Supreme Contempt of Supreme Court

A Supreme Court Bench comprising Hon'ble Justices B N Agarwal and P P Naolekar created history yesterday when they imposed a STAY on the proposed Bandh of DMK and its allies in Tamilnadu on 1 October, 2007. I am saying 'they created History' not only because they gave a majestic order defending the ordinary and natural rights of more than 1 billion common and helpless people of India but also because that they came forward to give a public hearing on a Sunday to the Counsel of the AIADMK Gurukrishna Kumar, Subrmonium Prasad and N Jyoti. The Supreme Court also made it clear through the fearsome tone, spirit, and letter of its order rooted in Law, Equity and Natural Justice that they cannot be intimidated by the ever fleeting and fluctuating opinions of different political parties holding briefs for the moment.

Justice B N Agarwal Justice P P Naolekar THE HEROIC SAVIOURS OF THE PEOPLE

The AIADMK in the Special Leave Petition (SLP) contended that the proposed Monday (1 October 2007) Bandh sought to be enforced by the DMK and its allies was unconstitutional and violative of the apex court's directive on the issue. Seldom does the apex court take up for open hearing on any matter on Sundays and holidays unless the issue involved is of grave importance. The petitioner submitted that the Bandh was unwarranted as the matter relating to the Ram Sethu project was already pending before the apex court.

Hon'ble Justice B N Agarwal and Hon'ble Justice P P Naolekar covered themselves with everlasting glory when they stated: �So long as the 1998 Judgement of this Court remains, you cannot call for a Bandh, which has been completely prohibited. Your object is to stop everything to show your might and solidarity. We cannot tolerate this. Public right is superior to party rights.� During the course of this historic hearing on Sunday, the Supreme Court put the following unanswerable questions to A K Ganguly, Counsel for the DMK: a) Your protest is against whom? The Project, the Central Government or against the Supreme Court? b) Why do you want to close all educational institutions and commercial activities? c) Where will you then find the people for your meetings?

The Madras High Court on the Writ Petitions filed by the AIADMK and Dr Subramanian Swamy had held last week that the petitioners had a prima facie case to show that the call given by the DMK and its allies was only for a 'Bandh'. Upholding this finding, the Supreme Court declared: �We are also prime facie of the view that the combined call given by the political parties�the DMK, the Congress, the CPI, the CPI (M), and the PMK�is only for a 'Bandh' and not for a hartal or a strike.

Dead Koyambedu bus-stand on 1-10-2007 (Government Bandh)

If it is a Bandh then it is a breakdown of the Constitutional machinery. Your own resolution says that the programme on 1 October, is intended to ensure complete cessation of all activities, then how can you say it is not a Bandh?� The Bench brushed aside the claims of the State and the DMK that what was essentially intended was a public meeting. The Supreme Court Bench, by an order of Injunction, restrained the respondents from proceeding with the call for a 'Bandh' on October 1, 2007 or on any other date in terms of the 24 September resolution. The Supreme Court Bench, in clear and categorical terms, told Mr Ahmed (the Counsel for the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police): �Whatever the political parties had called for, you have permitted them by issuing certain directions on 27 September, 2007. By doing so, you (The State) have failed in your Constitutional Duty to protect the rights of citizens. If it comes within the realm of a Bandh, it has to be stopped. There is a breakdown of the constitutional machinery if you (State) don't do that to stop the Bandh.

Defying Supreme Court order on 1-10-2007 (Pls see the 'Bandh' notice on the bus)

There cannot be any doubt that the fundamental rights of the people as a whole cannot be subservient to the claim of fundamental right of an individual or any section of the people. � We have come to this stage in the country that everything has to be monitored, hammered or directed by courts. Even orders of the Supreme Court are not observed, what to talk of the High Courts. Ninety-nine per cent of the High Court orders are not complied. In our country, we have come to a stage where everything has to be dealt with an iron hand. Nothing moves even after our orders. We have to issue contempt and monitor. Things have come to this stage. When even Orders of the Supreme Court are not complied with, what to talk of the High Courts where 99 per cent of the orders are not obeyed. Do not play with fire. If you do (go ahead with the bandh), it is illegal as per law laid down by the Supreme Court.�

