http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/pollopinions/msid-2464192,curpg-1.cms
Monday, September 24, 2007
Police Torture And Good Governance
Police Torture And Good Governance
By Gladson Dungdung
23 September, 2007
Countercurrents.org
An ordinary thief has been tortured by the Police in Nath Nagar of Bhagalpur of Bihar in style of a crime scene of any Hindi Film which shocked the entire country at a time when the government of Bihar is trumpeting its achievements as good governance. The government took immediate action and punished the two police men involved in the incident to prove its commitment to the good governance. But the Police Men Association and many senior Police officers deny the incident as a case of police torture and are advocating for reinstatement of the two dismissed police men. They argue that the police men tried their best to protect the thief but the crowd did not allow them to do so.
The live telecast by TV News Channels of Allahabad fake police encounter and Bhagalpur incident of Police torture has created commotion in the entire country. But in spite of this there is no any impact on the Bihar police. The cases of Police torture is increasing day by day. Soon after the Bhagalpur incident, the Police of Bikram Police Station of Patna district severely beaten and caused disappearance of an accused Kaushal Kumar and declared him an absconder to save them from the allegation of torture. In another incident the officer in charge of Phulwarisharif Police station broke hands and legs of a footballer Santosh Kumar and extracted his teeth.
The heart breaking incidents of Police torture have taken place near Patna the capital city of Bihar. There are also many incidents of putting minor boys in the police lock up by involving them in false cases. All these incidents are crucial examples of misuse of power by the officials who are responsible for the law and order. They have made a fun of law. After Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister of Bihar there is a rapid increment in cases of Police torture, which had not been seen in the history of Bihar so far.
A Human Rights organization People's Watch has monitored and analyzed the case of police torture in four districts of Bihar i.e. Patna, Bhojpur, Nalanda and Nawada. In this study the cases included are Police torture, fake encounter, torture of women, custodial death, Lathi charge, Police firing and negligence in duty which took place between July 2006 to June 2007. The study reveals that out of the total victims in these cases of Police torture 76 percent victims are male and 24 percent are female.
From the line of caste it shows that 47.5 percent victims are from the Dalit community which is the highest followed by the backward community with 31 percent and 21.5 percent of higher caste. If one looks to all these cases in the occupation wise one finds that 45 percent victims are daily wage labourers. Beside them 9 percent students, 5.4 percent house wives, 3.6 service holders and 38.4 percent victims are from the other walk of life were subjected to police torture.
The study reveals the cases of police torture from the angle of age of victims; the 11.4 percent victims are children of age between 0 to 14 years. The 28.3 percent victims are between age group of 15 to 30, 49.3 percent victims are between age group of 30 to 50 and the rest 11 percent above 50 years were victims of police torture. On the basis of education 30.1 percent illiterate or uneducated are victims of police torture. 10.8 percent highly educated people and 59.1 percent literate or educated has been subjected to police torture.
The most startling fact is that in 47.7 percent cases, perpetrators (police or private persons) have lodged criminal cases against the victims. The 7.2 percent of torture victims have died up till now and 5 percent cases of police torture have been compromised. The study also reveals that highest number of torture case, which is 32 percent took place in the police stations. 27.5 percent at home, 22.6 percent in village or outside village and 17.3 percent elsewhere. The perpetrators are 57.8 percent constables 28.5 percent sub inspectors, 9.8 percent inspectors 2.5 percent Dy SPs and 1.4 percent higher officials. The data clearly shows that the lower ranks in police are responsible for the majority of torture incidents.
Here the question arises that why police inflict torture on the people? The State Director of People Watch and former District & Session Judge Abhaya Shanker Prasad discloses that the main purposes of police torture are to acquire information from the people, punishment to the accused, intimidation and teaching a lesson for future. According to him the police commit fake encounter to get overnight promotion in service, to get reward, and to get high amount of money but some time inhuman act of fake encounters are done under political pressure too.
The society is also not less responsible for the incidents of Police torture. It can be said that the society as a whole has become violent and believe in instance justice. The majority people whether they are Advocates, Teachers, Doctors or common men support the Police torture and also deny human rights without a second thought. They question, what for the police is if not for beating? In such a state how can only Police be blamed for torture? If police torture need to be stopped then every one should be made aware of human rights and torture. One must start practicing the human right within, in the family and in the society. There is a thrust need to work towards the accountable and transparent system of governance so that the very human rights of the people can be protected.
