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7/23/2019 Courts of Injustice-030116
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I
t
i'
t
I
I
OURTS
OF
INJUSTICE
'The
highest office in our democracy is the office
of
citizen; this
is
not
only a
platitude,
it must translate
into reality'.- Report of The National Commission
to
Review the
Working of The Constitution.l
While
nobody
who
understands the term democracy
would
need such
a
quotable quote
as
given
above, in our
country,
unfortunately,
the
obsession is not
with what
is
said
but
who
is saying
it.
Hence
the
need to use
quotable quotes profusely,
Here
is another
quotable
quote.
lt is
popularly
known as Schopenhauer's
Law of
Entropy.z.
'lf
you
put
a
spoonful
of wine in a barrel
full of
sewage
you get
sewage.
lf
you
put
a spoonful
of sewage
in a
barrel
fullof
wine
you get,,,.,....
sewage 'ln the
lndian context, this
lawcan be applied
as
follows:
if
the
people
of lndia
is the
birrel full
of
wine,
the
public
servants
form the spoonful
of sewage;
if the
public'servants
form the barrel
full
of
wine,
the
judiciary
is
the spoonful
of sewage
and if the
judicary
is
the bei&l
full of
wine
the
judges
form the spoonful of sewage This is
not
merely
a belief but
a conviction bor;[re
out of
personal
experience, observations and study.
lf
that was
perceptive
thinking then here is
something
more
logical.
Amoung the three
organs
of
our
Constitution the law-makers are elected/controlled by
the
people,
b'ureaucracy
(yes,
bureaucracy,
because
without
the active support of the bureaucracy
no
politician
can do any
wrong ) and
finally the
judiciary;
the
law-enforcers
are also controlled
by
the
law-makers and
the
judiciary.
And then
there are
the
ears
and eyes of the
people-
the
media
waiting to sensationalise
every
news involving
the
misdemeanour of these authorities.
lnspite
of such strict
supervision
and control
all that
we can hear
these
days are
about
politician-bureaucrat-undenruorld
nexus even
though the
fact remains that
none,
worth
the
name, from
this
unholy nexus have
ever
been
punished
by
the holier-than-thou
judiciary.
So
now think how bad a system
can
be which is not only NOT subject
to
supervision but also
kept beyond
critical observation.
Well isn't
our
judiciary
just
that?
And
do I
need
to
recapitulate that
quip:
power
corrupts
and
absolute
power
corrupts
absolutely?-
We are
given
to believe that our Constitution is
the
biggest ever
in
the
world and it
is
sact.osanct.
But
even a cursory reading of it will reveal that it is
a tome
unfit for a democratic
society, And even
the
architect
of this Constitution, Dr B R Ambedkar,
had admitted
(on
2nd September
1953 in the
Rajya
Sabha)
that
"People
always
keep
on saying to me,
so
you
are the
maker of the Constitution.
My answer
is lwas a
hack.
What
I
was
asked'to, I did much against my will. I am
quite prepared
to
say
that
I
shall
be the first
person
to burn
it. lt
does not suit anybody." And Seth Damodar Swarup
had said,
in
the
Constituent
Assembly
of
lndia
on
19 November
1949,
'this
Constitution
may be
the
biggest and bulkiest
constitution in
the
world,
may even be the most
detailed one,
it may be heaven for the
lawyers,
and
may
even
be
the Magna
Carta
for
the capitalists
of
lndia,
but so
far
as tfe
poor
and the tens
of
millions
of toiling; starving
and
naked
masses of lndia
are concerned, there
is nothing in it for
them.
For them it
is a bulky volume, nothing more
than waste
paper.'
This Constitution certainly
provides
for
three organs to fulfil the responsibilities of
governance-
the
law
making
legislaturesiParliament,
the law enforcing
executive
(headed
by the
President
of course, though
practically
it is not
unusual to hear
the
Prime
Minister
being touted
as the Head of the Executive
also )
and
the
law interpreting
judiciary.
However
the law
making
has been
reduced to a
farce
without
prescribing
certain minumum
qualifications
or
qualities
for our law makers.
Thus
they are
rendered
puppets
in
the
hands
of a bureaucracy which
apparantly has not
got
any accountability But these
bureaucrats/babus/clerks would
shit in
their
pants
if they
are
as much shown a transfer order to a
place
that
is not
to their liking And
the
judiciary
which
is required to sit in
judgement
over disputes between
the vdrious stake holders
has been
given
unbridled freedom
to act whimsically, arbitrarily and outright
illegally.
One doesn't
have to
go
further
than
a decade back to
just
drive home the
point.
How could a
Chief Justice of lndia
claim that his
office was
out of
purview
of the Right to lnformation Act? And, how
could
a constitution
bench of the
apex court claim
that
the National Judicial Appointments Commission
was
unconstitutional?
i
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I
i
One couln't
care less
if
the
judges
of
the
higher
courts
were
appointed
by
judges
or
politicians
or a
mix
of both
because
ultimately
what
matters
is
promptness,
transparency
ind-accountability
in
judicial
proceedings,
including
decisions,
and for
that
what
is needed
is
not
a mere
appointments
commission
bul
an
accountability
commission
with
powers
to try errant
judges
under laws
applicable
to
ordinary
citizens
with
atleast
twice
the
severity
in
punishment
based
on tfre
bgic
that
professional
criminals
have
to
be
dealt with
more
severely
than
amateur
ones.
