In India appointment of judges is shrouded in secrecy. It is time to make it open.
The names of judges who are to be appointed to the Supreme Court and High Courts should be made public. Committees should be appointed to discuss the appointments. For Supreme Court judges a committee comprising members of Lok Sabha should be appointed. Anyone who has objection to the appointment should mention in to the committee. The candidate should be given an opportunity to defend himself or herself. Similarly for High Court judges a committee comprising members of Legislative Assembly of the state should be appointed and procedure followed. Judges should be appointed after the committee clears appointments.
Tag: India
India and Terrorism
India faces terrorism within and abroad. Indians in Afghanistan are targets of terrorism. Asking Pakistan to hand over terrorists has not helped. When the evidence is presented to Pakistan’s foreign secretary he calls it literature.
Nagaland and sovereignty
NSCN-IM general secretary Thiungaleng Muivah is in Delhi for talks with the Government of India. There is demand for Nagalim or Greater Nagaland and sovereignty for Greater Nagaland. It is unlikely that both demands will be granted.
India, Qatar and democracy
Some feel M. F. Husain should not have accepted Qatar nationality because Qatar is not a democracy. They have not considered the reality.
Qatar has better rule of law than India. M. F. Husain felt safe in Qatar. In India people who call for murder of someone are not arrested. Is that democracy?
Budget 2010
On 26/2/2010 Pranab Mukherjee presented India’s budget for the Financial Year 2010-11. Since 1992 prices used to come down after budget or did not go up. This time prices went up. Previously prices used to increase 15 days before the budget or some days after the budget or during the year and the government of the day used to claim that there is no increase of prices in the budget.
Maqbool Fida Husain, India and Qatar
Maqbool Fida Husain, a famous painter from India, has been offered Qatar nationality and he has applied for it. He has said “I, the Indian origin painter M. F. Husain at 95, have been honoured by Qatar nationality.â€
M. F. Husain has attracted controversy for his paintings. Exhibitions having his paintings were disrupted. There were many court cases against him. His life was in danger. For many years he lived abroad. He was not in exile because the government did not banish him.
Impeach Pratibha Patil
As per one report India’s President Pratibha Patil has refused to reject mercy petitions of murderers sentenced to death penalty. She follows Home Ministry’s advice only when it is to commute death penalty to life imprisonment.
Supreme Court and CBI
CBI’s record is pathetic. Many times CBI officers are susceptible to fear or favour. It is likely that they will not do a better job than state police and many times may do a worse job. There is no guarantee that if the judiciary orders a CBI probe it will do better or guilty will be caught and punished. Jain hawala case is an example.
Film and the city
On 12/2/2010 the film My name is Khan opened for show in a few theatres at noon in Bombay. After two hours more theatres had opened and by night it was business as usual.
The film’s release was hanging in balance for the past two weeks. Shiv Sena had demanded apology from Shah Rukh Khan for his statement that Pakistani players should have been selected for IPL 3. If no apology they will not allow the film to be shown in Bombay. They had also said Bombay belongs to Marathi people and had criticised anyone who said Bombay belongs to all Indians. They had dared Rahul Gandhi to visit Bombay. If he came he will be shown black flags. Rahul Gandhi visited Bombay and travelled by local trains. Black flag demonstrators were arrested. Next day Shah Rukh Khan returned from abroad. He was given security from airport to home. Shiv Sena was dejected and would have given up the boycott. Sharad Pawar visited Bal Thackeray and that gave a boost to Shiv Sena which renewed the threat to boycott the film. They sent letters to theatre owners not to show the film.
India Loses Nagpur Test
India lost Nagpur Test by an Innings and 6 runs on 9/2/2010, fourth day of the Test. India’s Test ranking is No. 1 and South Africa’s No. 2.
As per original tour programme South Africa was to play seven ODIs. India defeated Sri Lanka in Tests at the end of 2009 and attained No. 1 ranking in Tests. India wanted a change in the series to retain its No. 1 status and the series was changed to two Tests and five ODIs.