NDIA EGAL

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STORIES THAT COUNT
May 15, 2014 ` 100
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DADDY DEPRIVED
Do divorced fathers
have rights?
BULLY BRANDS
Food giants hogging
markets
KINGFISHERS
MALLYA
The Badshah of Bad
Times
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60
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CRICKET CZARS: How two men,
Srinivasan and Modi, sullied the gentlemans game 72
l Is Model Modi for real?
l Do hate speeches count?
l What are the polls missing?
l Will the President play a role?
E L E C T I O N S 2 0 1 4 E L E C T I O N S 2 0 1 4
THE
FACTORS
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ALSO
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May 15, 2014
LEAD/
the nation/letter from the editor/elections 2014/gujarat model
E
ven as all of India swirls dizzily in
the eddy of Elections 2014, voters
try to grasp at themes and slogans
and catchphrases and buzzwords
that go floating by, in order to try
and make some coherent judgment
about their own choice of party and candidate. The
ones easiest to seize are caste, community, linguistic
and chauvinistic appeals. These are the tried and test-
ed honey pots of prejudice that have attracted swarms
of voters during the last two decades.
But the most perplexing one of the current political
scenario is the exhortation to vote for Narendra Modi
for his Gujarat Model of economic progress. It has
caught the imagination of foreign investors (as the
accompanying story by Ramesh Menon shows), as
well as the minds eye of Indian business barons like
the Tatas, and made the BJP prime ministerial candi-
date the darling of trade and commerce groupings
like FICCI and ASSOCHAM. More than that, it has
bowled over ordinary people in small towns and rural
India. They bandy the phrase about as if they had
learned it in their high school classrooms.
Question them closely and you will find equal
amounts of fantasy and reality in their perceptions
and beliefs. Some have actually been to Gujarat as
seasonal or migrant laborers and traders in Surat, and
Kutch and Ahmedabad, and testify to better working
conditions, sanitation, womens safety, relative lack of
crime, better power generation, and yes a rela-
tively riot-free atmosphere, as compared to the
blacked-out, grime-besotten, sewage-choked, and
mafia-ruled alleys and lanes of Western UPs mufassil
towns and villages. This, often, is reality, even though
many other parts of India to which they have never
travelled, might provide a strikingly similar contrast.
The fantasy artists are usually the better educated,
well-heeled, pro-Modi, pro-BJP diehards, or the
recently-converted Modi-ratti, who ballyhoo the
Gujarat Model as someone would Adam Smiths
The Wealth of Nations, Myrdals Asian Drama: An
Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations, Kaldors Model of
Economic Growth, or Hicks Capital Formation in
Underdeveloped Countries. It is, of course, nothing of
the sort, being no more than a yarn woven from spin
doctors imagination.
But these yarn-makers must take a bow. They have
given voice and face to what are indubitably solid
achievements in Gujarat. And they have injected
Indias political scenario with a healthy dose of much-
needed debate on the Wealth of Indian States and
how it should be created in the future. Of course,
some of the progress attributed to the Modi Model is
hype, as the Arvind Kejriwal road show audit demon-
strated through statistics and interviews. Yet much of
it remains demonstrably admirable and worthy of
emulation. And Modi is well within his rights to go to
Uttar Pradesh and challenge Mulayam Singh Yadav
to light even a single candle to the progress in basic
infrastructure in Gujarat.
While allowing Modi the liberty to claim credit for
the Gujarat Model during the election year, we should
remember that it should also be the other way
around: Gujarat should claim credit for creating a
Modi. For the model is not the Modi Model but rather
the Gujarati Model. I cannot say this better than did
Aakar Patel in the Mint, The Wall Street Journal: Do
the Patels of America, who run their empire of motels,
need Modis genius? Do the Memons of South Africa?
The Gujaratis of East Africa, who dominate the
economies of Kenya and Tanzania? The Palanpuri
Jains, who compete with Hasidic Jews in controlling
the diamond bourse of Israel and have made Brussels
and Antwerp Gujarati outposts, do they need the
Gujarat Model?
Patel adds: What about Azim Premji in
Bangalore? Does he need Modi? Did the Tatas?
Mumbais stock market is preponderantly Gujarati,
and has been since the 19th century. The best shops in
the spice markets of Kochi have boards saying
GUJARATI OWNER, because that is a byword for
competence, and a reputation acquired over cen-
turies, not since 2001.
Dhirubhai Ambani did not need Modi to make his
Of Spices, Bhangra
and Banking
Inderjit Badhwar
5
May 15, 2014
fortune. The only Gujarati I can think of, who has
made his billions in the reign of Modi is Gautam
Adani, in whose plane Modi is cutting across the
country delivering sermons.
Meeow, meow! But point well taken. What I do not
accept, however, is Patels next thought, that the
Gujarat Model cannot be replicated in West Bengal,
Odisha or Bihar, unless enormous numbers of
Gujaratis are produced and sent forth to colonize
these parts, armed with their business chops, their
vegetarianism and their hypocritical abstinence from
alcohol (a most unappealing thought) to acculturate
the natives.
And it is embarrassing for many GujaratisI am
oneto be told that all of the success of their great
state is attendant on the sublime genius of one man.
Now I have always liked the rogue who grabs what he
can. Some cultures are always in need of saving. Modi
can hardly be faulted for his behavior in claiming to
be a self-referential and angry prophet of the Hebrew
kind. I have a problem with the gullibility of those
who fall for this, and who thrust their insistence
upon others.
M
enons accompanying story goes into sev-
eral details on the facts and figures
regarding Gujarats economy and per-
formance. But it seems to me that the natural
Gujarati entrepreneurial energy and efficiency was
better poised to harness the energies that broke loose
after the Indian economy opened up in 1991. This
does not, however, mean that other linguistic and eth-
nic groups and states in India were minus skills and
talent. The combination of all is what has contributed
to make this nation stand taller than it did in 1947.
India is blessed with an embarrassing wealth of
models. Punjabi Model: robust agriculture, setting up
shop in Congo jungles, bhangra-rock; Bihari Model:
journalist production, IAS officers, plumbers and
electricians; Malayali Model: female literacy, adult
education; Himachali Model: rural electrification,
hill roads, horticulture, hydro-power; Haryana:
urbanization, tourist networks; Tamil Nadu: automo-
biles, heavy engineering, films; Karnataka and
Andhra Pradesh: IT, ITES; West Bengal: ideas, spiri-
tuality, banking, and Oh! Calcutta... these are the first
that come to mind.
Every state possesses a genius. This is not to sug-
gest that Modi is doing something immoral or wicked
in claiming that the Gujarat Model outshines that of
all other Indian states. Rather, this is to state that
there are other models too. And that if there is a supe-
rior Gujarat Model then it should be subjected to
careful and exacting scrutiny before it is to be taken as
the only model for prosperity and progress with the
Modi tag attached to it.
Just before India held its first general elections in
November-December 1951, the great economist and
social scientist Asoka Mehta asked how and for
whom should Indias 18 crore electorate vote? It is
here that political parties play a role, he said. They are
the brokers of ideas and the sanctions behind policies.
Even then, there were regional and sectional parties.
But Mehta said that though they played a significant
role, they cannot effect change or shape fundamental
policies facing the nation as a whole and that the elec-
torate would do better in expressing itself through
major national parties for the welfare of the people.
He then categorized the major parties. Congress
had turned from a movement for freedom to a party
of development but was essentially conservative in
nature, and cautious about changes in finance, agri-
culture, industry and the nature of government. The
Hindu Mahasabha was essentially a retrograde party,
hardly interested in social or economic problems of
the people and bases its policies on religious impuls-
es and hopes that the solidarity so generated may be a
substitute for social strains and economic hardships
of our times.
The Socialists believe that the difficulties that con-
front our people today provide an opportunity for
ushering in fundamental changes through such
measures and distribution of land to the tiller, aboli-
tion of privilege, and a surge forward to economic and
social spheres. The Communists, he said, lack faith
in the Indian people and believe their problems can
only be solved through the intervention of Soviet
authorities. The Communists do not believe in demo-
cracy and do not hesitate to destroy democracy when
such an action suits them.
This was one of Indias greatest thinkers in 1951.
See for yourself, what has changed, what has not
changed. Empirically, there may be no Modi Model or
Gujarat Model. But symbolically it is significant that
the development debate has been brought to centre-
stage by a man whose intellectual and spiritual cradle
has been the Hindu Mahasabha, described so vividly
by Mehta. In the final analysis, the Modi Model may
be a challenge not only to opponents in other parties
but also to those like the RSS and conservatives with-
in the Sangh Parivar.
editor@indialegalonline.com
6
May 15, 2014
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MAY 15, 2014
Letter from the editor
Craving for the 1999 magic
DE-MYSTIFYING THE
GUJARAT MODEL
INDERJIT BADHWAR digs into the symbolic significance of the much
ballyhooed Gujarat Development Model. Is it any different from models
followed by other states or is it a carefully calibrated electoral hype
designed to dispel Modis image as the RSS poster boy?
While the development story of Gujarat has several positives to make India
proud, the state prospered before Modi arrived on the scene, and other
states have done better on the human index, writes RAMESH MENON
A huge pro-BJP surge in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh holds the key to whether
the Bharatiya Janata Party will surpass the 272-seats mark along with its
allies. Can Narendra Modi pull it off with the Hindu polarization card again?
An in-depth statistical analysis by GIRISH NIKAM
Prophets of hatred
The political scenario has always been vitiated by character
assassination, communal and casteist vitriol spewed by desperado
politicians out to catch votes. But this time a more vigilant Election
Commission is stepping in to silence the voices of those who would
provoke violence, reports SHOBHA JOHN
Thorns ahead?
What cautious or bold steps will President Pranab Mukherjee take if no
political alliance achieves a clear majority? BHAVDEEP KANG
analyzes the precedents set by past heads of state
4
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LEAD/ THE NATION / ELECTIONS 2014
DE-MYSTIFYING THE
GUJARAT MODEL
7
May 15, 2014
R
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A L S O
Two-decade wait for
justice in Kerala .....32
Kingfishers Czar of
Bad Times..............36
Allahabad court order
against Supertech..44
Column: On the
election fraud in
Arunachal Pradesh ....47
Troubled times for
Kerala CM
Oommen Chandy.. .....48
Trauma of fathers in
divorce cases.............56
Bully brands
Free competition and choices are under challenge
in North America, as a few food brands have
aggressively set out to capture the world market.
DAVID E GUMPERT provides an insight into
their working
60
GLOBAL TRENDS
Power games
The Ukraine crisis is the result of Uncle Sams desire
to expand its sphere of influence, and Moscows
growing insecurity about Kievs inclination to
join NATO. SEEMA GUHA describes the contrasting
ideological pulls in this east European nation
64
70
72
Money laundering
All you need to deal in this illegal parallel economy is
a `10 note, a trustworthy contact, and enough guts
to carry millions of rupees, writes ALAM SRINIVAS
40
SPECIAL STORY
Stillborn
A Mississippi (US) court sets aside murder charges
against an African American woman, who consumed
cocaine during pregnancy. NINA MARTIN describes
how the case became an emotive issue for womens
and unborns rights groups
51
CASE STUDY
Shuttlecock blues
54
SPORTS
Big event, big
entries
A series of books on are on offer this election
season to help you fathom the complexities of the
country. INDERJIT BADHWAR comments on
Pitfalls of Indian Democracy: Bapu to Anna by
Hari Jaisingh
Cricket, commerce
& corruption
Cricket Czars: Two Men who Changed the
Gentlemans Game by ALAM SRINIVAS provides an
insight into the machinations of N Srinivasan and
Lalit Modi. Extracts from the book
BOOKS
Cover Design: ANTHONY LAWRENCE
Cover Photo: GETTY IMAGES
Badminton ace Saina
Nehwal, who once
smashed her
way into the
hearts of even
her competitors
and wowed the
world with her power
play, is fizzling out.
GAURAV KALRA
writes that she could
take a leaf out of
tennis player Rafael
Nadals comeback
Letters....................................................................................8
Ringside...............................................................................10
Supreme Court ........................................................................11
Is That Legal?..........................................................................76
Consumer Watch ....................................................................78
Wordly-wise .............................................................................81
People .....................................................................................82
LETTERS
May 15, 2014
8
IT is truly heartening to see that the April
15, 2014 issue of India Legal contains as
many as three articles on legal aspects
pertaining to women. The Runaway
Bridegroom (by Mahesh Trivedi) reveals
the dire need to strengthen the system to
curb the increasing number of cases of
desertion of women by their NRI
husbands and the need for stronger
governmental intervention to facilitate
meaningful assistance to these
distressed wives.
The loophole of the 2005 amendment
to the Hindu Succession Act, which gave
equal rights to daughters to get a share
of their fathers property as that of sons,
is aptly highlighted in House of Discord
(by Shivani Dasmahapatra). Apparently,
despite the good intentions to overcome
gender inequality and discrimination, this
piece of legal reforms left a category of
womenthe wives of sonsby the
wayside, dealing a harsh blow.
The plight of harassed husbands, as
brought out in Save Our Souls (by Anik
Basu), reflects the other side of the story.
It highlights the misuse of the provisions
of Section 498A, IPC relating to dowry
harassment. This definitely calls for an
urgent systemic solution.
These articles bring out the multi-
faceted aspects of the legal provisions
and the impact on individuals, both men
and women. This, by no means could
be achieved without thorough research. I
am looking forward to many more
such articles.
Miranda Ingudam
Under Secretary,
Lok Sabha Secretariat
New Delhi
A thought to the women
LETTER OF THE FORTNIGHT
Thursday, April 10, 2014
I am now reading through your latest
edition of India Legal starting with the editorial.
A courageous endeavor, much to be admired.
Yesterday, I interviewed two professors at
MIT, both Chinese, for To The Mountaintops. I
discussed with them India via-a-vis China.
Interestingly, they were MUCH more critical of
the Indian political/legal/economic system
than most of the Indians I spoke with during
our recent trip.
The MITers maintain that India is hopelessly
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Global correspondence
triggered by India Legal
corrupt and inefficient as compared with
China and is therefore doomed to wallow in
the doldrums. The Indians I spoke with are
optimistic that positive change is already
being demonstrated in many ways. India
Legal, viewed as a constructive leap of faith
building, seems to me to be very much part of
that optimistic mindset.
James Gabbe,
Reconteur, To the Mountaintops
New York
Friday, April 11, 2014
Editor replies: My view is that the penulti-
mate corruption is the stifling of dissent and
creativity. And mass murders by governments
of which China has been a showpiece. India
9
May 15, 2014
Please email your letters to:
editor@indialegalonline.com
Or write to us at:
India Legal, ENC Network,
A-9, Sector 68, Gautam Buddh
Nagar, Noida (UP) - 201309
has always been bursting at the seams with
ideas, contrarianism, multiple choice, poetry,
philosophy, films, the largest free press in the
world, elections, public anti-corruption
crusades that would make Jefferson proud.
Indian agriculture is a shining example of
how a once starving nation gained
surpluses and self sufficiency through small,
independent farmers, while there were
famines under the Chinese Communists that
took millions of livesall whitewashed and
hidden behind the bamboo curtain. There has
never been or be Tiananmen Square in India.
The Chinese should send observers to
watch the Indian general election show
underway, in which voters more than twice the
size of the US population are casting their
votes peacefully and on issues ranging from
corruption to gay rights to stricter anti-gay
rights. Chinese India-baiters would call this
indiscipline because the ring of freedom has
been not in their ears but around their nose.
When did you last hear of a modern Chinese
poet or novelist? Indias literary creative scene
and international book fairs are the envy of
world publishing.
Friday, April 11, 2014
You are preaching to the choir. Im in awe of
India and the Indians. I have great admiration
for China as well. The differences are stark
and provocative. So are the commonalities. A
story to be shaped and shown. Hence, To the
Mountaintops.
James Gabbe
Friday, April 11, 2014
Well here are my two cents. I think the MIT
folks are in fear of consequences should they
be overly critical of China. China is routinely
suppressing the free flow of information to its
citizens. Witness Bloombergs self censoring
to maintain a foothold in china. Is there a
magazine like India Legal in China? For
Chinese to assert that corruption is more
rampant in India than in China is odd. Let's
not pay the china price of keeping silent
about their dictatorship.
Richard Russell
Friday, April 11, 2014
Up the ante to three cents. One of the MITers
was on the record (which means, ultimately,
into our movie)bluntly critical of certain
aspects of Chinas political and economic
systems and of its culture as well.
As weve mentioned prior, we have much
experience with Chinese who, when speaking
on the record, pull their punches when talking
about the PRC (China). This rather august
professor wasnt one of them. One likely
reason is that he has been living in the US for
some time (travels to China frequently) and
has US Citizenship.
James Gabbe
Friday, April 11, 2014
Well the Communist party is OK with criticism
that is in-line with its current dogma of being
anti-corruption. I stand by what I said. Any
Chinese with family still in China are likely to
feel intimidated about speaking frankly. There
is an interesting Op-Ed in todays New York
Times you may have read, about how criti-
cism of the mass murders that happened
during the Cultural Revolution is still off limits.
Richard Russell
Saturday, April 12, 2014
It will be only a matter of time that India will be
more like China and China like India (in terms
of) the desirable parts. Also, isnt it a cultural
trait (that) the Chinese being tolerant and
harmonious do not like to criticize their gov-
ernment, say unlike South Korea and France?
Quoting James Gabbe: A glory of India is that
India Legal can be published. A glory of China
is that many hundreds of millions have experi-
enced vast improvement in their fundamental
well-being in a few decades. China, I believe,
will someday have an Indy (Inderjit Badhwar)
creating a China Legal. India, I believe, will
someday be a vastly more equitable place in
terms of fundamental well being. Its thrilling to
watch these two giants shaping their destinies
as new global dynamos.
Hong Liu
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Thank you, Ms Liu. You are a key part of our
effort to tell our Mountaintops tale in a way
that, enlightens and helps to bring people with
different views a mite closer together.
James Gabbe
10
May 15, 2014
The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of
liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women;
the spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interests alongside its own
without bias; the spirit of liberty remembers that not even a sparrow falls to earth
unheeded; the spirit of liberty is the spirit of Him who, near two thousand years ago,
taught mankind that lesson it has never learned, but has never quite forgotten; that
there may be a kingdom where the least shall be heard and considered side by
side with the greatest.
Judge Learned Hand
VERDICT
Aruna
T
he Right to Education (RTE) Act may have made it
mandatory for children aged between six and 14 to
get compulsory education in India but the scenario is
deplorable. While responding to a PIL filed by the
National Coalition for Education, the apex court asked
the center and the union territories to explain why there
was an acute dearth of schools and trained teachers in all
parts of India.
The PIL pointed out that this was violating the RTE Act.
It referred to numerous studies, which indicated that
around 3.77 crore children between six and 14 years
couldnt attend schools, as the concerned governments
had failed to provide the required infrastructure and the
right ambience.
The lawyer representing the coalition also wanted the
court to instruct states and union territories to finish
neighbourhood mapping for schools, followed by con-
struction of new schools, appointment of additional
trained teachers every month, as well as improvement of
school infrastructure.
Education for all
11
May 15, 2014
SUPREME COURT
T
he Chief Justice
of India P
Sathasivam retired
on April 26, 2014.
He was succeeded by
Justice RM Lodha.
In his tenure at the
Supreme Court,
Sathasivam passed
landmark judgments
in Jessica Lall,
Sanjay Dutt, mercy
petitions and
Muzaffarnagar riots
cases, among others.
P Sathasivam calls it a day
PROMOTING JUSTICE
(L to R) Managing Editor,
APN TV, Vinay Rai; Rajshri
Rai, Editor-in-Chief, APN
TV; and Inderjit Badhwar,
Editor-in-Chief, India Legal,
presenting the inaugural
copy to P Sathasivam
Anil Shakya
12
May 15, 2014
N
on-resident Indians (NRIs) flying into the
country to cast their ballot is not a new phe-
nomenon. But the apex court, committed to
ensure that nobody is kept away from voting, took
up cudgels on behalf of the community.
It was at the courts insistence that the Election
Commission (EC) had earlier examined whether
it was possible for NRIs to vote from overseas in
the 2014 general elections through Internet or
postal ballot. The initiative then was in response
to a petition from NRI doctor Shamsheer VP. The
petition put up the logic that if staff at Indian mis-
sions could vote at embassies or high commis-
sions, why was it mandatory for NRIs to be in
India for exercising their franchise.
