest level. Shanti Bhushan also told the Bench that the material on record was ample proof that the sons of the former Chief Justice were beneficiaries of the sealings.
Shanti Bhushan clarified to the Bench that he was not challenging the correctness of the order of the Supreme Court but the order of the former Chief Justice, who was the presiding member of the Bench and who, by his impropriety, passed orders sealing premises in which commercial activities were being conducted, in order to benefit his sons’ business.
But these arguments failed to convince the High Court Bench. It appeared to the Bench, from the manner in which the entire incident has been projected, that the Supreme Court was portrayed by Mid-Day as having permitted itself to be led into fulfilling an ulterior motive of one of its members. “The nature of the revelations and the context in which they appear, though purporting to single out a former Chief Justice of India, tarnishes the image of the Supreme Court. It tends to erode the confidence of the general public in the institution itself. The Supreme Court sits in divisions and every order is that of a Bench. Imputing motive to its presiding member automatically sends a signal that the other members were dummies or were party to fulfil the ulterior design. This we find most disturbing,” the Bench said. Observers note that by no stretch of imagination can it be held that the Mid-Day stories on Justice Sabharwal suggested that other members of the Bench had connived at his “impropriety”.
The Bench, as is clear from this order, did not find it necessary to consider truth as a defence while holding the journalists guilty of contempt. It may be of interest to point out that the amendment to the CCA providing for truth as a defence is by way of addition to Section 13, which says that contempt is not punishable in certain cases. In other words, the CCA envisages two types of offences of contempt of court: those which are punishable and those which are not. Section 13(a) says that no court shall impose a sentence under this Act for contempt of court unless it is satisfied that contempt is of such a nature that it substantially interferes or tends substantially to interfere with the due course of justice.
During the arguments over the sentencing of the contemners on September 21, the counsel for the journalists again raised the plea of truth as a defence under Section 13(b) of the Act. The Bench, however, brushed aside the plea, asking “truth of what?” It is clear, therefore, that the Bench considered the case as one of punishable contempt. The Bench, however, failed to ensure that the requirements of the Act were met in letter and spirit.
The Bench obviously found the journalists guilty of contempt under Section 2c (i) of the Act. Under this section, “criminal contempt” is defined as 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 scandalises or tends to scandalise or lowers or tends to lower the authority of any court. Observers have pointed out that law has implicitly provided for truth as a defence under this section as it is only falsehood that can scandalise or lower the authority of any court.
The procedural flaws in the case were substantial. One is about the High Court’s jurisdiction to entertain the case suo motu. It has exercised its jurisdiction under Article 215 of the Constitution. This Article says that every High Court shall be a court of record and shall have all the powers of such a court, including the power to punish for contempt of itself.
Section 11 of the CCA says: “A High Court shall have jurisdiction to inquire into or try a contempt of itself or of any court subordinate to it, whether the contempt is alleged to have been committed within or outside the local limits of its jurisdiction, and whether the person alleged to be guilty of contempt is within or outside such limits.” Going by this provision, it is not clear how the High Court Bench considered the matter as falling within its jurisdiction, even though the contempt alleged is of the Supreme Court, which is not subordinate to it. Under Article 129, only the Supreme Court has the power to punish for contempt of itself.
On September 28, the Supreme Court Bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice P. Sathasivam admitted the appeals of the journalists concerned and stayed their sentence until the disposal of the case. On the directions of the Supreme Court, the High Court granted them bail on September 21. The Bench appointed senior counsel T.R. Andhyarujina amicus curiae and directed that the appeals be listed for hearing on January 16, 2008.
The case has brought to the fore the effectiveness of the amendment incorporated in the CCA. The Bill on this amendment was cleared by a Parliamentary Standing Committee (12th Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice) in August 2005.
In its report, the Committee hoped that the higher judiciary would give due regard to this statutory provision (guaranteeing truth as defence), maintaining the principles of fairness and reasonableness it was known for. The Committee also believed that such procedure would give the contemner full opportunity to make his defence and ensure that the principle of natural justice was not violated.
More important, the Committee had recommended that the defence of truth be inserted as one of the exemptions or defences under Section 8 of CCA rather than under Section 13 because it felt it would give the contemner additional help in that he could defend himself on the grounds of truth. But the government did not accept this recommendation while enacting the Bill.