Though a bit of good governance is being seen in Bihar in the regime of the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. But the way cases of police torture and Dalit atrocities are increasing is a big question mark to the existence of good governance in Bihar. Police torture is the worst forms of human rights violation which can not be tolerated. There is highly need for the government to take strong action to stop police torture. The Constitution of India guarantees the right to life, equality, liberty and dignity of individual to its people and the state has duty to protect these rights. The good governance can not be established till the human rights are protected.
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Friday, September 7, 2007
Torture in the context of ‘Right to Life and Dignity’
http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=126210
As long as the police remain enemies of democracy and the rule of law, and friends of those who abuse power and are corrupt, torture will remain a very important ingredient of policing in Asian countries.
FIGHTING TORTURE has been a long standing campaign of many human rights organisations the world over. Supreme Court directives, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) guidelines and official sanctions, have not deterred officials from inflicting torture on individuals in their custody.
Torture has become endemic in the police stations and prisons of
Though Indian government signed the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT) in October 1997, the violation continues and its perpetrators still for the most part enjoy impunity.
So far as many as 144 countries have ratified the CAT and only eight countries, including
Though torture is not specifically prohibited under the constitution, legal safeguards against torture are substantial in
Excluding areas of armed conflict, those who are particularly vulnerable to torture by police include those arrested in criminal investigations and those who have been arrested in order to force the surrender of relatives. The police use torture routinely as part of the investigative process, in order to extract confessions or information, or even to falsely incriminate other individuals.
It has been alleged that the pressure to meet high conviction rates causes police to use torture to extract confessions, which are more likely to produce a conviction in the case. But various studies establish that torture helps us to bring pressure on a person to agree to what we believe as true. In the process the causality is Truth.
Within the country there is public acknowledgment of the problem of torture and strong calls from many areas of society for an end to the practice. Recommendations to combat torture have been made at the highest level by members of the Law Commission, the National Police Commission, the Supreme Court, the NHRC and other bodies.
A broad range of non-governmental organisations campaigning for civil liberties, have been actively monitoring and publishing incidents of torture, and providing support for the victims seeking redress.
Amnesty International India (AII), along with other human rights organisations in the country, has launched a nation-wide movement called "Stamp Out Torture". Observing Anti-Torture day on June 26, it has demanded that the Government of India ratify the CAT, permit UN Special Reporter on Torture to visit
Amnesty International also urged to repeal security/anti-terror legislations that enable culture of torture and culture of impunity in situations of armed conflict.
Impunity is an important factor in the continuing use of torture. The authorities fail to take action against those who torture people, there is a lack of will in the judicial system and among officials to prosecute those responsible for torture; special laws and other measures are in place which give officials and security forces increased powers and protect them from the due process of law.
Amnesty International feels that the threat of terrorism is not new but it does indeed require law enforcement agencies to develop special skills and techniques in policing, investigation and intelligence, including international cooperation. This is needed to avert acts of terrorism, to protect the populations and to bring to justice those who commit or plan to commit such atrocities.
Such techniques need to address the new characteristics of international terrorism as it has developed in the 21st century, such as its use of computers and other new technology. That may require the use of new forensic methods and other law enforcement techniques, but it cannot justify the use of old methods such as torture and ill abuse.
Governments have a duty to protect the public and to take all reasonable steps to prevent acts of terrorism. But they also have a duty to do this within the framework of protecting the human rights of all. Human Rights groups should certainly stand with the victims of torture and terrorism and demands that they receive justice and reparation.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) felt that to eliminate torture, police reform must be given a central place. Ratification of the UN human rights treaties makes no difference to the actual business of using the police as an instrument of brutality. The gap between the ideals proclaimed in constitutions and UN conventions and the day-to-day reality of the routine use of torture coexist. The legislature and even the judiciary of these countries have been unable to take a firm stand to reform and to modernise their police.
AHRC has observed that elimination of torture and the modernisation of police are two sides of the same coin. "As long as the police remain enemies of democracy and the rule of law, and friends of those who abuse power and are corrupt, torture will remain a very important ingredient of policing in Asian countries", it added.
