The new rule for powerful persons, or those who serve a particular ideology, is: So what if you have been found guilty and sent to jail? We will get you out in no time at all.
The ‘State of Tamil Nadu’ judgment survives, but as a diminished precedent. The Supreme Court has turned an advisory reference into an instrument of quiet, prospective overruling.
A “technical” redefinition of terms can become a loophole. Lower hillocks and connecting formations—often ecologically crucial—risk being treated as dispensable.
Of all academic institutions, it is at Harvard, the richest and perhaps the most powerful academic institution in the world, that Epstein’s ties appear to have flourished most.
The Modi government’s so-called ‘muscular image’ has been dented. India’s foreign policy is in shambles. And the sheen has gone off the BJP’s election wins.
In his book, ‘Joint Farming X-rayed’, Chaudhary Charan Singh marshalled facts from the FAO, USDA, and independent newspapers to show that collective farming had failed everywhere.
China patiently invested capital, skill and technology in coal gasification. Unlike it, we won’t move from words to action. As crude prices decline, we lose interest.
Lord Ganesha !!
Is there anything that this govt. can be said to be responsible for?! Or is its duty only limited to receiving unceasing, undiluted, craven admiration?
@Anonymous. Sir,
The high pendency of cases in India’s courts is largely because of poor funding by the Govt. And the present Government’s refusal quite often to approve the appointment of judges recommended by the judiciary for filling up vacancies. So, there is not only poor bench size, there is also poor bench occupancy.
That apart, a large proportion of the cases clogging our courts are those filed by the GoI, many of which are frivolous ones. GoI is the biggest litigator. I think the Income Tax dept. is among the most active. The practice is not an invention of the present regime. It has been so since long. Cases are filed as a matter of routine by officers, especially to protect themselves from possible wrong-doing charges later. Many cases are filed out of spite. Cases typically drag on for ages.
———
There is no justification for failure or misconduct by any govt….past or present. Likewise, by any state institution or functionary. That can’t be only for the judiciary.
This govt. faces allegations of corruption, violations, and misconduct that are far graver than those against the earlier Cong. govt. In a few of the cases, not even a token investigation was conducted by the concerned agencies, all of which are under the thumb of the current govt.
————-
That those bills are “third-rate socialist files” is of no consequence at the juncture they are. At most, the Governor can ask for reconsideration of the bill, or for consideration of the bill by the President, but only if any of the couple of listed criteria are met.
If people find certain bills and laws to be ideologically offensive, then they need to oppose them the right way in the right forums at the right time. It requires hard work. That’s the price of freedom. There are no special privileges for a few that grant them their wishes when they throw tantrums.
————
The ardent appeal for observance of constitutional restraints in the exercise of power… the need to also use the right methods instead of merely relying upon right intentions….I am a sucker for such prose.
Then, I read his statement under para-heading “When the court writes what the Constitution doesn’t” : { “At the heart of the controversy is the concept of “deemed assent.” Under the Constitution, Article 200 outlines the governor’s limited but clear roles:
to grant assent,
withhold assent,
return the bill for reconsideration,
or reserve it for the President. Nowhere does it provide for inaction leading to automatic assent.” }
I looked up Article 200.
Yes. Article 200 does not allow for inaction by the Governor. At all. Inaction is not an available course of action.
Unlike what the lawyer falsely suggests, withholding of assent is not an option independent of the two listed next.
If a governor decides not to assent, i.e, chooses to withhold assent, then the Governor has to necessarily return the bill or reserve it for the President.
It ordains that “the Governor may, ‘as soon as possible’ after the presentation to him of the Bill for assent, return the Bill ….”
or
the Governor may forward the Bill to the President if the Governor is of the opinion that its enactment will “derogate” from the powers of the High Court, to the detriment of its defined role.
The Constitution (Article 200) does not allow a Governor to squat on a bill, i.e., to indulge in inaction with regard to the bill for a period which is not “as soon as possible”. (Excerpts of Article pasted at the bottom of the comment.)
The only discretion the Supreme Court seems to have exercised is to quantify the maximum period a governor can “withhold assent” . Should a 5 judge bench really been constitued for that instead of the Court’s invocation of Article 142? Considering that the lenght of tenure of a government is 5 years, even the prescribed/suggested 3 months duration is too long a grace period.
The english is plain and clear. The lawyer is obviously trying to confuse and mislead us.
