Nepal's Revolutionary Impasse
By Harsh Dobhal
The election results have upset the old order that monopolised power in Kathmandu ... As the vested interests continue hampering government formation, nobody should forget that the spirit of the April revolution is still lingering in the hearts of the Nepali people, writes Harsh Dobhal from Kathmandu

Judiciary must support tribals, not MNCs
By Elisabeth Abeson
The Indian state of Orissa observes its foundation day on April 1. Rather than partaking in traditional statehood formation celebrations this year, many Orissians spent the day rallying to resist the government-backed hand-over of their land to a foreign multinational corporation (MNC). This protest took on additional significance given the fact that state higher-ups and the South Korean steel giant, POSCO1, had initially planned to lay . . .

The POSCO fiasco
By Surya Shankar Dash
People drawn from various parts of Orissa joined thousands of villagers of Dhinkia, Gada Kujang and Nuagaa to hold the Bikalp Samabesh at Balitutha recently. The administration had imposed Section 144 for weeks. Yet the gathering gave a clear signal to the state government that the majority of the people in the area were still opposed to the much hyped POSCO project. About 300 people . . . .

Hauled up for no fault

For over three months, an innocent film-maker and
people’s rights defender Ajay TG is being targeted by Chhattisgarh police and administration to the extent of being virtually robbed of his livelihood since his computer and other belongings have been seized after a police raid at his house on the pretext that these may have “incriminating material” that can help in prosecuting naxal activists. The sordid tale of State vendetta that
Ajay TG wrote before his arrest on May 5 this year

Babu Bajrangi’s bail and Gujarat riot probe

Appointment of Justice Akshay Mehta (retired) on Nanawati Enquiry Commission inevitably poses the question – can a person be the judge in his own cause? This becomes all the more important since Gujarat riot accused Babu Bajrangi was set free on bail by the judge in a media sting operation. Bajrangi bragged about being let off by the judge whom Gujarat chief minister “posted” after sending a “message” (to Bajrangi) about “finding a way” (for his bail). Human Right Law Network and Jan Sangharsh Manch advocate SH Iyer writes from Ahmedabad about the new probe panel incumbent and the issues posed by this

bulldozers leave poor to their fate
By Aanchal Khurana
Tucked in an obscure pocket of Govindpuri Extension, off Kalkaji, in South Delhi, Bhoomiheen Camp offered shelter for decades to its poor inhabitants. Somehow their world changed on March 31 when demolition squads moved with their bulldozers, axe, picks and shovels to clear the sprawling slum spread over about nine acres of land.

Judiciary :
Heavy odds, meagre resources
By Colin Gonsalves
Not only does the executive refuse to appoint more judges, but government also drags its feet in giving them allowances for books, library and residence. The result is that the justice delivery system is badly hit. So much so that tbe presiding officer of an important tribunal in Delhi is forced to hold hearings from inside his car as there is no office for him to hold court. . . .

CJI on judicial reforms
By KG Balakrishnan
I am extremely happy that a seminar is being held on “judicial reforms”. “Judicial reforms” is a theme, which is so much of talked about but too little done. Indian judicial system has a long history right from the pre-British days. In the 18th century a uniform pattern of judiciary emerged and during the British regime high courts were established in presidency towns. Thereafter, in 1937, the Federal Court was established to hear the appeals from the high courts. Because of complexities of personal laws of Muslims and Hindus and various customs and practices, there were initial difficulties in administration of justice..

Little budget for judiciary
By RC Lahoti, Former Chief Justice of India
Working under considerable handicaps such as inadequate funds, budgetary allocations for law and justice not being part of plan expenditure, lack of resources, shortage of staff and infrastructure, the Indian judiciary can still claim a better standing with the other wings of governance in performance. When one considers the immensity of our country, the diversity of its conditions, its huge population and the range of cases and volume of litigation in our courts throughout the country . . .

