India Legal 15 November 2015

Exclusive details and analysis of India’s hottest judicial controversy 12

Your Lordships, We beg to differ

NDIA EGAL L November 15, 2015 `100

www.indialegalonline.com

IRAMESH MENON

Liberated sex workers turn into paralegal volunteers

STORIES THAT COUNT

42

NJAC

SHOBHA JOHN: New guidelines to make

58

PAPIA SAMAJDAR:

bio-medical waste 70

KALYANI SHANKAR: Santhara—religion

the land 48

VIPIN PUBBY:

largesse to

30

MEENA MENON: Will Maharashtra continue with dance bar ban? 38

Special column

NARENDRA CHAPALGAONKER

20

Justice Madan B Lokur

Justice Adarsh K Goel

Justice J Chelameswar

Justice Kurian Joseph

Justice Jagdish S Khehar

Punjab and HaryanaHigh Courts have ontheir payrolls a largebattery of law officers,often recruited onquestionablegrounds. VIPINPUBBY reports

NOVEMBER 15, 2015

08LEAD

Parents of a lesser God?In rejecting government guidelines granting adoption rights to single parents, the Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa, have forgotten that society has changed, writes SUJIT BHAR

26SOCIETY

Not in step withthe timesDespite court rulings,Maharashtra isadamant on continuing with its banon dance bars.MEENA MENON andAJITH PILLAI question its stand

VOLUME. IX ISSUE. 05

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The collegium

conundrum

Editor Inderjit Badhwar

Managing EditorRamesh Menon

Deputy Managing EditorShobha John

Executive EditorAjith Pillai

Associate EditorMeha Mathur

Deputy EditorPrabir BiswasArt Director

Anthony LawrenceDeputy Art Editor

Amitava SenGraphic Designer

Lalit KhitoliyaPhotographer

Anil ShakyaNews Coordinator/Photo Researcher

Kh Manglembi DeviProduction

Pawan Kumar

Moneydown thedrain

30 34LEGAL EYE CONTROVERSY

While the SupremeCourt struck downthe NJAC Act, keyquestions regardingthe inefficacy of thecollegium systemremain. INDERJITBADHWAR in his editorial, andRAMESH MENON inthe lead story, analyze the judgmentthreadbare. Plus, anopinion piece byretired JUSTICENARENDRA CHAPALGAONKER

4 November 15, 2015

SPECIAL REPORT

RELIGION 48

42Silver lining at last

Cover Photos: JS STUDIO

REGU

LARS

Cover Design: ANTHONY LAWRENCE

HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT

Medical set-ups recklessly dump waste, including syringes, body partsand fluids, which percolate into the soil and enter the food chain. It’s amedical time bomb ready to explode, writes PAPIA SAMAJDAR

70Medically unfit

SHOBHA JOHN details the government’s move to develop100 airports in small cities and the skepticism regarding thisambitious plan

62Successful take-off?The Jain custom of Santhara—voluntary end to one’s lifethrough fasting—brings up the issue of whether religion is moreimportant than the law of the land. KALYANI SHANKAR reports

BOOKS

All is not wellAn extract from TN NINAN’S book The Turn of the Tortoise,which discusses India’s strides forward and how we haveregressed in certain areas

ECONOMY

RAJENDRA BAJPAI questions a London-based consultancy firm reportthat India received more FDI than China in the first half of 2015

Sex workers in parts of Karnataka and Telangana feel empowered, thanks to their new role as paralegal workers.RAMESH MENON reports from Anantapur and Bengaluru

Faith matters

Ringside......................................................................6Quote-Unquote...........................................................7Edit................................................................................8Supreme Court............................................................22Courts......................................................................... 24National Briefs.............................................................33International Briefs.......................................................41Campus Update..........................................................78Figure It Out................................................................80Wordly Wise.................................................................81People......................................................................... 82

INDIA LEGAL November 15, 2015 5

52

AVIATION

Making flying saferFollowing the Germanwings plane crash, a new set of guidelines have been evolved for pilots and aero-medicalexaminers. SHOBHA JOHN reports

58

Tall claims? 66

6 November 15, 2015

Justice and judgment lie often a world apart.� Emmeline Pankhurst

VERDICT

QUOTE-UNQUOTE

“Everyone with an opinionfaces attack! You’re safe onlyif you have no opinion. It’scrucial that people haveopinions and expressthese....”

—Author Anuja Chauhan, inThe Times of India

“They hate Romila Thapar,Amartya Sen, SheldenPollock. Fine, but come tothe table with as muchreading as them.... If they’reto be denounced now, theydeserve the courtesy ofbeing denounced by theirequals, not by someplagiarist garden gnome…”

—Aatish Taseer, on right-wingattacks on intellectuals, in

The Times of India

“The shirtless protest staged byYouth Congress activists is animitable one. Earlier, manyCongress women who stagedsimilar protest behind doorswere given tickets to contestpolls.”

—Former Congress leaderCherian Philips, on Facebook

“Smita and I could never befriends. I have said it beforeand I do so today, that I havebeen guilty about makinguncharitable remarks abouther. I regret it.”

—Shabana Azmi, at the book launch event of Maithili

Rao’s book Smita Patil: A BriefIncandescence in Mumbai

“I find it hard to apologise for removingSaddam. I think, even from today in2015, it is better that he’s not there thanthat he is there. Of course, you can’t saythat those of us who removed Saddamin 2003 bear no responsibility for the

situation in 2015.” —Former British Prime Minister

Tony Blair, to CNN

“Knowledge is contained in books,not in coding. There is a greatcultural deficiency in thiscity which is filled up bybook stores. Reading abook on Kindle is like aninsult to the book.”

—Historian RamachandraGuha, at the inauguration ofBangalore Book Festival


LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

8 November 15, 2015

This is how the collegium system was evolved. Theinterpretation was essentially a judge-made law notfound in the text of Article 124. The interpretation ofthe word “consultation” was in the light of the consti-tutional debates, in which Dr BR Ambedkar rejectedgiving primacy to the views of the CJI and chose amid-path of effective consultation with the CJI.

In the Third Judges Case in 1998, presided by an11-judge bench, the Attorney-General (A-G) at theoutset submitted that the government does not wantto seek review or reconsideration of the rationale laiddown in the Second Judges Case. The arguments wereaddressed only on the question of reference made bythe president.

The Third Judges Case expanded the numericalstrength of the collegium to the CJI plus four senior-most judges for elevation to the Supreme Court andtransfer of the judges of the High Court. The CJI, plustwo seniormost judges, were to be the collegium forappointment of judges and chief justices of HighCourts. It was further laid down that the views of theconcerned seniormost state judge in the SupremeCourt should be taken.

Since there were large numbers of vacancies inhigh courts that remained unfilled, the judgment in the Second Judges Case directed filling up thevacancies immediately. It prescribed the time-frame ofthe procedure. It was also stated that the SupremeCourt collegium is an expert and the best judge toappoint suitable persons. Thus, it held that executiveinterference in the appointments is obviated, which

HE long-awaited tantalizing Supreme Courtjudgment in the NJAC case was out in thepublic domain on October 16—about fourmonths after the conclusion of hearings.The court essentially struck down as uncon-

stitutional the amendment that validated the NationalJudicial Appointments Act passed by parliament andthus paved the way for the continuance of the col-legium system for the appointment of judges to thehigher judiciary. Union Law Minister SadanandaGowda reacted by saying the judgment was surprising.Arun Jaitley called it the “tyranny of the unelected”. Asusual, the declared and undeclared spokesmen for theCongress party and other opposition parties attackedJaitley and hailed the judgment. They were obviouslyguided by political interests, forgetting that all the par-ties had unanimously passed the legislation in parlia-ment. Justice RM Lodha, the former CJI, advised a noconfrontation course, but counseled improvement inthe collegium system.

To put things in perspective, one must examine thebackground and contours of the appointments issue.The “First Judges Case” in 1981, presided by a seven-member bench, interpreted the words “shall in consul-tation with CJI in Article 217” to mean effective andmeaningful consultation without giving primacy to theviews of the CJI. The Second Judges Case in 1993,presided by 11 judges, interpreted the words “consulta-tion in Article 124” to mean concurrence and that theviews of the CJI along with two seniormost judgeswould be binding on the president.

T

YOUR LORDSHIPS,WE BEG TO DIFFER

INDERJIT BADHWAR

JUDICIALCHURNING(Above) Thelandmarkjudgment onNJAC Act bythe apexcourt raises anumber ofquestions onthe future ofIndian judiciary

ensures the independence of the judiciary. The pur-pose for which the collegium system was evolved utter-ly failed. Neither were the vacancies filled up in timenor were efficient and suitable judges appointed tohigh courts to dispose civil, criminal and tax mattersexpeditiously. Cases of this nature are still pending forover 10 to 15 years.

Also, a strong sense got ingrained in the high courtcollegium that it must remain obeisant to the SupremeCourt collegium and to the state judge in the SupremeCourt. All recommendations made by the high courtcollegium had to be in accordance with the wishes ofthe apex court collegium and state judge or there wasthe imminent risk of these being rejected. The reasonsfor rejection are not even made known to the highcourt collegium. For this reason, the vacancies in thehigh courts could not be filled up, and at times, unsuit-able persons got elevated.

The lack of transparency and objectivity in thefunctioning of the collegium created lot of dis-content among jurists and civil society. The

Second Judges and Third Judges cases permitted rec-ommendations with dissent but the collegium intelli-gently avoided recommending any case with dissent toprevent indulgence of the executive.

The recommendations for appointment, non-appointment, transfer and complaints against the jud-ges are not subjected to RTI and judicial review underthe pretext that the litigative debate would result inerosion of credibility of the decisions.

9INDIA LEGAL November 15, 2015

In the case of a junior judge to be elevated over-looking his senior, it was said that the outstandingmerit of the person recommended need not be com-pared with that of the senior judge bypassed. Only theoutstanding merit of the person recommended be stat-ed. The judgment of outstanding merit is also a sub-jective one. The collegium system has been criticizedby Justice Punchi as judicial oligarchy.

There were abortive attempts to establish a JudicialCommission in 1990 and 2003. The UPA governmenttoo was strongly in favor of creating a JudicialCommission. Both the houses of the present parlia-ment unanimously passed the constitutional amend-ment to incorporate Article 124A and enacted theNJAC Act. The object of NJAC was to bring in trans-parency and objectivity in the matter of appointmentsto the higher judiciary which was being rampantlybreached in the collegium system.

The basic challenge against the NJAC before theCourt was that it impinges the independence of thejudiciary which is one of the postulates of the basicstructure of the constitution. The constitution bench,presided by Justice JS Khehar, by 4:1 struck down

The lack of transparency and objectivityin the functioning of the collegium created lot of discontent among juristsand civil society.

Anil Shakya

seniormost judges in the NJAC; and (6) The judgeselevated by a political lobby would be loyal to the polit-ical bosses and a sense of reciprocity will prevail inthem. Thus, the judgments rendered in crucial mattersmay not be free and fair.

There is a counter to the judgment. The first reasonwas that in the Third Judges Case, the Union govern-ment did not seek review or reconsideration of judg-ment in the Second Judges Case. But this cannot stopthe parliament from enacting a law. (2) The fact thatthe government did not oppose the controversialappointments is also not a factor to prevent parlia-ment from making a law. In fact, when there have beeninappropriate compromises between collegium andthe executive, the parliament has every right to enact alaw which is more transparent and objective. (3) It’sagain a myth that the memorandum of proceduregives fair and adequate participation for the executive.The recommendations from the high court collegiumare always influenced by the collegium judges and thestate judge in the Supreme Court. What transpiresbehind closed-door meetings of the collegium is notknown to anybody. The Supreme Court collegium, tosuit its convenience, always makes unanimous recom-mendations cryptically, without any reasons, lackingobjectivity. (4) The view that the presence of the lawminister in the NJAC amounts to executive interfer-ence and the tendency to condemn all politicians, par-liamentarians and ministers as non-trustworthy touphold the constitution lacks requisite judicial respect

Integrity and probity is not the solemonopoly of judges. The object of

participation of eminent persons is toonly ensure transparency....

the NJAC and the constitutional amendment as ultra-vires as it scuttles the judiciary’s independence. Thewisdom of the judgment has to be judged by the rea-sons upon which the conclusions of the judgments arebased.

The following are the broad reasons given by thejudges in their separate judgments: (1) The A-G at the outset submitted in the Third

Judges Case that the government does not wish to seekreview or reconsider the decision in the Second JudgesCase; (2) The memorandum of procedure evolved bythe executive gives it adequate and fair participation inthe process of appointments; (3) The controversialrecommendations made by the collegium have beenaccepted by the executive without any demur. Thus,there was a failure on the part of executive in not per-forming of constitutional duty. For that, the collegiumsystem cannot be condemned; (4) The presence of thelaw minister in NJAC tantamounts to executive inter-ference; (5) The veto power given to eminent personsis vulnerable to misuse and they can veto any andevery recommendation made by the CJI and two

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

10 November 15, 2015

MINCING NOWORDS

(L-R) FinanceMinister Arun

Jaitley andLaw MinisterSadananda

Gowdaexpressedsurprise at

the SupremeCourt

judgment

Photos: UNI

reference to this aspect. It cannot be said that thechairman and members of NCRWC had glossed overthe concerns of independence of the judiciary whilemaking the suggestion.

Majority of the judges held that the collegium sys-tem which evolved in the Second and Third JudgesCase does not require any reference to a larger benchand the law laid down is correct. If it is so, where is theneed for the bench to hear the issue of makingimprovements in the collegium system? Will thisbench of five judges be competent to add suggestionsto the guidelines laid down by the 11 judges’ bench toimprove the collegium system? It is implicit that thecollegium system suffers from many legal infirmities.If at all the exercise is needed to improve the collegiumsystem, it should be by a larger bench of 13 judges.

The judges could have read the provisions of theNJAC Act, guidelines could have been laid down pre-scribing the parameters for those who could be consid-ered to be appointed as an eminent person and madethe provisions of NJAC Act in accordance with theconstitutional spirit instead of improving the failedcollegium system.

One gets the feeling that the judges are not pre-pared to give up their arbitrary power of making/influencing recommendations for elevation to thehigher judiciary. Absolute power corrupts absolutely;judges are no exception to this adage.

for other constitutionalinstitutions and functionar-ies. In the memorandum ofprocedure, the participationof the law minister is accept-ed for giving inputs. But, hispresence in the discussionsamong the judges of theSupreme Court is one thatbecomes uncomfortable tothe collegiums since suchpresence does not give scopefor the arbitrary decisions ofthe collegium. (5) That emi-nent members will misuseveto powers arbitrarily andopp-ose the names proposedby the judges of theSupreme Court is an unten-able view. The eminent per-sons are appointed by thecommittee consisting ofPrime Minister, CJI and the leader of the opposition.Therefore, the inference and the view that eminentpersons would always be partisan and to suspect theirintellectual integrity is an untenable view and it is anaffront to civil society. Integrity and probity is not thesole monopoly of judges and the legal community. Theobject of participation of eminent persons is to onlyensure transparency, objectivity and credibility of thediscussions and decision taken by the NJAC.

One of the judges made a reference to LK Advani’sstatement that an Emergency-like situation can stilloccur. A reference was also made to the removal ofgovernors by the NDA government and attributingpolitical motives in the Teesta Setalvad case—these areout of the purview of the legal parameters and notappropriate to be made as reasons for striking downthe NJAC. One of the judges noting that LGBT candi-dates will have no scope for elevation in the NJAC sys-tem is an amusing view.

The National Commission to Review theWorking of the Constitution (NCRWC), headedby Justice MN Venkatachalaiah, along with the

team of former judges of the Supreme Court and emi-nent personalities, did suggest a National JudicialCommission consisting of the CJI, chairman, twoseniormost judges of the Supreme Court, Union min-ister for law and justice, and one eminent person nom-inated by the President to replace the collegium sys-tem. In fact, the majority judgments do not make any

JUDGES’ CLUB(L-R) Justice JS Kheharpresided overthe SC Benchon NJAC Act;Former CJI RM Lodhaadvised against anyconfrontation

[email protected]



LEAD/ Supreme Court / NJAC Verdict

Justice MB LokurHe did not want the law minister in the NJAC.

The apex court verdictfavoring the collegium system over the NationalJudicial AppointmentsCommission has pitted thejudiciary against the executive. Can the crisisbe used to usher in judicial reforms?By Ramesh Menon

Supreme

Justice JS Khehar He said the center never doubtedthe collegium’s integrity.

Photos: JS Studio

WHEN the apex courtrejected the 99thConstitutional Ame-ndment that createdthe National JudicialAppointments Com-mission (NJAC), it

was seen as one of the most controversialjudgments since Independence. The NJACwas to appoint judges to the Supreme Courtand high courts.

The judgment came as a shock to the gov-ernment that had spared no effort in pushingit through parliament. The center had takenthe stance that the earlier collegium systemthat appointed judges was faulty and wanted


to bring in a system where the executivewould have a greater say in who should beappointed to the higher judiciary.

Justice Jagdish S Khehar, who headed thefive-member bench that gave this verdict,said there had been no case in the past wherethe central government had said that thejudge being appointed had no integrity.Justice Madan B Lokur pointed out that thepresence of the law minister in the NJACcasted a doubt on the principle of cabinetresponsibility. Justice Kurian Joseph saidthat further hearing was required on thematter as the collegium system needed to beimproved. Justice Adarsh K Goel said thatthe constitution signified the will of the

Sources close tothe governmentsaid it would at aproper time try toagain introduceanother bill. ArunJaitley haspublicly said that primacy of parliament is partof the basicstructure of theconstitution andthat the appointment ofjudges was anon-transparentprocess.

Voices

Justice K JosephHe wanted hearings onrevamping the collegium.

Justice AK GoelHe felt parliament’s willwas time-bound.

Justice J ChelameswarHe wanted the center’sinvolvement.

people, while the parliament only represent-ed the people’s will at a given point of time.Justice J Chelameswar, the sole dissentingjudge in the bench, argued that to entirelyeliminate the government from the selectionprocess was against the country’s democraticprinciples.

Some of the reasons he gave for his dis-senting opinion were: � Transparency is a vital factor in constitu-tional governance and judicial appointmentsbut proceedings of the collegium were abso-lutely opaque and inaccessible.� The assumption that “primacy of the judi-ciary” in the appointment of judges is a basic

feature of the constitution “is empiricallyflawed”. � There were cases where the apex court col-legium “retraced its steps” after rejecting rec-ommendations of a particular name suggest-ed by the high court collegium, giving scopefor a great deal of “speculation”. The recordswere absolutely beyond the reach of any per-son, including judges other than the ChiefJustice of India (CJI) and so did not enhancethe credibility of the judiciary. � Attorney-general Mukul Rohatgi was rightin his submission that exclusion of the exec-utive branch was destructive to the basic fea-ture of checks and balances—a fundamentalprinciple in constitutional theory.

NO INTERFERENCEThe judgment sent a clear message to theexecutive that it would brook no interferencein its function and that its independence wassupreme. It restored the collegium system

“After this judgment, the judiciary mustprove that the collegium is a good systemso that no questions are asked....” —Ram Bhawan Misra, former chief justice of HP High Court

NO ROOM FORREVISION

The Supreme Courtthrough the NJAC verdict has sent a

clear message to theexecutive that it will

brook no interference

Promod Pushkarna



that was in vogue for more than four decades,where the CJI and a group of judges had thefinal say.

The NJAC, on the other hand, comprisedthree Supreme Court judges, the law minis-ter and two eminent persons. It would, there-fore, have only 50 percent of say in theappointments of judges. And the generalapprehension was that the governmentwould hold its sway in the appointments.