In spite of the clear orders of the Supreme Court, it has been reported that the DMK party and its partners are not allowing shops and commercial establishments to be kept open from this morning (1October 2007). Government-owned buses are not plying. Koyambedu Bus Terminus wears a deserted look. Common people are complaining that the Government of Tamilnadu is fully supporting the DMK and its allies to defy the orders of the Supreme Court. They are of the view that the Government of Tamilnadu and the DMK Party acting together as two sides of the same coin are guilty of supreme contempt of the Supreme Court of India. This morning I went to the General Hospital in Chennai to study the situation. More than 200 people who had come for emergency treatment complained that they were not able to get any public transport to reach the Hospital because of the attitude of defiance of the Supreme Court Order by the Tamilnadu Government. I then went to the Central Station and found that many passengers were stranded without public transport. The DMK Party and the Tamilnadu Government are guilty of supreme contempt of the Supreme Court of India on the one hand and supreme contempt of the common people of Tamilnadu on the other.

In order to politically defy the ban orders of the Supreme Court of India, Karunanidhi and his allies have declared a 'farcical fast'�ridiculously ludicrous. This view has been effectively voiced by the AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha who has clearly declared that the DPA fast amounts to contempt of the orders of the Supreme Court of India imposing a ban on the Bandh on 1 October, 2007. She has demanded the dismissal of the DMK Government in Tamilnadu for having violated the Constitutional Orders of the Supreme Court of India.

This morning, the Supreme Court has declared: �There is a complete breakdown of constitutional machinery in the State of Tamilnadu�. They have told the UPA Government 'NOT TO SHY AWAY' from the extreme step of dismissing the DMK Government in the larger interest of survival of the 'State' and the Indian Constitution.

I spoke to Smt Chandralekha, State President of the Janata Party. She said that the DMK party and the Tamilnadu Government are acting in chorus to defy the orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India with shameless contempt, in spite of very strict warning given by the Hon'ble Judges of the Supreme Court.

Shame is viewed by the DMK and all its allies as 'superstitious and irrational' and Shamelessness as 'rational and scientific'. Though I am no poet in Tamil, yet in this context.I am reminded of the following roaring words of Mahakavi Bharathi suitably readapted to suit the present situation in Tamilnadu:

The people of Tamilnadu are feeling helpless and wretched. The best tribute I can pay to the DMK, the Congress, the CPI (M), the CPI and the PMK for their exemplary (!) political conduct, worthy of emulation by the succeeding generations, can only be in the words of Edmund Burke (1729-1797): �The poorest being that crawls on earth, contending to save itself from injustice and oppression, is an object respectable in the eyes of God and man. But I cannot conceive any existence under heaven (which in the depths of its wisdom tolerates all sorts of things) that is more truly odious and disgusting than an impotent, helpless creature, without civil wisdom or military skill, without a consciousness of any other qualification for power but his servility to it, bloated with pride and arrogance, calling for battles which he is not to fight, contending for a violent dominion which he can never exercise, and satisfied to be himself mean and miserable, in order to render others contemptible and wretched�.

There is an eternal clash all the time between the Majesty of Law and the Prevarications of Party Politics. This was beautifully brought out by the English Poet W H Auden (1907 � 1973) through the following lines of his great poem:

Law, says the judge as he looks down his nose,

Speaking clearly and most severely,

Law is as I've told you before,

Law is as you know I suppose,

Law is but let me explain it once more,

Law is The Law.

Yet law-abiding scholars write:

Law is neither wrong nor right,

Law is only crimes

Punished by places and by times,

Law is the clothes men wear

Anytime, anywhere,

Law is Good morning and Good night.

And always the loud angry crowd,

Very angry and very loud,

Law is We,

And always the soft idiot softly Me

Others say, Law is our Fate;

Others say, Law is our State;

Others say, others say

Law is no more,

Law has gone away.,.

--- V SUNDARAM
(The writer is a retired IAS officer)

e-mail the writer at vsundaram@newstodaynet.com

http://www.newstodaynet.com/2007sud/oct07/011007.htm

Priyaranjan Das Munshi's Mahatma Gandhi!

It is well known that the Supreme Court had stayed on 30 September, 2007 the Bandh called by the DMK and its allies on 1October, 2007. Despite this, there was a virtual freeze on normal life in Tamilnadu on Monday ( 1 October, 2007). The DPA leaders observed a hunger strike on Monday. Their unions and cadres disrupted most of the public services across the State. When this fact was mentioned before the Supreme Court yesterday (1October 2007), the Supreme Court severely criticized the DMK Government for its failure to maintain essential services during the day and warned that if it did not comply with its order staying the Bandh, it would not hesitate to direct the Central Government to impose President's Rule in Tamilnadu.