However, after hearing the arguments put up by
EC, a bench of Justices KS Radhakrishnan and
Vikramjit Sen agreed that it was too late for the
commission to implement any process, as voting
was already over in some phases. The bench felt
doing so would open a Pandoras box. The com-
mission cited statutory and logistical problems,
even though it agreed that NRIs must exercise
their franchise.
The court also asked the center and the EC to
come back to it with a viable process. It also
directed the EC to submit the panel report on
options for NRI voting.
W
orking women in India
couldnt have asked for
more. Especially those saddled
with childcare at home.
While overruling a verdict of the
Calcutta High Court, a bench of
Justices SJ Mukhopadhaya and
V Gopala Gowda allowed women
working in central government
to go on child-
care leave
for two years at the most during
their tenure of service. Referring
to Rule 43C of the Central Civil
Services (Leave), the bench said
such a rule
was applicable
only for up to
two minor chil-
dren. It spelt out that
childcare was not necessari-
ly related to rearing, but also
included attending the child for
exams or during sickness.
The court was hearing an appeal
filed by a government servant
Kakali Ghosh, whose request for
leave was first turned down by the
government, granted by
CAT, and again rejected by
the Calcutta High Court.
In favour of childcare
I
n a verdict that set the cat among the
pigeons in Indias corporate sector, a
bench of Justices KS Radhakrishnan and
Vikramjit Sen recently ruled that the
Comptroller and Auditor General of India
(CAG) had the legal right to check account
books of private telecom companies having
revenue sharing arrangements with the
government on spectrum use. However, the
bench also made it clear that the audit was
not mandatory as per the law.
While rejecting petitions by telecom serv-
ice providers that the CAG couldnt be
allowed unbridled access to account books,
the bench pointed out that a thorough
scrutiny was crucial to ascertain there was no illegal gain to the service
provider and undue loss to the government.
The judgment paved the way for private companies in coal and power
sectors doing partnership business with government to come under the
spotlight of the CAG. The timing of the ruling is spot on, considering the
apex court is looking into the 2G spectrum scam, alleged irregularities in
coal block allocations, and the Reliance gas price controversy.
Cleaning the
augean stables
SUPREME COURT
Voting rights
for NRIs
W
hile the apex courts decision to vindicate Article 377in which
consensual sex between two gay adults is a crimelast
December enraged the LGBT community, urban Indians and gay
activists, the recent decision on transgender community opened up a
world of opportunity for a section abused and marginalised by society.
Considering that transgenders have every right to enjoy freedom of
expression (Article 19) and live with dignity (Article 21), a bench of
Justices KS Radhakrishnan and AK Sikri recognised them as third
gender, separate from male or female.
The bench also directed the center and state govern-
ments to include the community among the
backward classes. The landmark
judgment gave transgenders
legal status, protection,
and benefits.
The transgenders
could now avail the
benefits of welfare
schemes besides reser-
vations in educational
institutions and gov-
ernment jobs.
13
May 15, 2014
O
ne may think that a dying declaration is a cru-
cial evidence in any trial process, but there are
grey areas. The Supreme Court observed that the
credibility of a dying declaration needs to be ascer-
tained before considering it as a compelling evi-
dence. A bench of Justice RM Lodha and Justice
Shiva Kirti Singh noted that the declaration should
be in the actual words of the victim, instead of
being instructed by somebody else, to mitigate any
doubt over its credibility.
Based on this premise, the bench quashed the ver-
dict of the Karnataka High Court that had convicted
three people in a 2002 murder case. Earlier, the
lower court had acquitted the accused on finding the
death declaration doubtful.
Swear by death
Third gender,
now official
Illustrations: Aruna
T
he nursery admission jigsaw puzzle of Delhi schools is becom-
ing difficult to piece together with every new twist and turn.
After the Delhi high court's interim order early April had allowed
schools to admit children selected in neighbourhood and other cat-
egories, the apex court stalled the process.
A bench of Justices HL Dattu and SA Bobde took into account
that the inter-state transfer criteria was not included in the high
court order while issuing notices to the Delhi government and
other respondents. The high court had also postponed taking up
the issue of points awarded to inter-state transfer category in its
order. The parents of students under the inter-state transfer catego-
ry had therefore appealed against the high court order.
The counsel for parents, senior advocate Nidhesh Gupta alleged
that the high court was silent on inter-state transfer seats that were
vacated after the Delhi governments February 27 notification had
scrapped the five points awarded to children in the category. He
pointed out that inter-state transfer children had virtually no
chance of getting admitted after the high court order, as the empty
seats were to be offered to the alumni category, with the same num-
ber of points.
Admission pangs
upporters of Narendra Modi wax eloquent how the
Gujarat Development Model can change the future
of India. Ask them what it is and you will find them
mouthing the same thing that both Gujarat and BJP
ads scream about. What they talk about is the Modis
style of governance. Gujarat was always a prosper-
ous state fired by its enterprising people who were
born entrepreneurs. They did well wherever they went. No won-
der that motels in the United States are jocularly referred to by
the Americans as Potels, as Gujarati Patels run it successfully.
Take a peek at how many Patels and Shahs are there in the
14
May 15, 2014
narendra modi can claim credit
for his states consistent growth
and ability to attract huge
investments. but has this helped
improve the lives of the poor or
ensure inclusive development?
By Ramesh Menon
S
LEAD/
gujarat development
REALITY?
MYTH
,
MANIA OR
MYTH
,
MANIA OR
telephone directory in London and you will
see the influence and power they wield.
However, Modis public relations cam-
paign to project himself as a development
guru must also give credit to Gujaratis. Prof
Sarman Singh, head, Division of Clinical
Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical
Sciences, New Delhi, asks a pertinent ques-
tion: Would Modi be as effective if he was
heading states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar?
Other states have their own development
models. Decades ago, Kerala developed one
that is now discussed globally. States like
Bihar, Odisha, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu
have consciously worked on different models
to push inclusive growth and improve devel-
opment indicators.
Still, no critic can deny Modis achieve-
ments in terms of growth, investments and
development. He is the darling of industry
associations such as CII and FICCI. The
Vibrant Gujarat jamboree attracts hun-
dreds of businessmen, not just from India but
abroad. A few years ago, almost 9,000 MoUs
worth `1,239,562 crore were inked at the
investment fair. Recently, the two Ambani
brothers promised to invest a cumulative
`85,000 crore in the state. And Tata Group
opted for Gujarat as the location for its Nano
car project. In all these aspects, Gujarat
is dazzling.
Modi often mentions that Gujarat is one of
highest contributors to the Gross Domestic
Product. He highlights Gujarats manufac-
turing miracle. But the fact remains that
alternative models in other states have
worked equally well. R Nagaraj and Shruti
Pandey wrote in the Economic and Political
Weekly that if import-intensive and resource-
sensitive petroleum refining sector was taken
out, Gujarats manufacturing would con-
tribute a smaller share. Two refineries in the
state, owned by Reliance Industries and
Essar Group, are force multipliers for Modi.
In addition, Bihar under Nitish Kumar has
emerged as the fastest-growing state with a
rate of 10.9 percent. Between 2006 and 2010,
Bihar shed its BIMARU status (an acronym
for sick states). While Gujarat was the fastest
growing state between 2001 and 2005 with
an average rate of 11 percent, the growth rate
15
May 15, 2014
FLAUNTING GROWTH
A file photo of Vibrant
Gujarat Summit 2013
dipped to an average of 9.3 percent between
2006 and 2010. This allowed Chhattisgarh,
Haryana, Maharashtra and even Orissa to
overtake Gujarat.
Gujarat is one among several prime
investment destinations. According to the
Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion, the topmost state in 2013 was
Odisha, which attracted `97,833 crore, fol-
lowed by Madhya Pradesh (`87,812 crore).
Gujarat came third (`81,032 crore).
Gujarat ranked fourth among states in
terms of FDI destination between 2000 and
2009. In 2011, it fell to the sixth place, after
Maharashtra, National Capital Region,
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh. Maharashtras FDI inflows were
almost nine times higher than Gujarat.
One of the main ingredients of Modis
development model is the access to basic
amenities. One of the states successes was to
provide piped water to most people in record
time. The Sardar Sarovar Narmada project,
which entails an investment of `22,000
crore, has led to the construction of almost
20,000 kms of canals. The state witnessed
the building of 100,000 check dams and
thousands of water harvesting schemes.
Has this guaranteed better quality of life
for the poor? Indias Human Development
Report 2011 showed a high rate of child
Alternative models in other states have
done as well as Gujarat in recent times.
Bihar, Odisha and Chhattisgarh have
pushed for more inclusive growth.
16
May 15, 2014
malnutrition in Gujarat, with 69.7 percent
kids of the age of five being anemic and 44.6
percent suffering from malnutrition.
According to the latest census, Gujarats
infant mortality rate of 38 per 1000 births
was much higher than Keralas 12. The
maternal mortality rate in Gujarat is one of
the worst among the mainline states.
In the last two years, when Modi faced
flak, he realized that he had to work on these
areas to gain wider acceptance. He increased
allocations on health and education in the
latest budget. Some of the new health
schemes can be replicated nationally, says
Gurgaon-based health activist Heer Choksi.
One of them is the Mother and Child
Tracking System to track children under five
years and pregnant women and ensure they
get health care. Gujarat is now setting up
web-based health information and monitor-
ing system to ensure better delivery.
Modi has criticized the National Food
Security Act, saying it was not expansive
enough. He should have possibly investigated
the existing Public Distribution System
(PDS) in Gujarat. According to research by
Reetika Khera of IIT (Delhi) for the National
Sample Survey Organization, Gujarat has a
low and falling per capita PDS consumption
and the highest rate of food grain diversion.
BPL lists in the state have not been updated
since 1998 and there is fear that many of the
names are fakes. Data provided to the
Supreme Court in June 2013 on the Right to
Food showed that Gujarat provided subsi-
dized grain to 7.35 lakh families under the
Antyoday Anna Yojana and 24.35 lakh BPL
families in total. In comparison, according to
the Right to Food Campaign, a network of
activists, the Food Security Act would benefit
77.24 lakh families in the state.
I
n the last Gujarat assembly elections,
Modi asked audiences why India had
not accomplished what Gujarat had
under his leadership. It was very much clear
that he was signaling how he could replicate
the Gujarat style of governance nationally to
rescue India from policy paralysis and eco-
nomic slowdown.
When it comes to governance, Modi rules
with authority. Things do move faster as red
tape is minimized. If you want to set up an
industry or invest in Gujarat, you will get
immediate response from the state officials.
Officials bend over backwards to accommo-
date the demands of business community.
But what has his style of governance really
achieved for his state? When Bihar made
demands for more central funds, the govern-
ment set up a committee under economist
Raghuram Rajan. Under its new formula for
central allocation, states like Kerala would
get lesser funds while Bihar would get more.
Surprisingly, Gujarat was classified as one of
the less developed states. This did not amuse
Modi loyalists, who claimed Gujarat was the
most developed state.
Modi complains how New Delhi did not
care for states, where the Congress is not in
power. But Gujarat was unable to spend the
money given by the center. For example,
`957.95 crore was allocated for constructing
offices for the roads and buildings depart-
ment, but not even half the amount was
spent. Citing such examples, the CAG said
that there was a wide variation under most
major heads of account and pointed out that
Gujarat failed to produce a utilization cer-
tificate of `9 ,066.34 crore. According to
GREENER PASTURES
Nano Plant of Tata Motors
at Sanand
Gujarat was well-developed and
well-governed before Narendra Modi too.
The roads were in very good
condition in the 1970s and 1980s.
LEAD/
gujarat development
17
May 15, 2014
CAG, 67 percent of central grants for 2010-11
allocated for Kanya Kelavni, the prestigious
annual girl child education campaign, were
unused and returned.
Out of the allocation of `11.55 crore for
implementation of the Rashtriya Madhyamik
Shikshan Abhiyan, 99.2 percent was
returned. Out of the `97 crore allocated for
computer literacy and studies in schools, 67
percent was returned. The entire `40 crore
for creating a long term flood mitigation
project was returned. Gujarat needs to
improve its social indicators and be on par
with states like Kerala, Karnataka and
Maharashtra, says Planning Commission
member Sayeda Hameed.
Everyone who visits Gujarat talks of the
state of roads. But even in 1978, when I first
went to Gujarat as a cub reporter, the roads
were in excellent condition. Potholes were
difficult to find on the state highways. Large
industrial estates were being built then too.
Every state chief minister, irrespective of the
party he belonged to, pushed for the growth
of commerce and industry. To be fair to Modi,
what he did was to give a fillip to large busi-
ness groups by giving them cheap land and
tax sops in plenty.
In the last decade, Modis regime acquired
farmlands that were spread over thousands
of acres, and converted them into industrial
zones. The farmers havent always been
happy with the acquisitions. Leading a move-
ment against acquisition is former BJP MLA
Dr Kanu Kalsaria. He got farmers to oppose
a move to allot 700 acres to Nirma for a
cement plant. While officials said that it was
wasteland, 300 acres included wastelands
and reservoirs that 50,000 farmers benefit-
ted from. Acting on a complaint, the Ministry
of Environment and Forests cancelled the
plants environment clearance.
There are other stories about the adverse
impact on farmers. In the late 1990s, farmers
willingly gave away fertile land for the Sardar
Sarovar Narmada Dam as they hoped that
the network of irrigation channels would
bring water to their fields. In 2000s, during
a decade of Modis rule, they realized that
80,000 hectares of the 1.84 million hectares
that was to be irrigated was denotified, and
sold to businessmen. More land is being
identified under the proposed Special
Economic Zones, Special Investment
Regions, industrial parks and estates.
A study, Poverty Amidst Prosperity: Essays
on the Trajectory of Development in Gujarat,
suggests that numerous indicators like
employment, social equality, sustainable
livelihoods and access to education, health
and justice took a back seat in Modis race for
economic growth. NSSO data showed that
the states employment growth was 2.69 per-
cent per year between 1993 and 2005.
Between 2004 and 2010, it came down to
near zero percent. Rural employment suf-
fered, as farmers had less land for cultiva-
tion. Land owning patterns changed with the
growth of the industry.
In the late 1990s, Planning Commission
and UNDP approached the Centre for
Development Alternatives (CFDA), an aca-
demic research centre in Ahmedabad, to pro-
duce the states Human Development
Report. It was completed in 2001. But it pro-
jected the state in a bad light vis--vis health,
education, and sex ratio. Modi refused to
sign it. He raised several objections to the
CFDA statistics. The researchers refused to
change anything. The report shuttled from
one department to another. Finally, Modi
signed it in 2003.
Gujarat does not have a State Planning
Commission. It has not made a plan
POWER DISPLAY
Adani Groups Mundra
Thermal Power Station in
Kutch district
18
May 15, 2014
2012 CAG report confirmed this.
The Gujarat Pollution Control Board
issued notices to 8 municipal corporations
and 159 municipalities for not following
guidelines on solid waste disposal. In 2004,
Gujarat claimed it was free of manual scav-
enging but continued to avail of central
grants to liberate scavengers. However, a
2006 survey by Tata Institute of Social
Sciences said that 12,000 people in the state
still carried night soil. According to census
figures, 52 lakh households in the state do
not have a toilet. Over 64 lakh households do
not have drainage facility and 49 lakh people
are defecating in the open.
Gujarat has worked under Modi. But the
state has always worked. In fact, in the 1970s
and 1980s, I have seen similar kind of effi-
cient and effective governance in Gujarat. It
is not that Modi did not do any good work. It
is just that other CMs before him have done
it too, not just in Gujarat but elsewhere too.
Modi may find it difficult to replicate the so-
called Gujarat model across the country, but
it has helped lift the issue to a national level
of debate.
document in the last 10 years. An academi-
cian, who follows the states policies, says, If
you ask officials about the lack of long-term
planning, they say that the plan is made by
Modi. Gujarat does have annual plans but
not the five-year ones. A retired bureaucrat,
who was rehabilitated by Modi, says: There
is no need for a State Planning Commission.
We know what is going on. We brought out a
report in 2004 and that is enough. It does
not have to be done every year.
Modi recently said India first had to build
toilets, and the construction of temples could
wait. But it would have helped if he had
looked into his own backyard in Gujarat. His
government shut off areas where people
relieved themselves with huge walls or
plantations. The idea was to camouflage
areas where VIPs would pass by while travel-
ling from Ahmedabad to Gandhinagar.
Shankersinh Vaghela, a former chief minis-
ter of the state, said: Modi is just trying to be
dramatic. Does he not know that out of the
50,000-odd anganwadis that the govern-
ment runs, more than 18,000 have no toi-
lets? He should first put his state in order. A
LEAD/
gujarat development
ABROGATING RIGHTS
Farmers of Gujarat protest
against the state
government's decision to
develop Mandal-Becharaji
as a special investment
region at a rally in
Gandhinagar
Getty Images
IL
19
May 15, 2014
THE NATION /
elections 2014/ modis prospects
Craving for
1999 magic
will the bharatiya janata party, under its new prime
ministerial candidate, repeat the performance
that atal bihari vajpayee achieved 15 years ago?
By Girish Nikam
BASKING IN GLORY
Modi acknowledging the
huge public turnout at his
Varanasi rally
UNI
20
May 15, 2014
that people didnt speak of him. A similar sit-
uation prevails today, where Narendra Modi
has become virtually a household name.
The addition to the 2004 kind of wave
today, which goes in favor of the BJP, is the
severe anti-incumbency factor, as well as a
sense of fatigue with the UPA government
after 10 years of it being in power. So, will the
UPA government meet the same kind of fate,
which the NDA met in 2004? Going by all
indications, it will.
However, whether the Congress suffers
humiliation in 2014, to the extent the BJP
did in 2004 (when it won 138 seats down
from 182 in 1999), or whether it will be worse
than that (like the BJP suffered in 2009,
when it came down further to 116 seats) is a
moot point. For the BJP and its PM-candi-
date Modi, it would not be enough to repeat
its 1999 performance, when it won 182 seats.
For all the efforts and meticulous planning
and hype, which has been generated at un-
precedented scale, anything less than 200
seats will be seen as average performance.
How does BJP get over 200 seats? From
where can it make that quantum jump from
its 2009 tally of 116 seats to reach 200? It
can only come from Uttar Pradesh (UP) and
Bihar, where it had just 10 and 12 seats,
respectively, in 2009. The two states, which
send 120 members of parliament to Lok
Sabha together, are highest on Modis prior-
ity. If the two states can
bring in around 60 seats to
the BJP, it will be possible
for it to reach or cross that
crucial 200 mark, which
will mean reaching the 272
magic figure with relative
ease, though it would have
to cobble more alliances.
The crucial question in
both UP and Bihar is: will
the BJP be able to over-
come caste-based politics
and weave a Hindu vote-
bank pan-India? It did
manage that in 1998, win-
ning an unprecedented 57
seats, and so also in Bihar
where it won 20 seats.
That was a shortlived
H
OWdoes one look at the
ongoing general elec-
tions in the country, as it
reaches its final stages?
Do we look at it from the
prism of 1999 elections,
when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was at
its peak and Congress suffered its worst
defeat ever? Or do we look at it from the
2004 point of view, when India Shining
brought grief to the BJP and National
Democratic Alliance (NDA)? Or will 2014 be
an entirely different ball game?
Whats the similarity between 1999 and
2014? One certainly is the larger-than-life
image of the prime ministerial candidates. In
1999, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had already
served a short term as prime minister from
1998, had this halo around him, especially
after the Kargil war. He had by then become
the undisputed leader, who also carried a
huge sympathy wave after his government
fell because of disloyal partners.
In 2014, the BJP also has a prime ministe-
rial candidate, who has emerged over every-
one else, riding what some may call a manu-
factured consent, though the support from
the rank and file is indisputable. Through the
time that elections were announced in early
2004 till the results in May, the Vajpayee
wave swept the country. There was no state in
the country, even where BJP did not exist,
Anis Khan
THE NATION /
elections 2014 / modis prospects
21
May 15, 2014
euphoria as in 1999, with Vajpayee wave at its
peak, it slid down badly to just 29 seats in UP,
though it bettered its 1998 performance in
Bihar winning 23 seats.
Is the Modi wave in UP bigger than the
Vajpayee wave in 1999? Can it manage to re-
create a 1998 or even come near it by over-
coming the caste divide as it seems to have
done then, and cobble up a Hindu vote bank?
Going by the communal polarisation one wit-
nessed in Western UP which went to polls on
April 10, it seemed possible. But as the polls
move towards central and eastern UP, some
questions are being raised about that com-
munal wave, with visible signs of it waning.