Numerous BJP leaders like Kalraj Mishrawho is the Union minister for micro, smalland medium enterprises, said that strikingdown the unanimously passed NJAC Act wasan effort to weaken parliament’s sovereignty.In a public debate on the judgment, RMLodha, former CJI, said that while the legis-lature has all the powers to make laws, it wasfor the judiciary to determine whether thelaw had destroyed basic features of the con-stitution and if it did, it was its duty to strikeit down.

The government’s view was that the con-stitution never envisaged primacy of the CJIin appointing judges and the Supreme Courthad wrongly assumed it.

Soon after the judgment, the governmentreacted strongly, which was hardly surprisingas it was clear that it wanted control over theappointment of judges. There have beennumerous instances in the past when the law

minister has called the shots for appoint-ments. Law Minister Sadananda Gowda saidthat he was surprised. Finance Minister ArunJaitley criticized it in a Facebook post saying:“Indian democracy cannot be a tyranny of theunelected.” Union minister Ravi ShankarPrasad who was earlier a law minister, saidthat the judgment was against the will of thepeople as the NJAC bill was unanimouslypassed in parliament by those who had beenelected on a popular vote.

Sources close to the government said

SCATHING CRITICISM Union Minister KalrajMishra said the verdictwanted to weakenparliament’s sovereignty

CENTER’SENVOY(Left) A-GMukulRohatgi hadpleaded thatinclusion ofthe executivewas a mustfor checksand balancesin the selectionprocess

UNI


that the case should have been heard by alarger bench as the original judgment thatbrought in the collegium system was heardby nine judges.

This judgment took a long time coming.When the NJAC matter was heard on July 15,the court reserved its judgment. Later,Justice Khehar who headed the bench, circu-lated his judgment to the other judges callingthe NJAC unconstitutional.

It is well-known how the then prime min-ister Indira Gandhi took it upon herself todecide out-of-turn appointments to the judi-ciary despite Article 50 of the constitutionbeing clear that the executive could not inter-fere in the appointment of judges and onlyhad an advisory role. During the Emergency,favored judges were promoted and otherswho were seen as committed were trans-ferred. Later, the judiciary cut the role of theexecutive in appointments by instituting thecollegium system.

The appointment of judges was alwaysseen as a vexed issue. In 2002, the Consti-

tution Review Commission hea-ded by Justice Venkata-

that it would at an appropriate time later tryto again introduce another bill. Jaitley haspublicly said that primacy of parliament ispart of the basic structure of the constitutionand the appointment of judges was a non-transparent process.

EASIER SAID THAN DONEHowever, it may not be so easy to pushthrough this legislation again. The Congress,which had earlier supported the creation ofthe NJAC, backtracked saying that it wouldnot support the government if it tried to goagainst the Supreme Court verdict.

Nick Robinson, a research fellow at theCentre for Legal Profession at Harvard LawSchool, pointed out that the Congress andmany others in civil society saw merit in theapex court judgment as they were worriedabout the BJP-led government trying to poli-ticize independent institutions and intimi-date dissenters.

The five-member bench which heard theNJAC case will now hear suggestions from allparties on November 3 on how the collegiumsystem can be improved. Legal experts say

“…whether wehave the

Collegiumsystem or

#NJAC, I believethat the Indian

judiciary isbeyond

redemption.What kind of a

judiciary is itwhich often takes

20-30 years tofinally decide

a case….” —Markandey Katju

(below), formerSupreme Court judge

IN FAVOR RM Lodha, formerCJI, supported theverdict

Photos: UNI



STRONG REACTIONS(Below) FM ArunJaitley criticized theverdict in a Facebookpost, while LawMinister SadanandaGowda was surprisedby the judgment

ing in public life. If decisions regardingappointments are done purely on merit, bothsystems are perfect.

Former Chief Justice of HimachalPradesh High Court Ram Bhawan Misra toldIndia Legal: “After this judgment, the judici-ary must prove that the collegium is a goodsystem so that no questions are asked aboutits credibility. The idea of the NJAC cameabout because there were question marks onthe appointments done by the collegium sys-tem. They definitely have a responsibility toensure that there is transparency, honesty,sincerity and devotion to work whileappointing judges. Every move of the judici-ary will now be seen through a microscope.”

Clearly, the debate on whether the NJACor the collegium system is better isnot over. We are going to hear alot on this issue in the comingmonths, though as of now, thegovernment is abiding by theapex court’s verdict. Jaitley, a for-mer law minister, has in fact said

that a debate for a better systemwill continue as mere

chaliah, had recommended the constitutionof a commission to appoint judges. Thiscame about as there was apprehension thatthe collegium system was not transparent.

The question of judicial accountabilitycatapulted into debates raising questionsabout why a flawed system was being allowedto continue.

MIDDLE PATH In the present verdict, Justice Khehar hadsuggested that one or more eminent personscould be given an advisory or consultativerole and allowed to express their opinion onthe nominees to be considered. The col-legium would not be required to follow thesuggestions but be obliged to keep the opin-ion tendered, he said. If this is done, therecould be room for a government representa-tive to give a view and it would be helpful toalso get some non-lawyer to be on the panelto provide a different perspective.

But there is no fail-safe method. In a way,both the collegium and NJAC are good ideasand can both work. But that needs trans-parency and honesty which is sadly miss-


IL

is justice denied. Many litigants,in fact, die much before theircases are heard.

JUDGE’S LAMENTFormer Supreme Court judgeMarkandey Katju came out witha quick-fire blog reacting to thejudgment. Called Indian Judi-ciary is beyond redemption, theblog said: “So far as my ownopinion is concerned, it matterstweedledum or tweedledeewhether we have the Collegiumsystem or #NJAC, as I believethat the Indian judiciary isbeyond redemption. What kindof a judiciary is it which oftentakes 20-30 years to finallydecide a case (including appeal,

revision, writ petition etc.)? There are over32 million cases pending in the Courts ofIndia and it is estimated that even if no newcase is filed it will take 360 years to clear the backlog.”

Days after the judgment, CJI HL Dattumoved fast to restore the collegium system.He cleared the names of 24 additional judgesin six high courts to be appointed as perma-nent judges. This should come as a relief tolakhs of litigants whose cases are pending.The additional judges made permanent werein the high courts of Gauhati, Bombay,Andhra Pradesh, Calcutta and Jharkhand.

On the issue of 21 additional judges inhigh courts, Justice Dattu said that the col-legium had extended their tenure by threemonths. Soon after the judgment, the lawministry wrote to the CJI that Rohatgi hadgiven an opinion that the collegium’s recom-mendations made before the judgmentwould need fresh clearance.

And significantly, there would be around100 such cases that will have to be considerednow that relate to the transfer, appointmentand confirmation of judges.

Can the constitutional crisis triggered offby the NJAC judgment become an opportu-nity to usher in the much-needed reforms?One can only hope that it does despite thepolitical anachronisms that continue to para-lyze India.

independence of the judiciary would notmake it credible and that would come only ifthere was accountability. Checks and bal-ances would be required, he said.

TOUGH CALLBut how these judicial reforms are ushered inis the sticky question. In the months ahead,political observers feel that much dirty linenwill be washed in public to expose the misdo-ings of the judiciary and the judges who headit. This will be done just to prove and corrob-

orate that the NJAC had a point in ensuringjudicial accountability and bringing in oth-

ers too to decide on who would beappointed as judges.

The current imbroglio over the NJAChas affected the disposal of casesas many appointments in courtsare hanging fire. There are a stag-gering 3.15 crore cases pending

across India. Estimates say that itwould easily take at least 60 years forthese cases to be heard and disposedof. Not to mention new cases which

crop up. India has about 16,000 judgeswho are presently dealing with over

66,000 cases in the Supreme Court, 45lakh cases in high courts and 2.7 crore casesacross district and subordinate courts. It is

anybody’s guess how long it will take forjustice to be delivered. Justice delayed

WRONG PRECEDENT

(Above) As PM, IndiraGandhi flouted rules

to make appointmentsto the judiciary

(Below) Days after theverdict, CJI HL Dattumoved fast to restorethe collegium system



NDIA EGAL LSeptember 30, 2015

`100www.indiale

galonline.co

m

I

AJITH

PILLAI:

Big legal

bang for

Moneylife

34

DINESH

SHARMA:

Make NDPS

Act more

effective

54RAMESH

MENON:

Do the

courts ever

say sorry?

12

DEATH BY HANGING:

Is it painful?

CANVAS FINGERPRINTING:

New tracking tool

LEGALIZED BETTING:

Is it at hand?

38

46

43

BIKRAM VOHRA:

Why the vets came

marching in

INDERJIT BADHWAR:

The dangers ahead 22

ABIKRAM VOHMRA

BIKRAM VOHRAOROP

STORIES THAT COUNT

SEEMA GUHA: Nepal’s constitution hits home 76

SAJEDA MOMIN: Asserting Desi rights in UK 68

RAMESH MENON: Unending stalemate over NJAC 12

Kalyani Shankar on the quota debate which has lit a fire in

all political parties following the Patel

agitation and Bhagwat’s pronouncement 28

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BIKRAM VOHRA: Is this the way to treat your servants? 48

NDIA EGAL L October 15, 2015

`100


IUNTOLD STORY OF THE DENGUE EPIDEMIC

How politicians and hospitals duck legal obligations

Plus: Ajith Pillai’s personal nightmare

STORIES THAT COUNT

34

RESERVATIONS

Mohan Bhagwat

Hardik Patel

DINESH SHARMA: Volkswagen’s bug in the ointment 72

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STAKES

NDIA EGAL L October 31, 2015 `100


IRAMESH MENON:

CORRUPTION BEHIND THE BARS

STORIES THAT COUNT

36

MEAT POLITICS

INDERJIT BADHWAR, AJITH PILLAI,

KALYANI SHANKAR, RAKESH BHATNAGAR:

In-depth analysis of the legal, political, ethical, religious dimensions of

beef ban 22

TAHIR MAHMOD Is Muslim personal law still valid? 58

MEENA MENON Haji Ali Dispute 50

VIPIN PUBBY Defamation turbulence 42

PLUS: Scrap 3-year law degrees? 46

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan: Religion or politics? 54

Italian Marines: Jurisdiction war 66

EVERY FORTNIGHT INDIA LEGAL WILL BRING YOU NEWS, ANALYSES ANDOPINION FROM THE SHARPEST INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS AND MOST

INCISIVE LEGAL MINDS IN THE NATION ON MATTERS THAT MATTER TO YOU

ENC

ONLY THE STORIESTHAT COUNT

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NORMALLY, a judgment ofthe Supreme Court adjudi-cating a dispute puts an endto it. But in the case of theNational Judicial Appoint-

ments Commission, it may not be so. By itsverdict, the Supreme Court has held that pri-macy of opinion of the chief justice of India(CJI) is a part of the independence of thejudiciary and as such, a basic structure of theconstitution. Even dissent recorded by Jus-tice Chelameshwar concurs with the proposi-tion that existence of an independent judici-ary is an essential requisite of a democraticrepublic and independence of the judiciary isone of the basic features of the constitution.Majority opinion also held that equating the

opinion of the chief justice of India with thatof the law minister in the matter of selectionof judges violates the principle of primacy.

The court struck down the 99th Amend-ment to the constitution and declared theNational Judicial Appointments Commi-ssion Act, 2014, unconstitutional and void. Itrestored the collegium system for appoint-ment of high court and Supreme Courtjudges. It, however, expressed its willingnessto consider appropriate suggestions forimproving the collegium system.

The reaction of the government indicatesthat it is not prepared to forget its abortiveeffort to scrap the collegium system and workwith it. They have expressed “surprise” at thejudgment and some of them used harshexpressions like “tyranny of the unelected”for the consequences of restored system.

What options would be open for the gov-ernment? History has taught us some lessonsabout constitutional amendments goingagainst basic constitutional values. TheCongress (which had earlier joined handswith the ruling BJP in passing the NJAC Act)has now warned against any constitutionaladventurism.

Anthony Lawrence


The SC verdict restoring the collegium system has jolted the government. But a

former judge of Bombay High Court saysthat if those involved are honest to their constitutional duty, any system will work

LEAD/ Supreme Court / NJAC Verdict /Opinion Justice Narendra Chapalgaonker

Honesty Is the

BestPolicy

The judgment in the NJAC case is found-ed basically on two constitutional proposi-tions. First is basic structure theory. No partof the constitution, which, according to theinterpretation of the courts, is part of thebasic structure, can be amended so as todestroy or undermine it. This is a restrictionon the amending power. Independence ofthe judiciary is one of the basic structures ofthe constitution and hence, cannot be com-promised. Another proposition on which thejudgment is founded is that the opinion ofthe chief justice of India (including that ofhis colleagues in the collegium) shall haveprimacy (between the opinion of the govern-ment and the CJI) in the appointment ofSupreme Court and high court judges.

A noble legal concept in the form of basicstructure doctrine was created by theSupreme Court to protect essential constitu-tional values cherished by framers of ourconstitution. This doctrine is consistentlyapproved and relied on by various judicialpronouncements. Though secularism, free-dom, federal character of the state, separa-tion of powers between legislature, judiciaryand executive, independence of judiciary,etc., have been recognized as basic structures,the list is not restrictive. This doctrine ofbasic structure and primacy granted to theopinion of the judiciary by Supreme Courtjudgments is the main obstacle in the way ofthe government.

Supreme Court Advocates-on-RecordAssociation vs Union of India (1994) andSpecial Reference No.1 of 1998, both decidedby nine judges, endorsed the proposition thatthe opinion of the CJI shall have primacy inthe matter of appointment of judges to theSupreme Court and high courts. Therefore,the government’s part in the appointment ofthese judges remained a minor one. A prayerfor review of this view by a bench larger thanthose of nine judges was rejected in theNJAC case.

The first option before the governmentis to move the CJI in an appropriatecase and persuade the Court to form a

larger bench. Such an attempt proved to beabortive in 1975. The attorney-general hadmoved the CJI for formation of a larger

Independence ofthe judiciary isone of the basicstructures of theconstitution andhence, cannot becompromised.Also, the opinionof the chief justice of Indiashall have primacy in theappointment ofSupreme Courtand high courtjudges.


IN PUBLIC INTEREST(L-R) Chief Justice HL Dattuand Law Minister DVSadananda Gowda will haveto arrive at a common groundto resolve the Executive-Judiciary dispute over NJAC

bench to review the basic structure doctrine.A bench was formed but after hearing thepreliminary objections and after some dis-cussion between the judges on the bench andthe advocates who appeared, Chief JusticeRay was pleased to dissolve the bench.Therefore, taking out the independence ofthe judiciary from the basic structure listwould be a near impossibility. Assailing thetheory of basic structure would be openingthe door for many dangerous possibilities forannulment of the essential principles of ourconstitution. Anybody who cares for consti-tutional democracy would not like that possi-bility. It may destabilize the foundations ofour state. Any fresh attempt for such areview, therefore, would be difficult andundesirable.

The collegium system has worked for thelast few years and some of its flaws have beenbrought to the fore. It will have to be mademore transparent and opinions expressed bythe parties to the consultation process mustbe in writing and duly communicated toother parties. Certain other measures mayalso be necessary. The Supreme Court isseized of the matter and would consider sug-gestions for reforms in this system. What DrRajendra Prasad, president of the Consti-tuent Assembly, said about the constitution isalso true about the system for appointmentof judges. If persons involved in the processare honest to their constitutional duty, anysystem will work. Fault does not always lie inutensils, at times, it may be with the cook. IL

SUPREME COURT


Asking the central government totake a quick decision on a uni-

form civil code and end the confusionover personal laws, the SupremeCourt directed Solicitor General RanjitKumar to seek the government’sview. It also posted the matter for fur-ther hearing after three weeks.

“If you want to have a uniformcivil code have it, you want to followthe uniform civil code, follow it. Butyou must take a decision soon,” the

apex court told Kumar. The court washearing a public interest litigationseeking waiver of the two-yearmandatory separation period for aChristian couple before it could movecourt for divorce by mutual consent.The separation period is one year forother religions.

The petitioner had argued that thetwo-year mandatory period of separa-tion was biased against the Christiancommunity and was discriminatory.

Concerned over delaysThe Supreme Court, while taking

note of long delays in hearing ofappeals by various high courts, askedboth the center and state governmentsas to what they proposed to do to check such delays and whysome appeals dragged on for over a decade.

The court made the observationwhile hearing the bail plea of TejpalSingh, a murder accused, who was

behind bars since 2003. His plea was still pending in the Allahabad HighCourt.

The court expressed shock uponlearning that the accused had been in jail for 13 years and a decision onappeal was nowhere in sight. It decided to bring in the attorney general of India to find out whyappeals were pending across highcourts for so long.

Aadhaar gets leewayRelaxing its earlier order, the

Supreme Court allowed the useof Aadhaar card on voluntary basisfor social welfare schemes like therural job guarantee sche-me, old-age pensions, provident fund andprime minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana.

A five-judge bench modified theAugust 11 interim order of a three-judge bench that had restricted thevoluntary use of the Aadhaar cardfor LPG subsidy and getting ration

under PDS. It also asked the gov-ernment to follow all court ordersfrom September 23, 2013, onwards.

The petitioners’ counsel agreedto the voluntary use of Aadhaar forthe four schemes. They had pleadedthat biometric data stored in theAadhaar card was a gross violationsof privacy. They had also arguedthat there was no statutory man-date behind the collection of biomet-ric data for Aadhaar cards.

Center nudged on uniform civil code


The Supreme Court asked writerShobhaa De to respond to a

breach of privilege motion notice aswell as explain that her tweets onshowing Marathi films during primetime in multiplexes in Mumbai wasnot a comment on the conduct ofthe Maharashtra assembly.

The state government had, inApril this year, decided to make itmandatory for multiplexes inMaharashtra to screen Marathimovies during prime time.Criticizing the move, De had

tweeted: “Devendra ‘Diktatwala’Fadnavis is at it again!!! From beefto movies. This is not theMaharashtra we all love! Nako!Nako! Yeh sab roko!”

A Bench told the columnist tofile her reply and posted the matterfor hearing on November 18. Thecourt had earlier stayed the breachof privilege notice issued by theMaharashtra assembly speakeragainst De for her tweets. Theauthor had moved the apex courtagainst the notice.

Explain tweets toMaha assembly

Hearing a petition filed by threekids demanding a blanket ban

on crackers, the Supreme Courtsaid that it would consider a five-hour window time from 5 pm to 10 pm for bursting of crackers during Diwali.

The court directed SolicitorGeneral Ranjit Kumar and AdditionalSolicitor General Maninder Singh toconsult the departments concerned

in the government and come outwith their response within a week tosix suggestions given by the peti-tioner’s counsel, AM Singhvi.

Among all suggestions, one hadasked for limiting the time from 7 pm to 9 pm but the apex courtthought it would be insufficient andsuggested 5pm to 10 pm.

The court posted the matter forOctober 27.

Window time forbursting crackers

Raising the issue of commercial surrogacy and itsaffects, the Supreme Court suggested a possible ban

on commercial surrogacy as India is increasinglybecoming a popular destination for surrogacy tourism.The apex court said that various issues related to surro-gacy were not covered by any law and the governmentmust bring in a legislation.

The court also asked the government to re-examinethe policies that allow the import of human embryo inIndia. “Commercial surrogacy should not be allowed butit is going on in the country. You are allowing trading ofhuman embryo. It is becoming a business. It has evolvedinto surrogacy tourism,” the bench said.

Appearing for the government Solicitor General RanjitKumar said consultation process is on and the surrogacybill may be introduced in parliament in a few months.

Ban commercial surrogacy

— Compiled by Vijay PatilIllustrations: UdayShankar

COURTS

Jaitley slapped with sedition

Dress code for court staff


Asedition charge was slappedrecently on Union Finance

Minister Arun Jaitley by a local UttarPradesh court for criticizing theSupreme Court’s decision strikingdown National Judicial AppointmentsCommission (NJAC).