Envisioning justice in the 21st century

Less than one percent allocation by states to run judiciary has been taking its toll. Fewer judges, mounting backlog of cases are simply because executive controls finances though courts to generate funds. Former Chief Justice of India RC Lahoti pointed out some of these ills while he was in office. Excerpts from his key-note address

Denying books to judges

All judicial officers throughout the country should be equipped with law books and journals. This calls for adequate grant to buy them and maintain a personal library at their residence, observed the Supreme Court in All India Judges’ Association and others versus Union of India and others. Excerpts from order (1992) 1 SCC 119 by MN Venkatachaliah, CJI, AM Ahmadi and PB Sawant, JJ

‘Twisting judiciary’s tail is unconstitutional’

Central as well as state governments moved a review petition in the Supreme Court after the Court ordered residence-cum-library allowance to all judicial officers, prompting MN Venkatachaliah, CJI, AM Ahmadi and PB Sawant, JJ to come down heavily on such government manoeuvres that affect the independence of the judiciary. Excerpts from their (1993) 4 SCC 288 order in All India Judges Association and Others versus Union of India and Others case

‘Look after subordinate judiciary’

On directions given by Supreme Court first national judicial pay panel was formed. Yet government soon started dithering vis-à-vis Justice Shetty Commission's recommendations regarding bearing full cost of administration of justice by states. This led BN Kirpal, GB Pattanaik and VN Khare, JJ to make further order in 2002 – 4 SCC 247 in All India Judges’ Association and Others versus Union of India and Others case. Excerpts:

The Cinderella of budget-makers
By MJ Antony
The latest figures released by the Supreme Court on the state of the judiciary in the country give little cheer. More than 25 million cases remain pending in the district and subordinate courts — 1.8 million criminal cases and 7.3 million civil. The courts could dispose of 1.1 million civil cases and three million criminal cases in one quarter.

Worst crunch dogs Indian courts
By Amrit Dhatt
Indian courts are invariably overcrowded places. They signify desperation for justice as they are filled with throngs of people hoping that their cases will be heard. Yet it takes years for litigants to get their cases decided because courts are overworked, with huge backlogs of cases. It is not uncommon for a single court to be looking into thousands of cases.

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Book bobbed up by torn pages

A small book – The Torn First Pages – chronicles what befell on Burma and freedom loving Burmese as military rulers set off an air of fear and terror to deter people from challenging the Junta’s might. A review by Suresh Nautiyal

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Marauding mourners
By Amrit Dhatt
In sharp contrast to India’s projected image of the world’s biggest democracy is India’s human rights record. The Anti-Sikh riots of 1984 are perhaps one of the India’s most appalling moments, and the legacies of those events continue to live within the public consciousness 24 years later. On October 31 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her two bodyguards. The two had taken revenge against her for ordering the army to attack the holiest shrine of Sikhs, the Golden Temple in Amritsar; it was an anti-insurgency operation five months earlier in Punjab, killing many innocent pilgrims.

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Editorial

Letters to the Editor

No funds for fundamental rights
By Colin Gonsalves
Nowadays budgets are meant to rev up engines of growth. And these merrily chug along to make industry strong and economic indicators bullish. Yet growth-driven budgets of this neo-liberal era miss people’s basic rights in areas as crucial as health, housing, education, child and maternal care and funding for the old and infirm

Karnataka’s fiscal sinew cheers none
By Kirti Toshniwal and Vinod Vyasulu
The question of human development is important in Karnataka because of the finding in the first state human development report (HDR) that in most of Karnataka, the levels of human development as measured by literacy, health and income are very abysmally low1. If Bangalore was taken out of the discussion, the HDI values were among the lowest in the country in many districts. Improving human development therefore became a major acknowledged objective of all state governments since 2000.

Right to Healthcare in India

A Fund-starved healthcare system is the result of a lack of will on the government’s part. This despite the UPA government’s promise to provide two to three percent of GDP to public healthcare. Ravi Duggal reminds the powers-that-be of broken promises. Excerpts from a study

Gender budgeting and women's reality
By Yamini Mishra and Bhumika Jhamb
Law casts a duty upon the State to physically produce the accused before magistrate. This is the fundamental first step required for the accused to negotiate his freedom with judiciary. This negotiation is already fraught with a number of problems ranging from biases of judiciary to all dominant influences.

Budget bluffs and deception
By Praful Bidwai
The United Progressive Alliance’s last full budget before the next Parliament election was meant to give a new direction to economic policy and be "people-friendly", even populist in the best sense of the term. But Finance Minister P Chidambaram missed an opportunity to make a major break with the past. His budget continues the overall neo-liberal orientation of the UPA’s policy. It doesn’t even remotely address the huge distortions and imbalances in India’s recent growth pattern.

