The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Searching for a CM
Soren braces up to outwit rivals

He wanted to be the King, not the kingmaker; and Friday took Shibu Soren a step closer to the Chief Minister’s chair when he was elected leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha legislature party. Having asserted his desire to go with any combination that helped him fulfil his ambition of becoming the CM, Soren, who is a member of Parliament, has now cleared the decks for staking formal claim to form the government. But the exercise is unlikely to be fast, clean or simple. Indeed, it threatens to be painfully slow. With President’s Rule in the state lapsing only on January 18, political parties are unlikely to rush the process. What queers the pitch for Soren is the reluctance of both Congress and the BJP to back him. A demoralised Bharatiya Janata Party and the JMM together will still fall short of the halfway mark, forcing them to seek the support of smaller parties like All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) or independents. Such a government may suit Soren and the smaller parties but could well be a political liability for the BJP in the long-run. Likewise, the Congress too appears to be wary, having earlier burnt its fingers by propping up the Madhu Koda government in the state.

The challenge of providing a strong and stable government to the state is an acid test for all the political parties. But only three possibilities seem to have emerged so far. If Congress and the JVM were to form the government ‘without Shibu Soren’, as suggested by JVM chief Babulal Marandi, then they would have to entice away a large chunk of the JMM, smaller parties and the independent MLAs. The second option is for the Congress-JVM combine to join hands with Soren and form the government. The third option is for the BJP, Soren and AJSU to come together. There are other possibilities too like Soren supporting a Congress-JVM government or a NDA-AJSU government from outside, but they are clearly improbable.

The nine-year-old state has had six chief ministers during its short and turbulent existence. The state with one of the richest mineral reserves is ranked among the poorest states as successive governments let it down. Shibu Soren, therefore, has the historic responsibility to play a constructive role in giving the state a new direction. The next few days should show whether the state will get a new incumbent or Soren, the old warhorse.

Intelligence alerts
26/11 could have been averted

The Ram Pradhan Committee, appointed to enquire into the circumstances leading to the commando-style terrorist attack in Mumbai in November, 2008, has exposed not only the ill-preparedness of the police to effectively handle a major terrorist attack but also its lacklustre way of acting on the intelligence inputs provided to it. Sadly, there has been poor coordination among top police officials relating to intelligence sharing. They took the information made available to them in a casual manner, resulting in what happened on 26/11. Numerous alerts about a terrorist plan to attack the Taj and Oberoi hotels by using the sea route were not assessed properly. The truth is that the police force “lacked in the appreciation of intelligence and maintaining a high degree of efficiency in instruments specifically set up to deal with such a terrorist attack”, as the report specifically points out.

This makes it clear that if the police had done its duty showing a high-level of appreciation of the threat posed by Pakistan-based terrorists, the situation would have been different on 26/11. Going by the revelations made in the Ram Pradhan Report, the massacre by the terrorists on that fateful day could have been averted. The matter needs to be looked into again so that meaningful intelligence inputs are never taken lightly.

Of course, every bit of information that is received from intelligence agencies is not of actionable quality. The quality of intelligence has to be assessed before taking steps on its basis. It is true that Central intelligence agencies many times come out with inputs claiming that “a terrorist attack is imminent”, as a Mumbai police official has stated. But there have been reports clearly mentioning that the intelligence inputs available about 26/11 were not as vague as the Mumbai police has been trying to prove. The Ram Pradhan report also shows that the police is more to blame than the intelligence agencies for last November’s audacious attack by terrorists. The lesson that must be learnt is that both the police and the intelligence-gathering network have to play their roles responsibly to prevent terrorist strikes in future.

Thought for the Day

Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself. — John Dewey

ARTICLE

The Ruchika tragedy
Restore people’s faith in justice system
by K.N. Bhat

Strange is the state of our laws. If a woman is molested in most parts of India the maximum punishment prescribed is two years; in Andhra Pradesh since 1991 for the same offence the punishment will be a minimum sentence of five years RI, extendable up to seven years. In Madhya Pradesh since 2004 this offence is punishable with an imprisonment up to 10 years. In Orissa after the year 1995 the offence is non-bailable —only a court and not a police officer can grant bail to an arrested accused. In the rest of India, molesting a woman is a bailable offence. That, however, was not the reason for the Chandigarh magistrate to readily grant bail to Rathore after pronouncing him guilty — in cases where sentence is short, bail is granted as a rule.