The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) deplored that the use of torture is widespread and is wrongly claimed by the police and other authorities as a necessary means to obtain information from suspects. In particular, the international climate of anti-terrorism has witnessed a disturbing trend towards justifying the use of torture in the name of `security', it said.
Amnesty International India director Mukul Sharma has stressed the need to formulate a comprehensive domestic law against torture. "Right to Life should mean and secure Right to Life with Dignity", he asserted.
Various studied found that the use of torture can never be justified, either legally or morally. Its effectiveness in preventing attacks by armed groups has never been proved.
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Sunday, June 24, 2007
Beasts in uniform: Make policemen accountable for every wrongdoing
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070624/edit.htm#1
The Supreme Court judgement on police reforms is aptly described by many sections as a step in the right direction. But most of the aam janta know little about the court's directives. Even if they did, they aren't holding their breath. It's hard to keep the faith and believe that one more court directive will make the police any better.
This writer has never missed the opportunity to tell the police that the court has laid down the strictest guidelines about making arrests, deaths in custody, and about how lock ups must be kept. But they are not interested to listen. Lock-ups are always overcrowded. There is no light. And no toilet, except in the corner of the cell. Often, a dozen people shoved into a 10x10 space.
Last time they stretched their arms out of the pitch dark and grasped at passing strangers asking for food. Were they produced before a Magistrate? When asked if they knew the grounds of their arrest, they had no clue. Were their families informed? They replied, "Deedee please kuch khana do na". The SHO was told, but in vain.
In the famous D.K. Basu judgement, the Supreme Court laid down 11 guidelines for the police to follow when making an arrest. These were nothing new but duly laid down in constitutional and statutory provisions which had been forgotten in the wake of frequent violations. So the court said that these guidelines must be put up in every police station.
However, many police stations don't have such a board. A police officer nonchalantly says, "he'd heard of them but didn't think much about it". Even if he managed to get a copy of the guidelines it would be in English. Was he then expected to translate these into the local language?
This writer's first visit to a police station was typical. The place was shabby, thick with the sweet cloying stink of urine and beedis. Several policemen were sitting around; some had their feet up on the tables. Some sipped tea, others smoked just under a big sign that said 'No smoking'. Most of them had several days beard on them and others had their shirts unbuttoned. Two policemen were in their undershirts. In the room beyond, a couple of cops were asleep, stretched out on the benches. Along the filthy walls people sat on benches or squatted on the floor waiting for something to happen. They said they had been called in for questioning. Others were waiting to register a complaint.
However, every officer was busy with something else. "We are overworked and underpaid". Isn't this what the cops say all the time? But this and several other visits to many other stations never gave one a sense of an overworked cop!
When someone wants to register a complaint, he is told to wait. One learns with experience that there are ways of 'managing' the situation. For Rs 25, the police tell you how honest they are. For Rs 250, you could get home delivery of a charge-sheet. The post of Station House Officer is auctioned to the highest bidder! Cops give up promotions but not the posting. No one can prove it, they say, but it's an open secret that each police station and police action has its price and there are valuable earnings to be had out of a 'goldmine' posting.
The Supreme Court has time and again said that torture is forbidden under any circumstances. Our laws make it plain. Still, people are detained by the police illegally and tortured for days. Illegal detention is impermissible. Registering First Information Reports (FIR) is an obligation under the law. There are clear guidelines for investigation. But it takes two weeks to get an FIR registered. It takes a dozen letters and numerous phone calls to heads of police to begin the investigation. It takes a month to suspend the erring officer and get him arrested. So whilst courts continue to say that torture in custody flouts the citizens' basic rights and is an affront to human dignity, torture remains an inherent part of everyday policing.
Try telling the police they can't interrogate women in police stations. They grin slyly. Tell them they must lodge an FIR. They will threaten or abuse you. Tell them they can't beat a suspect to pulp. They will say the people want it. Tell them they can't hold anyone for more than 24 hours. They will say they never do and their diaries can prove it. Tell them they can't handcuff prisoners. They will ask you to mind your own business. That's just how it is. It's the price citizens must pay if they want the police to function at all even if the court says different. Their bosses don't and that is what counts.