The delay
in
disposal of cases in
the
judiciary
is
so gross that even
the
judiciary cannot
but
admit it.
But
what is
preposterous
is
the one
point
solution
being
touted
by the
judiciary-
increasing
the
number
of
judges
A
casual
visit
to
any
court will
suffice
to
get
a first hand
experience
of the way
the court is
responsible
for
the waste
of not
only
its
own
precious
time but also
the harassment
of litigants
(complainants
included ).
Here
is
the data
pe(aining
to
a complaint
in a consumer'court'.
ln
OP 28Agg
pP
No
85/95
transferre.d
from
Malappuram),
the opposite
paty
had
.ploduced
interim
stay
order
on
28/10/99
and
the'stay
was
vacated
only
on B/6/2005
but
throughrout
this
period
the
case
was
listed
58
frmes
and
adjoumed
lt was
finally
posfed
for
orders
on 6fl/01
but
was
opened
for
re-hearing
suo
moto
on 15/2/08
and went
on
an
adjournment
spiee from
3/3/08
to 31/5/2010.
During
this
spree
it
was
adjourned
17 times,
inctiding
i
times for want
of
memberslPresident
and
10 times
for
orders
ontyl
lt
uyas
dismiss
ed
whei an
application was
submitted
under
the RTI
Act
to find
out
the
sfafus/
It
can
easily
be
said
that
the
situation
is
worse
in
our courts,
ln
an article
' 'How
long
before
justice
comes?'
in
the
New
lndian
Express
of
04
Dec
2004
HD
shourie
had
written:
'lt
is
not
posslb/e
for
a
judge
to seriously
hear
and
decide
more
than
two
orfhree
cases
a day..,,no
iudge
should
have
more
than
30
matters
listed
before
him/her
on
a
given
day.'
'Lawyers
are
acused
of
e:mploying
delaying
methods,
but
no lawyer
can
succeed
if
the
cout
refuses
an
adjournment.'
It is
invariably
seen
that
in
the
subordinate
courts
more
than
100
cases
are listed
everyday
before
a
judge
and
most
of
the
forenoon
hours
are
spent
in
simply
calling
the case
numbers,-recording
the
presence
of
parties
and
adjourning
the
cases
for
a later
Oitet
gut
elven
here
the
data
from
a consumer
99y[
wltt
be
an
eye
opener.
These
consumer
disputes
redressal
forums
(CDRFs)/commissions
(CDRCs),
established
under
the
Consumer
Protection
Act
with
a
very
limited
function
but
structured
as
a
jury
with
three
members
(with
the implied
additional
cost
to the
eichequer)
have
literally
turned
the
consumer
Protection
Act
into
a
consumer
Persecution
Act.
while
the
example
in
op
2}2lgg
of
the
Palakkad
Forum
is
sufficient
to
prove'the
point
of irresponsible,
whimsical
and
wayward
behaviour
of
1 ,*:-rltltcating
authorities
the
point
of misanagemeni
of
time
should
b6
evident
from
the fact
that
the
CDRF
Palakkad
hasbeen
holding
sittings
foiless
than
t
hour
per
day,
The
total
number
of
cases
listed
is
not
more
than
20
and
exceptforone
ortwo allof
them
are
adjourned.
And
this, when
as
per
information
received
underthe
RTI
Act,
as
on
31/5/2010,
there
were
10'g
cases
pending
for
more
than
3 months,
but
less
than
1
year;
37
pending
for
m9p
thanl
yearout
less
than
3
years
and
15
pending
for
more
than
3
years
on
18
Jun
201t
wrren
lhad
insplcteo
tne
documents
at
the
6DRF
lwas
shocked
to find
even
cases
of
1996
listed
as
late
as
lgt2t2o}}l
(Complaints
about
ihese
have
been
submitted
to
the
concerned
minister
and
chief
minister
too,
all in
vain .3)
'
Coming
back
to
the
issue
of
increasing
the
number
of
judges,
the
only
argument
seen
touted
in
its
favour
is
a
judge
to
population
ratio.
lt
is
argued
that
in'lndla
ii
is
not
even
a
fraction
of what
it
is
in
developed
countries.
But
it
doesn't
need
Einitein's
intelligence
to know
that
such
rijures
are
irrelevant
in
the
lndian
context
where
the
majority
are
illiterate,
Ieaie
alone
being
conscious
of their
legal
rightsl
But
here
again
are
some
interesting
figures:
cases
filed
in
one
year
(19gg):
lndla:
13.6
Million,
USA:
g3.81
Miilion
(T
times)
Docket's per
judge:
rndia
:
9BT
per
Judge;
jJSA:
323s
per
Judge
(3
times)
I
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Given
that the
population
of
lndia is
more
than
4
times
that
of the
US of
A where does
that
leave the
argument based on
judge
to
population
ratio? lsn't
the
judge
to docket
ratio
more logical?
ls
it
just
delays that are
the
bane
of our
judiciary?
