IIT Madras - Parivaar proving its venomous potential

The Ambedkar Periyar study circle row once again drives home the point that the parivaar are least suited to govern this diverse country and are sure to wreak havoc.

By stupidly inducing the IIT authorities to ban the study circle, they have allowed all kinds of dubious characters to jump into the arena, saber-rattling and worse. The students’ stridency will go up multifold now, polarizing the campus further.

Some right-wingers write anonymously to The Human Resources Development (HRD) ministry, complaining of the activities of the circle,  and the ministry very solicitously forwards the letter to the Madras IIT authorities, who promptly crack down, setting off furious protests.

Whether they have enough sense to revoke the ban or not, tension in the student community will most certainly be exacerbated.

Now, let us face it, Brahmins have a stranglehold on the upper echelons of the administration.  Many of them might have made it big by sheer dint of merit, but over the years they did begin to operate as a clique.

Observers say the 27 per cent reservation was the first jarring note – in that the Brahmins wielding power didn’t appreciate the move and did their best to stall it, by claiming autonomous status, but  on the student admission front they had to give in.

Indeed the Dalit quota itself remains unfilled in many IITs on the ground the aspirants don’t fulfill certain minimum conditions.

IITs everywhere do offer what is called a preparatory courses to help Dalit students prepare, even that doesn’t help much. How effectively preparatory courses are run is also a  moot point.

 Students find it very stressful, many opt out and seats go abegging .

http://www.nchro.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2993:dalits-are-missing-from-iits&catid=5:dalitsatribals&Itemid=14

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/suicide-by-dalit-students-in-4-years/article2425965.ece

http://www.firstpost.com/india/the-mythology-of-the-dalit-student-suicide-272191.html

Navayana editor Anand, cited in the First Post piece, is a rabble-rouser and whatever he writes should be take in with shovelsful of salt, still there is a distinct pattern of discrimination against Dalits in IITs.

Even if the benefit of doubt can be given to the authorities on the issue of admission of Dalit students, in the case of faculty appointments, they do stall endlessly and make a mockery of reservations.

Take the case of Prof Vasantha Kandasamy 

https://mat.iitm.ac.in/home/wbv/public_html/Press,%20Links.htm

She had to face a lot of problems before being accorded justice

http://archives.deccanchronicle.com/130726/news-current-affairs/article/%E2%80%98i-could-have-been-vc%E2%80%99

http://www.ndtv.com/south/iit-madras-faculty-appointments-to-be-investigated-by-cbi-529469

But the CBI inquiry never came about:  http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/hc-stays-cbi-probe-into-iitmadras-appointments/arti

It was Vasantha Kandasamy who led the crusade against the Brahmin hegemony. Am not competent to comment on her  academic credentials, but the fact remains she has been discriminated against and successive administrations have done their bit to humiliate her.

Most agree that it was during the stewardship of  M S Ananth the caste spat turned ugly and the right-

wingers began to dominate the campus scene.

And this Ananth’s own credentials are dubious.

http://www.indiaeducationreview.com/news/iit-madras-director-accused-flouting-norm

But he managed to have first order reversed, appealing to a division bench.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/hc-quashes-iit-dir-re-appointment/article1-360153.aspx

There has been a spate of articles in the media on the unhappy scenario: https://oomai.wordpress.com/2006/05/18/dalits-bcs-suffer-under-brahminical-dictatorship-in-iit-madras/

Nothing was ever done to remedy the ills plaguing the prestigious institution even during the UPA time. It has become worse since.

If Periyar-Ambedkar circle was vitiating what was this man doing in the halloed precincts?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfoFfJz_vYs

And what is Vande Mataram circle doing there?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbjOICddxu0

Did not Bhakts seek to heckle Teesta Setalvad and see this malicious piece against her

http://www.vijayvaani.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?aid=3113

And this happened in Kharagpur: https://youtu.be/akggWtLMui0

A semi-official take of the study circle issue: http://www.t5eiitm.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/11393130_925796720844639_6415538406934770993_n.jpg

But those behind the circle have repudiated strongly: The Fifth Estate (official news body of IITM) has written an article regarding the incident in IITM on de-recognition of APSC. The article has several factual mistakes and offers a completely biased view.