The Nithari killings, the Jessica Lall and Priyadarshini Mattoo cases, the frequent riots, the constant failure of law and order all scream out for quick reform. People want change on the ground. Government affidavits of compliance in court have to stop the biased policing, the shoddy investigation, the corruption and beatings in police stations or they are just more paper.
More laws and more directives will change little until accountability is fixed on every officer for the slightest wrongdoing. Currently, there is too much wrong and very little hope.
There are too many people trapped in a dysfunctional system and it's for them we must keep trying. The apex court has given the police tremendous autonomy. Now, let's ensure that there is equal accountability.
The writer is Programme Coordinator, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New DelhiBe smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the All-new Yahoo! Mail
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Policing the police
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Saturday, December 16, 2006
Fw: [naghrw] TORTURE BY POLICE
e – Voice Of Human Rights Watch – e-news weekly
Spreading the light of humanity & freedom
Editor : Nagaraj.M.R. ......... ......... ......vol. 2 issue.40.... ......... ......... ......... ........16/ 12/2006
Editorial: 3RD DEGREE TORTURE PERPETRATED BY POLICE IN INDIA
- Gross violations of human rights by police
At the outset , HRW salutes the few honest police personnel who are silently doing their duties inspite of pressures , harassment by political bosses & corrupt superiors , inspite of frequent transfers , promotion holdups , etc. overcoming the lure of bribe ,those few are silently doing their duties without any publicity or fanfare. we salute them & pay our respects to them and hereby appeal to those few honest to catch their corrupt colleagues.
The police are trained , to crack open the cases of crimes by just holding onto a thread of clue. Based on that clue they investigate like "Sherlock holmes" and apprehend the real criminals. nowadays , when police are under various pressures , stresses – they are frequently using 3rd degree torture methods on innocents. Mainly there are 3 reasons for this :
1) when the investigating officer (I.O) lacks the brains of Sherlock holmes , to cover-up his own inefficiency he uses 3rd degree torture on innocents.
2) When the I.O is biased towards rich , powerful crooks , to frame innocents & to extract false confessions from them , 3rd degree torture is used on innocents.
3) When the I.O is properly doing the investigations , but the higher-ups need very quick results – under work stress I.O uses 3rd degree torture on innocents.
Nowhere in statuette books , police are legally authorized to punish let alone torture the detainees / arrested / accussed / suspects. Only the judiciary has the right to punish the guilty not the police. Even the judiciary doesn't have the right to punish the accussed / suspects , then how come police are using 3rd degree torture unabetted. Even during encounters , police only have the legal right , authority to immobilize the opponents so as to arrest them but not to kill them.
There is a reasoning among some sections of society & police that use of 3RD DEGREE TORTURE by police is a detterent of crimes. It is false & biased. Take for instance there are numerous scams involving 100's of crores of public money – like stock scam , fodder scam , etc involving rich businessmen , VVIP crooks. Why don't police use 3rd degree torture against such rich crooks and recover crores of public money where as the police use 3rd degree torture against a pick-pocketer to recover hundred rupees stolen ? double standards by police.
In media we have seen numerous cases of corrupt police officials in league with criminals. For the sake of bribe , such police officials bury cases , destroy evidences , go slow , frame innocents , murder innocents in the name of encounter , etc. why don't police use 3rd degree torture against their corrupt colleagues who are aiding criminals , anti nationals ? double standards by police.
All the bravery of police is shown before poor , innocents , tribals , dalits , before them police give the pose of heroes. Whereas , before rich , VVIP crooks , they are zeroes. They are simply like scarecrows before rich crooks.
Torture in any form by anybody is inhuman & illegal. For the purpose of investigations police have scientific investigative tools like polygraph, brain mapping , lie detector , etc. these scientific tools must be used against rich crooks & petty criminals without bias.
On "world human rights day"(10/12/2006) , hereby we urge the GOI & all state governments :
1) to book cases of murder against police personnel who use 3rd degree torture on detainees and kill detainees in the name of encounter killings.
2) To dismiss such inhuman , cruel personnel from police service and to forfeit all monetary benefits due to them like gratuity , pension , etc.
3) To pay such forfeited amount together with matching government contribution as compensation to family of the victim's of 3rd degree torture & encounter killings.