The long life of 19 years of this case had two phases — the first one started on August 15, 1990, when a written complaint was addressed to the Home Secretary of Haryana. The Chief Minister promptly ordered the Director-General of Police to investigate. The DGP on September 3 found that the allegations were true and recommended registration of the case. The successor DGP, who assumed office in March ’91, recommended departmental proceedings in addition. And then in July ’91 Mr Bhajan Lal became the Chief Minister. Rathore apparently had a gala time thereafter — Ruchika’s teen-aged brother was brazenly hounded, arrested and tortured in connection with many false theft cases. On December 28 Ruchika succumbed to the poison she consumed — may be the wolf was still hounding her. In January 1994 the Bhajan Lal government withdrew all charges against Rathore and he got promoted; may be some Presidential medals followed.

Phase II started in 1997 when, after a long wait, Ruchika’s friend Aradhana’s parents could get a copy of the August 1990 report of the DG. They moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court who directed the CBI to investigate the case. After the Supreme Court upheld that order in 1999 the CBI stepped in and filed a charge sheet in January 2000. That charge sheet did accuse Rathore of abetting suicide also. Rathore succeeded in getting that charge deleted by the High Court and also in delaying the trial till 2007. In the meanwhile Rathore retired in 2002.

Abetting suicide is a difficult charge to prove, but the CBI seems to have not noticed Section 511 of the Penal Code which makes an attempt to commit an offence also an offence with serious consequences of harsh punishment. Was not Rathore attempting to rape a minor girl? Surely, he was not probing her person to assess her fitness to play tennis. If only Aradhana was late by another minute or two in returning, he would have had his kill. The inference that Rathore is guilty of attempting to commit rape flows from the established facts. The punishment could be “one half of the imprisonment for life”

The case calls for effective remedies — immediate as well as ultimate. As an immediate remedy, the High Court in Chandigarh may be moved with a prayer for ordering enhancement of the sentence and retrial in exercise of its power of revision or even under the writ jurisdiction - also on the additional charge of attempting to commit rape. Separate proceedings may be initiated for starting false prosecution, including wrongful detention of Ruchika’s brother. And the possibility of proceeding against his pension benefits should be examined simultaneously. The public will surely help to set up a fund to meet the expenses.

Cases like Ruchika, BMW or Jessica Lall repeatedly remind us about the inadequacies of our criminal law administration. But the reaction is like the feeling of dejection one gets at a crematorium — it lasts until one comes out.

The glaring shortcoming of our system is that at the end of the trial, truth is a certain casualty — the trial does not, nor is it intended to, bring out the truth. It is concerned only with the evidence to prove that the accused is found guilty beyond reasonable doubt. In case of doubt, the accused gets acquitted even where the general public lives with a different opinion.

In an ideal criminal justice delivery system, the investigation must lead to firmly establishing the truth and consequently punish the guilty. In our system, the narrow purpose of investigation by the police is to identify the culprit and ensure his conviction. The Justice Malimath Committee, appointed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, on reforms of the criminal justice system, submitted its report in March 2003. Among the suggestions made by the committee was to emphasise that “quest for truth shall be the foundation of the criminal justice system”, and, therefore, “it shall be the duty of every functionary of the criminal justice system and everyone associated with it in the administration of justice, to actively pursue the quest for truth.” This may be the approach for a long term solution to the ills of our criminal justice system.

The idea is borrowed from the inquisitorial system prevailing in the continent, in contrast to the adversarial system of the common law countries, including India. Under the European system, broadly-speaking, certain classes of cases are entrusted to an investigating judge and the police personnel attached to the judiciary work under him. The judge, in the course of investigation, assumes a pro-active but impartial role and collects evidence for and against the prosecution. He builds up a dossier of all the material collected, which is aimed at finding out how exactly the crime had taken place and who committed it. The matter thereafter goes for trial before another judge. The accused has an opportunity of making submissions, but questioning of witnesses is done generally by the judge. Strict rules of evidence are not applicable in the continental system — even here — say evidence can be looked into. The “inner conscience” of the judge guides the course.

One thing is clear: no country has a perfect system in place. The Malimath Committee suggested some amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code within the disciplines of the guaranteed rights under the Constitution against testimonial compulsion. Indian criminal law practitioners opposed any change in the law to dilute the burden of proof being entirely on the prosecution. In today’s practice, all that is needed of a defence lawyer is to create a doubt about the prosecution story, which is not difficult if the police cooperates.

If the Ruchika tragedy were to take place in Europe, the entire course of the case, from the inception leading to the suicide of the victim and further harassment to the members of her family, would have all formed part of the investigation and trial unhampered by technicalities and permitting just one appeal on limited grounds.