Caste equations are taking centrestage.
Similarly in Bihar, where it reached its
peak performance in 1999 with 23 seats, in
alliance with the Janata Dal (U), it has a huge
challenge on hand. It won only 12 seats in
2009, in alliance with JD (U) again, and now
for it raise it to around 20, without the
JD (U) will be a tough ask.
How much can the Modi wave ride over
the caste politics of Bihar, and consolidate
Hindu votes, is a moot point again. And how
much its alliance with Ram Vilas Paswans
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) can help it is still a
matter of conjecture. Another big factor,
which should be bothering the BJP in its
quest for harmonising the Hindu vote in
Bihar is the apparent revival of Lalu Yadavs
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which can spoil
their game.
The story of Bihar is also about the consol-
idation of minority votes in favour of the
RJD-Congress alliance. If it is helping the
Samajwadi Party in UP, its also benefiting
the Congress-National Congress Party (NCP)
alliance in Maharashtra. The question, how-
ever, still remains: will this anti-Modi mobi-
lization among the minorities lead to strate-
gic voting, as expected by the non-BJP, non-
NDA parties, or will it get diffused, as some
in Uttar Pradesh fear?
One of the major hurdles for the BJP to
reach the crucial 200 figure mark is also the
internal bickering in the party, as some feel.
Though the dissonance one witnessed soon
after the elections were announced, includ-
ing LK Advanis unhappiness, Jaswant
Singhs decision to contest as an independent
candidate and Murli Manohar Joshis dissat-
isfaction, has been buried now, the echoes of
it are still heard. The significant number of
defectors getting tickets (over 50, with 26 of
them in UP itself ) is a factor, whose damag-
ing possibilities cannot be undermined.
For the BJP, one of the most crucial ele-
ments in this election is to convert it into a
national vote rather than allowing it into an
aggregate of states. For some years now, poll-
sters and analysts have been talking of
Indian elections having been an aggregate of
state elections, where each state behaves dif-
ferently, depending upon the issues concern-
ing it. So, has the Modi wave managed to
convert this into a national elections, where
state issues and concerns are overridden by a
national issueModi for PM?
According to Sanjay Kumar from Centre
for the Study of Developing Societies, this
trend is visible in some states, though it is
not uniform across the country. People are
indeed talking of voting differently in those
states, where the assembly and Lok Sabha
elections are both being held, he says.
It is probably this trend, which has
encouraged various pollsters and the media
to project a growing support for the NDA,
with one poll even getting it beyond the 272
mark. However, these elections are as much
a test for these pollsters, as much as it is for
Modi and his machinery.After having repeat-
edly failed to predict the outcome both in
2004 and 2009, their reputations are as
much at stake, as Modi and his machinerys
ability to live up to the pollsters predictions,
and not having peaked too soon.
HISTORIC MANDATE
Vajpayee being sworn in as
PM by president
KR Narayanan in 1999
IL
22
May 15, 2014
THE NATION/
elections 2014/hate speeches
campaigning for the
lok sabha has seen
a new low.
hate speeches,
name-calling,
attacks on character
and marital
status are all par for
the course. is all fair
in politics?
By Shobha John
23
May 15, 2014
I
ts a free-for-all now. Vicious, vile,
vituperative. Accompanied by
shrieks, shouts and screams.
Never before has the political
arena seen such personal attacks
as this Lok Sabha campaign. So,
be it politicians unleashing a full frontal
attack against other male opponents, women
referring to the age of other female con-
tenders or cousins hitting out at each other
this election has seen it all. The language of
political discourse has deteriorated to such
an extent that all kinds of words are bandied
about. Idiot, stupid, monkey seem banal
as compared to will chop you to pieces. The
lakshman rekha of politics has been crossed
by pretty much everyone.
The new low to which campaigning has
stooped is the open threats leaders are issu-
ing to voters to toe the line or suffer the con-
sequences. Maharashtra Deputy Chief
Minister Ajit Pawar, who is NCP leader
Sharad Pawars nephew, allegedly threatened
a village to vote for his cousin Supriya Sule,
failing which he would ensure that water
supply to the village stopped. At a rally at
Bulandshahar bypass in Uttar Pradesh,
Mulayam Singh Yadav threatened school
teachers that if votes didnt come, they would
lose their permanent status.
But these pale in comparison to the venom
spewed on religious lines. BJP leader Giriraj
Singh commented during a rally in
Jharkhand: Those who want to stop
Narendra Modi from becoming prime minis-
ter will have no place in India in the coming
days. They will only have place in Pakistan.
The reference to Muslims was too obvious.
VHP leader Pravin Togadia raised the
pitch even further, instigating a group of
Bajrang Dal and VHP members in
Bhavnagar to forcibly occupy a house pur-
chased by a Muslim in the Hindu-dominated
Meghani Circle. He warned the Muslim to
vacate the property within 48 hours, failing
which the Hindus should attack him with
stones, tyres etc. He assured them that noth-
ing would happen, that court cases drag for
years. The Election Commission stepped in,
banning Giriraj from campaigning and
directing the Bhavnagar administration to
file an FIR against Togadia.
But what upset everyone equally was the
otherwise suave Shazia Ilmi of Aam Admi
Party saying that Muslims have been too
secular, and should become communal for
their own good.
Personal remarks flung at each other dur-
ing the campaign period are equally shock-
ing. Take BJP leader Subramanian
Rural India is not the only consumer of
crass. There is a vulgar middle class with
money and loves distasteful content.
PRATHAP SUTHAN,
brain behind BJPs India Shining
CRASS WAR
(Facing page) VHP leader
Pravin Togadia instigated a
gathering to forcibly evict a
Muslim from his property in
Bhavnagar
(Above) Even Priyanka,
otherwise aloof, lost her
restraint and dragged her
cousin into a verbal duel
24
May 15, 2014
Swamys comments on reports saying that
Priyanka Gandhi was willing to contest from
Varanasi against BJPs PM nominee
Narendra Modi. He reportedly said, They
saved her. She would have got a thrashing.
She is very unpopular, she drinks too much
alcohol and she has a bad name, her husband
has a bad name. Earlier, Congress leader
Imran Masood from Saharanpur said Modi
would be chopped to pieces in UP. The
degeneration of political discourse was obvi-
ous last year when Congress president Sonia
Gandhi reportedly called Modi maut ka
saudagar. This below-the-belt attack has
percolated to the cadres too.
ITS GETTING PERSONAL
When does an attack become personal?
Social scientist Shiv Visvanathan explains:
It becomes personal when it invades the
speech, which, activists said, was provocative and likely to stir
communal tensions, when India is in the middle of the worlds
largest election. But one can say Muslim soldiers used the bat-
tle cry against fellow religious people.
Muslims have always played a key role in Indian elections,
and political experts say their vote is even more crucial this
time. The countrys largest religious minority accounts for
about 13 percent of the countrys more than 1.2 billion people.
All the major political playersthe Congress, the Bharatiya
Janata Party and regional groupsrealize that Muslims will
have a huge impact on their electoral fortunes.
Traditionally, Muslims have voted for the Congress, but
their disillusionment with the party is pushing them to look at
alternatives. They are on tenterhooks about the Hindu nation-
alist BJPs likely return to power because they blame the
partys prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, for
Gujarats bloody religious riots in 2002. Thousands of
Muslims were killed in the violence, regarded as the worst
communal riots since the Partition.
Political leaders in Uttar Pradesh refused to comment on
Khans statement. A top SP leader said he did not want to dis-
cuss the issue until the elections are over. Pradip Mathur,
leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the UP assembly,
was also circumspect: It is too sensitive to discuss during the
elections. Many Muslim leaders do not want to get drawn into
the controversy for fear of alienating their constituencies in the
midst of an election. I do not believe that there is a minority
issue, because the word minority is used only to protect the
religious and cultural issues for a community. It should not be
used for a political purpose, says Arif Mohammed Khan, a
former union minister.
But some Muslims in Uttar Pradesh say they share Khans
sense of disillusionment with Pakistan. They say that many
Muslims, who had migrated from the huge northern state dur-
ing the Partition, have been marginalized in Pakistan. Most of
the family members of Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan of
Mahmoodabad, who had supported the cause of Pakistan,
have now returned to India. He had hosted the 1937 Muslim
I
t was the ultimate dream of many Muslims in pre-
Partition India: a separate Muslim homeland in
South Asia. But more than 65 years after the creation
of Pakistan, many say that dream has been shattered.
Azam Khan, an Uttar Pradesh (UP) minister and
Samajwadi Party leader, is one of the many such dis-
illusioned Muslims in the political weathervane state, whose
beliefs and politics have turned the two-nation theory on its
head. Khan sparked off a huge controversy recently, when he
said Muslim soldiers chanting Allah-o-Akbar, the battle cry of
Islamic jihadis against infidels, were responsible for Indias
victory in Kargil. The Election Commission banned him from
campaigning for the parliamentary election following the
Changing
Muslim
mindset
Counterpoint
Azam Khans statement
actually reflects a rejection
of the two-nation theory
By Gopal Misra
THE NATION/
elections 2014/hate speeches
25
May 15, 2014
privacy of an individual. The question
becomes complicated when he is also a
public figure. Families are the source of
controversy. Indian politics has always
kept the personal lives of its protagonists
out of the ambit of discussions. But not
anymore. The personal has come to the
forefront because ideology and issue-
based politics have taken a backseat, he
says. This is unlike the West, where politi-
cians flaunt their families like medals.
But then, it was Congress vice-president
Rahul Gandhi who crossed the line, when he
attacked Modi over his marital status. While
Modi has always made a virtue of being a bach-
elor, when he filed nomination papers in
Vadodara, he wrote Jashodaben against his
wifes name. This was all the ammunition the
Congress needed. Personal lives and sensitivity
be damned. Rahul said, I dont know how
League session in Lucknow, where over 50,000 Muslims had
gathered to endorse the demand for Pakistan amidst the
chanting of Allah-o-Akbar.
S
ome experts say traditional secularists and Hindutva
leaders are unable to interpret Azams statement,
which actually reflects a paradigm change in the
Muslim mindset. They have moved the Election Commission
to put restrictions on his campaigns.
Khan refuses to apologize. Experts say Khan may have ruf-
fled political feathers, but his statement only reasserts that
Muslims in India, as well as in Pakistan and Bangladesh, have
abandoned the concept of the two-nation theory that Hindus
and Muslims are different nations.
The change is reflected across the subcontinent.
Bangladesh has declared itself a secular state. In 2013,
Bangladesh celebrated Swami Vivekanands 150th anniver-
sary with more fanfare than pro-Hindu BJP ruled states in
India. Pakistanis, despite strong opposition from the Taliban,
have named a road crossing in Lahore to honor Sardar Bhagat
Singh, the Indian freedom fighter who was hanged for throw-
ing a bomb in the assembly. The attack on Hamid Mir, a well-
known journalist in Karachi, has further disillusioned the peo-
ple of Pakistan. He was shot thrice by gunmen in mid-April.
The movement in support of the two-nation theory, which
had blossomed with the support of the outgoing colonial
rulers, is now dead. Some experts say that if there is a
plebiscite in Pakistan today, few would like to remain in the so-
called Muslim homeland, Pakistan. They believe Azam Khan
is one of those who could really understand the disillusion-
ment of Muslims with the concept of two-nation theory.
Either way, the question on everybodys lips in India today
is: Who will the Indian Muslim vote for? It wont be long
before they have an answer.
Kargil ki pahadiyo ko fateh
karne wala koi Hindu nahi tha,
balki Kargil ki pahadiyo ko
nara-e-takbeer Allah-Hu-Akbar
kehkar fateh karnewale
Musalman fauji the.
(It was not the Hindus who
conquered the peaks of Kargil,
but Muslim soldiers raising the
battle cry of God is the Greatest).
AZAM KHAN
26
May 15, 2014
NARENDRA MODI: The shahzada (Rahul) and his matashree
(Sonia) are just concerned about being in power. When they
can forget you, why will you remember them? How long will
you remember them?
SONIA GANDHI: They say they will change everything in one
day with a magic wand. Will the country chose as the prime
minister a person who is a big liar?
BJP LEGISLATOR HEERALAL REGAR: Sonia and Rahul
Gandhi should be stripped of their clothes and sent back to
Italy.
SALMAN KHURSHID: We dont accuse you (Narendra Modi) of
killing people... Hamara aarop hai ki tum napunsak ho. (Our
accusation is that you are impotent). You couldnt stop the
killers.
P CHIDAMBARAM: There are deep flaws in his (Modi's) charac-
ter. He cannot resist from making such provocative and
derogatory remarks.
BJP LEADER GIRIRAJ SINGH: Those who want to stop
Narendra Modi from becoming prime minister will have no
place in India in the coming days. They will only have place
in Pakistan.
SOUND BITE
many elections he has fought. But it is for the
first time that he has written he is married. He
wondered what type of womens empowerment
and dignity the BJP would dispense.
Experts attribute this firing on all cylinders to
an act of desperation of a waning party. It is
when you are about to be killed that you bite and
chew your enemy. Survival is the destination, not
the journey, however much of a cannibal you
become, says Prathap Suthan, the brain behind
the India Shining campaign of the BJP in 2004
and chief creative officer of Bang in the Middle,
a communication company. Decorum and
respect would have prevented me from advising
anyone to rake up the wife issue. But then, alls
fair in love and war, he adds.
The BJP retaliated, with senior leader Arun
Jaitley warning: How many current senior
Congressmen are in illicit relationships? And yet
have paraded their wives only for photo opportu-
nities during nominations.
The Congress backed off, with Rahul denying
he had got personal. But that wasnt the end of
the matter. Assam CM Tarun Gogoi mockingly
said the Bharat Ratna should be conferred on
Jashodaben. She is a symbol of great Indian
womanhood and a great lady, he said. And the
Shiv Sena said the Congress should first get
Rahul married.
ITS INFECTIOUS
All this would be laughable if it didnt reflect the
immaturity of the politicians governing our
country. But if it is any solace, electoral battles
abroad are much more personal and private lives
are unmasked for all to see.
But what surprised many was the charming
Priyanka Gandhi tripping too. It was so unchar-
acteristic of her. But then, desperate times call
for desperate measures, and the Congress does
seem desperate. In her first-ever attack on cousin
Varun Gandhi, who is contesting from
Sultanpur, she told a gathering there that he had
been led astray and that it was the duty of people
to point him in the right direction. As expected,
Varun hit back, saying she had crossed the
Lakshman rekha of decency and that decency
and large-heartedness should not be miscon-
strued as weakness. Visvanathan says Priyanka
should know where to draw the line. She should
fight on issues; the family feud cant become a
public battle.
THE NATION/
elections 2014/hate speeches
27
May 15, 2014
Leave aside national leaders, even smaller
ones were showing similar colors. Gul Panag of
the Aam Admi Party, who is pitted against
Kirron Kher of the BJP in Chandigarh, tweeted:
Doubt if I ll have the energy to run around like
this and serve my people, when Im 60. I guess
thats why theres normally a retirement age.
Khers son Sikander tweeted, Elections ki
baat hai, its common for candidates from oppo-
nent parties to lash out at each other.
Sure enough, lashing seems common practice
in politics today. But Ashok Malik, a political
commentator says: Politics has always been
vicious. We would like to believe that politics in
olden days was polite. The difference today is
that there is social media and TV to capture
every mean sound byte and shrill attack. Who
knew what kind of campaigning was happening
in some remote village before TV happened?
But then, TV anchors are equally responsible
for the tenor of discussions. They play to the
gallery to get higher viewership, says Suthan.
Sophistication doesnt get people talking. This
new style does. Rural India is not the only con-
sumer of this crass. There is a vulgar middle class
with money and loves distasteful content. They
outnumber the genteel class. Its no wonder,
then, that in todays TV hysteria, the adjective
dominates the noun, says Visvanathan.
Otherwise you remain colorless. The sound byte
is literally the sound bite.
LOUD AND VISIBLE
Another reason for these personal attacks is the
personalities of the main protagonistsModi
and the Gandhi family. Both evoke strong emo-
tions. Gone are the days when political debate
was imbued with wit and humour, grace and
charm. Who doesnt remember the grand orato-
ry of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, peppered with poetry
and moral courage? A TV footage of him in the
presence of Modi after the Gujarat riots of 2002
shows him advising him to abide by Raj dhar-
ma, or a rulers duty.
This gentle chiding is in contrast to the free-
for-all, fangs-bared contest nowadays. Suthan
says politicians are inflammable, easily pro-
voked. The louder, brasher and more controver-
sial they get on television, the more people will
love to dislike them. Either way, it translates into
more shares on Facebook and mentions on
Twitter. Quietness and style are no longer bank-
able currency.
Thats a sad commentary on our times. And
those who cant follow the rules of the game are
sidelined. Like Jaswant Singh. Suthan, who
worked with him during the India Shining
campaign, says nostalgically, He is an aristocrat.
Absolutely refined. The man is and was a gem. It
all comes from the upbringing, background and
education. Visvanathan finds the Scindias too
imbued with civility. Is civility now housed only
among the royals?
However, if all this churning and vitriol
throws up a good, decisive leader after the weak
UPA regime, it will be worth it. Meanwhile, tol-
erate this cacophony. From a time when politics
was the art of fighting a rival, it has descended to
a struggle to eliminate the enemy. When rivals
become enemies, politics dies and life gets
vicious, says Visvanathan.
Is this the death knell for civility then?
TAILORED FOR BALLOTS
(L-R) Shazia Ilmi of Aam Admi Party exhorts Muslims
to vote on communal line; Mulayam Singh Yadav
threatens teachers with consequences if they dont
vote for Samajwadi Party
IL
THORNS
?
28
May 15, 2014
THE NATION/
elections 2014 / fractured mandate
AHEAD
PIB
KR Narayanan, rather than President
Shankar Dayal Sharma. In 1996, Sharma
invited the single largest party, BJP, to form
the government. The decision was criticized
by experts, as the Atal Bihari Vajpayee
regime fell in 13 days.
In the summer of 1999, when the elec-
toral mandate wasnt clear, Congress
President Sonia Gandhi stood in the fore-
court of Rashtrapati Bhawan and categori-
cally declared We have 272 (members of
Parliament) and more are coming. Presi-
dent Narayanan wasnt convinced. He
asked for written proof from those who sup-
ported Congress. Sonia could not produce
it, as she was let down by the Mulayam
Singh Yadavs Samajwadi Party at the last
minute. This enabled Vajpayee to become
the PM again.
Following Narayanans example, in 2004,
President APJ Abdul Kalam asked Sonia
Gandhi for letters of support from other
MPs and parties if the Congress wanted to
form the government. These letters were
produced, but had to be hastily redrafted
when Sonia decided at the 11th hour that
she would not be the next PM.
TS lonely at the top. And more so
when you hold the fate of the
worlds largest democracy in your
hands! If the 2014 Lok Sabha elec-
tions throw up a fractured verdict
on May 16, as several polls have pre-
dicted, President Pranab Mukherjee
will have the freedomand respon-
sibilityto decide who will form the next
government. History will judge him by the
manner in which he exercises this political
and democratic discretion.
The president has no specific constitu-
tional blueprint to guide him, and no set
rules that he can follow. Under a parlia-
mentary system, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar
observed during the Constituent Assembly
debates, there are only two prerogatives,
which the head of the state may exercise.
One is the appointment of the prime minis-
ter and the other is the dissolution of parlia-
ment. With regard to the prime minister it
is not possible to avoid vesting the discre-
tion in the president. (italics ours).
How will Mukherjee go about choosing
the next PM? Will he invite the head of the
largest political party, or as in 1998, the sin-
gle-largest pre-electoral coalition? Will he
ask for letters of support from the coalition
partners and invite whichever group com-
mands the backing of a majority of MPs in a
post-electoral alliance, regardless of the
individual seats of the pre-electoral associa-
tion? In case no party or group is able to
prove a majority, will Mukherjee swear in a
minority government and let its fate be
decided on the floor of the lower house? Or
will he, in case of an extreme political dead-
lock, opt for fresh elections?
Rashtrapati Bhawan sources say that in
the event that no political formation can get
to a majority, Mukherjee may be inclined to
follow in the footsteps of President
president pranab mukherjee will need to
apply his discretion in case no party or
alliance can cobble up a majority on May 16.
but he has contradictory precedents to go by
By Bhavdeep Kang
I
Short of the magical 272
Poll surveys indicate a surge for the NDA, but not a clear majority
CHANNELS
Times Now-C Voter
ABP News-Nielsen
Headlines Today
NDTV
CNN-IBN-The Week
227
236
207-217
259
234-246
101
92
98-108
123
111-123
NDA UPA
29
May 15, 2014
Senior Supreme Court advocate PP Rao
believes the Narayanan model is the one to
follow to ensure a stable government. The
president should ask the persons who stake
their claim to form the government for let-
ters of support in favour of the party or the
party leader. He should then invite the
person, who, he is convinced, has the back-
ing of the majority.
