Interview with Anuradha Prasad of News24
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Monday, 23 April 2012
Ten ways of being foolish
90 per cent of Indians have an unscientific temper. The facts bear it out
After my article ‘The 90%’ was published in The Indian Express on April 4, I got a call from the Delhi correspondent of The Wall Street Journal asking me on what basis I had mentioned the figure 90 per cent when I said that 90 per cent Indians are fools. I replied that it was not a mathematical figure, what I meant was that an overwhelming number of Indians were fools. Therefore the figure might be 85 per cent, on the other hand it could be 95 per cent. Consider the following facts:
One,Tamilians are some of the finest and most intelligent among Indians. They have done the country proud in various fields — scientific research, mathematics, IT, medicine etc. In the US and Europe, the science and mathematics departments of many universities and institutes are full of Tamilian professors.
Yet Tamilians are some of the most superstitious people in India. This may sound like a paradox, but it is true, and this just shows that scientific and unscientific ideas can co-exist in the same head. When I went to Chennai to take oath as Chief Justice of Madras High Court in November 2004, I was told not to take oath in Rahukalam time. I asked what this Rahukalam was, and was told it was the inauspicious time according to astrology. Now, Rahukalam is all nonsense (as is all astrology), but over 90 per cent of Tamilians believe in it. To give an example, a very senior south Indian lawyer practising in the Supreme Court told me that his Tamilian clients tell him not to begin reading their briefs during Rahukalam time.
Two, most ministers and even many chief justices of high courts take oath at the “auspicious” time, as advised by their astrologer.
Three, judges of the Supreme Court are allotted houses in the Supreme Court Judges pool. One of such houses was 7, Tughlak Lane. Unfortunately some mishaps happened to some judges who occupied this house, and thereafter no judge would accept it, thinking it was inauspicious. Ultimately, the then Chief Justice of India wrote to the concerned authority to remove that house from the judges pool, which was done, and another house allotted to the pool.
Four, some years back it was announced in the media (which plays a prominent role in spreading superstitions) that Lord Ganesh was drinking milk. There was a rush of huge crowds in many cities in India to offer milk to idols of Lord Ganesh. Similarly, some years back a miracle chapati was announced. Many such “miracles” keep happening from time to time, and most people believe them.
Five, this is a “baba-bound” society. Consider the number of “godmen”, their huge following and huge properties they amass. The latest one claims to have a third eye, like Lord Shiva. It was published in a leading English newspaper (April 18) that he had told people in Raipur not to keep shivalingams at home for their welfare but to put them in temples. As a result, temples in Raipur were flooded with Shivalingams. He had also advised eating kheer, samosas, golgappas etc for various problems. And much of all this was lapped up by his followers, who have donated huge amounts to him.
Six, when I was a judge in the Allahabad High Court, it was announced that someone in Tamil Nadu had discovered a method of converting water into petrol. Some of my colleagues said that now we will get cheap petrol. I told them this was a fraud, because in science there is a principle that everything moves from a higher energy level to a lower energy level. Petrol is at a higher energy level, whereas water is at a lower energy level. Water (H2O) is really burnt hydrogen, it is like ash. You can convert wood into ash by burning it, but how can you convert ash into wood? And later it was found to be a fraud.
Seven, before finalising a marriage most parents consult astrologers, and it is only if the “kundali” matches that the proposal is finalised. The poor “mangalik” girl is often rejected for no fault of hers.
Eight, every day, a large number of TV channels show astrology and all kinds of superstition. The Broadcast Editors Association announced that they will stop all this shortly, but how can they? The members of these bodies are only employees, not owners of the channels. Their pay packages (sometimes going up to two or three crores per year) are often linked with the TRP rating. Their owners have given one simple instruction to them — keep the TRP rating high.The owners only want profits, profits depend on advertisement revenues, which in turn depends on viewership.
Unfortunately, the intellectual level of the middle classes (who are the main viewers) in India is very low. All they wish to see is the lives of filmstars, fashion parades (often with half-naked women), cricket (which is opium for the masses) and of course, astrology. And so this is dished out day after day to get high TRP ratings.
Nine, most Hindus are communal, and most Muslims are also communal. As I have repeatedly pointed out, they were not communal before 1857. Before 1857, Hindus used to celebrate Eid, and Muslims used to celebrate Holi and Diwali. Muslim rulers, like the nawab of Avadh, Tipu Sultan etc used to organise Ramlila, give grants to Hindu temples, etc. It was after suppressing the Mutiny that the British decided that the only way to control India was by divide and rule. Hence a deliberate policy was laid down by the British to generate hatred between Hindus and Muslims. All communal riots started after 1857. The English collector would secretly call the local panditji, give him money, and ask him to start speaking against Muslims, and he would also call the local Maulvi secretly and give him money to speak against Hindus. This poison was systematically spread year after year, decade after decade, until it culminated in the Partition of 1947 (see ‘History in the Service of Imperialism’, and my articles ‘What is India’ and other articles on justicekajtu.blogspot.in and the articles and the video on the website kgfindia.com). Even now, there are powerful vested interests promoting communal hatred. The truth is that 99 per cent people of all communities are good, but it will take a lot of time to remove the communal virus from our body politic. Today the situation is that whenever any bomb blasts take place, immediately Muslim individuals or groups are blamed for it.
Ten, social evils like honour killings, dowry deaths, female foeticide are still widely prevalent in India.