The Supreme Court Bench comprising Hon'ble Acting Chief Justice B N Agarwal and Hon'ble Justice P Sathasivam observed: �If there is no compliance with our order, it is a complete breakdown of the constitutional machinery. We will then have to direct the Government to impose President's Rule. If this is the attitude of the DMK Government, the UPA Government should not feel shy of dismissing it and imposing President's Rule�. The Hon'ble Judges posed the following questions:

a) Is this a Government?

b) Is this the Tamilnadu Government?

c) Is this the DMK Government, a strong ally of the UPA Government?

Irrelevant!	Relevant!

No honourable citizen in Tamilnadu or the rest of India was left in doubt about the fact that yesterday's Bandh was organized, controlled, supervised and directed by the DMK party and the Government of Tamilnadu, defying the ban orders of the Supreme Court of India in the most contemptible and condemnable manner. Even after the Supreme Court warned the Tamilnadu Government that it would not hesitate to direct the Centre to impose President's rule if the State fails to comply with its order on Bandh, the 'most laughable' Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the Union Government, pooh poohed the observations of the Supreme Court, wafting no less contempt towards the Supreme Court, when he said: �We would do nothing to 'hurt' the DMK-led Government. We are committed. They (DMK) are part of our Government. We will not disturb the state government remotely, directly or explicitly. Chief Minister M Karunanidhi is one of the stalwarts, not just of the DMK, but of the entire country. The fast is not violating the court order. This is a non-violent response showing respect to Mahatma Gandhi's ideals a day ahead of his birth anniversary.�

Some days ago Karunanidhi had the temerity to accuse in public that Lord Rama is a drunkard and a debauched character. Such a great and patriotic 'Hindu' leader of global stature has been compared with Mahatma Gandhi�the Father Of Our Nation�yesterday by Priyaranjan Das Munshi, the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting. Shamelessly, he has said that the ideals of Karunanidhi are in keeping with the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi. Let us put his learned comparison, perhaps fully backed by the official might of the Government of India, to ordinary lay man's scrutiny.

a) Mahatma Gandhi was a great devotee of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna. He worshipped the Ramayana and the Bhagavad Gita. Rama Nama and Ram Rajya were for Gandhi synonymous terms. Addressing a prayer meeting in New Delhi on 25 May, 1946, Mahatma Gandhi said: �Rama Nama should come from the heart. In that event, Rama Nama could become an effective remedy against all ailments. A man who believes in Rama Nama would not make a fetish of the body but would regard it as a means of serving God. And for making it into a fit instrument for that purpose, Rama Nama is the sovereign means. To install Rama Nama in the heart requires infinite patience. It might even take ages. But the effort is worthwhile. Rama Nama cannot come from the heart unless one has cultivated the virtues of truth, honesty and purity within and without.�

Karunanidhi has always hated RAMA because his mentor Periyar hated him. He enthusiastically supported Periyar when he put a garland of shoes and chappals on the statue of Lord Rama in the 1950s. Even if this belongs to the past, Karunanidhi in his present official capacity as Chief Minister of Tamilnadu has gone out of his way to revive this glorious Periyar memory and tradition by making the most uncivilized attack on Lord Rama by calling him a drunkard. Perhaps, Priyaranjan Das Munshi (with a full tacit approval of anti-Hindu Sonia Gandhi) is of the view that this anti-Rama ideal of Karunanidhi is on par with the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi! In this context, it will not be out of place to mention the fact that M F Hussain is known for his slandering of Hinduism through his nude paintings of Hindu Gods and Goddesses. M Karunanidhi, the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, is trying to match the splendid Hindu-hating performance of M F Hussain through his classical Tamil words.

b) Mahatma Gandhi was an 'Apostle of Non-violence'.

Dr. Subramanian Swamy, President of the Janata Party has said: �It is abominable for Priyaranjan Das Munshi to compare Karunanidhi with the Father of Our Nation. Karunanidhi is the anti-thesis�in letter and spirit�of Mahatma Gandhi. Karunanidhi was a primary accused in the murder case relating to the beastly attack on Smt. Indira Gandhi during her visit to Madurai in 1979. Moreover following the indictment by the Jain Commission, the Multi-disciplinary Investigation Team and the CBI initially viewed Karunanidhi as a prime suspect in the murder of Rajiv Gandhi�.

c) When we got our independence on 15 August, 1947, every public office in India was open to Mahatma Gandhi. Yet, Mahatma Gandhi chose to remain in Noakhali District in East Bengal in the larger interest of Hindu-Muslim unity. His was a life of supreme sacrifice. He never chased any public office through unscrupulous political alliances and coalitions.

