SPECIAL STATUS

A month earlier in Srinagar i felt need of a sim card.I went to a dealer ,he demanded a photograph and my ration card.I told him i had no ration card .After some discussion he agreed to give a sim card on production of my pan card,pass port and an electricity charges bill.I produced all the documents the sim card is yet to be activated.The company is IDEA and the phone number is 9086618021.
A few days before i came to Delhi again felt need of a sim card ,went to a dealer ,produced my passport and a photograph,that was it ,i got sim card and in ten minutes it was activated.The company was again IDEA.
Do you still have any doubts that we enjoy special privileges and status in Kashmir.

justice saghir ahmad and public safety Act

Justice syed saghir Ahmad was a fine judge,honest capable and fearless.He was polite and soft spoken.He was transferred from Allahbad high court to j&;k high court as a judge and later on appointed chief justice.

During those days i had the privilege of being Advocate General of the state.Asiya Andrabi had been detained under the provisions of Public Safety Act.The detention had been quashed twice but as usual after release she would be arrested again.It was case related to third detention which was heard by Justice Ahmad.Before announcing the judgment in the court he called me to his chamber.unusually he was not courteous but even rude,although he treated me like his brother.He loved me so much that he would himself cook Biryani for me.

I was surprised to see a different justice saghir,he started,'Mr Advocate general,do u think we are jokers,why don't you lock the courts,twice earlier detention of this lady is quashed,yet she is in jail,i am quashing it again and i want orders implemented,if orders are not implemented i will resign'

From press reports it appears Asiya is again under detention and her detention has been quashed several times ,is there no justice saghir around?

Five questions

Three people close to Home Minister Chief Minister and NC supremo are summoned by home minister to chief Ministers residence.They meet Chief Minister and it is established that one of them had received more then a crore of Rs from the other two.One of them wanted to be a legislator and Minister the other one a legislator.The Money according to deceased was to be paid to Mr Farooq abdullah.
The man who admitted having received money died within 24 hours of his admission before CM in police custody.He was handed over to waiting inspector general of police by CM.

Very trusted personal security officers of CM were transferred same night.
The facts above mentioned by me are based on Chief Minister's statements and i am not purposely referring to various statements made by others.Legally speaking these are admitted facts.these facts raise many questions which have to be answered.
1.Whether the deceased had received money for himself or somebody else.if it was some one else who is he?
2.If a complaint had been made to CM two months before,why did he sleep over the matter?

3.Why did home minister behave like a head constable and chief minister like a sub inspector?
4Under what law CM ordered arrest of deceased?
5.Under what law inspector general crime arrested and detained deceased?
Will the CM,HM OR INSPECTOR GENRAL SHOW THE COURAGE OF ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS?

COMMISSION OF INQUIRY

There is some confusion about the power of the state govt with regard to appointment of a commission of inquiry under the commission of inquiry Act in legal and political circles.Media has also not been able to clear the confusion.Therefore i though it better to try to clear the confusion on an issue of public importance.
It is true that state govt has power to appoint a commission of inquiry,but when it comes to appointment of a sitting judge,the power is not absolute.There are two restrictions one created by another statue and the second one created by a judgment of supreme court.
There is an Act known as 'THE HIGH COURT JUDGES [SALARIES AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE ACT]1954.
This Act defines 'ACTUAL SERVICE' of a judge in following terms.'TIME SPENT BY A JUDGE ON DUTY AS A JUDGE OR IN THE PERFORMANCE OF SUCH OTHER FUNCTIONS AS HE MAY DISCHARGE AT THE REQUEST OF PRESIDENT OF INDIA---'
So it is clear if a judge accepts an assignment with out a request from president of India ,it will be in violation of the law.For president to make such a request,she has to be approached through the union council of Ministers which is a requirement under constitution.
The second restriction is place by a judgment of supreme court which says that because of huge pendency and some other reasons sitting judges should not ordonarily be appointed as commission of inquiry.The judgment is reported inFEMN WALTER V/S UNION OF INDIA

MUCH BETTER THAN SON

There is an old story about a village, a water spring and a man. The water of the spring was used by whole village for drinking and a man in the village had a strange habit of spitting in the spring everyday without fail. All villagers tried everything possible to stop the man from spitting but failed. The villagers ultimately took it in their stride and lost all hopes to drink 'un-spat' water. Years passed by and a day came when the man died. People of the village were happy at the death of the man and were congratulating each other. But their joy lasted only for a single night and the next day they discovered that the son of the deceased had started urinating in the spring. Everyone in the village started mourning the death of the man and each one was heard saying that the deceased was much better than his son.