I have said all this not to demoralise Indians, but to point out to them the correct path to prosperity. It is only scientific thinking that can save us from the disaster to which we are headed.
India has a strong scientific heritage (see my article Sanskrit as a language of science ). It is only when we go back to the path shown by our great scientific ancestors, Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta, Sushrut, Charak, Ramanujan and Raman and spread scientific thinking widely that we can recover our former glory.
The writer, a former judge of the Supreme Court, is chairman of the Press Council
Published in The Indian Express
Published in The Indian Express
Saturday, 14 April 2012
Release of Sarabjit Singh
To
H.E. The President of Pakistan
Mr. Asif Zardari
Through H.E. the Pakistan High
Commissioner to India
Mr. Shahid Malik
New
Delhi
10.04.2012
Your Excellency,
Re: Release
of Sarabjit Singh
Your
Excellency’s recent visit to India and Ajmer Sharif has created a climate for
good relations between our two countries.
Your Excellency was very kind to
honour the appeal made by the bench of the Indian Supreme Court (consisting of
Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra and myself) for release of one Gopal Das, an Indian
who had been undergoing a life sentence in Pakistan, and had spent 27 years in
Pakistani jails. In our judgment we had quoted the famous Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed
Faiz:
“Qafas udaas hai yaaron saba se kuch to
kaho
Kaheen to behar-e-khuda
aaj zikr-e-yaar chale”
On Your Excellency’s
order Gopal Das was released and was sent back to India. I am very grateful for
Your Excellency’s kind gesture.
Now through this letter I am praying
to you for similar generosity in the case of one Sarabjit Singh, an Indian
national, who has been on death row in a Pakistani jail for over 20 years. I am
appealing to you to order release of Sarabjit Singh and his return to India as
a humanitarian gesture, exercising your power of pardon as the Pakistan
President. By doing so you will add to the excellent impression among Indians
created by your recent visit to Delhi and Ajmer Sharif, and improve ties
between our two countries.
You would be knowing that the Indian
Supreme Court recently granted bail to Dr. Khalil Chishty, for whose release I
have been campaigning for a long time. Release of Sarabjit Singh and sending
him back to India will add to the friendly atmosphere which has been created.
I will conclude by quoting Portia’s
speech in Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’
“The
quality of mercy is not strained
It
droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon
the place beneath. It is twice blest;
It
blesseth him that gives and him that takes
If
is enthroned in the hearts of kings;
It
is an attribute of God himself;
And
earthly power doth then show like God’s
When
mercy seasons justice”
With kind regards,
Yours sincerely,
(Justice
Markandey Katju
Former
Judge, Supreme Court of India, and
Presently
Chairman, Press Council of India)
Reporting of Troop Movement
PR/13/2012-2013 12th
April, 2012
Press Release
Re:order of the
Hon’ble Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) dated 10.4.2012
regarding movement of army troops.
I have perused the order of the Hon’ble Allahabad High Court in writ petition No 2685 dated
10.4.2012. In that order a direction has
been given to the Secretary, Home Affairs, and Secretary Information &
Broadcasting, Government of India and the Principal Secretary (Home) , Govt. of
U.P. to ensure that there is no reporting/ release of any news item by the
print as well as electronic media relating to the subject matter, namely the
movement of troops as contained in the accompanying annexures. (The news of
alleged troop movement towards Delhi published by Indian Express on
4.4.2012). In this connection, I am
of the opinion that regarding reporting of troop movement by the Media a
balanced approach has to be taken. On
the one hand freedom of the media is guaranteed as a fundamental right in
Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution, on the other hand this right is subject
to reasonable restrictions in the public interest as mentioned in Article
19(2).
Now
coming specifically to the question of reporting of movement of troops , I am
of the opinion that reporting troop movement near the Indian border or during
war time should be prohibited as that
may aid the enemy and cause harm to our armed forces, by compromising national
security. However, in my opinion there
can be no general prohibition of reporting of all troop movements.
As regards the reporting of alleged troop
movement by the Indian Express, I am of
the opinion that without going into the
question whether the news reporting was factually correct or not,
there could not have been a valid prohibition of such reporting, because the
troop movement was not at the Indian
border or during war time. On the other
hand the allegation in the Indian Express report was that there was some
convention written or unwritten,
that troop movements towards Delhi
should not take place without notifying
and getting consent of the government, and it was alleged
that the troop movement in question took place without notifying the
government. The further allegation was that this caused panic among the civil
authorities, and the troop movement was abruptly stopped.
The Allahabad High Court order
was passed on a writ petition relating to the above publication in the Indian
Express. With great respect to the
High Court, I am of the opinion that the order of the High Court is not
correct. The Media has a fundamental right under Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution to make
such publication, as it did not endanger national security.
I may add that the Indian Army is
not a colonial army, but the army of the Indian people who pay the taxes for
the entire defence budget. Hence the
people of India have a right to know about army affairs, except where that may
compromise national security. The media did an excellent job in exposing
the Adarsh and Sukhna scams in which
senior army officers were involved, and they were well within their right under
Article 19(1) (a) to do so.
The Indian Express is not a fly by night newspaper, but a responsible
one. They took 11 weeks to complete the
investigation of the reported troop investigation before deciding to publish
the report. Hence I do not see how they
can be faulted.
The Press Council of India will be challenging the order of the
Allahabad High Court in the Supreme
Court of India very shortly.
