Protecting whistleblowers
The Bill to protect whistleblowers, introduced in the Lok Sabha, is a belated but welcome move to shield those who stand up, often at great personal risk, for the sake of truth and the public interest. The Public Interest Disclosures and the Protection to Persons Making the Disclosures Bill 2010 is the circuitous and protracted outcome of the [...]
Against the grain
On many occasions the point is made that the Supreme Court of India is the most powerful court in the world. The ways in which its powers of judicial review and intervention have been widened in scope are a fascinating study. And this power has been based on the higher judiciary’s credibility to be an institution of last recourse in matters [...]
India’s empty underbelly
'It was not a suggestion, it was an order,' is not a rebuke most self-respecting people would like to hear. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is clearly made of sterner stuff for this is exactly what he heard from the Supreme Court in its order that he make the huge pile-up of foodgrain available either free or at very low prices to people before [...]
Stem The Rot
The Supreme Court's order that foodgrain be given free to the poor instead of being allowed to rot is a severe indictment of the UPA government. Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar is in the dock, and deservedly. His handling of the sugar imbroglio sometime ago drew flak. On food inflation, he has seemed keener to spread the blame than to spell out [...]
Wrong, your honour; not just grain at stake
The Supreme Court has erred by directing the government to distribute rotting food grains to the poor for free. This is so regardless of the government’s response that it would follow the court order. The court is, of course, entirely right to be outraged over grain rotting under government custody even as many people go hungry and some even [...]
V.R. Krishna Iyer: Who will judge the judges?
Most of the judges of the Supreme Court of India are those who were previously senior judges in High Courts. There is no valid ground to sustain any discrimination among judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts in the matter of their age of retirement. There is justice in eliminating the differential age for retirement of the robed brethren [...]
M J Antony: Suing government companies
When the state performed only sovereign functions like declaring wars and quelling riots, it was above the law. But when it transformed into a welfare state and even when it entered the field of crass commerce, the arms of the law began to envelop its different activities. Auction of national resources and terms of government contracts have come [...]
An urgent India-Pakistan issue
The Supreme Court of India's decision asking the central government immediately to release and deport 16 Pakistani prisoners who have completed their sentence is a welcome step in civilising official conduct towards the hundreds of cross-border prisoners languishing in Indian jails. Hopefully, the Pakistani judiciary led by Chief Justice Iftikhar [...]
Turn the page
Reports suggest that the Supreme Court is preparing to appeal the January 12 decision of the Delhi high court placing the office of the Chief Justice of India within the ambit of the Right to Information Act. In the aftermath of the Delhi HC decision — itself a three-judge affirmation of a single-judge HC order — legal experts such as former [...]
Arbitrary DoT…
This should not happen in liberalised India. The Department of Telecom ordered S Tel, a new entrant to India’s thriving telecom market, to shut down operations. The order did not say why such a serious decision has been taken, affecting about 5 lakh service providers in three states. It was put out that security concerns prompted the decision. [...]