To
The president,
Dist Bar Association,
Sambalpur.
Sir,
With reference to your show cause notice dated 17.4.2010 , ref no -260(5) which I received on 21/04/2010 at 12.15 pm,I would like to show cause as follows :-
1. That I with great pain need to make my stand transparent on the incident occurred on 8/4/2010 at around 10.30 am with mr aswini kumar padhee my senior and with me.
2. That it a fact while Mr. Aswini kumar padhee while clearing the path leading to the library being encroached by a juice vendor was being involved in a heated argument and also being blatantly attacked by a huge mob of “ Highly Distinguished Lawyers”. He was bleeding from his nose.
3. That when I came to know about it , I along with Mr Padhee and his son Mr. Bhishnu Prasad padhee went to Mr. Pradeep Bohidar,i.e the ex-president of D.B.A. Sambalpur to enquire about the uproar.
4. That without paying a heed to us we were jostled by the angry group of lawyers leading by Mr. Suren Mohanty and Mr. Atanu Ghosh.
5. That I tried my best to protect Mr. Aswini Padhee and took him to the Advocate’s clerks room.
6. That suddenly I saw a huge mob of lawyers leading by Mr. Suren Mohanty and Mr. Atanu Ghosh approaching towards us, however it was pacified.
7. That after having a glass of water I came outside and was moving towards Mohapatra coffee shop. Suddenly I heard a voice calling me from behind. It was Mr. Pradeep Bohidar. We had some exchange of words. He turned back. Again while going towards the coffee shop I was chased like an animal as if a big price was put on over my head by a huge mob of lawyers leading by Mr. Suren Mohanty and Mr. Atanu Ghosh and Mr Mukesh using some abusive words. I was virtually dragged on the path by Mr. Suren Mohanty holding one of my legs and facing the kicks and blows of our learned and great advocates who were acted like a moral police. Their manners were abysmal. However I was saved by Mr. Sangram panda, Mr. Dash and few genuine lawyers. I really thanks them from the core of my heart.
8. Rather I would say it was their personal grudge on me for the reason best known. I have done my duty and obligation towards my Guru as a disciple. Hence no regrets. Decency, decorum, discipline has no value at all. It was a sheer mockery at our highly esteemed Bar association.. Such outrageous activities and moral turpitude must not be tolerated.
In the view of above , I would request your best self to be pleased to consider the above written statement as my defense in the disciplinary proceeding and allow me for an oral submission.
Conclusion :- More importantly ,it offers a lesson that those we humiliate are human beings. They deserve to be treated with dignity. Some of them , after all, may be exceptional. Some may even possess genius.
Where The Mind is Without Fear
WHERE the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Rabindranath Tagore Yours Faithfully,
Siddhartha shankar Mishra,
Thanking You Legal Practitioner,
Sambalpur,
Mob- +919937965779
April 30, 2010
April 15, 2010
Incredible India - The hub of child prostitution?
‘INCREDIBLE INDIA,’ is the name given to the land of my birth, because everything here is incredible - the wide variety of people, culture, arts, monuments, and architecture. In a country as diverse and complex as India, with 5,000 years of recorded history, it is not surprising to find that the people reflect the rich glories of the past, the culture, traditions and values relative to geographic locations and the numerous distinctive manners, habits and food that will always remain truly Indian.
From the eternal snows of the Himalayas to the cultivated peninsula of the far South, from the deserts of the West to the humid deltas of the East, from the dry heat and cold of the Central Plateau to the cool forest foothills, Indian lifestyles clearly glorify the geography. But sadly, India has a dark secret which was recently revealed on January 29, 2010, when the Supreme Court of India said, ‘India is becoming a hub for large-scale child prostitution rackets.’
The Court suggested the need to set up a ‘special investigating agency’ to tackle this menace in the world’s second most densely inhabited nation. The World Bank, World Development Indicators say that in 2008 the country had a population of 1,139,964,932, so by now it is probably way above that. According to the BBC, India is set to overtake China as the world's most populous nation by 2050, while some countries will shrink by nearly 40%, according to new research.
Sadly, despite all the incredible growth of the Indian economy, prostitution is currently a contentious issue in the country with child trafficking and prostitution rampant throughout the land. In 2007, the Ministry of Women and Child Development reported presence of 2.8 million sex workers in India, with 35.47 percent of them entering the trade before the age of 18 years. The number of prostitutes has also doubled in the recent decade. More recent figures have reported that sex workers in India are now around 15 million, with Mumbai alone, being home to 100,000 sex workers, the largest sex industry center in Asia.
Some infamous red light centers in India are Sonagachi in Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal; Kamathipura in Mumbai (Bombay), Maharastra; G. B. Road in the capital city of New Delhi, Reshampura in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh; and Budhwar Peth in Pune, Maharastra, where often minors ply their trade. The majority of sex workers in India do so because they are lacking resources to support themselves or their children.