The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC) recommended in 2002 an amendment of Article 19(2) of the Constitution to provide for defence of truth in contempt proceedings. The Commission took this view, considering the inherent powers derived by the Supreme Court and High Courts from Articles 129 and 215. The Commission had reasoned that a total embargo on truth as justification would be an unreasonable restriction on the freedom of speech and expression, which is guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a). The government, however, felt that a constitutional amendment for this purpose would be a time-consuming process, and thus opted to amend the Act.
The question raised in legal circles is whether the journalists held guilty of contempt would have succeeded in establishing the truth of their allegations against Justice Sabharwal, even if the Delhi High Court had allowed truth as a defence during the proceedings against them.
As Prashant Bhushan of the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) told the Standing Committee: “If anybody does a story and even if he says it is bona fide, he may not be able to prove the truth of what he is saying. He may legitimately believe as true what he is saying. But he may not be able to prove in a court of law unless statutory investigation is made by the police agency and documents are seized.”
The pressure mounting on the Chief Justice of India, Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, to constitute an inquiry into Mid-Day’s allegations against Justice Sabharwal – later authenticated by the CJAR’s painstaking documentation available on its website – thus makes sense.
"Khalistan Will Be Formed by 2007"
Posting some old articles.
Jagjit Singh Chauhan: "Khalistan Will Be Formed by 2007"
By M.K. TAYAL
Mid-Day, Jun. 6, 2004
Once self-proclaimed president of Khalistan, Dr. Jagjit Singh Chauhan, after winning a long legal battle has returned to India and has since been living a life of solitude. To catch him on the 20th anniversary of the Operation Blue Star, we walked into a hospital, anticipating arrogance and hostility, what greeted was a warm smile and cup of tea. After waging a war against India, which he calls an artificial nation, Jagjit, 76, now wants to be a selfless worker for Khalistan. From the heady days, Jagjit now tends to patients that come to his charity hospital in Tanda in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. Heading the Khalsa Raj party, he is supported by parties like Dal Khalsa and Khalsa Conference. He claims he never was a part of the armed struggle led by Bhindranwale and never propagated self-determination by the weapon. In India, he is taking up the cause in a peaceful and democratic manner. Jagjit, who was once chased by the intelligence units and labelled anti-national, is now waiting for the end of his life. To give meaning, he decided to serve people, but his heart aches for the land of his dream, which he believes will happen by 2007. On top of his hospital, the Khalistan flag unfurls and so do his dreams about an independent Khalsa land, Khalistan. Excerpts: M.K. Tayal: What are you doing these days? Jagjit Singh Chauhan: I run this charitable hospital. I serve people and take care of them. I have donated this land to the hospital that I had earlier rented out. But then I found that the doctors I had rented the place to were charging exorbitant amounts. So I decided to step in. M.K.T.: This hospital looks new. J.S.C.: Yes, I am still constructing it. It will have 30 beds, an operation theatre and labs. The land is around eight acres and costs nearly Rs. 100 crore. Local mafia tried to grab it and now I am fighting a court case against them. M.K.T.: What about your movement, Khalistan? J.S.C.: The movement continues. Violence was injected by the Indian intelligence agencies. Bhindranwale was surrounded by agents. The Indian government wanted to curb the movement, so they knew it would be finished by the gun. But how long can violence last? See Sri Lanka, Palestine, Nagaland. There is no end. M.K.T.: But why come to India after all that? J.S.C.: In London, I was leading a comfortable life. But then I didn't want it any more. I had free rail passes and accommodation. They even gave us a room in the Parliament. But the real movement is the Khalsa movement that was started in 1699. M.K.T.: What was the impact of Operation Blue Star? J.S.C.: Bhindranwale was in the right. He was a preacher. The army should not have attacked the Darbar Sahib. M.K.T.: Now what do you plan to do? J.S.C.: See one day, India will be the United States of South Asia [U.S.S.A.]. It will have Afghanistan. Pakistan will break up into five parts and be a part of U.S.S.A. And so will India. Bangladesh will also join. Nehru wanted to be king. He virtually became king. He divided the states too. M.K.T.: Do you think people want Khalistan? J.S.C.: Every Sikh wants it. They may not admit it. But that is a fact. Is it alive and how strong is the movement today? Very much alive. We have chapters in London, Washington, Canada. We have a radio station and even a T.V. channel besides websites. M.K.T.: What is the difference between these chapters? J.S.C.: Style of working. Washington wants a hi-tech office. It is modern. M.K.T.: Is the U.S.