God save us from lawyers!!!

Indian lawyers seem to have done exceedingly well they are everywhere specifically where there is power, influence and money to make (not necessarily in that order). Now one would think this as the result of competent judicial system, so much dedication in their work that the lawyers deserve these kind of money and influence. Nothing can be far from truth. Indeed the reason for sorry state of Indian judiciary is in large way the handy work of lawyer community. The better paid seemed to expertise in the tactics of delaying, finding loopholes and so on. It is very clear that the richer the lawyer the more reason to suspect him (there are very less ‘hers’ must say) to be corrupt. In most case the rich and influential use huge amount of money for legal protection of their nefarious activities. They don’t use the service they buy the lawyer. The lawyers are not presenting the case, they are here to scuttle, influence the judge, get adjournment...the reason why they are in demand. This could be substantiated by abysmal conviction rate as also high level of corruption as the guilty go scot free with all kinds of manipulations that money can buy (there seem to be positive change in recent time with pressure from people, media so on). The new challenge here is something called ‘creation of perception’ the market media is adept at these so apart from marketers, political parties seek help from glib talkers...who better than a lawyers-they have years of experience wherein they have got influential at a rate unseen in any other career, while the victims never get to see any justice!. Someone sang this song “it’s a wonderful world”, from lawyer’s perspective nothing could be far from a lie!. An archaic incompetent system producing ‘best’ lawyers who play in millions. Truly incredible

The profusion of lawyers into politics don’t seemed to follow the pattern of student movement and other egalitarian reasons as has been the trend in the early part Indian history (though most belonged to elite section is also not gone unnoticed). The involvement of lawyers in freedom struggle whether it was Gandhiji, Pandit Nehru and many more was to fight the colonial rulers in their own game, it was commitment against injustice. That formed the basis of non violent movement. Gandhiji created a mass movement but the impetus was on fairness-that sought to be codified in law. It formed the basis for a just society. Ideals like liberty, freedom, democracy ...are enshrined in equality. Readers will note that though colonial British had ‘rule of law’ (that some apologists take pride in) but it was meant for whites or was in general term of ‘law and order’ for common people...used for system of exploitation. They had judicial system which didn’t recognise equality!!. The hypocrisy came into fore when at the international level the colonial powers sought to uphold values and rights as they face threat from Hitler. The hypocrisy in Indian leaders too came into fore as they talked about freedom from exploitation so on but at personal and societal level didn’t do much to remove discrimination, indeed many congressmen were aghast that momentum created by Civil Disobedience was being lost in focus on insignificant matters. These could also be seen in terms lack of effort on equitable distribution in particular land reforms.

The racist lawyers of colonial Britain formed the foot soldiers for unjust interpretations of law while the bureaucracy arraigned, ruthless Police implemented these. This system favoured those were in power (broadly the elite), it is a quaint form of exploitation that gives the illusion of deliverance of justice. It’s about giving hope all the while the odds against common people are stacked heavily. This is the ‘steel frame’ they inherited. It is not surprising that the archaic colonial law still exist even after so many years. The reason why there is reluctance in judicial or police reforms by subsequent governments over the years ...it disturbs the applecart of ‘wonderful world’. I am told the present government seem to have taken some initiatives.

The ‘steel frame’ is sustained by the lawyers, if politicians-bureaucrats know the loopholes it is the lawyers who takes it to next level. It is the lawyers who professionalise corruption. It is a severe indictment of lawyers. Further since they are having the details of the sleaze so not only huge payment sometimes the quid pro comes in the forms of position in the party. The number of lawyers in political parties and their influence is staggering. It speaks of the level of corruption. It is also not surprising that lawyers have made this into family business. ‘i mean why would anyone want to leave these high level contacts, goodwill and easy perks to any outsider, so munne ko bhi lawyer bana le the hai!!”. The list of munnas (and munnis) following their father’s footstep and devious methods is rather long. Sometime back Allahabad High Court expressed serious concern on level of nepotism among lawyers. It is a serious indictment on the legal system.

One of my favourite movie happens to be Tarkovsky’s Solaris. Here is a scene where the frustrated scientist says “what has come to us we have started to argue”. The apparition created through illusion by a reactive surrounding (Solaris is rare and significant science fiction movie) retorts “to argue is what makes us human”, ironic statement to be made by something that is not human (was it a veiled reference/ridicule on repressive Soviets? Likely). So we have on the one extreme scientist who see arguments as primitive that shifts attention from objective analysis. The other extreme is Indian lawyers who expertise in convoluting the reality so much so that the fact becomes subjective, truth is matter of perception. With exigencies of politicians and market joining in the mêlée you surely can see what is happening. The spin is freedom of expression!!

some recent facts on corruption

Some recent startling facts that might help the readers to understand why subsequent Governments were vacillating on the issue of corruption, and why Ombudsman is very important (about 140 countries in the world has it). This para taken from BBC website with slight modifications. Also visit http://prsindia.org for more details

• The Union government has not responded to 236 requests to prosecute public servants on corruption-related charges till the end of 2010. The overwhelming majority of these requests -155 or 66% - were pending for more than three months.

