”CJI NOT THE MASTER OF ROSTER, CHALLENGES, SHANTI BHUSHAN”
Senior most Advocate and former Law Minister, Shanti Bhushan filed PIL in SC, seeking clarification on the administrative authority of CJI as the”master of roster” and seeking laying down of principles and the procedures to be followed in preparing the roster for allocation of cases to other benches, as reported in a section of press today.
While filing the case on behalf of his father, Mr Prashant Bhushan,also wrote a letter to the Secretary General of SC, stating that the matter should not be listed before the bench that includes CJI, DeepakMisra.
Further, It is also reported that the letter said that it would be appropriate that the case be placed before three senior most judges of SC, for allocating it before an appropriate bench. In the petition the CJI has been named as one of the respondents along with the registrar .
This report shows the sad state of affairs in our top judiciary.

The letter by Justice Chalameswar last week to CJI with copies to all the judges, is sufficient to indicate that the health of the judicial system in India which appears to be in very bad shape and the “independence “ and preeminence of judiciary stands compromised.
The letter of the senior most judge after CJI, asked for a sitting of the full court,-all judges of SC to discuss the matter of CJ of Karnataka HighCourt, Dinesh Maheswari who has also made himself available to be used and trampled upon by Union Law Ministry. In the process law ministry has with the report of justice Maheswari, disregarded and denigrated the SC Collegium which had twice sent the name of the District Judge KrishnaBhat, for elevation to the HighCourt. Infact, SC Collegium had recommended Bhatt’s name for elevation but the law ministry is sitting on the file, even after Bhat’s name has been recommended not once but reiterated its previous recommendation, after allegations levelled against Bhat by some Lady Magistrate were found to be false. Its on record that Previous Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court enquired into the allegations and submitted his report to SC collegium. Acting on the same, Bhats name has been cleared by SC collegium and forwarded to GOI. Law is fairly settled that once SC collegium reinterates any name, GOI has no option but to follow the collegium Recommendation. Curiously, GOI directly writes to the Karnataka CJ, bypassing the SC, the CJ Karnataka acts upon the communication and institutes a second enquiry.

Thus, in my opinion, the CJ Karnataka has committed grave contempt of the SC. Now its to be seen what SC is going to do in that matter…????
Its often said that Public memory is very short. Not long ago, we have witnessed high profile cases having far reaching consequences, being entrusted to Benches to the Choice of CJI. When 4 senior most Judges revolted by going to Press, some remedial measures appear to have taken place, including the allotment of cases to other benches, but major PIL cases are kept with CJI himself.
One Cannot be a Judge of his own case….is a very old saying.
Its curious to note that CJI is hearing cases where allegations are indirectly/directly made against CJI himself, even after the historic press conference of 4 senior most judges, one of them is likely to be next CJI…

It’s shocking to learn that hundreds of HighCourt Judge appointments recommended by SC Collegium are pending with the government for about ,not two months but two years as per the statement of second senior most judge of SC. Sitting on the file indirectly amounts to be a case of Executive arrogance/interference in the business of judiciary, which is against the principles of constitution. The basic feature of Indian constitution is independence of judiciary. There should be some time frame for the Govt to accept or not to accept the Collegium’s recommendations.
The friction between the Executive and Judiciary is not a new phenomenon. DuringMrs Gandhi’s regime also, a single party with majority and strong popular leadership attempted to turn things to its advantage. Executive which has been accused of “Sitting”on judges appointments (a former CJI reduced to tears before PM) despite huge vacancies, and backlog,.
As per the report there are about 230names recommended by top court Collegium as judges of various HighCourts which are kept pending for the past almost two years.
Even in the case of SC two names CJ Of Uttarakhand HC KM Joseph, and a senior Lawyer Indu Malhotra for appointment as top court judges didn’t find favour with the government.