(MarkandeyKatju)
Chairman, Press Council of
India
Monday, 9 April 2012
The 90%
The 90%
By Justice Markandey
Katju
Someone told me “Justice
Katju, you say you wish to keep away from controversies, but why it that
controversies keep chasing you ?”
I replied that while it
is true that I wish to be uncontroversial, but at the same time I have a great
defect, and that is this: I cannot remain silent when I am seeing my country
going downhill. Even if others are deaf and dumb I am not. So I will speak out.
As Faiz said:
“Bol ki lab
azad hain tere
Bol zubaan ab tak teri hai”
In our Shastras it is written:
“Satyam bruyat, priyam
bruyat, na bruyat satyam apriyam”
Which means “Speak the
truth, speak the pleasant, but do not speak the unpleasant truth”
I wish to rectify this. The
country’s situation today requires that we should say “Bruyat satyam apriyam”
i.e. “Speak the unpleasant truth”.
When I said that 90%
Indians are fools I said an unpleasant truth. The truth is that the minds of
90% Indians are full of casteism, communalism, and superstitions. Consider the
following:
1. When our people go to
vote in elections, 90% vote on the basis of caste or community, not the merits
of the candidate. That is why Phulan Devi, a known dacoit-cum-murderer was
elected to Parliament merely because she belonged to a backward caste which had
a large number of voters in that constituency. Vote banks in India are on caste
and community basis, which are manipulated by some unscrupulous politicians and
others.
2. 90% Indians believe in
astrology, which is pure superstition and humbug. Even a little commonsense
tells us that the movements of stars and planets has nothing to do with our
lives. Yet T.V. channels showing astrology have high T.R.P. ratings.
3. Cricket has been made
into a religion by our corporatized media, and most people lap it up like opium.
The real problems facing 80% people are socio-economic ---- poverty, massive
unemployment, malnourishment, price rise, health care, education, housing etc.
But the media sidelines or minimizes these real issues, and gives the
impression that the real issues are lives of film stars, fashion, cricket, etc.
When Rahul Dravid retired the media depicted it as a great misfortune for the
country, whereas when Sachin Tendulkar scored his 100th century it
was depicted as a great achievement for India. Day after day the media kept
harping on this, whereas the issues of a quarter million farmers suicides, and
47% Indian children being malnourished, was sidelined.
4. I had criticized the
media hype of Dev Anand’s death at a time when 47 farmers in India were
committing suicide on an average every day for the last 15 years. A section of
the media attacked me for doing so, but I reiterate that I see no justification
for the high publicity given by the media to this event for several days. In my
opinion, Dev Anand’s films transported the minds of poor people to a world of
make believe, e.g. a hill station where Dev Anand was romancing some girl. This
gave temporary relief for a couple of hours to the viewers from their lives of
drudgery. Such films, to my mind, serve no social purpose, but act instead like
a drug or alcohol to send the viewer temporarily from his miserable existence
to a beautiful world of tinsel.
5. In the recent Anna Hazare
agitation in Delhi the media hyped the event as a solution to the problem of
corruption. In reality it was, as Shakespeare said in Macbeth:
“A tale, told by an idiot
Full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing”
At that time if anyone had raised some logical questions he would have
been denounced as a ‘gaddaar’ or ‘deshdrohi’. The people who collected at
Jantar Mantar or the Ramlila ground displayed the mob mentality, which has been
accurately described by Shakespeare in ‘Julius Caesar’.
After Caesar’s murder
Mark Antony stirred up the Roman mob, which went around seeking revenge from
the conspirators. One of the conspirators was named Cinna. The mob caught hold
of another man, also named Cinna, who protested that he was Cinna the poet and
not Cinna the conspirator. Despite his protest the mob said “Hang him for his
bad verses” and lynched him.
The Janlokpal Bill, 2011 (whose full text is available online) defines an
act of corruption as an act punishable under Chapter IX of the Indian Penal
Code or under the Prevention of Corruption Act vide section 2(e). Section 6(a)
of the Bill says that the Lokpal will exercise superintendence over
investigation of acts of corruption, and section 6(c) empowers the Lokpal to
punish for acts of corruption after giving a hearing. Section 6(e) authorizes
the Lokpal to initiate prosecution and section 6(f) authorizes him to ensure
proper prosecution. Section 6(i)(j) authorize him to receive complaints.
Section 2 (c) of the Prevention of
Corruption Act define a public servant very widely. It includes not only
government servants but also a host of other categories e.g. an employee of a local body, Government
Corporation, judge, certain office bearers of some co-operative societies, officials
of Service Commission or Boards, Vice Chancellors and teachers in the
University, etc.
As pointed out by me in my article” Recreating Frankenstein’s Monster”
published in “Indian Express” on 31.3.2012 there are about 55 lac, (5.5
million) government employees in India (13 lac in Railways alone), and there
would be several lac persons of other categories coming within the definition
of public servant in the P.C Act. Obviously one person cannot supervise and
decide the lacs of complaints against them which would pour in. Hence thousands
of Lokpals, maybe 50,000 or more, will have to be appointed to deal with them.
They will have to be given salaries, housing, offices, staff, etc. And
considering the low level of morality prevailing in India, we can be fairly
certain that most of them will become blackmailers. It will be creating a
parallel bureaucracy, which at one stroke will double the corruption in the
country. And who will guard these Praetorian guards? A body of Super Lokpals ?