Absolutely
notr Even at
the
end
of
preposterous
delays
the decisions can
hardly be said
to
be
fair While the
judiciary
can
be seen
repeating
popular
quotes
like
'Ceaser's
wife
has
to be
above board' obviously
it
does
not abide by
such
wisdom
itselfl
Without
going
into
the details,
there can be
many
cases
listed
which
expose
not
merely the
duplicity
of
the
judiciary but
its
outright wayward behaviour.
ln Jancy
Joseph
Vs Union
of
lndia
(1999 (1
)
KLI 422),
the
question
of applicability
of
Section
56
of the
Civil
Procedure
Code
(of
1908 vintage, though
legally valid )
while ordering
arrests
under
the
provisions
of Section
27
of
lhe
Consumer
Protection
Act
(enacted
in 1986,
long after
we
gave
to
ourselves
a
Constitution
that
promises
social,
economic
and
political
justice
and
right
to
equality
ryithout
discrimination against
any citizen on
grounds
only of
religion,
race, caste,
sex,
place
of
birth
or
any of them)
was considered by the
Kerala
High
Court.
Under Section
56
of the CPC,'tf1e
court
shall
not
order arrest or detention
in the civil
prison
of a
woman in execution
of a
decree
for
payment
of
money; regarding
recovery
of
money
from others,
arrest
can
be
ordered
if it is found that
the
person
concerned have means to
pay'.
The
judge
had
ruled
that
'l
quash
Ext P5
in
so
far as it holds
that woman
can be
arrested
for recovery
of
money under Sec
27
of lhe
(Consumer
Protection)Act and that
means
of
judgement
debtor
need
not
be
considered
when the
power
under S 27
is
exercised
for
recovery of
money'.
There
are two
factors
to
be
considered
here. First,
the
judge
has
acted
unconstitutionally
by
discriminating
against
citizens
on the
grounds
of sex
alone.
This
judgement
also
makes
the
discrimination
implicit in
Sec
56 of the CPC more severe.
Further,
this undue
favo.ur
extended
to
women excluded all the women from the
penal
provisions
of
the Consumer
Protection
Act,
because
under the
CPA
all
rulings
will
involve
recovery
of
money, either
in terms of
refund of
costs
or
compensation.
So,
in
other
words, women could
get
away
with any crime
under
the
CPAI
(A
subsequent amendment to
the
CPA has enabled revenue recovery procedures to enforce the orders
of
the
Fora/Commissions but as on the date of the order
of
the
High
Court,
it was an atrocious
order
that
really
gave
a
licence to women to cheat and
get
away
with it
with
impunity )
Secondly,
even
considering,
for the sake of
argument,
that the
special
treatment
granted
to
women could
be
justified
under certain
provisions
of the Constitution,
how
could
the
judge
change
the
goal
post
for
men?
Now, look
at
how
the
goal
post
has
been changed
in favour of
commercial
organisations
vis
a
vis
citizens of
both
gender.
ln Mary
Chacko
vs
Jancy
Joseph
(2005
(3)
KLT 925), a
division bench
headed
by the then CJ of Kerala considered the
issue
of the
applicability
of
thp same Sec
56
of
CPC while
enforcing
the orders under
Recovery
of
Debts Due
to
Banks and
Financial lnstitutions
Act
1993
and
ordered
that women CAN
be
arrested because
'there
is
a
clear
bas.is
for treating the
public
dues
different from the purely private',
Now this
raises
a
genuine
doubt
whether
the Constitution of
lndia, by
which
all
these
luminaries swear
by,
mention anywhere
that
justice
could be denied to
individual citizens?
As I see it, or as any
man in
his senses would see it, it is a big NOI Doesn't
it
suggest
that these
people
read the
Preamble to the
Constitution every time they opened a case
file? As well
as the
Gandhi
Talisman for added
effect?
And here
are two
judgements
which
put
together
would make any
knowledge of
law redundant
for
the
lawyers and
judges:
ln lttavira
Vs Varkey
(A
1964
SC 907) the august court
has ruled that
'courts
have
jurisdiction
to
decide
right
or to decide
wrong
and even though they decide
wrong, the
decrees rendered
by them
cannot be treated
as
nullities'.
7/23/2019 Courts of Injustice-030116
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l...--
I
ln
Misrilal
Vs
Sadasivrah
(A
1965
SC
553,)
the apex
court
has
ruled
that
'there
can
be no
inteierence
in
revision
merely
because
the
decision
is
erroneous in law
or
in
fact where there is no
e rro r
pe
rtai n in
g
to
ju
ri
sd
i ction'.
Many more
similar instances
can
be
quoted
to
prove
the
point
t
am irying to drive home:
that our courts
not only
deny
justice
by
delay
but
even
after
the
preposterous
delays
the
decisions
smack
of
arbitrariness
and waywardness
The rules
framed
under
the
RTI
Act
are
classic
examples
of
the
attitude
of
the
judiciary
to
law.