Ruchika case has at once exposed the failures of our police, the executive, the press and the judiciary. The police failed to register a right case and prosecuted false cases; the executive protected and rewarded criminals; the media, which excels in “breaking news”, was mum throughout the decade; and the judiciary dilly dallied and awarded just a token sentence where the maximum permissible did not match the gravity of the guilt. Only Aradhana and her parents stand out.

In our country, the Rathores, the Nandas and the Sharmas repeatedly assert their “faith in the judiciary” — they have good reasons for that. It is high time to make efforts to win the faith of our people in our justice system.n

The writer is Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India.

MIDDLE

The surest diet
by Raj Chatterjee

I don’t care what Julius Caesar said about Cassius and his “lean and hungry look” but I have always had a horror of getting fat.

In my twenties there was a time when I turned the scales at 172 pounds. I have never been a big eater and my excess weight was entirely due to my fondness for beer. I could put away a couple of bottles before lunch with the greatest of ease. As likely as not, the same liberal dose was repeated in the evening.

No amount of dieting was of the slightest use. I lived on boiled food and salads for a while but it was only when I switched from beer to nimbu pani that I was able to make an appreciable reduction in my weight.

Then came middle age and the “spread” that accompanies it. I tried various reducing diets culled from women’s magazines that my wife read. None of them worked, obviously because they were meant for young women, not ageing males.

I consulted the family physician. We are the same age but he is slim as a girl in her teens.

“How do you manage it?” I asked.

“Willpower,” he said. “I eat only one big meal a day and never take any exercise. Walk a couple of miles and you work up an appetite which makes you eat more than you should.”

I took his advice about the eating but not about the exercise. For as long as I can remember, I have been a regular walker. Unless I put in a couple of miles in the evening I can’t work up an appetite at all for dinner which is my one good meal in the day.

And now that my middle age is a thing of the past, I have lost my bulge. It doesn’t matter in the least how much I eat my weight stays at 70 kg, which, in avoirdupois, is 18 lbs, less than what I weighed at the age of 26.

My weight-reducing recipe is very simple — worry.

If the power fails, I pace up and down till it is restored. If the telephone is out of order, I am not content with ringing up the exchange. I rush round to the zonal office and wait there till a linesman is dispatched to my house. If my daughters are late coming home from a party I can’t sleep.

My friends say it is all due to lack of occupation. Maybe they are right. But the only thing I don’t have to worry about is the number of Bengali sweets I consume.

OPED

Need to grab initiative on J&K
Groups’ recommendations require a push
by Satish Misra

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had taken a bold step in 2006 when he had constituted five working groups on Jammu and Kashmir to grab the initiative for ushering in a phase of development by creating conditions of permanent peace in the troubled state.

Reports of the four out of the five Working Groups on Jammu and Kashmir were submitted in 2007. The Third Round Table Conference was held in April 2007 during which there was almost a consensus on the need to implement the recommendations of the Working Groups.

Now that the fifth report on the issue of Centre-State relations by Justice S Saghir Ahmad has also been submitted, it is high time that the Prime Minister, in consultation with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, turned these recommendations into reality.

Already enough time has been lost as, barring a few, hardly any substantive recommendations have seen the light of the day. After the submission of reports, both Assembly as well as General elections have taken place. The ruling National Conference is the part of the UPA government. In Srinagar, a NC-Congress coalition government has been in place for almost a year but people's sufferings are continuing in absence of peace and rapid development.

While the Centre has been conducting "quiet" talks with the separatists (read All Party Hurriyat Conference) for some weeks, progress on the implementation of the recommendations has been rather slow, if not tardy. Recommendations, which are significant, would a long way to win the confidence and trust of the people within the state.

Some of the crucial recommendations of the Working Group on Confidence Building Measures like providing an investigating wing to the State Human Rights Commission have still not been implemented. Similarly, the Group had recommended setting up of a special cell for getting complete data on the conditions of widows and orphans of those killed in militancy related violence. It was also suggested that orphans of killed militants with no other source of income should be included as a goodwill gesture.

Steps recommended by the Group, if implemented speedily, would go a long way to create an atmosphere of goodwill and amity so urgently required in the state.

The Group on Strengthening Relations across the Line of Control (LoC), headed by former Foreign Secretary M K Rasgotra, had suggested that eligibility for travel and visit across LoC should not remain restricted to members of divided families only but should be expanded to groups of persons who want to visit places of religious interest and tourism. The facility should be extended to persons who are in need of medical aid provided they carry requisite documents to show that they genuinely require treatment, the group had suggested.