Senior lawyer Dushyant Dave agrees: In
case a party or pre-poll alliance is nearing
the half-way mark, the president should
invite them. Otherwise, it is best to go with
the Narayanan model.
Constitutional expert Rajeev Dhavan,
however, believes Narayanan made a mis-
take. The president could well have sworn
in a minority government and left it to the
Lok Sabha to decide its fate. The a priori
demand for proof of majority in the form of
letters of support is the wrong way to go
about in democracy. It is tantamount to say-
30
May 15, 2014
ing that if you cannot prove your majority
before the house is convened, you cannot
form a government, he observes.
T
he exercise of presidential discretion
in the matter of a hung parliament
involves bewildering complexities.
Past presidents grappled with several
permutations and combinations during
fractured mandates. They responded in dif-
fering ways too.
President R Venkataraman invited
VP Singh in 1989 only after he was told that
the single-largest party, Congress, did not
wish to stake its claim. Although Singhs
Janata Dal fell far short of a majority, the
pre-electoral tie-up with the BJP and Left
Front clinched the issue. The jury is still out
on whether Venkataraman should have
invited the National Front rather than the
Congress first, as it was the single-largest
pre-election alliance.
The following year, Venkataraman had to
deal with a bizarre situation, when the late
Chandrashekhar, with just 64 Lok Sabha
MPs support, sought to form a minority
government with the outside support of
Congress. The president asked for evidence
of support before swearing him in. In 1991,
the country saw another minority govern-
ment, headed by Congress PV Narasimha
Rao. This, unlike Chandrashekhars regime,
lasted for five years. In 1996, Sharma evoked
the ire of the Third Front when he asked
Vajpayee to form the government. Vajpayee
was quickly replaced by Janata Dal leader
HD Deve Gowda, who had the outside sup-
port of Congress, and later by IK Gujral.
Narayanan, who assumed presidents
TOUGH CALL
President Pranab Mukherjee
with his Congress ilk. In case
of a hung parliament, he
might face the biggest test of
his political savviness
THE NATION/
elections 2014/ fractured mandate
1979: Total seats: 542
Janata Party: 200
Lok Dal: 64
Charan Singhs Bharatiya
Lok Dal, withdrew
support to the Morarji
Desai-led Janata Party.
Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy
asked both Desai and Singh to submit their
respective list of supporters. Reddy invited
Singh, with 64 MPs, to form the government.
1989: Total: 545
Janata Dal (J: 143
Congress: 197
Neither VP Singh,
nor Rajiv Gandhi got
clear majority.
R Venkataraman
invited Singh to form
the government only when
the Congress declined to
form the government.
Presidents
precedents
1990: Total: 545
National Front: 142
Samajwadi Janata
Party (SJP): 64
JD government fell
and Chandrashekhar
staked claim.
President
R Venkataraman asked for
evidence of support before
swearing him in.
how the predecessors
resolved the tangle of a
hung parliament
PIB
31
May 15, 2014
office during Gujrals premiership, had little
patience with uncertainties. In 1998, he
invited Vajpayee, whose pre-election
alliance had 264 members, only when
Telugu Desam made it clear that its 12 MPs
would abstain in case of a confidence vote.
When that government fell in 1999 and no
party could prove it had the support of a
majority, Narayanan called for fresh elec-
tions. Until then, the overriding principle
was that any government, however short-
lived, was better than no government.
Narayanan possibly took his cue from
Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, who, in 1979,
asked both Morarji Desai and Chaudhary
Charan Singh to submit lists of supporters.
Although the Janata Party had a tally of
200, he chose Charan Singh and his band of
64 MPs on the basis of promised outside
support, including from the Congress.
H
owever, as the debate about frac-
tured mandates continues, Rao
talks about a solution that has not
been tried thus far. The president can
choose to summon the lower house with a
single item on the agenda, that is, the
election of its leader, he says. Constitutional
expert Subhash Kashyap endorses this:
The president can exercise his powers
under article 86 of the constitution. Let the
house throw up a leader.
In fact, Ambedkar envisaged this possibil-
ity as he contributed to the constitutions
draft: The only way by which we could pro-
vide for the appointment of the prime min-
ister without vesting the authority or the
discretion in the president is to require that
it is the house which shall in the first
instance choose its leader, and then on the
choice being made by a motion or a resolu-
tion, the president should proceed to
appoint the prime minister.
Supreme Courts Bihar judgement
(2006), which dealt with Article 356 of the
constitution, is significant in the current
context. In 2005, Bihar governor Buta
Singh dissolved the state assembly because
he thought that political parties sought to
cobble up a majority through unethical
means, which included horse-trading. As
the matter reached the apex court, it held
that the governor had no such powers, and
the dissolution was against the democratic
principles of majority rule. It may also be a
handle to reject post-election alignments
and realignments on the ground of same
being unethical, plunging the country or the
state into another election, it observed.
In a nutshell, the judgement concluded
that post-elections every avenue to install a
popular government must be explored.
Given the contradictions, presidents offi-
cially seek views from legal experts.
Mukherjee appointed former law secretary,
TK Vishwanathan, as his special advisor on
legal and constitutional matters. Obviously,
he wants to be prepared in case the 2014
elections lead to complications. Earlier,
Kalam consulted the late Justice JS Verma
and former attorney general, K Parasaran.
As Dave points out, there may be prece-
dents but electoral politics throws up new
realities and challenges. However, no one is
better suited to meet them than Mukherjee,
who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of his-
tory, fanatical regard for constitution, polit-
ical experience and creative thinking.
1996: Total: 545
BJP: 161
Congress: 140
BJP emerged as the
single-largest party.
President Shankar
Dayal Sharma invited
the BJP to form the
government. He came in for criticism,
as the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime fell
within in 13 days.
1998: Total: 545
BJP: 182 (NDA: 264)
For the first time the
BJP mooted NDA.
President KR
Narayanan invited
Atal Bihari Vajpayee only
when Telugu Desam made it
clear that its 12 MPs would
abstain in case of a
confidence vote.
2004: Total: 543
Congress: 145
BJP: 138
(NDA: 189)
President APJ
Abdul Kalam
asked Sonia Gandhi for letters of
support from other MPs and
parties if the Congress wanted to
form the government. The UPA
took shape, with 335 MPs.
1999: Total: 545
BJP: 180 (NDA 269)
Congress: 114
President KR Narayanan
asked Congress
President Sonia Gandhi
to furnish proof that she had
support of 272 MPs and more
were coming. She could not
produce it. This enabled
Vajpayee to become PM again.
IL
32
May 15, 2014
PROBE/
kerala/court verdicts
TRAVESTY
Anthony Lawrence
33
May 15, 2014
ustice delayed is justice denied. And justice delayed for decades is
akin to no justice at all. Several cases in Kerala fall under the latter
category; the victims or their families have fought in vain for 17 to
22 years in the courts of law. In cases, such as Abhaya murder (22
years), Kozhikode ice cream parlor (17 years), Suryanelli (18 years)
and Chekannur Moulavi (21 years), the legal battle continues. But
in the Vithura case (19 years), the victim gave up her fight. The
reasons for the delay included absence of witnesses, the judicial
process that rightly allows series of appeals, biased and incompe-
tent investigating authorities, and the inability of a few judges to understand the issues.
Some of these high-profile cases involved powerful national and local politicians.
However, the will of the victims and powerful supporters have moved many of these
cases, albeit step-by-step, towards fair outcomes.
Havua Umma, widow of Chekannur Moulavi, believes her husband was murdered
because, as a religious leader, he tried to liberate people from fanaticism, angering the
Muslim leaders. She alleges that Kanthapuram Aboobacker Musalyar, Sunni leader and
general secretary of All-India Jamiyyathul Ulema, was the mastermind. She has pre-
sented 10 audio cassettes, in which Musalyar called for Moulavis death, as evidence.
Although a lower court named Musalyar as the 10th accused, the higher courts felt
the evidence against him wasnt enough. The proof in criminal cases, especially those
related to murder, need to be substantial, and this helped Musalyar , who was listed
among 500 influential Muslims in 2009 and 2011 in a listing titled The Muslim 500, by
the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center, Jordan. Only one of the other nine accused
was indicted. The others were let off because of lack of witnesses who, alleged Umma,
were whisked away to the Middle East.
In the Vithura case, a girl charged that she was forced into the flesh trade at the age
of 16 after she was lured by a lucrative job, and raped by several persons, including actor
Jagathy Sreekumar. Worn down by appeal after appeal in different courts, she urged the
Kerala High Court to club all the 22 pending cases. The court refused; later, the lower
trial court declared the victim as hostile, and acquitted the accused in 15 cases. Dejected,
the Vithura victim vowed she would never approach another court in her life, even if it
meant her death. She wrote a letter to Keralas chief minister about her lack of faith in
the judiciary, and wished to be left alone.
in high-profile cases in Kerala, victims have waited for
decades for a fair trial because of lack of witnesses and
incompetent investigations By TK Devasia
J
OF JUSTICE
34
May 15, 2014
There is merit in the argu-
ment that in both the
cases, the courts gave
the judgments based
upon the evidence, or
lack of it, because the
accused too have certain rights. The allega-
tions against the accused have to be proved
conclusively, they have the right to appeal
against judgments, and the absence of wit-
nesses could be for legitimate reasons. But
what if the investigators botch up cases delib-
erately to protect powerful persons, and
judges fail to understand the issues involved?
Take the case of Sister Abhayas murder.
The nun was allegedly murdered because she
witnessed sexual acts between two priests
and another nun at her Kottayam convent
on February 27, 1992, when she woke up
early to study for an exam. Initially, the
states crime branch concluded that it was a
case of suicide. The investigators apparently
destroyed evidence that could have proved it
as homicide.
The Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) alleged that the former crime branch
superintendent, KT Maichel, was responsi-
ble for the destruction of evidence. The con-
venor of Sister Abhaya Action Council,
Jomon Puthenpurackkal says: Maichel
blamed former CBI deputy superintendent,
Varghese Thomas for the destruction of evi-
dence. But it was Varghese who concluded
that Sister Abhaya was murdered. He was
not allowed to pursue the investigation.
Disgusted with pressures from superiors, he
quit CBI nine years before retirement.
Logically, the CBI was also involved in
the cover-up. The agency took six years to
disprove the crime branchs suicide theory.
But it still tried to close the case without
tracing the accused. It was only after courts
criticism that the CBI arrested two Knanaya
Catholic priests, Thomas Kottoor and Jose
Poothrukayil, and a nun, Sister Sephy.
Puthenpurackkal believes that justice in
the Abhaya case cannot be done unless the
investigators, who sabotaged the evidence,
are brought to book. The Kerala High Court
has accepted his petition to pursue this, and
directed the CBI to probe the role played by
nine persons, including Maichel, a former
CBI superintendent, sub-divisional magis-
trate, and the chief chemical examiner and
her assistant in the cover-up.
T
he worst role played by the investiga-
tors was in cases that involved known
politicians, like Rajya Sabha Deputy
Chairman PJ Kurien and Keralas Industry
Minister PK Kunhalikutty.
In the Suryanelli case, Kurien was among
the 40-plus people accused of rape. But the
state police dismissed the charges against
the senior Congressman. A special investiga-
tion team exonerated Kurien, based on travel
logs maintained by his driver. The SIT
arraigned 42 accused on the basis of the vic-
CBI arrested Fr Jose Poothrukayil, Fr Thomas
Kottoor and Sister Sephy only after the court
criticized the CBI in the Abhaya murder case.
FATHER JOSE
POOTHRUKAYIL
FATHER THOMAS
KOTTOOR
SISTER SEPHY
CBI Deputy Superintendent
Varghese Thomas concluded that
Sister Abhaya was murdered. He
was not allowed to pursue the
case. Disgusted with pressures
from his superiors, he quit CBI.
JOMON PUTHENPURACKKAL,
Convenor, Sister Abhaya Action Council
PROBE/
kerala/court verdicts
35
May 15, 2014
In the Suryanelli case, Kurien
was among the 40-plus people
accused of rape.The SIT
arraigned 42 accused on the
basis of the victims statement
but did not believe her
testimony on the Rajya Sabha
deputy chairman.
PJ KURIEN
industries minister, who allegedly tried to
influence justice in the case where flesh
trade thrived under the cover of an ice cream
parlor in Kozhikode. Although the Kerala
High Court and Supreme Court gave a clean
chit to Kunhalikutty, Achuthanandan asked
the apex court to order a CBI probe.
The attempt by Kunhalikutty to deflect
justice was revealed by his co-brother, KA
Rauf, who claimed that he handled the sabo-
tage operation on the formers behalf. The
SIT, which was constituted to probe Rauf s
revelations, interviewed several witnesses
but found insufficient evidence to charge-
sheet Kunhalikutty.
Its an uphill road to justice, indeed.
Left leader VS Achuthanandan waged a battle
against Industry Minister PK Kunhalikutty in the
Kozhikode sex scandal, where flesh trade thrived
under the cover of an ice cream parlor.
V ACHUTHANANDAN PK KUNHALIKUTTY
IL
tims statement, but refused to believe her
testimony on Kurien.
An SIT member confessed that Kurien
was saved by Siby Mathew, the head of the
team, who was possibly influenced by the
then ruling state government.
S
enior advocate M Jayashankar says the
division bench of the Kerala High
Court took a strong stance against
Kurien during the initial hearings, but
changed track after it became clear that he
would be inducted in the central cabinet.
The bench declared the victim as a child
prostitute and let off the convicts. This
enabled Kurien to get clean chit from the
high court and Supreme Court.
However, when the Suryanelli matter
went to the Supreme Court, it was kept
pending there for over eight years. Only after
the brutal Delhi rape case recently did the
Suryanelli victim remind the apex court
about her appeal. The latters special bench,
which was formed to hear sexual abuse
cases, quashed the high courts order, which
had acquitted 34 of the 35 accused. The apex
court also ordered a re-hearing of the case.
A new division bench of the high court
sentenced the main accused to life sentence,
and 24 others to imprisonment between 4
and 13 years. However, the victim, who is 36
now, wants a verdict against Kurien. She has
filed an appeal for a review of these judg-
ments. The petition is under the considera-
tion of a division bench.
The victims mother is scared for her. My
daughter has suffered a lot. She was impli-
cated in a false theft case at her workplace,
denied the right to worship at the church
and ostracized. We dont know what will
happen if we continue the fight, she says.
The Kozhikode sex scandal case, involv-
ing Kunhalikutty, was kept alive by veteran
Left leader VS Achuthanandan. Aided by
senior lawyers, the nonagenarian politician
waged a relentless battle to take on the
36
May 15, 2014
AVIATION/
kingfisher airlines
KING OF BAD
Vijay Mallya continues to live
flamboyantly and spends huge
sums to buy cricketer Yuvraj Singh.
But his airline remains grounded,
lenders are agitated and employees
are left without salaries.
By Rajendra Bajpai
TIMES
Photos:Rajeev Tyagi
POINT OF NO RETURN
The employees of the
grounded airline havent
received salaries for the
past 18 months
37
May 15, 2014
ingfisher Airlines has time-
ly died an untimely death,
but has left behind a clutch
of empty-handed creditors,
thousands of hapless inves-
tors and hundreds of curs-
ing employees, who have not received salaries
for over 18 months. Running an airline is a
risky venture, where success is not guaran-
teed, and failure is the most likely outcome.
But Kingfisher did everything to ensure its
own demise.
It borrowed heavily and did not create
many tangible assets. It did not pay oil com-
panies, defaulted in payments to aircraft
lessors, and collected taxes from passengers
but did not deposit the money with the gov-
ernment. The airline owes its creditors over
`7,000 crore. The lenders have little hope of
recovering this amount and SBICAP Trustee
Company, a subsidiary of State Bank of India,
has decided to sell the Kingfisher brand,
which was pledged to the lenders.
NO TAKERS
Vijay Mallya, the high-profile, jet-setting and
flamboyant promoter of Kingfisher, also pre-
sides over the cash-rich United Breweries
and United Spirits. His brewery sells King-
fisher beer, which is a separate trademark.
So, the buyer of Kingfisher Airlines will not
gain access to the beer brand or leverage on
the latters reputation. Trade-marks on sale
currently include Fly Kingfisher, Flying
Models, Funliner, Fly the Good Times,
Kingfisher and Flying Bird Device.
The question that begs an answer is:
whats the worth of these brands, since the
airline has not flown for over 18 months?
What will anyone do with the brand name?
None of the existing airlines are interested in
Kingfisher. Who would want to marry a
woman who is in the oxygen tent? asks the
chairman of a private airline. The beer
brand may have value but the airline has
none, he clarifies.
Mahua Roy Chowdhury, an intellectual
property rights expert and managing partner
of solicitors Solomon and Roy, says that air-
lines like GoAir, SpiceJet, Jet Airways and
Indigo will not be interested in Kingfisher.
Except Indigo, the other airlines are strug-
gling anyway, and would want to focus on
sorting out their own financial and opera-
tional problems.
Without regulatory licenses brands have
little value, adds Chowdhury. The fact is that
Kingfisher has lost flying licenses and park-
ing slots at various airports. V Murlidharan,
CEO of SBICAP, refuses to hazard a guess on
the sale of the brand, and a spokesman of the
airline declined to speak to India Legal, say-
ing several cases were pending in court and
the matter was sub-judice.
Rashesh Shah of ICICI Securities agrees
that the Kingfisher brand would have had
some value if the airline had been still flying.
Nobody will be easily willing to buy the
brand and the seller certainly will not be able
to dictate the price, he explains.
The only window of opportunity, accord-
ing to Chowdhury, is if a foreign airline,
which wants to set up domestic operations,
gets excited about the Kingfisher brand. In
such a case, the foreigner can save money on
building a local brand.
Airports Authority of India
forced Kingfisher to operate
on cash-and-carry basis
because of past dues
Income Tax Department
said the airline hadnt paid
service tax as well as TDS
on salaries
SBI declared Kingfisher
as bad debt, and refused to
give further loans
Aircraft lessors sued the
airline for non-payment of
lease rentals
Petroleum firms
threatened to stop supply of
aviation fuel several times
Employees filed cases
against the airline for
non-payment of salaries
Legally
grounded
K
38
May 15, 2014
jet, a yacht, an IPL cricket team and a
Formula 1 race team. He recently paid `14
crore to buy cricketer Yuvraj Singh for his
IPL team, Royal Challengers Bangalore. The
employees may be in trouble but Mallya lives
it up, flying his friends to cricket matches in
South Africa and West Indies.
Jai Prakash Sharma, a senior professor in
Delhi School of Economics, who examined
the fraud committed by founders of Satyam
Computers, has trained his eyes on
Kingfisher. Sharma feels Kingfisher was the
fastest-growing airline and regarded as first-
class, but its fall was sudden. In a public sem-
inar, he had predicted that the airline could
turn out to be the biggest fraud in corporate
Indias history.
Mallya draws his political clout from his
membership of the Rajya Sabha. In its
report, equitymaster.com writes: Mallya
made no attempt to stem the steady decline
in the companys fortunes. First, the jet fuel
suppliers stopped giving the airline fuel
credit. The unpaid fees to airport operators
and other agencies deprived it of licenses.
And finally, pilots and cabin crew were
forced to leave the cash-strapped airline for
non-payment of salaries. It added that the
company had willfully defaulted on loans but
the government took no action. But instead
of holding the promoter responsible, the avi-
ation ministry was at one point considering
bailing out the defunct airline, comments
equitymaster.com. Lack of bankruptcy laws
left little recourse for the bankers, who until
recently could not even seize the airlines
immovable properties, informs the portal.
THE NOOSE TIGHTENS
State Bank of India (SBI), the main lender to
Kingfisher, has belatedly decided to declare
Mallya a willful defaulter. If that happens,
the beer baron and his other companies
might find it difficult to get loans in future.
SBI has asked consultancy firm, Ernst &
Young, to do a forensic audit of Kingfishers
books. Latest reports suggest that United
Spirits, the cash cow of the Mallya Group,
might finally slip out of promoters hands.
