Yesterday night, I was shocked to watch and hear Arvind Kejriwal’s comments
in the TV show Aap Ki Adalat.

Earlier, I have been astonished to hear comments by General V K Singh about

the Supreme Court decision on his age dispute.

And I have been amused to see Asaram Bapu’s supporters ranting to the

media.

Right to contest elections and dream big

Every one, including ex Bureaucrats, and even Babas have a right to contest

the elections, and dream of becoming the Prime Minister, Chief Minister,

Minister, MP or MLA. But people who have retired as a General or Cabinet

Secretary or some other high position have handled very sensitive files and

documents. They should never talk about such things in public in private.

General V K Singh

How can he compare his age dispute with that of a 17 year old rapist?

The Supreme Court does not admit cases of age disputes of government

servants directly.

The affected person has to come through a serious of judicial hierarchy.

The Supreme Court did a favour in hearing the General directly. Probably this

should not have been done.

Then, there are procedures and a plethora of decisions on how age disputes of

Government employees should be agitated and resolved.

Commenting on the Supreme Court was in very bad taste.

Then he stated that he had evidence against a subordinate offering him bribe.

But he could never produce the evidence.

Then his statement in public  about the bribes and payments made to

politicians in Kashmir are actually crimes punishable under the Military Act

and the Official Secrets Act.

Surely he knows all this….

 Asharam and his son Narayan Sai

Asaram Bapu is in jail. His son Narayan Sai announced he will form an all India
political party. His supporters harp on the delay in filing the various

complaints.

There are so many charges against both father and son. There are a plethora of
illegal constructions……

If he is innocent, he should appear before the police and the and the courts

and answer the different questions.

Why is he running away?

 Arvind Kejriwal

In the interview yesterday, Arvind said that he was a Commissioner of Income
Tax when he resigned, and that every Inspector in the Income Tax

Department earns at least Rs. 1 crore per year……He left the department and

all this money for the common man.

 The fact is he was not a Commissioner – but only an Addl. Commissioner of

Income Tax when he resigned. All this ranting about the earning of an

Inspector of Income Tax of Rs. 1 crore is sheer bakwas. How many cases of

Inspectors amassing this kind of money did he come across? How many

inspectors did he take action against during his long career.

Then he did not mention that his wife continues to work in the same Income

Tax Department as Additional Commissioner of Income Tax. Personally, I do

not know them. But by the same logic, she must be earning tens of crores of

rupees every year. What is his answer to this logic?

Anna Hazare thought politics is dirty and chose to remain aloof. But Arvind

has entered Politics and he is already talking like a Chief Minister…….May be

one day his dreams will come true.

But as I said, he has a right to contest elections and dream big,,,,but without

telling silly lies about his ex colleagues and sub ordinates.

36 Floor ‘Tower of Irregularities’  at
Altamount Road, South Mumbai 

Who said 2 and 2 make 4 ?
A few people believe that 2 and 2 make 22.
They plan things that way.
And they also make this weird mathematics work for them.

I am referring to the promoters of the 36-storey under construction building in one of the most swanky areas of South Mumbai  –  on Altamount Road – close to the famous Antilia.

Antilia

Antilia, named after the mythical Atlantic island of Antillia is,  the

Antilia

27-floor home of Mukesh Ambani.  You can read more about it in Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antilia_(building)

Antilia is situated on an ocean-facing 4,532 square metres (48,780 sq ft) plot at Altamount Road, South Mumbai, where land prices are upward of US$10,000 per square metre. In August 2008, Altamount Road was the 10th most expensive street in the world at US$25,000/sq m (US$2,336 per sq foot).

The purchase of the land on which Antilia stands is mired in mystery and covered in a veil of secrecy. In 2002, this property was purchased by Antilia Commercial Private Limited – a Mukesh Ambani entity – from the Currimbhoy Ebrahimbhoy Khoja Trust, in direct contravention of Section 51 of the Wakf Act.