The Group has also suggested measures including setting up of a Joint Consultative Machinery of officials and representatives of trade and commerce (including Chambers of Commerce) from both sides for increasing goods traffic across LoC. The ultimate aim would be to encourage, in stages, the creation of Free Trade Areas comprising of J&K and PoK, the Group has suggested. For promoting people to people contacts, visits of University students and faculty members, exchanges of group of journalists, academicians, lawyers and other groups has been suggested. Besides, the Group has also recommended opening up of seven additional routes and some additional contact and meeting points.

The working Group was of the unanimous view that the initiative to open new routes should be taken by India unilaterally regardless of the nature of response of the PoK/ Pakistan authorities, and that the announcement of the decision should be followed up with the establishment of integrated check posts at the crossing points, in particular at the points which are designated for movement of trade.

The traditional Leh-Xinjiang route should be considered for opening the LAC (or the border) with China,leh being promoted as an alternative for the Kailash-Mansarovar uatra, the Group has suggested and has recommended that this may be considered when conditions are appropriate.

Though non-implementation of the recommendation of the Working Group led by the former Foreign Secretary can possibly be explained in the background of the heightened tensions between India and Pakistan particularly after the Mumbai terror attack on November 26 last year, it is difficult to understand the reasons for not acting upon the suggestions made by the Group on Economic Development which was headed by former RBI Governor C Rangarajan.

The Group had recommended apart from transfer of Dulhasti hydel power project and Bursar scheme from NHPC to J&K strengthening of infrastructure and power sector reforms. It had asked the Centre to enhance the State's share of free power in central projects. Simplification of procedures for various clearances, acquiring stake in thermal projects and exploiting Geo-Thermal and Micro-Hydel projects with a view to redue dependency on hydel power have also been recommended.

Recommendations towards developing Communications, Rural Roads, Tourism and Telecom have been made but unfortunately pre-paid cellphone were also banned. The Group has made far reaching suggestions in areas of social infrastructure and education with stress on vocational and training institutions.

The Group, chaired by former Member-Secretary Planning Commission N C Saxena, submitted its recommendation on ensuring good governance in the State in March 2007 but noting much has been done. Only three months back, the State Government decided to have a Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and appointed the first CIC of the country Wajahat Habibullah to the post. Other steps like setting up of a minority commission and providing an investigating arm to Human Rights Commission are yet to find favour of the State administration.

Now that Justice S Saghir Ahmad report on the Centre's relationship with J&K has also come, the Prime Minister should chalk out the path for giving concrete shape to workable recommendations.

The writer is a Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation.

High bids for doomed love affair story
By Arifa Akbar

It traces the anatomy of a doomed romance, its highs and lows reflected in the shared possessions of a couple who have since parted and whose valuables are now up for sale in an auction catalogue.

And despite the absence of a literary publicity campaign, Leanne Shapton's innovative first novel, Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, is fast becoming the biggest word-of-mouth sensation of 2009.

The illustrated book is in such demand approaching Christmas that it has been re-printed twice by Bloomsbury in just over six weeks — a highly unusual occurrence for a first-time novelist.

The story, a partially autobiographical account by Shapton, a 36-year-old Canadian-born art director at the New York Times, charts the doomed arc of a love affair between the central characters, Doolan, a food writer, and Morris, a British photographer.

Their romance is revealed through a series of 1,332 lots offered for sale at a fictitious auction house on Valentine's Day, 2009. Each lot, including photographs (Shapton’s friends posed as Doolan and Morris), emails, letters, clothes, a cookery book and a set of aprons, reveals key moments of their passion for each other.

The reader gets to know Doolan and Morris through these shared personal effects, which are being sold off now their relationship has run its course.

The book’s rights have been bought in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, Greece, Korea and Brazil. It has also been optioned for a film adaptation starring Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman. Julia Roberts had bid for the rights but lost out.

Despite Important Artifacts’ initial success in America, where it was launched in February, it did not attract a British publisher for several months, until Bloombury’s editor-in-chief, Alexandra Pringle, realised its potential.

Ms Pringle, who also brought Elizabeth Gilbert’s highly successful, Eat, Pray, Love, to Britain, said that once Bloomsbury realised how quickly the first print run was selling, it rushed out reprints.

“What's happened is that it's become a world of mouth book and it’s taken off more quickly than we had anticipated,” she said.