All this was not rationally analyzed and instead the hysterical mob that
gathered in Jantar Mantar or Ramlila ground in Delhi thought that corruption
will be ended by shouting “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Inquilab Zindabad”.
It
is time that Indians woke up to all this. When I call 90% of them fools my
intention was not to harm them, rather it was just the contrary. I want to see
Indians prosper, I want poverty and unemployment abolished, I want the standard
of living of the 80% poor Indians to rise so that they get decent lives.
But this is possible
when their mindset changes, when their minds are rid of casteism, communalism,
and superstitions, and instead they become scientific and modern.
By being modern I do not
mean wearing a nice suit or beautiful sari or skirt. Being modern means having
a modern mind, which means a rational mind, a logical mind a questioning mind,
a scientific mind. At one time India was
leading the whole world in science and technology (see my article ‘Sanskrit as
a language of Science’ on the website kgfindia.com). That was because our
scientific ancestors like Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta, Sushrut, Charak, etc
questioned everything. However, we subsequently took to the unscientific path
of superstitions and empty rituals, which has led us to disaster. Today we are
far behind the West in Science and Technology.
The worst thing in life
is poverty, and 80% of our people are poor. To abolish poverty we need to
spread the scientific outlook to every nook and corner of our country. It is
only then that India will shine. And until that happens the vast masses of our
people will continue to be taken for a ride.
Saturday, 31 March 2012
CREATING A FRANKENSTEIN
CREATING A
FRANKENSTEIN
By Justice Markandey Katju
I had been keeping silent throughout
the Anna Hazare Movement for creating a Lokpal (Janlokpal) because the media
(particularly electronic media) had so much hyped the issue and generated such
an emotional storm that anyone who would have raised some logical questions
would have immediately been branded as a ‘deshdrohi’ or ‘gaddar’. Anna Hazare
was depicted as a modern messiah, who, like Moses, had come to rescue his
chosen people and lead them to a land of honey and milk.
Now
that the brouhaha and hullabaloo has subsided it is time to make a cool,
dispassionate, logical assessment of Mr. Hazare and his movement.
I
have no doubt that Anna Hazare is an honest man, but my point is that the
problems facing the country (and corruption is certainly one of them) are so
massive that they can only be solved by a rational, scientific approach, not by
emotional outbursts. Honesty alone is
not enough.
So
far as I could gather, Anna Hazare has no scientific ideas. Consider two of his
statements:
1. His solution to alcoholism is to tie
alcoholics to a pole and whip them. Is this a rational solution? Most poor
people who drink liquor in this country drink cheap country liquor, not scotch.
They drink to get some temporary relief from their miserable lives. To abolish
alcoholism among them would be possible only by abolishing poverty, and that
can be done by raising their standard of living and giving them decent lives.
This is a gigantic task, and cannot be solved by flogging them in public.
2. Anna Hazare demands a right to recall
elected representatives. But how is that possible within the system? Supposing
a law is made that a motion can be moved for recall of an M.L.A. or M.P. signed
by 10,000 voters. But for getting this motion passed there will have to be
voting by all the voters in the constituency. This would mean another election.
Is this feasible? An election entails a huge amount of expenditure, can a poor
country like ours have repeated elections? I think the idea is totally
impractical.
Now coming to the Lokpal Bill,
whether Janlokpal Bill or Sarkari Lokpal Bill, it envisages overseeing the work
of some 55 lac government employees in the country (of which 13 lacs are in the
Railways alone), from Prime Minister to peon. Surely one person cannot enquire
into the lacs of complaints which are bound to pour in. It will require
thousands of Lokpals, may be 50,000 of them to do this. All these have to be
provided salaries and other amenities, housing, offices, staff etc. And then
where is the guarantee that these will not themselves become corrupt? In fact
considering the low level of morality prevailing in India, we can be fairly
certain that a large number of them will become blackmailers. In my opinion, the Lokpal Bill will create a
parallel bureaucracy, which will turn into a Frankenstein monster. Instead of
curtailing corruption, in all probability at a stroke it will double or triple
corruption in the country.
I
regret to say that the implications of creating such an apparatus were not
rationally thought out, and instead some people thought that all problems of
corruption will be solved by shouting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ or ‘Inquilaab
Zindadbad’ from Jantar Mantar or Ram Lila Ground.
I
may clarify that I am not against any kind of Lokpal. Justice Hegde did a
fantastic job in exposing the corruption of the mining mafia in Karnataka. But
the type of Lokpal envisaged in the Janlokpal Bill or Government Lokpal Bill
are clearly impractical and unworkable.
I
would therefore respectfully urge Parliament to defer consideration of the Bill
before it and refer the matter to a Standing Committee (as Shri Lalu Yadav has
suggested) where experts from various fields in the country and outside be
invited to give their views, and only then a workable Lokpal machinery can be
created. Passing Bills in a hurry and under pressure of some people having
their own agenda will only add to the huge problems facing the country.
Thursday, 15 March 2012
Letter To Speaker Of Karnataka Assembly
12.3.2012
The Hon’ble Speaker
Karnataka Legislative Assembly,
Bangaluru.
Respected
Sir,
Re: Proceedings against mediapersons for telecasting
M.L.A.s watching porn
Some
M.L.A.s of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly were filmed watching porn in the
Assembly Hall. Instead of commending the mediapersons for their professionalism,
proceedings have been started against them.