Most do not choose this profession out of preference, but out of necessity, often after the breakup of a marriage or after being disowned and thrown out of their homes by their families. The children of sex workers are much more likely to get involved in this kind of work as well. A survey completed in 1988 by the All Bengal Women's Union interviewed a random sample of 160 sex workers in Kolkata and of those, 23 claimed that they had come of their own accord, whereas the remaining 137 women claimed to have been introduced into the sex trade by pimps or agents of various sorts.
A surprising breakdown of the agents by sex, were as follows: 76% were female and only 24% were males. Over 80% of the agents had brought young women into the profession were known people and not traffickers: neighbors, relatives, etc. Over 40% of 484 prostitute girls rescued during major raids of brothels in Mumbai in 1996 were from Nepal. In India as many as 200,000 Nepalese girls, many under the age of 14, have been sold into sexual slavery.
Nepalese women and girls, especially virgins, are favored in India. According to a 1994 report in the newspaper Asian Age, 30 per cent of these women are under 20 years of age, 40 per cent are 20-30 years of age, and approximately 15 per cent of them became prostitutes as children under the age of 12.
In its recent report, the Indian Supreme Court said, “Child prostitution is happening because of abject poverty in the country. This is also because of the very high large-scale unemployment. Our entire cultural ethos is going down the drain.”
The Court also wanted to know why the government is not “invoking rape cases against those exploiting the children in such prostitution rackets.” Working in this field, I realize that the Government of India is taking every step to curb and eliminate prostitution in India, but definitely somewhere down the line, they are not able to implement these actions strictly in many of these cases. Somewhere along the way there appears to be a loophole.
I run an organization in my homeland called the Indian Rescue Mission and already we have rescued hundreds of girls, may of them minors, from forced prostitution. I have found out that a huge demand for sex and a relaxed law enforcement system has resulted in the thriving trade of buying and selling women and girls.
Young girls from poor areas are particularly vulnerable and are often lured, kidnapped, or tricked into prostitution. Once the girl is sold to a particular brothel keeper, she becomes a virtual slave of the industry. She is beaten, threatened, verbally abused, and forced to sleep with many men every day. She will remain a slave until she is able to pay back the money the brothel keeper paid for her.
I have personally gone on several raids on these brothels and am convinced that an axe needs to be laid at the root of this problem.
Many of the organizations, including mine, that work for the rescue and rehabilitation of these victims are only trying to arrest the brothel keepers or managers of the brothels who are the last players of the whole trafficking game.
But I also feel that organizations need to trace the locations of the main pimps and traffickers and then they should be arrested and be put behind bars and that’s how we can bring an end to this issue. Child prostitution is growing so rapidly that all the efforts made by different organizations, play just a very small part.
From the eternal snows of the Himalayas to the cultivated peninsula of the far South, from the deserts of the West to the humid deltas of the East, from the dry heat and cold of the Central Plateau to the cool forest foothills, Indian lifestyles clearly glorify the geography. But sadly, India has a dark secret which was recently revealed on January 29, 2010, when the Supreme Court of India said, ‘India is becoming a hub for large-scale child prostitution rackets.’
The Court suggested the need to set up a ‘special investigating agency’ to tackle this menace in the world’s second most densely inhabited nation. The World Bank, World Development Indicators say that in 2008 the country had a population of 1,139,964,932, so by now it is probably way above that. According to the BBC, India is set to overtake China as the world's most populous nation by 2050, while some countries will shrink by nearly 40%, according to new research.
Sadly, despite all the incredible growth of the Indian economy, prostitution is currently a contentious issue in the country with child trafficking and prostitution rampant throughout the land. In 2007, the Ministry of Women and Child Development reported presence of 2.8 million sex workers in India, with 35.47 percent of them entering the trade before the age of 18 years. The number of prostitutes has also doubled in the recent decade. More recent figures have reported that sex workers in India are now around 15 million, with Mumbai alone, being home to 100,000 sex workers, the largest sex industry center in Asia.
Some infamous red light centers in India are Sonagachi in Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal; Kamathipura in Mumbai (Bombay), Maharastra; G. B. Road in the capital city of New Delhi, Reshampura in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh; and Budhwar Peth in Pune, Maharastra, where often minors ply their trade. The majority of sex workers in India do so because they are lacking resources to support themselves or their children.
Most do not choose this profession out of preference, but out of necessity, often after the breakup of a marriage or after being disowned and thrown out of their homes by their families. The children of sex workers are much more likely to get involved in this kind of work as well. A survey completed in 1988 by the All Bengal Women's Union interviewed a random sample of 160 sex workers in Kolkata and of those, 23 claimed that they had come of their own accord, whereas the remaining 137 women claimed to have been introduced into the sex trade by pimps or agents of various sorts.
A surprising breakdown of the agents by sex, were as follows: 76% were female and only 24% were males. Over 80% of the agents had brought young women into the profession were known people and not traffickers: neighbors, relatives, etc. Over 40% of 484 prostitute girls rescued during major raids of brothels in Mumbai in 1996 were from Nepal. In India as many as 200,000 Nepalese girls, many under the age of 14, have been sold into sexual slavery.