According to media reports, thecivil judge of Mahoba in Jhansi dis-trict, Ankit Goel, took suo motu cog-nizance of Jaitley’s criticism of theverdict. The judge said the BJPleader’s blog on his Facebookpage—“Indian democracy cannot be

a tyranny of the unelected”—primafacie amounted to sedition underSection 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The judge further added that theblog also caused public mischiefunder Section 505 of the IPC. Heruled that under Section 190 of theCriminal Procedure Code, the courtwas entitled to take cognizance ofJaitley’s statements.

The judge has asked the financeminister to be present before him onNovember 19.

The Delhi High Court fined AAP leg-islator Surender Singh `50,000 for

delay in filing a response to an elec-tion petition from BJP leader KaranSingh Tanwar. The petition had allegedthat Singh had furnished false infor-mation about his educational qualifi-cations in a poll affidavit.

The court imposed the fine as itfound no official record that Singh hadreplied to the petition.

Singh, however, denied the allega-

tions and told the court that the peti-tion was frivolous, vague, miscon-ceived and politically motivated.

Tanwar in his petition said thatSingh had claimed to be a 2012 graduate from Sikkim University whenhe wasn’t and that was a corruptpractice according to theRepresentation of the People Act1951. He had based his allegation onan RTI reply from the university.

The reply said that it did not haveany record of a student by that namein its BA program. Tanwar thus want-ed Singh’s election be declared “void”on that ground.

AAP legislatorfined `50,000

The Madhya Pradesh High Court issuedan order for officers and staff to dress

according to the court’s dignity. As per itsdirective, the employees were prohibitedfrom wearing jeans, T-shirts and colorfuloutfits during working hours.

The order was issued by the HighCourt’s registrar-general, Ved PrakashSharma, on October 16. “It has beenobserved that certain employees report towork while putting on attire of differentcolors and designs which does not seem

befitting the dignity of the court,” said the circular. The order asked the entirecourt staff, including personal secretary,personal assistant, shorthand writersand readers to report to work in formalslike black pants, white shirt, black coatand a tie.

The registrar-general also warned ofsevere disciplinary action if the orderswere violated. The directive, however, didnot make any distinction between maleand female staff.

— Compiled by Vijay PatilIllustrations: UdayShankar


Upholding the Delhi High Court orderof July 2015, the Madras High Court

ruled that a condom is not a medicine,hence it cannot have a fixed price underthe Drug Price Control Order (DPCO).The court was hearing the petition filedby TTK Protective Devices Ltd. The peti-tion cited the ruling of the Delhi HighCourt quashing the orders of NationalPharmaceuticals Pricing Authority(NPPA) in July 2015.

The Delhi High Court had said thatNPPA exceeded the powers conferred byDPCO while fixing the ceiling price forcondoms. It ruled that the ceiling price can be fixed only for scheduled formulations of specified strengths anddosages and condoms do not fall underthis category as the dosages andstrength are not specified. Thus, it is notpermissible to fix price for condoms.

Two pharma companies, ReckittBenckiser and JK Ansell Ltd, had challenged the NPPA orders in DelhiHigh Court, while TTK Protective Devices challenged them in the Madras High Court.

“Dandiya not integral part of Hindu practice”

Bombay High Court ruled thatdandiya is not an integral part of

Hindu religious practice and rejected apetition filed by residents of CassiMitha building in Mumbai. The buildingis located next to the Rocky HillComplex in Malabar Hill where judgesand senior government officials stay.

The residents like government offi-cers of revenue, custom and Income

Tax department of Cassi Mitha quarterswanted to have a dandiya night functionat their premises. They had approachedthe Malabar Hill police for permission touse loud speakers and play dandiya butwere refused. The police also did notcite any reason.

The residents later approached theHigh Court, which, while rejecting thepetition, said nobody can demand

What is a madarsa?

The Kerala High Court held thata madarsa is not a place of

worship and so it could be usedas a polling booth. The High Courtissued the order while dismissinga petition filed by BA Kasim fromKasargod, who had sought shiftingor relocation of polling boothslocated in madarsas in ChengalaGrama Panchayat, Kasargod, forthe local body elections schedulednext month.

The Court said the handbookissued by the State ElectionCommission for the conduct of

elections stated that no police sta-tion or place of religious worshipshall function as a polling station.It said that a madarsa is neither aplace of religious worship nordoes it have religious significance.Madarsa only means a buildingwhich houses a school, it clarified.The court also added that it didnot think any of the instructionsissued by the State ElectionCommission had been flouted inthe case. It observed that it wastoo late in the day to shift or relo-cate the polling booths.

Condom not medicine


SOCIETY/ Adoption/ Missionaries of Charity

No Child’sPlay

IN SERVICE TOMANKIND

Mother Teresa’sMissionaries of

Charity hasdone yeomanservice in the

field of adoption

Even as the government wants to increase adoptions in India and has laid out new guidelines, the Missionaries of Charity

has pulled out of this sector, citing differences By Sujit Bhar in Kolkata

KOLKATA’S Missionaries ofCharity (MoC), founded byMother Teresa and one of themost respected NGOs in thecountry, has come in for somefriction with the law of the landthat now allows single parents

to adopt children.The law has wide ramifications within the

current Indian scenario, being singularly anduniformly secular against the backdrop of acountry where majority religious sentimentsare polarizing at an alarming rate.

Maneka Gandhi, the Women and ChildDevelopment minister, is known to be pas-sionate about the issue of adoption, andhence did not wait for parliament to pass theJuvenile Justice (Care and Protection ofChildren) Bill, 2014, and notified the rulesunder the existing Act instead.

In a country where the collective situationof children, especially orphans, is abysmal,even the adoption rate is low despite a largenumber of people wanting to adopt. This isbecause of the legal system and its bottle-necks. Despite some 9,000 parents willing toadopt, only 800 children are free for adop-tion. However, this year, some 1,200 wereadopted. The minister said that her target foradoption for next year was 50,000. She saidmany NRIs were eager to adopt childrenfrom their country of origin, but, finding theIndian legal system too hard to crack, havestarted moving to China for babies. ManekaGandhi wants to speed up the process andnew guidelines have made it easy for singlepeople to adopt.

However, MoC found these guidelines


DIFFERENT STANDARDSIf the MoC wants eachchild to have a life of dignity, why does it shunsingle parents and LGBTsand deny them the right toparenthood?

unacceptable and wrote to the CentralAdoption Resource Authority seeking de-recognition of the registered (for adoption)orphanages. A call by India Legal to MoCelicited no comments. The MoC runs 16orphanages across the country, of which 13are authorized to give children for adoption.

The revised guidelines on adoption cameinto effect in July, and by August, MoChomes had stopped facilitating the adoptionprocess. They shifted out the remaining chil-dren to other registered homes. In thisimbroglio, it’s the children who are suffering.

SISTERS’ OBJECTIONSMoC has set three preconditions. First, itwould be giving children out to married cou-ples only. Secondly, none of them can be adivorcee. Third, parents have to accept thechild the organization offers and will not beable to choose from six children, as the min-istry guidelines lay out. This leaves out singleparents. Already, one applicant from Assamand another from Bihar were reportedlyrejected by MoC.

MoC’s stand has been backed by theVatican, the Catholic Bishop’s Conference ofIndia (CBCI) and even by West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee. Her statementon this issue was: “We fully supportMissionaries of Charity and Sister Prema

We think sometimes that povertyis only being hungry, naked and

homeless. The poverty of beingunwanted, unloved and uncared

for is the greatest poverty. Wemust start in our own homes to

remedy this kind of poverty.—Mother Teresa

SOCIETY/ Adoption/ Missionaries of Charity

in their decision to opt out of the adoptionprogram. They have a right to do so.”

Vatican Radio, while not directly com-menting on the issue, quoted Cardinal

Telesphore Toppo, the Archbishop ofRanchi, on the issue. He reportedly

said: “I support the sister missionar-ies. Children are not objects; each ofthem is a precious gift from God.The Missionaries of Charity are atthe service of the most vulnerableand those abandoned children can-not be given to any parent.” The

CBCI, too, echoed these sentiments.

CHANGED WORLDSandhi Mukherjee, a retiredbureaucrat who is involved

with many social organizations, says: “One,perhaps, can appeal to their (MoC) heartsthat they come back to the dialogue table.This is an organization that is reputed for itsfairness in the treatment of children, andprospective parents are positively predis-posed when they apply to MoC. While it istrue that the reputation of MoC has beenbuilt over decades of hard work and dedica-tion, one has to remember that the worldoutside has changed, and divorces are ascommonplace as live-in relationships.”

He further adds that it is important tokeep in mind that marriages do not alwayswork, and divorce is a fair and respectableway out of this. “This does not tarnish a man’sor a woman’s character. What happens to awoman who has been brutalized and divorce

“Children are notobjects; each of

them is a precious gift

from God. TheMissionaries of

Charity are atthe service of

the most vulner-able and those

abandoned children cannotbe given to any

parent.”—Cardinal TelesphoreToppo, Archbishop of

Ranchi

“We fully support Missionaries of Charity intheir decision to opt out of the adoptionprogram. They have a right to do so.”

—Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal chief minister


is the only way out? Does she forego the rightto have a child?

“Secondly, if you look at women such asSushmita Sen (former Miss Universe) orNeena Gupta (actor), both of whom are sin-gle mothers, you see their children growingup with a lot of care.

“Third, MoC must remember that theywere not forced to start and run orphanagesin India. Having done so, they have implicitlyagreed to adhere to the law of the land. Somany children have benefitted from theexcellent care that MoC provides. Now,should they be shoved into organizations thathave neither the ability nor the willingness toprovide such care?”

TIME TO MOVE ONAnother issue is homophobia. Even asdebates continuously take place over theLGBT issue, the MoC asks a startling ques-tion: “What if the parents (single) turn out tobe lesbians or gays?” This shows how farbehind it is with the times.

According to social worker Soma, therelies a middle path. “This is an issue that can-

not be solved through legislations. One has tokeep in mind MoC’s reputation while dealingwith the issue. Even Pope Francis today isshowing leniency towards issues of the mod-ern world.”

Another point of contention with theMoC is prospective parents being given achoice of six children to choose from. SisterAmala of MoC has said: “Mother’s idea wasadoption to counter abortion. When awoman gives birth to a baby, is she allowed achoice? She gets what God gifts her. Here toowe allow only one chance, we match the babyas per the parents’ background, skin color,etc., but parents are not allowed a choice,even if the child has a deformity. ”

One hopes the clash between law and reli-gion does not result in orphans suffering andfalling into wrong hands. IL

The MoC has to be in step with times andrealize that live-in-relationships anddivorces are common and that the law ofthe land also recognizes single parents.

CHANGING REALITIES(Above, L-R) Actors NeenaGupta and Sushmita Senare successful single parents


LEGAL EYE/ State Law Officers

In a startling revelation, the Supreme Courthas found that states are spending huge

amounts on law officers without propersystems being put in place. Loyalty, more

than merit, is amply rewarded By Vipin Pubby in Chandigarh

Money down the Drain

THE largesse doled out by stategovernments has come underscrutiny. This generosity by wayof arbitrary appointments of lawofficers to deal with cases relatingto states in high courts hascaught the attention of the

Supreme Court. While hearing a clutch of petitions chal-

lenging the appointments, the Court, whichhas now reserved its ruling, has come acrossstartling facts. Not only are there no set rulesfor the appointment of additional advocate-generals (A-Gs), senior deputy A-Gs anddeputy A-Gs, state governments had beenspending huge amounts on a large number ofadvocates appointed to these positions.

HUGE TEAMSHaryana, for instance, has 183 law officers,which includes 58 additional A-Gs, one sen-ior deputy A-G, 62 deputy A-Gs and an equalnumber of assistant A-Gs, as per an affidavitgiven by the state to the apex court lastmonth. Punjab is not far behind, with as

many as 174 law officers who were alsoappointed without any norms in place. It hasa team of 74 additional A-Gs, five seniordeputy A-Gs, 40 deputy A-Gs and 55 assis-tant A-Gs. In contrast, the center has a teamof less than a dozen law officers in theSupreme Court led by Attorney-General ofIndia Mukul Rohatgi.

A majority of these state lawyers have notbeen appointed on merit or experience. Infact, most are related to politicians, seniorofficers, judges, senior advocates and otherinfluential people. One of those appointed inHaryana is a relative of the chief ministerand did not even fulfil the norms to practicein the High Court. The Bar Council of Indiahas fixed a minimum experience of two yearsin a sessions or district court for being eligi-ble to appear in high courts.

The Haryana government affidavit alsodetails the emoluments given to these offi-cers. Additional A-Gs are paid a monthlyremuneration of `1.40 lakh and entitled toleave as admissible to Class I officers, exceptearned leave. They are on contract for one


year, which is renewable every year. They areentitled to do private practice but are barredfrom appearing against the state.

Deputy A-Gs are put on regular payscales, with entry-level salaries being a mini-mum of `43,390, plus the usual allowances,including house rent allowance and TA/DA,as admissible to state government emplo-yees. Assistant A-Gs have an entry-level min-imum pay starting at `28,000, plus the usualallowances.

MONEY SQUANDERED?Details of the official expenditure calculatedby the Haryana’s A-G office show that thestate incurs a monthly expenditure of around`70,235 on an assistant A-G, `85,000 on anadditional A-G, `90,000 on a senior addi-tional A-G, `1,00,575 on a deputy A-G, and`1,00,675 on a senior deputy A-G. It alsospent `18.71 crore on the state A-G’s officebetween April 1, 2012, and January 31, 2013,as per official figures of a CAG report in 2014.

The report also said that about 80 percentof the law officers don’t have adequate work

most of the time. It questioned the “faultyselection of law officers resulting in idle pay-ment of salary”.

In its reply to CAG’s objections, Haryanahad justified the appointments, citing severalcourt judgments, including some from theSupreme Court. “It is the choice, prerogativeand discretion of the government to engagesuch law officers to defend and plead theircases through whom it has faith, confidenceand trust, which may be based on word ofmouth and performance,” it said.

In its latest affidavit submitted to theSupreme Court, the state informed that theA-G is the only validated post of law officerand the “engagement of law officers are notgoverned by any rules and regulations”. Itadded that their engagement is primarily onthe basis of recommendations made by theA-G. The affidavit admitted that no search orselection committee had ever been constitut-ed to invite applications and scrutinize thenames and that it was left to the “discretion”of the A-G to select his team of officers.

The affidavit was submitted days after

Not only arethere no setrules for theappointment of additional advocate-generals, seniordeputy A-Gsand deputy A-Gs, state governmentsspend hugeamounts on alarge number of advocates.

Anthony Lawrence


IL

the court slammed the Punjab governmentover appointment of law officers. A bench ledby Justice TS Thakur had said such appoint-ments cannot be an act of “political appease-ment” and must be transparent. The courthad questioned the process for such appoint-ments in states as it appeared that politicalconnections outweighed merit. It askedSolicitor-General Ranjit Kumar, who wasassisting the court as amicus curiae, to findout whether any state had laid down proce-dures for selection of law officers.

Punjab government, in its affidavit, hadsaid that “conventionally, law officers areengaged on contractual basis after being rec-ommended by the advocate general or inconsultation with him. The advocate generalrecommends to the state government thoselawyers who are competent and best suited tocarry out the onerous and multi-faceted tasksof law officers”.

LOYALTY PAYSThe issue came up before the apex court fol-lowing a petition filed by advocate PradeepRapria, who had challenged the appointmentof law officers in the A-G office, Haryana.This was done after the Punjab and HaryanaHigh Court, which had heard his plea,adjourned the case sine-die. In his petitionbefore the Supreme Court, Rapria arguedthat loyalty to the ruling party, and not legalacumen, had become the deciding factor inthe appointment of government advocates.

Integrity, capabilities, honestyand efficiency of lawyers weresecondary to loyalty to the partyin power.

In his affidavit, he said thathe had filed the petition“against the arbitrary and ille-gal engagement of Advocates inthe AG office, Haryana, on pickand chose basis, without anysupporting legislation or Rule,Notification, guideline, norms,which is clearly in violation ofArticle 14 of the Constitution ofIndia. In response to the RTIquery, the State Govt. hasinformed the Petitioner thatthere is no specified qualifica-

tion or rule dealing with the engagement ofAdvocates in the AG Office and even noapplication was ever received from theengaged Advocates. Therefore, there was nooccasion for the State Govt. to apply mind onthe merits of the Advocates engaged in theAG Office, who deal with the FundamentalRights and other vital rights of the citizens inthe High Court”.

The petitioner submitted that the stateexchequer is held by the state as a trustee ofthe citizens. Remuneration to such statecounsels from the state exchequer amountsto state largesse, which cannot be given toany person according to the sweet will andwhims of political entities. He pointed outthat no applications were sought and therewas no specified qualification or rule dealingwith the engagement of advocates in the A-Goffice. Rapria further said in his petition: “Inthe democracy, the government cannotbehave like a King, who can give benefit toany person as per his whims and fancies.”

Senior advocates in the Punjab andHaryana High Court pointed out that thoughthe appointments of some law officers arejustified, the numbers appointed by bothstates is far higher than required. They alsostressed that an improvement in the qualityof lawyers appointed for such posts could cutdown on the need for so many appointees.

It is hoped that the Supreme Court willissue guidelines to bring some order in theseappointments.

“It is the choice,prerogative anddiscretion of the

government toengage such lawofficers to defend

and plead theircases through

whom it has faith,confidence and

trust, which maybe based on

word of mouthand

performance.”—Haryana’s affidavit to

the Supreme Court

CRUX OF THE MATTER(L-R) Solicitor General Ranjit

Kumar will probe if stateshave laid down procedures for

selection of law officers

SC Bench led by TS Thakursaid appointments of law

officers must be transparent

LEGAL EYE/ State Law Officers


NATIONAL BRIEFS

The Delhi Police got the nodfrom Lieutenant Governor

Najeeb Jung to induct senior con-stables as investigating officers(IO) for probing non-heinouscrimes in the capital. Incidentally,of the total number of cases thatthe Delhi Police has, non-heinouscrimes top the list.

According to a report pub-lished in Hindustan Times, thedemand was made by the DelhiPolice. Constables will now jointhe ranks of inspector, sub-inspec-tor, assistant sub-inspector andhead constables to function as

IOs. According to the report, thenew IOs will probe cases thatentail a maximum punishment ofseven years. However, they needto be graduates with a minimumof 10 years’ experience to becomeeligible for IOs.

The report further states thatmore than 3,000 constables willbe up for the post and are likely totake a screening test, followed bya training for those selected.

The move should address thelong list of cases piling up withthe Delhi Police and help speedup the process of investigation.

Constables tobecome IOs

Chhota Rajan (Rajendra Nikalje)who was arrested in Bali told

reporters that he was not afraid of any-one. India’s most wanted gangster, whois sought in more than two dozen mur-der cases, was arrested after a two-decade hunt.

However, Police CommissionerReinhard Nainggolan told NDTV thatRajan wanted to go to Zimbabwe andthat he has been nervous since hisarrest. Reports have suggested thatRajan, who has been hunted by thepolice in many countries, was scared toreturn to India because of threats fromDawood, his former mentor-turned-bit-ter rival. CBI officers will reach Balisoon to begin the process of bringinghim back to India.

— Compiled by Vijay Patil

Chhota Rajan is scared

The Supreme Court urged the center totake steps objectively in order to do

away with all forms of reservations ininstitutions of higher education. Thecourt observed that in spite of several

reminders to central and state govern-ments, reservation continues to holdsway over merit. It made a strong casefor making merit the primary criteria foradmission to super-specialty courses.

