‘Mercy is nobler than law and it can have priority over law’

“Mercy is nobler than law and it can have priority over law “, said Justice Krishna Iyer. In his today’s article appeared in the HINDU made a fervent plea to in favour of Dr Binayak Sen. He stressed that the technicalities of law in case of Dr Sen overlooked the cardinal vision of the rule of law. Justice Iyer said Every instance of criticism that seeks to expose a government’s operation against the people and their liberties is not a bid to overthrow it.That is not sedition but a patriotic mission on account of public commitment. Good things done with admirable motivation ought to be given recognition in giving a fair deal to an accused.
It may be difficult for many what Justice Krishna Iyer said. He, however, raises an interesting issue for discussion. It relates to clemency jurisdiction in certain cases. To what extent and in what kind of case the clemency jurisdiction could be applied. Mercy is nobler than law and it can have priority over law.
This issue is sure to gain momentum as the oppressive strategies of the state are bound to be intensified in a climate where people tend to get polarized to voice their concern in their protest for social justice. ‘Sedition’ then should not be a term to describe these initiatives. The typical expression of ‘rule of law’ should not be allowed to dictate the rule of life and existence in a free society.

Law & Morality Debate Revisits

On Novemeber 24th of 2010, in Ram Chandra Bhagat vs State Of Jharkhanda bench consisting of Justice M. Katju and Gyan sudha Mishra got divided on the issue of illegality and immorality. The matter in this case has given a new dimension to the oft-seen debate on legality and morality. The SC in most of such cases prefers individual autonomy in these kinds of matter over the impositions of legal sanctions. However, the legislative intent of the Indian Penal Code ( IPC) is not so as the express provisions in the IPC in such kinds of matter are overtly penal.

The Indian Penal Code ( IPC) faces ever increasing social expectations to resolve the issues of a vast range. With the change in the society, the legal interpretations existing in the IPC specially in dealing with the matters of sexual offences and conduct relating to the marriage have undergone significant changes. In the recent past several cases in the higher judiciary have posed tough questions as to the interconnections of legality and morality.

Quashing 23 complaint cases against South Indian actress Khushboo, The SC made very bold remarks in setting out the position of the law on the matters underlining morality and sexual conduct. The SC held in this case that consensual heterosexual relation between adults, including pre-marital sex, is no offence except in cases where the partners are liable to be charged for “adultery”. The Sc finds that “While it is true that the mainstream view in our society is that sexual contact should take place only between marital partners, there is no statutory offence that takes place when adults willingly engage in sexual relations outside the marital setting, with the exception of `adultery’ as defined under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code.”

It further said ‘notions of social morality are inherently subjective and criminal law cannot be used as a means to unduly interfere with the domain of personal autonomy,”

The issues remains as to whether the strict interpretation of the law regardless of moral interpretations ought to be resorted by the court of law on the matter pertaining to the sexual conduct and misconduct of the persons involved. The ‘strict legality stance’ as held by Justice Katju in the above cited case is not free from criticism by the moral positionists like Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra who finds the law, apart from being strict legalistic, should be capable to reinforce the moral interpretations

reducing crime: innovative measures

Reducing Crime : Some Innovative Ways

The state capital (Bhopal in this case) has recently come to be recognized for rising graph of looting incidents. The cases of chain snatching from women in the broad daylight in the crowded areas left police baffling. Interestingly, the police are aware of the general trend of these instances and they have enough clues about the locations most prone for such happenings. But this does not make them prepare any long term planning to arrest these occurrences. Infact, the police do not seem to have any effective strategy to handle this menace. Its not that only Bhopal police is failing on this front. It has a national dimension.

Crime has accelerated markedly in the recent past everywhere, and so have its costs. Nations are spending increasing amounts on health and property as well as on the police, prosecution, court and prisons. Crime control uses up about 5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in developed countries and up to 14 per cent in developing countries, according to recent estimates. But this spending has done little to reverse crime rates or reform offenders. The number of repeat offenders, rates of all serious crimes and level of fear of crime in the community remains discouragingly high. Has something gone wrong with ways and means of containing crimes?