Right
from
exorbitant fees
to
introducing
fees
for
even 1st
appeal to keeping
judicial
matters
out
of
purview
of
the law,
the competent
authorities
in
the
judiciary
under
the
RTI Act
have not
made any secret
of
their
antagonistic
attitude towards
transparency
and
accountability. And this,
as
is wont
to, has created
a
situation where
quasi
judicial
authorities
act whimsically,
arbitrarily and waywardly leaving
law abiding
citizens
and those
seeking
justice
high and
dry. Here
is an
extract
from
the order dated
3011.112015 of
Basant
Seth,
lnformation
Commissioner,
Central lnformation
Commissioner in FTIe
No,
c I
c/BS/A/20 1 4
I 00267
1 t9
1
09
The Hon'ble
High
Court
of Gujarat
in its
decision
dated L4/I1,/2}L4
[SPA
No
t64$olzoL4
Pankesh
Manubhai
Patel vs.
Chief
lnformation
Commissioner and
ors]
has
held
as
under:
"5.
The
Commission
has
recorded
reasons
in
para-4,
which reads
as
under.
4.
We
agree
with
the
Respondents
that
collecting
this
information
would
disproportionately
divert
their resources
from
the
day
to day work. The Appellant
has
not
established
any larger
public
interest,
which would
warrant
a
directive to the
Respondents
to
collect
the
information,
sought
by
him,
even
at
the
cost
of
diverting
their
resources
from
their
day
to day
work.
ln
the
above
context,
we
also
note
the
following
observations
of
the
Supreme
Court
in
Central Board
of Secondary
Education
and
Anr. Vs.
Aditya
Bandopadhyay
and Ors."
'lndiscriminate
and
impractical
demands
or directions
under
RTI
Act
for
disclosure
of
all and sundry
information
(unrelated to transparency and
accountability
in the
functioning
of
public
authorities
and
eradication
of corruption)
would
be
counterproductive
as
it
will
adversely
affect the
efficiency
of
the
administration
and
result
in
the
executive
getting
bogged
down
with
the non-productive
work
of
collecting
and furnishing
information.
The
Act
should not
be
allowed
to
be
misused
or
abused,
to
become
a
tool
to
obstruct
the national
development
and integration,
or
to
destroy
the
peace,
tranquility
and harmony
among
its
citizens. Nor
should
it
be
converted
into
a tool
of
oppression
or intimidation
of hopest
officials
striving
to do
their
duty.
The
nation
does
not
want
a scenario
where
75%
of the
staff of
public
authorities
spends
75%
of
their
time
in
collecting
and, furnishing
information
to
applicants instead
of
discharging
their
regular duties.
The
threat of
penalties
under
the RTI
Act
and
the
pressure
of
the
authorities
under
the RTI
Act
should
not
lead to
employees
of
public
authorities prioritizing'information
furnishing'at
the
cost
of
their
normal
and
regular
duties.'
6. Having
considered
the
relationship
between
the
petitioner
and
the
respondent
authorities
and
the
information
asked
for
by the
petitioner,
this Court
finds
that,
the view
taken
by
the
Commission
in
the facts
of this
case
does not
call
for
any
interference.
Further,
the
Commission
has
noted
the
observations
of
the
.
Hon'ble
Supreme
Court
of
lndia,
which
would
apply
with
full
force in
the
facts
of this
case. This
court
does
not
see
any
infirmity
in
the
impugned
decision
of the
Commission. This
petition therefore
needs
to
be dismissed.,,
i
7/23/2019 Courts of Injustice-030116
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As
perthe
ratio of the above cited decision information
which
would disproportionately
divert
the resources
of
the
public
authority need
not be
provided
except
when
occasioned by consideration
of
public
interest.
ln the
matter
at
hand
the
appellant
has
not
established any
public
interest
which
would warrant
a directive
to the
respondent
to
compile
the
information
sought by him even at
the
cost
of diverting
their
resources
from day
to
day
work.
However,
as offered
by
the
respondent,
the appellant
if he
so
desires,
should
be
permitted
to
inspect
the
relevant
records
relating to
his
RTI
application dated
O4|OB|\OL4 and also allowed
to take
photocopies/
extract
therefrom,
free of
cost,
upto
50
pages
and
thereafter
on
payment
of
prescribed
fee
of
Rs.2l-
per
page,
within
30
days from
the
date
of
receipt
of
this order.
The appeal
is
disposed
of accordingly.
BASANT SETH
lnformation
Commissioner
To
the
uninitiated the
order may look
innocuous but the devil
they
say
is in the
details.
Now
what
was
the information sought? The relevant extract
of
the application
is
given
below:
The
Public lnformation Officer under
the
RTI Act
O/o
Executive Engineer
(E),
BSNL ElectricalDivision
Canada Corner, Nasik-422 002
APPLICATION UNDER
THE
RTI
ACT:
USO
PROJECT
SITES.
CLEARANCE
OF
BILLS
1. Please
provide
the following information
and copies
of the documents:
1.1.The details of
your
/afesf visri to each of the
USO slfes
under
your
jurisdicfisnrNote.
flls
details
should
include the following: date,
name of
site,
total
distance
travelled,
mode
of
transport,
starting
time
from
your
office/residence (if moved directed from
your
residence),
time
at
which reached back
your
officehesidence
(if
moved
back directly
to the
residence),
the
nature
of work
in
progress
at each
site,
the name and
address
of the contractor
executing
the
work at
the
site, the
name
and
designation
of
subordinates
who accompanied
you
during
the
visrt.