The unnecessarily long, byzantine analyses being given, either way, in the rush of articles must be because of the mandated minimum length of 800 words.
———————
My opinion about ThePrint keeps nosediving further and further.
Does this lawyer represent the Govt for this case.? Or are these his unretained professional views which are nevertheless his “personal” views, i.e., views which are not officially those of ThePrint? Or are these his Friday Night views?
Why has he been given space for his opinion? Is he the best ThePrint could get, even if for that direction of opinion? Is this “Delhi-based advocate” a distinguished expert whose opinion deserves to be accepted as being authoritative by ThePrint’s subscribers? Or is ThePrint more of a billboard?
There are quite a few regular columnists (like the RSS chap…Chary, and Jerry Rao, etc.) whose analyses and opinions are mostly flighty. They do not attempt to rely only on “relevant facts” or adequate data or appreciable logic. Many of them read like middle-school level compositions that most students write for the essay titles their teacher hands out to them in advance. Mandatory weekly-once stints on the rack for the schoolboys, which they prefer to undertake after having swallowed a bottle of cough-syrup.
Is this really serious journalism? What journalistic standards does ThePrint follow? Can an ordinary reader trust ThePrint to give them reliable, credible, useful news & analyses? Or is Mr. Shekhar Gupta purveying some new-age, post-truth kind of reading experience in which the onus is totally on the reader to make the right determination at the end of every sentence?
————————
Excerpts of Article 200
{“The Governor shall declare either that he assents to the Bill or that he withholds assent therefrom or that he reserves the Bill for the consideration of the President….
Provided that the Governor may, as soon as possible after the presentation to him of the Bill for assent, return the Bill if it is not a Money Bill together with a message requesting that the House or Houses will reconsider the Bill or any specified provisions thereof …..
Provided further that the Governor shall not assent to, but shall reserve for the consideration of the President, any Bill which in the opinion of the Governor would, if it became law, so derogate from the powers of the High Court as to endanger the position which that Court is by this Constitution designed to fill.”}
I wonder where the author was all these years when the Governor was misbehaving and playing games with the duly elected assembly. Where was the VP who waxes eloquently about the supremacy of the elected Parliament over the courts when the Governor blatantly violated all norms of democracy and insulted the assembly and the people of TN?
If I were the governor of Tamil Nadu, I would have told the SC that since the Indian judiciary takes decades to dispose of cases, it has no right to tell me when to sign third-rate socialist files. Going by the SC’s logic, courts should dispose of cases within a year of filing. Failure to do so should result in the cases going to foreign courts through video conference, dismissal of presiding judges from service, and ₹1 crore penalty imposed on the government for every such case. The penal amount should go to development of judicial infrastructure and hiring judges.
Lord Ganesha !!
Is there anything that this govt. can be said to be responsible for?! Or is its duty only limited to receiving unceasing, undiluted, craven admiration?
@Anonymous. Sir,
The high pendency of cases in India’s courts is largely because of poor funding by the Govt. And the present Government’s refusal quite often to approve the appointment of judges recommended by the judiciary for filling up vacancies. So, there is not only poor bench size, there is also poor bench occupancy.
That apart, a large proportion of the cases clogging our courts are those filed by the GoI, many of which are frivolous ones. GoI is the biggest litigator. I think the Income Tax dept. is among the most active. The practice is not an invention of the present regime. It has been so since long. Cases are filed as a matter of routine by officers, especially to protect themselves from possible wrong-doing charges later. Many cases are filed out of spite. Cases typically drag on for ages.
———
There is no justification for failure or misconduct by any govt….past or present. Likewise, by any state institution or functionary. That can’t be only for the judiciary.
This govt. faces allegations of corruption, violations, and misconduct that are far graver than those against the earlier Cong. govt. In a few of the cases, not even a token investigation was conducted by the concerned agencies, all of which are under the thumb of the current govt.
————-
That those bills are “third-rate socialist files” is of no consequence at the juncture they are. At most, the Governor can ask for reconsideration of the bill, or for consideration of the bill by the President, but only if any of the couple of listed criteria are met.
If people find certain bills and laws to be ideologically offensive, then they need to oppose them the right way in the right forums at the right time. It requires hard work. That’s the price of freedom. There are no special privileges for a few that grant them their wishes when they throw tantrums.
————
I was beginning to take this lawyer seriously.