The issue of effective crime prevention and control invariably takes us to the police. When a critical audit of police failure in arresting rising crime rate is made, the whole debate is centred to the fact that necessary reforms in police and its performance could not be undertaken due non implementation of the recommendations of the National Police Commission. This frustrating cycle goes on. Criminologists tend to suggest the theories relating to biology, psychology or social setting responsible for crimes. Such factors are often too vague to enable law enforcement agencies to utilise them for practical purpose. The people and sections of the society, on the other hand, seem to crave for something that could bring an instant and visible check on criminal practices taking place in their immediate environs.

During a study tour to several Universities and police institutions in the UK, it came as a surprise to me that without bothering much about the traditional enemies of criminal justice system like pendency of cases in courts and negative factors affecting policing, the Home Office in the UK has come about a strategy called ‘situational crime prevention’ (SCP) . This approach has changed the face and style of checking crime. The mantra is that as many as eighty percent of crimes are the product of opportunities. By plugging crime-producing opportunities, much of crime can be avoided. Infact, this has been done in most parts of the UK with amazing success. The fall of as much as 25 percent in all crimes has been noted after the introduction of this programme in the UK. To implement the package of situational crime prevention, the UK has become the only country in the world that necessitated a statutory partnership, under Crime and disorder Act, 1998, of all community agencies like health, education, transport, communication and so on. These agencies do need to contribute to the efforts of crime reduction undertaken by the police. Why can’t our police in Bhopal experiment it? Let us see how does this work.

The focus in situational crime prevention remains in the setting and context of crime rather than on criminals. It makes the criminal action difficult by making the target inaccessible through several techniques based on the manipulation of environment and applications of technology. Situational crime prevention uses up-to-date technology, surveillance and building design to ward off potential criminals. The result has been a sharp rise in the private policing and security industries, increased surveillance by local residents or non-police professionals and the widespread use of technical aids, such as closed-circuit television and speed cameras. Ronald Clarke’s book ‘Oportunity makes the thief’ facilitated new era in crime reduction. The core premise in this approach was that the crime reduction is possible if the opportunities for crime are significantly reduced. Strategies in situational crime prevention are in five ways: increasing the effort needed to commit the crime; increasing the risks associated with the crime; reducing the rewards of crime; and removing excuses or creating embarrassment. Based on these are some widely practiced techniques that the police and institutions jointly undertake to reduce crime.

Target hardening
Securing the target with the help of technologies, designs and tactics is called target hardening. This is also about making targets more resistant to attack or more difficult to remove or damage. Virtually every house in the UK has an alarm system. The police undertake periodic survey to advise community members on fitting or upgrading window and door locks, installing an alarm system, putting in stronger doors or more secure windows, or improving the fencing around a home. In their work, popularly known as, ‘fixing broken window’ in the U.S., James Q. Wilson and George Kelling have explained as to how a sense of neglect of community in terms its upkeep and order result in a range of crimes. Restoring order, in terms of fixing broken windows, does boost crime reduction efforts.

Simple things like these have a major effect. The use of a slur rejecter devise has significantly reduced the use of slur in parking machines and London Underground trains. Likewise, the use of transparent screen and anti-bandit screens are considered to have cut down assaults incidence and robberies in the UK by 40 percent.Robberies dropped by 40% in post offices of major cities in the UK when shielding screens were upgraded and made resistant to attack. The Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) has also proved to be an anti shop lifting measure world wise. The measures like use of PIN numbers for accessing bank accounts or computer, installation of entry phones, dialling the code to gain access have considerably cut the incidence of burglary, thefts, and robberies in the UK

Deflecting offenders
One may fail to dilute the basic motivation behind crime. But offenders can surely be removed from the site of likely crime. Deflection is about a logical segregation or exclusion of likely offenders. For instance, the rival groups of fans in football matches in the UK segregated in the stadium to avoid violent clashes. To avoid incidence of brawls in the closing time of pubs, scheduling of last buses with the closing time of pubs has worked significantly. Street closures, separate public facilities for women and rescheduling the conveyance routes at the time of public functions are similar measures.