1.2. The
details of
the bilts
for the three
(03)
latest completed
contracts
for
which
final
payments
have been
made
(irrespective
of
site).
The details should
include
the
following:
1.2.1. name of
the s'tte,
the date
of
contract,
the
predicted
date of
completion,
the
actual
date
of
a
ompletion,
1.2.2. the amount
of original contract, the date and amount
of
enhancements
thereafter,
1.2.3.
the
dates
of
release
of
instalments of the contract amount
(payment
of running
bills)
and
the amount of
the
instalment,
1 .2.4.
the date of submisslon of
fhe
finat
bitl.
1.2.5.
the
Peiorma for Bitlsubmisslon and atl
its
appendices
for
the
final
bills.
1.2.6.
the actual
dates
of
actiyifres as
per
the
prescribed
time
schedule.
lf the actual
days
differ
from the
presctibed
schedule
then the dafes as
per
prescription
and actual
should
be indicated
separately.
(*Note:
ln response to an earlier application
under the
RTI
Act, it had been
communicated
that
.
there are 33 USO
Prolect
sites
under this EE)
So
how
voluminous will this
information
be?
Here is the
info
provided
for two of
the 33 sites:
i
-l
)6,
'"t
7/23/2019 Courts of Injustice-030116
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/courts-of-injustice-030116 6/10
<r,i1r r
,.ill.r.,r'i{.'.
L I
i.r:irlli'i+
l,i,ttii{:iirl
: iil.il
j i:i11i111
l,;i
;
iiirtiril{I
'
,i
"
ii;:,r:r
I
i:
1
i: il
I
*-.
_*__
._
__^_ *t-,
i.1**+r'iilltl;li
i
I
:,i*iii1:J.;.
i
l
I
.t
::111;1;1.q::i
f;;;;1..
.
ri
. : t'
i .;^.ll
;r:
r.-1
\.:.
j
',
J:
1,
{'":'t'Itt''
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5
r
rt'e*.,,.. :s
:;)intlflfrJi:..]i
l:it.
il
-".-*
..-.--"-^-+
-
-
So how
much
will
the
info
pertaining
to
33 sites
be? 4
A4
size
pages?
And
the info
sought
al qara 1 .2
for
just
3
sites?
Anoth-er
3
to 6
pages?
ls
that
so
voluminous
as
to adversely
affect
the normaltworking
of
the
public
authority?
And
look
at
the absurd
issues
raised
by the
watchdog
appointed
to
enfoice
the law
Where
is
the need
to
prove
public
interest
in
every
issue?.+
And
isn't
there
public
interest
in monitoring
the
performance
of
a
public
authority
executing
projects
for
the
public
using
public
money?
And wfry
ifre limit
of 50
pages
for free
and
rest
to
be
paid
for?
lsn't
the law
unambrguously
simple
and clear
that
information
not
provided
within
30
days
of receipt
of the
application
hai
to be
provided
free
of cost?.s
And mind
you,
the
applicant
is located
in
Kerala
which
is
more
than
1000
kms
away
from
the PlO,
located
in Mumbai
Just
by
the
way,
the
o/o
Executive
Engineer
(E),
BSNL
Electrical
Division,
Canada
Corner,
Nasik-422
00-2
hasn't
d_esignated
a Public
Information
Officer,
in
blatant
violation
of
the law.6,
and
it is
the
public
lnformation
Officer
in
the
o/o The
Chief
Engineer
(Electrical),
Electrical
Circle,
Mumbai
who responds
to
the
applications
addressed
to
the former
And
this
is
not
alll
A Director
level
public
servant
of
the Department
of Personnel
and
Training,
the
nodal
department
dealing
with
Right
to lnformation
in
the
country,
had
issued
an
Office
Memorandum
(No
F
10/2/2008-lR)
on
23
Sep
2010
literally
overriding/abrogriing
Section
6(3)
of
the
RTt
Act The
relevant
text is
as
given
below:
Th6
undBrsigned
is
:d:rrscted
io
refer
to this
tlspartmsnt?
(}M,$f
even
number
dated
1Zth
June,
20oB
on
the
above
"";"j-";J;;.;,;;;;'i,i'lll';.;';';;il;;
l:"yid:*'.llul
if
a
person
rnEk*s
*n
appfication
to
the
public
authority
for
informetion,
a
psrt
of u'hieh
iE
avairabre
with
that publrc
authority
End
the rest
sf tt
s
infori ,ration
i$
scattered
with
rnore
than
one
otrer
pirric
ffio.ii"]
*"
J"i,,""*;ffi;'&;1"il1";
of
the
publio
authority
receiving
the'appliqaiisn
shoutd giue
inrormati""-r"i.*i"g'[
,i'""0
advbe
the
applicanr
to
metie
*eFarqte
appticqrigns
u
tni,
*n"*rn*O-'eil;;;;;,"*-*,
obtaining information
from
them'
lt
fur$rer
provides
tt"tii""
p"rt
of
the
information
is
available
with
the
pubtic
authority
receiving
tire
apptication
ari
scattered
vvitt'r
*or"
ih"n
ona
other
puElie
atlthorithrc"
the
Fro
*rrrrila
rnt"..n
ih;
.rd;;.that iarrformarionlc
not
available
*rlth
the
publiio
ar.rthority.ard
ther
the
dd*;r
;illJi*x"
aeparate
apprirsrion
to
the
conc*med
pub[c
author.ities
for
obtaining
information
frorn
thsm.
