Letter to West Bengal CM

Dear Mamataji,

  You must have learnt that the Chief Minister of Maharashtra has ordered the suspension of the police officers who ordered the arrest of the Mumbai girl who posted on Facebook her objection to the shutdown of Mumbai on the death of Bal Thackeray.

I request you to do the same to the policemen who ordered and implemented the arrest of Prof. Mahapatra of Jadavpur University and Siladitya Choudhari, and you should immediately withdraw the cases against them and apologize to them.You should also immediately restore Damyanti Sen, the upright police officer, whom you wrongly victimized,and you should openly apologize to her for your wrong. We are all human beings and we all make mistakes, but a gentleman is one who realizes his mistake and apologizes. You should also apologize to Tanya Bharadwaj whom you insulted on the CNN IBN show.

  I can assure you that if you do so you will go up in the esteem of the people of West Bengal, and indeed the whole country.

 From what I could gather during my visits to Kolkata, your Ministers and bureaucrats are afraid to speak out their minds fearlessly before you, and are terrorized by your unpredictable and whimsical behaviour. To say the least, this is a very unhealthy state of affairs, and you will not be able to remain as Chief Minister for long unless you change your ways and become more tolerant. 

 Kautilya has said in the Arthashastra that a successful ruler is one who appoints good advisers, and listens to their advice. Of course, after listening to their advice it is ultimately for you to take the final decision, but your advisers should feel free to express their opinions fearlessly. In this connection I may mention that Sardar Patel, the first Union Home Minister, told his Secretaries (senior I.C.S. officers ) that they should express their views freely, even if their view is totally different from his own, and he would never take offence. In fact if they do not express their views freely they were of no use to him. This is the way you should also conduct yourself.

 It is still not too late for you if you listen to my advice and change your ways. I am your well wisher, and would like you to do well, and in fact, if you remember, I had praised you at one time. But of late you seem to have become increasingly intolerant and whimsical, which is only going to land you in big trouble.

 Regards

  Justice Katju

Congratulation Letter To Maharashtra CM

Dear Chief Minister,

This is just to congratulate you on your strong step in suspending the police officers who arrested the girl who put up an item on Facebook objecting to the shutdown in Mumbai on the death of Bal Thackeray, as well as the girl who supported her.

The Supreme Court (in the appeal coming from the judgment of the Kerala High Court ) and High Courts have repeatedly held that such Bandhs and shut downs are illegal as they paralyze the entire civic life in the city. Hence what the girls did was in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment. How then could their act be called illegal? In fact it was the policemen who arrested the girls who acted illegally and committed the criminal offences mentioned in sections 341 and 342 I.P.C.

        In the Nuremburg Trials the the Nazi war criminals took the plea that orders were orders, and they were only carrying out the orders of their superior Hitler. This plea was rejected by the International Tribunal, which held that such orders were illegal,and illegal orders should be disobeyed, and consequently those found guilty were hanged. 

If a policeman is issued an illegal order by his superior (whether political or police ) it is his duty to refuse to carry out such illegal order, otherwise he must be charged for a criminal offence, and  given harsh punishment. For instance, if a policeman is given an order by a superior to commit murder, dacoity or rape, he must not obey such order. It seems to me that the delinquent police officers who ordered the arrest of Shaheen and the other girl, and those who implemented this illegal order, succumbed to the pressure of the hundreds of hooligans who came to the police station. What kind of policemen are these who succumb to hooligans?

 You have therefore acted correctly in taking strong action in the matter.

   I am informed that in recent years hooligan gangs have flourished in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, and they have terrorized people living in the state. Some of them profess a separatist ideology. In my opinion these should be crushed with an iron hand, and it is your duty, as the Chief Minister to do this, as Chanakya has advised in the Arthashastra, and Bheeshma Pitamah in his upadesh to Yudhishthir in the Shantiparva of Mahabharat.

  Regards

  Justice Katju