Controlling facilitators and removing ways to commit crime

In a large number of crimes, there is always something that helps or serves as means to carry out a crime. Making sure that material capable of being used to help an offender commit crime is not accessible also add to crime reduction. Even garden tools, dust bins, and builders’ rubble are not advised to be easily available in the vicinities in the UK. Interestingly enough, studies in the Britain of injury of potential kinds of broken glass have led to recommendations that toughened or plastic material glasses be used in the pubs and beer bars.

Surveillance:
This about making sure that offenders would be visible if they carry out a crime. It has three elements- natural formal and employees’ surveillance: Formal Surveillance is kept by the police, security guards or detective personnel provide this form of surveillance. The use of burglar alarm and CCTV is being prominently used. The UK has the world’s biggest CCTV coverage. Only the London underground metro is covered by more than five thousand CCTV cameras. London city has about 500,000 CCTV cameras. CCTV is a part of people’s life style. Whole of the UK is under the cover of 4.5 million CCTV cameras. This comes about one camera on every 14 people involving one billion pound of expenditures. The tolerance of CCTV camera by the British society is only because it has brought down crime rates of all kinds to its historic low and raised the sense of security in the communities. The next is natural surveillance: There are host of people in a position to observe and see around. They may be neighbours, staff, students or parents, hall hirers, sports clubs or in fact anyone who has a legitimate reason to be on the site. Creating the opportunity to see involves: creation of a surveillance zone through trees and shrubs, where trees are pruned up and shrubs are trimmed down to provide a corridor of visibility; ensuring that shrubs and trees do not shield buildings from nearby premises and roads; ensuring that lighting enhances surveillance by illuminating clearly all buildings and areas in the school and target directed lighting, target hardening, territorial re-enforcement. And the last is informal surveillance that is equally vital. Community members are encouraged to keep vigil and share their security concerns.

Target removal
This is about reducing the vulnerability by shifting or removing the target from risk. The removal of gas oven reduced suicide rates in Britain. The use of phone cards and steel cover in public phones has reduced the attacks on them.

Reducing Pay offs:
Crime can be made gain less by ‘denying benefit’. It definitely discourages criminals. The new technology of computer aided chip and use of pin in credit card has produced good results in denying the benefits to cheaters and frauds. Criminologists in the Leicster University have developed a ‘market reduction approach’ in deterring thieves and burglars or muggers. It involves crackdown on the markets and transactions of stolen goods. The thieves and robbers feel frustrated when all the conduits to sell the stolen goods are blocked. Resultantly, stolen goods have no takers and they become virtually worthless. Recently, the police in the UK have undertaken task of identifying properties. This is carried out by marking or engraving useful details concerning owners and area. This helped the detection of thefts and burglaries. The marking of postcode on goods also give an idea of their location when the same are recovered as stolen goods.

Rule setting:

Messages and slogans displayed on the public spaces have an impact on the people and their behaviour at large. It is a common sight in the UK to find messages like- ‘Only idiots drive while drunk’, Neighbourhood watch scheme operates here’ or ‘CCTV in operation’. Evidences are there to suggest that this leaves tremendous impact on the people and potential criminals.

Designing out crime

The Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) in the UK is engaged in understanding the changes and designs that could be carried out to reduce crimes. The basic idea in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is that the physical environment can be changed or manipulated to produce behavioural effects and changes leading to the resultant reduction in the incidence and fear of crime, thereby improving the quality of life, and enhancing profitability for business.