n"
Tfie
matter'has
'been
&xarnlfted
ln co,n$-ultstiqn
with
the
Ghief
infonrnstion
Commissioner,
Central
tnformation
Commission
il
[;;;;"
i*"ii*o
;';il'il;t
that:if
ths
d.tails
o:f
public
auihorities
who
may
rr""-g,ii';;;;;,,;-"rnni"i*
in.
applicani
are
eveirable
with
the
pro,
such
detarls-rnay-
r,-"'i"
p."-;;
;"
#;;il;
3'
contents
of
this
oM
may
be
brought
to
the
notiee
of
alr concerned
(sd.)
fld
G, Verma|
D'ir,ector
Tel.
23OS
?158
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-
i
i
i,
hile the OM is brazenly illegal,
on seeking
copies of documents
supporting the contention
in
para2,
both the CIC and DoPT had failed
to
provide
any And the CIC's direction
to
DoPT to
provide
them
is
still
pending
compliance inspite of reminders-7
Similar
is
another letter
(No
6009/5lC-Gen2t2007) dated 5/10/2CI07
from Kerala State
lnformation
Commission
(KSIC)
abrogating Sec 5 of the RTI Act .4
Complaints to
competent authorities have been in
vain,
as
usual
To a complaint
to the Chief
Minister
daled22111l2011rg,after
much
persistance,
the General
Administration
Department
of the
Government
of
Kerala
responded.to as
under:
Ref:-
Vorr
Feririr:n
dared
22.1
i
::fi I 1
trnr"itlng
your
attention
to the
refer*nce
cired,
Yorrr
cnmpJaint rcg*r:llirrg
$rat6
l-nfcxnar;*1
tlnmq;$k:n
ra*
I:t*n
Jn:,,',trded
m
**#;e":rC$:}*#i*ffii1&xn*l**ii
*,*lnnr-gir,*
.f*?
neee*
*
ffi*i
eeing
; c."*iiruii*;*
t;;;"'*;d
H*;**rr**i
rourtj
nor
*,*#
rhe funuriorung
of
the
State
informatioli
Comrnission.
While
my
doubt
remains whether it is a constitutional
body or statutory
body
there
is no doubt
in my
mind about the authority of the
Government to frame
rules
to
enforce
the
provisions
of the
Act
including
the
procedures
to be
followed by the information commissions .11
However
it has to be admitted that even
in its
subverted
state, the
RTI Act certainly
helps the
citizens
in
one way and only
in
this
way: that
is
when one deosn't
get
the
information
sought
it helps
in identifying
at
least
three
public
servants
as
idiots
or
traitors,
with
idiots
being
those
who do not know
the
job
they
are
paid
to do and traitors being those
who know the
job
but still
wouldn't
do
it
It may not be irrelevant to state another
fact here. That is all these
quasi
judicial
bodies
created
have
been
turned into
rehabilitation centres
for
the
worst
public
servants.who had
retired
from
service.-121n
fact
it had
been
reported
of
an
earlier
President of the Kerala State
Human Rights
Commission
that
he
used to
hold sittings
regularly on the 1st
day
of
every
Malayalam
month
at the
piligrim
town
of
Guruvayur
in Kerala
when such
regularity
or
frequency was not there
even
for
hearings
in
the
district
headquarters
To cut this narrative short
here
are
10
questions
(by
no means exhaustive )
that
beg answers:
1.
There are
reports
about undertrials spending
more
time
in
judicial
cuStody than
the
period
for
which
they
would have been
punished
under the charges
levelled against
them. Who
is responsible
for
this?
2. When charged with a crime and
produced
before a court,
an acqused
will be
granted
bail only
if
sureties
who have land in
their
name
bail
him
out by
producing
the
receipt
for land tax
paid.
Where
does that
leave the
petty
criminals who are
poor?
3. lsn't
it
possible
for an Sl of
Police
in
Delhi
to
accuse somebody
staying
in
Assam or Kerala
in a
criminal case and all that the accused can do is to suffer
the ordeal
of attending court
in
Delhi till
it
is dismissed
with
the
blaise
statement
that
the
prosecution
has
not been able to
prove
the
charges?
(lsn't
it absurd that the
police
need
to
give
a copy of the
FIR only
to
the
complainant
and
not
to the accused and the accused
will
get
to
know
of the charges
only
when he appears
before
the court on
receipt
of the summons
reach him
out
of
the
blue?
4. The
judges
can easily blame the investigating officers,
prosecutors
and advocates
for
miscarriages
of justice. But
why are
they
not
held responsible and
the
victim compensated
at
the cost
of
the
responsible
public
servant?
(
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-
I
5.
b.
There was
a
case in which
a
group
attacked
a
teacher
in
a
class
room and murdered him
before
the
primary
class
children.
The trial
court had
sentenced
5 or 6 of the accused to
death.