Currimbhoy Ebrahim Khoja Yateemkhana (Orphanage), a charitable institution, sold the land allocated for the purpose of education of underprivileged Khoja children, to Antilia Commercial Private Limited in July  2002 for Rs 21.05 crore. The market value of the land at the time was at least Rs.150 crore.

There were a number of other problems and hurdles involving the deal, including litigation, but all these were gradually resolved.

Tower of IrregularitiesNow, close to Antilia, a 36-storey building, under construction on Altamount Road,  has been nicknamed the ugliest building of the area and has also earned the infamous term ‘the Tower of Irregularities’.

Just take a quick look at the list of irregularities.

The 17th to 36th floors of the under-construction building has 20 duplex apartments. Each flat measures 2,300 square feet. Nothing great about this!
There are several flats in the area with much larger areas.

However, each flat:

• Is surrounded by two 471 sq ft of air-handling units
  (ostensively for installing the air conditioning units).
• Has 791 sq ft lily ponds,
• A 368 sq ft letter box and
• Other ‘amenities’ covering over 8,000 sq ft.
• Each of these FSI-free spaces is larger than the living room (342 sq ft).
• The building has an astounding 317 parking slots for just 20 duplex flats, a  mere 16 cars per flat.

In essence, where the basic FSI would permit construction of 53,000 sq ft only, the total construction area, including the FSI-free areas, has been stretched to 4.67 lakh sq ft, or 9 times the permissible area. Calculate the mind boggling money involved……..

But the builder may not be lucky

Krishna Developers, the builder may be heading for serious trouble. The residents of three neighbouring housing societies – Prithvi, Jupiter and Prabhu Kutir Apartment – had filed a series of complaints with the Urban Development Ministry and the municipal corporation seeking a stop work order. But there was no such order.

52 housing societies of the locality have joined hands to fight the construction which they believe flouts all development control rules. The Altamount Road Area Citizens Committee (ARACC), an umbrella body of all Altamount residential buildings, has taken up the issue.
They have decided to file a PIL against Krishna Developers.

The locals claim, “Altamount Road is already stretched beyond its limits with the vehicular traffic and cars parked on both sides obstructing movement through the day and night. Fire tenders are unable to reach the site of a fire thereby resulting in substantial damage to property and the safety of our residents is under threat”….

“The design of this building is such that it will be impossible for a fire engine to reach the building from the entrance. The fire engine would also be unable to go around the building in case of a fire”.

Role of Government Agencies

The building plans for the 36-storey building were approved by BMC, the civic body, in 2007. So long, the government authorities have turned the proverbial Nelson’s eye to the various allegations.

The Bombay High Court may soon have to decide the issue. The freebies extended to the builders  are far too excessive to be overlooked.

What should be done

Merely cancelling a portion of the construction will not be a sufficient deterrent. All those responsible should be suitable punished.

Land prices are very high in Mumbai. And they are the highest in South Mumbai. It is natural that builders and the govt. authorities connive with each other and misuse all the legal provisions.  The stakes are much too high.

How to Fight Corruption

Corruption is big news today. A lot is being written and said about corruption.

Why is Bribery and Corruption Flourishing in India

Bribery and corruption (including similar activities in the private sector) are flourishing in India because the public is not only tolerating, but also encouraging, such activities.
People readily pay bribes to get work done….even if the work is totally illegal.
Parents seek prospective candidates for marriage with their children with an eye on the money they will make in future.
Worse, there is no stigma attached to illegal earnings.

How do you fight Bribery and Corruption

We already have several laws to fight all these……
We have a judiciary any democratic country can be proud of.
I personally believe that a new Lok Pal will only add one more layer of bureaucracy, a lot of expenditure, which we can hardly afford, and consequential corruption.

So how do we tackle the bribery and corruption?

• First…don’t pay bribe.
• Secondly, in case of government officials or public servants, file a complaint with the concerned Anti Corruption Department, and get the culprit arrested or caught red handed, while taking bribe.