New Developments
The use of personal alarms, for example, amongst the foreign female students in all urban towns is getting popular as this gives them a confidence that in the event of any street crime or offending advancements the same can be used to attract public attention.A company in Europe has designed e-wears, bags and fashion accessories which protect users against street crime. It designed bags with built in alarms. The bags guard against the four top methods of street theft: ‘dipping’ (by pickpockets), grabbing, lifting and slashing. If grabbed, for example, the strap gives way, allowing the thief to take the bag without resorting to violence. Then it triggers a 138-decibel alarm that they cannot turn off. Further, ‘techno-textiles’ are increasingly being used to foil criminals, with polymers such as Kevlar and Nomex, which are stab-, slash-, and bullet-proof, incorporated into bag and jacket designs. Levi’s has already produced an ‘e-wear’ jacket, in conjunction with Philips. Pioneered at MIT in Boston, ‘e-wear’ has become a strong interest area for electronics and clothing manufacturers. With street crime on the rise, a key issue is the portability and visibility of items such as mobile phones, personal stereos and computers. The Levi’s jacket was an attempt to design a garment that could both carry, with comfort, these items, while protecting the wearer.

One may easily tend to dismiss the ideas discuss above when it comes the turn of India. Need is to pause and think. Many ideas of crime reduction are indeed actionable. Necessary modifications may be needed. If a large number of crimes in India are opportunity specific, then approach illustrated above is bound to work. By undertaking small demonstration and local security survey, the police and criminologists can convince the people and governance that simple things in the pack of target hardening, target removal, denying benefits, engraving properties, deflecting offenders can do wonders. Sensitive and crime prone locations can be kept under vigil by CCTV to avoid any disturbances. Peculiarly in India, this kind of visible crime fighting signals would create a sense of security in the masses. Above all, this would enable us to cut lots of expenditure and reduce congestion of cases in the already burdened courts. Let us wait and watch when such simple but vital things become a reality in our society.

(The author is a Professor National Law Institute University, Bhopal, Contact: gsbajpai@gmail.com)

embedded distrust

It could be debatable as to what extent the contention of  the Supreme Court is correct in holding that  the highest court in the land and the High Courts have the power to order, without the consent of the State government concerned, an investigation by the CBI into cognizable offences committed within its territory.  The contending position is that this would work against the federal structure of the Constitution and violates the doctrine of separation of powers. Invoking CBI intervention is largely the product of distrust as to police. It is difficult for the police to remain completely detached  from the political executive and it is amenable for influence and pressures. The allegations against the CBI being politics are not any lesser. It therefore reinforces the need to insulate the police from state  apparatus and this is high time that the police ought to have an autonomous kind of status.

On Communal Violence Bill

All eyes are set on the fate of proposed Communal Violence Bill.  It was in the news for want of the deficiencies it carried and those were criticised severely by media and activists. I also find the Bill which in its revised form has not yet made public but it seems it is all set to the parliament soon. Given the level ‘awareness’ of hon’ble members of the Houses, it will be through as well. My friend Parantap at CHRI made a fervent to appeal all of us to raise voice against the anomalous provisions of this Bill so that it does not turn out to be anti people and pro-system. I am reproducing his Memo ( issues on behalf of CHRI) for the consideration and action from all quarters.

SUBJECT:
CRITICAL PROVISIONS IN THE PROPOSED LAW ON COMMUNAL VIOLENCE – Communal Violence (Prevention, Control & Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, 2009

DATE: NOVEMBER 17, 2009

1. CV BILL MUST CREATE NEW CRIMES/ OFFENCES, DEFINITIONS AND NEW RULES OF PROCEDURE AND EVIDENCE

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 is inadequate to combat communal violence, failing repeatedly in the past to protect and redress victims of mass crimes or enforce accountability of perpetrators, including the state agencies complicit through acts of commission and omission in mass crimes. The Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill 2009 must take into account the long history of impunity for communal violence, and CREATE NEW CRIMES/OFFENCES to fill the legal vacuum on which the demand for a new law is based. It cannot again rely upon the Indian Penal Code to cover the range of crimes that are committed during periods of communal violence.