The apex court noted that thereshould really be no reservation since it is in the general interest of the countryto improve the standard of higher educa-tion. The court’s observation came inwhile it was delivering judgment on abatch of petitions challenging the eligibility criteria for admissions intocertain super-specialty medical coursesin Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.

Make merit the sole criterion

The Gujarat government opposed aplea to grant compensation to six

men who were convicted for the 2002Akshardham terror attack but acquittedby the Supreme Court last year. Addi-tional Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta,representing the state, told the apexcourt that the plea by the acquitted wasnot maintainable.

“Whatever they may want now, it hasto be in the same criminal appeal that isnow disposed of by this court. There are provisions in the CrPC to seek com-pensation and also for demandinginquiry against police officers,” Mehta

told the court. The bench, agreeing with Mehta,

asked the petitioners’ advocate, KTSTulsi, to corroborate the provisions underwhich the plea was maintainable.

Gujarat opposes compensation plea

Goa seems to be the place to relax if thenumber of VIPs who are holidaying thereis any indication. Among them was ChiefJustice HL Dattu with his family, whichincluded his wife, son, daughter-in-lawand grandson. HRD Minister Smriti Iranitoo set off on a holiday to Goa.Scheduled to campaign for the BJP inthe Bihar assembly elections, Irani wasprobably inspired after Arun Jaitley saidthat the election results won’t be seen asa mandate on the center’s performance.

Fun time


CONTROVERSY/ Dance Bars


Are Mumbai’s dance bars dens of vice as made out by the moral brigadeand the political establishment? With the ban on them stayed again, it’stime to improve the working conditions of women there By Ajith Pillai

Much Nautch about NothingJUST ANOTHER ROUND

Women performing at adance bar

IF you are part of the moral brigade, itis easy to run down Mumbai’s dancebars. There is this readymade line ofargument: these establishments aresex shops or pick-up joints mas-querading as places of clean fun andentertainment. Hence, these “dens of

vice” deserve to be closed down. There are afew case studies done to prove that middle-men lure women from villages across India tothe big, bad city and they end up in the dance

bars which mushroomed in Mumbai in the90s and the 2000s. When the Maharashtraassembly unanimously passed a bill banningdance bars in July 2005, there were 1,300 ofthem. And to think that in 1985 there wereonly 24 of them.

This shows how dance bars grew in popu-larity. But what about all the sleaze associat-ed with such establishments? It would be amisrepresentation of facts to say that they aresqueaky clean and above board. However, it

would be safe to say these bars are not broth-els. Their managements do not sell sex,although a dancer on her own free will mayindulge in such a transaction.

MUMBAI’S UNDERBELLYI have surveyed dance bars in my capacity asa low life correspondent for a few publica-tions in Mumbai. Covering crime, drugaddiction and the city’s underbelly was one ofthe beats assigned to me. Since bars withdancing girls attracted much media attentionin the late 80s and 90s, I was asked to take alook at them. I found that women who enact-ed scenes from raunchy Bollywood songswere neither “readily available” as was madeout by the moral police, nor were the man-agements persuading their clientele to takeone of the women home. On the contrary, thebars had bouncers who said their brief was toensure that “customers” don’t “ched chaad”(harass) the women.

The typical client who frequents such barscomes to relive the Bollywood dream. It iskeeping him in mind that the bars aredesigned to resemble a film set readied for anitem song—replete with all its garish lightingand glitter. The dancers—a dozen of them—perform on an elevated circular stage withstrobe lights flashing and the latest filmynumber blasting through the sound system.As one song fades into another, some of themrush to the green room to return wearingclothes to match the mood of the next trackon the playing list.

The profile of those who patronise dancebars is a curious mix of office-goers, third-rung members of the underworld, tradersand professionals. They are young or at bestmiddle-aged. Many are married. To a man,they will reveal that they have come here toforget the cares of the world and to relax andenjoy themselves. They also tell you they arenot here for sex. If that was what they want-ed, they would have gone to Kamatipura, thered light district, they say.

To unwind with the noisy music and toimagine yourself falling in love with one ofthe nubile girls doing her set, you have to beessentially a film-crazed person; someonewho remembers the lyrics to the song beingdanced to and the vibes with it. Unless you

are such a person, you probably will not paythrough your nose for your drink to watch anitem number enacted.

While they dance, the girls are notallowed to speak to customers but they donotice those who tip them heavily. SoniaFalerio’s book, Beautiful Thing, an insideaccount of Mumbai’s dance bars, describes atypical scene involving dance girl Leela:“...she only noticed those who threw moneyon her, as was the custom, or asked the stew-ard standing by for this purpose to place agarland of hundred or five hundred rupeenotes around her neck. If she was feelingwicked she would accept the money and star-ing deep into the customer’s eyes silentlymouth: ‘Is this all you think I’m worth?’...Ifthe customer was familiar with Leela’s ways,which, truth be told, were the ways of allexperienced bar dancers, he’d swat her awaywith a good-natured laugh.”

MAJORITY IS MARRIEDBut what about the women dancers them-selves? According to a sample study in 2005by Mumbai-based Tata Institute of SocialSciences, 68 percent of women in dance barswere married. This went against the notionthat the girls were mostly minors lured intothe racket by traffickers. A majority of thosemarried (71 percent) had children back homein the villages and small towns they hailedfrom. Many had come to Mumbai to seekjobs and had found dancing at bars a betteroption than being attached to a brothel in


According to a2005 study byTata Institute ofSocial Sciences,68 percent ofwomen indance barswere married.A majority ofthose marriedhad children invillages andsmall towns.

SMILES OFVICTORYDance bar girlscelebrating aftercourt rulingagainst the ban

the unofficially demarcated red light areas.Shagufta Rafique, a former dance bar girl

turned scriptwriter says she was forced intoprostitution at the age of 17 because of pover-ty. For the next 10 years, she supported herfamily through her sex work till some well-wishers asked her to try her hand at dancingat bars. She did this and she says the moveliberated her from the demeaning work shewas doing earlier. Shagufta has written thescripts for films like Aashiqui 2, Raaz 3,Murder 2, Jannat 2 and Woh Lamhe. Whenthe ban was first invoked against the dancebars, she had this to say: “I know how diffi-cult life became for thousands of women whowere their family’s sole breadwinners. Theywere forced to do things they would not havedone if the bars were allowed (to carry ontheir business). The state government will beresponsible for them getting into prostitutionor ending their lives.”

There are many myths perpetuated aboutdance bars and the women working there. Atthe time the ban was imposed, one officialposition was that 75 percent of the womenwere illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Thispremise was proven false by a study conduct-ed by SNDT University, Mumbai, whichrevealed that about 50 percent of the womenwere from marginalized communities inMadhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh andRajasthan. Around 20 percent were fromMumbai or interior Maharashtra and the restwere from across the country. Only a fewwere from Nepal and none from Bangladesh.


THE REAL PICTURE(Above) Sonia Falerio’s book

Beautiful Thing is an insideaccount of Mumbai’s dance

bars

(Far right) Shagufta Rafique,former dance bar girl-turned-

scriptwriter

CONTROVERSY/ Dance Bars

Neither did the dancers earn in lakhs as wasalleged. Their monthly income was in theregion of `30,000.

ABUSED BY POLICEMore crucially, the report revealed that thewomen were not forced into sex work. Also,very few spoke of harassment. They, however,said they were troubled by the police whoraided bars and verbally abused them. Inmedia interviews after the ban, bar ownersspoke of how they were forced to pay hafta(protection money) to the police to continuetheir business.

Despite several court rulings against theban, it is unlikely that it will be lifted. Nopolitical party wishes to take on the moralbrigade. Comments made in the state assem-bly in 2005 during the discussion that pre-ceded the passing of the bill banning dancebars, were telling. Sample this: “Thesewomen who dance naked (nanga nach), theydon't deserve any sympathy.” “We are notTaliban, but somewhere we have to put astop. The moral policing we do, it is a goodthing, but it is not enough ... we need to doeven more of this moral policing.” But thisone took the cake: “Hotels with three stars,five stars, disco dancing, belly dancing, allthat is vulgar ... everything should be banned,except Bharatnatyam and Kathak.”

To ban is not the answer. To regulate andimprove the working conditions of womenwho dance the evening shift is certainly amore positive option. IL

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VIEWS ON NEWSTHE CRITICAL EYE

IT is not for the first time that thecourts have come to the rescue of bardancers. But the Supreme Courtorder on October 15 to stay a provi-sion in the Maharashtra Police Actprohibiting the functioning of dancebars may be too little, too late.

Remember, in 2013 too, the Maharashtragovernment didn’t budge an inch after anapex court order lifted the ban on dance bars.In 2014, it defiantly amended the BombayPolice Act to ban dancing again, including inhigh-end hotels and private clubs where itwas exempted earlier.

The Indian Hotel and RestaurantAssociation and others approached theSupreme Court to stay this change in Section33A of the Bombay Police act by way of anamendment by the Maharashtra Police(Second Amendment) Act, 2014, and declareit unconstitutional. While bar owners mayrejoice at the latest order, they will onceagain be subject to a strict licensing system.There are other issues too and as lawyer andactivist Flavia Agnes said, the obscenity riderin the order will become a weapon in thehands of the police to harass the girls.


Though the SupremeCourt stayed the ban ondance bars, it is a mootquestion whether theMaharashtra governmentwill accept the verdict. Ithasn’t budged in the past By Meena Menon

CONTROVERSY/Dance Bars/Legal Angle

Dancing in the Dark

FIGHTING FOR THEIR RIGHTS(Above and below) People protesting against the dance bar ban

MISPLACED MORALISM The man who introduced the banon dance bars in 2005, formerMaharashtra home minister RRPatil of the Nationalist CongressParty (NCP), passed away due tocancer in February. He took thehigh moral ground while closingthem down and faced much criti-cism for not lifting a finger to doanything about the thriving prosti-tution and trafficking racket inMumbai. Bar dancers, then,became a soft target for Patil’s mis-placed moralism which receivedunanimous approval across politi-cal parties.

In 2006, it was first theBombay High Court which came tothe rescue of the bar dancers andlater, in 2013, the Supreme Court.There was much lamentation thatbanning dance bars was a blot on Mumbai’sfamed nightlife, though they were many whosupported it. The women, meanwhile, weresuddenly left with little options other than alife of drudgery or prostitution.

Maharashtra chief minister DevendraFadnavis has said he will appeal against theorder and make a proper representation inthe Supreme Court before the final hearingon November 5. Political parties, speciallythe NCP which propelled the ban, feel thatthe state did not make a good case in theSupreme Court. Nawab Malik, NCPspokesperson says: “The state governmentseems to have struck a deal with the bar own-ers and this will become clear if the finalorder goes against the government. We willwait to see what the order is and then decide.”

Leader of opposition in the Maharashtraassembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil from theCongress said in a statement that the govern-ment should bring an ordinance and bandance bars. For once, the Congress seems toback the NCP. When Patil had banned dancebars in 2005, Vikhe-Patil had said it was astep in the right direction. He had said that itwas not a question of depriving women oftheir livelihood alone but it had a negativeimpact on society. The state must take steps


ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE FENCE(L-R) Leader of opposition in Maharashtraassembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil supports theban; ex-Maharashtra home minister RR Patilwho introduced the ban in 2005

to ensure the ban stays in effect, he added.When it banned dancing in eating houses,

permit rooms and beer bars in 2005, theMaharashtra government took the excusethat it had received complaints about theseperformances. The amendment to theBombay Police Act 1951 said the governmentconsiders that such performance of dances ineating houses, permit rooms or beer bars arederogatory to the dignity of women and arelikely to deprave, corrupt or injure publicmorality or morals. It exempted theatres andauditoriums/sports clubs/ gymkhanas,where entry is restricted to its members only,three-starred and above hotels and culturaland tourism activities.

BAN CHALLENGEDThe ban was challenged by bar owners anddancers, among others, and the BombayHigh Court in its order of April 2006,declared the provisions of Sections 33A and33B of the Bombay Police Act as unconstitu-tional being ultra vires the Articles 14 and19(1)(g) of the constitution. The state govern-ment appealed against this but the apexcourt upheld the ban in 2013. Not to becowed down, the Maharashtra govern-

In 2013 too, theMaharashtragovernmentdidn’t budge aninch after anapex courtorder lifted theban on dancebars. In 2014, itdefiantlyamended theBombay PoliceAct to bandancing again.

IL

ment amended the Bombay Police Act quick-ly once again in 2014, banning dance bars inall other places also, leaving the women highand dry.

While staying the ban, the latest SupremeCourt order says: “…we add a rider that noperformance of dance shall remotely beexpressive of any kind of obscenity in anymanner. We may hasten to clarify that in theearlier judgment, it has been clearly statedthat sufficient power is vested with theLicensing Authority to safeguard any viola-tion of the dignity of women through obscenedances. Regard being had to the same, theLicensing Authority can take steps so that

the individual dignity of a woman is notaffected and there remains no room for anykind of obscenity.”

Flavia Agnes, who has represented the bardancers in the Bombay High Court, said thatthe court has raised the issue of obscenity butno one is talking of the girls and their rights.“What about the dancers? Who will protectthem and make sure they get their rights asworkers?” she asks. She is among those whohave constantly raised the issue of the liveli-hood of women over the morality question.

The 2013 Supreme Court order upheldthe High Court stay on the basis that dancingwas a fundamental right. The current orderupheld and quoted what the Bombay HighCourt said: “The state has failed to establishthat the restriction is reasonable or that it isin the interest of general public. The HighCourt rightly scrutinized the impugned legis-lation in the light of observations of thisCourt... wherein it was held that greater therestriction, the more the need for scrutiny.The High Court noticed that in the guise ofregulation, the legislation has imposed a totalban on dancing in the establishments cov-ered under Section 33A.”

The High Court in its order staying theban had said: “In our opinion, it would bemore appropriate to bring about measureswhich should ensure the safety and improvethe working conditions of the persons work-ing as bar girls.” It said that “the restrictionsin the nature of prohibition cannot be said tobe reasonable, inasmuch as there could beseveral lesser alternatives available whichwould have been adequate to ensure safety ofwomen than to completely prohibit dance. Infact, a large number of imaginative alterna-tive steps could be taken instead of complete-ly prohibiting dancing, if the real concern ofthe State is the safety of women.”

About 75,000 bar girls were rendered job-less on August 15, 2005. The plight of thewomen seems to hardly affect the state gov-ernment. On three occasions, the courts havecome to the aid of the bar dancers but itremains to be seen how the order will beimplemented and whether questions of fun-damental rights and livelihood prevail overmoral outrage and dubious notionsof obscenity.

“What about thedancers? Who

will protect themand make sure

they gettheir rights as

workers?” —Flavia Agnes, lawyer

and activist

DIGGING IN HIS HEELS(Right) Maharashtra chief

minister DevendraFadnavis has said he willappeal against the order

CONTROVERSY/Dance Bars/Legal Angle


Six leaders of a hugeSingaporean church have been

convicted of fraud in a case worthS$50 million, reports ABC News.The judge ruled that City HarvestChurch’s pastor, Kong Hee and oth-ers, used church finances to fundthe music career of his wife, SunHo. The defendants argued thatHo’s pop music career was a wayof reaching out to non-Christians.They have been granted bail untilsentencing, but could face a jailterm. Sun Ho herself is not accusedof wrongdoing. City Harvest—con-sidered a megachurch—is one ofSingapore’s wealthiest evangelicalchurches, with an estimated 30,000members in Singapore and 15services every weekend. It claims tohave 48 affiliates in countriesincluding Malaysia, Indonesia, India,Taiwan, Brunei and Australia.

Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology (CII)has ruled that covering the face, the

hands up to the wrists and feet is not manda-tory for Muslim women, reports DailyPakistan. “It becomes Wajib (compulsory)for a woman to cover her face, hands andfeet if there is a danger of spreadingdisorder, otherwise covering of face, handsand feet for woman is Mustahab (better),”CII chairman Maulana Mohammad KhanSherani said at CII’s 200th meeting.Incidentally, some of the more liberal mem-bers of the CII, including Maulana Tahir

Ashrafi and Allama Amin Shaheedi, didnot attend the first sitting of the two-daymeeting. The session was attended,among others, by Dr Samia Raheel Qaziof Jamaat-e-Islami, a Pakistani Islamistpolitical party.

ACalifornia appeals courtruled against the multi-mil-

lionaire yogi and founder of 'hot'yoga, Bikram Choudhury,ending his decade-long legalbattle to copyright his sequenceof yoga poses in a heatedroom, reports aljazeera.com.Judge Kim McLane Wardlawdescribed Bikram’s sequence of26 poses and two breathing

exercises as an idea, process orsystem designed to improvehealth and to “yieldphysical benefits and asense of wellbeing”.“Copyright protects only theexpression of this idea—thewords and pictures used todescribe the sequence—andnot the idea of the sequenceitself,” the court averred.

Yoga guru loses copyright battle

INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS

Online retail giant Amazon has filed a suitagainst over 1,000 people in the United

States who allegedly posted “false, mislead-ing and inauthentic” online reviews of itsproducts, reports Scottish Legal News. Theaction is intended to target those people whoused online labor marketplace Fiverr.com towrite fake reviews in exchange for payment.Individuals were allegedly paid to post posi-tive reviews of products to boost their popu-larity, or to post negative reviews on compet-ing products.

War allegations “credible”

Agovernment-appointed Sri Lankanjudge has said that the allegations

that the army committed war crimesduring the long conflict with TamilTiger rebels are “credible”. Hewas leading the first government inquiryinto the atrocities, one month after theUN released its own findings, reportsNDTV.com. President Maithripala Sirisenahas pledged a truth and reconciliationcommission to investigate furtherbut has resisted calls fora foreign inquiry.

Singapore churchleaders guilty of fraud

Amazon sues fake reviewers


No need to cover head, face

SEX workers in poverty-stricken Anan-tapur district of Andhra Pradesh, likeanywhere else in India, have often bat-tled discrimination, exploitation anddomestic violence. They have facedfrequent harassment by the police andmany say they were forced to offer sex

to them for free. But now, a growing number ofempowered sex workers here are using legal servicesto protect themselves and secure their rights and seelight at the end of a dark tunnel.

Many of them have become paralegal volunteersand are going from door-to-door sensitizing sex work-ers about their rights and even helping them file cases.

A project in AP and Karnatakahas empowered sex workers by

making them paralegal volunteers. As they are made

aware of their rights, a confidentcommunity is fighting exploitation

and domestic violenceBy Ramesh Menon

in Bengaluru and Anantapur


SPECIAL REPORT/ Sex Workers/ Legal Services

Eagles

The NewLegal

stricken districts of Kadappa, Chittoor andAnantapur, where women are trafficked toBengaluru, Pune and Mumbai. Ramadevi, a community coordinator, says: “Many of thewomen are single and helpless. We have to sensitize the local population into seeingthem as humans who are victims of circum-stances so that they do not morally abhorthem.”

Anantapur is one of the four districts inthe Rayalaseema region which haveseen frequent famines and is so one of

the most economically vulnerable areas. Thismakes it a fertile ground for trafficking ofwomen. Human development and povertyindices put Anantapur as one of the worst inAndhra Pradesh.

Akhila Sivadas, executive director, CFAR,says: “Most of the sex workers have a historyof violence, be it at the hands of the police,clients or husbands. But with legal knowl-edge at their command now, they are able tochallenge it. We are getting community-based organizations to spearhead the processof getting them pensions and other govern-ment facilities so that their quality of lifeimproves. The challenge is to enable thecommunity of sex workers to get main-streamed and reduce both risk and vul-

This is a part of many other projects run byDelhi-based Centre for Advocacy andResearch (CFAR) to facilitate social inclusionof sex workers across programmes andschemes.