Devrao Bawane, Deputy Commissioner of Sales Tax Jailed

For those who disbelieve in the efficacy of the existing laws, I am attached a news paper cutting of today to show how effective our laws are.

Devrao Bawane, Deputy Commissioner of Sales Tax and his inspector have been sentenced  to 5 years rigorous imprisonment for taking bribe of Rs. 1 lakh in 2009.
And what has not been mentioned is that they will also lose their retirement benefits.

Anjali Damania….. a little bit of unanswered questions from people like me

I heard Anjali Damania, the activist, and a number of panelists, on TV yesterday. They left me in a dizzy.

The TV show has left me with some unanswered questions. Will someone answer them?
Anjali was frank enough to say that the she was not a doctor, but a pathologist…but her real occupation is not really relevant for the present.

Anjali – the Agriculturist

Anjali claimed she was an agriculturist because her grandfather was a farmer. Unfortunately, the law does not say so.
My grandfather may not have been an agriculturist, but his father, or grandfather, or someone higher up in the hierarchy, were probably agriculturists.
But that does not make me an agriculturist in Maharashtra.

She said something about purchasing agricultural land under some scheme for horticulturists. But no one pursued the matter, and she did not elaborate.

Everyone knows how difficult it is to purchase agricultural land in Maharashtra.
Even Amitabh Bachchan faced this problem.

Anjali mentioned owning 59 acres of agricultural land. You can see Anish & Anjali Damania’s Farm at Kashele, Karjat at the following site.
http://wikimapia.org/17132481/Anish-Anjali-Damania-s-Farm-at-Kashele-Karjat

I suppose this is her land…Please correct me if I am wrong. 

She further claimed she had purchased seven acres of agricultural land in 2007, got the land converted into non agricultural use and sold it in 2011 to private individuals.

According to media reports, Anjali used the land for a project for private villas created by a company in which she was a director; and till August 2011, out of the 39 plots created, 37 were sold.

Two farmers from whom Anjali purchased the land have now claimed that she had purchased the agricultural land claiming she would use them for agriculture.

Anjali has reportedly said, “I can produce all the required papers to prove that everything was done legally. If someone thinks this is wrong, the problem then actually lies with the government’s policy in changing the land-use from agricultural to non-agricultural. I am being targeted now because I raised my voice against a corrupt system.”

What is expected from Anjali

Of course, Anjali has done nothing wrong. She did what any intelligent person would or should do. But for the fact, the movement she is spear heading is demanding transparency.  The reason is that transparency alone leads to honesty.
In her own case,

• Anjali has not published her assets.
• Anjali has not explained how she became an agriculturist.
•  Anjali did not answer questions about the selling price of her land.
• Anjali has not disclosed her interest in different companies.

Anjali simply said that she had filed her income tax returns and was ready to face any enquiry and all the usual rubbish.

The facts clearly show that what she was doing was dabbling with real estate business. But all rich and powerful people in Maharashtra and other places make money through real estate business.

Transparency

The leaders of such movements should not only be clean, they should be a shade higher in terms of transparency.
But in her own case, Anjali has forgotten all about transparency. Damania (left) with Kejriwal during the recent press conference held in Delhi. PTI

State Government’s stand and the BJP

The state government has said that they found that Anjali and her partners who held the land were not farmers by livelihood and therefore confiscated the land.

The BJP has also released a letter which Damania wrote to authorities in 2011 asking them to consider the change in the alignment of a dam that would submerge her property and requested that the alignment of the Kondhane dam be shifted so that her property was not submerged due to it.

Pointing out that her entire life savings were used for the land, Anjali had written that if the dam were to be shifted by 700 metres only, tribals would be hit by the project and they would be adequately compensated, unlike her. So much for the good of the common man.

My advice to Anjali and others

Anjali, and all persons im her situation, should put list of assets, all the papers, documents and full details of controversial issues in the public domain…for any and every one to see and scrutinise.
If you cannot do so, simply quit the movement.