Communal violence is a targeted crime and a mass crime, perpetrated on a community of persons. It involves the systematic targeting of a community by reason of their religious/ethnic identity, with the explicit or implicit support and sanction of the state and its functionaries. As such these crimes do not find themselves reflected in the IPC and other extant penal laws. Because of their nature as `targeted mass crimes’, they need to be recognized as such, through the creation of NEW SUBSTANTIVE SECTIONS/DEFINITIONS (drawing upon the concepts of crimes against humanity and genocide, both of which are defined in Annexure A to this memorandum)

There is also a need to formulate new rules of procedure of investigation, criminal prosecution and evidence, taking into consideration the context of communal violence, and the new crimes/offences defined by this Bill.

2. COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY

When persons in positions of official power (civil or military) have it in their command to prevent the eruption of communal violence, or to stop its continuance, the responsibility for the eruption, or continuance, of violence can be traced to such public authorities with power. This extends in particular to people in political leadership of the executive, to the civil magistracy, administrative officers or bureaucrats and the police. The penal law, as is stands, does not provide for prosecuting or punishing such public authorities/public servants. In contrast it provides legal immunity to these public servants. This is despite increasing evidence that the violence is planned, or that situations are used to generate or perpetuate targeted violence, by a mastermind(s) in positions of public authority. The principle of `Command responsibility’ has to be incorporated into the law if the architects of violence are to be drawn into a legal scheme of punishment and deterrence. Command Responsibility should pin criminal liability to the person, civilian or military, under whose command the crimes occurred.

The law should explicitly recognize and punish communal crimes that result not just from active participation or abetment of state authorities, but also crimes of omission, or what may be described as ‘culpable inaction’.

3. ACCOUNTABILITY OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS

The earlier Bill – Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, 2005 – fails to enforce state accountability for acts of omission and commission by the state agencies and functionaries. It does not make inroads into the complete impunity that state agencies enjoy for misdeeds of omission and commission, because of the requirement of prior sanction from the government for prosecution. Such a condition serves to ensure that State agencies will continue to enjoy immunity even after the passing of the Bill, thus nullifying the Bill’s own stated commitment to the principle of State accountability. The presumption that the public officials acted in good faith in the light of their proven complicity repeatedly in situations of communal violence is incomprehensible and will only serve to shield the guilty.

4. SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND PROVIDE FOR GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE:

a. Include new crimes within the Bill rather than work within the framework of the penal provision on rape. Given the type of violence against women that has been documented in recent times in India, of sexual crimes such as public and mass acts of sexual violence including cutting off breasts and uterus, forced nudity, stripping and parading women naked, forcible pregnancy, exhibiting sexual organs in the presence of women and mutilation of women’s genital organs, we submit that incorporating rape alone as a crime would be grossly inadequate and would not capture the various kinds of violence inflicted on women in communal situations.
 We therefore recommend inclusion of a new crime – Sexual Violence
 And within the category of Sexual Violence, to redefine the crime of Rape
(Please find suggested definitions in Annexure A to this memorandum)

b. In relation to the crime of RAPE, a new definition rather than the existing IPC definition to be used in the Bill. This is because the present definition of ‘rape’ as stated in S. 375 of the Indian Penal Code has been inadequate to respond to crimes against women committed in recent incidents of communal violence. We reject the said definition, as it is grossly inadequate even to respond to sexual violence in ‘normal, peacetime’. Women’s organizations, National Commission for Women and the Law Commission of India have been debating revisions in the IPC definition of rape. A Draft Sexual Assault Bill that provides for an expanded definition of Rape is under consideration and debate.
(Please find suggested definitions in Annexure A to this memorandum)