The
high
court upheld
the
decision. But
the
apex courtAceutTTEp
all but one and commuted
the
last
one's
death
to life
term imprisonment
And
by the time the
final verdict came he had
(almost)
completed
his
term as
an undertrail
and was
soon out for
allegedly committing
the
next
murderl
But
the
question
is
how
did the
trial court
sentence
so
many
to death when
going
by
our
jurisprudence
'even
if
a
thousand
crimnals
escape,
one
innocent
person
should
not
be
punished'
and
'capital
punishment
is awarded
only in
the
rarest
of
rare
cases'? And why
had the
other
criminals
involved
not brought before
the
law? And why were the police-prosecutor nexus who succeeded to prove
so
many innocents
guilty
both
at the trial
court and high
court not
punished
for their'crime'? And why
were
the
falsely
accused
who
had
spent considerable
time in
prison
not
compensated?
ln
the Godhra
train torching case,
the
then
railway
minister
appointed a
judicial
commission which
submitted a reportin
line
with
the stand
of the minister.
Butanother
judicialcommission,
appointed
by the
then Chief
Minister
of Gujrat,
gave
an entirely
contrdictory report which was in line with
the
stand of the Chief
Minister.
So where is
the credibiltiy
of these
judicial
commissions?
i
7. lt was
reported
in
the
media
that in Kerala
the Government had
decided
to
pay
an allowlnce to
judges
retiring
from
the
Kerala
High
Court who
could
not be
provided
sinecures.
f,he
rate
mentioned
was
Rs
6000/-
pm
for
judges
otherthan
the
Chief Justice and Rs 10,000/-
toi'the
Chief
Justice,
lf
the
public
view
this as
official bribing
can they be blamed?
8,
ln
one case,
the Food
Safety
Commissioner
of Kerala
had confiscated
6000 lakh kilograms
of
pepper
in2012
which
had
been
polished
with
paraffin
wax
and used
oil
which
are known to
be
cancerogenous.
lt was
ordered
to be destroyed
by burning.
But the affected
parties,
NCDEx, went
to the high
court
and
the
judge,
in
2014,
directed
the
FSC
to facilitate
cleaning of
the adulterated
pepper
and
getting
it retested
before
marketing
it. Though
the FSC could not
provide
copies
of
the
test results
there
were reports
in
the media
stating
that the
pepper
is being
prepared
for marketing
locally
beause it
is
unfit for
exports
Now the
million
dollar
question:
can the salt
and
spices
be
'cleaned'
from
pickled
vegetables?
0r
could
any advocate
have
argued convincingly
and
proved
that it could
be?
9, How
long
did it
take from
the
trial court
to
the
apex court
to dispose
of a defamation
suit by former
judge
P
B
Sawant against Times
Now?
10.
Former
Chief
Justice
of
Karnataka
High
Court, P
D Dinakaran,
was
supposed
to be impeached
after
all the formalities,
like
inquiry
by
judges
of
the apex
court etc, were
over. But he
quit
on
the
eve of the
final
proceedings
in Parliament.
ls
that any
punishment
under
the lndian laws?
Has
the
land
he
had allegedly
encroached
been
retrieved?
This list
can
go
on
and
on.
But
to conclude,
isn't
it
true
that behind
every
succesful
criminal
there is
a
successful
crirninal
lawyer
and
with
every
successful
criminal lawyer
there is a
successful
criminal
(aka
uncle)judge?-tr
t
And
another
hypothesis
valid
in the
lndian
context,
There
are
three types
of criminals:
-
the
petty
criminals
who
are
caught
and
punished,
sometimes
for
crimes not
even
known
to
theml
-
the
professional
criminals
who
are recognised,
used
but never
apprehended
or
punished
and
-_
the
not'so-recognised
but
most
potent
criminals-
like
the Octon
of
Mandrake
comics
or
High
Command
in
politics-
who
are
really
put
on a
pedestal
and
practically
worshipped
Suffice
to say
that
unless
the
judiciary
is
overhauled
lock,
stock and
barrel
there
can be no
hope
for
justice
for
ordinary
citizens.
And
there
is
truism
in
what
Aravind
Kumar,
jurist
and
lawyer,wrote
in
Pioneer,
Kochi
on
01
Aug 2006
in
his
article
'Needed
high
speed legal
redreisal':
Justice
is
an
intrinsic
human'need,
We
suffer
much
privation
but
we
cannot
suffer
being wronged.
Absence
of
justice,
we
must
not forget,
is
one
of
the
causes
of crime.
And
this what
Renuka
Nirayanan
wrote
in
The
New
lndian
Express
of 20
Dec 2004,
under
Timeline
:
When
we
transformed
from
subjects
to
citizens,
we
forfeited
our rights
it
seems,
since
what
happens
in
our
country
now in
the
name
of
law
is often
rank
injustice.