Renuka Pattar, working with ShakthiAIDS Tadegattuva Mahila Sangh, a commu-nity-based organization in Karnataka, saysthat women constantly needed help from thepolice and the legal community to fightincessant violence at work.

Mangladevi, a paralegal volunteer, says:“When we went to train the police force insensitization towards sex workers, we foundthat they all blamed us as they felt that wehad got into the profession to make easymoney. I told them that I too was from a goodfamily like them, but as I was deserted by myviolent husband and had two children to sup-port, I was forced into sex work. I saw howtheir attitude changed. Some had tears intheir eyes. The police is also human.”

Adds Radha, another paralegal volunteer:“The police attitude changed only after a lotof advocacy. Once they see our paralegal vol-unteer identity card, they listen to us. Wehave got new respect. We are no more cross-questioned.”

One of the places where trafficking isrampant is Kadiri as it borders the poverty-

HEALING TOUCHAn activist talks about the benefits that can beaccessed by people livingwith HIV/AIDS, at an informal meeting inBengaluru

nerability to HIV/AIDS.” For example, Mangladevi

feels empowered enough tofile a case against her husbandwho got married to anotherwoman without taking adivorce from her. She has filedfor maintenance under theDomestic Violence Act. This issomething she would neverhave had the confidence to doa few years back.

Many like her havegot trained by theKarnataka State

Legal Services Authority.They proudly carry identitycards proclaiming them asparalegal volunteers. Theymediate in cases of domestic

violence or any other matter and try toresolve it as a legal right and entitlementamicably. The men are informed about different laws under which they can bebooked. If this does not work, it escalates intoa court case.

The District Legal Services Authoritythen nominates a lawyer who will fight forthe victim for free. These measures havedecreased violence against the women andother exploitative methods. Says Sivadas:“Unless a measure of social inclusion comesin, nothing can be done for these communi-ties. So, it is important not to criminalizethem and get them into the legal process.”Adds Satish Agnihotri, a former bureaucrat:“Without legal literacy, mobilizations remainincomplete. As stakes increase, both need tobe raised a step further. It is imperative tohave paralegal training.”

Meena from Bengaluru, an outreachworker working with a NGO, was saddledwith four children to look after when herhusband died of a HIV/AIDS. She tearfullyremembers how her daughter was constantlyhumiliated in school by teachers who kepttelling her that her mother was HIV-positive.Ultimately, she had to be pulled out of school.“There are enough laws now, but the mainissue is to check whether it works. Women,especially sex workers, need sensitized

lawyers as most do not understand HIV/AIDS issues and are not interested in doinglegal aid work for us as the payment is mea-gre,” she says.

Activist lawyer Vrinda Grover says thatthere is no monitoring of legal aid servicesfor sex workers. “It should be done to ensurethat it works the way it was designed. Howmany lawyers come well-prepared to defendsex workers in court?” she asks.

Narsamma from Anantapur was a victimof domestic violence. Her first husbanddeserted her, leaving her with two children.Then, a client of hers professed his love andtook her to Bangalore. She had a son withhim. After the child was born, he starteddemanding money from her to fund hisdrinking habit. Fed up, she returned toAnantapur. It was not easy looking afterthree children, but counseling from the pro-tection officer in the Women and ChildDevelopment Department stopped her fromcommitting suicide. She has now realized theneed to be legally literate and is grateful forthe help she got from the community.

A para legal volunteer talks of how onesex worker who was a mother of three wasforced to live with a powerful toughie. Hehowever did not contribute to running thefamily. One day, she was forced to get a clienthome. When he came to know of this, heseverely beat her up and inserted a sharppiece of wood into her private parts and alsoinflicted a head injury. As she was part of aself help group, they rushed her to theVictoria Hospital in Bengaluru but she couldnot be saved. The women filed a police com-plaint, got him arrested and followed up withthe legal process till he was convicted with alife term for murder.

The Community-based Organizations(CBO) representing sex workers, sup-ported by civil society organizations

such as CFAR, have for many years beenmobilizing sex workers in Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka and elsewhere. They also ensurethat children of sex workers do not get pulledinto the profession.

Sharda (name changed), the daughter of asex worker, shyly sits in her school principal’sroom. She softly speaks of how her mother

“Most sex workers are

victims of violence. But

with legal knowledge, they

can now challenge it. We

are helpingthem get

pensions andother

governmentfacilities to

improve thequality of life.”

—Akhila Sivadas, executive director,

CFAR



was rescued by the Delhi police from a broth-el and sent back to Gandlapenta in AndhraPradesh. The young girl is happy being inschool as it has triggered new dreams. “Iwant to become a teacher one day as I canchange the lives of so many,” she says.

Sex workers were long denied govern-ment benefits under various schemes.To prevent this, the then Anantapur

district collector, Lokesh Kumar, decided toset up, what he called, “single window” in2014 that would ensure that sex workers andtransgenders get all their paperwork done toavail of government schemes.

Earlier, they would run from pillar-to-post for aid and often failed to get them evenafter paying touts. The single window alsohelped them get voter identity, Aadhar andration cards, birth certificates and propertydocuments.

It was the Single Window run jointly byCBOs and CFAR which got Sharda intoschool and secured a pension for both her


NEW MEANING TO LIFE(Above) Playtime at a school in Anantapur(Below) A beneficiary getting her documents verified at a pension adalat

Ramesh Menon

admission in a free government school with a hostel. He says he has put the past behindhim and wants to make his grandmotherproud.

Sreenivaslu, assistant project manager ofthe District Rural Development Agency atAnantapur, told India Legal that the admin-istration had identified 10 areas in the dis-trict that were poor and, therefore, prone totrafficking. It had identified as many as6,000 women who would be attached to self-help groups that would ensure that they getbenefits of various government schemes andare not coerced or sexually exploited. Theadministration would get funds out of theNational Livelihood Mission which had ear-marked a budget of `11.28 crore, he said.

Government officials were, for the firsttime, more than ready to help these sexworkers. This happened because the districtcollector had told officials that sex workersmust be given priority. They were told thatunder the Right to Education Act, it wastheir legal right to get access to education.Sujata, who is being treated for HIV/AIDS,says she got 21 children of sex workers admit-ted to school as she knows the rights theyhave to education. “I understand the impor-tance of education as I am illiterate,” she says.

For the first time, sex workers also real-ized that they were eligible for pensions.While district officials specified what docu-ments were needed, community coordinatorshelped them garner the necessary documentsand filled in the application forms. Ananta-pur has six community-based organizationsand over 9,000 sex workers under theirumbrella. To ensure that sex workers getimmediate attention of government officialswhen they apply, they are given them a dis-tinctive blue file. Usually, action is takenwithin two weeks.

Earlier, social workers in Anantapurdistrict found it difficult to get theirchildren admitted into hostels run by

the Social Welfare Department or even to getscholarships. But with the blossoming of thisnew attitude, sex workers and transgenderswere told that they could take advantage ofeight different schemes. Social workers in thecommunity based organization helped sex

mother and grandmother. The principal haskept her family background a secret so thatshe isn’t discriminated against. She is not theonly one. Many children of sex workers arenow living in residential schools in AndhraPradesh due to the efforts of social workers.

Sunita Kumari, principal of KGBVidyalaya, Gandlapenta, where over 200girls from disadvantaged backgrounds aregiven free education, says: “Normally parentsinsist on their daughters marrying beforethey turn 18. But we do not have a singleinstance of any of our girls being forced to doso. This is because we counsel the parentsregularly on the advantages of education andthe career opportunities it opens for theirchildren.”

Poor performers in school are singled outfor special attention of the teachers. In thelast two years, all students appearing for theboard exam have passed. Community work-ers constantly look for students who could bepotential dropouts or get into crime.

Take the case of Ishwaraiyya fromAnantapur, whose mother, a sex worker, wasmurdered by his father, who then fled. TheSingle Window team ensured that he got

“We do nothave to knockon govt doorsanymore as it

now comes tous. The districtlegal services

authority deputed lawyers

to help us procure

certificates whenour husbands

deserted us or died.”

—Geetha, an activist inBengaluru



workers get income and caste certificates andother documents.

This has brought about a sea change.Ratnamma from Chapiri village in Ananta-pur says that her nine-year-old daughtersecured admission in Vth standard. “She willstudy till the XIIth without a problem,” shesays with a smile. Sujata (name changed)whose mother is a devadasi, was under fami-ly pressure to get married. She refused to doso after social workers persuaded her to con-tinue studying. She is now in the XIIth stan-dard. The single window process helped hermother get her a scholarship of `2,500 a yearand get hostel accommodation to continuestudying. “I am grateful that I now have afuture,” she says. Many of us take our lives forgranted. She does not.

The new confidence in the communityshows. Khaja Bee from Dharmavaramsays that when the Aadhar centre was

set up, she did not go there, fearing stigma.But, when social workers set it up to give outthese cards, she confidently approachedthem and even got a card for her mentallychallenged daughter.

Also, under the Integrated Child Protec-tion Scheme, the district also increasedfinancial allocation to ensure that children ofsex workers benefited and some were alsorehabilitated in government-run homes. Asmany as 600 children who needed foster carewere identified.

The single window culture also got gov-ernment officials to reach out to sex workersin places convenient for them. In a rectangu-lar room in Ramnagar, where the sun filtersin through large windows, a group of brightlydressed women with orange and white flow-ers in their hair, patiently listens to a group ofofficers explaining what schemes they wereentitled to. And, their legal rights.

Periodically, the officers come there to listen to their grievances and work out solu-tions on the spot. It is an excellent example of local governance at its best. Here,Venkatarathnam, the district program man-ager for HIV/AIDS tells a group how he isworking on a proposal to secure loans forthem under the scheduled tribe category,where they would only have to repay 10 per-

IT’S ALL ABOUT INCLUSIVITYGovernment officials briefsex workers on some ofthe programs aimed atthe target group inAnantapur

cent of it if they fall into the category of peo-ple with HIV/AIDS.

Other officers take notes and promiseimmediate action.

Geetha, who works as an activist inBengaluru with the Vijaya Mahila Sangha,says: “We learnt how to access social develop-ment schemes and HIV prevention methodsand realized that even marginalized womenhave rights. This has happened as sensitivegovernment officials encouraged us with thesingle window system, listened to our griev-ances and ensured we got various benefits.We do not have to knock on governmentdoors anymore as they come to us. The dis-trict legal services authority deputed lawyersto help us procure certificates when our hus-bands deserted us or died.” Asha Ramesh, agender activist in Bengaluru, says the singlewindow and legal training has “amplified thevoices of sex workers on issues and giventhem access to government benefits theynever knew about.”

But then, it took the effort of many to seethis empowerment. All eyes are on Ananta-pur as it is a model that can easily be replica-ted all over the country. IL

Ramesh Menon


IN multi-cultural and multi-reli-gious societies, occasional clashesoccur on sensitive religious andsocial issues. The question is howdoes a state that allows religiousfreedom deal with religious prac-tices that contravene the laws of

the land? Since religion predates the legalframework, a conflict arises when things areseen through the prism of current laws. One

such practice is that of Santhara, practiced bythe Jains, where the person willfullyembraces death. However, this is at variancewith the legal framework, which tends to seethis as suicide.

In other countries too, religious practiceshave clashed with the law of the land. Francewas the first European country to ban thewearing of the full veil. Belgium adopted asimilar ban in 2011. In Spain, the city of

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RELIGION/ Santhara

LAST MOMENTS(Above) A Jain

practisingSanthara or

fast-unto-death

A Matter of FaithEven as the Supreme Court stays the Rajasthan High Court verdict

making Santhara illegal, all eyes are on what the final verdict will be. Isone’s religion more important than the law of the land?

By Kalyani Shankar


Barcelona and some other towns brought insimilar bans, as have towns in Italy. In 2014,the European Court of Human Rights upheldthe French law. On the other hand, Sikhswon a case in the UK this month, to wear tur-bans in workplaces.

In India, concerns over social justice haveforced courts to create a division betweenreligious and secular practices and betweenessential and non-essential practices of a reli-gion. In the fifties, the apex court upheld theentry of Dalits in temples on the basis ofsocial justice. But of late, with rising aware-ness of rights, ease of litigation through PILsand proactive NGOs and the media, religiouspractices that are considered inimical arebeing challenged in court.

COURT INTERVENTIONIt is not surprising that certain religiouspractices are no longer considered sacrosanctin India. The courts had dealt with severalissues like the entry to Sabarimala asdemanded by women, PILs filed againstchild diksha (the practice of choosing a childas a successor to the head of a mutt), partici-pation of children in Muharram rituals andthe right to excommunicate of the Bohras.

The practice of Santhara is also now beingchallenged. Devout Jains believe that LordMahavira allowed Santhara or Sallekhana.Here, the ultimate goal is purifying the bodyand mind by embracing death voluntarilythrough denying oneself food and water.While some of those who choose Santharaare Jain monks, a majority are lay people, ofwhom 60 percent are women.

However, questions are being raisedabout who will decide the right to die andwhat about the right to privacy and personalliberty of the person undergoing Santhara.There is also the question of minority rightsas Jains were declared a minority last year.While this community is invoking religionfor practicing Santhara, the court is ques-tioning it.

It also matters that the four million-strong Jain community is wealthy.

The Santhara issue came into the lime-light after Nikhil Soni, a lawyer and humanrights activist from Jaipur, approached theRajasthan High Court and cited public inter-

Questions arebeing raisedabout who willdecide the rightto die and whatabout the rightto privacy andpersonal libertyof the personundergoingSanthara.Courts are alsolooking into theconstitutionalrights of thecitizen.

FIGHT FOR LIBERTY(Below) A womanwearing the hijab inFrance, the firstcountry in Europe toban the wearing ofthe full veil

est to outlaw Santhara in 2006. He equated itwith Sati.

ILLEGAL PRACTICEOn August 10, 2015, the Rajasthan HighCourt declared Santhara illegal and held thatits practice would be punishable underSection 309 of the IPC as an attempt to com-mit suicide. The guarantee of a right to lifedoes not include within its ambit a right todie, and so it is not protected by Article 21,the Court held. It added: “We do not find thatin any of the scriptures, preachings, articlesor the practices followed by the Jain ascetics,the Santhara or Sallekhana has been treatedas an essential religious practice, nor is nec-essarily required for the pursuit of immortal-ity or moksha. The premise is that Santharais not an essential part of Jainism and there-fore not protected by Article 25.”

In the seventies, Ananda Margis inCalcutta wanted to march on the streets withswords and sticks and do the tandava danceclaiming it was an essential practice of theirreligion. The police commissioner would notallow it, stating that it would contravenepublic order. The court went into theantecedents of the issue and said that since itwas a relatively new practice in their religion,it would not count as an essential practice.

When the Jains appealed, the apex courtstayed the High Court verdict on August


RITES OFPASSAGE

(Right) A childgetting a

ceremonialtonsure atMuharram

“It is one thingfor the state toprotect life and

promote justice.It is another for

it to colonize thevarious ways in

which deathcan be

interpreted, and life be

given meaning.Unfortunately,the RajasthanHC judgment

does just that.” —Bhanu Pratap

Mehta, social scientist

ended his life observing Santhara (298 BC).Incidentally, in December 2014, Minister

of State for Home Haribhai ParthibhaiChaudhary said in parliament that the gov-ernment has decided to decriminalize theattempt to suicide by deleting Section 309 ofthe IPC, which said that a suicide bid is pun-ishable with imprisonment up to a year orwith a fine or both. This was based on a LawCommission report in 2008 which noted thatan attempt at suicide may be regarded moreas manifestation of a diseased mind, deserv-ing treatment and care rather than punish-ment. It recommended to the government toinitiate the process to delete the section.Incidentally, five states—Bihar, MadhyaPradesh, Delhi, Punjab and Sikkim expre-ssed reservations against such a move. OnFebruary 24, 2015, Chaudhary said the pro-posal had been sent to the law ministry

After the Rajasthan verdict, the Jainshave got support from such legal luminariesas retired High Court judge Pana ChandJain. In a documentary on Santhara pro-duced by law professor Shekhar Hathangadi,he points out that Articles 25 and 26 of theconstitution allow followers of all faiths tofreely profess, practice and propagate theirreligious faith and the freedom to managetheir religious affairs. He says: “Mindful ofthe country’s ethnic and cultural diversity,

31, 2015. The community is now gettingready to prove that suicide and Santhara aretwo different things and it is an essentialpractice. It has also assumed a political flavorwith rallies and processions being taken outand Jains seeking the support of organiza-tions like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, apartfrom knocking at the doors of governors ofvarious states.

RIGHT TO LIFEWhile Soni’s petition invokes Right to Lifeunder Article 21 of the constitution, Santharaadvocates quote the same article to arguethat Right to Life is meaningless without thecorresponding right to die with dignity. Theyclaim that while people commit suicide dueto depression, anger or loneliness, Santharais observed amid festivity. In India, euthana-sia is banned and suicide is considered a crime. If Santhara is banned, so should thesamadhi undertaken by Vaishnavites(Devotees of Lord Vishnu) or the fast-unto-death. They also dismiss comparisons withthe hunger strikes by Mahatma Gandhi dur-ing the freedom struggle or Vinobha Bhavegiving up food and water.

Quoting historical evidence, the support-ers point out that Chandragupta Mauryarenounced his throne under the influence ofthe great Jain ascetic, Bhadrabahu, and

RELIGION/ Santhara

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RITUAL ANDTRADITION(Above) Childrenperforming thetandava, anessential practiceof the AnandaMargis

VALID QUESTIONSShurith Parthasarathy, a Madras High Courtadvocate, has also been quoted in the mediaas hoping that the apex court would ask theright questions “of whether any socialinequities arise out of the practice, ofwhether any other right of its practitionersare violated through Santhara, of whetherthe rights of any other person are infractedwhen a person goes on fast”.

While only a fraction of the Jain commu-nity practices Santhara, it has widespreadsupport among them. The apex court verdictwill be watched as it also has legal ramifica-tions for other religious practices. The Indianstate, in responding to the verdict, has todecide whether it should intervene at all insuch a practice.

As social scientist Bhanu Pratap Mehtaargues: “The community, for its part, willneed a conversation on the conditions underwhich Santhara should be permitted. It isone thing for the state to protect life and pro-mote justice. It is another for it to colonizethe various ways in which death can be inter-preted, and life be given meaning.Unfortunately, the judgment does just that.”

Any reform must come from withinthe community itself. But change is oftenresisted. Religious beliefs are age-old andfaith often too strong to be broken.

Article 29 guarantees citizens with a distinctculture, the right to conserve the same.” Hefurther says: “Article 18 of the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights says thateveryone has the right to freedom of thought,conscience and religion; (and the right) tomanifest his religion or belief in teaching,practice, worship and observance.”

Congress spokesman and eminent lawyerAbhishek Manu Singhvi claims that theSupreme Court for the first time will decidethe constitutional validity of Santhara.“It will go into fundamental questions of lifeand death and into the religious belief of Jains, whether Santhara interferes withhuman rights or whether it should beallowed to continue. It will be a momentousissue.”

Singhvi is the lead counsel for theJain groups.