Nepalese women and girls, especially virgins, are favored in India. According to a 1994 report in the newspaper Asian Age, 30 per cent of these women are under 20 years of age, 40 per cent are 20-30 years of age, and approximately 15 per cent of them became prostitutes as children under the age of 12.
In its recent report, the Indian Supreme Court said, “Child prostitution is happening because of abject poverty in the country. This is also because of the very high large-scale unemployment. Our entire cultural ethos is going down the drain.”
The Court also wanted to know why the government is not “invoking rape cases against those exploiting the children in such prostitution rackets.” Working in this field, I realize that the Government of India is taking every step to curb and eliminate prostitution in India, but definitely somewhere down the line, they are not able to implement these actions strictly in many of these cases. Somewhere along the way there appears to be a loophole.
I run an organization in my homeland called the Indian Rescue Mission and already we have rescued hundreds of girls, may of them minors, from forced prostitution. I have found out that a huge demand for sex and a relaxed law enforcement system has resulted in the thriving trade of buying and selling women and girls.
Young girls from poor areas are particularly vulnerable and are often lured, kidnapped, or tricked into prostitution. Once the girl is sold to a particular brothel keeper, she becomes a virtual slave of the industry. She is beaten, threatened, verbally abused, and forced to sleep with many men every day. She will remain a slave until she is able to pay back the money the brothel keeper paid for her.
I have personally gone on several raids on these brothels and am convinced that an axe needs to be laid at the root of this problem.
Many of the organizations, including mine, that work for the rescue and rehabilitation of these victims are only trying to arrest the brothel keepers or managers of the brothels who are the last players of the whole trafficking game.
But I also feel that organizations need to trace the locations of the main pimps and traffickers and then they should be arrested and be put behind bars and that’s how we can bring an end to this issue. Child prostitution is growing so rapidly that all the efforts made by different organizations, play just a very small part.
Increasing suicide cases in Orissa
AGRICULTURE IS the chief occupation in Orissa. Seventy five per cent of the total working population engaged in agriculture and agriculture related industries. The principal problem that agriculture in Orissa faces is the shortage of water in many areas. Orrisa is the Indian state which is most affected by climate change.
Many farmers have allegedly committed suicide in Orissa who totally depend on the mercy of rain. In Orissa, farmers engaged in rain fed farming and many farmers ended their lives because of total crop loss due to bad monsoon.
The frequency at which farmers are killing themselves in Orissa is appalling. Small farmers of Orissa borrow loans from micro-finance NGO’s whose rate of interest is incredibly high. Banks give up loans on five per cent rate of interest but it is unable to access this which requires lot of documentation process and this make rural farmer attract towards micro-finance NGO’s where disbursal process is quick and easy but the rate of interest is almost 24 per cent to 50 per cent.
Farmers who took loan from these micro-finance NGO’s were trapped into life long process of death. This is clearly being seen that these NGO’s are exploiting small farmers of Orissa.
Fear of not being able to pay the amount of loan which they have took from micro-finance NGO’s drove the farmers to commit suicide. Now loans have become a fear for every farmer of Orissa.
Government takes the pride in having comprehensive agricultural policy but fails to provide good irrigation facilities and insurance cover to protect farmers. This shows that our government fails to stop suicide cases in Orissa.
Many farmers have allegedly committed suicide in Orissa who totally depend on the mercy of rain. In Orissa, farmers engaged in rain fed farming and many farmers ended their lives because of total crop loss due to bad monsoon.
The frequency at which farmers are killing themselves in Orissa is appalling. Small farmers of Orissa borrow loans from micro-finance NGO’s whose rate of interest is incredibly high. Banks give up loans on five per cent rate of interest but it is unable to access this which requires lot of documentation process and this make rural farmer attract towards micro-finance NGO’s where disbursal process is quick and easy but the rate of interest is almost 24 per cent to 50 per cent.
Farmers who took loan from these micro-finance NGO’s were trapped into life long process of death. This is clearly being seen that these NGO’s are exploiting small farmers of Orissa.
Fear of not being able to pay the amount of loan which they have took from micro-finance NGO’s drove the farmers to commit suicide. Now loans have become a fear for every farmer of Orissa.
Government takes the pride in having comprehensive agricultural policy but fails to provide good irrigation facilities and insurance cover to protect farmers. This shows that our government fails to stop suicide cases in Orissa.
Sexual abuse in school, high time to relook at the programs
SEXUAL EXPLOITATION of girl students in a residential school at Badaambada village in Nabarangpur district has became an important issue and now such issues have been reported from several parts of Orissa, particularly in tribal areas. The headmaster of the school, Pradipta Sahu, a contractual teacher Iswar Bhatra and Padman Bhatra, the husband of the cook of the school and later on the male cook of the residential school, Raju Bhatra have been taken into custody by the police in relation to this case.