Justice Chalameswar’s letter is a “dire warning about the state of Indian judiciary, which appears to have been seriously compromised by the Executive “”said Mr Dushyant Dave , a view shared byBhushan who lamented that “unfortunately CJ is not doing anything to stop this interference by the government “ But one has to concede that both the Collegium and NJAC Act have their own pit falls,according to the reports,. In the end the suggestion to form an independent full time body to select judges doesn’t inspire confidence.
A middle path needs to be urgently found as crores of cases are pending in various courts including at the appellate level. The present government brought the NJAC through an amendment but it had some inherent flaws and struck down by SC. Besides CJI , two apex court judges after him in seniority, ,NJAC has members including the Union Law Minister and two eminent persons chosen by the committee consisting of CJI ,PM,and leader of the opposition. The main pit fall in this is , that members of the panel were given veto power which means the law minister could throw out any name sent sent to it by judicial side. That might also be the reason why this amendment was struck down.

Viewed from any angle, this sort of grave situation of friction between Government and Judiciary on one hand coupled with unprecedented squabbles within the Judicial system on the hand is not going to do any good for our country. Justice Chalameshwar is retiring in June and two other senior most Judges also before the end of 2018. Justice Ranjan Gogoi who is tipped to be the next CJI is one of the four Judges who openly revolted against the SC CJI and his style of functioning. Its to be seen what the Government is going to do with Justice Gogoi..????
Will he be humiliated like Jayant patel (who ordered CBI enquiry against Amit Shah resulting in Amit Shah being sent to Jail) and go the same way as Justice Jayant Patel…
What Judgement SC is going to pronounce in the case of death of Judge Loya in suspicious circumtances in Nagpur.. (It may be recalled that Judge Loya took strong exception for the absence of Amit Shah in the fake encounter case of Sohrabuddin sheikh & his wife Kausarbi)..

It shouldn’t be long before we see answers to all the above and many other issues…. WATCH…

"Democracy is beautiful in theory, but in practice, it is a fallacy” as per Mussolini. This was what I was remembering when I came to know that the post-budget session was washed out. I'm of the very firm opinion that the leader of the house and treasury benches should take a major part of the blame for the low performance. As I have observed that their efforts to coordinate the house are far from satisfactory and it is unfortunate that even the Speaker has not been proactive in facilitating, the introduction of a no-confidence motion, instead of being mechanically reactive to the ruckus in the Houses. When the entire session seemed to have washed out the speaker could have resorted to the rulebook to bring the house in order. The Speaker’s repeated denials to permit discussions on the motion, proposed by YSRCP, TDP and even Congress, on the pretext of pandemonium in the house, reflected the timidity of the government. But again here let us remember that it is an ill-conceived fact that NDA which had always criticised UPA2, for its anarchy, during sessions followed the same route. Surprisingly it is a comedy that ruling party at the center is planning to go on a hunger strike for a day, to express its displeasure over the opposition parties, role in logjam. Further, it was reported that NDA MPs are going to return their 30 days emoluments under “no work no pay” policy. I think people will understand this type of gimmicks. The Speaker has got power to suspend the members obstructing the proceedings, but that was not done, and in the meanwhile, the house guillotined Rs 24 lakh crores budget without an iota of discussion. I fail to understand, why the government was afraid of motion, having a brute majority? It seemed running away from a debate on budgetary priorities, like persisting problems on agriculture unemployment, industrial slump, rising fuel prices, soaring inflation, hasty implementation of Demonetisation and GST etc.
 The common people of this country do wonder whether this is the type of democracy they wish for. It cannot be imagined that what sort of message this highest lawmaking body is passing on to state legislatures, local bodies, through its present way of functioning.
Therefore this time the onus for failure totally lies with the ruling as the main opposition had remained helpless in the adjournment saga and if this is the type of parliament functioning there is every need to go for a change in the constitution.

It’s no doubt, that entire world is suffering from the spate of fake and propaganda news. In social media, especially in WhatsApp groups, a lot of fake messages are in circulation.I am really pained to say, that I have become victim many times when I was told that it was fake, I expressed sorry also. When the content is appealing and we genuinely feel, others also may enjoy, but when we come to know that it is fake, we feel dejected. I am sorry to say that I have shared one message 2/3days ago which says that our former chief election commissioner Mr. Seshan and his wife passed away, but later I came to know that it was fake, and I felt very bad to know this. But this gag order being the case of journalists,and the fact of the matter is all journalists do not necessarily spread all such news. As I know we see two types of journalists; first boot licking and sycophant journalists who support the government for everything while the second variety subscribes to expose the wrongdoers and the consequences are of little importance. The government could have, therefore, threatened to take away their accreditation, branding them as fake.