Shekhar Hathangadi, an award-winningdocumentary filmmaker on Santhara, obser-ves that Indian laws ignore some of thebeliefs of Indian religions since it is based onthe Westminster model of colonial rulers.Describing the Rajasthan court verdict as“historic as no other court has criminalized acenturies-old ritual with a rejection ofits theological rationale,” he reportedlysaid that no other world religion takesits fasts to this fanatical point. IL


LOOKING to the future,one can profitably emu-late John Naisbitt andidentify key ‘mega trends’for the coming decade.The first and most obvi-ous is that markets will

change in scale—something that has alreadyhappened in sectors like telecom, whereIndia has more than 900 million connec-tions, but will happen much more across theboard. India has so far been a 25-30 per centeconomy: roughly 25-30 per cent of house-holds belong to the middle class, and aboutthat number own a private vehicle and haveactive bank accounts. Also, just under 30 percent of the relevant age cohort acquires sec-ondary education certification (class ten)every year. The big change coming over thenext decade is that the 30 per cent figure

India, Forwardand Backward

BOOKS/The Turn of The Tortoise

Business journalist TN Ninan, in his workThe Turn of the Tortoise: The Challengeand Promise of India’s Future, discerns

many positive and a few retrogradetrends emerging in India. Extracts:

Rajeev Tyagi


IN FIFTH GEARThe phenomenal

growth of the middleclass has led to a

boom in the car market

what it was a decade earlier. It is easy toimagine what will happen to the aviationbusiness if the number trebles again in thenext decade, to 50 million. This is not fanci-ful; Chinese outbound traffic is already morethan 90 million. There is a reason why India’saviation market too is forecast to become theworld’s third largest. The important point isthat, if the economy does well, these will notbe exceptional stories.

THE RETREAT OF THE STATEThe second mega trend will be the unwillingretreat of the state. Already, 43 per cent ofschoolchildren go to private schools. Thatnumber is growing by 1.5 percentage pointsannually; by 2025, therefore, 60 per cent ofschool-age children could be going to privateschools. Beyond class eight, the majority ofstudents are already in private schools. Thisis unprecedented: no country has seen publiceducation reduced to a smaller componentthan private education. That it has happenedin India serves as a measure of the failure ofthe country’s public programmes. Such aswitchover has already happened in medicalcare, with 60 per cent of hospital beds nowprivately owned. In education, the factordriving the change has been perceived differ-ences in the quality of education provided. Inmedical share, the issue is a plain shortage ofpublic hospitals, so patients often don’t havea choice when they need hospitalization.

could nearly double. That is seismic changefor society and the economy, compressed intoa short decade; bear in mind that the numberof college-going students has already multi-plied from 8 million to 20 million in less thana decade.

If the economy grows at an annual aver-age of 7 per cent over the next decade, themedian family income for what will be a 1.4billion-strong population will have grownfrom `22,500 in 2015 to about `40,000 inconstant rupees—comfortably above $10PPP benchmark for qualifying to becomepart of a ‘global’ middle class. The numericalgrowth of this class—from 340 million in2015 to perhaps 800 million in 2025—com-bined with greater purchasing power foreach one of those 800 million, and but-tressed from below by a strong neo-middleclass cohort, means that the markets for allmanner of goods and services will explode.

The car market, for instance, couldbecome the world’s third largest—ahead ofJapan, today’s number three, with twiceIndia’s current annual sales of 2.6 million.Housing construction, retailing, financialservices—these foundational sectors of anymodern economy will all witness dramaticgrowth. Many markets will grow at sustainedrates of 10-12 per cent, trebling in size over adecade—as indeed has happened in the pastin, say, the sale of trucks. Outbound touristtraffic in 2013 was 16.6 million, three times

SKY-ROCKETINGGROWTH The country’s demographic growth is positive news for real estate


Anil Shakya

What remains as areas of public sectordominance are mining, energy productionand defence. In the last of these, the privatesector is about to make its first serious forays.As for mining, Rio Tinto, allowed to do dia-mond prospecting, is confident that it willproduce multiples of the 84,000 carats ofdiamonds that the government-ownedNational Mineral Development Corporation(NMDC) extracts from the country’s onlyoperating diamond mine. The Bunder minein Madhya Pradesh, which Rio Tinto hopesto develop, has just one of seven rock pipes inthe area, with a reported promise of 27.4 mil-lion carats of diamonds. In comparison,NMDC’s entire cumulative output so far hasbeen a million carats. Gold mining, closed asbeing unviable for many years, could seerevival in the private sector....

In macroeconomic terms, the public sec-tor accounts for a fifth of GDP, half of thatbeing from the government and the reststate-owned enterprises. Over the years, thebroad trend would continue to be that state-owned enterprises shrink in relative size toprivate sector providers. Think Air India,

These switchovers are mirrored in otherservice sectors like telecom and aviation,where now private providers have displacederstwhile state-owned monopolies. The nextimportant sector for such a consumer flip tothe private sector could be banking. It is like-ly that private banks will grow faster thangovernment-owned banks, which account for70 per cent of banking activity but are con-strained by stressed balance sheets (the gov-ernment has pumped in `58,600 crore asadditional capital in 2011-14, and intends topump in further `70,000 crore over 2015-19). Yet, as more private bank licences getissued and new kinds (such as paymentbanks) are born, it is plausible that, in adecade's time, the 70:30 public-private ratiomight swing closer to 60:40, or, in anextreme scenario, to 50:50.

In India, by 2025, 60 per cent of childrenwill go to private schools. No country has

seen public education reduced to a smallercomponent than private education.

THUMBS UPPrivate schools offer

the best possible infrastructure to hone

students’ faculties



which has lost `36,000 crore in seven yearsup to 2013-14. Or Doordarshan, the statefunded television broadcaster which has lostout to private cable and satellite broadcastersdespite having a monopoly in terrestrialbroadcasting. It has seen its channel featurein the bottom quartile of channels—whethernews, entertainment or educational—whenranked on viewership. The organization hasmore than 30,000 employees and an annualrevenue of about `1000 crore, leaving addi-tional costs of `1850 crore to be picked up bythe taxpayer—most of it going towardsemployee cost.

But while public sector enterprises mayshrink or lose market share, economies onthe growth turnpike usually see an increasein the tax-GDP ratio; that means govern-ment budgets will grow in size relative to theeconomy. This should mean expansion ofgovernment and public or constitutionalinstitutions, because there is a clear need formore policemen, judges and the like. Cashpayouts (‘direct benefit transfers’) could con-ceivably account for an increasing chunk ofgovernment expenditure. If a broad policyswitch takes place, from ‘make' to ‘buy’ (thatis, governments no longer provide serviceslike education and water supply but pay forsuch services from private providers), thegrowing private sector dominance of eco-nomic activity will continue....

SHIFTING CENTRES OF GRAVITYThe third mega trend is the shift of the centreof gravity from New Delhi to state capitals....This manifests itself in many ways, startingwith the end to one-party dominance inParliament (no party has had complete con-trol of both houses of Parliament since 1989)and the rise of strong state-level leaders innational parties (Modi was one, the late Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy another) or as leaders oftheir own parties.

Then there is financial power. State gov-ernments used to be debt-laden... and there-fore unable to spend much programmemoney till the restructuring of state financesin 2003, and the much greater share of taxfunds that now goes to the states. Most statesare now fiscally comfortable, and havegreater freedom to spend money as they wish

because of the reduced role for discretionarytransfers from the Centre—a change facilitat-ed by Modi’s decision to abolish the PlanningCommission, which used to prescribe poli-cies for states to adopt....

The combination of constitutional feder-alism, greater financial autonomy and cen-trifugal political trends means that state eco-nomic growth rates and human developmentindicators, not to mention industrial invest-ment, can vary depending on the quality ofgovernance at state level. Chief ministersseen to be delivering get re-elected often, insome cases repeatedly—which becomes anincentive to continue in the same vein. It is not for nothing that at least two BJP chiefministers declined invitations fromNarendra Modi to join his cabinet in NewDelhi, preferring to stay where they were asstate bosses. One, from the tiny state of Goa,was later persuaded to take charge as thenation’s defence minister....

A LIBERAL DEMOCRACY Finally, there is the question of whether thecountry’s constitutional liberalism will

The state’s retreat from education, healthand other key areas of human development serves as a measure of thefailure of the country’s public programmes.

STAID APPROACHDoordarshan has lost

out to private channelsin the last two decades


IL

gradually give way to a less-than-liberaldemocracy. The country has a long traditionof being trigger-happy when it comes to ban-ning uncomfortable books and films, andmore recently websites. Free expression, ithas been generally accepted, should notcause religious offence (the reason for ban-ning Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses).But, as Rushdie has argued, this can be thestart of a slippery slope. There is the case,therefore, of a book on Shivaji being bannedbecause a vigilante group protested andattacked a library in Pune. Publishers refrainfrom publishing specific books or sometimeseven withdraw them from the market inresponse to protests. The painter M.F.Husain could not exhibit in India towardsthe end of his life, leaving the country to liveand eventually die in Dubai....

Some of the points of conflict are theresult of social churn that is linked to mod-ernization. Traditional hierarchies, bound-aries and authority get challenged in a morefreewheeling world where more women go towork, where youngsters mingle without con-cern for caste or community, where old iden-tities get fused into new ones that mightseem deracinated. Counter-trends do exist,

such as an increase in overt religiosity andthe disappearance of women behind the veilin parts of the country where this was not thepractice earlier. The backlash is often led bysubalterns who have not been swept up bythe new processes, and takes the form ofphysical attacks on individuals (women inpubs or couples celebrating Valentine’s Day)as well as moves to reassert old patriarchies(by khap panchayats and through the ‘GharWapasi’ drive)....

These different trends are manifestationsof a society, polity and economy caught in aprocess of evolution, with change at multiplespeeds. When there are many forces drivingchange on a grand canvas, tensions and con-flict are inevitable by-products. The reassur-ing facts in a broadly hopeful scenario are that the directions of change are over-whelmingly positive, and that the system as awhole has a bedrock of stability that is notaffected by the surface churn. That is whyeach generation of Indians has been able tosay with confidence that the life of the nextgeneration will get better for larger numbersnot at optimum but at what appears to beacceptable speed, and not wholly but verysubstantially.

THE TURN OF THE TORTOISE:THE CHALLENGE AND PROMISEOF INDIA’S FUTUREBy TN NinanPublisher: Penguin Books IndiaPrice: `699; Pages: 354

DANGEROUS OMENSThe Ghar Wapasi drive

threatened social harmony



THE tragic crash of the A-320Germanwings plane in the FrenchAlps in March 2015, which killed 150people, made the aviation industryand regulators wake up to the dan-gers of pilots flying under psycholog-ical strain. There were numerous

calls for psychometric/psychological tests for pilots afterthe flight’s co-pilot, who was said to be suffering fromdepression, crashed the plane into a mountain.

A few months after the crash, the European AviationSafety Agency (EASA) came out with a far-reaching“Action plan for the implementation of theGermanwings Task Force recommendations”. These

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After the Germanwingscrash, the European Aviation

Safety Agency laid downguidelines not just for pilots

but also for aero-medicalexaminers. This could be a

benchmark to make theskies safer in India too

By Shobha John

AVIATION/EASA Guidelines

Making Air Travel Safer

EASArecommends arobust oversight program overthe performanceof aero-medicalexaminers,including thepracticalapplication oftheir knowledge.Networks ofaero-medicalexaminersshould becreated tofoster peersupport.

guidelines could be used as a reference inIndia too by the Directorate General of CivilAviation to lay down new rules and regula-tions. It lays special emphasis on aero-med-ical examiners, which in the case of India, isdone by Indian Air Force (IAF) doctors.EASA’s taskforce included representativesfrom Air France; DGAC France; EuropeanCommission; UK CAA; Finnish TransportSafety Agency; Lufthansa; European CockpitAssociation; Easyjet; British Airways; BEAFrance and FAA.

GOOD ASSESSMENTAccording to Capt Shakti Lumba, a veteranpilot who was head of flight operations atIndiGo and Alliance Air, EASA arrived atthese guidelines after a committee took aholistic view of the problem. “These guide-lines are new as they provide achievable com-pliance. They correctly identified that theproblem is not only with the pilot but withthe current system of aero-medical pilotassessment,” he said.

EASA said in its report: The crash“demonstrates that the safety of passengerscan never be taken for granted and that theregulators have the duty to quickly adapt to avariety of challenges in a constantly changing


CONTROL CENTER(Left) Pilots’psychological welfare is of importance now

(Facing page) A Frenchrescue helicopter fliesover the debris of the A 320 plane nearSeyne-les-Alpes

environment”. These recommendations aremeant to prevent such a disaster from hap-pening again. Concrete action has been laiddown in the areas of air operations, aircrew,information technology and personal data sothat air travel becomes safe.

In an attempt to see that these guidelinesare disseminated worldwide, EASA will, bythe end of this year, have a global aircrewmedical fitness workshop before a large audi-ence of European and worldwide stakehold-ers to see how these recommendations can beimplemented. Following this, concept papersabout the actions proposed will be drafted.And in 2016, operational directives in thearea of air operations and aircrew will be sentout by EASA to operators and national avia-tion authorities. This is the first time some-thing like this is being done.

EASA GUIDELINESThese are the six recommendations of theEASA Germanwings Task Force: � There should be two persons in the cockpit. � All airline pilots should undergo psycho-logical evaluation as part of the training orbefore entering service. The airline shall ver-ify that a satisfactory evaluation has beencarried out. The psychological part of the

initial and recurrent aero-medical assess-ment and the related training for aero-med-ical examiners should be strengthened.EASA will provide guidance material for thispurpose.� There should be mandatory drugs andalcohol testing as part of a random programof testing by the operator and at least in thefollowing cases: Initial Class 1 medicalassessment or when employed by an airline,post-incident/accident, with due cause, andas part of follow-up after a positive result.� Establish a robust oversight program overthe performance of aero-medical examiners,including the practical application of theirknowledge. National authorities shouldstrengthen the psychological and communi-cation aspects of aero-medical examinerstraining and practice. � National regulations should ensure that anappropriate balance is found between patientconfidentiality and the protection of publicsafety. Create an aero-medical data reposito-ry as a first step to facilitate the sharing ofaero-medical information and tackle theissue of pilot non-declaration. � Implement pilot support and reportingsystems. These are linked to the employer’sSafety Management System within theframework of a non-punitive work environ-ment. Requirements should be adapted to

different organization sizes and maturity lev-els, and provide provisions that take intoaccount the range of work arrangements.

GLOBAL WORKSHOPComing to aair operations, EASA recom-mends that all airline pilots should undergopsychological evaluation. It says that a globalworkshop should be held with representa-tives from at least the following organiza-tions: IATA (International Air TransportAssociation), IFALPA (International Fede-ration of Airline Pilots Association), ECA(European Cockpit Association), EFT (Euro-pean Transport Workers’ Federation), IACA(International Air Carriers Association),ELFAA (European Low Fares AirlineAssociation), NAAs (National AviationAuthorities), ECAST (European CommercialAviation Safety Team), aero-medical examin-ers, medical experts providing training andaero-medical assessors, ESAM (EuropeanSociety of Aerospace Medicine), PompidouGroup from the Council of Europe (Co-oper-ation Group to Combat Drug Abuse andIllicit Trafficking in Drugs), EuropeanWorkplace Drug Testing Society, FAA(Federal Aviation Administration) and CAAAustralia.

For aaircrew, EASA’s recommendation is:The psychological part of the initial andrecurrent aero-medical assessment and therelated training for aero-medical examinersshould be strengthened. According to CaptLumba, this is a forward-looking move.“Psychological testing is an expertise not allaviation medical specialists possess. Till now,pilot medical requirements only requiredpsychological evaluation if the pilot admitteda case of depression, etc. Now it will becomepart of the system, for which the committeewill put in place evaluation standards andrequired training of the doctors.”

Checking the performance of aero-med-ical examiners is another new guideline.However, in India, the DGCA has outsourcedmedical assessment of civilian pilots to IAFdoctors, who are already under tremendouspressure. With the growth in aviation, CaptLumba says, civilian aviation medical expertsare desperately needed. “The IAF will not beable to cope with the number of pilots com-

AVIATION/EASA Guidelines

“While IAFdoctors do the

medical tests ofpilots every six

months, peer support examiners

don’t get anopportunity to helptheir colleagues. Itwould be a goodidea for airlines to

support peergroups

comprising theirown company

doctors and senior pilots.

Day-to-daybehavior of pilots

can only beassessed by

colleagues flyingwith them.”

—Kanu Gohain, formerDGCA

Photo Division


ing into the system. To ease matters, theDGCA would need to work and apply itsmind. It can do neither in its present avatar.It’s time some medical colleges started pro-viding diplomas in aviation medicine postMBBS as a speciality.”

But an aviation medicine expert said oncondition of anonymity that testing theknowledge of aero-medical examiners isalready being done as all of them need to bespecially qualified and experienced. “Also, thefacility where the medicals are conducted areinspected to ensure adequacy. All aero-med-ical examiners are required to remain updat-ed by attending DGCA-arranged ContinuedMedical Education programs once in twoyears,” he says.

PEER GROUPThere is another group which can help pilotsin distress. Kanu Gohain, former DGCA,says: “While IAF doctors do the medical testsof pilots every six months, peer supportexaminers don’t get an opportunity to helptheir colleagues. It would be a good idea forairlines to support peer groups comprisingtheir own company doctors and senior pilots.Day-to-day behavior of pilots can only beassessed by colleagues flying with them.”

With regard to iinformation technology,EASA recommends the creation of an aero-medical data repository as a first step to facil-itate the sharing of aero-medical informationand to tackle the issue of pilot non-declara-tion (of psychological problems). This, saysCapt Lumba, makes immense sense. “In theEuropean Union, pilot licensing of eachmember country is harmonized under a sin-gle EU license which is issued by individualmember states but acceptable in all EU coun-tries. This allows a pilot to move aroundswitching jobs. Having an aero-medical datarepository, therefore, is a far-reaching move.”

This pan-European medical certificationalso gives pilots the freedom to apply to anaero-medical examiner certified by anyEASA state. A system to share aero-medicalinformation in an efficient manner whileprotecting the data is important to minimizethe risk of non-declaration. To implementthis recommendation, EASA will draft thetechnical specifications for the development

of the data repository by the end of 2015. Themain hurdle will be the different approachesto personal data protection among memberstates of EASA. The target is to have the sys-tem in place by December 2016, includingthe production of a user guide.

However, in the case of India, saysGohain, the DGCA should mandate the IAFand private hospitals which check Class Imedicals (pilot recruitment medicals), tomaintain health records, especially psycho-logical ones, so that this database can beassessed when needed.

With regard to ddata protection, EASAsays there should be national regulations toensure that an appropriate balance is foundbetween patient confidentiality and the pro-tection of public safety. To support this,EASA proposes to discuss the processing ofpersonal (health) data during the envisagedglobal workshop, involving all relevant stake-holders, including representatives of nationalmedical associations. In particular, the obli-gations of various actors should beaddressed: operators, medical doctors,authorities and pilots. After the insightgained about minimum personal data, thevarious actors need to exercise their safetyresponsibilities.

These regulatory actions, guidance mate-rial and database will, in future, go a longway in making the skies safer. IL

TRAGIC LOSS(Above) Familymembers ofpassengers killed inthe Germanwingscrash at Barcelonaairport

UNI


THE next phase of aviationgrowth, it was said, would be inTier-II and Tier-III cities. Infact, remote connectivity wasone of the aims of the Modi gov-

ernment when it swept to power in 2014.With this in mind, it wanted to develop 100airports in small cities within the next 20years. And in what is a move to further thisdream, the Business Aircraft OperatorsAssociation (BAOA) has submitted a list of

AVIATION/Regional Connectivity


A Flight of Fancy?

There was skepticism over the govt’smove to develop 100 airports in

small cities. But if a new hub-and-spoke concept takes off, it

could give a fillip to the economyand Modi’s “Make in India” dreams

By Shobha John

Rajeev Tyagi

10 airport clusters for remote connectivity airservices to the Airports Authority of India(AAI) through the civil aviation ministry.

If this plan fructifies, it will reduce thepressure on metro airports as airlines expandtheir fleet and passenger footfalls go up.It will also give a fillip to the economyof smaller cities and towns, leading togreater buoyancy. During the 12th Plan(ending March 31, 2017), about `1,500crore has been earmarked to developnon-metro airports.