1. The article states, "The DoSt, however, was clear about the reason for derecognizing APSC. Being the Faculty Advisor for the student body, he mentioned that they violated the Institute’s guidelines". It also has a photo of the guidelines. (attached here)
First, Dean (Students) is not our faculty advisor.
Second, according to the SAC Speaker, that particular guidelines was not approved by Students' Affairs Council, IITM and is invalid. (attached screenshot of the mail from Speaker_SAC).

2. It says, " the Dean pointed out that they had used IITM’s name and logo on publicity material without adequate permission" and provides a link to APSC poster (poster attached here). 
Since, the guidelines are invalid, the accusation regarding "usage of IITM name" is also invalid.
Moreover, the event on the poster was on 10th October 2014. But mail from Dean (Students) regarding usage of IITM logo arrived only on 22/11/2014

3. The article says, "Some of these activities antagonised a section of students, who anonymously sent a letter of complaint to MHRD complaining against the activities of APSC after their recent alleged involvement in the distribution (it was shared via their Facebook profile) of pamphlets titled, “Manu Dharma Reign’s IIT Madras” at the Main Gate of IITM on 13th May."

First, APSC was not involved in distribution of that poster/pamphlet. We clarified this to the T5E correspondent. But even after that, it was written as it is, deliberately.

Second, there is a logical flaw in this. The complaint to MHRD was sent on 29/4/2014. But the above mentioned poster was shared on APSC page on 13/5/2014. How could this poster have been the reason behind that complaint?

Clearly the right-wingers are taking a lot of liberty with facts. So why should not the demagogues pay back in their own coin?

Am stressing the emergence of the strident Ambedkar-Periyar circle and the strong language they might use should be seen in such a background, not in isolation.

If you can have a godman or a Gurumurthy hold forth why not a Teesta or a Periyar circle? If you are going to vegetarianize the canteen, why wont the non-vegetarians object? If you wont honour reservations in letter and spirit, why would not some denounce the Brahmin/upper caste hegemony?

Modi, an expert on action-reaction theory, should know better than allowing his Yale doctorate to further stoke the embers.

With  Kanimozhis and others jumping into the bandwagon of protest now, the study circle could widen and their members could turn ever more virulent.

Suit case culture is certainly corrosive, but tridents are most destructive.

444 Days That Shook US

It is 35 years since rebellious Iranian students took over the US embassy, taking hostage over 60 officials and triggering off a chain of reactions, over which they had little control. The world was never going to be the same after that.

Author Mark Bowden calls it the first challenge of militant Islam to western civilization. His Guests of the Ayatollah, published nine years ago, is a masterly account of all that went into the making of that epoch-making event.

Originally a reporter with the Philadelphia Inquirer, he says he interviewed the various personalities

involved for over six years to get down to work on the book.  Painstaking research of an extraordinary kind indeed.

And as repeatedly reviewers point out it is a most gripping account, the book reads like a thriller, almost unputdownable.

But am mentioning the book here more to express my admiration for the author‘ s  perspective.  A quintessential liberal, Bowden doesn’t spare anyone – readily concedes the atrocities of the Shah and the US complicity even while denouncing in no uncertain terms the mad mullahs.

Even more important, he reveals that presidential candidate Ronald Reagan had sought to delay the release of the hostages, in a clumsy attempt to cash in on the resentment of the voters at large.

Yet again he posits possibly the eventual delay had little to do with the initiatives of the Reagan camp, but with the seething hatred of the mullahs for Carter, little realizing what they were doing to their own country in the process.

Remember the damage inflicted on the larger world by Reagan-Thatcher duo. To think that Khomeini and co had paved the way for it all…Jimmy Carter comes through as an eminently decent man who does his best to defuse the crisis, without provoking any larger confrontation, and who refuses to make use of the crisis to bolster his plummeting ratings. He had returned the Panama canal and was behind the Camp David accord. He could have done a lot more had he continued for another term.

But to me what stands out is the sheer cussedness of the protesting Islamic students. I too had derived some satisfaction at the time that Uncle Sam was being so hugely embarrassed and humiliated though I was queasy about the fundamentalist forces at work.

Bowden remarks that arrogance and ignorance were the two most outstanding traits of the hostage-takers. Their revolutionary fervor is as touching as their naivete. They are convinced that the Great Satan was out to destroy the revolution and the embassy was a den of spies. They also wonder why the Blacks and other oppressed minorities would not raise in revolt.

(Funnily some Iranian leaders later insist  that the embassy seizure was itself engineered by the CIA with a view to bringing a bad name to Iran!)

