Editorial, UNWARRANTED OVERREACH, in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 31 October 2015 issue, Vol. 11, Part 2, No. 20

UNWARRANTED OVERREACH

Certainly it is, to say the least, though there have been even stronger opinions expressed on the same, that in other developed democracies such is unthinkable and could be taken as nothing short of a judicial coup d'état – the decision of the Apex Court striking down the Constitution (99^th Amendment) Act setting up a National Judicial Appointments Commission, passed with voice vote or big majority in both the Houses of the Parliament – there was a general consensus supporting the bill inside and outside the Houses in the entire country, and then ratified by about 16 State Legislatures in the country, on the ground of what is taken by a body of five unelected, non-representative ‘cloistered virtues’ as an onslaught on ‘independence of judiciary’, deserves and needs stringent condemnation by all progressive, democratic people of the country. Because of the general degradation and disgrace to which the other two wings of the State fell in the 1960s and their continuance in such misery, this third wing, especially due to the great contributions of eminent persons like Bhagwati, Krishna Iyer, Chinnappa Reddy, et al, appointed as Judges in the non-Collegium times, has attained an unprecedented preeminence and popularity among the people, which was used step by step to unjustly encroach upon the spheres of the other two wings of the State – striking at the doctrine and system of separation of powers which is yet another basic feature of our Constitution and this lamentable decision is a near climax to such process of degrading democracy. Creating an unheard of collegium system by a weird interpretation of the term 'consultation' in the Constitution to mean tantamount to 'concurrence' paving the way for arbitrary selections of judges by the judiciary, and even dynastic successions, and now restoring it, is acting like an ‘imperium in imperio’ against which our ‘founding fathers’ warned us during the constitution framing. Justice Chelameswar’s lone and sane dissent is to be much appreciated in this dark scenario. The people should widely protest and legislatures should strongly react to reverse this undemocratic measure by introducing a sort of election for or at least ratification of Judges’ appointments by the parliamentary bodies. If inevitable, a new Constituent Assembly may be convened to entirely overhaul or construct anew our constitutional edifice. §§§

Editorial, "The Russians 've Come!", in LAW ANIMATED WORLD, 15 October 2015 issue

THE RUSSIANS ‘VE COME!

“Oh, the Russians are coming, coming…” was a constant cry of the British imperialists in the 19^th century in Afghanistan-Iran region; then it became “Oh, Bolsheviks are coming, coming!” in the early 20^th century and finally to “Oh, the Soviets have come, drive them out!” scare by the US-UK axis in the 60s and 70s, which in fact created all the fiasco in the regions now. But now the Russians have come, on their own right and might, to the Middle East; yet, not seen as any oppressors but as real liberators from a most horrific religious fundamentalist terrorist regime in the world, which in fact has been created and aided by the American imperialists and their malevolent allies, though for public consumption these same Frankensteins proclaimed a phony war against their progeny. The relieving effect of Putin’s entry and vigorous attacks in the region to protect their protégé Assad of Syria, as well the persecuted and fast-being-eliminated minority communities therein, is so profound and obvious that even Netanyahu, the belligerent leader of Israel, with constant enmity toward Syria, Hezbollah and Iran, has begun to see the light of the day and cultivate friendship with Russia now. Putin, on his part, seems to have assured Israel that nothing detrimental to its existence and security was intended by him. Also, President Obama has been propagating a supportive agenda of all Muslim terrorist organizations and acting in a way quite uncomfortable to the interests of Israel in the region. And it appears that public opinion in Israel, as also in Europe in general, is heavily in favor of Putin and lauding him as a virtual hero-deliverer. Of course, one also notices the severe embarrassment displayed by Obama and the Western leaders in this context, who are time and again warning that they would take serious steps to counter the Russian invasion in case their allied Muslim terrorist outfits in the region are seriously attacked. But it is well known that the reactionary regime in Turkey is already acting as a proxy to the ISIS, and Putin has seriously warned the Turkish leaders of nemesis in case they continue so. So, one has to wait and watch whether further developments lead to any great war on a worldwide scale, but certainly this editor firmly supports the Russian intervention and desires the total destruction of the imperialist and fundamentalist forces. §§§