Several visits were made by different government officers, political parties and dignitaries that forced the government to take disciplinary action and ultimately few officials (Welfare Extension Officer and Block Development Officer) were sacked from the job.
Now all the responsible persons of the government departments, political parties, and Panchayat leaders visit different schools at regular intervals. I must thank the person who brought this incidence into notice. Here a simple question arises that why the political parties/leaders realised so late that they should visit such institutions and that too after the occurrence of such a shameless incident in one such school? If they would have done this earlier such cases might not have taken place in other schools. I would like to request them not to visit the school now at all as it simply proves they want to get some political mileage.
After this incident the State government declared that only women headmasters would be posted in residential schools for girls. The schools are asked to accommodate students double its capacity, without proper place to sleep, eat, and bathe. And on the other hand the teachers stay on the same campus with their own families.
The concerned authority of the state government needs to check the quality of the dress material supplied to the girl students.
Sex is a biological need and it is difficult for an unethical person to abstain himself from it. And the tribal way of life which is generally featured by early sex, early marriage and elopement makes it easier for the people to exploit the girls. Many may not accept this logic out of mere hypocrisy .
Sexual abuse can lead to corporal punishment. . While signing the CRC the Indian government had promised to look after the matters pertaining to child rights and protection. Designing plans and making laws never solve the problems at all..
I want to raise a question on the working of the district level Child Well being Committees, and why they were not treated as the group which did not perform its duty perfectly. Why only the Welfare and Block Development officer were identified for negligence of their duty, why not the collector, the Minister for Tribal Welfare and Education and above all the Chief Minister of the state that is another big question for me. One can say the degree of negligence may be at the bottom. But the other duty bearers have failed to perform their duty and there is no confusion on this. Yes, I must say the real culprits need to be punished severely, but more than that the Government should take this as a lesson and plan accordingly so that such incidents do not happen at all.
Several visits were made by different government officers, political parties and dignitaries that forced the government to take disciplinary action and ultimately few officials (Welfare Extension Officer and Block Development Officer) were sacked from the job.
Now all the responsible persons of the government departments, political parties, and Panchayat leaders visit different schools at regular intervals. I must thank the person who brought this incidence into notice. Here a simple question arises that why the political parties/leaders realised so late that they should visit such institutions and that too after the occurrence of such a shameless incident in one such school? If they would have done this earlier such cases might not have taken place in other schools. I would like to request them not to visit the school now at all as it simply proves they want to get some political mileage.
After this incident the State government declared that only women headmasters would be posted in residential schools for girls. The schools are asked to accommodate students double its capacity, without proper place to sleep, eat, and bathe. And on the other hand the teachers stay on the same campus with their own families.
The concerned authority of the state government needs to check the quality of the dress material supplied to the girl students.
Sex is a biological need and it is difficult for an unethical person to abstain himself from it. And the tribal way of life which is generally featured by early sex, early marriage and elopement makes it easier for the people to exploit the girls. Many may not accept this logic out of mere hypocrisy .
Sexual abuse can lead to corporal punishment. . While signing the CRC the Indian government had promised to look after the matters pertaining to child rights and protection. Designing plans and making laws never solve the problems at all..
I want to raise a question on the working of the district level Child Well being Committees, and why they were not treated as the group which did not perform its duty perfectly. Why only the Welfare and Block Development officer were identified for negligence of their duty, why not the collector, the Minister for Tribal Welfare and Education and above all the Chief Minister of the state that is another big question for me. One can say the degree of negligence may be at the bottom. But the other duty bearers have failed to perform their duty and there is no confusion on this. Yes, I must say the real culprits need to be punished severely, but more than that the Government should take this as a lesson and plan accordingly so that such incidents do not happen at all.
April 14, 2010
License to Live-in: Bin phere hum tere
I AGREE with the fact that it is the personal decision for a man and a woman, who are in love whether to live together or not. It is part of their Right to life, and not a criminal sin. But this is acceptable only for adults and not for adolescents. Our society, traditional values and morals are joining hands with modernization and making it more flexible society.
Supreme Court's verdict on live-in relationships has been welcomed by the couples, who are living-in, but people who have high respect for traditions will still remain on the other side.
Talking about Prostitution, it is illegal in India, but do we see a reduction in the number of brothels in the country? Can we legalize this practice in India, which prevailing for decades now? Same holds for the live-in relationships.
One big question is that if a living-in couple want same rights as married couples, why not they get married then? There are many grey areas. Will the law treat single, married men cohabiting with a woman and married women cohabiting with a man in the same way? How long the woman or man have to be in live-in to qualify for maintenance? If a live-in couple has a child and later decide to part ways, what will be the future of child? Why an innocent child will suffer without any mistake?
India still survives and prospers on her traditions and values. Supreme Court's recent verdict on live-in relationship between two adults seems to overlook traditional Indian values. India is developing with each day technically, scientifically and in many more areas but here the Supreme Court judgement went wrong.