AIR SERVICE CLUSTERSThese 10 clusters are spread out across vari-ous regions in India and includeMaharashtra; Gujarat; Rajasthan; theNorth-East; UP and MP; Tamil Nadu andKerala. In each cluster, BAOA has identifiedvarious airports and hubs, making them atotal of 126 airports and 38 hubs. Some of theairports which have been identified are inrather remote areas such as Yavatmal,Keshod, Naliya, Jhunjhunu, Zero, Khowai,Panna, Behala and Donakonda (see table).

Jayanth Nadkarni, president of BAOA,


Make in India DreamBusiness Aircraft Operators Association has submitted a list of 10 airport clusters for remote connectivity to Airports Authority of India(AAI). Three-five hubs are identified in each cluster

CLUSTERAIRPORTS FOR REMOTE ROUTES (There maybe other uncontrolled airports)

Maharashtra Region(14 Airports, 4 hubs)

Mumbai (hub), Nasik, Pune (hub), Aurangabad,Nanded, Shirdi, Baramati, Akola, Nagpur (hub),Amravati, Yavatmal, Gondia (hub), Ratnagiri, Kolhapur

Gujarat(11 airports, 3 hubs)

Ahmedabad (hub), Baroda (hub), Rajkot (hub),Jamnagar, Keshod, Porbandar, Dwarka, Bhavnagar,Daman, Diu, Surat (hub), Kandla, Bhuj, Naliya

Rajasthan(9 Airports, 3 hubs)

Jaipur (hub), Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner,Jhunjhunu, Barmer, Udaipur (hub), Kota(hub), Sawai Madhopur

North East(21 Airports, 3 hubs)

Tezpur, Guwahati (hub), Rupsi, Shella, Zero, Daporijo,Along, Tezu, Pasighat, Dibrugarh, Bagdogra, Dimapur,Shillong, Jorhat (hub), Kamalpur, Khowai, Agartalahub), Silchar, Imphal, Kailashahar, Lilabari

Punjab, HP, Haryana,J&K & Uttarakhand(13 Airports, 4 hubs)

Amritsar (hub), Ludhiana, Pathankot, Chandigarh(hub), Kullu, Shimla, Gaggal, Jammu, Srinagar,Leh, Dehradun (hub), Pantnagar, Delhi (hub)

Bihar, Jharkhand,Chhattisgarh, WestBengal, Orissa(18 Airports, 5 hubs)

Raxaul, Jogbani, Muzzafarpur, Patna (hub), Jogbani,Gaya, Ranchi, Bilaspur, Raipur (hub), Chakulia,Kolkata (hub), Asansol, Cooch Bihar (hub), Malda,Behala, Balurghat, Jharsuguda, Bhubaneswar (hub)

AP, Telangana(8 Airports, 4 hubs)

Vishakhapatnam (hub), Rajahmundry, Vijaywada(hub), Donakonda, Tirupati (hub), Hyderabad-Begumpet (hub), Warangal, Cuddapah

TN & Kerala(11 Airports, 4 hubs)

Calicut, Kochi (hub), Trivandrum, Coimbatore(hub), Tuticorin, Madurai (hub), Tiruchirapalli,Pondicherry, Vellore, Chennai (hub), Salem

Karnataka & Goa(7 Airports, 3 hubs)

Goa, Hubli, Hassan, Mangalore (hub), Mysore,Belgaum (hub), Bengaluru-HAL (hub),

UP & MP(14 Airports, 5 hubs)

Kanpur, (hub) Lucknow (hub), Allahabad,Varanasi (hub), Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Gwalior,Lalitpur, Bhopal (hub), Indore, Jabalpur (hub),Panna, Satna, Khajuraho

TIMELY ACTION NEEDED

Metro airports such asDelhi will soon face

pressure as passengerfootfalls increase

AVIATION/Regional Connectivity

“If smallerairports aregoing to bevehicles for

remoteconnectivity,

they will needhangars and

24x7 watch(remain open). Itis only then that

ancillaryservices such as

MROs andmanufacturing

can come inand jobs be

created.” —Jayanth Nadkarni,

president, BusinessAircraft Operators

Association

said: “We had been working on this for a longtime. There is a buzz in the governmentabout increasing remote connectivity. All theairports mentioned in the BAOA list are run-ning airports and have basic facilities such asa runway, air traffic control (ATC), security,fire and ambulance services. But if smallerairports are going to be vehicles for remoteconnectivity, then they will need hangarswhere planes can be rectified and 24X7watch (remain open). Presently, if a planebreaks down in any small airport, severalman days are lost in trying to get equipmentand technical expertise from metros.”

It is only after these essential servicescome up that ancillary services such asMROs (aircraft maintenance, repair andoverhaul) and manufacturing can come inand jobs be created to serve Prime MinisterModi’s “Make in India” dream, saidNadkarni.

These airports will work on the hub-and-spoke concept. Hubs will be major citieswhere commercial airlines with their big jetsfly, while spokes will be smaller towns, where40-or 30-seater planes of charter or businesscompanies fly. So, if a businessman wants togo to Jamnagar, he will take a scheduled air-line to one of the hubs in Gujarat, sayAhmedabad, and from there, take a smallerplane to Jamnagar.

“Of course, this means that charter com-

panies will have to schedule their flights inconjunction with airline companies,” he says.

FAR BEHIND Though India has a billion-plus people, itsaviation reach is far from satisfactory. Just togive an idea of how far we are lagging, let uslook at how it compares with other countries.In India, according to BAOA, there arearound 400 airports. These include large,small, licensed and uncontrolled ones.Compare this to over 10,000 airports in theUS and more than 4,000 in Brazil, which isanother BRICS country like India.

Another difference is that while generalaviation (GA) and business aviation (BA)planes in India are being pushed out of metroairports due to lack of space, several globalcities have more than three airports servingthem. For example, New York has John FKennedy Airport, LaGuardia and Newark,while London has Heathrow, London CityAirport and London Biggin Hill. In India, nometro has two airports.

It also has no airports catering to GA/BAplanes. Compare this to China’s 400 GA airports. And in future, this is expected to goup to 1,500.

However, India’s civil aviation ministry isgiving a fillip to regional connectivity as it isallowing non-scheduled operator permit(NSOP) holders or what is called charteroperators to fly to non-metros and haveschedules like regular airlines. This is similarto what is there in many countries. With bet-ter route dispersal, smaller cities will be con-nected. Many of them will be low-cost termi-nals and have a basic terminal building, lowticket charges and 1-2 flights a day, startingwith smaller aircraft operations. Only essen-tial facilities for operation will be providedtill the scale of operations is increased to acommercial model.

India is the ninth largest aviation marketand is expected to reach the third positionsoon. With the development of smallerairports, airlines too will be interested inflying there. However, many hurdles such asdeficient infrastructure and various taxes area spoiler and the sooner the governmenttackles this, the better it will be. IL


HAS India overtakenChina in inward for-eign direct investment(FDI) in the first halfof this year? Indiannewspapers recentlygleefully quoted a data

consultancy owned by the Financial Times ofLondon that India had left behind China inthe first half of this year by attracting $31 bil-lion against China’s $28 billion.

By all accounts this claim appears to be far-

fetched. Reserve Bank of India, it seems,does not support this. It estimates FDI inIndia at $20.6 billion between January andJune this year and if you take into accountoutflows in the form of FDI, the net inflowwould be only about $19 billion.

CHINA AHEADChina’s estimates are altogether different.National Statistical Bureau of China has esti-mated the FDI during the period at $68.4billion or three times more than India’s. The

ECONOMY/ FDI/ India vs China

Indian newspapers recently quoted a London-based consultancy firm to claim that the

country received more foreign investment thanChina in the first half of 2015. How realistic

was this impressive claim? By Rajendra Bajpai

Did we Over-take

the Dragon?


trouble is that data provided by both Indiaand China is suspect. China includesinvestment coming in from its special admin-istrative region, Hong Kong, as FDI. But lotsof wealthy Chinese send funds over to HongKong and bring it back into China to takeadvantage of special facilities affordedto overseas investors. Edward Graham,Senior Fellow of Institute of InternationalEconomics and Erika Wada, ResearchAssociate of the same Institute, whoexamined FDI in China, said this was

NEIGHBORHOODALLIANCES(Above) Chinese PremierLi Keqiang introducingChinese dignitaries toPrime Minister NarendraModi in Beijing

“round tripping”.This is a practice common in India too

but automatically gets clubbed under foreigndirect investment. A significant amount ofmoney coming into India from Mauritiusand Singapore is really Indian money, sentsecretly overseas, returning to the country.

But there are many other indications thatclearly show that India is not poised to beatChina anytime soon in attracting FDI. AWorld Bank report which has listed countrieson the basis of ease of doing business has

UNI


ranked India at 142nd place in the worldwhile China is at 90th place. India is ranked158 in terms of difficulties of starting a busi-ness while China is 128. India is 137thmostdifficult place to get electricity while China isranked 124. Registering a property is also aproblem and India is ranked 121 while Chinais placed at 37th place.

Besides, China has had a 13-year headstart over India in opening up its economy tothe world. China began in 1978 but Indiastarted reluctantly in 1991. By 2010, Chinahad lifted an estimated 300 people above thepoverty line while India is still compared to

Somalia and Sub-Saharan Africa. “The kindof poverty we see in India is not visible evenin Yunnan province of China,” says SureshSagar, a Delhi businessman, who frequentlyvisits China.

SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCEThere are significant differences between theway Chinese work and Indians executeprojects. Decision-making is a problem inIndia. And perhaps not so great in China. InIndia, it took 27 years to decide on building astrategic tunnel at Rohtang pass. China builtthe 1142 km long railway line betweenQinghai and Lhasa in less than five years.Most of it is built high on mountains and thehighest tunnel is at 4095 meters.

China’s progress is an eye-opener. Andit has become a manufacturing hub ofthe world.

R Himachalapathy, a Coimbatore-basedresearch scholar, said: “China is a fast indus-trializing country whereas India seems to beentering the post-industrial phase withouthaving industrialized. We need to reverse thetrend by stimulating industrialization, espe-cially since it creates more jobs and hasgreater multiplier effects.”

Decision-mak-ing is a problem

in India. Indiatook 27 years to

decide onbuilding a tun-nel at Rohtang

pass. Chinabuilt the 1,142-

km-long railwayline betweenQinghai and

Lhasa in lessthan five years.

BOOMING SKYLINE(Top and above)

Shanghai, China’s biggestcity, is a global

financial hub

ECONOMY/ FDI/ India vs China


IL

credit growth will limit the downside risks togrowth over the coming quarters.”

Chinese innovations are remarkable evenwhen it comes to minor matters. If you are asmoker, security men take away your lightersat Indian airports. You will never see your 10-rupee lighter again. In China, they take awayyour lighters and put them into baskets atexit points and you are welcome to take alighter from there. Simple rules make thingssimple for people.

Kapil Bhatia, Chairman of InterGlobeEnterprises, should know. His company runstwo BPOs in China and several travel relatedbusinesses in India, including hotels andlow-cost carrier IndiGo. “They honour theircommitments but not in India. In China,they are helpful, not in India wherebureaucracy is a big hurdle,” he says addingthat “getting a trading license and opening abank account is difficult in China. Butthe rules are very clear cut. In India they arevery confusing.”

It is not for nothing that China is seen asa dragon and India is not considered inthe same league. That’s why whenChina sneezes world economies catch acold. When India sneezes, only Indians catcha cold.

“China’s GDP was lower than that of Indiain absolute terms in 1978 but caught up withIndia in the very next year,” he wrote whilecomparing the two economies.”The size ofChinese economy (in 1991) was 1.47 timesthat of India. In 2008, the size of Chineseeconomy (was) 3.58 times that of India.”

“By almost all accounts, FDI in China hasbeen one of the major success stories of thepast 10 years,” Graham and Wada wrote.“Starting from a base of less than $19 billionin 1990, the stock of FDI in China rose toover $300 billion at the end of 1999. Rankedby the stock of inward FDI, China thus hasbecome the leader among all developingnations and second among the APEC nations(only the United States holds a larger stock ofinward FDI).”

Besides, China also attracted foreignportfolio investment mainly by institutionalinvestors in the stock market. This was about$17 billion in the first half of 2015.

However Graham and Wada also pointout that the story of FDI in China is not rosyall the way and is beset with problems. By allaccounts, the policy environment for foreigndirect investors in China is difficult, andmuch anecdotal evidence suggests that someof these investors are becoming discouragedby this environment while other potentialinvestors have been deterred by it. Butdespite these negatives China receives a fairshare of foreign investments.

FDI INFLOWS INTO INDIAAs for India, the annual average inward FDIwas $7.46 billion between 1991 and 2008which was 0.96 percent of the total annualaverage inward FDI into world and 15.29percent of the total annual average inwardFDI into China, Himachalapathy said.

Latest figures show the Chinese economygrew by 6.9 percent in three months to lastSeptember slightly better than the forecast of6.8 percent but down from 7 percent in theprevious quarter. Chinese leaders have beenassuring the world that their economy is wellunder control and there is no reason to panic.

“Underlying conditions are subdued butstable,” said Julian Evans Pritchard, an ana-lyst with Capital Economics of Singapore.“Stronger fiscal spending and more rapid

A World Bank report which has listedcountries on the basis of ease of doingbusiness has ranked India at 142nd placein the world while China is at 90th place.

STRATEGIC MOVESIBM CEO Ginni Romettycalling on Prime MinisterNarendra Modi inNew Delhi


IN mid-2013, a journalist friend fellseriously ill while investigating astory on biomedical waste (BMW)and she contracted tuberculosis inher uterus. As she was working for atelevision channel, she was deniedpermission to use a facemask, and

she did not realize the grave implications ofsearching through the waste dumped outside awell-known lung facility in Delhi. Both the hos-pital and authorities passed off this waste asmunicipal waste and as she looked for evidence,


Biomedical waste is oftennot safely disposed off byhospitals and institutions

despite there beingBiomedical Waste(Management and

Handling) RulesBy Papia Samajdar

HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT/Biomedical Waste

DangerousDump

HEALTHWASTELAND

(Above)Syringes callously

discarded byhospitals are a

big health hazard

her deteriorating health confirmed the storyshe was working on.

Not only does biomedical waste find aconvenient way to municipal waste, dumpedright outside healthcare facilities, but usedsyringes are collected by rag-pickers, sani-tized and ready to be sold again with prac-tised ease. These syringes should ideally bedisposed off in a stipulated manner, butmost clinics and hospitals, including high-end ones, don’t follow protocols when itcomes to their safe disposal.

Needless to say, the story outside Delhi isjust as grave, if not worse. In January 2013,women from three neighboring villages inSambalpur district of Odisha approached alocal NGO complaining that the municipalauthorities were illegally dumping BMW ontheir land. The NGO, which inspected thesite, found a high amount of biomedicalwaste there and, shockingly, this was also aplace where children played. As childrenstarted falling sick, the villagers were forcedto leave their land. While the authoritieswere requested not to use the land fordumping and the state pollution controlboard was notified of this ill-practise, thedumping reduced, but there was no action toclear it.

DEPRESSING SCENARIOA 2012 report by INCLEN Program Evalua-tion Network, a Delhi-based internationalnetwork of healthcare professionals analyz-ing the state of BMW disposal across India,came out with a report which had depress-ing results. It looked at 25 districts in 20states to document the practices related toBMW. The study categorized 82 percent pri-mary, 60 percent secondary and 54 percenttertiary healthcare centers as red, signifyingpoor management and disposal practises. Itcalled for immediate action and commit-ment to the policies and regulations laiddown in BioMedical Waste (Managementand Hand-ling) Rules, 1998.

Though the government talks aboutSwachh Bharat Abhiyaan, it does notinclude BMW. While huge money is beingpumped into building toilets, little attentionis being paid to ensure safe and hygienic dis-posal of this potentially dangerous waste.


Categories of BMCSafe disposal methods to prevent a medical disaster

Option

CategoryNo. I

incineration,deep burial*

Waste Treatment &Disposal

Human anatomical waste (human tissues,organs, body parts)

CategoryNo. 2

incineration/deep burial

Animal waste (animal tissues, organs, bodyparts carcasses, bleeding parts, fluid, bloodand experimental animals

disinfection (chemi-cal treatment/ auto-claving/ microwavingand mutilation/shredding)

Waste sharps (needles, syringes, scalpels,blades, glass, etc. that may cause punctureand cuts. This includes both used andunused sharps)

incineration/destruction insecured landfills

Discarded medicines and cytotoxic drugs(wastes comprising of outdated, contami-nated and discarded medicines)

incineration/autoclaving/microwaving

Solid waste (items contaminated with blood,and body fluids including cotton, dressings,soiled plaster casts, lines, beddings, etc)

Chemical treatment,autoclaving/microwaving andutilation/ shredding

Solid waste (wastes generated from dis-posable items such as tubes, catheters,intravenous sets etc)

disinfection by chem-ical treatment anddischarge into drains.

Liquid waste (waste generated from laborato-ry and washing, cleaning, house-keepingand disinfecting activities)

disposal in munici-pal landfill

Incineration ash (ash from incineration ofany bio-medical waste)

Microbiology & biotechnology waste (wastesfrom laboratory cultures, stocks or speci-mens of micro-organisms live or attenuatedvaccines, human and animal cell cultureused in research and infectious agents fromresearch and industrial laboratories, wastesfrom production of biologicals, toxins, dishesand devices used for transfer of cultures)

local autoclaving/microwaving/incineration

CategoryNo 4

CategoryNo 5

CategoryNo 6

CategoryNo. 7

CategoryNo. 8

CategoryNo. 9

chemical treatmentand discharge intodrains for liquidsand secured land fillfor solids

Chemical waste (chemicals used inproduction of biologicals, disinfection,insecticides, etc.)

CategoryNo. 10

CategoryNo 3

*Deep burial shall be an option available only in towns with population less than five lakh and in rural areas

Clean India cannot be achieved only by rid-ding her of open defecation; there are manymore battles to be fought. Safe and properdisposal of BMW is one such battle but getslukewarm response from the government.When it comes to awareness of health haz-ards, it is often minimal.

So why is BMW such a huge health

hazard? Biomedical waste is waste generat-ed by healthcare, research facilities andassociated laboratories. It includes both (a)“communal waste” such as paper and bottlesthat can be dealt with through local solidwaste management system; and (b) poten-tially dangerous “biomedical waste” such assharps (needles, scalpels, knives, blades,broken glass) and wastes with infectious,hazardous, radioactive and genotoxic prop-erties (which damage the genetic informa-tion within a cell, causing mutations).

One ton of BMW, which can be as little asone percent of the total daily municipal solidwaste (MSW) generated in a Tier II city, caninfect the total MSW generated by the city.The MSW treatment plant converts the pol-luted waste into compost, which is used inagriculture, thus entering our food chain.

ENVIRONMENT HAZARDWithout proper management of BMW, envi-ronmental pollution would increase, leadingto multiplication of flies, insects, rodents,worms and dogs. This could further lead tothe transmission of diseases like rabies,plague, typhoid, cholera, hepatitis, AIDSand other communicable diseases throughinfected syringes. Rag-pickers, who usuallysort out the municipal waste, can contract

GOING BY THE RULE BOOK(Above and right)) Thatyur

community health center whichhas deep burial pit for disposal

of bio-medical waste

72 November 15 2015

While the state of affairs seemsdismal in big cities with better

infrastructure and facilities, a smallcommunity health centre (CHC) inThatyur village, Tehri Garhwal district,Uttarakhand, has shown the way for-ward (see pics above). This govern-ment center, run by a private partyknown as Rajhbra Medicare, is fol-lowing the rules of segregation andsafe disposal. It has 10 beds and hasspecialists as mandated by the gov-ernment, namely gynecologists, pedi-atricians, surgeons, dentists, anes-thetists and general physicians.