-based Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh the president of the Council of Khalistan? J.S.C.: Yes! I was the president but now, I want to be a simple worker. M.K.T.: What happened to the currency of Khalistan? J.S.C.: Oh! That was symbolic. It is still present. It was started to pressure the government. M.K.T.: What do you see as the future? J.S.C.: I will not stop talking about Khalistan. After Operation Blue Star, I said Indira Gandhi would not see 1985. She was killed before 1985. It came true. Then Prime Minister Chandrashekhar met me in London. I told him Rajiv Gandhi would also be killed. Ten days later, he was. What I say is with a lot of intuition I use it in politics. Now Khalistan will be formed by 2007. M.K.T.: How will it be different from India? J.S.C.: It won’t have corrupt people like Laloo Prasad Yadav or the Jan Sangh (B.J.P.). India is an artificial country. M.K.T.: What about Manmohan Singh? J.S.C.: He is an honest economist but how long will he last in the system? Khalistan will have local-level bodies and no S.P.s and D.M.s. These village councils (Khalsa panchayat) would also perform the duties of the courts. M.K.T.: Has the recognition by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation [U.N.P.O.] at the Hague given a boost to the movement? J.S.C.: Yes. Apart from that we already have three-four M.P.s in the British Parliament. Kashmir has four-five M.P.s. Our movement is coordinating with the Kashmiris.
Jagjit Singh Chauhan: "Khalistan Will Be Formed by 2007"
By M.K. TAYAL
Mid-Day, Jun. 6, 2004
Once self-proclaimed president of Khalistan, Dr. Jagjit Singh Chauhan, after winning a long legal battle has returned to India and has since been living a life of solitude. To catch him on the 20th anniversary of the Operation Blue Star, we walked into a hospital, anticipating arrogance and hostility, what greeted was a warm smile and cup of tea. After waging a war against India, which he calls an artificial nation, Jagjit, 76, now wants to be a selfless worker for Khalistan. From the heady days, Jagjit now tends to patients that come to his charity hospital in Tanda in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. Heading the Khalsa Raj party, he is supported by parties like Dal Khalsa and Khalsa Conference. He claims he never was a part of the armed struggle led by Bhindranwale and never propagated self-determination by the weapon. In India, he is taking up the cause in a peaceful and democratic manner. Jagjit, who was once chased by the intelligence units and labelled anti-national, is now waiting for the end of his life. To give meaning, he decided to serve people, but his heart aches for the land of his dream, which he believes will happen by 2007. On top of his hospital, the Khalistan flag unfurls and so do his dreams about an independent Khalsa land, Khalistan. Excerpts: M.K. Tayal: What are you doing these days? Jagjit Singh Chauhan: I run this charitable hospital. I serve people and take care of them. I have donated this land to the hospital that I had earlier rented out. But then I found that the doctors I had rented the place to were charging exorbitant amounts. So I decided to step in. M.K.T.: This hospital looks new. J.S.C.: Yes, I am still constructing it. It will have 30 beds, an operation theatre and labs. The land is around eight acres and costs nearly Rs. 100 crore. Local mafia tried to grab it and now I am fighting a court case against them. M.K.T.: What about your movement, Khalistan? J.S.C.: The movement continues. Violence was injected by the Indian intelligence agencies. Bhindranwale was surrounded by agents. The Indian government wanted to curb the movement, so they knew it would be finished by the gun. But how long can violence last? See Sri Lanka, Palestine, Nagaland. There is no end. M.K.T.: But why come to India after all that? J.S.C.: In London, I was leading a comfortable life. But then I didn't want it any more. I had free rail passes and accommodation. They even gave us a room in the Parliament. But the real movement is the Khalsa movement that was started in 1699. M.K.T.: What was the impact of Operation Blue Star? J.S.C.: Bhindranwale was in the right. He was a preacher. The army should not have attacked the Darbar Sahib. M.K.T.: Now what do you plan to do? J.S.C.: See one day, India will be the United States of South Asia [U.S.S.A.]