Supreme Court's verdict on live-in relationships has been welcomed by the couples, who are living-in, but people who have high respect for traditions will still remain on the other side.
Talking about Prostitution, it is illegal in India, but do we see a reduction in the number of brothels in the country? Can we legalize this practice in India, which prevailing for decades now? Same holds for the live-in relationships.
One big question is that if a living-in couple want same rights as married couples, why not they get married then? There are many grey areas. Will the law treat single, married men cohabiting with a woman and married women cohabiting with a man in the same way? How long the woman or man have to be in live-in to qualify for maintenance? If a live-in couple has a child and later decide to part ways, what will be the future of child? Why an innocent child will suffer without any mistake?
India still survives and prospers on her traditions and values. Supreme Court's recent verdict on live-in relationship between two adults seems to overlook traditional Indian values. India is developing with each day technically, scientifically and in many more areas but here the Supreme Court judgement went wrong.
India - A land of hypocrites?
The word hypocrisy is no foreigner to the Indian political scenario. The passing of the Women's Reservation Bill has once again brought this aspect of our leaders to debate. Suddenly Muslim women's representation is being championed by random people.
THE WORD ‘hypocrite’ can never be erased from dictionaries, not because of its indepth meaning, but owing to the fact that it plays a very important role in determining a remarkable trait that is always associated with the complicated human nature.
Hypocrisy, in simple terms, refers to the inconsistency between action and words. This is prominent in all fields, be it politics, personal commitments, debates or baseless discussions. Time and again, one can see changes made in well crafted words spoken by top notch public figures depending on the situation and the context. Now, one has to analyse to what extent this term can be associated with an ordinary Indian citizen.
There have been numerous reports on the Yadav troika of Mulayam Singh, Laloo and Sharad aiming at reservation within reservation for Muslim community in the Women’s Reservation Bill. However, the question yet to be answered is what they have done for the Muslim community so far.
Talking about the common man, if one goes back a few years in history, it would be impossible not to come across the objections raised against the idea of ‘Democratic India’ being ruled by a personality like Sonia Gandhi, thanks to her origin and not her skills. There were widespread discussions among all the sections of the society with every individual, right from the ‘responsible future citizens’ of the country, to the older age groups. Even women who always felt oppressed would not miss an opportunity to discuss this in detail, be it a kitty party or a serious debate.
However, with the passing of the Women’s Reservation Bill, things have taken a drastic turn and Sonia Gandhi is treated as a Demi God by all women and of course the husbands and near and dear ones of future political wannabes. Is this because she has proved her mettle or more for the fact that this decision is seen as a boon by many? Only time will tell.
There has been an unprecedented rise in hatred against Australian racists. However, it is not difficult to guess that these are the same people who dedicate some part of their life to ensure that caste discrimination still remains an unresolved part in the Indian society.
In the field of cricket, we have heard a few celebrities claiming Sachin Tendulkar to be ahead of Don Bradman, thus leading to the confusion if this is out of obsession or has embedded traces of hypocrisy.
Many people project the image of a philanthropist working for the cause of mankind but their charitable works take a backseat when they fail to get media attention that profits them in some issues of ‘greater significance’ to them.
THE WORD ‘hypocrite’ can never be erased from dictionaries, not because of its indepth meaning, but owing to the fact that it plays a very important role in determining a remarkable trait that is always associated with the complicated human nature.
Hypocrisy, in simple terms, refers to the inconsistency between action and words. This is prominent in all fields, be it politics, personal commitments, debates or baseless discussions. Time and again, one can see changes made in well crafted words spoken by top notch public figures depending on the situation and the context. Now, one has to analyse to what extent this term can be associated with an ordinary Indian citizen.
There have been numerous reports on the Yadav troika of Mulayam Singh, Laloo and Sharad aiming at reservation within reservation for Muslim community in the Women’s Reservation Bill. However, the question yet to be answered is what they have done for the Muslim community so far.
Talking about the common man, if one goes back a few years in history, it would be impossible not to come across the objections raised against the idea of ‘Democratic India’ being ruled by a personality like Sonia Gandhi, thanks to her origin and not her skills. There were widespread discussions among all the sections of the society with every individual, right from the ‘responsible future citizens’ of the country, to the older age groups. Even women who always felt oppressed would not miss an opportunity to discuss this in detail, be it a kitty party or a serious debate.
However, with the passing of the Women’s Reservation Bill, things have taken a drastic turn and Sonia Gandhi is treated as a Demi God by all women and of course the husbands and near and dear ones of future political wannabes. Is this because she has proved her mettle or more for the fact that this decision is seen as a boon by many? Only time will tell.
There has been an unprecedented rise in hatred against Australian racists. However, it is not difficult to guess that these are the same people who dedicate some part of their life to ensure that caste discrimination still remains an unresolved part in the Indian society.
In the field of cricket, we have heard a few celebrities claiming Sachin Tendulkar to be ahead of Don Bradman, thus leading to the confusion if this is out of obsession or has embedded traces of hypocrisy.