Ashok Khemka IAS……..Right or Wrong

Yesterday evening, I watched Ashok Khemka live on TV.
I listened to the Panel Speakers, some eloquent, others less so.
So many people supported him. There was an avalanche of congratulatory sms and email messages.
The TV and the media turned him into a hero…..or did they?

He has acquired several other degrees, including a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.
In the absence of more details, I can only presume that he acquired these degrees during his service period..

He has been repeatedly transferred by various state governments  in Haryana –  to be precise….. 43 times in the last 19 years.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/vadra-land-deal-why-transfers-dont-shake-khemka/1/225114.html

3.  However, before leaving office on October 15, 2012 Ashok Khemka cancelled the mutation of the 3.531 acre plot of land in Manesar-Shikohpur citing irregularities in the transfer of land by Vadra’s Sky Light Hospitality Private Limited to the real estate giant. He found that the land deal had signatures by an unauthorised Haryana official.

4. I am surprised that not a single panelist could fault this apparently illegal action…..
Honesty is only one of the criteria of a good governance…..following the law and implementing them are equally important.
No show cause appears to have been issued to the concerned parties.  The reason is Ashok Khemka simply did not have the time. Obviously, such frenzied action is wrong in law.

5.  Ashok Khemka was awarded ‘S R Jindal Prize – 2011’ prize which included cash of Rs. 10 Lakhs for ‘Crusade against Corruption’ along with Shri Sanjiv Chaturvedi for his fearless efforts in exposing corruption in high places. There are specific circulars prohibiting the acceptance of such rewards by bureaucrats.

6. Finally, the bureaucracy is expected to work in an anonymous manner. They can not vent their grievances in public, the way Ashok Khemka is doing. This way,  he lays himself open to various charges under the conduct rules.

And all this makes him highly vulnerable to victimisation……….

November 8, 2011 – I came across the above headlines in the Mumbai Mirror today. After having served the Government of India for four decades, and observing how it, or rather those who subvert the entire system function, I was not surprised.

A high ranking officer, allegedly caught taking a bribe of Rs. 2 crores is back in his post after a 18 month deemed suspension. What is surprising is why and how ?

The same tabloid contains a news item that a bus conductor sacked for Rs. 119 gets his job back after 11 years. The charge against him was there was shortage of Rs. 119 in his cash. 

 The Facts

Back to our hero, Mahendra Singh Bali (59), a 1978-batch Indian Postal Service officer, then Chief Postmaster General of Maharashtra, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 25, 2010. for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 2 crores from a builder.

The CBI  took the action on the basis of complaint by Rita Shah, a former Mira-Bhayander corporator. According to the complaint, Bali had asked for the bribe to issue a No Objection Certificate for developing a 2,000-sq-mt plot in Mira Road, part of which was reserved for a post office.

According to reports, after Bali’s arrest last year, the CBI carried out searches of his office and residence in south Mumbai,  and found 34 lakh in Indian rupees, and foreign currency – $10,722, £3,050, 3,470 Euro – from four briefcases.
The CBI also seized laptops, and 45 bottles of imported liquor.

Further enquiries revealed that Bali owned several properties in Faridabad, Panchkula, Dwarka, Bhopal and Gurgaon. The CBI found that he had 22 bank accounts with a total balance of Rs 26 lakhs. The collective value of the properties is still to be evaluated.

Central Administrative Tribunal

Bali challenged his suspension before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Mumbai which ordered his reinstatement last week. On November 4, 2011, Bali  was reinstated as the Chief Postmaster General of West Bengal.

The reinstatement was ordered on a technical ground  –  violation of the central civil service rules. “This was a case of deemed suspension. In such cases, the suspension has to be reviewed in 90 days, and as this was not done, the initial order was rendered invalid before the law,”

The issue is not about Bali. Even though Bali is reinstated, proceedings and prosecution will continue.

What should be done

It is for the government, for the CBI and the CVC to find out who are the officers who did not follow the central civil service rules, who did not review the suspension in accordance with the law, and allowed the central administrative tribunal to pass the order it did.

