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General Forum: Govt. and Politics | | Court ANNA INDIA 2 in 1 25122011.doc | |
| Team Anna gets a lesson in democracy
By Sadaf Modak | www.telegraphindia.com – 1 hour 40 minutes ago
Mumbai, Dec. 23: The judiciary today spoke up for the legislature and the democratic process in a far more full-throated and cogent manner than what the executive and Parliament have managed in recent months.
"How is the country's interest involved? We are a democratic set-up. We have elected a government. Wouldn't our intervention interfere in the functioning of Parliament?" a two-judge bench of Bombay High Court asked a petitioner who wanted rent on a ground waived so that Anna Hazare can sit on a three-day fast against the Lokpal bill tabled in the House yesterday.
The bench of Justices P.B. Majmudar and Mridula Bhatkar shot off question after question touching upon the fundamental principles of lawmaking, democratic responsibilities and corrective avenues, the supremacy of Parliament, the use of sweeping phrases like public interest and the rights of citizens who do not want to take part in protest programmes. (See chart above)
Displaying striking clarity and logic that seem to often desert the government, the court said: "We can't allow parallel canvassing when Parliament is seized with debate on the bill. You can propagate the bill sitting at home. Till now, the bill has not been passed. No one knows what form and what features it will have. Is public debate permissible at this stage?"
The questions were all the more striking as they came from the judiciary, which has been giving several anxious moments to the executive over the past few months.
At the root of the dispute was an issue far less profound than constitutional propriety but a habit as rampant as corruption: seeking discounts on assets owned by the public.
Supporters of Hazare had approached the court to get the rent waived for the ground owned by the state-run Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
The court not only disallowed the freebie but also raised the larger questions that ' had they come from any other platform ' would be termed "heresy" in the current atmosphere of drowning out dissent in disdain.
Not that some muted potshots were not taken. Without explicitly mentioning the high court order, film-maker Shekar Kapur tweeted: "Legal tech objections to Anna movement remind me of how British responded to Gandhian movements."
"If Anna took d streets like Gandhi did in Dandi March, India would come 2 a stop as millions will march w/him," another tweet from the same handle said.
That forecast ' or implied threat ' is unlikely to go wrong. Already, more than 33,000 people, including 378 from Calcutta till 9.30pm, have registered themselves to take part in a jail bharo movement that will start a day after Hazare's three-day fast ends on December 29. It will be a cakewalk for Team Anna to fill the 50,000-capacity MMRDA ground for which it has agreed to pay now. (See chart)
For seeking the waiver, Team Anna had cited another excuse often misused by many: "national interest". To which the court asked: "How is the country's interest involved?"
Team Anna said the money (over Rs 13 lakh), which was deposited with the officials in the evening, would be raised through donations payable by cheques and demand drafts.
Team Anna later conceded that it was a mistake for the group to have approached the court for a waiver or a discount but did not comment on the larger observations. Hazare said he would have dissuaded his supporters if they had sought his advice. - - - www.rambabu.741.com and rambabu_d2004@yahoo.co.in http://www.medi-e-HEALTHCARE.0catch.com/
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I am not fully following the LATEST DEVELOPMENTS ON THE LOKPAL MATTER, JUST AS I WAS NOT FULLY INTERESTED IN THE CONTENTS OF OBAMA's HEALTH POLICY.
I AM CURRENTLY and AM IMMEDIATELY TERRIBLY BUSY ON ANOTHER WELFARE FRONT.
HUMAN NATURE IS TO SOME EXTENT GUIDED BY FAITH and my witness example is : a villager travelling in the train with two kids sprawled on the bare floor of a FULLY PACKED TRAIN; HIS FAITH, MAY BE, SOME CALL IT RELIGIOUS IGNORANCE and/or EXTREEMISM --- IN THE LORD VENKATESWARA of the SEVEN HILLS.
SIMILAR IS THE FAITH WITH ANNA OR EVEN GANDHI. I DO NOT MYSELF QUESTION THAT FAITH.
IN A FUNCTIONAL DEMOCRACY, PARLIAMENT CANNOT HAVE AN EXCLUSIVE ROLE and/or A PREROGATIVE ROLE IN PREVENTING THE PEOPLE [ CITIZENRY, IMMIGRANTS and/or EVEN FOREIGNERS ] TO DISCUSS ANY MATTER ANY TIME IN SO FAR AS CERTAIN CONSTITUTIONAL CHECKS and BALANCES IN FREEDOMS ARE ALREADY IN PLACE.
TO MY SO CALLED LEARNT MIND, EVEN CONTEMPT OF COURT IN CERTAIN OF THESE MATTERS IS A TOTAL FARCE, PRESUMING COURT ITSELF CANNOT ASSUME TO ITSELF A "WISE MAN's ROLE". IN A LEARNT SOCIETY, PREVENTION IS SOME TIMES TERRIBLY BETTER THAN CURE WHICH CURE SOME TIMES EVAPORATES INTO SOME THING VERY VERY elusive because ultimately MONEY POWER and muscle is CONTROLLING US ALL INTO DISDAIN NOT ONLY TODAY, BUT OVER AGES. THAT's WHY ALL RELIGIOUS THOUGHT IS CENTERED ON PREVENTION.
MAHATMA GANDHI HIMSELF ONCE WARNED THE BRITISH TIME COURT IN THE OPEN COURT ITSELF.
WHY DO NOT ALL OF YOU GET AN INKLING OF CLEOPATRA's ROLE and the wise men's DISCUSSION IN THOSE DAYS ?????
Posted by: Mr. RAMBABU DEVALRAJU At: 25, Dec 2011 6:04:09 PM IST
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