. It will have Afghanistan. Pakistan will break up into five parts and be a part of U.S.S.A. And so will India. Bangladesh will also join. Nehru wanted to be king. He virtually became king. He divided the states too. M.K.T.: Do you think people want Khalistan? J.S.C.: Every Sikh wants it. They may not admit it. But that is a fact. Is it alive and how strong is the movement today? Very much alive. We have chapters in London, Washington, Canada. We have a radio station and even a T.V. channel besides websites. M.K.T.: What is the difference between these chapters? J.S.C.: Style of working. Washington wants a hi-tech office. It is modern. M.K.T.: Is the U.S.-based Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh the president of the Council of Khalistan? J.S.C.: Yes! I was the president but now, I want to be a simple worker. M.K.T.: What happened to the currency of Khalistan? J.S.C.: Oh! That was symbolic. It is still present. It was started to pressure the government. M.K.T.: What do you see as the future? J.S.C.: I will not stop talking about Khalistan. After Operation Blue Star, I said Indira Gandhi would not see 1985. She was killed before 1985. It came true. Then Prime Minister Chandrashekhar met me in London. I told him Rajiv Gandhi would also be killed. Ten days later, he was. What I say is with a lot of intuition I use it in politics. Now Khalistan will be formed by 2007. M.K.T.: How will it be different from India? J.S.C.: It won’t have corrupt people like Laloo Prasad Yadav or the Jan Sangh (B.J.P.). India is an artificial country. M.K.T.: What about Manmohan Singh? J.S.C.: He is an honest economist but how long will he last in the system? Khalistan will have local-level bodies and no S.P.s and D.M.s. These village councils (Khalsa panchayat) would also perform the duties of the courts. M.K.T.: Has the recognition by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation [U.N.P.O.] at the Hague given a boost to the movement? J.S.C.: Yes. Apart from that we already have three-four M.P.s in the British Parliament. Kashmir has four-five M.P.s. Our movement is coordinating with the Kashmiris.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Give up or given in - World Power comes to India
US Mission Possible – To rule the world Start the action – Break the USSR, go into Vietnam, control smaller economies, ensure world bodies function according to its diktats. Europe, Africa, Australia and Latin America already in control. What is left?Actual count down in Asia Act 1 - Attack and destroy Iraq and assassinate Sadaam Hussein Act 2 – Bomb Afghanistan, blow the hell out of the people in the garb of tackling Taliban and going after the terrorists. Somebody called Osama is hiding there, perhaps. Act 3 - Bomb Pakistan. Oh, Osama may be in SWAT (already the most dangerous place to have a pizza – if you can get it.) Remove Pravez Musharraf and install a weak government. Create confusion in the Pakistan army and make the generals incompetent. Encourage terrorist attacks and let the Taliban and al Qeada bloom so that it gives legitimacy to the US forces in the region. Once you start controlling security, ensure that business comes from Washington. Break Pakistan into three or four small autonomous regions with tribal/small-time leaders in-charge under NATO/UN control. Act 4 – Focus on Iran – Start building up a war-like situation in Iran. Ensure that the world press writes how rogue Iran has become to give it legitimacy to break up the country that is = “the world’s top state sponsor of terrorism” and has “enough uranium for a nuclear bomb”. Continue imposing economic sanctions. Act 5 – Start interfering in the internal matter of India. Let American business capture Indian markets. Install governments that have blessing of the US. Manmohan Singh was a world bank employee till very lately. No point attacking India as it already is a weak nation and you just need to go into the government by just luring officials with a free-life time visa to the US or even citizenship. The bribes are low. The establishment in a mess. A bomb blast and the FBI officially meddles in the internal security matters of the country. It may seem that the Americans are behind bomb blasts and terrorists attacks all over the world. To say this - you need solid proof, which only the American media can write about as their intelligence agencies give enough fodder to the media. But there is a method in this whole terror attacks and US aggression in Asia. The US has been against Iran for long and now it is raking up fears of a nuclear bomb and says that the country is “world’s top state sponsor of terrorism” and has “enough uranium for a nuclear bomb”. Barack Obama in a message to the Congress said on March 12, "The actions and policies of the government of Iran are contrary to the interests of the United States in the region and pose a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the US national security and economy.”
Iran and India are on the target after it completes is mess in Pakistan.Let there be a third front government in the country and see what the US does to the economy. It will not it last for more than six months. Only the BJP or the Congress party, or the Samajwadi Party will be allowed rule the country. For the rest - can give outside support. Time to wake up.