They ill-treat the hostages like hell to the end.  Even when they are all released, students and fellow fanatics line up to insult the officials, push and shove them, as they walk towards the waiting aircraft. As one of the hostages muses, "They have neither decency, nor style..."

They could have seen them off with flowers, “Sorry, no hard feelings…” No, they won’t.

Such traits one can see in many activists on the Left to this day. Sad.

சுற்றுச் சூழல் அடையாள அரசியலுக்கு பலியாகலாமா?



இன்று (மே 8, 2015) டைம்ஸ் ஆஃப் இண்டியாவில் சர்ச்சைக்குரிய நியூட்டிரினோ திட்டம் குறித்து வெளியாகியிருக்கும் கட்டுரையிலிருந்து சில பகுதிகள்:

 தேனி மாவட்டம் போட்டிபுரம் எனும் கிராமத்தில் பொதுவிவாதம் நடந்தபோது, மாறன் என்பவர் அப்பகுதியில் இருக்கும் புதர்களைத் தான் எங்கள் பெண்கள் கழிப்பிடங்களாகப் பயன்படுத்தி வருகின்றனர், அதனை நாங்கள் இந்த ஆய்வரங்கத்திற்காக இழக்கத் தயாரில்லை என்றார். மேலும் அவ்வாராய்ச்சியினால் மக்களுக்கு பயன் ஏதும் இல்லை என்றார்.

கழிப்பிடம் இல்லையென்றால், அவற்றைக் கட்டித்தாருங்கள் எனக் கேட்பதுதானே நியாயம், மாறாக ஆய்வரங்கமே வேண்டாம் என்றால் எப்படி, தவிரவும் ஆராய்ச்சியால் உடனடிப் பயன் ஏதுமில்லாவிடினும், நீண்டகாலத்தில் ஒட்டுமொத்த சமூகமும் பயன்படத்தானே செய்யும் என்பது விஞ்ஞானிகளின் வாதம். ஆனால் மாறனோ எதையும் காதில் வாங்கிக்கொள்ளவே தயாரில்லை.



பூவுலகின் நண்பர்களோ, ”நாங்கள் ஒன்றும் முன்னேற்றமே வேண்டாமெனச் சொல்லவில்லை, இத்தகைய ஆராய்ச்சிகளில் இருக்கும் ஆபத்துக்களைத் தான் எடுத்துரைக்கிறோம். நியூட்ரினோ ஆய்வின் விளைவாய் கதிரியக்கம் வெளிப்படக்கூடும் இதை விஞ்ஞானிகளே ஒத்துக்கொள்கிறார்களே,” என்று பதிலளிக்கின்றனர்.

சுற்றுச் சூழல் ஆர்வலர்கள் அதிகம் படித்திராத மக்களிடையே இருக்கும் அச்சங்களைப் பயன்படுத்தி அவர்களைக் கொம்பு சீவி விடுகின்றனர், தேவையில்லாத சிக்கல்களை உருவாக்குகின்றனர், எந்த ஆய்வில்தான் ஆபத்தில்லை, அதையெல்லாம் பார்த்தால் நாம் முன்னேறமுடியுமா, எத்தனையோ விபத்துக்களைக் கடந்துதான் ஆங்கில மருத்துவமும் மற்ற பல துறைகளும் வியக்கத் தக்க சாதனைகளை நிகழ்த்தியிருக்கின. ஒட்டுமொத்த மானுடமும் அவற்றின் பயனை அனுபவிக்கின்றன என்பதும் நியூட்ரினோ ஆய்வை ஆதரிப்போரின் வாதமாக இருக்கிறது.

மேலும் தொண்டு அமைப்புக்கள் கிராமச் சூழல், அங்கே அன்றாட வாழ்வு, அம்மக்களின் பழக்கவழக்கங்கள் உள்ளிட்டவற்றை மையப்படுத்தி அவ்வப்போது பல்வேறு நிகழ்ச்சிகளை சென்னை போன்ற நகரங்களில் நடத்துகின்றன. அவற்றில் இயற்கை உணவு, உரங்கள், மூலிகைகள், நாட்டுப்புறக் கலை இவை முன்னிறுத்தப்படுகின்றன. அந்நிகழ்வுகளின் நோக்கம் அண்மைக்காலங்களில் வேலை வாய்ப்பு தேடி நகரங்களில்  குடிபுகுந்திருக்கும்  இளைஞர்களைக் கவர்வதுதான். கடந்த ஓராண்டில் சென்னையில் மட்டும் அத்தகைய நிகழ்ச்சிகள் பத்து அரங்கேயிருக்கின்றன.