In
my respectful opinion such proceedings against the mediapersons jeopardize the
freedom of the media guaranteed as a fundamental right by Article 19 (1) (a) of
the Constitution of India, and seek to create an impression that it is the
media which has brought the House into disrepute rather than the M.L.A.s involved.
I
am informed that an inquiry committee has been set up by the House to enquire
into the matter. In my respectful opinion the inquiry committee can certainly
ask the mediapersons concerned questions to ascertain the correct facts about
this sordid affair. But from what I could gather, the question being asked give
the impression that the mediapersons are being treated as an accused of some
offence, and are being grilled accordingly.
Since
grave Constitutional questions are involved in this episode I would like to
dwell on the matter in some detail.
In
our country it is the Constitution which is supreme, not the legislature or
executive. The people of India, in their wisdom, and following the examples of
the American and French Constitutions, did not give the legislature absolute
sovereignty but only limited sovereignty. Thus the Indian Constitution does not
incorporate Hobbes’ theory of absolute sovereignty (see ‘Leviathan’) but
instead it incorporates Locke’s theory of limited sovereignty (see ‘the Second
Treatise on Civil Government’) and Rousseau’s theory of sovereignty of the
people (see ‘The Social Contract’).
Hence
neither the legislature nor the executive can violate the constitutional
provisions, particularly the fundamental rights like Article 19 (1) (a).
In
a democracy it is the people who are supreme, and all authorities, whether
legislative, executive or judicial, are only servants of the people. This is
also borne out from the Preamble to the Indian Constitution which states:
“We, the People of India,…………..do
hereby adopt, enact and give ourselves this Constitution”
Since
the people are the masters , and the legislators only their representatives,
surely the public has the right to be informed of the activities of the
legislators. And the media is an agency of the people to give them this
information. Hence I do not see what wrong the media has done by telecasting
the watching of porn by the M.L.A.s in the House. To my mind the media were
only doing their duty to the people of informing them of the shameful manner in
which some of their representatives were behaving.
In
this connection I would like to refer to the following words in the judgment of
Mr. Justice Hugo Black of the U.S. Supreme Court in New York Times vs. U.S 403 U.S. 713, 1973 (the Pentagon Papers case):
“Only
a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.
And paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent
any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to
distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell. In my view
far from deserving condemnation for their courageous reporting, the New York
Times, the Washington Post, and other newspapers deserve to be commended for
serving the purpose which the Founding Father saw so clearly. In revealing the
workings of the government which led to the Vietnam War the newspapers nobly
did precisely that which the Founders hoped and trusted they would do”.
To
use similar language, far from deserving condemnation, the mediapersons who
revealed to the nation the disgusting scenes of M.L.A.s watching porn in the House deserve to be
applauded for their courageous reporting.
Ordinarily,
in a democracy all proceedings in a Legislative Assembly must be freely telecast
and reported so that the people, who are the supreme authority in a democracy,
know how their representatives are behaving. There may, of course, be
exceptional situations where this cannot be done. For example, in the Second
World War many secret sessions of the House of Commons were held so that Nazi
spies may not know the views of the British political leaders. But such secrecy
can only be in exceptional situations. I fail to see what was the exceptional
situation in Karnataka which could justify prohibiting mediapersons to report
events in the House.
I
would therefore respectfully request you to reconsider your decision and
withdraw the proceedings against the mediapersons, and instead take strong
action against the M.L.A.s who have brought disgrace to the House.
(Justice
Markandey Katju)
Chairman, Press Council of India
Sunday, 19 February 2012
SEX WORKERS MUST NOT BE LOOKED DOWN UPON
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA - CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 135 OF 2010
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 135 OF 2010
| Budhadev Karmaskar .. Appellant | ||||
| -versus- | ||||
| State of West Bengal .. Respondent | ||||
| O R D E R | ||||
| "Pinha tha daam-e-sakht qareeb aashiyaan ke Udhne hi na paaye the ki giraftaar hum hue" | ||||
| Mirza Ghalib | ||||
| 1. This exercise was initiated by us by our order dated 14th February 2011. By that order we dismissed the appeal of the appellant, who was convicted for murdering a sex worker in a red light area in Kolkata by battering her head repeatedly against the wall and the floor of a room. Having dismissed the appeal we suo motu converted the case into a PIL by the same order in order to address the problems of sex workers in the country. | ||||
| 2. In our order dated 14th February, 2011 we observed: "This is a case of brutal murder of a sex worker. Sex workers are also human beings and no one has a right to assault or murder them. A person becomes a prostitute not because she enjoys it but because of poverty. Society must have sympathy towards the sex workers and must not look down upon them. They are also entitled to a life of dignity in view of Article 21 of the Constitution. | ||||
| In the novels and stories of the great Bengali writer Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyaya, many prostitutes have been shown to be women of very high character, e.g., Rajyalakshmi in 'Shrikant', Chandramukhi in 'Devdas', etc. | ||||
| The plight of prostitutes has been depicted by the great Urdu poet Sahil Ludhianvi in his poem 'Chakle' which has been sung in the Hindi film Pyasa "Jineh Naaz Hai Hind Par wo kahan hain" (simplified version of the verse 'Sana Khwan-e-taqdees-e-Mashrik Kahan Hain'). | ||||
| We may also refer to the character Sonya Marmelodova in Dostoyevsky's famous novel 'Crime and Punishment'. Sonya is depicted as a girl who sacrifices her body to earn some bread for her impoverished family. | ||||
| Reference may also be made to Amrapali, who was a contemporary of Lord Buddha". | ||||
