<< Prev Page    |    1    |    2    |    3    |    4    |    5    |    6    |    7    |    8    |    9    |    10    |    Next Page >> WHY INDIA IS DEVOID OF RULE OF LAW? Balbir Singh Sooch M.A., L.L.B., Advocate Sikh Vichar Manch Dedicated to The Spirit of Millennium World Peace Summit August 2000. 2 Balbir Singh Sooch Prologue This booklet is written to expose the misdeeds of the corrupt nexus, sufferings of the downtrodden and causes of discrimination to the minorities having different faiths at the hands of corrupt Indian rulers, for seeking remedial action and to have peace in the Indian subcontinent by observing the rule of law. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to the various authors I have consulted and upon some of whom I have drawn freely for exposition of the various aspects of corruption and injustice being perpetuated in the name of so-called democracy in India. Article 14 of the Indian Constitution says, “Equality before Law-the State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.” Mr. Shyam Sunder, former Deputy Speaker of Hyderabad Assembly who was a legal expert has rightly interpreted the language of Article 14 thus: “that the obvious implication is that if any person or group of persons has the courage, the resources and enough popular backing to claim equality before law, then alone the state shall not deny it. If there is no claim, the question of denial does not arise (emphasis added). The wording of Article 14 does not envisage a willing and graceful conferment of equal status on all Indian citizens without putting them into the necessity of incurring large expenditure on organisation and litigation. Any child born to Indian parents should automatically have equality of status conferred on him or her by the constitution. Article 14 as drafted denies him this status. The onus of claiming equality is placed on his shoulders. How many people in India can take the trouble of going through this ordeal?” Article 17 is meant to abolish untouchability. Its practice too in any form is also forbidden. This Article directly counters all Hindu scriptures, beliefs, traditions and Smrities. If the Indian constitution was intended to over-ride and scrap Hindu religion, so far as untouchability is concerned, then this intention should have been clearly expressed in the constitution itself. The fact that this has not been done proves that Article 17 was never meant to be implemented in India. Both Articles 14 and 17 of the Indian Constitution have no meaning but were intended only for external propaganda. The learned Mr. Shyam Sunder, had also preached that if we (Mool Bharatis) have any sense of self-respect and regard for our forefathers left in us, then how can we agree to be classified as Hindus when their scriptures proclaim from house-tops that we do not deserve to arrogate ourselves that “sacred“ status. Let us continue to be known the world over as Mool Bharatis (aboriginal Indians) and not Hindus. He further said that cowards amongst us may say: Hindus will withdraw the concessions given to us in the constitution, if we refused to be counted among them. We may suffer temporarily but we will triumph in the end but what we need most is unity amongst our teeming millions. Then alone can we regain our soul, which is now mortgaged with Hindus. He used to say that if joint electorates continue, original Indians and (Minorities) will always be represented in the legislatures and parliament by those who pledge or are willing to sign in advance a pledge of slavery to their caste Hindu over-lords. Is it democracy? The Congress is also hundred percent a party of Hindus and no justice can be expected from it, Shyam Sunder said. Shri Shyam Sunder raised “Bhim Sena”, a 2-lakh strong self-defence force of dedicated youth to oppose and destroy Hindu scriptures and Dharma Shastras, a root cause of injustice to them. It was a tragedy that such a glorious career came to an abrupt end and all the top leaders of Bhim Sena soon deserted it to find berths in cosy corners, leaving the movement in disarray and the youth disillusioned. To maintain the gap between the haves and the have-nots, education is being discouraged under the secret Hindu philosophy in India. It is for this reason that Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen who advocated education for all to have economic development and political liberty is being dubbed as a western agent and a threat to Hinduism. The Nobel Prize Winner, Mr. Sen said there was also a confounding of mythology with history in the Ayodhya case. The Ramayana he said, was “now being made into a legally authentic account that gives some members of the community an alleged entitlement to particular sites and lands amounting to a licence to tear down the religious places of other communities. Sen’s message to those arguing that Lord Rama was born on the exact spot where Babri Masjid stood was clear: “It is not history they are misusing but fables, myths and legends that are being called history and then misused”. Sen was among those who attacked the Sangh Parivar and the rightist forces for “trying to misguide and brainwash the people”. It is also pertinent to note how public sector banks have been used over the years to siphon off public money. Out of the reported Rupees 60,000 crores total of NPAs in banks (NPAs are non-performing assets--it is a window dressing euphemism for the amounts due to banks), about Rupees 50,000 crores is due from big industrial houses and their allied concerns. The intention of these business houses is to