Many people project the image of a philanthropist working for the cause of mankind but their charitable works take a backseat when they fail to get media attention that profits them in some issues of ‘greater significance’ to them.
Discussion on judicial legacy of Justice A P Shah held
It is in these dark judicial times for the poor that Justice A.P. Shah's judicial legacy stands out by contrast and comes as a breath of fresh air. Throughout his career as a Judge, Justice Shah has delivered several landmark judgements.
MARKING THE retirement of Justice A.P. Shah as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and recognizing his judicial legacy characterized by his consistent sympathy for the rights of the poor, the weak and the marginalized, an umbrella of 15 human rights organizations, people’s movements and academic/cultural institutions (listed below) organised a Panel address on the issue of Sensitizing the Judiciary to the Rights of the Poor – The Judicial Legacy of Justice A.P. Shah.
The Panel address was held at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (Main Auditorium), Teen Murti House, New Delhi on the 6th of April 2010 at from 4:30p.m. – 7:30p.m.
The address was an occasion to focus on the judicial responses towards the poor spanning the 70s and the 80s when liberal judges in the Supreme Court like Justice Krishna Iyer, Justice P.N. Bhagwati and Justice Chinappa Reddy et al. expanded the rights of the poor by liberally interpreting the fundamental rights to bring them in tune with the other guiding principles of the Constitution, namely, the directive principles of state policy.
Thus Article 21 of the Constitution was interpreted to include the right to food, the right to health care, the right to shelter, the right to education, the right to a healthy environment, etc. Beginning with the 90s however, one began to see a reversal of this trend, not so much by way of overruling the previous judgements by giving a more conservative interpretation of rights, but by way of refusing to implement these rights as declared by the court itself.
Thus, workers rights liberally interpreted in the 70s and 80s were rendered nugatory by the Supreme Court refusing to implement the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act and the Industrial Disputes Act in dozens of cases. One began to see the High Courts and the Supreme Court itself ordering demolition of jhuggis without rehabilitation, removal of hawkers from streets without an alternative space for hawking, removal of rickshaw pullers from the streets without an alternative livelihood option – and thus violating their Article 21 rights.
All this was usually done on the ostensive basis of a clean and health environment. Thus the homes of more than a 100, 000 people were ordered to be demolished on the Yamuna Pushta on the basis that they were polluting the Yamuna which was an eco fragile zone.
It is in these dark judicial times for the poor that Justice A.P. Shah’s judicial legacy stands out by contrast and comes as a breath of fresh air. Throughout his career as a Judge, Justice Shah has delivered several landmark and progressive judgements. However what sets him apart is his consistent sensitivity to the rights of the poor, the weak and the marginalised.
Eminent panelists for the day, who have been involved in and have been speaking out on these issues included Anil Divan (Senior Advocate), Shanti Bhushan (Senior Advocate), Swami Agnivesh (Human Rights Activist), Prof. Upendra Baxi (former VC, Delhi University), Shekhar Singh (RTI Activist), Madhu Kishwar (Prof. CSDS and founder Manushi), Prof. Babu Mathew (Director, Action Aid), Miloon Kothari (Former UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing), Prashant Bhushan (Advocate), Dunu Roy (Director , Hazard Centre) and Gautam Bhan (Sexuality Rights Activist). The address was attended by over 200 people including social activists, academicians, people’s movement’s representatives, lawyers, students, etc.
Senior advocate and former law minister, Shanti Bhushan, set the tone for the discussion by highlighting the four qualities of a good judge, all of which he stated were present in full measure in Justice A.P. Shah, namely, integrity, knowledge of the law, sensitivity towards the poor and basic courtesy. Justice Shah with his extraordinary sensitivity towards the poor stands out as an exception to the rather callous attitude of the judiciary towards the rights of the weak and marginalised.
Renowned human rights activist Swami Agnivesh reiterated Justice Shah’s exceptional sensitivity towards the poor but cautioned that an exception like Justice Shah did not clear the judiciary of its tarnished reputation as being unaccountable and unresponsive to the common segment of society.
Senior advocate Anil Divan emphasised the need to keep up the fight against judicial corruption and unaccountability and highlighted the failure in the system of judicial appointments, citing as example the case of the appointment of Justice Ashok Kumar as permanent judge of the Madras High Court in Febuary 2007, without any consultation with the collegium of judges as required by the law laid down by the Supreme court and despite his not being confirmed earlier on grounds of integrity.
He also referred to the murky Ghaziabad Provident Fund scam where several judges of the High Court and a Supreme Court judge were named as beneficiaries of the illegal withdrawals. He emphasised the importance of the pressure of public opinion in the fight towards reclaiming the judiciary for the people in a democratic state like India.
Madhu Kishwar, Prof CSDS and founder Manushi, demonstrated the depth of Justice Shah’s understanding of the needs of the common citizen by citing his exceptional judgment in the rickshaw pullers case in which he not only held as unconstitutional the licence quota on rickshaw plying but also de-legitimised the owner-puller policy, which in the garb of being pro-poor played much to the detriment of the average rickshaw puller.