| 3. We further observed : "Although we have dismissed this Appeal, we strongly feel that the Central and the State Governments through Social Welfare Boards should prepare schemes for rehabilitation all over the country for physically and sexually abused women commonly known as prostitutes as we are of the view that the prostitutes also have a right to live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution of India since they are also human beings and their problems also need to be addressed. | ||||
| As already observed by us, a woman is compelled to indulge in prostitution not for pleasure but because of abject poverty. If such a woman is granted opportunity to avail some technical or vocational training, she would be able to earn her livelihood by such vocational training and skill instead of by selling her body. | ||||
| Hence, we direct the Central and the State Governments to prepare schemes for giving technical/vocational training to sex workers and sexually abused women in all cities in India. The schemes should mention in detail who will give the technical/vocational training and in what manner they can be rehabilitated and settled by offering them employment. For instance, if a technical training is for some craft like sewing garments, etc. then some arrangements should also be made for providing a market for such garments, otherwise they will remain unsold and unused, and consequently the woman will not be able to feed herself". | ||||
| 4. Subsequently by another order we constituted a panel headed by Mr. Pradip Ghosh, Senior Advocate as the Chairman and including Mr. Jayant Bhushan, Senior Advocate, Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), Usha Multipurpose Cooperative Society (UMCS) and Roshni through its founder Ms. Saima Hasan. We also directed the Central Government to provide some accommodation as well as infrastructure, staff etc. to the panel, and grant it adequate funds. | ||||
| 5. Today, an interim report has been submitted to us by the panel stating that the panel held its first meeting on 25th July, 2011 at 04.30 P.M. and discussed various aspects of the problems relating to sex workers. The report shall be taken on record. | ||||
| 6. We have perused the report. It shows that the panel has set about the task assigned to it in right earnest. | ||||
| 7. The report has prayed for directions to the Central Government to make necessary funds available for holding workshops/meetings to be attended by experts, resource persons, organizations etc. who may be invited by the panel for this purpose and to arrange their travel by air/rail to and fro Delhi, and also to make suitable arrangements for their accommodation etc. Funds may also be made available to the panel so that the members can educate the concerned people and also to visit other three metropolitan cities i.e. Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai and also other cities/towns. Funds are also required for advertisements in newspapers and T.V. inviting responses from social organizations and interested individuals who may send their suggestions/comments and also for the purpose of printing and publications, as may be necessary. | ||||
| 8. We direct the Central and the State Governments to provide funds as prayed for by the panel in its report after discussions with the Chairman of the panel Mr. Pradip Ghosh, Senior Advocate and other members. | ||||
| 9. In paragraph 10 of the report it has been stated that the Central Government has assured that they will arrange a place for the meetings of the Panel with necessary infrastructure, computer, staff etc. The Central Government should also look around for a permanent office accommodation for the panel as that will be necessary sooner or later for the proper functioning of the Panel. | ||||
| 10. We have noted that some of the members of the panel are from Kolkata and Delhi, but there is no representation from Mumbai and Chennai. Since we had directed that we shall first take up the problems of sex workers in the four metropolitan cities, i.e. Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, we suggest to the Chairman of the panel to co-opt some suitable NGOs/social activists from Mumbai and Chennai also in this connection. | ||||
| 11. We again reiterate that this exercise is because we are of the opinion that sex workers are also human beings and hence they are entitled to a life of dignity. It has been well-settled by a series of decisions of this Court that the word `life' in Article 21 of the Constitution means a life of dignity and not just an animal life. We are of the opinion that sex workers obviously cannot lead a life of dignity as long as they remain sex workers. | ||||
| 12. Sex among human beings is different from sex among animals. Sex in humans has a cultural aspect to it also, and is not just a physical act. A sex worker who has to surrender her body to a man for money obviously is not leading a life of dignity. Ordinarily, no woman will willingly surrender her body to a man unless she loves and respects him. A sex worker is obviously not surrendering her body to a man because she loves and respect him, but just for sheer survival. As Nancy says in Charles Dicken's novel `Oliver Twist', "you adapt or you die". | ||||
| 13. Apart from that, sex workers are always in danger of getting sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and they are often abused and beaten by the proprietors of the brothel and others who give them a pittance out of her earnings. A woman becomes a sex worker not because she enjoys it but due to abject poverty. One estimate suggests that there are 3 million sex workers in India, many even from Nepal, Bangaldesh, and even the former Soviet Union. This is due to massive poverty in the country, and abroad. | ||||
| 14. Our effort in this exercise is to educate the public and inform them that sex workers are not bad persons, but they are unfortunate girls who have been forced to go into this flesh trade due to terrible poverty. Hence society should not look down upon the sex workers but should have sympathy with them. In fact, in the novels of the great Bengali writer Sharat Chandra Chattopadhayay it has been shown that many of the sex workers were women of very high character, e.g. Rajyalakshmi, Chandramukhi, etc. and the same has been shown in the novels of many European writers. The Russian writer Dostoyevsky's novel `Crime & Punishment' has shown Sonia Marmeladova as a woman of high character who became a sex worker to feed her starving family. Similarly, in Charles Dicken's novel `Oliver Twist', the sex worker Nancy is shown to be a girl of high character who sacrifices her life to save Oliver. In Victor Hugo's famous novel `Les Miserables', Fantine sacrifices her hair and teeth to provide for her daughter Cosette. Martha in `David Copperfield' is also depicted as a woman of noble heart. | ||||