4) To review , all cases where false confessions were extracted from innocents by 3rd degree torture.
5) To make liable the executive magistrate of the area , in whose jurisdiction torture is perpetrated by police on innocents.
6) To make it incumbent on all judicial magistrates ,to provide a torture free climate to all parties , witnesses in cases before his court.
7) To make public the amount & source of ransom money paid to forest brigand veerappan to secure the release of matinee idol mr. raj kumar.
8) To make public justice A.J.Sadashiva' s report on "torture of tribals , human rights violations by Karnataka police in M.M.HILLS , KARNATAKA".
9) To make it mandatory for police to use scientific tools of investigations like brain mapping , polygraph , etc without bias against suspects rich or poor.
10) To include human rights education in preliminary & refresher training of police personnel.
11) To recruit persons on merit to police force who have aptitude & knack for investigations.
12) To insulate police from interference from politicians & superiors.
13) To make police force answerable to a neutral apex body instead of political bosses. Such body must be empowered to deal with all service matters of police.
14) The political bosses & the society must treat police in a humane manner and must know that they too have practical limitations. Then on a reciprocal basis , police will also treat others humanely.
15) The police must be relieved fully from the sentry duties of biggies & must be put on detective , investigative works.
Jai hind . vande mataram.
Your's sincerely ,
Nagaraj.M.R.
Private Sector – Its obligations to Dalits -- By Rajindar Sachar
A lively but in my view, ill-informed, discussion is taking place in public on the question of job quota in the private sector. The controversy has become sharper by the weight of legal opinion of the Attorney General that it was not possible to provide reservation for SCs and STs in the private sector without amending the Constitution. I have my reservation on the correctness of this view. I realize that emphasis is made on job quota possibility because of our feudal and hierarchical social system which puts a job in an office whether in private or public sector as the highest achievement. However, I feel that though emphasis on job may be kept up, the real battle dalits need to fight is to have a share in the expanding business opportunities and that too in proprietary capacity. It is in this context that I put forward an alternative which is immediately available and which can give more affluence, recognition and opportunities to dalits not only for jobs in private sector but for expanding the opportunities to share in the growth of Indian economy, and that too without amending the Constitution.
It is well known that Central and State Governments award thousands of crores worth of public works and contracts to the private sector. All these activities flow from the Government playing a very crucial and significant role either to make a particular avenue open to the private sector like the privatization and modernization of airports, express highways Public Works Department, Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Delhi and similar ones in number of other States for roads or even construction of Govt. properties which are to be executed by the private contractors. I am of the view that if proper steps available even under the present legal set up are taken, a very large segment of dalits population can be absorbed and can take benefit of the rising economy.
It is in this context that a reference to USA legislation called the "Public Works Employment Act of 1997" would be apt. That Act had a minority business enterprise clause which provided that 10% (minority population of USA) of the federal funds granted for local public works projects must be used by state and local grantees to procure services or supplies from business owned and controlled by "minority group members", the latter being defined in the Act as United States citizens who are "Negroes, Spanish-speaking, Orientals…….".
This provision was challenged as denying an equal protection clause provided under the 14th amendment of the US Constitution (from which Article 14 of our Constitution has been adopted). The Court upheld the validity of the legislation as it contained provisions designed to uplift those socially-economical ly disadvantaged persons to a level where they may effectively participate in the business mainstream of USA economy.
The arguments raised as to why the private contractors should be compelled and limit their choice in this particular manner as to from where the supplies will be received and whom they will sub-contract was rejected, by holding that "legislation When effectuating a limited and properly tailored remedy to cure the effects of prior discrimination, such "a sharing of the burden by innocent parties is not impermissible" .
Question of constitutional objection is totally off the mark. After 44th amendment Right to Property is no longer a fundamental right. Only Parliamentary legislation is necessary to deprive a person of it without compensation. It is also well settled that Article 19 confers no right on an individual to carry on business with the Govt. – if it wishes it has to be on terms settled by Govt. As such, no objection can be taken by the private sector to the provision making it incumbent on it to share proportionately with Dalits the funds given to it by the Govt. or local body agencies.
