New Delhi must grow tall

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The city must grow vertically to get over its many problems.
Scientists very often tell us that what we perceive as true, very often is not; like the sun rotating the earth. We are now even told that dirt is good, as our bodies are not designed to live in five star hotels but in caves. Parents are advised to allow toddlers to play with mud, dirt and dust so that they built up greater immunity. I had even read an article which suggested that though worms could cause many a health hazard, certain amount of worm presence in our intestine, is good for our body. Like fashion, many town planners believe that certain amount of congestion is not only not bad but even welcome. My own experience of living in different parts in Delhi and different parts of Mumbai makes me believe that there....

Beware of banks: They can hang you without trial!

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It is sometimes said that greatest scholars make greatest blunders far beyond that could be thought of an illiterate man. So also is said that Lord Chief Justices and Lord Arch Bishops at times commit greater violation of natural justice than a common man. The Securitisation Act spearheaded by eminent legal minds/economists - including Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram - and the interpretation of that enactment by eminent judges of the Supreme Court is possibly a classic example of the blunders or injustice the mightiest of the mighty and the brainiest of the brainy make. If a law is made today, sanctioning execution of somebody accused of murder without trial, even the most illiterate would raise his eyebrows. The Securitisation Act - enacted by the Parliament in 2002 providing for dispossession and sale of a property, say a residential house given as security for a loan - is similar....

Why capitation fee and profiteering are not anathema

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The right of the minorities and others to run professional Colleges has been a subject matter of litigation in the Supreme Court and various High Courts for a long time. Until the recent past, except the church not many were involved with professional education and, in particular, medical and engineering. The Christian institutions were largely committed to social service. And most of the Christian institutions were established prior to independence. Though, the need for professional colleges in medical, engineering and other fields increased manifold with the surging population, neither the Govt nor the Christian management could cope with the same. The vacuum was filled up by the individuals masquerading as charitable societies and institutions, solely with the intention to make profit. Karnataka happened to take the lead in that. Kerala with the highest literacy rate and Tamilnadu following supplied the students to such mushrooming colleges. For Kerala, with....

Inflation, not a monster but a blessing in disguise?

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I am not an economist but a mere Lawyer. All that I know about economics is what little I had studied for my B.Com. And the little bit learnt thereafter from books, newspapers and periodicals. However, the alarm raised by the Central Government, the RBI and the political parties of all colors over an inflation that touched 6.5% just before the elections in the States baffles me; may be because of my ignorance. I still remember vividly what our economic professor asked while teaching us about inflation, it causes, benefits and evils. He asked us, when the economy is on the boom, there is money everywhere. The manufacturers, businessmen, working class, bankers, self-employed and the treasury, all are flushed with cash. On the contrary, when there is a recession nobody has money. Neither the industrialists, businessmen, bankers, self-employed, working class nor the government. His question was, where all the monies....

Saudi Arabia: To be secular tomorrow!

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After September 11, many thought the world is poised for a conflict, some say, euphemistically between two civilizations. For men who don't care much about sophistication of language or to whom of being politically incorrect doesn't matter much, the conflict ahead is between Christians and Muslims. I believe all this apprehension about extremists gaining ground or conflict between Christians and Muslims are misplaced. The reason is simple. All these fears and predictions about an unsafe world torn by religious fundamentalism of both Christian and Islamic are solely based on the America's response to September 11 or the so called war on terror. I do admit that gauged by the immediate response on Washington's War on Terror and particularly its attack of Iraq, the apprehension of sudden spurt of Islamic radicalism may be true. But, all future is not going to be written by America's War on Terror or....

We, a Nation of Hypocrites

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While on a morning walk in Delhi today, I came across a buffalo. It was pulling a cart full of building materials. The cart driver was making the buffalo run faster by simultaneously twisting its tail as also by beating. The previous day I had been to the market where I found a goat brought for slaughtering. Feeling sympathy for it, I made a request to the butcher to cut its throat by a single axing instead of cutting a little of the throat and allowing the animal to bleed and suffer a painful death, remaining conscious for, may be for 20 to 30 minutes. The butcher told me, it cannot be done as it is against his religious convictions. I tried to reason with him telling that in modern slaughter houses, the animal is first made unconscious by stunning it and then its throat is slit. In that event,....

Biology versus Law

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In the days prior to Christ, many believed homosexuality and unnatural sex like sodomy were horrendous crimes. Bible says that God even punished Sodom and Gomorra by fire from heaven, because they practiced homosexuality and anal sex. During the times of Jesus Christ and before, and in many countries even today, adultery is an offence punishable with death. Even the Indian Penal Code holds anal sex, homosexuality and adultery, all as punishable offences. But, ought these sexual offences really be offences at all? And will they remain as an offence, fifty years from now? The answer to the first question to the vast majority of the masses could only be a definite "yes". The answer to the second question could be a definite "no". The concept of morality, right from the day when man moved out of his caves and lived as a society, evolved around sex. In....

Paradox : Thy synonym is Kerala

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I was a host to a small group of tourists who included a businessman and an attorney from the west and a colleague lawyer and his friend, an Executive in a private company in Mumbai. I took them to my ancestral home near Palai in Kottayam District. My home is situated in a verdant landscape in the midst of rubber plantations. I took my guests for a morning walk across the small hills around. My guests were aghast. They couldn't believe it is India. The palacious houses almost all except ours were newly built and looked overwhelming. Every house in that village has a tarred approach road and one or two cars in its porch. Some of them belonged to people who were once our servants. The girls from all these Christian families studied Nursing, went to Europe and America and had built these houses for their parents or their....

A guilty mind

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In criminal law the traditional concept is that no one could be punished in the absence of 'mens rea' or in other words a guilty mind. In the Indian Penal Code, despite this accepted preposition very often, the requirement of mens rea is reiterated by defining an offence with the qualifying words 'knowingly', 'intentionally', etc. In the 20th century, the concept of mens rea was diluted by express provision in many statutes where mens rea is presumed. The repealed Foreign Exchange Regulation Act and many an economic legislations and of late Chapter XVII of the Negotiable Instruments Act which make dishonour of a cheque a punishable offence are a few examples of such laws. However, what exactly is the import of such legislations on the concept of mens rea. Does it entail to a situation where an innocent man could be nay, ought to be punished. Section 138 of the....