c. Develop evidentiary standards appropriate to the context of a communally charged and violent situation for proving sexual violence. This is particularly in view of the fact that in situations of communal violence, women’s access to police stations (for lodging FIR), government hospitals (for medical examinations) and the confidence / ability to pursue legal procedures is substantially reduced during the period of the violence and till the return to a safe and non hostile environment for the survivors of the violence. Hence, appropriate evidentiary and procedural standards are imperative and should include the following:
 All investigation should be conducted in a gender-sensitive manner
 Delays in reporting should be condoned in view of the extraordinary circumstances and no adverse inference should be drawn of this delay
 Medical evidence should not be insisted upon as a corroborative evidence
 Uncorroborated victim’s testimony could form the basis for conviction provided it inspires the confidence of the court
 Delay in lodging an FIR should not impact the case in any manner
 Consent to sexual act as a defense to the perpetrator should be specifically excluded
 Admission of evidence of prior or subsequent sexual conduct of a victim of sexual violence should be explicitly prohibited
 Sexual violence in a communal situation should be equated to custodial rape as mob exercises complete control and is in a position of authority.
 Hence, the Bill should as in cases of custodial rape provide for enhanced punishment and also shift the burden of proof from the victim to the perpetrator
 Victim / witness protection regime for survivors of sexual violence.
 Special efforts to be made to conduct the trial in a gender sensitive environment to ensure that the consequent trauma is diminished

5. CO-RELATION BETWEEN CRIMES AND DISTURBED AREA IS FALSE, DANGEROUS AND UNTENNABLE AND MUST NOT FIND PLACE IN A LAW ON COMMUNAL VIOLENCE

It must be emphasized that crimes that are crimes by definition in law do not have to bide a declaration of an area as a `disturbed area’ by a government. The declaration (or notification) as a disturbed area may have some significance in the nature of executive powers that may be assumed – and this is still a subject that needs deeper deliberation – or for establishing the relationship between the Centre and the States in relation to such `disturbances’. But they cannot determine when an act amounts to an offence. Stated otherwise, while the `scale’ of the violence may be relevant for deciding whether it falls within a special law on communal and targeted violence, that scale cannot be linked to the temporality of an executive declaration. This is especially so since the declaration may follow upon aggravated acts of targeted violence.

6. REPARATIONS

Any proposed law on Communal violence must use the concept of reparations (rather than relief), which includes rescue, relief (including establishing relief camps for as long as affected people feel insecure), compensation, restitution, rehabilitation including assistance of soft loans and land allocations to rebuild livelihoods and shelters to levels not less than before the violence and inconformity with the wishes of the affected persons, and the reconstruction of places of worship destroyed in the violence. Reparations to be an inviolable, legally enforceable right of the victim-survivor, and according to objective norms and scales that are binding on all governments. Provide for a national framework/policy of entitlements (specifically compensation) for victim-survivors of communal violence (rather than leave it to discretion at the state level)

7. INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT

The Bill must acknowledge rights of internally displaced persons who face forced displacement due to communal violence. Reparations should be provided in conformity with international standards for internally displaced persons, including the UN guidelines on Internal Displacements. These Guidelines must be domesticated through adoption of a policy to this effect (namely, a National Policy on Internal Displacement due to violence/unrest, as distinct from a National Policy on Internal Displacement due to “development” and “land acquisition”), and some nodal agency be constituted, so that all internally displaced persons have a justiciable framework of entitlements to protect them.

8. WITNESS PROTECTION & LEGAL AID

Substantive provisions for victim / witness protection that focuses on safety, physical and psychological well-being, privacy and dignity. Incorporate comprehensive provisions on protection of victims and witnesses, in consonance with recent Supreme Court judgments and directives and Law Commission report. Such provisions should focus on safety, physical and psychological well-being, dignity and privacy of victims and witnesses, particularly in cases of sexual or gender violence. The provisions should include medical assistance, counseling and psychological support, protection of the identity of victims and witnesses, ensuring a congenial atmosphere in the open court for the woman to give her testimony (while providing her with the option of an in camera trial), and stringent punishment for persons who intimidate/ coerce a woman to give a false testimony. Legal aid to victims and accused.