In the present context, the explosive growth of social media has unleashed fake news also. However, the key question remains whether the government could dictate terms to the media and decide what is genuine and what is false. Past experience shows that any attempt by the government to gag the media in the name of regulation, has boomeranged, be it the infamous Press bill, of Rajiv, in 1988, or the Emergency restrictions. Therefore self-regulation is way forward to protect the independence of media and uphold the freedom of expression. Actually, with the PM Modi ‘s intervention the I&B Minister Smriti Irani, withdrew the order within 24 hours, laying down new guidelines to punish journalists for creating and spreading fake news. Her directive, evoked widespread criticism as it was seen as an attempt to muzzle and intimidate, the free press ahead of general elections. Though controversial order has been withdrawn, considerable damage has already been done in terms of perception battle.As a matter of fact, the present decision of withdrawal has been the quickest in Indian history. This is the second time Modi government has blinked on a media-related issue. If my memory serves me right, the first was in 2016 when the Ministry put on hold its order to shut down NDTV India for a day in the face of strong and united opposition by the media.

There was a report “PM withdraws order threatening journalists over the fake news” this headline used by a newspaper was quite apt. As rightly observed by former Editor and BJP Minister Arun Shourie, (who is no longer in the good books of the current BJP government as he always stood on the side of the truth) the defunct order issued in the name of I&B Minister, could not have come without clearance by PM or PMO. The order was nothing but a trial balloon to divert media attention from covering burning issues which are affecting the image of Modi and his government. Therefore the PM’s order is a clear sign to Irani who has been aggressively taking on the criticism on social media platforms.The Editors Guild of India has rightly pointed out that the Ministry’s Order would have opened floodgates for frivolous complaints to harass journalists and organisations to fall in line.  And doubts are being raised over the impartiality and independence of the recently constituted Press Council of India.

A very large number of Indians use Facebook and other social media, are really startled to note the breach of personal data of 50 million people across the globe from Facebook through  Cambridge Analytica, a British firm that has employed dubious methods. I feel, this must be a wake-up call for The Indian Govt, as it is supposed to frame comprehensive and a robust data protection law.
Whenever we celebrate something, we generally post it on FB, so that the kith and kin would enjoy. But many people share a lot of personal information on the social media platform not knowing its implications. We don’t even know whether we are victims of this micro-targeting during elections but we should know that our information may not be safe in the hands of a foreign company.
In the last few days, we have seen how both Congress and BJP are busy in trading charges about the alleged links with Cambridge Analytica, and lakhs of social media users in our India are seriously worried that their personal data could have been stolen, misused or even compromised. Whatever explanation FB might be offering, about the data breach, can it conceal the fact that its data safety systems are weak? The fact of the matter is, it has failed to honor the deep trust reposed in it by millions of people, who use it. Now stringent action needs to be taken against the culprits if it is found that the data has been exploited.
And it's an irony that I'm posting grievance against FB on FB.

Today’s newspaper carries a report that for the banks ensuing 3/4days, they are closed due to holidays which in turn may cause a lot of inconvenience to the general public.In fact, the holiday culture is killing the Indian productivity. On an average, the government employees enjoy holidays for more than 72 days excluding sick leave, LTC leave. If we keep aside the forced holidays by politicians, what a criminal waste of time in the name of holidays? In my personal view, the government should declare only 3 national holidays Independence Day, Republic Day,and Gandhi Jayanthi. There should a separate list, of holidays for different religious people for their festivals should be declared and people belonging to a particular religion may be allowed to use the holiday meant for the festival while the other employees belonging to other religion may be allowed to work, which will enhance the productivity. I don’t understand what will Muslims or Christian’s do during Hindu festivals and vice-versus? Except for the father of the nation, the births and death anniversaries of all other national leaders,  the holidays should be cancelled forthwith. The officials should pay tributes standing silence for 2 minutes as a matter of respect, in their respective offices and I'm sure this is the only correct way of remembering the services, of such great people. If the vote bank politics are kept aside, a determined leader like Modi Ji, could certainly prune the unwanted holidays and cultivate the work culture among the employees, for the productivity of the nation.Another practical suggestion of mine is, that instead of a six-day week, all the government offices, should strictly work for 8 hours, in a day, for 5 days in a week, and 2 days weekends may be left for the family enjoyment after pruning unwanted holiday