Situated approximately 80 kmsfrom Dehradun, the CHC caters toapproximately 60 neighbouring vil-lages. Since Rajbhra took over abouta year back, the number of patients

to the CHC is rising and biomedicalwaste is being segregated.

Given the remoteness of the loca-tion and the fact that the populationis less than five lakh, they have optedfor the deep burial option forCategory 1 and 2 types of waste.There is in-house segregationaccording to the color coding andmicrowave and shredding of waste.Deep burial is done in a concretedlining in the ground, and this will becovered once it’s full. There is also atemporary pit for disinfected waste.

The CHC has an authorizationfrom the Uttarakhand State PollutionControl Board to manage and dis-pose the generated BMW on site andis due to get its certificate afterinspection from the authorities.

Showing the Path

HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT/Biomedical Waste

HIV, tetanus and TB.Apart from that, hospital staff and those

handling the waste can contract infections.Improper disposal of expired drugs can leadto their being retrieved and sold to unsus-pecting people, not to mention air, waterand soil pollution from improper or defec-tive incineration of BMW.

Though there are laws and regulationsfor safe disposal of BMW, there is poorimplementation. Achieving the desiredresult is nowhere in sight as regulations areignored by hospitals, dispensaries and othermedical set-ups and treated with disdain byregulatory authorities.

What do the regulations say? TheBiomedical Waste (Management and Hand-ling) Rules, 1998, which was amended in2003, mandates safe and proper disposal ofBMW. Draft of a new rule in 2011 is yet to benotified by the government.

These rules are meant for any institutiongenerating BMW. These include hospitals,nursing homes, clinics, dispensaries, veteri-nary institutions, animal houses, pathologi-cal laboratories and blood banks. They haveto take all steps to ensure that such waste ishandled without any adverse effect tohuman health and environment.

These rules define the methodology for


Color-coding the wasteYellow Bags Red Bags Blue Bags Black Carboy

Infectious waste,bandages, gauze,cotton or any otherobjects in contactwith body fluids,

human body parts,placenta etc

Plasticwaste such

ascatheters,injectionsyringes,

tubings, IVbottles

All types ofglass bottlesand broken

glass articles,outdated & discardedmedicines

Needleswithout

syringes,blades,sharpsand allmetal

articles

segregation, packaging, transportation, stor-age, treatment and disposal. Schedule 1 ofthe rules defines the categories of biomed-ical waste, while Schedule 2 lays down thecolor coding and type of container for dis-posal (see box above).

The regulatory authority is the StatePollution Control Board (SPCB). Every insti-tution generating, collecting, receiving, stor-ing, transporting, treating, disposing and/orhandling BMW, when treating more than1,000 patients per month, is mandated toapply for grant of authorization to the SPCB.Every operator of a BMW facility is alsorequired to seek authorization from them.

But these rules are of no use till imple-mentation is taken seriously. IL

Villagers inSambalpur,Odisha,(left) had toleave theirland asdumping ofBMW led toserious ailments.

IT was the Danes who finally wore the Majid family down.Thefamily had fled war-torn Syria, taken a boat from Turkey toGreece, crawled under a barbed wire fence in Hungary, and slept

in fields and on concrete sidewalks. The relatives thought that after somuch hardship the trip through Denmark to Sweden would be easy.

After all, they had no intention of staying in Denmark. Why wouldthe Danes care if they were just passing through?

They were wrong.

UNI

A team of journos treks with refugees across the continent to chronicle thehuman dimension of the crisis. An excerpt on the travails of Majid family

By Anemona Hartocollis

GLOBAL TRENDS/ European Refugees

Traveling in Europe’sRiver of Migrants

LIFE ON THE EDGEAhmad Majid (center), his

wife, Jamila, and theirfamily eat a meal at a

makeshift detention center at a school in

Padborg, Denmark

Syrian Family Overcomes Hardships of War, but Finds Path Blocked in DenmarkSeptember 11, 2015


As the family crossed the Danish borderfrom Flensburg, Germany, recently, thepolice stopped the train and took all therefugees and migrants off. Ahmad Majid, hisbrother Farid, their wives, children and otherrelatives traveling with them were taken to amakeshift detention center at a decommis-sioned school in Padborg, a truck-stop townof little cottages near the border.

At the school, the Danes treated themwith an iron fist in a velvet glove. Themigrants were given thin foam mattresses,blankets, hot food and balls for the childrento play with. But armed police guarded everydoor, sending a message that the migrantswere prisoners there, not free to come and goas in the German shelter where the familyhad spent a night.

The police told them they had a choice:Stay in Denmark and apply for asylum, orreturn to Germany. But they would not bepermitted to cross Denmark to go to Sweden.

The Majids were still undecided abouttheir plans when they got a taste ofDanish justice. They were told that

before they could go anywhere, all themigrants detained at the former school hadto go to a police station for processing. Thefamily was divided into two groups, the twobrothers with their wives and children inone, the three young male relatives travelingwith them in another. It was the first timethey had been divided despite crossing manyborders since their flight from Syria.

The group with the two brothers wastaken by a police van to a station far away,they said later. Ahmad Majid estimated thathe and his family had traveled more than200 kilometers, based on the amount of timethey were on the road. They had no ideawhere they were. Once at the station, theywere put in separate cells.

When Mr. Majid asked for food for thechildren, offering 100 euros to pay for it, apolice officer gave him sugar cubes, he said,fishing the still-wrapped cubes out of hisjacket pocket.

The three young men were taken toanother police station, also far from thePadborg school, based on the travel time.There they were ordered to strip naked and

When Majid asked for food for children, offering100 euros to pay for it, a police officer gave himsugar cubes, he said, fishing the still-wrappedcubes out of his jacket pocket.

WHERE THERE ISA WILL(Above) A group ofmigrants, who wereaiming to go toSweden but werebeing detained bythe police inDenmark, defiantlymarch on

twirl around in front of police officers, theysaid. Then they were locked up in two cells.

Mr. Majid and his brother were shakingwith anger by the time the police interviewedthem about whether they wanted to seek asy-lum in Denmark or return to Germany. Atthat point, they said, the invitation to seekasylum in Denmark seemed insincere, like abad joke.

“Even if Denmark was made of gold, Iwould not want to stay here, ever,” FaridMajid said he had told the Danish police.

Ahmad Majid told the police, “My sonnow knows the meaning of the word ‘prison,’because of you.”

The police warned that if the Majids cameback to Denmark, they would be imprisoned.

The young men also rejected the Danishasylum offer. The police took all of them backto the German border. From there, theymade their way to the Flensburg train station.

We caught up with the Majids at theFlensburg station, as they waited for a trainto Hamburg. They had missed the big eventsat the Padborg school. That morning,300


IL

patiently until the chil-dren had finished theirchicken nuggets. Then heled the exhausted groupinto the subway and thr-ough the darkened Ham-burg streets to a hangar-like exposition center thatwas being used as a shel-ter for migrants.

The shelter's beds werefull. The Majids waitedabout an hour, while theguards looked for anothershelter that could takethem. It was cold outside.The guards distributedjuice, water and blankets,and the Majid adultswrapped the blankets aro-und the children likecocoons and laid them onthe sidewalk to sleep.Finally, at about 2:30

a.m., the shelter took them in. The gatesclosed behind them.

Next morning, the Danish policeannounced that they would no longer blockmigrants from traveling through Denmark toSweden and points beyond. As in Budapest aweek earlier, when Hungary relented andopened its border to Austria, the migrantshad won, at least for now. The police said3,200 refugees and migrants had enteredDenmark recently, overwhelming the abilityof the police to deal with them.

The Danish about-face came too late forthe Majids, who were just relieved to put thatcountry behind them. Yes, their dream hadbeen to go to Sweden, join relatives, andmaybe open a bakery or a grocery. But nowGermany seemed like the land of opportuni-ty. It had welcomed them and others likethem, and its generosity, they had learned,was a rare gift. They would stay here, AhmadMajid said, and they would thrive.

Their journey did not turn out the waythey had planned. But he believed it hadturned out for the best. He cited the Quran:“Do not hate what befalls you, for it may begood for you.”

—Courtesy ProPublica

refugees had stormed out of the school, intothe woods and streets. About half had disappeared into the countryside, and theothers had found their way to the highway to Sweden. They blocked traffic as theywalked north.

As the Majids were boarding the trainfor Hamburg, the police back inDenmark were trying to figure out

how to deal with the public relations embar-rassment of having migrants block the high-way and demand to go to Sweden.

The Majids got to Hamburg just beforemidnight and headed for McDonald’s, aboutthe only restaurant open in the train station,to feed the children.

On the way, Mr. Majid approached twoGerman police officers and asked where hecould turn himself in to ask for asylum inGermany. The officers pointed to a policestation 200 meters away.

But before they could turn themselves in,Philip Holler, a young law student,approached and asked whether they wererefugees. Yes, they said. He said he couldshow them the way to a shelter for the night.They accepted his offer. Mr. Holler waited

GONE WITHTHE WIND

The collateraldamage of the

strife in Asia andAfrica is loss of

home and a wayof life for millions

UNI


GLOBAL TRENDS/ European Refugees

NLU Delhi signs MoU with Deakin

CAMPUS UPDATE

National Law University, Delhi,signed an MoU with Deakin

University, Victoria, Australia onOctober 19, 2015, for fostering aca-demic and institutional collaboration interms of exchange of students andmembers of faculty. The MoU wassigned by Professor Mike Ewing, Pro

Vice-Chancellor, Deakin University andProfessor Ranbir Singh, Vice-Chancellor, NLU Delhi. Dr GS Bajpai,Registrar and Professor, NLU Delhi,was also present on the occasion. Thetwo institutions are to collaborate onacademic events, teaching, trainingand research.

Jindal Global Law School isconducting a two-day con-

ference on “Ethics andProfessional Responsibility inthe Legal Profession” on

October 31 and November 1.Manan Kumar Mishra, chair-man, Bar Council of India, willbe the chief guest. Legal lumi-naries like Indira Jaising,Justice AP Shah and JusticeAK Patnaik will be also present.

Talks on “Lawyer advertis-ing versus improper solicita-tion”, “malpractice litigationand disciplinary action”, “lateral

movement oflawyers” and“e-data andthe impact oftechnology onclient confi-dentiality” willbe presented.Justice AKPatnaik willdeliver thevaledictoryaddress.

Lecture series by Justice KatjuJustice Markandey Katju will

deliver a series of lectures on“Constitutional Jurisprudence”from October 26 to students ofthe School of Law at GalgotiasUniversity in Greater Noida. Thelecture series will be continuingfor a week.

Before being elevated as ajudge to the Supreme Court,

Justice Katju served as the chiefjustice of the Delhi High Court andthe Madras High Court.

Students will get the opportu-nity to interact with him and gath-er knowledge and understandingof jurisprudence and the constitu-tion, which has undergone signifi-cant evolution since its adoptionin 1950.

Aworkshop will be held bythe Dr Ram Manohar

Lohia National Law Universityin collaboration with NationalLabor Law Association(NLLA) on November 23 and24. It will deal with labor lawreforms. NLLA is a forum forthe free exchange of ideasthat help apply laws in theright perspective.

The workshop aims tocreate an open forum to dis-cuss the industrial relationscode and the wage code pre-pared by the government ofIndia. It will also examine thesocial, economic and legalissues pertaining to bills beingprepared by the ministry oflaw and their impact on labormanagement. Topics like

emerging issues and theimplications of industrial rela-tions, trade unions and vari-ous proposed amendments inexisting labor legislations willalso be discussed.

Jindal LawSchool’sconference

Workshop on labor laws

— Compiled by Vijay Patil


NO HOLDS

BARRED SEEMA GUHA: Nepal’s constitution hits home 76

SAJEDA MOMIN: Asserting Desi rights in UK 68

RAMESH MENON: Unending stalemate over NJAC 12

Kalyani Shankar on the quota debate which has lit a fire in all political parties following the Patel agitation and Bhagwat’s pronouncement 28

KalK lK lK l ni Shni Shi Shi Si ShSS kka ka ka kkKalyaK ll ni Shni Shi Si S ankarankaankk

FOR ALL or FOR NONE?ar on te

fire inties atel

t

r on

R NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE????????????

BIKRAM VOHRA: Is this the way to treat your servants?

48

NDIA EGAL EEEL October 15, 2015 `100

www.indialegalonline.comNIUNTOLD STORY OF THE DENGUE EPIDEMIC

How politicians and hospitals duck legal obligationsPlus: Ajith Pillai’s personal nightmare

STORIES THAT COUNT

34

RESERVATIONS

Mohan Bhagwat

Hardik Patel

DINESH SHARMA: Volkswagen’s bug in the ointment 72

NDIA EGAL EELSeptember 30, 2015

`100www.indialeg

alonline.com

NI

AJITH PILLAI: Big legal bang for Moneylife

34

DINESH SHARMA: Make NDPS

Act more effective

54

RAMESH MENON: Do the courts ever

say sorry?

12

DEATH BY HANGING:

Is it painful?

CANVAS FINGERPRINTING:

New tracking tool

LEGALIZED BETTING:

Is it at hand?

38

4643

BIKRAM VOHRA: Why the vets came

marching in

INDERJIT BADHWAR: The dangers ahead 22

MBIKRAM VOHRABIKRAM VOHRAOROP

STORIES THAT COUNT

RAISING THE

STAKES

NDIA EGAL EEL October 31, 2015 `100


NIRAMESH MENON:

CORRUPTION BEHIND THE BARS

STORIES THAT COUNT

36

MEAT POLITICS

INDERJIT BADHWAR, AJITH PILLAI,

KALYANI SHANKAR, RAKESH BHATNAGAR:

In-depth analysis of the legal, political, ethical, religious dimensions of

beef ban 22

TAHIR MAHMOD Is Muslim personal law still valid? 58

MEENA MENON Haji Ali Dispute 50

VIPIN PUBBY Defamation turbulence 42

PLUS: Scrap 3-year law degrees? 46

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan: Religion or politics? 54

Italian Marines: Jurisdiction war 66

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Don’t miss a single issue of this independent, scintillating new fortnightly magazine and get special discounts for yourself and your friends

� India has 3,884 US students. The US has 1,03,895 Indian students,the second highest among foreign students after China’s 1,57,558.

� About 14,000 people have diedin Indian jails in the past 10 years.

� There are around 98 crore mobilephones in the country at present and30 crore people avail internet facility.

� India Post has over 1.5 lakhbranches.

� One in every five Indian adults living in urban cities suffers not onlyfrom hypertension but also diabetes.

� India’s innate fascination withgold continues as Indian house-holds possess 18,000 tonnes ofgold—11 per cent of the worldstock—worth over $950 billion.This is also around 50 per cent ofthe country’s GDP in dollar terms.

� Gold consumption is part of India’sculture and tradition and the countryis the world’s largest consumer ofgold, followed by China.

� At least 8 per cent of India’s$329 billion in household savingswas held in gold in 2009-10.

� Large borrowers, who took loans of`10 crore or more, have defaulted onpayments to the tune of `47,000crore, with banks not even pursuingcases to recover over half the amount.

� Data available with the finance

ministry shows that at least 700defaulters, who had borrowed `10crore or more from public-sectorbanks and cumulatively owe over`26,000 crore, have gone scot-freedespite not clearing their dues.

� India’s annual liver transplantrequirement is 25,000 but only 800are available.

� Out of the 5,362 listed compa-nies that are required to appointwomen directors, only 3,785 firmshad complied with the norm byJuly last.

� Banks in India total 95,000.

� India has 31 lakh NGOs. Thismeans we have one NGO for 400people, as against one policemanfor 709 people.

� India has 15 lakh schools.

� Between April and July this year,India registered 9,700 cases ofatrocities against women.

� During 2012-15, some 2,060 stu-dents dropped out of 16 IITs, and2,352 students left studies mid-way in NITs.

� Last four years witnessed some 300 railway mishaps, inwhich about 370 people werekilled.

� There are 6.5 crore diabetics inIndia, and, 40,000 legs of diabeticsare amputated every year.

—Compiled by Mahesh Trivedi

FIGUREIT OUT


1. After death the doctor.A: To do post-mortemB: Help comes lateC: To analyzeD: To study the will

2. Temblor.A: EarthquakeB: Musical instrumentC: ArrowD. Wanderer

3. Paget’s disease. A: Weak eyes B: Irregular heartbeats C: Stomach ailmentD: Bone disorder

4. Understood by all. A: EclecticB: EsotericC: ExotericD: Ecclesiastic

5. Which is correct?A: Barefeet exerciseB: Barefoot exerciseC: Barefeeted exerciseD: Barefooted exercise

6. Are we away?A: How far is it? B: Shall we go? C: Are we wrong? D: Do we have a holiday?

7. Elemental.A: Basic B: StrongC: Artificial D: Chemical

8. Gynocracy.

A: Government by foolsB: Government bywomenC: Government by doctorsD: Government by theaged

9. Plural of vortexA: VortexesB: Same C: VorticesD: Vortexae

10. Zinger.A: Witty remarkB: ZeroC: Name of a birdD: Expert

11. Martinet.A: Small glassB: DancerC: Smallest planetD: Disciplinarian

12. Snug as a bug in a rug.A: UncomfortableB: CozyC: Sick D: Selfish

13. Cognoscente.A: Common manB: InsultC: ExpertD: Illiterate

14. Hair-brained.

A: FoolishB: IntelligentC: LazyD: Orthodox

15. Yob.A: Elderly personB: NeighbourC: HooliganD: Slap

16. A cat lover.A: CagophilistB: CynophilistC: AilurophileD: Kittymane

17. A little pot is soon ….A: brokenB: hotC: lostD: forgotten

18. Contemptuous.A. ContemptibleB. DisrespectfulC. Ill-temperedD. Illegal

19. Smirk.A: Affected smileB: Contemptuous smileC: Smug smileD: Fixed grin

20. In your dreams!A: It will never happen! B: May your dream cometrue!C: I love you!D: You are kidding!

1. Help comes late2. Earthquake3. Bone disorder4. Exoteric5. Barefoot exercise6. Shall we go?7. Basic8. Government by women9. Vortices

10. Witty remark11. Disciplinarian12. Cozy13. Expert14. Foolish15. Hooligan16. Ailurophile 17. hot18. Disrespectful19. Smug smile 20. It will never happen!

SCORES

0 to 7 correct—Youneed to do this more

often. 8 to 12 correct—Good,

get the scrabble board out.

Above 12—Bravo! Keep it up!

ANSWERS

Have fun with English. Get the right answers. Play better scrabble.

By Mahesh Trivedi

WORDLY

WISE

[email protected]

INDIA LEGAL September 15, 2015 81

PEOPLE /Tribal Tales

— Compiled by Kh Manglembi Devi Photos: UNI

BASIC INSTINCTA Turkana woman carryinga child stands by a hut inNapak village in north-western Kenya.

BREAK TIME A Reang tribal in a traditional attireand ornaments in a relaxed moodnear Agartala in Tripura.

CULTURE SHOCKRaoni Metuktire, a leader of the Brazilian indigenous Kayapo people,arrives at Hotel de Lassay, residence of French National AssemblySpeaker, in Paris.

PLUMES AND THE MANAn indigenous man from the Tabajaratribe at the Tocantins river in Brazil.

LIFE ON THEOTHER SIDE

Members of theMashco Piro tribe

spotted by a groupof travelers from

across the AltoMadre de Dios

river in the ManuNational Park, in

the Amazon basinof southeastern

Peru. The pictureis taken through a

bird scope.


.

RNI No. UPENG/2007/25763 Postal Regd. No. UP/GBD-197/2014-16

Documents

India Legal 15 November 2015