குறிப்பிடத் தகுந்த தலித் சிந்தனையாளர் ஸ்டாலின் ராஜாங்கம் இயற்கையோடு இயைந்த வாழ்வு, உணவுப் பழக்க வழக்கங்கள், இவற்றை வலியுறுத்துவது சரி, ஆனால் எல்லாவற்றிலும் தமிழ் இன அடையாளத்தைக் கொண்டு வருவானேன் எனக் கேட்கிறார்.

(டைம்ஸ் ஆஃப் இண்டியா செய்தியாளர் அப்துல்லா நூருல்லா)

தமிழ் இன அடையாளம் பலதளங்களில் ஆர்வலர்களால்

வலியுறுத்தப்படுவது எனக்கும் ஏற்புடையதாய் இல்லை. எனவேயே இக் கட்டுரை.

தமிழ் இன அடையாளம் என்பதே தலித்துக்களுக்கு விரோதமாக அமைந்துவிடுவதைத் தான் மறைமுகமாக ஸ்டாலின் ராஜாங்கம் சுட்டிக்காட்டுகிறார் என நினைக்கிறேன். அவரது கவலையும் அச்சமும் சரியே.

தமிழ்த் தேசிய இயக்கங்கள் இன்று பிராமணரல்லாத, முற்பட்ட மற்றும் இடை நிலை சாதியினரின் கட்டுப்பாட்டில் இருக்கிறது என்று சொன்னால் மிகையில்லை.

அவ்வியக்கத்தை வழி நடத்துவோர் தலித்துக்களுக்கு விரோதமானவர்கள் அல்லதான், அவர்கள் நிலை குறித்து அவ்வப்போது ஏதாவது கவலை தெரிவிக்கவும் செய்வார்கள். ஆனால் தலித் பிரச்சினைகளில் பெரிதாக அக்கறை ஏதும் இருக்காது, தலித்துக்கள் மீது வன்முறை கட்டவிழ்த்துவிடப்படும்போது இத் தமிழ்த் தேசியர்கள் நேரடியாகத் தலையிடமாட்டார்கள், ஏதோ பொத்தாம் பொதுவாக அறிக்கை வெளியிட்டுவிட்டு அமைதியாகிவிடுவர்.

முன்னொருமுறை இது பற்றி விரிவாக விவாதித்திருக்கிறேன்:

https://goo.gl/5CcTGh

 இன அடையாள அணுகுமுறையினை நிராகரிக்கவேண்டியதற்கான வேறு  பல காரணங்களும் அக் கட்டுரையில் சுட்டிக்காட்டப்பட்டிருக்கின்றன.

பூவுலகினரைப் பொறுத்தவரை டைம்ஸ் ஆஃப் இண்டியா செய்தியாளர் கூறியிருப்பதைப் போல், அவர்கள் தமிழின அடையாளத்தைத் தொடர்ந்து முதன்மைப் படுத்தி வந்திருக்கின்றனர். எனக்கு அதில் நெருடல் உண்டு. அவ்வமைப்பினரிடம் நேரடியாகப் பேசாவிடினும் எனது கவலைகளை நான் தெரிவித்தே வந்திருக்கிறேன்

கூடங்குளம் உதயகுமார் தமிழின அரசியலுடன் ஒன்றியபோதும் அது தவறு என வாதிட்டிருக்கிறேன். அப்போராட்டக்குழுவில் உள்ள பலருக்கும் தங்களை பிரபாகரனின் தம்பிகளாகக் காட்டிக்கொள்வதில் மட்டற்ற மகிழ்ச்சி. வைகோவிலிருந்து சீமான் வரை எவ்வித நேர்மையும் இல்லாதவர்களையெல்லாம் வாரி அணைத்துக்கொள்கின்றனர். இவ்வாறு பச்சை சந்தர்ப்பவாதிகளுடன் கை கோர்ப்பது எவ்விதமான செய்தியை மக்களிடம் கொண்டு செல்லும் என்பது குறித்து அவர்கள் கவலைப்படவே இல்லை.