misappropriate and not to return the amounts. Lawmakers and politicians do not seem to be in a mood to reform the legal system so that this huge amount is recovered quickly. Bankers’ unions have rightly put the situation thus: “Perhaps, they are also in league.” It is abundantly clear that NPAs are not a creation of officers or banks, rather these have been contributed jointly by top-level bankers, bureaucrats, politicians and big industrial houses. Justice Kuldeep Singh, former Judge of the Supreme Court of India said, “our corrupt politicians are all for illiteracy so that innocent people could be fooled for their vested interests”. To eradicate this ancient crime, Mr. N. Vittal has for the first time touched the raw nerve of the corrupt class by putting names of corrupt officials on the CVC website. He wants to come up with a corruption perception index on the lines of Transparency International. He will list the most corrupt departments, cities and states. Some more countries are planning to follow his methods. He is also stressing that government should enforce The Benami Transaction Prevention Act, which was passed 12 years ago, but the government has yet to frame relevant rules in this regard. According to him, “there is no way of tackling bureaucratic corruption unless political corruption ended”. “Not only is the corrupt politician patronising, he is shielding the shady bureaucrat, he is also picking such officials for sensitive posts”. Now it is being openly confessed that, “Ministers at the top are corrupt. Their corruption seeps down to the officials below them who have to condone and forward the corrupt practices of their bosses in order to keep their jobs; it forces them to be corrupt. From them it seeps down to administrative officers below them till it reaches the lowest rungs of the ladder”. Again it is an open secret that tolerance to corruption has been paid for with lives and loss as only those buildings built on sand with inferior material violating all laid down safety provisions, were affected by the recent earthquake in this country; on the other hand hundred-year-old buildings are almost standing, hardly effected by the quake. Thus it is the result of man-made calamity, not a natural calamity. Other places of the country like Delhi, can experience havoc if there is a quake of similar intensity as that in Gujarat. There, even a layman can see hundreds of defects in town-planning, construction and bad quality of building material. Is it possible to demolish or improve such buildings? Everybody knows buildings are not “suspect”. The men behind them-builders, architects, engineers and sanctioning authorities-might be, but who will check them? A joint select committee of 30 Members of Parliament in its wisdom has come to the conclusion that wings of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) should in fact be clipped. They are trying to check the CVC, not corruption. The recommendations of the JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) run contrary to the December, 1997 directive of the Supreme Court to the government to grant statutory powers to the CVC and also the enormous responsibility of supervising the functioning of the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate. However, the recommendations of JPC have once again exposed the duplicity of the political class on the issue of combating corruption in high places. This is not the end. The Chief Election Commissioner, Mr. M.S. Gill, speaking on the subject of electoral reforms, said, “I am sorry to say that the main political parties-the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress-are quite happy with the way things are (corrupt Indian election system). If this continues, criminals will take over Indian democracy. How can law-makers become law-breakers?”. On 27th March 2001, while presiding over the concluding function of the platinum jubilee celebrations of Layola College, Chennai, the Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill came out strongly against the use of money, musclepower and misuse of public services diluting the true spirit of democratic choice of citizens. Mr. Gill further said, if the present trend continued ‘the country will find itself holding the hollow shell of democracy’. Tehelka.com’s recent bribery expose on camera only confirms that there is widespread corruption, nepotism and favouritism and no Rule of Law in India. It is being rightly said, “The Tehelka bribe expose is only the tip of an iceberg of corruption in India. Our politicians will do anything including compromising National Security for parochial pecuniary benefits. However, any investigation by a Supreme Court judge or by a parliamentary committee is not likely to be productive as experienced in the past. In fact, the focus of the enquiry must be the disproportionate assets of politicians and donations accruing to their parties. Corrupt politicians have nothing to say in their defence except crying shamelessly saying that the Tehelka revelations were only a conspiracy to spoil the image of India internationally. The main attempt of the politicians so far has been to malign the Tehelka team and a “scandalous campaign” is initiated against it by the government because of the report, “Operation West End”. As long as political parties are run on unaccounted wealth, bribery and corruption can never be eliminated.” In the face of opposition from the politicians, the CVC is actively demanding the enactment of the Corrupt Public Servants (Forfeiture of Property) Act so that the entire