Its unclear why he is allowing it to be taken
over by Diageo plc. Is Mallya shedding
responsibilities or monetizing his assets?
Whos responsible for the crash?
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) should have taken stricter
action against Kingfisher, and earlier
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) could have intervened in the
interest of small shareholders, as the airline is listed on the exchanges
Ministry of Corporate Affairs should have questioned the management on
issues of corporate governance and responsibilities
Tax authorities could have acted earlier and put more pressure on Mallya,
the promoter to recover their dues
Petroleum firms should have red-flagged the financial mess in Kingfisher
Lenders should not have agreed to corporate debt restructuring; they
should have monitored it better to make sure the airline did not crash land
WRONG PRIORITIES
Vijay Mallya paid `14 crore
to buy Yuvraj Singh
(center) for Royal
Challengers Bangalore
When Kingfisher was flying high, consultan-
cy firm Grant Thornton valued the brand at
$550 million. It was on this basis that Mallya
could raise cash. Now, Thornton is not will-
ing to discuss why it had valued the brand at
that amount, or what the current valuation is.
Several analysts have come down heavily on
the way Kingfisher was managed, and dub it
a prime example of reckless profligacy.
OPULENCE THAT INSULTS
Ironically, while the airline remains ground-
ed, Mallya continues to fly high. The compa-
nys employees find his flamboyance extreme-
ly jarring. The beer baron owns a personal
Courtesy BCCI
IL
AVIATION/
kingfisher airlines
40
May 15, 2014
HE common image of a hawala trader,
who transports black money from one
destination to another, both within
India and abroad, is that of a goon. He
belongs to a mafia gang and, therefore,
has the feel and look of an underworld
criminal. He may be one of those rus-
tic real estate brokers who cannot
speak a sentence without a few abuses. He can be a trader,
who is based in the narrow bylanes of Delhis Chandni Chowk,
Karol Bagh and Connaught Place.
All of the above is true. Most hawala dealers in the capital
are located in Chandni Chowks Ballimaran, peripheral areas
like Rohini, and little-known commercial centers in West
Delhi. They are generally people dealing in huge amounts of
cash. They run jewelry shops, huge restaurants, wholesale
trade in paper and unofficial lending agencies. They are face-
less; you may never meet them and they deal through human
couriers and middlemen.
But there is the other side of this illicit business. In the
post-reforms era, several suave entrepreneurs have gate-
crashed the party. They are dressed in black and grey
suits; they talk in fluent English; and they crisscross
all you need to deal in this
illegal parallel economy is a
`10 note, a trustworthy
contact, and enough guts to
carry millions of rupees
By Alam Srinivas
T
THE TWISTED TRAIL
NEW FACE
OF HAWALA
The operators
are now mostly
suave, rich,
educated and
jetsetting
businessmen
as well as
professionals
SPECIAL STORY/
hawala operations
41
May 15, 2014
OF BIG BLACK BUCKS
the globe to pursue their legitimate businesses. Most of them
have swanky, glass-paneled and wooden-floor offices in com-
mercial centers. They are foreign exchange traders, chartered
accountants and engaged in financial services.
They are well-versed with financial jargonmargins,
hedging, long- and short-selling. They meet you brazenly and
regularly monitor the legal money flows across countries
through the banking channels. But because they spotted huge
opportunities in hawala trade, especially over the past decade
or so, they entered the shadowy world of black economy.
I
n the past two decades, hawala has been used in real
estate deals, where 50-70 percent of the money is paid in
cash, gold, drugs and other smuggling; where proceeds
across the country need to reach the mafia gangs; and bribes,
where sums have to reach individuals based elsewhere.
Hawala is the safest illegal way in which elections are funded.
Almost 99 percent of the expenditure by political parties and
candidates in any election are unofficial and, therefore, cash
needs to be transferred within and across constituencies.
Hawala has existed in India for centuries. It originated as
a safe and secure system to transfer money across cities, and
across borders. Most businessmen were scared to carry cash
or bullion to make payments. They needed another way,
which was both efficient and trustworthy. Hawala derived
from an Arabic word, hewala, which literally meant transfer.
It was common for money transfers in the Middle East, North
Africa and Horn of Africa.
In India, hawala evolved as the hundi system. In their
book, The Concise Oxford History of Indian Business, authors
Dwijendra Tripathi and Jyoti Jumani state that it was a
well-entrenched credit institution in vogue all over the coun-
try in the 16th century. Hundi was a sort of bill of exchange
drawn by a party on his agent or correspondent elsewhere ask-
ing the latter to pay to the drawee a specified amount the
equivalent of which the drawer had received. This precluded
cash movement
As one can imagine, it was the official way for payments
in the days when banks and modern financial instru-
ments were unknown commodities. A hundi, or a piece
of paper, was enough to ensure payments. The system
was absolutely trustworthy. Over the next few cen-
turies, as the British introduced modern bank-
Illustrations: Anthony Lawrence
OLD FACE
OF HAWALA
The trade
was earlier
dominated by
rustic goons,
hardcore
criminals
from the
underworld
or abusive
agents from
real estate
42
May 15, 2014
ing, hundi was replaced by the globally-rec-
ognized hawala.
Smugglers and narcotics and criminal
gangs used it. The sale proceeds from their
activities were transferred through hawala.
The system had near-zero percent inefficien-
cies (it can be dubbed as the original six
sigma). You paid money to a trader in Delhi.
Armed with a code, a person in Timbuktu
could draw the same amount from the dealer
based there. As the Interpol, the global inves-
tigating agency, defined it: It was money
transfer without money movement.
H
ow does the modern system oper-
ate? What is the modus operandi of
a hawala trader these days? The
first step is to find an individual, who can put
you in touch with the dealer. Normally, such
middlemen are around you; they can be the
chartered accountant, who files your tax
returns, the financial planner who advises on
your investments, or the wealth manager,
who basically handles the assets of high net
worth persons.
These middlemen are professionals in
every sense. They can advise on taxes, invest-
ments and wealth creation. But they are
experts in how to bundle the lakhs of rupees
in tight packages of `500,000 or `1,000,000
each, which are usually wrapped in a news-
paper. If you pick up the package, you
couldnt guess the amount, says a Mumbai-
based businessman, who has dealt with
them. Obviously, they know several hawala
traders in their cities.
The next step is the visit to the hawala
operator. It is advisable to take the middle-
man with you to protect the money, feel more
secure, and ensure the meeting takes place
comfortably. It can be unnerving if you have
to park the car on an empty road in Delhis
Rohini, or stand alone in a narrow, crowded
and bustling Chandni Chowks street with
the money. All that you think of, rightly or
wrongly, is whether you have been set up.
If your contact has put you in touch with
an old-timer, there is never a face-to-face
interaction. You just wait in the car, or on the
street, till you notice a thin, bedraggled and
almost-starving teenager with a back pack,
aimlessly ambling on the road. Your mobile
will ring as soon as he passes you. It is the
trader, who asks you to give the money to the
kid. You hesitate for a while, and then give
in. In case you have come to pick up money,
the back pack will be full of cash bundles.
If you are lucky, the middleman may
know the suave operator. In such a case, you
do get to visit the hawala man. You walk into
a fancy office, whose nameplate will read
ABC Forex Traders or XYZ Financial
Services. You enter a huge cabin unlike the
corner rooms in large companies, and shake
hands with someone dressed impeccably,
may be in an Armani. Everything in the
room will smack of class and taste, including
the crockery to serve tea or coffee.
A hawala trader could be a chartered
accountant, who files your tax returns. A
professional in every sense, he could be
donning an Armani, exuding class and taste.
A
X
1
2b
2a
Money changes hands
SPECIAL STORY/
hawala operations
43
May 15, 2014
As the hawala mans colleague counts the
money in an adjoining room, the conversa-
tion veers around to politics, who will win in
the forthcoming elections, and the implica-
tions of the Supreme Courts decision on
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. In case
the trader is a real estate player, you can dis-
cuss the future of DLF (which had dealings
with Sonia Gandhis son-in-law, Robert
Vadra) in case BJP comes to power.
W
hether it is dealings with old-
timers or new-age operators,
remember to carry `10 note if you
have gone to get cash transferred to another
location. This is crucial because the serial
number on it acts as the code, which you give
to the operator. He takes it down, and you
stash the note in a safe place. Later, you tell
the person, who has to receive the cash, the
serial number. Only if he can repeat it can he
get the cash in whichever city he is located.
Obviously, there is no physical transfer of
the cash. Hawala operators in various cities,
both in India and abroad, routinely collect
black money. When the money has to be paid
elsewhere, they simply call up their col-
leagues in the city, who pay off from the cash
that he has collected. The dealers usually
store the cash in vaults, godowns and ware-
houses. The smarter ones rent lockers in
banks, whose managers they know, and
stash the notes in them.
A part physical transfer of the cash takes
place when the money has to be collected
from a smaller town, where there are no
operators. Thus, the money needs to be
brought to the dealers base, which may be a
few hundred kilometers away. The trans-
porter is an individual dressed in a specially
designed garment, which can easily hide the
cash. He or she travels in a bus, taxi or train.
Flights are avoided for obvious reasons.
The usual commission for hawala trans-
fer is 0.5 percent, i.e. `500 per `100,000.
However, if there is human transportation
involved, as explained earlier, there is a pre-
mium involved, which will depend on the
distance that the cash has to be carried. The
mechanism is foolproof; the margin of error
in the amount or money not reaching the
recipient is possibly 0.001 percent. It is like
the Mumbais dabba system, which was
studied by several global B-schools.
Well, a Delhi-based individual did face a
problem, when he had to collect `20 lakh in
two equal instalments. He says: When I got
the back pack from a kid, I found there were
nine bundles of `1 lakh each, instead of 10. I
frantically called the sender, who got in
touch with the operator. After a few minutes,
I was told I should accept the nine bundles,
and next time I would receive 11 bundles,
instead of 10. It is as safe as that.
IL
M
B
3a
3b
without movement
MODUS OPERANDI
Customer A meets hawala broker X and
hands over the money (red arrows) for
recipient B in another city; tells a password
(blue arrow). X calls up another broker M in
the Bs city; tells him the password. B who
knows the password (2a) from A meets M
and tells him the same (3a). If the password
is correct, M hands over the money (3b) to B.
X will settle the debt to M at a later date.
PROPERTY/
noida scam/supertech
44
March 15, 2014
LAND OF NO
when the allahabad
high court asked a top
builder to demolish its
two residential towers,
it signaled that illegal
buildings will not be
spared just because
they were built and sold
By Rakesh Bhatnagar
RETURN
Ramesh Menon
udicial activism in land
deals has provided succor to
many. As unscrupulous prop-
erty dealers collude with gov-
ernment authorities to violate
building laws with impunity,
courts have stepped in and
given much-needed relief to
the aggrieved parties. The lat-
est judgment in this regard was on April 11
this year when the Allahabad High Court
directed builder Supertech Limited to
demolish two 40-storey residential towers,
Apex and Ceyane, in its Sector 93-A, Noida
housing project.
The two towers, part of Supertechs
Emerald Court project, comprised a total of
857 apartments, of which about 600 were
soldat a starting price of `1.2 crore each.
The total investment in the two towers was
to the tune of `400 crore.
The verdict minced no words: It has
repeatedly come to notice that builders,
with officers of development authorities,
flout every rule, including building ones. A
bench comprising Justices VK Shukla and
Suneet Kumar ordered the demolition with-
in four months. The order also said money
should be refunded to all who had invested
into the project, with 14 percent interest
compounded annually.
But this seems easier said than done. On
April 15, Supertech called off a press confer-
ence and virtually stonewalled buyers
demands for a refund, even as Noida
Authority sealed the project site, bringing
construction to a halt.
The 38-page verdict exposed the con-
nivance of the Noida Authority, the state
government and various agencies entrusted
to help real estate developers execute their
projects with due diligence.
The petitioners, Emerald Court Owner
Resident Welfare Association, had filed a
special leave petition in December 2012
against the builder for illegal construction.
They wanted the project to be reduced from
40 floors to 24 floors, and the height from
121 meters to 66 meters.
The lawsuit said the mandatory distance
of 16 meters between towers had not been
maintained and they had been deprived of
car parking space, a requirement under
National Building Code (NBC) of India
J
2005. The observations were shocking.
It was a tough fight for the residents as
they fought against an aggressive builder,
an indifferent Samajwadi Party in UP and a
corrupt Noida administration. They faced
stiff resistance in maintaining the lawsuit as
the builder and Noida Authority sought its
dismissal, saying the petitioner ought to
have sought remedy before the CEO, Noida.
They justified the alleged illegalities under
the garb of a revised building plan, even
though the project flouted the NBC and
fire-safety guidelines.
BLATANT COLLUSION
These irregularities from a builder, who
claimed to have converted more than 33
million square feet of residential and com-
mercial entities across India, was unexpect-
ed. Supertech sought approval from Noida
administration for a third revised project
plan, and this was sanctioned on November
26, 2009. It purchased additional floor area
ratio (FAR) and got the map revised, on
March 2, 2012. This permitted the builder
to add 16 floors to both towers.
Contesting the lawsuit of the petitioners,
the builder said that while the two towers
were approved on November 26, 2009, the
RWA had filed its lawsuit after three years,
in December 2012. It also argued that the
multi-storeyed residential buildings were in
an advanced stage of construction and
more than 21 floors have been constructed
in the two towers and about 600 flats
already sold to the prospective buyers.
The HC slammed the authorities, saying
Supertech, the UP government and the
NOIDA management were hand in glove,
shielding each other against blatant viola-
tion of building regulations. It was due to
this connivance that the Noida manage-
ment did not move beyond simply issuing a
notice to Supertech.
The court also said it was not a case
where the developer had violated on its
The judges said UP government, Supertech
and Noida officials were hand in glove,
shielding each other against blatant
violations of building regulations.
45
May 15, 2014
ELUSIVE HOMES
Buyers hold protest at the
construction site of
Supertechs Emerald Court
project in Noida
own the common area or facilities under the
sanctioned plan. Instead, It is a case of vio-
lation of building regulations by Noida
Authority in sanctioning the map, which has
adversely affected the rights of apartment
owners. The HC said this layout plan was in
violation of mandatory spaces between
building blocks and clear space.
But for these violations, the HC said, the
additional FAR purchased by Supertech in
2011 could not have been executed on the
ground or at the towers building site.
OTHER IRREGULARITIES
Refusing to buy the builders plea that dem-
olition at this stage would cause tremendous
loss to it and investors, the HC followed a
Supreme Court (SC) judgment in 1999,
wherein it had sanctioned the demolition of
an underground air-conditioned market
complex in Lucknow, as it was illegal. The
HC further said that there should be no
judicial tolerance of illegal and unautho-
rized constructions by those who treat the
law to be their subservient. Those indulging
in such activities will not be spared.
The court noted with anguish that
builders, by joining hands with develop-
ment authorities, openly flout every con-
ceivable rule, including building regula-
tions. The builder is always under the
impression that once the frame of the build-
ing is illegally constructed, then the Court
can be persuaded to take a sympathetic view
and permit the construction, even though
its in total breach of legal provision.
The court also noted the skyrocketing
prices due to scarcity of land for group hous-
ing. At the time of launch of the Emerald
project in 2009, the builder had charged
`2,900 per sq feet; the prevailing rate today
is between `5,000-9,000 per sq feet.
The time has come, when everyone
should realize that rule of law is not a pur-
chasable commodity and illegalities will not
be tolerated, the HC order added.
It may be recalled that a couple of years
ago, the SC had ordered the pulling down of
two floors of the plush White House apart-
ments on Bhagwan Das Road near the
Supreme Court complex in New Delhi.
The SC had also allowed demolition of a
commercial complex in Palm Towers
Cooperative Housing Society in Navi
Mumbai, Maharashtra. The judges had lam-
basted all the ruling political parties for
encouraging unauthorized constructions
and allowing illegal occupation of land by
the unscrupulous developers, builders and
affluent people.
It may be pertinent to point out here that
Delhi-NCR residential real estate market
alone has an estimated 1.4 lakh units of
unsold inventory. It amounts to approxi-
mately 27 percent of total units under con-
struction. Half of the under-construction
units fall in Noida and Greater Noida, fol-
lowed by Gurgaon.
Significantly, a recent report said that
about 66 percent of unsold units are in
Noida and Greater Noida, where a large
number of housing and commercial projects
may face the bulldozer in view of the revised
land acquisition law.
Land may be a good investment, but one
that investors need to tread into carefully.
The high court said there should be no
judicial tolerance of illegal and unauthorized
constructions by those who treat the law to be
their subservient.
46
May 15, 2014
IL
PROPERTY/
noida scam/supertech
47
May 15, 2014
STATES/
column/arunachal/election fraud
The Black Hole
how a candidate was eliminated from an
election through a forgery
Ramesh Menon,
Managing Editor,
India Legal
I
ndia has been internationally
praised for conducting the worlds
most complicated and largest elec-
tion. While the Election
Commission of India deserves
kudos for this massive exercise, there are
shortcomings, such as its conspicuous
inability to deal with a shocking case of
electoral fraud in which a candidates
nomination was fraudulently withdrawn.
Then his opponent was immediately
declared elected unopposed!
This is an outrageous storya
scandalous display of how fraud and
corruption can destroy the democrat-
ic fabric and give the otherwise
intrepid and fair Election
Commission a bad name.
Atum Welly, the former health
and family welfare minister in the
previous Congress-led Nabam Tuki
government in Arunachal Pradesh
was busy organizing his assembly
election campaign, camping at
Itanagar, the state capital, on March
26, 2014. His phone rang. At the
other end, an angry supporter
screamed asking why he had precipi-
tously withdrawnin writingfrom
the election fray.
Welly was shocked. He could not
believe his ears. Then news came that
angry supporters had even stoned his
house as they suspected he had been
bought over by his opponent. Incidentally,
26th March was the last date for withdraw-
ing nominations for the states assembly
polls. Obviously, somebody had forged his
signature on the official withdrawal papers.
A desperate Welly called up his brother,
Utung Welly, who was also his election
agent. He said he was not aware of what
had transpired. And neither was Wellys
proposer, Ravindra Tana. Both were cam-
paigning along with Wellys wife, Akani.
The constituency is hugespread out at a
point-to-point distance of around 200 kilo-
meters and has about 8,000 voters. Welly
immediately filed a FIR by fax and lodged a
complaint with the Election Commission
that his so-called withdrawal should not
be accepted by the electoral officer as his
signature had been forged. The FIR was
registered but no action was taken.
Welly then requested the superinten-
dent of police of East Kameng to go in for
forensic tests to analyse the signature. The
police ignored this request as well. There
seemed to be a script playing out and Welly
suspects a lot of money must have changed
hands. It was clearly against the objective
and spirit of democracy, he says.
Welly is angry and frustrated that due
process was not followed. The returning
officer did not follow the rules of conduct of
elections while accepting the purported
withdrawal of candidature and violated the
mandate of the relevant rules and the
Representation of Peoples Act 1951, and
Conduct of Election Rules 1961.
When the assembly term expired in
February 2014, Welly quit the Congress
and moved to the BJP which gladly offered
him a ticket. Following his fraudulent
withdrawal, his opponent, the former
deputy chief minister, Kameng Dolo of the
Congress was declared elected unopposed
by the Election Commission.
Welly soon realized that he was not the
only one. A similar case played out in the
case of BJP candidate Nabam Tade in
the 15th Sagalee assembly constituen-
cy. As many as 11 MLAs from Congress
have been elected unopposed which
includes the former chief minister and
other ministers. This can happen only
in Arunachal Pradesh where there are
no political loyalties. Horse trading is
very common and is not looked down
upon. There have been instances of
the entire party switching loyalties in
the assembly.
As all his pleas in the state fell on
deaf ears, Welly then flew to Delhi to
meet Ashish Srivastava, the director
general, grievances, of the Election
Commission of India. Here his hopes
were dashed again. Srivastava told him
that after the Election Commission
had issued a certificate to a candidate say-
ing he was elected; it had no authority to
take it back or even declare it null and void.
The only recourse Welly had, he said, was
to file an election petition in the court.
Action could not be taken against return-
ing officer Tarin Dakpe as he had resigned
soon after, Welly was told.
Welly has now filed an election petition
in the Guwahati High Court on April 11,
2014 saying that his withdrawal from the
assembly election was illegal as his signa-
ture had been forged and so it must be
declared null and void and the election
conducted again. He is waiting for the
wheels of justice to now move and restore
his faith in democracy and justice.
FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE
Welly after lodging his complaint with EC
Anil Shakya
IL
48
May 15, 2014
a high court stricture may
just trip cm oommen chandy. he
was taken to task because of the
involvement of his personal
staff in criminal cases
By Jacob George
erala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy seems
to be getting a dose of his own medicine. Way
back in 1977, AK Antony, the then Kerala
Pradesh Congress Committee president, and
Chandy, his lieutenant, had shrewdly used
high court strictures to corner former chief
minister K Karunakaran and got him to
resign. The same tactic was used by the duo to
unseat him again in 1995.
PAYBACK TIME
Kerala CM Oommen
Chandy (L), facing court
strictures, seen meeting
the MoS for Railways,
KH Muniyappa
K
WHEEL COMES
FULL CIRCLE
STATES/
kerala/chandy in the dock
PIB
The name of the CMs gunman was not
included the land grab first information
report (FIR ) despite one of the petitioners,
Shariffa of Ernakulam, pointing him out as
the mastermind. He was one of the three
accused in an earlier solar panel case. Three
members of Chandys personal staffRaj,
Tenny Jopan and Jikumon Jacobwere
asked to quit because of the links in this
multi-crore scam. But except for Jopan, who
was arrested, the local police did not bother
the other two.
DAMAGE CONTROL
While the opposition came down heavily on
the CM, asking him to step down, Congress
leaders, in turn, attacked Justice Rasheed,
accusing him of political intentions. Chandy
argued that the court hadnt heard his ver-
sion before giving the judgment. I am sure I
will get a favorable judgment from the peo-
ples court, he said.
However, on April 1, the advocate-gener-
al, on behalf of a desperate state government,
appealed in the division bench for removal of
the 70th paragraph of the verdict, which had
scathing comments on the CMs office.
49
May 15, 2014
Today, it is Chandys turn to be in the dock.
But the moot question is, whether he will
resign the way Karunakaran was made to?
On March 28, 2014, Justice Haroon Al
Rasheed of the Kerala High Court slammed
Chandy for failing to check unlawful activi-
ties in his office, which led to a land scam.
The case has now been given to the CBI. This
is the last thing Chandy and his Congress-led
United Democratic Front (UDF) need during
the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
If Chandy has to survive, the UDF will
need to get more than 12 seats out of the 20
in the national elections. If it is below 10, it
will be a little difficult for him to continue.
But he is bold enough to say that the elec-
tion will be a mandate for his government.
Whether it will be a gain or loss, I will take
the responsibility, he maintains. It remains
to be seen if the high court stricture will
impact him.
GROUND FOR REMOVAL
The judgment criticized Chandy for not
being prudent and responsible in appoint-
ing persons of integrity in his office. The
court also mentioned the infamous solar
panel case in which a woman, Saritha S Nair,
cheated several people with the help of offi-
cials in Chandys office. One of them was
arrested and another, suspended. A high-pro-
file advisor of the CM also resigned.
In the present case, a land scam was
allegedly masterminded by Salim Raj, a gun-
man of Chandy over the last seven years. The
illegal activities of Salim Raj came to light
when a group of people in Thiruvanantha-
puram complained that he and his accom-
plices had tried to grab 45 acres of their land,
worth `400 crore, using influence with the
revenue department. Another case was filed
against Raj by a family in Ernakulam for
allegedly grabbing their property.
Raj, a constable in Kerala Police, became
so powerful that even the states director gen-
eral of police feared him. He acted as an
extra-constitutional authority. I was sum-
moned by Raj to the VVIP suite, generally
reserved for state ministers in a guest house
in Trivandrum and threatened with serious
consequences if we did not give up the land,
says Balu Subramaniam, a complainant.
RETURN OF THE PAST
On two occasions, in 1977 and
1995, Chandy and AK Antony
(R) forced K Karunakaran (L) to
resign on grounds of probity
It looks like the Machiavellian politics of
1977 and 1995 is being repeated. But who
will challenge the adroit Chandy, known
for his unique survival instincts?
Keralas political games
SOLAR PANEL SCAM, 2013: Saritha S Nair cheated several people
with the help of officials in Chief Minister Oommen Chandys office
LAND SCAM, 2013: Salim Raj, a gunman of Chandy, tried to grab 45
acres of land in Thiruvananthapuram using his influence
RAJAN CASE, 1976: Torture and subsequent death of P Rajan, a final
year student of Regional Engineering College, Kozhikode, while
K Karunakran was CM. Karunakaran had to quit
ISRO CASE1994: Raman Srivastava, an IG close to Karunakaran was,
falsely implicated in the ISRO espionage case. Once again, Karunakaran
had to quit as CM
50
May 15, 2014
The verdict read: The alleged involvement of
members of the personal staff of the chief
ministers office in criminal acts has come to
the attention of this court at multiple occa-
sions. The above incidents show that the
authorities at the helm of affairs of the
administration of the state have not been
prudent or responsible in appointing person-
al staff with integrity and character. The chief
ministers office should be a model institution
serving the people of the state. Prima facie
evidence of the presence of unscrupulous ele-
ments among the personal staff in the chief
ministers office and the associated criminal
activities in these cases call for a thorough
investigation into the crime. Only the last
sentence was stayed, while the rest was
retained by the high court.
SORDID PAST
The big question facing Chandy and the
Congress is, whether he will have to resign.
After all, Karunakaran was forced to resign
on two occasions when the high court came
out with strong sentences: first, in the Rajan
case in 1978 and then, in the ISRO espionage
case in 1995. In both incidents, the mighty
Antony faction led the move against
Karunakaran. Fortunately for Chandy, there
is no strong political force to oust him.
Lets look back at the two cases which
made Karunakaran quit. The first dealt with
P Rajan, a final-year student of Regional
Engineering College, Kozhikode. On March
1, 1976, during the Emergency, he and anoth-
er student, Joseph Chali, were whisked away
from their hostel. Rajans father, TV Eachara
Warrior, a college professor, filed a habeas
corpus petition in the Ernakulam High
Court when the Emergency was lifted. The
respondents were Karunakaran, the home
secretary, the inspector general of police
(IGP) and other senior police officials.
Justice P Subramaniam Potti, who heard the
case, observed: Of course, it is open to the
respondents to show that Rajan is no longer
in such custody by reason of his having been
released, or he having absconded or having
died in police custody. At a subsequent hear-
ing in the case, which made legal history in
Kerala, Karunakaran, IGP VN Rajan and
special secretary to the state government,
S Narayanaswamy, told the high court that
Rajan had died in unlawful police custody
as a result of continuous police torture.
Karunakaran, meanwhile, was sworn in
as chief minister for the first time on March
25, 1977, when the Congress-led UDF won
the elections. But within a month, on April
25, he had to resign due to the Rajan case.
Karunakaran had to resign again on March
16, 1995, on account of an observation of the
high court in the ISRO espionage case.
It looks like the Machiavellian politics of
1977 and 1995 is being repeated. But who
will challenge the adroit Chandy, known for
his unique survival instincts? He just may
sail through.
WILY CHARM
Saritha S Nair cheated several
people in the solar panel case
with the help of officials in
Chandys office
IL
STATES/
kerala/chandy in the dock
51
May 15, 2014
CASE STUDY/
drug abuse/mississippi judgment
Mississippi judge has thrown out murder
charges against a young woman in the
2006 death of her stillborn child, a sig-
nificant setback for prosecutors in a con-
troversial case that has been closely fol-
lowed both by womens rights groups and
those interested in establishing rights for
the unborn. Rennie Gibbs, who was 16
when she gave birth to her stillborn
daughter Samiya, had been indicted for
depraved heart murder after traces of a
cocaine byproduct were found in the babys blood. The chargedefined
under Mississippi law as an act eminently dangerous to others...regard-
less of human lifecarries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
But Lowndes County Circuit Court Judge Jim Kitchens, in a two-page
ruling, held that under Mississippi law Gibbs could not be charged with
murder. Kitchens made clear prosecutors could seek to re-file charges, but
at most Gibbs could be charged under the states manslaughter statutes. A
conviction on such a charge would carry a maximum sentence of 20 years
in prison.
We are very pleased by the courts ruling and hope that it will put an
end to a prosecution that has dragged on for seven years, said Lynn
Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, a
New York-based non-profit organization. No woman, much less a teenag-
er, who becomes pregnant should have to fear that if she seeks to con-
a us court acquitted a
teenager charged with
murder for killing the
child in her womb
due to cocaine
consumption. the case
polarized women
activists and groups
fighting for
unborns rights.
By Nina Martin
A
STILLBORN
52
May 15, 2014
tinue her pregnancy to term but suffers a
miscarriage or stillbirth, she will be arrested
and charged with murder.
SWEPT BY FETAL HARM
As reported by ProPublica, the case against
Gibbs is one of a wave of so-called fetal
harm prosecutions across the US. Hundreds
of women have faced criminal charges for
using drugs during pregnancy, even when
their babies were born healthy. Supporters
say the threat of punishment can deter moth-
ers-to-be from putting their unborn children
at risk.
But reproductive rights advocates argue
that prosecution only deters women from
seeking help with addiction and prenatal
care. Those advocates see the casesdocu-
mented in this 2013 report by the National
Advocates for Pregnant Womenas a part of
a broader strategy by abortion opponents
to employ the concept of fetal personhood
to weaken womens ability to end their preg-
nancies. Lowndes County Assistant District
Attorney Mark Jackson said his office was
considering all options as it contemplated
what to do next. We havent made a decision
on whats going to happen going forward,
Jackson said in an interview with ProPublica.
ROW OVER DEATH
Samiya was born a month premature, and
never took a breath after being delivered in
November 2006. Within days, Steven Hayne,
a Mississippi medical examiner at the time,
declared her death a homicide, caused by
cocaine toxicity.
In early 2007, a Lowndes County grand
jury indicted Gibbs, who is African
American, for having smoked crack during
her pregnancy, declaring that she had
unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously caused
the death of her baby.
Since then, medical experts for the
defense have said that Samiyas likely cause
of death was not cocaine but the umbilical
cord that was wrapped around her neck
when she entered the world. The defense
lawyers have challenged Haynes conclusions,
calling his autopsy findings unreliable and
inadmissible. They have also challenged the
idea that cocaine use by pregnant mothers
can actually cause stillbirths.
Jackson, the assistant district attorney,
said if prosecutors sought new charges they
would put some of the defenses material
before the grand jury. In his ruling, Kitchens
said the Mississippi Supreme Court had in
the years since Gibbs indictment decided
that murder charges in such cases were not
END OF A SAGA
The Mississippi courts
verdict, absolving Rennie
Gibbs from charges of
killing her yet-to-be-born
baby, brought an end to
the seven-year old
legal battle
Anthony Lawrence
CASE STUDY/
drug abuse/mississippi judgment
53
May 15, 2014
appropriate. He did not decide anything
related to the specific allegations and med-
ical evidence in the Gibbs case.
FEAR OF LAW
The case has caused deep anxiety among
advocates for low-income women in
Mississippi. The state has one of the worst
records for maternal and infant health in the
US, as well as some of the highest rates of
teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted dis-
ease. Many of the factors that have been
linked to pre-natal and infant mortality, like
poverty, poor nutrition, lack of access to
healthcare, pollution, smoking, stress, are
rampant there, especially among black
women, who suffer twice as many stillbirths
as whites.
The biggest threats to life, born and
unborn, do not come from mommies but
rather from poverty, barriers to healthcare,
persistent racism, environmental hazards,
and prosecutions like these, said Paltrow.
Every medical group, including the ones
that focus on babies, say that these kinds of
prosecutions frighten women away from nec-
essary care, to the detriment of children.
It is possible that prosecutors could try to
indict Gibbs under the states illegal abortion
statute, a charge that would carry a maxi-
mum sentence of 10 years. But Jackson, the
prosecutor, said that was unlikely. In our
view, neither the law nor the evidence justify
prosecuting this young woman, who was a
teenager at the time, and we hope this is the
end of it, said Robert McDuff, one of Gibbs
lawyers. But if further charges are brought,
we will return to court in her defense.
-----------------------------------------------
Nina Martin covers gender and sexuality
for ProPublica and has specialized in
womens, legal and health issues.
Courtesy: ProPublica
The stillborn case raked up issues like the
rights of women and unborn, racial bias
against African Americans and factors
leading to pre-natal and infant deaths.
IL
Anthony Lawrence
54
May 15, 2014
T
he 2008 Beijing Olympics
was a landmark event in
Indian sport. Shooter Abhi-
nav Bindra won the coun-
trys first individual gold,
while boxer Vijender Singh
and wrestler Sushil Kumar added a bronze
each to make it Indias most successful games
in history. While the three medal winners
basked in the spotlight, a fourth came ago-
nizingly close to joining this elite group.
A waif-like teenager, Saina Nehwal, lost
an epic quarterfinal against Indonesias
Maria Kristin Yulianti. She won the thrilling
first game 28-26, but lost the second 14-21.
In the decider, with a bronze assured for the
semifinalists, Saina led 11-3. She stumbled,
and allowed Yulianti to win 21-15.
The shuttler later lamented how she actu-
ally allowed an easy match to become diffi-
cult and described it as disheartening.
The defeat turned out to be the catalyst
that propelled Saina to unprecedented suc-
cesses. She clinched the bronze at the next
Olympics in London (2012). In those four
years, she won nine international tourna-
ments, six of which were elite Super Series
crowns. She triumphed thrice in Indonesia
(2009 to 2011), and won in Singapore,
Chinese Taipei, Switzerland and Hong Kong.
In February 2013, Saina was ranked No 2
in the world. Saina versus China, screamed
newspaper headlines, as she seemed to be the
only woman, who could stop the Chinese
shuttle players in their track. Chinese coaches
worked overtime to find ways to contain this
Indian trailblazer. Saina was an opponent to
fear and respect. With her endearing persona,
she became a household name in India.
Since that magical day, Saina has slipped to
number 9 in the world rankings and won just
two tournaments, one of them the low-key
Indian Open Grand Prix. Her most recent
defeat came at the hands of Eriko Hirose of
Japan, ranked seven spots below Saina, in the
first round of the Singapore Open. Since she
clinched the Denmark Open in October 2012,
she shot to fame in 2008, won nine world crowns
and rose to No 2 rank in 2013, but has gone
downhill since then. what went wrong
with saina nehwal? By Gaurav Kalra
Sainas confidence is down and she has lost
to players she would beat convincingly
earlier. Playing her no longer evokes the
same fear among her rivals, say experts.
SPORTS/
badminton/saina nehwal
FALL
RISE
,
RISE
&
55
May 15, 2014
Sainas win-loss ratio is 43-24.
As Vimal Kumar, former national bad-
minton coach, assesses, Sainas confidence is
down and she has lost to players she would
beat convincingly earlier. Playing her no
longer evokes the same fear among her
rivals, he says. One of the reasons, according
to Kumar, is an explosion of talent, especially
from Asian nations.
Although the Chinese players still occupy
the top three spots in womens rankings,
Thailand, South Korea and Chinese Taipei
have made a concerted surge in recent times.
No one typifies these winds of change more
than the 19-year old Ratchanok Intanon of
Thailand, who won the World Champion-
ships earlier this year and who is the
youngest to win a Super Series event. She has
won the last two encounters against Saina.
M
alaysias badminton legend
Rashid Sidek thinks Saina needs
to work more and get stronger
physically. In fact, this was Sainas defining
quality not too long ago. She seemed to have
limitless endurance to grind down her oppo-
nents. But the edge seems to have gone.
Aparna Popat, who won a record nine
straight national crowns, says: She isnt
moving around as well. And because she is
just a bit slower, the rallies go on longer, giv-
ing her opponents a better chance. It is
interesting that what was once her assetto
play long rallieshas become her Achilles
heel. Experts feel that it is time for Saina to
change her style a bit.
A string of injuries in 2013 contributed to
Sainas decline. Her coach Pullela Gopichand
admits that a hectic playing schedule despite
back, toe and ankle problems may have back-
fired. You want to protect your ranking, so
you tend to play too many (matches) and that
hurts you in the end, Gopichand explains.
Sainas camp should have followed what
tennis star Rafael Nadal did. After a shock
second round exit at Wimbledon in 2012, he
took an eight-month break to heal his trou-
blesome knee. He missed the London
Olympics, as well as the US and Australian
Opens and only returned when he felt
healthy. He won the French and US Opens,
and reclaimed the top spot in the rankings.
In badminton, Indonesias Simon Santoso
made a stirring comeback only recently, stun-
ning World No 1, Lee Chong Wei, to win the
Singapore Open. Santoso dropped from No 3
to out of the top 100 because of back prob-
lems. The 28-year didnt rush his comeback
and returned only when he was fit. Perhaps
Saina, whose counter-punching and fiercely-
dogged style is similar to Nadal, might bene-
fit if she adopts a similar approach.
Sainas injuries have healed now, but she
has a new player to counter locally. PV
Sindhu, a cherubic teenager from Hyderabad
and coached by Gopichand, produced a mir-
acle to win a first-ever bronze at the World
Championships. It was a feat that Saina
hasnt achieved till now.
In two years time, the Holy Grail awaits
both of them. The Olympics in Rio De
Janerio will be Sainas last chance to gun for
the cherished gold and Sindhus first attempt.
One will have to see who triumphsthe 20-
year-old youngster or the 26-year-old pro. IL
56
May 15, 2014
HUMAN INTEREST/
divorce/child alienation
EJSING Gaikwad 36, was over the
moon when he discovered that his
wife was pregnant. It was February
2009, and the couple lived in
Mumbai. Gaikwad was employed
with the Tata Group, and life
seemed perfect. But things
changed a month later when his wife walked out and
moved to her mothers home in Pune.
A distraught Gaikwad had to go to Pune on week-
ends to visit his pregnant wife, despite the demands of
work.In October 2009, the couple was blessed with a
baby girl. Gaikwads wife chose to remain at Pune. He
quit his Mumbai job and moved to Pune in 2010 when
she disappeared again, with the baby. She eventually
returned, but rebutted attempts of reconciliation and
in 2013 applied for divorce. Thus began Gaikwads bat-
tle to gain quality access to his daughter.
Rajesh Nair, 44, agreed to a divorce by mutual con-
sent in 2011, only because the application proposed
joint custody of the two daughters, who would live with
either parent every alternate year. The first year after
the divorce, the girls, then aged 14 and 08, lived with
him. The following year while the girls were under his
ex-wifes care, he was denied visitations on frivolous
grounds. In the third year, she refused to send the
courts generally give custody of
kids to mothers. the agony of
fathers goes unnoticed. Its time
shared parenting is promoted
By Ritu Goyal Harish
T
DADDY
DEPRIVED
57
May 15, 2014
daughters to him as per the divorce decree,
and filed for full custody instead. Gaikwad
and Nair are not alone. Fathers across
cities in India are being denied the right to
visit their children.
In over 1,000 cases, pending in fam-
ily courts in Pune, over 75 percent fathers
are being denied visitations despite court
orders. The rise in divorce rate, which has
doubled in the last five years in India, is
attributed to the emancipation of the Indian
woman. She is fighting for her rights, and
sometimes a divorce is the only alterna-
tive. However, this leads to the issue of
fathers being denied visitation rights to chil-
dren. While mothers are viewed as primary
caregivers, problems arise when they are
considered the only caregivers, leading to
alienation of fathers from their children.
The inherent flaw with the custody law is
that it views fathers as providers and not as
nurturers, says KV Jahgirdar, founder, Child
Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting. He
fought a long battle for shared custody of his
child; the case went up to the Supreme Court
(Kumar V Jahgirdar vs Chethana
Ramatheertha). Visitation rights for few
hours to a father are not enough. Why should
he be a visitor in the childs life? he asks.
Family courts should work towards sav-
ing the family, not alienating fathers, adds
Gaikwad. In October 2013, the family court
in Pune granted him two hours visitation to
his daughter on 1st, 3rd and 5th Saturdays of
every month; the venue was the courts child
care center. However, things went awry when
the court accepted charges leveled by his wife
without substantiation, and altered the visi-
tation order. I dont know how the judge
accepted her allegations. I call it judiciary
assisted parent-child alienation, he says.
The courts also fail to take custody issues
as seriously as maintenance. If a man fails to
pay maintenance, he can be jailed. But there
is no penal action against the woman who
willfully alienates the father and violates
court orders, says Deepak Joshi of the Mens
Rights Association. Contempt of court
charges are not brought against mothers who
defy court orders. The only known case of
contempt against a mother is that of
HAPPINESS DESTROYED
Divorced Tejsing Gaikwad
with his wife on their first
marriage anniversary; and
their daughter, Neveah
Anthony Lawrence
58
May 15, 2014
Aman Oberoi vs Tina Oberoi (2008). Justice
Shiv Narayan Dhingra of the Delhi High
Court found Tina guilty of attempting to
alienate the child from his father and ordered
her to allow visitations. In case of non-com-
pliance, the court asked for recovery of
penalty from her.