பிரபாகரனின் சகிப்புத் தன்மையற்ற அராஜகம், விடுதலைப் புலிகள் பொருளாதார அரசியலை ஏறத்தாழ முழுவதுமாகவே புறக்கணித்து தன்னின மேலாதிக்க சிந்தனைகளில் ஆழ்ந்தது இவற்றின் இறுதி முடிவுதான் முள்ளிவாய்க்கால் என்பதை தமிழ்த் தேசியர்கள் உணர்வதில்லை. பாசிசத்தின் முதற் படியே இன அடையாள அரசியல் என்பதை உலக வரலாறு மீண்டும் மீண்டும் பல்வேறு கட்டங்களில் சந்தேகத்திற்கிடமின்றி நிரூபித்தும், நம்மவர்கள் ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளத் தயாரில்லை.

வேர்களை நாடிச் செல்லும் போக்கு சரியே. நாகரிகக் கனவுகளில் நாம் பாரம்பரியத்தின் ஆரோக்கியமான பல கூறுகளை இழந்துவிடுகிறோம். சுற்றுச் சூழல் ஆர்வலர்கள் அவற்றை மீட்டெடுப்பதில் காட்டும் அக்கறையும் பாராட்டுக்குரியதே.

ஆனால் பாரம்பரியத்தைக் காக்கும் முயற்சிகள் பழையனவற்றின் கோரமான பகுதிகளையும் நாம் ஆராதிப்பதாக முடியக்கூடும். தேசியம் பாசிசமாக மாறுவது அப்படித்தான்.

ஸ்டாலின் ராஜாங்கம் போன்ற தலித் முற்போக்கு சிந்தனையாளர்கள் அச்சப்படும் அளவு இருக்கிறது சுற்றுச் சூழல் ஆர்வலர்களின் மண் பற்று. 

கிராமங்கள் நமது கல்லறை. நகரமயமாதலே நம் விடியலுக்கு வழி என்ற ரீதியில் தலித் ஆர்வலர்கள் பேசும்போது அவர்கள் நவீனமயத்தின் நேர்மறை அம்சங்களைக் கருத்தில் கொள்ளத் தவறுகின்றனர் என்றுதான் நானும் நினைக்கிறேன்.

ஆனால் கிராமப்புற சமூக அடுக்குக்கள் பல பிரிவினருக்கு அநீதியைத் தொடர்ந்து இழைத்து வருகின்றன என்பதை பகிரங்க ஒப்புதல் பிரகடனமாக வெளியிடாமல், இயற்கையோடு இயைந்த வாழ்வு என்பதை மட்டும் பன்னிப் பன்னி சொல்லும்போது, ஜாட் சாதியினரின் காப் அல்லது நம் கவுண்டர், தேவமாரின் பஞ்சாயத்துகளை நம் ஆர்வலர்கள் romanticize செய்கின்றனரோ என சந்தேகங்கள் எழுவது தவிர்க்க இயலாதது .

எப்படியும் சுற்றுச்சூழல் ஆர்வலர்கள் இனவாத அரசியலால் ஈர்க்கப்படும்போது, அத்தகைய பிற்போக்கு அணுகுமுறைகளை நிராகரிப்போரிடமிருந்து விலகிச் செல்கின்றனர்.

இனவெறி கொக்கரிப்பிற்கு கை தட்டவென ஒரு கூட்டம் எப்போதுமே இருக்கும்தான். ஆனால் அது மைய நீரோட்டமாக மாற வாய்ப்பு அதிகமில்லை. அவ்வாறு மாறுவது நல்லதுமல்ல.

Judicial Corruption Unlimited

(Adapted from the Tamil original carried in Savukkuonline.com)

So the Supreme Court has extended the bail for AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa and her co-convicts in the disproportionate wealth case till May 12.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/former-tamil-nadu-chief-minister-jayalalithaa-bail-extended-till-disposal-of-appeals-by-karnataka-hc/article7113060.ece?homepage=true

This is certainly a setback for Amma – for uncertainty continues and so does the house arrest. And if the new bench prefers to go with Justice Madan B. Lokur, the case will have to be heard afresh in Bengaluru – so another three to four months for a verdict.

In case the final HC verdict is unfavourable, the SC can always come to her rescue, as had happened in the TANSI case a decade ago. At least such are the expectations in many quarters.