missing four things

Could you think about what have you lost recently? Loosing certain things may make you little impoverished. But loosing certain things surely make us deficient. Well, my analysis says that we as human beings have lost or forgotten four major things: love, laughter excitement and trust. It is difficult to trust anybody. It is lot more confusing when you do not know a person. When the trust is lost as part of our persona, we  get shrunk as human.. Small things do not make you excite. We tend to take everything very seriously.  You cannot find magic moments in trivialities of life around you. Laughter is kept under control, as we tend to live more individually. May be after few decades you will have laughing pictures in museum to suggest that our ancestors knew how to laugh. We are given to grow alone and we are very meticulous as person but we can’t work in a group or team as we can’t share empathy, love and trust. Even saying ‘hello’ needs lot of ice breaking. Indians hardly talk to strangers whereas any foreigner takes a moment to say you ‘hello’ with smile. From this Valentine Day and on – live for love, laughter excitement and trust !!!!

Farewell Messages

After all judges are not  precluded from seeking justice.  Justice Shah made us emotional. More than the anguish that he expressed  on his  not being elevated to the apex court, the  entire episode  reinforces the need to have  a more transparent procedure of  promotion. But the postionists  would not allow it  to happen. They will resist RTI and everything that challenges the  invisible wall created to keep all commoners away from the imperial gates of entrance. Some mechanism to ensure internal democracy in the judiciary is not a far-fetched idea. Justice Shah had to wait till the last day of his service career to tell the world what   was boiling in him. He was surely blocked by the strong sub culture prevailing in the judicial system which hates dissenting voices. Ironically enough, the best ideas from judges and senior bureaucrats are invariably offered   when   they   are not in their offices. And this is the time when they are truly in good position to promote such ideas more effectively.

everone can’t be a Rancho

Everyone can’t be a ‘Rancho’. “3 Idiots” gives lot of food for thought to revamp the system. Question everything. Raise issues. Fight imposition. But remember Rancho was filming it with a script. Lessons from movie do not fit straight to the life as film takes from life but life does not follow film. Film exploits your insecurities and convinces you hugely. The path of life is a script under preparation. Many now asked if education as shown in ‘3 idiots’ way is a total farce and it offers nothing practically. Good question..but every practice is based on some theory. And being correct on theory and principles is quintessential for a correct grooming. Yes, the syndrome- “I quit” is bad. Education must not be a pressurizing tool. Rather it ought to challenge the minds. I believe, more than education itself, it’s the manner in which the education is delivered becomes importance. Educators matter. Teaching makes education dull or exciting. Recognizing the genius of everyone is supreme. Idiotism also sounds innocent but education has the capability to transform it. Every genus is some time behaves like an idiot and the vice versa. After all these statuses are not always fixed. But if you think this much, you can’t enjoy a movie. Choice is yours.

on laws and people

……we live in the world of laws.  Though the Law and justice seem to be distancing with common men. And this is not happening inadvertently. The functioning of law and legal institutions was designed to be elite to keep the common folk away from the ‘majesty’ and ‘magic’ of law and justice. People, by and large, seeking redressal of their grievances from laws have got disillusioned. But some interests are served even in this process. The biggest challenge remains to bring the laws closer to the people and making them an instrumentality for resolving their day-to-day issues. By the way, have you ever thought of some ‘kiosk’ kind of mechanism working right in your locality to suggesting  you in a quite friendly manner the legal help you can have for you problem. The justice seeking  should be as easy to get as cash withdrawl from ATM machine. Sounds weird. But that’s the crux. Simplifying the justice procedure ought be a mission. Surprisingly, not much thinking   on this issue exists. 

The mission my blogging is to document some radical and path breaking ideas to bring the justice dispension machinary closer to the people. The idea is also to document the best practices from world over that suggest some new beginings in showing as how the laws have added new light to the lives of people. I invite you express as freely as you can for an idea that forces you, drive you but does not form part of  the books and literature that you study.  Let us have an unfetterd exchange of ideas.