I
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i
And
plagiarising
Constantin Demiris in
Sydney Sheldon's
'The
other side
of midnight',
I
can,
with
enough and
more
conviction, say
that in
lndia more crimes are
being committed
in the name of
justice
than all other crimes
put
together
P
M
Ravindran
03 Jan ZOLi
raviforjustice@
g
ma
i l.
com-
*1:
For
'Report
of the
NCRWC- a Citizens
Review'
go
to
http://raviforjustice.blogspot.in/201
1/03/report-of-ncnruc-citizens-review.html
*2:
Please
read
'RTl
Act-Shailesh Gandhi and Schopenhauer's
Law of Entropy'
at
http://raviforjustice.
blogspot. in/201 2/06/rti-act-shailesh-gandh
i-and.
html
*3:Copiesofthecomplaintsareavailableatthefollowingblogsites
http://raviforlustice.blogspot.com/20'11/04/obnoxious{unctioning-of-consumer.html
f
http://raviforjustice.blogspot.com/20'1
1/1
1/chief-ministers-contbct-program.html.
i
The reply to
the
latter by the President, CDRF, Palakkad
is
at
http://www.slideshare.neUraviforjustice/complaint-cm-contpgmconsumere
p1y011211
*4:
Sec 6(2) of the
RTI Act states
'
An applicant making
request
for
information
shall not
be required
to
give
any reason
for requesting
the
information or any other
personal
details
except
those that
may be
necessary for contacting him.'
*5:
Sec
7(6) of the RTI Act states
'Notwithstanding
anything contained
in
sub-section
(5),
the
person
making
request for the information shall be
provided
the
information
free
of
charge
where a
public
authority fails to comply
with
the time limits specified
in sub-section
(1)'.
Sub Sec
(1)states:
...
as expeditiously as
possible,
and in any case
within thirty
days of the
receipt of
the
request,...'
-6:
5
(1)
of the
RTI Act
states
'Every
public
authority shall, within
one hundred
days of the
enactment
of
this Act,
designate
as
many officers
as the
Central Public
lnformation
Officers
or
State
Public
lnformation Officers, as the case may be, in
all
administrative units
or offices under
it
as
may
be
necessary to
provide
information
to
persons
requesting
for
the
information under this
Act.
Sec
2(h)
of the
RTI Act defines
public
authority thus:
"public
authority"
means any authority
or
body or
institution of selt
government
established or
constituted-
(a)
by or under the Constitution;
(b)
by any other law made by Parliament;
(c)
by any other law made by State Legislature;
(d)
by notification issued
or order
made
by the appropriate Governmentland
includes any-
(i)
body owned, controlled or substantially financed;
(ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly
by
funds provided
by
the appropriate Government;
*7:
Central lnformation
Commission letter No CIC/Admin/Misc dated
1713115
to
K
G
Verma, Director,
DoPT.
-8:
Copy of this letter
posted
at http://www.slideshare.neUraviforjustice/rti-letter-from-ksic-in-violation-of-
act051007
*9:
Copy
of this complaint is
posted
at
http://raviforjustice.blogspot.com/2011i11/chief-ministers-public-
contact-program.html
*10:
Letter
No
90105/Cdn.5/11/GAD
daled
11612012
.1
1:
Section 27(2)(e)
and
(f)
of the
RTI Act
are reproduced below
for ready
reference:
27
(1)
The
appropriate Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,
make
rules to
carry
out
the
provisions
of fhrs Act.
7/23/2019 Courts of Injustice-030116
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/courts-of-injustice-030116 10/10
l-=
(2)
ln
particular,
and
without
prejudice
to the
generality
of
the
foregoing
power;
such
rules
may
provide
for all
or any of
the
following
mafters,
namely:-
(a)
to
(d)
xxx
(e)
the
procedure
to
be adopted
by the Central
lnformation
Commission
or
State
lnformation
Commission,
as
the case
may
be,
in deciding
the
appeals
under
sub-
Secfion
(10)
of
section
19; and
(0
any other
matter
which
is
required to
be, or
may be,
prescribed'
*12:
Please
read
my
following
blogs:
'The
crime
of
non-governance
and
quasi
judicial
organisations'
(letter
to
CM,
Kerala
of
12
Jan
2010)
at
http://raviforjustice.blogspot,com/201
'1lO4/crime-of-non-govemance-and-quasi.html
'Delivering
Government
Services
to Citizens'
at
-
i
http://raviiorjustice.Uf
ogspnt
.orlZOf
2/01/delivering-government-services-to.html
r
+
'Access
to
Justice-A
Stake
Holder's
Report'
at
http://raviforjustice.blogs
pot.inl2012l02/access-to-justice-stake-holders-report.html
'Fraud
in Governance
and
Redressal
Of
Public Grievances'
af
http://raviforjustice.blogs
pol.inl2012l07/fraud-in-governance-and-redressal-of.html
'Perfidy:
isn't Thy Other
Name
Governance
in
lndia?' at
-http://raviforjustice.blogspot.in/201 3/08/perfidy-isntthy-other-narne-governance,
html
'Democracy?
East
is
East
and-West
is
West' at
http://www,articlesbase.com/politics-articles/democracyeaslis-easland-westis-west-4287828.htm1
'Reforming
our Justice
Delivery System'
at
http://raviforjustice.blogspot.com/2011/02/reforming-our-justice-delivery.system.html
'Who
will
judge
the
judges?'
at
http://raviiorjrrti...6tof,spot.com/201
1/03/who-will-judge-judges,html
'lndian
judiciary-who
said
what' at
-http://raviforjustice,blogspot.com/201
1/05/indian-judiciary-who-said-what.
html
.'13:
Read
'All
in the
Family'at
t
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20041
108&fname=Judges+%2BFYo29&sid=1&pn=1
Recommended