And so she and her minions should indeed be praying to all the gods they can think of that they are able to see through the case before Mr Dattu steps down as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  

Thanks to his benign approach, she could not only move out of the stultifying and degrading confines of a prison, but the hearing in the appeal in the Karnataka High Court too was fast-tracked .

Mr Dattu has chosen to ignore all pleas to him to recuse himself from the case.

Born in Chigmagalur district of Karnataka, Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu was enrolled as an advocate at the bar in 1975. He appeared as government counsel in the Karnataka High court for the sales tax department from 1983 to 1990, was government advocate from 1990 to 1993, standing counsel for the income tax department from 1992 to 1993 and a senior standing counsel for the Income Tax department from 1993 to 1995.

Dattu was appointed a judge of the Karnataka High Court on 18 December 1995. Thereafter, on 12 February 2007, he was elevated as the Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court. On 18 May 2007, he was transferred to head the Kerala High Court. He was elevated to Supreme Court in 2008 and sworn in as the 42nd Chief Justice of India in September last year.

Within a few weeks of his ascent to highest post in the Indian judiciary, the then Chief Minister of

John Michael D'Cunha

Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalithaa is convicted by special judge John Michael D'Cunha of the Karnataka High Court to a four-year term in the disproportionate wealth case and also slapped with a huge fine of Rs.100 crore.

http://www.rediff.com/news/report/jayalalithaa-found-guilty-in-da-case-to-quit-as-tamil-nadu-cm/20140927.htm

The sentence is delivered on Sep.27 and bail is denied, resulting in her incarceration in Bengaluru itself.

Even as many wonder whether she might have to cool her heels there, the Supreme Court, now headed by Mr Dattu, comes to her rescue. And His Highness chooses to hear her bail plea himself instead of referring the case to any other bench.

Distinguished advocate Fali Nariman makes a forceful plea all right, and Mr Justice Dattu tries to show that he is a no-nonsense man by grilling the defence counsel, twitting him how long did it take the Karnataka special court to dispose of the case against Jayalaltihaa. Sheepishly Nariman admits, “Several years.”

Dattu retorts, “Wont you take 20 more years to fight out the appeal in the High Court?” The uninitiated might be forgiven if they laud the CJ for making it that difficult for the appellant.

But the question only facilitated a way out for Jayalalithaa – for Fali promptly offered to ensure that the writ appeal was argued out in just two months and the bench agreed, without any further ado.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/jayalalithaas-bail-plea-hearing-in-supreme-court/article6509769.ece

http://www.thehindu.com/article6704508.ece

Now remember here it took Kanimozhi and Raja more than six months to be released on bail, a year for Y S R Jaganmohan Reddy in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, two years and eight months for Satyam’s Ramalinga Raju and three years and eight months for Janardhana Reddy of Karanataka in the mining scam.

Even Lallu Prasad Yadav and Om Prakash Chautala of Haryana had to struggle hard for a couple of months at least before getting the nod from the Supreme Court.

If Jayalalithaa had not been responsible for the violence, how come it all became quiet the moment she issued a statement exhorting her followers to maintain peace?

Anyway please note that as of Sep. 2014, there were as many as 63,843 cases pending. Then why the urgency in the case of Jayalalithaa, hearing out of turn and granting bail in just 21 days? And how could anyone, leave alone their Lordships, afford to forget she had done everything she could to subvert the course of justice and succeeded in protracting the course of hearing for an incredible 18 long years?

OK, if you are going to say in view of her eminence or whatever, why should the other

(Clockwise: Jayalalithaa, her confidante Sasikala, Sudhakaran, disowned foster son and Ilavarasi, widow of Sasikalaś brother Jayaraman)

convicts, Sasikala, Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran be shown similar consideration?

Also remember there are hundreds of thousands languishing in jails, without any chance of a bail whatsoever, irrespective of their sentence terms. 

How come such issues were not factored in by Mr Dattu when he so readily granted bail to a politician, notorious for her arrogance and corruption?

Even the insistence of a judgement in just four months from the high court could be said to have been a blessing in disguise for the appellant – possible she would succeed in the appeal and triumphantly reenter the portals of Fort St George. Was the CJ then not expediting the process please?

The Dattu saga doesn’t seem to end there. Our inquiries reveal there was pressure on  Karnataka Chief Justice D H Waghela to have a pliable judge to hear Jaya‘s bail plea, but in

Justice D H Waghela

vain.

The plea was turned down, and eventually Dattu sahib had to do the job himself.