Similarly, governments could prescribe conditions as a part of scheme of disinvestment of public sector. It would then be permissible for the Central and State Governments to provide that out of these amounts the private contractor will have to ensure that a certain percentage which, to start with, could be fixed at 10% (though it is low as compared to the dalits population of 15-16%) to be made available to them either in the matter of sub-contracting or executing some works or in the matter of employment. Such a course would require not only no constitutional amendment but not even an Act of Parliament. The reason being that the Government, being the spending authority, it is permissible for it by executive orders to direct that a certain portion of this money available will be utilized either for providing employment or for sub-contracts to the dalits. This is what was done in USA and which while upholding the said legislation very eloquently observed – "if we are ever to become a fully integrated society, one in which the colour of a person's skin will not determine the opportunities available to him or her, we must be willing to take steps to open those doors." The same principle aptly applies to the position of dalits in our country.
Our Supreme Court has held that "economic empowerment of the poor, in particular the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, as is enjoined under Article 46, is a constitutional objective as basic human and fundamental right to enable the labourer, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to raise their economic empowerment. "
I see no reason why our Supreme Court which is far more progressive and poor-oriented than the USA's Supreme Court, will not reject similar challenge. But of course the overriding question still remains – is there a political will and determination in the Central and State Governments to take on the combined forces of Big Business.
I am convinced that it is not only jobs but business opportunities that need to be opened to Dalits, to make a real change in their social and economic set up.
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Right To Information Emasculated - By Prashant Bhushan
The amendments proposed to the Right to Information Act are a substantial roll back of the Act. The persistent manner in which the government is pushing them despite mounting public criticism, indicates that the prime minister has not outgrown his bureaucratic background. The disclosure of the text of the proposed amendments has given the lie to the statement put out by the prime minister's office to the effect that the amendments actually for the first time empower the citizens to access file notings and that the restrictions relate only to notings on defence and personnel related matters. Apart from the fact that the central information commission had repeatedly ruled that the un-amended Act did not restrict access to file notings, it can be seen that the text of the amendment restricts access to all file notings except "substantial file notings on plans, schemes, programmes of the central government or a state government, as the case may be that relate to development and social issues." This is done by amending the definition of records in the Act.
This amendment will by itself take the life out of the Act. It is the notings that are supposed to deal with the reasons and rationale for any order or decision of the government. Very often, it is the noting of an honest officer, which explains what is wrong with a proposed decision of the government. In the Panna-Mukta oil deal, it was the noting of the then superintendent of police, CBI, which gave the reasons and circumstances that explained why the decision to hand over ONGC's developed oilfields to Enron and Reliance was against public interest. Moreover, it is only the notings of various officers which will eventually reveal whether an officer's role was above board or whether he was acting on extraneous considerations. Thus, notings are often critical for fixing accountability. In the absence of notings, it would almost always be impossible for people to fully appreciate the official rationale for a decision.
Though the amendment restricts notings on most subjects, it may be noted that even if it related to only defence and personnel related matters, it would still be objectionable. This is because information (including notings) on defence and security matters are already exempt under Section 8(1) (a) of the Act, and there is no justification for exempting notings on personnel related matters. The transfers, postings, disciplinary proceedings, suspensions, and promotions of government servants play a critical role in governance. It is well known that there is a lot of corruption and extraneous influence in such matters, which has been having a deleterious effect on governance. Honest officers are often victimised by punishment postings. Corrupt officers are often rewarded with postings on crucial positions. It is well known that bribes are fixed for postings and transfer of officers in "lucrative" departments like police, excise, income tax etc. In Maharashtra, it was discovered in response to an application under the RTI Act, that the postings of most police officers were on the recommendations of the MPs and ministers. By far, the most effective way of checking such arbitrariness in such personnel related matters is by having complete transparency in such matters, so that people can see not just the final decision (which is always said to be on exigencies of service), but also the rationale and the entire decision making process which led to the decision.
It is often said that such disclosure of notings related to personnel matters would inhibit officers from expressing themselves freely and frankly. The truth, however, is that no honest officer is likely to be inhibited from frankly expressing himself for fear that what he writes may become known. It is only the dishonest officer wanting to make a dishonest noting who is likely to be deterred by such transparency. In fact such transparency would act as a shield for honest persons who are less likely to be victimised if the entire transaction were open to public gaze.