• State governments run by different parties have not fared much better. They have not responded to 84 requests till the end of 2010 of which 13 or 15% were pending for more than three months.

• India's Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is tasked with fighting corruption in the federal government. Between 2005 and 2009, only 6% of the cases in which the agency found corruption were sanctioned for prosecution by the government. The remaining 94% were let off with departmental penalties, some of them minor.

• The powerful Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) is the main investigative agency used by the CVC to probe corruption and misuse of office by government officials. But till the end of 2010, 21% of its key jobs remained vacant, seriously hindering it’s working.

• The criminal justice system is also failing in prosecuting officials charged with corruption. There were nearly 10,000 CBI cases pending in the courts till the end of 2010 - and 23% of these cases had been pending for more than 10 years.

• whistleblowers are facing serious challenge. In 2004, the government empowered the CVC to act on complaints from whistleblowers. Between 2005 and 2009, the CVC received only 1731 complaints from whistleblowers, a paltry annual average of 346.

celebrating 50 years of humans in space!!

On fast

...with venerable Anna Hazare calling up people to take up the recalcitrant Government on the serious issue of corruption and the immediate need for Lokpal (Ombudsmen with real power) this blogger like millions other has decided to go on a single day token fast in support of the demand.

Anna Hazare goes for indefinite fast from April 5th for the creation of Lok Pal...does the Government care?

Kahi pe nigahe kahi pe nishana!

I never could understand cricket diplomacy, a state sponsored extravaganza (very much public money involved) that seem to make the leaders happy. And then with some rich Punjabi types crossing the border the people to people contact also is filled in. It seems to bring the nations closer. This blogger has doubts on it. Blatant jingoism and celebrations are nothing but crudest expressions, very rarely it is positive. I am not against the cricketers they are doing what they are expected to do, that is to play. The exaggeration, gross hype by market, is what is nauseating. It is a rip off at the grandest level. If patriotism is what it is then why not boycott all the products coming in the obnoxious ads (i would like to meet these people who decide to buy car or bike watching these nonsense), they interrupt and take away the charm of the game. That sure is anti national, going by the framework. But then i guess viewers are trained to accept (it’s a Pavlovian thing) this as part of the sport!. Amazing. (Can we have TV Channels without these ads?, I for one don’t mind paying extra to get it out of my vicinity).

Again i have nothing against the sportsperson. Sehwag is fun to watch so are Tendulkar/Yuvraj and so on, Dhoni is a good captain. Sidhu is an absolutely hilarious masterpiece. The hype is what has killed its spirit, it has become a market tool and everybody involved are sellers. The game is reduced to absurdity. The much hyped Indo-Pak match was quite boring, indeed i didn’t watch much and unlike what the market want us to believe about “billion people heart beating” there were lots of people on the streets of Bangalore who had other things to do than glued to TV. Many people do watch cricket, it will be an insult to call most. It is a small trick called branding, it helps in getting sponsors and therefore money. The match was amazingly mediocre by any standards, what was sustaining it was jingoism and constant reminder by the market media that something big was happening (i take very strong exception to Hindi commentator saying “Umar gul ki bathi gul”, even at the level of viewers too it seems to bring in the worst form of behaviour against the opponent. To expect minimum code of conduct is asking for too much...well the mob has decided to celebrate they seem to have found the reason for their living). Every selling pitch in last few weeks is trying to capitalise on this frenzy by few million people, so whether it is deodorant or bike it has something to do with cricket and therefore patriotism. It seems patriotism has become the refugee of scoundrels out to make some fast money.

The tax exemption to one of the richest sporting body in the world is sickening (already the State is spending a fortune by providing security and so on), wonder what does the Election Commission thinks about it? It is a shame. How about PHCs in small villages for 45crores? (or will we have to depend on Joys of givings!). There is a debate on the BPL line but what cannot be disputed is that substantial numbers of people in this country are poor. This kind of largesse is an insult, it is an avoidable populism. Where they couldn’t even build storage for tons rotting food grains, and then nobody less than the PM finds it necessary to refute the SC on why not to distribute this to poor than let it rot. “India” winning “world cup” is not going to change common people's life (they might be able to sell few more products or most likely convert their black money) but what is sure is that it will add to nuisance value. This blogger wishes good luck to the players and may the better team wins. In the meantime god save us from the market hype.