‘Budget day Dalits’ black day
By Vincent Manoharan and Paul Diwaker
With false promises the Indian state has again betrayed Dalits this year. The tall claims of achieving growth with inclusion have faltered again. The total budget allocation under Plan Outlay for the year 2008-2009 is Rs 2,43,385.5 crores and under the Scheduled Castes Sub Plani (SCSP) the government is liable to allocate Rs 40090.90 crores exclusively for Dalits (16.7 percent of . . .

Betraying ‘Aam Adami’
By NC Saxena
The United Progressive Alliance government that rode to power swearing by the common man has ended up applauding a high rate of growth amid abysmal actual progress. The union budget-2008-09 too has belied the hopes of the poor and marginalised despite a huge loan waiver meant to woo farmers drowning in debt. Yet debts that came to farmers through non-banking channels are not going to be waived despite being the main source of their distress. Since bad economics is a by-product of bad governance, it cannot be quantified in monetary terms to which budgets are confined . . .

The human right to drinking water and sanitation
By Gyana Ranjan Panda
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) recognises the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all human beings. There are certain basic needs that are essential for a dignified life. Water and sanitation are two of these essential human needs and a clean environment is also increasingly recognised as a fundamental human right. Besides, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Money eludes development sector
By Pravas Mishra
It is the primary goal of every state development effort to enhance the welfare and living standards of its people through planning and designing appropriate programmes, allocating proper resources and utilising them optimally. Even after ten five year plans, Orissa lags behind other Indian states. It continues to reel in acute poverty, rampant unemployment, widespread illiteracy and a dismal status with respect to socio-economic indicators.

A tricksters' budget
By Prof. Arun Kumar
The Union Budget 2008-09 has been greeted in the media as an election budget, a farmer’s budget and a common man’s budget. This has strengthened expectation that the Congress party may announce elections in the coming months and cash in on the favourable popular sentiment created by the budget.

Child deficits in the union budget
By Enakshi Ganguly Thukral, Bharti Ali, Abhijeet Nirmal and Madhumita Purkayastha

Recognising that children under 18 constitute a significant percentage of the Indian population, the Government is committed to their welfare and development. This statement reflects budget provisions of schemes that are meant substantially for the welfare of children. These provisions indicate educational outlays, provisions for the girl child, health, provisions for Child protection, etc.

Corporate euphoria again
By Kamal Nayan Kabra
The Union Budget generated excessive euphoria both before and after it was tabled, but beneath the surface lies the long-term, persistent traits of our fiscal policy which has been hidden from public view. For instance, the share of public expenditure on rural development by the Union and state governments in the Net National Product (NNP) used to be just 3.6 percent for a population that was over 70 percent.

Agrarian crisis and MDGs
By Anup Kumar Srivastava
United Nations millennium development goals (MDGs) are an agenda for reducing poverty worldwide by the year 2015. Leaders from all over the world had agreed to this at the Millennium Summit held in September 2000. Popularly referred to as the Millennium Declaration, it enshrines eight MDGs.

Deepening inequality
By Neeru Sharma
Adequate financial allocations by the State are a necessary pre-condition for the social and economic rights, but this year's union budget suggests a casual approach by the government

Court’s ire against woman’s suicide bid
By Amar Saran, J
An Agra court saw an attempt to revive the practice of sati in a different way when a criminal miscellaneous application was brought before it

‘Lok Adalat is not a court’

In an important judgment relating to the jurisdiction, powers and functions of the Lok Adalats, CJI KG Balakrishnan, Justice GP Mathur and Justice RV Raveendran rule that Lok Adalats should not substitute regular courts for they are meant for conciliation alone

‘Don’t bar women from serving in bars’
By Juho Siltanen
Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a patriarchal piece of legislation that prohibited women to serve alcohol in Delhi signals an important step towards self-determination of women

Politicos-turned-market-gurus-cum-cops
By Abid Shah
It was a chance encounter with the Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri, when on a sultry afternoon towards the end of March he happened to visit the Press Club of India, Delhi, to share achievements made by his state with the media after his ascent to the top job in Dehradun. I could not help asking him about the arrest of a journalist in Uttarakhand, Prashant Rahi, on charges of being a ‘zonal commander of a Maoist group’. Rahi once worked for The Statesman and that is how I knew him for I too have worked for the Kolkata-based newspaper from its Delhi office. Khanduri justified the arrest of Rahi saying that being a journalist did not allow one to be part of an “unlawful organisation”.

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