Apart from the amendment to exclude file notings, four amendments have been proposed to Section 8 dealing with exemptions, each of which widens the exemptions under the Act. Firstly, the amendment to the proviso to clause (i) of Section 8 now restricts access to cabinet papers to only the actual decisions and reasons thereof, after the decision, rather than to all papers. This is also unreasonable. In a democracy where the cabinet is just the representative of the people, who are the real masters, there is no justification for excluding all cabinet papers from public view, especially after the decision has been taken. If any papers are of a nature that their disclosure would adversely affect defence or security, those are already excluded under Section 8 (a). Similarly, any cabinet paper whose disclosure would be injurious to public interest in any way is already excluded under the various other clauses in Section 8.
Three new exemptions are sought to be inserted in Section 8. The first relates to the identity of officers who "made inspections, observations, recommendations, or gave legal advice or opinions …" Thus this clause seeks to mask the identity of public officials who have played any role in the decision-making, even on developmental and social issues. Again, the object seems to be to save officials from being held publicly accountable by withholding the precise role played by different officials in the decision- making. This is again anti-democratic and without merit.
Another exemption added by the newly introduced clause (k) in Section 8 is to restrict "information pertaining to any process of any examination conducted by any public authority, or assessment or evaluation made by it for judging the suitability of any person for appointment or promotion to any post or admission to any course or any such other purpose." Again, there is no justification for removing from public scrutiny the process of deciding selections and promotions where there is rampant corruption. The opacity of such systems of recruitment and selection is what is allowing such corruption and arbitrariness to go on. The amendment is designed to allow these bodies to continue with such arbitrary and corrupt appointments and selections.
Notings are supposed to deal with the reasons and rationale for any order or decision of the government. Very often, it is the noting of an honest officer which explains what is wrong with a proposed decision of the government
Another exemption sought to be introduced is to exempt "copies of noting, or extracts from the document, manuscript and file so far as it relates to legal advice, opinion, observation or recommendation made by any officer during the decision-making process, prior to the executive decision or policy formulation" . Such a blanket exemption for restricting all access to the entire decision making, before any decision is made would allow the officials to present every decision, however corrupt and against public interest as a fait accompli. Take the Enron deal for example. With such a clause, it would be impossible for people to know how the then finance secretary had effectively prevented the central electricity Authority from carrying out a financial evaluation of the project, by falsely showing that the finance ministry had carried out such an evaluation. Thus the country came to be saddled with a liability of Rs 10,000 crore, which could have been prevented if the correspondence between the finance ministry, power ministry and the central electricity authority had been accessible and known, before the contract with Enron had been signed. This clause seeks to prevent such examination.
Similarly, many genetically modified foods are in the process of being cleared for release currently, without any transparency about the process of clearance and the various bio safety tests that they have been and have not been subjected to. This amendment will prevent access to this process of clearance until after they have been cleared and irreparable damage to human health and environment has been done.
It can be seen, therefore, that the amendments proposed are not just substantive, but very far reaching which will take the life out of the Act, which only seeks to give effect to the fundamental rights of citizens under Art 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution. These amendments would be clearly unconstitutional as imposing an unreasonable restriction to the citizens' right to know what is being done by their public servants. In any case, such far- reaching amendments to such a critical statute must not be passed by parliament without sending them to the parliamentary standing committee.
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The Judiciary: Cutting Edge Of A Predator State - By Prashant Bhushan
At a time when the dominant class in India is obsessed with power and when India appears to be at the threshold of becoming an "economic and military superpower", it is interesting that Tehelka has organized this seminar called, "The summit of the powerless". Though one hardly sees any powerless people here, or even many who represent them, it is still important that a meeting on this theme has been organized by Tehelka.
It is this obsession with power which is the driving force behind the vision of India of the ruling elite of this country. That is why we see the frequent "power summits" being organized by major media organizations which are dominated by talk of India as an "emerging superpower", with a booming sensex and a GDP growth poised to reach 8, 9 and even 10%. And it is this power crazed libido of the elite which have made them the cheerleaders of the government which is straining to become the Asian right hand of the United States. This single minded pursuit of a strategic relationship with the US has made us lose our moral bearings as we vote against our old friends like Iran and keep quiet on unimaginable atrocities being committed by the US in Iraq and by Israel in Palestine.