| 15. We are of the opinion that if sex workers are given proper technical training they will be able to come out of sex work and instead earn their livelihood through their technical skills instead of by selling their bodies. That will enable them to live a life of dignity. | ||||
| 16. An impleadment application praying for impleadment in this case has been filed. We are of the opinion that instead of applying for impleadment in this case, the applicant should approach the Panel constituted by us and give whatever assistance the applicant wishes to give to the Panel. With these observations, the impleadment application is disposed of. | ||||
| 17. Learned counsel appearing for the State of Uttarakhand has stated that he will file a comprehensive affidavit on behalf of the State within two weeks. He may do so. | ||||
| 18. We may mention here that we are not satisfied with the affidavits already filed by the State Governments before us. Their contents are vague and too general. We had expected the State Governments to come forward with specific schemes for giving technical training to sex workers but that has not been done. Hence, we direct that the Secretaries, Social Welfare Departments of the State Governments and the Central Government to meet the Panel constituted by us whenever the Chairman of the Panel so desires so as to discuss how proper schemes in the spirit of our orders can be prepared. | ||||
| 19. We are of the opinion that the States should not only come out with schemes indicating therein rehabilitation of the sex workers but they should also demonstrate their commitment to the cause by coming out with some concrete results, at least in phases. So by the next date we expect the State counsels to come out with some effective feedback whether at least a few sex workers have been offered any alternative employment, in case they were willing for rehabilitation. We also leave it to the Chairman of the Panel constituted by us to come out with some suggestions in what way the sex workers through the State Governments and the metro cities can come out with effective results in this regard and by way of illustration at least they must come out with report of rehabilitation of at least some of the sex workers in each of the States. We make it clear that any rehabilitation of the sex workers will not be coercive in any manner and it shall be voluntary on the part of the sex workers. | ||||
| 20. The Chairman of the Panel with the assistance of the NGOs can provide a list by the next date at least of those sex workers who are living under dire circumstances and are willing for rehabilitation. We are informed that some of the NGOs have a list of figures and localities of such sex workers who are immediately willing for rehabilitation and want to get out of the flesh trade. | ||||
| 21. We are fully conscious of the fact that simply by our orders the sex workers in our country will not be rehabilitated immediately. It will take a long time, but we have to work patiently in this direction. What we have done in this case is to present the situation of sex workers in the country in the correct light, so as to educate the public. It is ultimately the people of the country, particularly the young people, who by their idealism and patriotism can solve the massive problems of sex workers. We, therefore, particularly appeal to the youth of the country to contact the members of the panel and to offer their services in a manner which the panel may require so that the sex workers can be uplifted from their present degraded condition. They may contact the panel at the email address:panelonsexworkers@gmail.com. | ||||
| 22. List the case again before this Bench on 24.08.2011 at 10.30 a.m. by which date the Panel appointed by us should submit another report of the progress made. | ||||
| ..................................J. (MARKANDEY KATJU) | ||||
|
SEX WORKERS ARE ALSO HUMAN BEINGS
Supreme Court of India
Budhadev Karmaskar vs State Of West Bengal on 14 February, 2011
Bench: Markandey Katju, Gyan Sudha Misra
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 135 OF 2010
Budhadev Karmaskar ..Appellant versus
State of West Bengal ..Respondents O R D E R
Heard learned counsel for the appellant. This Appeal has been filed against the impugned judgment and order dated 25th July, 2007 passed by the High Court of Calcutta in C.R.A. No. 487 of 2004. The facts have been set out in the impugned judgment and hence we are not repeating the same here except wherever necessary.
This is a case of brutal murder of a sex worker. Sex workers are also human beings and no one has a right to assault or murder them. A person becomes a prostitute not because she enjoys it but because of poverty. Society must have sympathy towards the sex workers and must not look down upon them. They are also entitled to a life of dignity in view of Article 21 of the Constitution. In the novels and stories of the great Bengali Writer Sharat Chand Chattopadhyaya, many prostitutes have been shown to be women of very high character, e.g., Rajyalakshmi in 'Shrikant', Chandramukhi in 'Devdas' etc. -2-
The plight of prostitutes has been depicted by the great Urdu poet Sahil Ludhianvi in his poem 'Chakle' which has been sung in the Hindi film Pyasa "Jineh Naaz Hai Hind Per wo kahan hain" (simplified version of the verse 'Sana Khwan- e-taqdees-e-Mashrik Kahan Hain').
We may also refer to the character Sonya Marmelodov in Dostoyevsky's famous novel 'Crime and Punishment'. Sonya is depicted as a girl who sacrifices her body to earn some bread for her impoverished family.
Reference may also be made to Amrapali, who was a contemporary of Lord Buddha.
In the present case, the incident happened on 17th September, 1999 at about 9.15 p.m. The deceased Chayay Rani Pal alias Buri was living in a red light area and was a resident of Room No.8 of Premises No.19, Jogen Dutta Lane in Calcutta. She was evidently a sex worker. The appellant Budhadev kicked her with fists and legs, and she fell down on the floor. The appellant then caught her by her hair and banged her head against the floor and the wall several times which left the victim bleeding from her ear, nose and head. The incident was witnessed by four persons, Pw2-Abida, PW4- Maya, PW7-Asha and PW8-Parvati.