The court observed: The enquiry made
from the child showed that the mind of child
was highly poisoned against the petitioner
(father) by the respondent (mother) and he
was tutored to a great extent. It is amply clear
that the respondent who was not agreeable to
the visitation rights, had seen to it that the
child himself created such a scene in the
Court that the Court was convinced that the
child was unwilling to meet the father. This
was perhaps the earliest reference to Parental
Alienation Syndrome (PAS), a seamier side of
custody battles. Many mothers methodically
manipulate their children to brainwash
them against the father. Consequently, the
children refuse to meet their fathers, which,
in turn, is produced as evidence in courts.
Although unrecognized by India, PAS is
equated to child abuse in western countries.
After one year under their mothers care,
Nairs daughters began refusing to meet him
The happiness experienced when they were
with me would disappear the minute theyd
go back he says. Last year, his younger
daughters behavior became inconsistent,
and oscillated between being quiet and rude
with him. She also confided that the mother
scrutinized her visits. A surest sign of PAS
but Nair isnt sure if the court will accept his
submission, and order counseling to evalu-
ate the psychological damage to his girls.
I
t may be hard to accept that mothers
can perpetrate psychological crimes that
involve their children, but statistics
show that they disobey court orders, and
alienate fathers from children. Children
need both parents. Our system of family
courts and family laws resolutely accomplish
the opposite. That must change, says Joshi.
I have not celebrated a single birthday or
festival with my daughter, says an emotional
Gaikwad. Recently, a Bombay High Court
order has given teeth to his fight for an equal
stature in raising his daughter. As for Nair,
even though his girls are almost completely
alienated, he initiates contact with them
knowing that they are not to be blamed.
The law in India favors the mother in a
marital dispute. Jahgirdar puts the issue in
perspective, Welfare of the child is para-
mount and even in the West, there is a grow-
ing realization about shared parenting. Its
the right time for courts to recognize a
fathers right to raise his children as an equal
and fundamental right without prejudice to
his relationship with the mother. IL
HUMAN INTEREST/
divorce/child alienation
Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) is a psy-
chological condition in a child, which adversely
impacts his/her relationship with a parent in a
number of identifiable and dysfunctional ways.
The causes of the disorder can be traced back
to the actions, behavior and decision-making of
one parent who interferes with the childs rela-
tionship with the other one. The common
symptom of PAS is the childs opposition to
contact with one parent and/or overt hatred
toward the same parent. Legal intervention is a
must to remove the alienated child from the
custody of the alienating parent, and have the
alienated child examined by a psychologist.
(Source: Hostile aggressive parenting and parental
alienation syndrome: an overview,
by Dr BL Agarwal and Dr Anita Nischal)
The positive
... and the negative
Shared parenting implies that divorced or
separated couples should retain a strong pos-
itive parenting role in their childrens lives, and
the kids should spend time with both parents.
(Source: www.spig.clara.net)
The inherent flaw with the custody law is that it
views fathers as providers and not as nurturers. Why
should a father be a visitor in the childs life?
KV Jahgirdar, founder of Child Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting
60
May 15, 2014
they control commodity prices and food
production globally and has 80 percent
share each in cereal and fluid milk
markets in the country
By David E Gumpert
LIMITED CHOICE
Brands owned by Kelloggs
and Pepsico rule the $10 billion
cereal market in the US
GLOBAL TRENDS/
food system/US oligopoly
hile reporting on Russias
takeover of Crimea, the worlds
media outlets have taken much
pleasure in speculating on whe-
ther financial sanctions by Ame-
rica will target Russian oli-
garchs, who control much of the
Russian economy. Its as if
Russia is unusual in having huge swaths of its economy
under the control of a few industrialists and apparatchiks,
who seem impervious to outside pressures to rein them in.
Ignored in all the rhetoric is the growing power of
American oligarchs, who control Americas food system,
and their growing international influence. They throw their
weight around to knock out smaller competitors and seem
as impervious as the Russians to any kind of government or
consumer pressure to retrench.
The rise of Americas food oligarchs and their control of
commodity market pricing and food production around the
globe coincides with the soaring suicide rates of farmers
across the world. The suicide rate for American farmers is
nearly twice that of the general population. India has had
more than 270,000 farmer suicides since 1995, and in
France a farmer commits suicide every two days, according
to Newsweek.
One example of this oligopoly control is the huge meat
industry in America. According to journalist Christopher
Leonards book, The Meat Racket: Just a handful of com-
panies produce nearly all the meat consumed in the United
Statesa powerful oligarchy of corporations that deter-
mines how animals are raised, how much farmers get paid,
W
BULLY
61
May 15, 2014
and how meat is processed, all the while
reaping massive profits and remaining
almost opaque to the consumer.
Oligopoly is spreading its influence inter-
nationally. Last year, the Chinese company,
Shuanghi, paid $4.7 billion to acquire
Smithfield Foods, the worlds largest pork
producer and one of the four companies that
comprise the American meat oligarchy.
Then there is the oligopoly that controls
Americas $10 billion cereal market. Four
companiesGeneral Mills, Kelloggs,
Pepsico and Kraft Foodsare estimated to
control more than 80 percent of the mar-
ket. And, of course, these companies
sell their breakfast cereals across
the globe. Finally, there is the
oligopoly that controls the
dairy market. One company,
Dean Foods, controls more
than one-third of Americas
fluid milk market and as
much as 80 percent of various
local markets. A few other
cooperatives and corpora-
tions control the rest.
These compa-
nies spend heavily
to keep control, beginning with political con-
tributions to key politicians. They also block
competitors or consumer-friendly initiatives.
WARDING OFF PORK COMPETITORS
A number of American states have experi-
enced environmental damage from so-called
feral pigshogs that run wild in the woods
and trample vegetable and
fruit plots. As other states
watched with interest,
Michigan took
BRANDS
A
n
t
h
o
n
y

L
a
w
r
e
n
c
e
62
May 15, 2014
the lead in 2012 to eradicate the pests by
enacting a regulation to ban all wild pigs.
That would have been fine with most people,
except the states Department of Natural
Resources, which went a step further and
banned anyone from raising wild pigs, which
are easily domesticated. This created a prob-
lem for many small farms that sell meat from
such pigs as a premium product in Michigan.
The orders effect was to drive a number
small farms out of business, and alienate
those struggling to remain in business. The
regulation seemed so broad so as to prohibit
all breeds not being raised by the states large
pork producers.
One of the affected farmers was Mark
Baker, a US Air Force veteran who had
turned to hog farming when he retired from
the military. He sued the state for allegedly
violating his constitutional right to his prop-
erty, but before the suit could be heard, his
commercial customers, including high-end
restaurants in Detroit and other metropoli-
tan areas, abandoned him. The state also
fined him $700,000 for refusing to get rid of
the banned hogs.
Early this year, a state judge granted
Baker a limited victoryit dismissed his suit
against the state, but only after the state said
that Baker wasnt violating the states wild-
pig regulation, in effect allowing him an
exemption. But just a few weeks later, anoth-
er state judge threw further doubt onto the
corporate-backed regulation by declaring it
unconstitutional for other farmers. The
move to prevent small farmers from raising
feral pigs now seems in limbo nationally.
THWARTING LABEL LAWS
Consumer organizations have sought to
force food producers to specify on the ingre-
dients label whether they had used geneti-
cally modified organisms (GMOs). The
largest food corporations blocked all such
efforts, putting themselves into conflict with
millions of customers and the European
Union, which has restrictions on GMO use.
The corporations resistance has encour-
aged a growing consumer activist move-
ment. Leading food corporations like
General Mills, Pepsico and Monsanto spent
millions of dollars to defeat proposals
springing up around the US that would force
labeling; nearly seven million people in
California and Washington state voted in
2012 and 2013 for propositions in favor of
Food MNCs spent $65 million in California
and Washington to successfully convince
consumers that they were wrong to fear
genetically-modified products.
DIFFICULT TIMES
Small farms making a living
out of hog farming
have faced adverse
legal interventions
GLOBAL TRENDS/
food system/US oligopoly
63
May 15, 2014
labeling. Though the propositions were
defeated, the activists lost narrowly53 per-
cent to 47 percent in California, and 51 per-
cent to 49 percent in Washingtonand only
after the corporations invested more than
$65 million in the two states in television
and other advertising to convince voters
(customers) they were wrong to worry about
GMO foods. The controversy still shows no
signs of abating.
A CLEAR WINNER IN MILK BATTLE
The sale of unpasteurized milk is a highly
controversial subject throughout the US,
and is regulated mostly on the state level.
About 30 states allow some form of raw milk
distribution, and about 20 ban its sale. But
in recent weeks, a coalition of 19 members of
Congress sponsored a legislation to lift the
federal ban on the interstate sale of unpas-
teurized milk. A relaxation of the ban would
allow states that produce raw milk to sell it
in states where it cant be produced for sale.
The dairy industry immediately raised
objections, portraying an image of sick and
dying children. The president and CEO of
the National Milk Producers Federation put
it this way: If this measure passes, those
most vulnerable to dangerous pathogens
childrenare the ones who will suffer the
most. The benefits of consuming raw milk
are illusory, but the painful costs of illness
and death are very real. Consumption of raw
milk is a demonstrated public health risk.
The link between raw milk and foodborne
illness has been well-documented in the sci-
entific literature, with evidence spanning
nearly 100 years.
Within days, The Washington Post was
out with a long article highlighting two cases
of people having become seriously ill from
raw milk in recent years. Given the dairy
industrys strong political muscle, it is
doubtful whether the proposed relaxation of
the interstate ban will get through in the
current term, at least. But it will promote
more interest in unpasteurized milk.
A FORMIDABLE FORCE
Indeed, America seems powerless against its
food oligarchs, even though the US has strict
antitrust laws limiting concentration of eco-
nomic power. According to The Meat Racket
when President Barack Obama tried in 2010
to rein in the meat oligarchy via regulations
to encourage more competition, the meat
corporations successfully fought off the
intrusion via heavy lobbying, leaving the
Obama team embarrassed. The food oli-
garchs combative approach has had ripple
effects for individual agriculture and food
corporations. Last May, an estimated two
million people demonstrated against
Monsanto (the producer of food and seeds)
in 50 countries. They were protesting
against its genetically engineered seeds that
dominate the agriculture market, world-
wide. The food oligarchs also seem to have
ignited a campaign for food rights.
IL
President Barack Obama failed to rein in
the meat oligarchy; he couldnt push
through regulations that would encourage
competition. It left his team embarrassed.
EATING OUT OF
THEIR HANDS
A small number of
companies produce almost
80 percent of the meat that
America consumes
64
May 15, 2014
russias annexation of crimea is an attempt by putin to thwart natos
increasing influence in eastern europe and kill the
proposed trade-and-political pact between Ukraine and EU
By Seema Guha
POWER GAMES
GLOBAL TRENDS/
ukraine crisis
65
May 15, 2014
KRAINE and its Western alliesthe US and European Union (EU)are
crying hoarse over what they perceive as Russian President Vladimir
Putins deliberate trampling of international law in annexing Crimea in
March this year. Trouble has also begun in Ukraines east Donetsk, Luhansk
and Kharkiv, where pro-Russian activists have taken control of a few admin-
istrative buildings in a half-baked attempt at revolution, demanding greater
autonomy from Kiev, the largest city and capital of Ukraine. Ukraine claims
that Russia is flexing its muscles in a bid to ferment trouble and its aim is to
take control of the areas where its influence is dominant. Seconding Ukraines fears, both the
US and EU have warned Russia that it will have to pay a heavy price for its adventurism.
On the face of it, taking over a part of an independent nation goes against international law
and the United Nations principles which were framed to uphold a world order based on
IN CONFRONTATION WITH ITS FORMER LORD
(Left) A fighter jet flies above as Ukrainian soldiers sit on an armoured personnel carrier
in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, April 16, 2014. The ouster of pro-Moscow President
Viktor Yanukovich led to Russia annexing Crimea, the southern tip of Ukraine
U
UNI
Anthony Lawrence
RUSSI A
CRI MEA
Donetsk
Luhansk
Kharkiv
kiev
Sevostopol
WHERE EAST DOESNT MEET WEST
Western part of Ukraine
favors integration with
the EU
The eastern part is dominated
by Russian speaking, people,
supporting Moscow
66
May 15, 2014
freedom, and equality and the sovereign
right of nation states. US President Barack
Obama has dubbed the Russian action in
Crimea as a violation of international law.
A resolution, questioning the legality of
the Crimea referendum was brought to the
UN General Assembly by Ukraine. At the UN
Security Council (UNSC), it was vetoed by
Russia, one of the five members of the UNSC.
Unlike a UNSC resolution, the General
Assembly resolution is non-binding and
merely reflects world opinion. Only 169 out
of the 193 UN General Assembly members
were present during voting. Hundred coun-
tries supported Ukraines resolution. Eleven
nations, including Russia, voted against it
and 58 countries, including India, China,
Brazil and Israel, abstained. Tel Avivs deci-
sion came as a surprise, considering it is one
of the closest allies of the US.
The resolution reflected that a strong
country cannot annex a smaller neighbor.
But in international politics issues are not
always black and white. The Ukraine crisis is
complexa throwback to the days of the
Cold War, when the two superpowers fought
shadow battles in far flung countries. Also,
Ukraine, wedged in between Europe and
Russia, is being pulled in opposite direc-
tions, with the western part of the country
prefering closer ties with the EU and the
eastern part heavily influenced by Moscow.
T
rouble began in Ukraine, a country
which was part of the former Soviet
Union till its independence in 1991,
when it went back on its commitment of a
trade deal with the EU. On November 21
last year, when Ukraines former President
Viktor Yanukovych suspended talks on a
trade and political pact with the EU, there
were protest by those who believed they
would be better off with closer ties with the
western democracies. They felt that closer
cooperation with the EU would lead to more
trade, jobs and an economy finally integrat-
ed with Europe. Agitations and street
protests began almost immediately and con-
THE RUPTURE WITHIN
Ukrainian soldiers clash with
pro-Russia protesters on the
field near Kramatorsk, in
eastern Ukraine in April 2014
UNI
GLOBAL TRENDS/
ukraine crisis
67
May 15, 2014
tinued for three months.
The EU deal would have entailed reforms
and stringent conditions by the IMF. In the
short term, there would be immense hard-
ship for the people. Yanukovych, already an
unpopular leader with a debt-ridden econo-
my, was desperate for an infusion of funds.
Moscow was offering a much sweeter deal.
Russia was willing to advance around $20
billion, with the enticement of immediately
disbursing $2 billion to the cash-trapped
government. Moscow made it clear that the
concessions given in oil and gas prices to
Ukraine would be scrapped if the deal with
the EU went through.
Yanukovychs action set alarm bells ring-
ing in Washington and European capitals. It
meant an end to the EUs western partner-
ship pact, which would have integrated
Ukraine both politically and economically
with the West, and tied Ukraine firmly to
free market. The US and its allies actively
encouraged the protests, in a bid to get the
pro-Russian President out of Kiev.
Though the trigger for the face-off was
Yanukovychs refusal to sign the pact, at the
heart of the crisis was Russias fear that its
strategic security was under threat. Since the
breakdown of the former Soviet Union, the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO),
the military alliance led by the US, has been
steadily pushing southwards and embraced
Poland and many of the Central Asian
Republics, once a part of the Russian bloc.
After the collapse of communism, Russia
was in shambles but things changed after
Putin came to power. Putin was determined
to get Russia back on track and regain his
countrys past prestige.
T
he US and its allies have always been
suspicious of the former KGB chief
and uneasy with the former Cold
War warrior. They were happy to do business
with Boris Yeltsin and leaders who were seen
as followers. Earlier, a weak Russia could do
little to stop the southward expansion of
NATO, but now, under Putin, it drew the line
when Moscow felt its very security was
threatened, with Ukraine ready to embrace
NATO. In an effort to counter US influence,
Putin is hoping to build on the Russian-led
Customs Union with Ukraine and other for-
mer Central Asian Republics. However,
chances of Ukraine being part of this appear
dim, with former president Viktor
Yanukovych out of the scene.
One of the first acts of the parliament in
Kiev after the pro-Russian Yanukovych fled
Kiev, was to revive the demand for Ukraine
to join NATO and abolish Russian as a rec-
ognized language of the country. The
Kremlin saw this as a threat to Russias secu-
rity. After all, Ukraine was Russias backyard.
The Kremlins subsequent action and the
BACK TO COLD WAR WAYS
Russian President Vladimir
Putin takes questions from
journalists on the Ukraine
crisis and Crimea
US-backed NATO has steadily pushed
southwards towards Russia, and embraced
Poland and other Central Asian republics,
earlier part of the USSR. This scared Putin.
referendum in Crimea was a direct conse-
quence of this. Moscow is aware of NATOs
move to box it in and there was growing con-
cern that unless this attempt was nipped the
strategic and defense interests of Russia
would be compromised.
T
he return of Crimea to Russia is now
a given. Crimea has been a part of
Russia since it was conquered in the
18th century under Catherine the Great. In
1954, when former Soviet leader Nikita
Khrushchev transferred Crimea to Ukraine,
the transfer was an internal arrangement, as
both regions were part of the Soviet Union.
In 1991, when the Soviet Union
collapsed,Crimea found itself part of an
independent Ukraine. Nearly 60 percent of
Crimeas two million people are Russian
speakers. So, it is quite natural for Moscow
to want to defend its own, much as Ronald
Reagan did in Granada on the pretext of sav-
ing a few American students, who later said
that their lives had never been at risk.
In the face-off between Russia and the
West, round one has gone to Putin. But
Russia has lost the goodwill among ordinary
68
May 15, 2014
Ukrainians. Nearly one million Ukrainians
work in construction sites in Russia.
Problems in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv
are attempts by certain pro-Russian ele-
ments to disturb the government in Kiev.
Ukraine believes it is part of Russias bigger
plans to annex these areas. But what
Moscow is pitching for is autonomy within
Ukraine for the eastern territory. Putin
wants Russian to be recognized in Ukraine.
While it could be part of the Kremlin strate-
gy to keep the eastern region of Ukraine on
the boil, the amateur attempts by people to
take over government buildings do not seem
to have the professional hallmark of Russia,
unlike in Crimea, where it was a well-
planned action plan.
Moscow is unlikely to annex the rest of
Ukraines eastern region. What it would like
is to ensure some degree of autonomy for
this area and gain the goodwill of the people
by supporting their claims. It is essential for
Russia to get locals support, because with a
pro-Western government likely in Kiev,
Moscow needs this region as a buffer.
Now, Russia, US, Ukraine and the EU
have reached an agreement in Geneva to
deescalate tension in the east. The quadrilat-
eral talks have proposed a number of meas-
urers to bring the situation to normal. Russia
has promised not to send in troops to help
pro-Moscow agitators in Ukraine. Though
an agreement has been stitched up no one
knows how the situation will pan out. IL
GLOBAL CONCERN
US Secretary of State John
Kerry meets Ukrainian
members of parliament in Kiev,
Ukraine, on March 4, 2014
Putin wants more autonomy for Ukraines
eastern region and pro-Russia president in
Kiev. The US hopes to integrate Ukraine
with the West, politically and economically.
GLOBAL TRENDS/
ukraine crisis
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* AAP in UP: Love Without Votes?
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A BATTING
JUDGE
Justice Mudgal, head of the panel probing
match fixing and betting, opens up on BCCI
presidents, IPL, and what ails global cricket
KILLER TOWERS
the legal battle
against cellphone
companies
PAID NEWS
buying the piper
KASHMIRI
PRISONERS
trail of torture
26
22
71
AIRBORNE
GOONS
passenger
misbehavior 64
I
NDIAN publishers are reaping a
rich spring harvest this year. Just as
fashion houses and clothing stores
go seasonal with their designs, pub-
lishers time their best releases in
tandem with political, social, or
sporting events to milk the reader market. And
what can be bigger in India than the mega polit-
ical eventthe general electionthat is now
occupying the nations center stage? Big hap-
penings need big books.