Perhaps, Priyaranjan Das Munshi is overawed by the supreme sacrifice (!) of Karunanidhi in the same way in which millions of our countrymen came under the spell of Mahatma Gandhi in the days of our struggle for freedom. According to him, the track record of Karunanidhi is in no way less glorious than that of Mahatma Gandhi.

d) Mahatma Gandhi insisted upon the highest standard of personal integrity, simplicity and purity of mind, body, conduct, heart and soul. The whole of India knows that the slavish congressmen today consider Sonia Gandhi as a spiritual representative of Mahatma Gandhi. Perhaps Priyaranjan Das Munshi sincerely believes that Karunanidhi has not only maintained the spiritual political tradition of Mahatma Gandhi but also enriched it in every sense of the word through his long track record of selfless sacrifice, simplicity, integrity, purity and exemplary character. In short, Priyaranjan Das Munshi deserves lasting glory (!) for comparing the deathless idealism of Karunanidhi with the mortal idealism of immortal Mahatma Gandhi. The whole world is fully aware of the grand track record of Karunanidhi in these vague 'superstitious' and 'irrational' areas of immaterial virtue and rectitude.

To quote the words of Tiruvan-miyur Hanuman: �It has always been the habit of INC, i.e. Indian Nehru Congress or Indira Nehru Congress or Italian National Congress to insult Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation. The Nehru family, the private proprietor of the Congress party, has inherited unduly and undeservedly the brand name of 'Gandhi' with the sole aim of hoodwinking the people of India. The Congress Party has been practicing the kind of politics which is exactly the opposite of the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. Similarly, the DMK and their allies in Tamilnadu who are alien to the principles of Mahatma Gandhi, have ruined the State with violence, crime and corruption during the last 40 years. The present Chief Minister Karunanidhi was the first to lift prohibition and to bring the State under a drunken madness, treating the earnest request of Rajaji with utmost contempt. Priyaranjan Das Munshi, one among the sycophants and spineless creatures of the Congress Party, has insulted and caused immense damage to the sacred name of Mahatma Gandhi by equating Karunanidhi with the Father of the Nation. Incidentally, the Italian woman who does not know anything about Gandhiji's principles had recently gone to address the UN Assembly on 'non-violence' which is like adding insult to injury. Mahatma Gandhi must be turning in his grave at Rajghat on his birthday.�

Today is the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. Most of the effete Congressmen clinging to the seals of any stupid public office may not be aware of the great tribute that Albert Einstein (1879-1955) paid to Mahatma Gandhi in 1944: �Mahatma Gandhi confronted the brutality of Western Europe with the simplicity and dignity of an ordinary human being. For centuries to come men will scarce believe that such a man in flesh and blood ever walked on this earth�. Historians of the future, I believe, will look upon this century not as the Atomic Age, but as the Age of Gandhi.

--- V SUNDARAM
(The writer is a retired IAS officer)

e-mail the writer at vsundaram@newstodaynet.com

Hindu judge not allowed to celebrate Diwali in Pak

Islamabad, Nov 10 (ANI): The only Hindu judge and one of the senior-most judges of the Pakistan Supreme Court, Justice Rana Bhagwandas, was not allowed to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, with his family.

Justice Bhagwandas, who refused to take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Ordinance (PCO), spent the day alone under house arrest and solitary confinement.

"I used to celebrate Diwali every year in Karachi with my family, relatives and associates. This year I am not even allowed to celebrate it with my brother or community in Islamabad," the Daily Times quote him, as saying.

On Thursday, the government offered him a mobile squad to escort him on Friday if he wanted to move about in the city, but the city magistrate rejected his request, and asked him to go out of the city, Justice Bhagwandas said.

"I had no plan to leave the city. I just wanted to visit some friends and my brother's family in Islamabad and worship with them but they (the government) did not allow me," he said.

Justice Bhagwandas, who is under house arrest for over a week, said his morale is still high. (ANI)

http://in.news.yahoo.com/071110/139/6n22b.html