Iran and India are on the target after it completes is mess in Pakistan.Let there be a third front government in the country and see what the US does to the economy. It will not it last for more than six months. Only the BJP or the Congress party, or the Samajwadi Party will be allowed rule the country. For the rest - can give outside support. Time to wake up.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Gandhigiri, elections and Sanjay Dutt
Actor Sanjay Dutt wants to now contest elections and sit in the Parliament and make laws. It is a matter of utter shame . This is a tragedy. Are we sit down and witness the actor sit in the Lok Sabha and make fun of 'We, the People'.You can argue that we have had convicted people sitting in the Parliament and lording over us. True, we should have woken up when we were getting free and our Constitution was being copied from the British and the Americans. But what Ambedkar and his gang left out, we have to step in and change.We have had convicted persons like Phoolan Devi or Pappu Yadav (the latter who contested the elections, won and attended Parliament from Tihar Jail) or the likes of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Shibu Soren amidst the crowd of 100 odd-MPs (out of 542) with a criminal background. Criminals entering the Parliament has ceased to be an issue.But the objections to Dutt entering the Parliament are not totally unfounded. Dutt has been awarded six years of imprisonment for Bombay blasts 1993.This is despite the fact that three AK 47s were reduced to a single assault rifle and a pistol. How that has been achieved is another tale.Given that Dutt and his father tried every trick in the book or they wrote a new book itself to get him out from the blast case, the police must have got something real solid against the actor to have lasted the might of money and political anger. Now the Samajwadi Party – is keen that Munna Bhai contest the election on its party ticket. Much less said about the SP, the better.The point is that not to question ourselves about the propriety of allowing such bastards to enter the Parliament. The question is should we allow them to live in our country.And we have our Supreme Court to answer this now. The court has been very lenient so far. (Naturally since Amar Singh feeds and pockets nearly half the black lord…s). If the court agrees to this one, I don’t know how we can stop Dutt and people like him from existing in our country.So let us start by doing some GANDHIGIRI. Let us join e-mails to make Dutt the President of India and not shame us, the people of India, more than he has already done. Let us urge Pratibha DeviSingh Patil to resign.
Capt M K Tayal
India
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Lahore Attack - Time to move
Pakistan once got the taste of its bitter poison when the terrorists killed eight cops while ambushing the convoy in which Sri Lankan cricketers were travelling.
According to Indian intelligence experts, LTTE with support from Markat-u-Mujahideen is possibly carried out the attack. Though the terrorists failed to get to their targets (the cricketers), they killed eight people, including a driver.
Pakistan is on the verge of being declared a failed state and it is just time before the Taliban/al Qaida and other groups openly start ruling the Muslim mindset. from Lahore to Peshawar or Karachi to Gilgit.
The Americans are already actively operating in parts of Pakistan with impunity. The Pak military and the ISI can do little stop to the Americans, except getting NATO vehicles burnt by crony militants.
Ironically, our home minister P Chidambaram says the terrorists could plan something dramatic during elections.
The question is what the hell is the government of India doing to stop Pakistan and the terrorists from taking any steps against India? Indian babus and mantris have to stop working against the interest of the nation and start taking Pakistan, the ISI, terrorists and even the US (if it comes to that - but this cannot happen) head on.
India will have to respond, and soon.
According to Indian intelligence experts, LTTE with support from Markat-u-Mujahideen is possibly carried out the attack. Though the terrorists failed to get to their targets (the cricketers), they killed eight people, including a driver.
Pakistan is on the verge of being declared a failed state and it is just time before the Taliban/al Qaida and other groups openly start ruling the Muslim mindset. from Lahore to Peshawar or Karachi to Gilgit.
The Americans are already actively operating in parts of Pakistan with impunity. The Pak military and the ISI can do little stop to the Americans, except getting NATO vehicles burnt by crony militants.
Ironically, our home minister P Chidambaram says the terrorists could plan something dramatic during elections.
The question is what the hell is the government of India doing to stop Pakistan and the terrorists from taking any steps against India? Indian babus and mantris have to stop working against the interest of the nation and start taking Pakistan, the ISI, terrorists and even the US (if it comes to that - but this cannot happen) head on.
India will have to respond, and soon.
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