Some one should find this out and take action against the concerned officers.
Otherwise, this sort of aberrations will continue….the guilty will continue to be back in their posts……….

Any one has any better suggestions ?

November 9, 2011

Someone in Delhi has read the news and the result….
Bali has again been suspended yesterday.

I belong to the 1968 batch of Indian Revenue Service, senior to her in age and experience by several years.
A petty clerk, or for that matter, any other employee, both in the private and government sector, is dismissed from service for a single instance of similar over (or false) billing. Here we have a series of systematic false billings.

For all I know, the allegations may not be correct. I would be extremely happy if they are proved to be false.
Or they may be partly distorted.
But Kiran Bedi owes it to everyone to disclose the facts and come out clean. It is not sufficient for her and her friends to say, “ let the authorities make any enquiry against her and hang her  if she is guilty “.

Coming to the allegations.
What are the allegations? What are the facts? And why Kiran Bedi should disclose details of the concerned expenses?

It is a fundamental expectation that those who fight for transparency should themselves be transparent. Otherwise, they lose the moral authority to be leaders. The public will discard them like rotten maggots.

For the moment, the allegations may not prove corruption, but they certainly demand and merit transparency. Kiran Bedi should make public the relevant facts.

My own conclusions (which of course, may not be fully or even partly incorrect) are as follows:

1.      Kiran Bedi did ask for, and received, reimbursement of her inflated air travel fares, consistently and systematically, over several years. These were probably made on the basis of estimates (or proforma invoices) conveniently supplied by Anil Bal, her travel agent and co-trustee.

2.    Later, Kiran Bedi made payments for her travel expenses to Anil Bal, her travel agent and co-trustee on the basis of actuals, which of course are far less.

3.    Kiran Bedi claims that all the amounts she received, including some from other activities, like books, etc. went to the trust.

4.     The question arises whether or not Kiran Bedi attended the meetings and conferences in her personal capacity. If she did, then the entire excess of receipts less actual expenses would constitute her personal income. Of course, she can make donations to NGOs and claim exemption as per law. But all the receipts and expenses must be shown in her personal income tax returns.

5.     On the other hand, if she attended the meetings, etc. on behalf of her NGO, were the activities justified by the objects of the NGO.

6.    In any event, claiming air fare on the basis of false bills, I repeat false bills, is a serious crime.  The motives are not relevant. Robbing the rich to help the poor would constitute the same serious offence. The law is as simple as this.

7.    Kiran Bedi says enquire and hang me if I am guilty. Great words !  Who will file a complaint against you and invite problems?  Every prudent person will just keep mum.  And even if you are guilty, you cannot be hanged. There is no such penalty for such financial crimes. And everyone knows that an enquiry takes a long time……

8.    Kiran Bedi, if you have any sense of self respect, you should publish full details of all the concerned lectures and talks; names and addresses of the invitors, details of the expenses claimed, received and incurred, and on what basis you claimed the inflated expenses. You should also publish full details of your own personal contributions to the trust. After all what is there to hide?

9.     By the way, I went through the web site of her trust – India Vision Foundation.

http://www.indiavisionfoundation.org/donation-gallery.asp

There are no details of the various donations received…only a long list of names.
If this is what transparency is all about for our leaders, God help this nation.

Sanjiv Bhatt, Police and Politics.

I have just seen the following article on a popular website.
It is most distressing and dangerous.

IPS officer Sanjiv R. Bhatt suspended

Posted by: “Anjlee Pandya”
anjleepandya@gmail.com
Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:54 pm (PDT)

I have never met Sanjiv Bhatt.
In terms of service, he is junior to me by 20 years. I was offered the Indian Police Service, but I joined the Indian Revenue Service for the simple reason my mother did not like the idea of my joining the police force.
But Sanjiv Bhatt’s conduct is hardly something which can be justified by any one – either morally or legally.

Members of the All India Services – the IAS and the IPS are a privileged lot. They are appointed by the Central Government and allotted to a particular state. They draw their salaries and allowances from that state. Even though they enjoy certain safeguards against dismissal, etc., they are under the day to day administrative control of the concerned state.