Amnesty and rule of law

Last year in Kashmir was very bad.The whole summer we had disturbances.We lost more then 100 children to the bullets.A day before CM announced 'Amnesty' to those stone pelters who were not involved in acts of arson or causing damage to property.According to press reports 1200 boys are getting to be benefited,which means 1200 children were in jail for a year for stone pelting.
I wrote on my tweet that even if these boys had been convicted in a trial they would have not got a sentence of one year,therefore where is the question of amnesty.they underwent a sentence for a period more then what they could get even if charges against them had been proved.
Some friends have taken exception to my comments.As i could not reply in 160 letters i decided to blog.Those of my followers who know my background will realise my commitment to rule of law.On that principle there can not be compromise.Those who have read my earlier blogs will bear me out ,that i only plead for adherence of rule of law.
If a man like Ajmal kasab has a right to fair trial can this right be denied to children accused of stone pelting without causing any damage to any person or property
If any police man got killed or injured by stone pelting,persons responsible should get punished through due process of law.similarly if 120 children were killed,the justification or otherwise of such acts should also be decided through due process of law.
I neither condemn any act nor approve any act,because i am not in a position to know full facts of each incident.May be police was justified,may be not.May be a stone pelter was justified may be not.THESE QUESTIONS NEED TO BE ANSWERED BY COMPETENT INSTITUTIONS.
In a civilised society u can not keep a person in custody for years with out trial.If people at the helm understand this basic principle you may have not to decide 'Kashmir issue'

DON'T BURN YOUR SHIRT FOR KILLING A LICE

'We the people of India----enact and give to ourselves this constitution'. This is the preamble of our constitution and every Tom, Dick and Harry for some time now has been repeatedly quoting first three words of preamble, i.e. 'we the people'. These people forget what has been the resolution of people of India - The resolution is that people of India will govern themselves in accordance with provisions of the constitution.

The constitution broadly creates a federal structure for governance. It envisages elected legislatures for central and state governments. It also ensures elections at regular intervals.
I have no dispute with those who believe corruption is all pervasive in this country and very serious efforts are needed to get this menace under control. I also agree that the parliament and state legislatures have failed in their duty to give people of India a clean, efficient and responsive govt. As such one can not have any dispute with Shri Anna Hazare.

In order to make parliament to do what people of India want them to do, people of India are also bound by the constitution. As u can not have an extra constitutional executions u can not have legislations by extra constitutional powers. Unfortunately never in any elections so far has corruption been presented as an issue.
The question could be asked, how do we make parliament to pass an effective anti graft law? The answer would be make it an issue go to people, come to power and legislate. If it is not possible create public opinion in favour of your thoughts so that political parties at elections promise to do what u want them to do OR raise the public opinion to such a pitch that the rulers make the laws u want them to make.
In such a case, govt of the day should get scared of a possible defeat in next elections.
In this scheme of constitution there is no scope for coercion. Anna's methods cannot be supported by anyone who believes in constitutionalism. These methods are dangerous. Anna has been able to collect a few lakh of people across the country and is fasting. Unless parliament signs on dotted lines he will not break his fast.
Maybe he is doing it for a good cause. However, if this becomes a precedent, it could be used for dangerous causes too.
Imagine Shri Narindar Modi going on fast till Muslims are disenfranchised. Can't Mr Modi collect more people then what Annaji has been able to collect?
We have problem of corruption. Fight against it but not at the cost of system. After all, what makes India different then those countries which got Independence in last century? It is the institutions it has built. Don't destroy them. Improve there functioning.
I will close this blog with an old Kashmiri proverb, 'u don't burn ur shirt for killing a lice'