property of the culprits, including their accounts abroad -should be confiscated. Day by day, people are getting more frustrated seeing the conduct and character of the corrupt nexus ruling this country. "The recent expose by tehlaka.com shows India is already a key player in the convergence in corruption where politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats have converged to build a strong network,” Vittal said while delivering the keynote address at the Convergence India 2001 convention. Eminent journalist, Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar rightly said, “The Tehelka tapes constitute the most imaginative, painstaking investigative journalism I have ever seen.” Cynics will say that such exposes cannot end corruption. But the Indian national media, never dared to publish or take notice of articles like, “Why India is Deviod of Rule of Law”, so far, for the reasons best known to it. Recently, addressing a seminar, Jusitce KT Thomas, a sitting judge of the Supreme Court of India said, "There is no law in the country at present to bring to book the assistants to politicians, who wield enormous power and amass wealth by corrupt means. The legislature should think of enacting a law to bring these corrupt people to book." Chief Vigilance Commissioner N. Vittal described corruption to be more vicious than AIDS and said "If corruption was to be taken as a body , then bureaucratic corruption is the brain behind it while the corruption by the politicians formed its heart." He referred to judiciary as "the kidney which does not allow a person to die by separating the poison from spreading into the blood circulation". Mr. Vittal said while AIDS was caused by uncontrolled sexual behaviour, corruption was caused by "uncontrolled financial behaviour among the people leading to financial rape and financial adultery." In order to curb powers of the judiciary, during the CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) crisis, the Delhi Chief Minister, Ms. Sheila Dikhshit and her transport minister adopted a head-on policy with the Supreme Court. Their statements could be seen as violating the constitutional mandate. The Supreme Court indeed felt that it amounts to breakdown of the constitutional machinery. Solicitor General Harish Salve sought to pacify the Bench, saying, "It is not the first time that the Court is facing stalling attitude from a State government....." Recently, India has refused to be part of the International Criminal Court (ICC) whereas so far, 139 countries, including the United States have backed the court. This court is to ensure that no ruler, no State, no junta and no army anywhere can abuse Human Rights with impunity. The aim of the proposed court shall also be to ensure that crimes against humanity like genocide do not go unpunished, even if the country where it is perpetrated is unwilling to take action on grounds of national interest. India feels perturbed about this development for the reasons already best known to the entire world. But India cannot escape the implementation of the provisions of the ICC, as once the ICC comes into force, “A country can be hauled up, whether it supports the ICC or not”. State-sponsored terrorism by the Indian State through its network of intelligence agencies like RAW, IB and others needs thorough investigation by an independent international organisation. I am fully convinced that these agencies had, since long, infiltrated into all the Sikh militant and political organisations in India and abroad and succeeded in winning over their main functionaries. These agencies through these bodies did all defamatory acts attributed to the Sikh Nation. At the instance of the Indian Intelligence Agencies, the militants could infiltrate in the intelligence agencies of Pakistan, which is the one of the poorest, most corrupt and vulnerable countries of the world. Indian state adopts most corrupt means to finish minorities. Can we not conclude that the militant leadership which has become impotent since long, is being used to defame and degrade Pakistan as a terrorist state internationally? Can we not say that Indian agencies who through the militant organisations have collected huge amounts of money are using the funds to further divide the Sikhs by strengthening politically their stooges planted in the Sikh Nation abroad and in Punjab? My thanks are due to S. Gurbhajan Singh Gill, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Retd.) S. Avtar Singh Gill , Additional District & Session Judge (retired)., Prof. Jagmohan Singh, General Secretary of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) and my active daughter Kamaljeet Kaur Sooch, B.A. (Honours) and a law graduate, who provided me valuable suggestions without which this book could not have been seen the light of the day. I am grateful to Mr. N. Vittal, the Central Vigilance Commissioner, Government of India and Justice Harbans Singh, Chief Justice (Retired), Chief Commissioner, Gurdwara Elections, Government of India and others for sending me their response/letters/goodwill messages. I am especially indebted to S. Gurbhajan Singh Gill, a renowned writer who has been very kind to spare some of his most valuable time to write the Preface of this book. I must thank all honest people who provided me all types of assistance in the completion and publication of this book. April 21, 2001                      Balbir Singh Sooch    << Prev Page    |    1    |    2    |    3    |    4    |    5    |    6    |    7    |    8    |    9    |    10    |    Next Page >>