Of late, IPS officers like Sanjiv Bhatt have been mixing up politics with their official duties, hogging the media and making all kinds of allegations.

Serving officers should not address the media unless the conduct rules permit them to do so. Of course, they can and should approach the High Courts and Supreme Court, wherever necessary.

The several allegations in the above paragraphs against Sanjiv Bhatt are prima facie sufficient to justify disciplinary against him. He must remember that if he himself is thoroughly indisciplined, how can he expect, demand and get unsquinted obedience from his subordinates.
They will behave in the same irresponsible manner and the system would collapse.
And if the allegations are correct, no court can support his stand.

First, before fighting against the State, Sanjiv Bhatt or any other officer himself should be clean in all respects.
Otherwise, he will end up a hapless loser the same way as Baba Ramdev.

Sanjiv Bhatt, you are treading on dangerous turf.
You will end up a sad loser.
And in the end, it will be your wife and children who will suffer.

The year 2010 ended leaving India riddled with a spate of corruption cases.
There seems to be a race for the top “I am the most corrupt” slot in India. I am not talking about the top politicians.  They are a breed apart.
 
Next to the politicians in queue, are our top bureaucrats……the IAS officers who rule the country…who advise the top politicians, help them loot the nation and share the loot themselves.

There seem to be a race for the top slot.
Who is the most corrupt?
Who has amassed the largest wealth?

December 2010

Neera Yadav – a 1971 Batch IAS officer from Bulandsahar –  and.ex Chief Secretary of U. P. – was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment. The court found her guilty in a 2002 land allocation case during her term as Chairperson of Noida Development Authority.

In 1997, the UP IAS officers association polled her one of the “most corrupt officers” of the state.

Yet, in spite of a barrage of corruption charges against her, the Mulayam Singh Yadav government appointed her Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh in 2005.
However, in an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court intervened and directed the UP Government to remove her from the post. She is the country’s first IAS officer to be removed from the post in this manner.
Neera Yadav took voluntary retirement in 2007.

Her husband, Mahendra Singh, a former police officer, was a minister in the BJP government in the state. Singh later joined the Samajwadi Party.
Both Singh and Neera Yadav joined the BJP in 2009.

April 2010

O Ravi, a 1983 batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, who is joint secretary in the Disaster Management division of the Home Ministry, and a native of Davangere, was raided by the CBI which conducted searches on 36 premises of the official and nine distillery owners in Daman, Mumbai and New Delhi.

Ravi has served at the Centre in various departments, including the ministries of Railways, Civil Aviation, Commerce and Industries and Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises for over nine years. He has also served in the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation for a brief period. He is in the Home Ministry since 2007.

It is alleged that one of the distillers paid Rs 25 lakhs to Ravi to get the present Administrator of Daman transferred out.
The CBI has registered a case against Ravi, two Excise inspectors and one sub-inspector at Daman for their connivance with six liquor manufacturers (Khemani, Royal, Jupiter, Krimpy, Silver Star and Dharmesh) based in the Union Territory, and causing a loss of Rs 340 crore to the Daman Administration.

February  2010However, the two cases mentioned above are peanuts.
The honours for being the most corrupt must go the IAS couple – Arvind  and Tinu Joshi.

Both Arvind and Tinu are 1979-batch IAS Officers of the Madhya Pradesh cadre. They have held important positions in the Centre since the late 80s.

Tinu served as Deputy Secretary in the PMO from July 1, 1988 to January 1, 1990 while Arvind was Joint Secretary in the Defence Ministry during the 1999 Kargil hostilities.

The Income Tax Department conducted searches at their residence in Bhopal leading to the recovery of currency notes worth Rs 3 crores. Further follow up action has unearthed the biggest corruption case in Indian history.