The judgement further ordered the Chief Secretary of Delhi to constitute a task force to review the cycle rickshaw policy as well as equitable road space sharing, all of which is to be monitored by the Hon’ble court itself.
Miloon Kothari, former UN Special Rappoteur on Adequate housing, detailed Justice Shah’s judgements which came as a breather for the mass slum dwellers in the city as he order the right to humane relocation in case their lands are required for public purposes and the rights of the homeless to night shelters.
RTI activist Shekhar Singh highlighted the absurdity of the whole judges’ assets controversy with the Supreme Court now in appeal before itself from the full Bench decision of the Delhi High Court as well as the judiciary’s constant struggle to shield itself from the full application of the Right to Information law.
Prof. Upendra Baxi, former Vice Chancellor Delhi University, defined Justice Shah and those who honour his legacy today as “Part IV A citizens” of the country emphasising the need for all to focus on their fundamental duties as embodied in the Constitution of India. Justice Shah redefined “dignity” in many of his judgments with his humane understanding of the plight of the weaker and poorer sections of Indian society.
Developing “Citizen Justices” like Justice Shah with an equally responsible “Citizen Bar” would pave the way towards a systematic renovation of the judicial system.
Drawing a parallel with the creeping in of neo liberalism in the 1990s with the peaking of the tremendous process of social exclusion, Prof. Babu Mathew brought out a realistic picture as he stated that there has now been increasing consensus among the academic and social thinkers that nearly half of India’s population falls within this excluded category.
He pointed towards the need to draw lessons from Justice Shah’s legacy that used law as an appropriate means of social change. His judgments came as a moral booster that further enables people to better rally and organise themselves with this new ray of hope.
Gautam Bhan, sexuality rights activist, brought forward Justice Shah’s inclusive understanding of the rights of every citizens as was reflected in his courageous and reasoned S. 377 judgment upholding the rights of sexual minorities and his interpretation of “constitutional morality”. From the decline in the attitude of the Judiciary towards the rights of the poor in the 90s, panellists took note that with exceptions like Justice AP Shah becoming a role model for the judiciary to emulate, we may begin to see a reversal of this declining trend in the years ahead.
Justice Shah’s retirement from the judiciary marked an important occasion to focus on the role of the judiciary as protectors of the rights of the weak and marginalized section of Indian society and the panellists were unanimous in emphasising the importance of a Judiciary that is a truly people’s judiciary, responsible and accountable to the people of this country. The panel concluded with the hope that Justice Shah’s legacy will become a beacon for the judiciary in this country to emulate so that we can again reclaim this republic for the common people of this country.
MARKING THE retirement of Justice A.P. Shah as Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and recognizing his judicial legacy characterized by his consistent sympathy for the rights of the poor, the weak and the marginalized, an umbrella of 15 human rights organizations, people’s movements and academic/cultural institutions (listed below) organised a Panel address on the issue of Sensitizing the Judiciary to the Rights of the Poor – The Judicial Legacy of Justice A.P. Shah.
The Panel address was held at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (Main Auditorium), Teen Murti House, New Delhi on the 6th of April 2010 at from 4:30p.m. – 7:30p.m.
The address was an occasion to focus on the judicial responses towards the poor spanning the 70s and the 80s when liberal judges in the Supreme Court like Justice Krishna Iyer, Justice P.N. Bhagwati and Justice Chinappa Reddy et al. expanded the rights of the poor by liberally interpreting the fundamental rights to bring them in tune with the other guiding principles of the Constitution, namely, the directive principles of state policy.
Thus Article 21 of the Constitution was interpreted to include the right to food, the right to health care, the right to shelter, the right to education, the right to a healthy environment, etc. Beginning with the 90s however, one began to see a reversal of this trend, not so much by way of overruling the previous judgements by giving a more conservative interpretation of rights, but by way of refusing to implement these rights as declared by the court itself.
Thus, workers rights liberally interpreted in the 70s and 80s were rendered nugatory by the Supreme Court refusing to implement the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act and the Industrial Disputes Act in dozens of cases. One began to see the High Courts and the Supreme Court itself ordering demolition of jhuggis without rehabilitation, removal of hawkers from streets without an alternative space for hawking, removal of rickshaw pullers from the streets without an alternative livelihood option – and thus violating their Article 21 rights.
All this was usually done on the ostensive basis of a clean and health environment. Thus the homes of more than a 100, 000 people were ordered to be demolished on the Yamuna Pushta on the basis that they were polluting the Yamuna which was an eco fragile zone.
It is in these dark judicial times for the poor that Justice A.P. Shah’s judicial legacy stands out by contrast and comes as a breath of fresh air. Throughout his career as a Judge, Justice Shah has delivered several landmark and progressive judgements. However what sets him apart is his consistent sensitivity to the rights of the poor, the weak and the marginalised.