The BJP led central government is now caught in catch 22 situation after Karnataka government decided to give an independent religion tag to Lingayats. This is definitely a shrewd move by SiddaRamaiah, to split BJP’s Lingayat base,The decision to recommend minority religion tag to the Lingayat community, might have surprised many, and definitely people will say that this was done fir political reasons, but it is quite natural, for party’s survival, and somebody else is in his place, also would have done it.Here the CM prodded some of his ministers to run a vigorous campaign, appointed a committee, got it recommended, to avoid political lapses.But here the the joke of the season is a BJP leader accusing CM of Karnataka, dividing people on communal lines, and this is called pot calling kettle black. Lingayats with Yeddyurappa as leader ,have been BJP’s presumed support base. Siddaramaiah has created a havoc, for BJP by formally approving its demand for a separate religious status. Of course Veerashaivas in Karnataka are opposing it.On the other hand CM has ordered display of portraits of Basavanna in all government offices across the state, as Lingayats follow him and his Vachanas.

Another smart action by CM was, playing the Kannada pride card.He got the signboards in Hindi removed which was welcomed by many .The government also promoted Kannada flag which there hitherto, in the pre-Independence day’s of the Samyukta Karnataka movement.In the last five years, I don’t know whether he did any outstanding work, but is a man of vision ,with no major scam caught up in tenure.It looks he has managed the budgets well ,and populist move of  Indira canteens have won lot appreciation, I believe.

In the circumstances a direct test of strength between Siddaramaiah and Yediyurappa’s BJP can well go in CM’s favour. But here again the main obstacle for him may be the vote-wasting capability of most frustrated politician Deve Gowda, and his JD(s) doesn’t have a hope in hell of getting anywhere near the power, but he could be an effective nuisance .

 We keep hearing TDP leaders right from Union Ministers (former), MPs, MLAs, and spokespersons in TV shows, say or still continue to harp on the same old story, that the AP’s bifurcation was, unscientific, hasty, and unjust. In my view it totally incorrect and far from the truth. The main grouse is no capital, and for this where is the necessity to blame Congress? Did Congress or UPA ask CBN to move immediately, 10 years time was given to construct the capital, but he only left at JET  speed overnight, for the reasons best known to all and sundry?
The root cause behind crying hoarse about the bifurcation was far from scientific traces. Its roots only lopsided development and misplaced priorities, and nothing else. Secondly, the then UPA’s decision, by no measure, could be termed as hasty, as the TRS with all the political parties, were fighting for it for 12 years, and all said and done KCR was on fast unto death, staking his life while all the parties from Andhra gave letters agreeing for it, CBN gave two letters. Let us understand that as a leader of the opposition for 10 years, does he not know how it was to be bifurcated? Why he didn’t attend an all-party meeting to suggest modalities. He was only harping on SAMANVYAYAM and what is that SAMANYAYAM, God only knows as it is BRAHMA PADARTHA, because he never spelled out, the definition of SAMANVYAYAM, fearing the wrath of Andhra people. Finally, I would say that it is not all unjust as the formation of the Integrated state at the time States Reorganisation itself on the basis of language, in1956, was infested enough with discordant voices, and dissenting notes.
Now it is time for AP, TDP to learn lessons of the adverse consequences of heavy centralisation, and initiate adequate preventive measures so as to ward off any separatist tendencies likely to raise their heads henceforth.Already Agitation started for a High Court for Rayalaseema and people, in general, have feeling that it is being neglected.