“I first read it on a plane and I was smitten. It doesn’t take long to read but it is just so touching that I was already thinking of buying it for this person or that person. I read every since word, including the estimated prices of the items on sale. It is visual as well as Leanne Shapton has taken the photographs.”

She added that she had received e-mails from novelists praising the novel, including Raffaella Barker, and William Boyd's wife, Susan Boyd, who had bought 10 copies as Christmas gifts, as well as the columnist India Knight.

Independent booksellers including Foyles in central London and the new Notting Hill bookshop Lutyens & Rubinstein have had to re-stock the book after it sold out and several notable writers have bought multiple copies, according to Ms Pringle.

Shapton, who is engaged to James Truman, the British former editorial director of Condé Nast, said in an interview that she wrote the book “in a way to clear the way for the relationship I am now in”. She has previously written a graphic book called Was She Pretty? about a woman’s obsession with her boyfriend’s former girlfriends. She is currently writing her next “concept novel”.

Inside Pakistan
Muscle flexing after NRO verdict
by Syed Nooruzzaman

There is little possibility of President Asif Ali Zardari submitting his resignation, at least in the near future, in the wake of the Pakistan Supreme Court judgement scrapping the infamous National Reconciliation Order, promulgated by former President Gen Pervez Musharraf. This impression can be gathered from the statements made by the indicted ruling politicians, including Mr Zardari, and the opinion being expressed by certain well-known non-political personalities. The rulers are not only staying put, but also threatening the media and others exposing their misdeeds.

As The News says, “Those personally affected by the judgement of the Supreme Court setting aside the ignominious NRO and re-opening cases that were hushed up under it have reacted with yet more ignominy that consists of doing everything that the country has been harmed by in the sixty-three years of its existence. They have defied the court. They have tried to pit institution against institution. They have sought to fan the flames of ethnicity. They have threatened to amputate the limbs of those in the media who expose their corruption.”

Here the reference is to the reluctance of Interior Minister Rehman Malik to submit to law and certain politicians talking of judicial bias against the people of Sindh. But this is not surprising in a country where institution building has never been a priority of the rulers.

“Which part of the SC judgement discriminates between Sindhi and non-Sindhi NRO beneficiaries, between those belonging to the PPP and those who do not? The NRO list, it should be remembered, was issued by the Law Ministry under the PPP. Perceptions, particularly those created with criminal intent, are not sacred. They must be fought against and not fallen for”, asserts the daily through an editorial.

But there are people who want the status quo to continue. Among them is Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Nawaz Sharif, though his idea of not putting pressure on the PPP-led government to respect the court verdict may be a political tactic. That is why Dawn says that there is no point in reading “too much” into the PML (N)’s “generosity” and “good will” — “with the PPP floundering and under immense pressure from the courts, there is little to be gained for the PML (N) by piling on further pressure”.

Not much pressure to go

Instead of asking for the resignation of all the tainted ruling politicians, Dawn admonishes Mr Zardari to make some major moves to save his government and improve his reputation. In the words of the paper, “What’s needed, though, for survival is a seismic shift in the PPP’s attitude towards governance and politics. A business-as-usual approach will simply not do. On the political front, the PPP co-chairman, President Zardari, needs to realise the inevitability of the repeal of the 17th Amendment and use that occasion to begin to rescue his tattered reputation.”

Going through an article in The Nation (Dec 25) by Ijaz Ahsan, one sees that even the well-known human rights activist Asma Jahangir is not supporting court verdict without an reservations. As Ahsan says, “Ms Jehangir was not just saying that the focus on a number of clauses in the judgement was uncalled for; she said more than once (during a TV interview) that the judgement was wrong. It is true that she added the government should realise fully well that as this is a judgement of the Supreme Court, they have to implement it.

“However, the impression was created that the government should act on it because it is the verdict of the country’s apex court, not because it is also basically right. At a time when many ministers in the government are hitting out at anything and everything that comes in their way, the populace can get confused on a very clear issue, although the court has only struck down a black and bizarre law….”

Army changes tune

The Nation also carried a report quoting Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani asserting that the Pakistan Army was firmly behind the government and that there were no differences on any issue between him and President Zardari. There was also a hint that the Army was not in favour of a change in the prevailing political dispensation.

Is this so because any development that can destabilise the government may help the extremist forces and harm the cause of democracy? Or is there the feeling that the judicial verdict should be seen against the backdrop of Mr Zardari’s initial reluctance to go ahead with the restoration of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry as the Chief Justice of Pakistan? Whatever are the factors behind this kind of reaction, the developments after the NRO judgement are not encouraging for those who value justice and fair play more than anything else.