Eminent panelists for the day, who have been involved in and have been speaking out on these issues included Anil Divan (Senior Advocate), Shanti Bhushan (Senior Advocate), Swami Agnivesh (Human Rights Activist), Prof. Upendra Baxi (former VC, Delhi University), Shekhar Singh (RTI Activist), Madhu Kishwar (Prof. CSDS and founder Manushi), Prof. Babu Mathew (Director, Action Aid), Miloon Kothari (Former UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing), Prashant Bhushan (Advocate), Dunu Roy (Director , Hazard Centre) and Gautam Bhan (Sexuality Rights Activist). The address was attended by over 200 people including social activists, academicians, people’s movement’s representatives, lawyers, students, etc.
Senior advocate and former law minister, Shanti Bhushan, set the tone for the discussion by highlighting the four qualities of a good judge, all of which he stated were present in full measure in Justice A.P. Shah, namely, integrity, knowledge of the law, sensitivity towards the poor and basic courtesy. Justice Shah with his extraordinary sensitivity towards the poor stands out as an exception to the rather callous attitude of the judiciary towards the rights of the weak and marginalised.
Renowned human rights activist Swami Agnivesh reiterated Justice Shah’s exceptional sensitivity towards the poor but cautioned that an exception like Justice Shah did not clear the judiciary of its tarnished reputation as being unaccountable and unresponsive to the common segment of society.
Senior advocate Anil Divan emphasised the need to keep up the fight against judicial corruption and unaccountability and highlighted the failure in the system of judicial appointments, citing as example the case of the appointment of Justice Ashok Kumar as permanent judge of the Madras High Court in Febuary 2007, without any consultation with the collegium of judges as required by the law laid down by the Supreme court and despite his not being confirmed earlier on grounds of integrity.
He also referred to the murky Ghaziabad Provident Fund scam where several judges of the High Court and a Supreme Court judge were named as beneficiaries of the illegal withdrawals. He emphasised the importance of the pressure of public opinion in the fight towards reclaiming the judiciary for the people in a democratic state like India.
Madhu Kishwar, Prof CSDS and founder Manushi, demonstrated the depth of Justice Shah’s understanding of the needs of the common citizen by citing his exceptional judgment in the rickshaw pullers case in which he not only held as unconstitutional the licence quota on rickshaw plying but also de-legitimised the owner-puller policy, which in the garb of being pro-poor played much to the detriment of the average rickshaw puller.
The judgement further ordered the Chief Secretary of Delhi to constitute a task force to review the cycle rickshaw policy as well as equitable road space sharing, all of which is to be monitored by the Hon’ble court itself.
Miloon Kothari, former UN Special Rappoteur on Adequate housing, detailed Justice Shah’s judgements which came as a breather for the mass slum dwellers in the city as he order the right to humane relocation in case their lands are required for public purposes and the rights of the homeless to night shelters.
RTI activist Shekhar Singh highlighted the absurdity of the whole judges’ assets controversy with the Supreme Court now in appeal before itself from the full Bench decision of the Delhi High Court as well as the judiciary’s constant struggle to shield itself from the full application of the Right to Information law.
Prof. Upendra Baxi, former Vice Chancellor Delhi University, defined Justice Shah and those who honour his legacy today as “Part IV A citizens” of the country emphasising the need for all to focus on their fundamental duties as embodied in the Constitution of India. Justice Shah redefined “dignity” in many of his judgments with his humane understanding of the plight of the weaker and poorer sections of Indian society.
Developing “Citizen Justices” like Justice Shah with an equally responsible “Citizen Bar” would pave the way towards a systematic renovation of the judicial system.
Drawing a parallel with the creeping in of neo liberalism in the 1990s with the peaking of the tremendous process of social exclusion, Prof. Babu Mathew brought out a realistic picture as he stated that there has now been increasing consensus among the academic and social thinkers that nearly half of India’s population falls within this excluded category.
He pointed towards the need to draw lessons from Justice Shah’s legacy that used law as an appropriate means of social change. His judgments came as a moral booster that further enables people to better rally and organise themselves with this new ray of hope.
Gautam Bhan, sexuality rights activist, brought forward Justice Shah’s inclusive understanding of the rights of every citizens as was reflected in his courageous and reasoned S. 377 judgment upholding the rights of sexual minorities and his interpretation of “constitutional morality”. From the decline in the attitude of the Judiciary towards the rights of the poor in the 90s, panellists took note that with exceptions like Justice AP Shah becoming a role model for the judiciary to emulate, we may begin to see a reversal of this declining trend in the years ahead.
Justice Shah’s retirement from the judiciary marked an important occasion to focus on the role of the judiciary as protectors of the rights of the weak and marginalized section of Indian society and the panellists were unanimous in emphasising the importance of a Judiciary that is a truly people’s judiciary, responsible and accountable to the people of this country. The panel concluded with the hope that Justice Shah’s legacy will become a beacon for the judiciary in this country to emulate so that we can again reclaim this republic for the common people of this country.
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