PW2-Abida has deposed that she saw the appellant- accused catching the victim by her hair and banging her head against the wall. The victim was profusely bleeding through her nose and mouth. On seeing this, Abida started shouting and then the accused pushed her and went down and fled away. PW8-Parvati saw the victim being mercilessly beaten by the -3-
accused-appellant, and the same is the evidence of PW7-Asha. In the post mortem, as many as 11 injuries on the body of the victim were found, eight of which were on various parts of the face and forehead.
The police was informed about the incident over the telephone as is evident from the testimony of PW2 Abida. After the police arrived on the spot, sample of the blood spilled from the body of the victim was collected and photographs taken. The victim was brought by Asha Khatoon and others to the hospital where she was found 'dead on arrival'. Blood was oozing out from her ear and nostril. There was swelling on the left eyeball and left eyebrow. Thus, the medical evidence corroborates the ocular testimony.
PW10-Dr. Amitava Das, the Medical Officer who held the post mortem examination of the dead body of deceased Chhaya Rani Pal found the following injuries on her person: 1) Abrasion 1" x = " over the nose just below the nasal bridge.
2) Abrasion = " x = " over left side forehead = " above left eyebrow 3" left to midline. 3) Abrasion = " x = " over left side of forehead just over the left eye brow 2" left mid line.
4) Bruise 2" x 1" over left upper eye lid. 5) Bruise 2" x 1" over anterior aspect of mid part of nose.
6) Abrasion = " x < " over right side of forehead 1" above right eye brow 2" right to mid line.
7) Abrasion 2" x 1" over right side of face just below the right eye and just right to outer canthus of right eye.
8) Lacerated wound = " x < " x scalp over left partial region 4 = " left to anterior mid line and 2" below left parietal eminence. -4-
9) Abrasion 3" x = " over posteriorateral aspect of right forehead 1" below right elbow.
10)Abrasion 1" x = " over anterior medial aspect of lower part of right forearm 1" above right wrist.
11)Abrasion 4" x 3" over upper part of posterior aspect of right thigh 7" above right knee joint.
On dissection, the Doctor found the following injuries:
1) Heamatoma 3 = " x 2" in the scalp tissue over right frontal region.
2) Heamatoma 3 = " x 2" in the scalp tissue over left frontal region.
3) Haematoma 3 = " x = " in the scalp tissue over left partial region.
4) Fissured fracture 3" long more or loss longitudinal over left parietal temporal bone.
5) Haematoma 2" x 1" in the scalp tissue over right parietal region.
6) Subdural hemorrhage present involving the right parietal and temporal lobe.
7) Lacerated wound = " (half) x < " x substance over right parietal lobe of brain substance. The abrasions were non-scabbed and red in colour. The bruises were dark red in colour. The margins of the lacerated wounds were irregular and red in colour. All the injuries showed signs of vital reactions. No other injury except those described could be detected even on careful dissection and examination.
PW10 Dr. Amitava Das, Medical Officer of Mauza Burdwan Medical College, opined that the death was due to the effect of the injuries as noted anti-mortem in nature; that all the injuries as noted in the post mortem examination report might be caused if a person pushed against the wall and it may be homicidal in nature." The injuries above-mentioned show the brutality of -5-
the crime. The head of the deceased was battered again and again in a hideous and barbaric manner. The trial Court has rightly convicted the appellant under Section 302 IPC and sentenced him to life imprisonment and the High Court has not committed any error in upholding the conviction and sentence imposed by the trial Court. We find no reason to disbelieve the testimony of the eye witnesses in this case, namely, PW2, PW7 and PW8 which corroborates the medical evidence. The appellant-accused has committed murder in a brutal manner of a helpless women and deserves no sympathy from this Court.
For the reasons given above, this appeal is dismissed.
Although we have dismissed this Appeal, we strongly feel that the Central and the State Governments through Social Welfare Boards should prepare schemes for rehabilitation all over the country for physically and sexually abused women commonly known as prostitutes as we are of the view that the prostitutes also have a right to live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution of India since they are also human beings and their problems also need to be addressed.
As already observed by us, a woman is compelled to indulge in prostitution not for pleasure but because of abject poverty. If such a woman is granted opportunity to avail some technical or vocational training, she would be able to earn her livelihood by such vocational training and -6-
skill instead of by selling her body. Hence, we direct the Central and the State Governments to prepare schemes for giving technical/vocational training to sex workers and sexually abused women in all cities in India. The schemes should mention in detail who will give the technical/vocational training and in what manner they can be rehabilitated and settled by offering them employment. For instance, if a technical training is for some craft like sewing garments, etc. then some arrangements should also be made for providing a market for such garments, otherwise they will remain unsold and unused, and consequently the women will not be able to feed herself.
We propose to have the response of the Centre and the States in this regard and hence the case shall be listed before us again on 04.05.2011 to be taken up as first case on which date the first compliance report indicating therein the first steps taken by the Central and the State Governments in this regard shall be submitted. Issue notice to the Central Government and all the State Governments which will also file responses by the date fixed for hearing.
...........................J.
[MARKANDEY KATJU]
NEW DELHI; ...........................J.
FEBRUARY 14, 2011 [GYAN SUDHA MISRA]
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