What kind of society is this "power driven" vision of India producing. While the elite celebrate the booming sensex, the consumer boom among the middle classes which the spectacular GDP growth appear to be giving them, the poor are pushed to greater and greater destitution, as the agricultural economy collapses and they are sought to be deprived of whatever little they have in terms of land and other natural resources. After all, when agriculture is not contributing to the GDP growth, why not take away the land, water and other resources from agriculture and give them to the sectors which are leading the growth-the SEZs and the IT industry for example. That (and the opportunity for a real estate killing) explains the stampede for setting up SEZs and IT parks, which will be high growth privileged enclaves, helped no doubt by the cheap compulsory acquisition of land, the absence of taxes, labour and environmental laws. They are envisioned almost as private and self governing States with their own police and courts. It makes no difference to those who hope to occupy these enclaves that India is almost at the bottom of the heap in terms of the Human Development Index, in terms of the percentage of people in the country who have access to housing, food, water, sanitation, education and healthcare.
So as the rural economy is destroyed (partly by agricultural imports) and the poor are deprived of their land, their forests, their water and indeed all their resources, to make way for mining leases, dams, SEZs and IT parks, all of which augur faster GDP growth, the poor get pushed to suicide or to urban slums. Here they struggle for existence in subhuman conditions with no sanitation, water, electricity, and always at the mercy of the weather, corrupt policemen and municipal officials. These slums often exist side by side with luxurious enclaves of the ultra rich who pass by them with barely a scornful glance and regard them as a nuisance who should be put away beyond their gaze. And if the government cannot accomplish that, there are always the courts to lend a helping hand. In the past two years about 2 lakh slum dwellers from the Yamuna Pushta and other Jhuggi colonies of Delhi have been removed on the orders of the court and thrown to the streets or dumped in the boondocks of Bawana (40 Kms from Delhi) and without any sanitation, water, electricity or even drainage. It would be surprising if many of them do not become criminals or join the ranks of naxalites who have come to control greater and greater parts of the country.
What kind of society are we creating? A society which is not only deeply divided in economic classes with a vast chasm dividing them, but also one where the preoccupations of the dominant classes are becoming increasingly crassly materialistic, narcissistic and base. If one were to examine the content of the mainstream electronic media-even news channels, particularly private channels which are the main source of information and entertainment for the middle class elite, one would find that it is characterized by an increasingly vacuous intellectual content and pandering more and more to the baser instincts of sex, violence and a morbid fascination for gossip particularly about the private lives of Bollywood stars. Stories about real people and serious public interest issues have been reduced to mere sound bytes of a few seconds. The interest of the middle classes in and their attention span for serious issues of public interest have been reduced to a vanishing point, as the culture of consumerism and self indulgence has taken over contemporary society. Even as scientific evidence piles up about how the world is headed towards environmental catastrophe due to global warming, not many among our well to do elite have even bothered to understand the issue, let alone bother about tackling the problem. They are oblivious of and unconcerned about the disaster which will certainly affect their children if not themselves during their lifetimes.
A sickness afflicts the soul of the dominant elite of India today. It is a sickness which has led to a total loss of vision and has made us lose our moral bearings. It is this sickness which is allowing us to celebrate our great GDP growth and our emerging superpower status when the majority of our countrymen sink to deeper and deeper depths of destitution and despair. It is this sickness which allows us to rejoice in our becoming the main sidekick of the global bully, while we shut our eyes to the enormous injustice being done to the oppressed people of Iraq, Palestine and other countries at the receiving end of the bully's muscle. It is this sickness which has produced the vision of the State as the facilitator of this rapaciously exploitative model of development. A vision where the State's role is seen as an institution which tries to facilitate the maximization of GDP growth. Which naturally requires the State to withdraw from its welfare obligations and facilitate a privatized society run on laissez faire economics. After all, private enterprise, run on the profit motive is the best bet for maximizing GDP growth. It is this model which snatches land from the farmer for the SEZs, the IT parks and the mines. That vision is producing a society which is intoxicated with a kind of development and feeling of "power" which are sowing the seeds of its own destruction in not too far a future. We have become a society of many Neros who are fiddling while the country is on fire.
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