Pressure was mounted yet again when the time came for the nomination of a judge to hear Jayalaltihaa’s writ appeal, still an upright Waghela wouldn’t give in.

Then it was widely rumoured that Waghela was being transferred out of Karnataka itself and a judge from Allahabad, Vineet Sharan, was being brought in.

The idea apparently was that when Waghela was transferred out, the man to assume charge as CJ would be Manjunath, seen as someone who would be more favourably disposed towards Jaya.

But the news was out in social media siteṣ. Savukku too reported the move on December 31, 2014.

Alerted to the grand plans, the very next day Waghela announced the appointment of Justice C R Kumarasamy to hear Jayalalithaa’s appeal. January 1 was a court holiday, still Justice Waghela made the announcement, perhaps because he wanted to warn all those concerned that he was the boss so long as he was around there and no messing around with him.

Sharan himself was not keen to move to Karnatka for his own reasons. Besides two judges of the Supreme Court had opposed the transfer.

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/collegium-cleared-hc-judge-transfer-despite-objections/

But there was no resisting  the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Newspapers reported, “Justice Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela, Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, has been transferred to Orissa. He has been directed to assume charge as Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court within two months.”

Tamil Nadu leaders like former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and PMK founder Dr Ramadoss have denounced the the transfer of Waghela.

Now with Waghela out and another person in, it would be possible to have a more ‘acceptable’ judge to hear Jayalalithaa‘s appeal in case in the High Court yet again. Such is the apprehension in many circles in Tamil Nadu.

The transfer orders were issued on April 12, a day before the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act came into force. If the transfer had been effected subsequently, that might be questioned during the hearing of the petition challenging the new Act. But Dattu Saheb has successfully forestalled such an eventuality.

Also look at the case of Justice R Bhanumathi who sat with Justice Madan Lokhur and upheld the appointment of Bhavani Singh. She was known to have been close to Jayalalitha when

Justices Lokur and Banumathi

she served in the Madras High Court. Reliable reports have it she had met the AIADMK supremo before she went to New Delhi to assume charge in August last year. In any case she had used a popular Tamil honorific while referring to Jayalaltihaa at a function and it is in Dattu‘s stint she has been appointed to the Supreme Court.

His Lordship has lost no time in constituting a new bench to hear the Bhavani Singh case, though normally such take a pretty long time to materialize. He has also directed that the new bench start hearing Anbazhagan‘s appeal from April 21.

They have to hear and pronounce a ruling one way or another after which only the Karnataka High Court can deliver its own verdict on Jaya’s appeal against her conviction. Quite a tortuous process that, considering our good Samaritan‘s term expires in December this yeaṛ.

But what if the new bench doesn’t oblige him and the hearing continues a bit longer, even stretches to December and beyond ! Where is the guarantee that Dattu’s successor would be equally considerate. One can now understand the anxiety on the part of all those involved.

We can draw our own inference from the fact that Mr Dattu has chosen to ignore all pleas for his recusal.

The Human Rights Protection Centre collected signatures from as many as one thousand advocates and presented a petition to the President of India demanding that Mr Dattu keep away from cases related to Ms Jayalalithaa. But the CJ would not heed.

That irrepressible activist Traffic Ramasamy too wrote to him seeking his recusal. When the matter was raised in the Supreme Court, Dattu shrugged it off, saying, "Somebody will say I have taken Rs.1,000 crore to grant bail etc. Don't worry. I can take care of it. I am too thick skinned for such allegations.

 http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/cji-dattu-jayalalithaa-da-case/1/405882.html

In the absence of any documentary evidence to show that Mr Justice Dattu has been compromised, one can only go by reasonable conjectures – and most point to his being guilty.

As with the TANSI verdict in November 2003, tongues are wagging about corruption in high placeṣ.

http://www.thehindu.com/2003/11/25/stories/2003112506160100.htm

And look at his generous certificate to Namo –

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Narendra-Modi-a-good-leader-human-being-Chief-Justice-of-India-HL-Dattu-says/articleshow/45830081.cms

Many might also remember the controversy over holding a meet of the judges on Good Friday recently.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/sc-justice-kurien-joseph-miffed-over-cj-meeting-on-good-friday/article1-1333723.aspx

Again Dattu sought to make light of it, but it is clear such gestures would go down well with the present dispensation.