A 7000 page appraisal report prepared by the Income Tax department says that in the past three years the Joshis did futures trading worth Rs 312 crores. It says that they started investing through Standard Chartered-STCI Capital Markets Limited from April 3, 2007. On June 1, 2007 they had invested in shares of 111 big companies and purchased 10,000 to 50, 000 shares in each company. They have also acquired 25 flats and 400 acres of agricultural and non-agricultural land.

Most of these land dealings are benami. Over 100 acres of land have been purchased in the names of Arvind Joshi’s NRI sisters, Vibha and Abha.

The Income Tax Department has already started proceedings to attach the properties under Section 281-B of the Income Tax Act 1961.
The Enforcement Directorate has also started proceedings against the Joshis (including Arvind Joshi’s NRI sisters, Vibha and Abha) for violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999.

But the final action has to be taken by the state government.

Role of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)

What has the CVC been doing all the time?
Is it not their duty to collect information about corrupt people and take appropriate action themselves?

After all, to err is human.
But to accept a mistake and correct it is divine.

In this glaring case of unprecedented injustice, the Supreme Court Judges made serious mistakes, not once, but three times. As a result, three innocent persons languished in jail for several months.

October 1991

In October 1991, a Sessions Court in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh convicted Bhoja, Pooran, Balvir and Raghuvir (along with four others  – Sugar Singh, Laxman, Onkar and Ramesh) and sentenced them to 6 years imprisonment on charges of rioting and culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

January 2003

The eight convicts appealed to the Gwalior bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court In January 2003, the High Court acquitted all the accused.

The Madhya Pradesh Government accepted the acquittal of Bhoja, Pooran, Balvir and Raghuvir; but filed appeal before the Supreme Court against the acquittal of the other four.

November 7, 2008

A bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat, C.K. Thakker and L.S. Panta set aside the High Court order and held all the eight accused guilty in the case, even though

• The Madhya Pradesh High Court had acquitted  Bhoja, Pooran, Balvir and Raghuvir;
•  The Madhya Pradesh Government had accepted the verdict and had not filed any appeal against it, and
• The issue relating to these four persons – Bhoja, Pooran, Balvir and Raghuvir – was not before the Supreme Court (Bhoja, Pooran, Balvir and Raghuvir were not even parties to the case).

Bhoja, Pooran and Balvir surrendered and were put back inside the jail.

March 9, 2010

Bhoja, Pooran, Balvir and Raghuvir  filed a review petition for reconsideration of the matter. The matter went to the same bench, which through another quirk of fate, released the four other persons instead of Bhoja, Pooran, Balvir and Raghuvir.

April 20, 2010

On April 20, Aftab Ali Khan, Advocate for the four accused pointed out the mistake to a bench comprising of  the Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and three senior most judges, Justices S H Kapadia, Altamas Kabir and R V Raveendran. The Bench promised to examine the matter in May.

April 22, 2010

This matter was widely reported by the media.
In an unprecended move, the Bench comprising of the Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and three senior  most judges, Justices S H Kapadia, Altamas Kabir and R V Raveendran, convened on an urgent basis, called the lawyers and passed order  “acquitting” Bhoja, Puran and Balbir, who had been languishing in jail due to two wrong consecutive orders passed by the Supreme Court in November 2008 and March 2010.

My humble request

At last a serious error has been corrected and justice has been done to the accused. Or has it been done ?

**    Was it not the duty of the Govt. prosecution to point out on each occasion that the courts orders were wrong, that wrong persons were being sent to jail ?

***  Was it not the duty of the Judges to do their home work ?

*** Was it not the duty of the Present Bench of the Supreme Court  to award damages on their own ?

Do the Supreme Court judges really expect the poor accused to engage in one more round of litigation for damages. Would they have the money and energy to file a case at all.

The Supreme Court should have been magnanimous to award damages to the wronged persons. They can pay such damages from the funds of the Supreme Court or direct the Govt. to pay the same.

But in my humble view, the Supreme Court should award the damages.
That is the least they can do now to rectify all the wrongs done.

Dr. Binoy Gupta, Retd. Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Chennai