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No one should undermine SC’s authority THE issue of the Supreme Court judges and their “intellectual inadequacy” raised by Mr Ram Jethmalani was the unkindest cut of all, coming as it did from a senior member of the Bar and a friend where intellectual ability and inadequacy are widely acknowledged. His verdict sounded like a fatwa. To many, it would appear that having failed to obtain an acquittal for client in three concurrent jurisdictions, Ram is now carrying on continuing his argument beyond the courtroom.
He admits that he has done such a thing only twice in his long professional life. That shows that what he has done now is obviously, not the done thing.
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The one earlier time when he did it apropos of the Habeas Corpus case was legitimate but this time he appointed himself a judge in his own cause. The point to note is that Ram and his client have had their day in court at three tiers of adjudication. One does not invoke the concurrence of three courts or the finality of the apex court. Nor does one claim infallibility or immunity for the apex court. But Ram is palpably out of order when he turns around and attributes his and his client’s failure to win an acquittal and blames it on the intellectual inadequacy of the apex judiciary. Ram is, no doubt, an honourable man, but his ad hoc verdict appears to be ethically flawed, considered and otherwise disruptive. His view of the judiciary is frontal and judgemental. It cannot command credence because it arose out of a case in which he failed to win the verdict he wanted. His widely sweeping and tangential remarks baffle his affectionate colleagues and strain his own credibility in the eyes of the lay public. Surely, Ram knows that we, the lawyers, representing one side or the other, are not always right and that we cannot win them all. Ram might also recall, as most of us can, the cases we should have lost but which we still won, and the cases we should have won but which we nevertheless lost. Perhaps his friends and admirers and the media may take the liberty of telling Ram Jethmalani that the institution of the Supreme Court and its position in the pantheon of nation’s infrastructure of basic institutions should not be undermined by ego hassles, least of all by those of us who are duty-bound to uphold it, reinforce it, improve it and not to erode and impair it. Would it be too much to expect Ram to reconsider his pronouncement on the judges? Dr L.M. SINGHVI, President,
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Panjab University’s BDS Entrance examination is clashing with the MBBS Entrance examination of Acharya Sri Chander College of Medical Sciences and Hospital in Jammu on July 10, 2005. The two examinations should be rescheduled to help students desirous of taking both the examinations. RAHUL VASHISHTH, Panchkula
Help us too A senior Haryana Congress MLA’s demand for compensating the urban power consumers is fair and just. They can be compensated as follows. One, the actual reading in the power bill should only be billed. Two, the fast racing electronic meters installed by the Chautala Government force urban consumers to pay double the amount. Let these meters be tested effectively by the Central laboratory before these were replaced. And finally, the urban consumers deserve rebate of at least 10 per cent on their bills as also the facility of installment where power bills are beyond a fixed amount. Since only urban consumers remit power bills, they deserve compensation. SATISH BALI, Kurukshetra
Welcome step A beauty contest organised for victims of diseases like HIV and AIDS is a very appreciative step taken by the Nepal Family Planning Association in Chitawana Town in Southern Nepal recently. In Asia, it is first of its kind. As such events will give them confidence to face the world boldly, these should be organised periodically to make them feel better and secure. NGOs should also chip in to help such people. Together all of us can make the difference with a little effort like sponsoring different events and spending some time with them. GAGAN RANDHAWA, Ludhiana
Why paddy? The water table is falling every year almost everywhere. But the farmers are not switching over to options other than paddy. In a couple of decades, the demand for paddy will increase to such a level that we will have to import it. But by then, our own fields will go barren. Will it be the law of nature? KULBIR SAGGU, Batala |
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