Back in September 2009, in an interview to Tehelka, noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan had talked openly of corruption in the judiciary – “ In my view, out of the last 16 to 17 chief justices, half have been corrupt. I can’t prove this, though we had evidence against

Punchi, Anand and Sabharwal on the basis of which we sought their impeachment.”

http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=Ne050909half_of.asp

An enraged Supreme Court initiated contempt proceedings against Prashant Bhushan. But his father, another leading light, refused to be cowed down and went ahead to file an affidavit on his own, virtually repeating his son verbatim.

http://www.outlookindia.com/article/Eight-Of-The-Last-Sixteen-Chief-Justices-Of-India-Were-Definitely-Corrupt/267128

The case is still hanging fire, as the august judges cannot bring themselves to decide how to proceed further!

People at large might not be privy to details that lawyers like Prashant Bushan would be aware of. But it is generally perceived that K G Balakrishnan, who served as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India between January 2007 and May 2010, would surely find a place in the hall of notoriety.  He has been charged with accumulating assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, it must be noted.

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/supreme-court-tells-government-to-decide-on-balakrishnan-case-481781

The track record of Justice P Sathasivam, who was the CJ between July 2013  and April 2014, is no less unedifying. When assuming charge, he was hailed as the first Tamil to adorn the prestigious chair, but he only brought greater disrepute to the office than any of his corrupt predecessors.

Pray, how come he managed to install himself at the Thiruvananthapuram Raj Bhavan, 

it is not difficult to imagine.

Just before his term ended, Justice Sathasivam was on the Supreme Court bench that scrapped a second FIR against Amit Shah in a fake encounter killing case, saying it was linked to the bigger Sohrabuddin Sheikh killing case and did not need to be separate.

It was that ruling which was linked to his appointment as Kerala Governor. He is the first former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to become a governor, it may be stressed.

But he had played it safe, granting bail to Lallu too earlier ! Leaving nothing to chance, our illustrious Tamil friend.

http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ex-chief-justice-as-governor-which-verdict-pleased-modi-amit-shah-asks-congress-657916

One might remember Sathasivam took everyone by surprise in by hinting judgement in the appeal for commutation of death sentence in the Rajiv assassination case was to be delivered soon -  it was a highly emotive issue in Tamil Nadu.  He had said so when the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was going about imperiously demanding reprieve. Nothing like being in the good books of a powerful politiciaṇ.

But he is never indiscreet enough to put all the eggs in one basket. You never know after all! So also in the Rajiv killers’ case, first he sought to please Amma. But the ever wily Karunanidhi, knowing full well that Sathasivam was openly hinting at a reprieve that would only go to strengthen the hands of his bête noire,  took objection and said such judgement trailers, so to speak, were not oṇ. Our amazingly supple Sathasivam is nothing if not smart and so promptly referred the case to a constitutional bench, thus ensuring for years it would be on the back-burner.

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/verdict-on-petition-against-rajiv-gandhi-killers-in-a-week-cji/

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/rajiv-case-ruling-karunanidhi-concerned-over-cjis-remark/article5929914.ece

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/rajiv-gandhi-assassination-case-supreme-court/

But he is not resting on his oars simply because he has become a governor. He has been manouevering no end to become the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, on Balakrishnan’s retirement.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150307/jsp/opinion/story_7255.jsp#.VS-nDdyUdD0

Latest reports say Mr Sathasivam has succeeded in prevailing upon the Modi government.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sathasivam-may-take-over-as-NHRC-chief/articleshow/46952535.cms

Quite interesting this gentleman should aspire to follow so closely in the footsteps of his predecessor – though in a way he proved smarter than the other, in bagging governorship, and thus though Balakrishnan is a Dalit and should be carrying everything before him with just that tag alone.

And pray why Sathasivam should seek to ‘sacrifice’ all the perks and prestige of a Raj Bhavan tenure ? Well he is not being any humble or is so passionately concerned with human rights. Far from it. A New Delhi-based job, ensuring as it does proximity to the powers-that-be, holds out innumerable advantages. Our Sathasivam knows which side of the bread is buttered and how much !

Rightly did he admit judiciary was facing credibility crisis while participating in a function alongside Jayalaltihaa, when she was an accused in a corruption case (she’s now a convict)!

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/judiciary-facing-credibility-crisis-cji/article5043517.ece

Is there any light at the end of the tunnel then ? There could be – but what we see at the moment is  the headlight of an oncoming train.