The ardent appeal for observance of constitutional restraints in the exercise of power… the need to also use the right methods instead of merely relying upon right intentions….I am a sucker for such prose.
Then, I read his statement under para-heading “When the court writes what the Constitution doesn’t” : { “At the heart of the controversy is the concept of “deemed assent.” Under the Constitution, Article 200 outlines the governor’s limited but clear roles:
to grant assent,
withhold assent,
return the bill for reconsideration,
or reserve it for the President. Nowhere does it provide for inaction leading to automatic assent.” }
I looked up Article 200.
Yes. Article 200 does not allow for inaction by the Governor. At all. Inaction is not an available course of action.
Unlike what the lawyer falsely suggests, withholding of assent is not an option independent of the two listed next.
If a governor decides not to assent, i.e, chooses to withhold assent, then the Governor has to necessarily return the bill or reserve it for the President.
It ordains that “the Governor may, ‘as soon as possible’ after the presentation to him of the Bill for assent, return the Bill ….”
or
the Governor may forward the Bill to the President if the Governor is of the opinion that its enactment will “derogate” from the powers of the High Court, to the detriment of its defined role.
The Constitution (Article 200) does not allow a Governor to squat on a bill, i.e., to indulge in inaction with regard to the bill for a period which is not “as soon as possible”. (Excerpts of Article pasted at the bottom of the comment.)
The only discretion the Supreme Court seems to have exercised is to quantify the maximum period a governor can “withhold assent” . Should a 5 judge bench really been constitued for that instead of the Court’s invocation of Article 142? Considering that the lenght of tenure of a government is 5 years, even the prescribed/suggested 3 months duration is too long a grace period.
The english is plain and clear. The lawyer is obviously trying to confuse and mislead us.
The unnecessarily long, byzantine analyses being given, either way, in the rush of articles must be because of the mandated minimum length of 800 words.
———————
My opinion about ThePrint keeps nosediving further and further.
Does this lawyer represent the Govt for this case.? Or are these his unretained professional views which are nevertheless his “personal” views, i.e., views which are not officially those of ThePrint? Or are these his Friday Night views?
Why has he been given space for his opinion? Is he the best ThePrint could get, even if for that direction of opinion? Is this “Delhi-based advocate” a distinguished expert whose opinion deserves to be accepted as being authoritative by ThePrint’s subscribers? Or is ThePrint more of a billboard?
There are quite a few regular columnists (like the RSS chap…Chary, and Jerry Rao, etc.) whose analyses and opinions are mostly flighty. They do not attempt to rely only on “relevant facts” or adequate data or appreciable logic. Many of them read like middle-school level compositions that most students write for the essay titles their teacher hands out to them in advance. Mandatory weekly-once stints on the rack for the schoolboys, which they prefer to undertake after having swallowed a bottle of cough-syrup.
Is this really serious journalism? What journalistic standards does ThePrint follow? Can an ordinary reader trust ThePrint to give them reliable, credible, useful news & analyses? Or is Mr. Shekhar Gupta purveying some new-age, post-truth kind of reading experience in which the onus is totally on the reader to make the right determination at the end of every sentence?
————————
Excerpts of Article 200
{“The Governor shall declare either that he assents to the Bill or that he withholds assent therefrom or that he reserves the Bill for the consideration of the President….
Provided that the Governor may, as soon as possible after the presentation to him of the Bill for assent, return the Bill if it is not a Money Bill together with a message requesting that the House or Houses will reconsider the Bill or any specified provisions thereof …..
Provided further that the Governor shall not assent to, but shall reserve for the consideration of the President, any Bill which in the opinion of the Governor would, if it became law, so derogate from the powers of the High Court as to endanger the position which that Court is by this Constitution designed to fill.”}
I wonder where the author was all these years when the Governor was misbehaving and playing games with the duly elected assembly. Where was the VP who waxes eloquently about the supremacy of the elected Parliament over the courts when the Governor blatantly violated all norms of democracy and insulted the assembly and the people of TN?
If I were the governor of Tamil Nadu, I would have told the SC that since the Indian judiciary takes decades to dispose of cases, it has no right to tell me when to sign third-rate socialist files. Going by the SC’s logic, courts should dispose of cases within a year of filing. Failure to do so should result in the cases going to foreign courts through video conference, dismissal of presiding judges from service, and ₹1 crore penalty imposed on the government for every such case. The penal amount should go to development of judicial infrastructure and hiring judges.