And in this regard a crop of new books are
coming soon to the bookstore nearest you. The
good thing is that many of them have been
penned by seasoned, thoughtful journalists who
have witnessed the Indian scenario at close
quarters. Topping the list is a runaway best-
seller, Sanjaya Barus The Accidental Prime
Minister (Viking), in which Prime Minister
Manmohan Singhs former media adviser does
a tell-all on how the PM was a political prisoner
of Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi and
her coterie. Barus book has been trashed as
baseless and mischievous by the prime minis-
ters office, and Baru has been condemned as a
political turncoat by none other than
Communist worthy Prakash Karat, who used
every ugly epithet in his lexicon to debase the
PM during the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Also making hay while the election sun
70
May 15, 2014
BOOKS/
releases/hari jaisingh
shines is Paranjoy Guha Thakurtas Gas Wars:
Crony Capitalism and the Ambanis (self-pub-
lished). Timely, because monopolistic gas pric-
ing became a headline-making electoral issue
after Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal
lodged a criminal complaint against industrial-
ist Mukesh Ambani. In a later development,
Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) and its chair-
man, Mukesh Ambani, have issued a legal
notice to the authors and the distributors of the
book. The book details the alleged irregularities
in the fixing of natural gas prices.
Other journos on the book trail include our
magazines own Managing Editor Ramesh
Menon, and Executive Editor Alam Srinivas.
Menons magnum opus, De-mystifying Modi
(Harper Collins), is a hardboiled, critical and
balanced analysis of the forces and controver-
sies that have shaped the human being and
politician Narendra Modi, who, if the pollsters
are correct, could well be the next prime minis-
ter before Menons book comes out in June.
Alams Cricket Czars (Har-Anand Publi-
cations) is about well you guessed itthe con-
troversies surrounding the gentlemans game,
IPL, and the people who control it. With ano-
ther IPL season now upon us, and in view of the
Supreme Courts direct intervention to get to
the bottom of the match-fixing, the subject
assumes immediacy.
An all-encompassing new book that histori-
ans, students, and anybody interested in under-
standing a dynamically changing India in the
context of the 16th general elections is Hari
Jaisinghs Pitfalls of Indian Democracy: Bapu to
Big event,
big entries
a rich harvest is in the offing, with books
from ramesh menon, alam srinivas,
sanjaya baru, manoj mitta, paranjoy
guha thakurta and hari jaisingh
By Inderjit Badhwar
71
May 15, 2014
Anna (S Chand & Company). The title sounds
academic and a trifle stodgy. But the content is
lively and sparkling.
Jaisingh is a polished journalist. He has been
editor of The Tribune, occupied senior positions
in The Indian Express, National Herald and
Business & Political Observer, and contributed
to the Morning Telegraph and The Guardian,
London. This experience is on ample display in
the book, which charts the bumps and grinds,
the highs and lows, the fear and loathing of the
Indian political system, and institutions from
the advent of Mahatma Gandhi to the Anna
Hazare anti-corruption protest movement.
But this is no history text book a la Romila
Thapar or Jadunath Sircar or Ishwari Prasad. It
is journalistic story-telling at its best, based on
more than 40 years of reporting on the front-
lines, with anecdotes, conclusions, lessons
learned, and a vision for the future.
J
aisingh minces no words: The basic ills
which have undermined the vitality of our
nation are communal violence, caste wars,
corruption, criminalization of politics, com-
mand economy, terrorism and Maoismthe
failure of political parties and politicians to keep
pace with changing times .What has added to
the peoples woes is the absence of transparency
and accountability .
This is a harsh judgment. But Jaisingh takes
us step by step to discover how India landed in
this mess. This dark perception, however, has
several silver linings that are a beacon to Indias
potential and the strength of self-correcting
mechanisms that keep alive the liberal, all-
inclusive spirit of the constitution.
During the darkest days of Indira Gandhis
Emergency in 1975-1976, the countrys High
Courts rose to the occasion and proved true and
courageous champions of citizens democratic
rights. Ironically it was the Supreme Court that
seemed to be hamstrung by the Emergency and
sided with a retrograde regime .
One of the judgments he refers to is the
Emergency censors attempt to shut down the
Baroda periodical Bhumiputra for reporting on
a civil liberties conference. Even though habeas
corpus and Article 19 guaranteeing freedom of
speech had been suspended by the Emergency
and backed by the Supreme Court, Justices JB
Mehta and SH Sheth of the Gujarat High Court
ruled: There cannot be a more draconian
assault on the people in a democracy than the
guidelines issued by the Chief Censor .The
Chief Censor has been more loyal to the king
than the king himself and has outwitted the
people in their attempt to maintain even the
most basic form of democracy in this country.
Commenting on todays judiciary, Jaisingh
laments: It works slowly and thrives on delays,
inefficiency, antiquated laws, outdated rules,
vested interests and corrupt practices . Yet,
broadly, he says, the countrys legal system is
mature and relatively independent, and offers a
set of practical recommendations for reform.
And although Jaisingh is often hypercritical
of Anna Hazare on several points, he remains
adamant that Hazare symbolized and high-
lighted the churning for change in Indian soci-
etythe desire, propelled by Indias younger
generation, to work for a corruption-free trans-
parent system for the larger good of the people.
No such review would be complete without
mention of another, highly explosive bookThe
Fiction of Fact-finding: Modi and Godhra
(Harper Collins), by one of my favorite
reporters, Manoj Mitta, now with The Times of
India. It is evident that Mittas has not lost his
intrepid espousal of tell-it-like-it-is journalism,
his USP when he reported for India Today.
Pitfalls of Indian Democracy: Bapu to Anna
By Hari Jaisingh; Publisher: S Chand & Company
` 600; pages: 430
IL
72
May 15, 2014
BOOKS/
releases/alam srinivas
OSSIBLY, the
biggest example of
Srinis clout in
BCCI was the man-
ner in which the
Board handled the
finances of IPL 2,
which was shifted
to South Africa
because of the
national elections and security-related issues
in 2009. He was the Secretary then, but it
signified how decisions were taken by Srini.
Incidentally, the South Africa season got
BCCI into trouble with the ED.
The ED alleged that the BCCI had flouted
FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act)
as it had not taken permissions from the gov-
ernment and RBI to shift the league to South
Africa, and for the huge payments in foreign
exchange made by BCCI to Cricket South
Africa, which helped to organize IPL 2.
extracts from the book, cricket czars: two
men who changed the gentlemans game,
which explores the manipulations,
shenanigans and machinations of
n srinivasan, the stepped-aside BCCI
president, and lalit kumar modi, the
former ipl commissioner
P
Cricket, Commerce
& Corruption
Based on EDs show-cause notice (November
2011), and the replies given by LKM and
BCCI to it, one can reconstruct the sequence
of events. The fact was that the IPL season in
2009 (April and May) clashed with the gen-
eral elections, which were held in five phases
between April 16 and May 13.
On March 22, 2009, the BCCI discussed
the difficulties to organize IPL 2 in India.
The (individual) States (and their associa-
tions) were interested (to hold the league in
the country) but they could not go ahead
without the approval of the Election
Commission of India. The security forces
(required for IPL) were reserved by the BCCI
for the elections. It was deliberated to shift
IPL out and the final decision was left to
Shashank Manohar (BCCI President), stated
the ED notice. Within three days after the
meeting, LKM had finalized the new venue,
South Africa. This is evident from the email
(dated March 25, 2009) that Srini, the
73
May 15, 2014
Secretary, wrote to several BCCI members,
which included President Manohar, LKM
and Sundar Raman (IPLs COO).
The email detailed out how the BCCI
would compensate Cricket South Africa
(CSA) for holding the IPL matches in the
country, and how the latter would transfer
the ticket revenues to BCCI. The tricky issue
was the opening up of a bank account, where
both inflows and outflows could be consoli-
dated and tracked.
Srini explained that the Reserve Bank of
South Africa did not allow foreign entities to
operate accounts in its country. Therefore,
the BCCI could not open a new account in
South Africa. The Secretary suggested that
the BCCI could opt for a system that was fol-
lowed by the ICC during past international
tournaments, and which was allowed by the
South African central bank. (In 2003, the
ICC held the World Cup ODI tournament in
South Africa.). Srinis plan was that the CSA
would open a new bank account, IPL South
Africa, and make payments on behalf of the
BCCI to the various vendors and stadium
owners. The BCCI would replenish the
account through the transfers as and when it
was required. The gate revenues would be
consolidated under the new account. At the
end of the season, CSA would send the final
settlement statement.
I
n his wisdom, Srini decided that this
financial arrangement did not require
RBI approvals for two reasons. One, the
new bank account would be opened and
operated by CSA, and not the BCCI. Two, the
transfer of funds by the BCCI to the new
account would be covered under FEMAs cur-
rent account transactions, which were legally
allowed under the Act.
Several BCCI members, like Sundar
Raman, Prasanna Kannan (IPLs CFO), and
MP Pandove (Treasurer) gave evidence to the
ED on how the payment structure was organ-
ized within the BCCI, and how funds were
transferred to the new bank account in South
Africa. Raman was more specific. He told the
ED that the procedure for payment approvals
for IPL 2 were that the vendors email esti-
mate was sent to LKM. After his okay, it was
sent to Srini (Secretary), and
then to CSA. For the release of
payment, the invoices were
checked by either Kannan or him-
self, approved by LKM, authorized
by Secretary, and onward to IPL
(SA) bank account.
Ratnakar Shetty, Chief
Administrative Officer, BCCI, said that
all executive decisions of BCCI were taken
by Secretary. Chirayu Amin, who became
the Chairman of the IPL Governing Council
after LKMs exit in 2010, agreed that
the Secretary was authorized to approve
expenses.
According to EDs show-cause notice, the
BCCI remitted $49.86 million (Rs 2.44 bil-
lion) to IPL (SA) bank account between
March 31, 2009, and August 27, 2009. The
Board received an amount of $8.93 million
on account of ticket receipts and VAT refund
from the same account. The BCCI neither
took the RBI permission to remit the money,
not did it repatriate the amount due to it
within 90 days of the conclusion of IPL 2, as
required under FEMA. Sources in the
Anthony Lawrence
74
May 15, 2014
BCCI claimed it had done
nothing illegal in the South
Africa IPL case. All the transactions,
whereby the Board transferred money
into the IPL South Africa bank account, and
received sums from it, were done through the
normal banking channels.
The money was sent and received into
BCCIs normal accounts in the country, as is
evident from EDs notice. In addition, we
legally maintain that these transactions were
in the nature of current account transfers
and receipts and, therefore, no permission
was required from the RBI under FEMA.
********************************************
A
FTER the first season of IPL (April-
June 2008), there were several dis-
putes between the BCCI and Sony.
LKM was unhappy with Sony for reasons
such as bad and dirty feed of the IPL match-
es, incorrect declaration of commercial time
sold by the broadcaster, and its failure to give
air-time to the BCCI to promote the league,
as was specified in Sonys contract. At the
meeting of IPLs Governing Council on
February 5, 2009, these issues were dis-
cussed and LKM was asked to take action
against Sony. At this stage, the picture
became hazy and Sonys contract was
abruptly cancelled on March 14, 2010, less
than four weeks before the start of IPLs sec-
ond season (April 8, 2009). In his reply to
BCCIs first show-cause notice (April 26,
2010), LKM said that Sonys exit was
prompted by the fact that the BCCI and
broadcaster could not reach a consensus on
language (of the reworked contract) and
guarantees (to be paid). Whatever might be
the case, BCCI sent the termination letter at
8.14 pm on March 14, 2009. In two hours, at
10.15 pm, Sony replied through an email that
it would approach the Mumbai High Court
the next day at 11 am to seek an interim relief
against the cancellation.
LKM knew this was bound to happen.
Strategically, even before Sony was kicked
out, he initiated discussions with other
potential broadcasters, which included
ESPN, Star Group, NDTV and, of course,
WSG India. This was done so that the BCCI
could claim in any court that talks were on
with other rights holders and, therefore,
Sonys plea for interim relief should be
rejected. In LKMs scheme of things, the best
solution was to sign a new contract before
the court hearing at 11 am on March 15,
2009. He had less than 13 hours after he
received Sonys email. The urgency was pal-
pable. The BCCI-IPL lawyers and WSG
India executives shut themselves in a room.
At 3 am on March 15, 2009, a deal was
struck. WSG India agreed to buy the Indian
sub-continent rights for the remaining nine
years. But it designated WSG Mauritius to
sign the agreement with the BCCI.
The pressing reason for WSGs decision
was that the Mauritian angle gave the BCCI
a legal advantage. If the court was told that
the new agreement for the subcontinent
rights was signed with a Mauritius-based
company, the judge might find it more diffi-
cult to reject the contract.
Despite LKMs efforts and his legal far-
sightedness, the court restrained the BCCI
from signing a new media tights contract
until January 17, and fixed the next hearing
for January 16. On March 16, the court
refused to extend the interim relief granted
to Sony when BCCI produced the agree-
BOOKS/
releases/alam srinivas
lapse of the 72-hour deadline for WSG
Mauritius to find a broadcast partner ended,
BCCI extended it by four days, and later by
another three days, till March 24. Events
happened at a hectic pace over the next nine
days. On March 22, 2009, LKM told the
BCCIs Working Committee that he had
reached an out-of-court settlement with
Sony, which was effective from 6.30 am the
next day. Sony was back in the reckoning, as
it agreed to match the contract that BCCI
had signed with WSG Mauritius.
Officially, on March 24, 2009, WSG
Mauritius informed the BCCI that its dead-
line to sub-license and subcontract the India
rights had expired. Therefore, the BCCI
could choose a new rights holder.
The next day the Board signed two new
and separate agreements with Sony (for the
nine-year Indian subcontinent media rights)
and WSG India (for the rest of the world
rights). IPL 2 was two weeks away.
75
May 15, 2014
ments inked with WSG India (the
new one) and WSG Mauritius.
Faced with this legal missile, Sonys
lawyers argued that the court should
ask the BCCI not to approve any
broadcaster, which would be chosen
by WSG Mauritius. Sony had real-
ized that WSG Mauritius could not telecast
IPL on its own, and would turn to another
broadcaster to sub-license the Indian rights.
In fact, the BCCIs agreement with WSG
Mauritius gave the latter 72 hours to subcon-
tract the rights to a new broadcaster, or they
would revert back to the BCCI.
LKM pre-empted this eventuality too. On
March 15, 2009 itself, BCCI told WSG
Mauritius that it could sign up with any of
the few specified broadcasters, which includ-
ed Sony, NDTV, ESPN, Star Sports, Neo
Sports, TV 18, Sun Astro and DD. The Board
gave a template of the media rights sub-
license agreement so that the subcontract
deal could be signed fast.
On March 16, 2009, Sonys plea to pre-
vent the BCCI from approving a new broad-
caster for the India rights was not enter-
tained by the court. The same day, WSG
Mauritius and NDTV Mauritius signed a
draft subcontract agreement. Before the
MILLION DOLLAR SHOT
Suresh Raina bats during
the Chennai Superkings vs
the Delhi Daredevils match
of Pepsi IPL 2014 series
IL
Cricket Czars: Two men who changed
the gentlemans game
By Alam Srinivas; Publisher: Har-Anand Publications
` 495; pages: 258
Courtesy BCCI
76
May 15, 2014
IS THAT LEGAL?
A lady has daily fights with her maid over the latters lack of
hygiene and abruptly sacks her one day. Does the
maid have any legal rights in such a situation?
In our country household help is part of the
vast informal sector, which doesnt have any
social security. People are hired and fired as
per the requirementsand often the
whimsof the employer.
The maid may not have any legal right in a
face-off over hygiene. However, if her
appointment has been made on the basis
of stipulated terms and conditions or
contractwhich happens mostly in
case of hiring through an agencythen
she can approach a court for
enforcement of her legal rights for
breach of any of the terms
and conditions.
Ignorance of law is no excuse.
Here are answers to some
frequently-asked legal queries
Illustrations: Aruna
A man cuts down the branches of a tree in front
of his residence to get more sunlight. What
remains of the tree is only the stump. Can he be
taken to court?
Legal proceedings can be initiated against him
for cutting down trees without obtaining due
permission from the concerned authorities.
However, minor trimming or cutting may not
attract any penalty.
In the National Capital Region, permission to
fell trees is regulated under provisions of Delhi
Tree Preservation Act, 1994, according to which,
if a private individual or company wants to fell a
tree or trees anywhere in Delhi, an application
has to be submitted to the tree officer, deputy
conservator of forests and conservator of forests,
Delhi. After obtaining permission, the individual
or company should complete the task within the
time limit prescribed in the licenses.
77
May 15, 2014
There is a spate of renovations in an up-market housing society, and the
debris is usually dumped a little distance away. Can the civic authorities
slap a penalty on the residents of this housing society?
This is a rather sad aspect of urban life but law doesnt have any teeth
against individual offenders. The civic authorities cannot slap a penalty
on the residents in their individual capacity but it can take action against
the management or welfare association of the said housing society for
causing inconvenience to the public by the act of encroachment or
dumping the debris on public property.
A woman wants to leave her husband because he
snores. What would be the advice of a family lawyer to
the woman in this case, and what would the family
court decide?
One of the grounds for divorce available to both
parties in a marriage is cruelty. The definition of cruelty
is subjective and varies from person to person. If the
wife is able to establish that her husbands snoring is
cruelty, then she may be able to divorce him on
this ground.
A couple books a banquet hall for their daughters grand
wedding in February. The entire ceremony is slated on
the opulent lawns of the venue. As usually there are no
rains in that month, the owner of the banquet hall does
not make preparations for inclement weather. But, it
does rain heavily, washing away the whole event. The
brides family is shattered. Can it seek a refund from the
owner of the venue?
In case, the deal between the brides family and the
banquet hall owner is not on paper, nothing much can
be done legally. What would, however, clinch the issue
for the aggrieved party in such cases is ensuring a prior
contract that mentions the services the owner will
provide and spells out the dos and donts.
These days most of the arrangements for big fat
Indian weddings are left to wedding planners, who
organise the functions like engagement, sangeet,
wedding, or any other pre- or post-event bashes.
A wife, keen on
family planning,
doesnt want a child
for two years following
marriage. Can the
husband ask for divorce?
Refusal to bear a child
within marriage by the wife
has been held as a legal
ground for divorce.
In this case, it
seems the refusal
is temporary and
only for the purpose
of family planning. The
husband will have to
convince the court that the
refusal for two years
tantamounts to cruelty, in
order to get divorce.
GETTING insurance companies to pay claims is like getting
Uncle Scrooge to part with a dime. More often than not, they
delay or deny claims. But thankfully, there are avenues open for
distressed consumers. The National Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission (NCDRC) severely dealt with an insur-
ance company when it refused to pay compensation to the
family of an employee who fell from an electric pole and died.
Chhattisgarh State Power Holding Co Ltd (CSPHCL) had
obtained a group personal accident insurance policy for its
employees from Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Ltd.
Under it, a sum of `4 lakh was payable in case of accidental
death of an employee. On July 10, 2006, Maniram Sahoo was
doing construction work for the state Electricity Board, when he
fell from an electric pole 36 feet in height and died.
CSPHCL paid `4 lakh to the legal representatives of the
deceased employee and sought to claim the amount from the
insurance company on August 1, 2006. But incredulously, Bajaj
Allianz repudiated the claim on September 18, 2007, saying the
deceased was insured only for accidents and that he must
have died due to heart disease before he fell, rather than died
after he fell.
CSPHCL approached the district consumer forum which
directed the insurance company to pay the compensation. But
Bajaj Allianz sought relief from the state consumer commission
which ruled in its favor. The case went up to NCDRC which held
that the cause of death stated in the post-mortem report did not
support the version of the insurance firm that it was a death not
due to accident.
NCDRC said: It has been stated in the post-mortem report
that no external injury was found on the body of the
deceased. During fall from a pole, it is not nec-
essary that bodily injury should always take
place. The basic point is that there has been
a fall from a pole and there has been the death
of the employee. The argument taken by the
respondent that the employee suffered heart attack
while working on the pole, he died then and there,
and then fell down, is not substantiated by any
medical evidence. Rather, the version that
because of his fall from the pole, he got a shock,
due to which he suffered a heart attack and died,
seems to be a more plausible explanation. Even if it
is believed that heart attack occurred while he was
working on the pole, the factum of
falling from the pole and his death
does not exclude the incident
from the nomenclature of acci-
dent, based on the test of any
prudent thinking and com-
mon sense.
The insurance company
said the death was due to
cardio-respiratory failure. But the com-
mission gave it back, saying, The cause
of cardiac arrest could be the existence
of a pre-cardiac disease or even in the
absence of such a disease, the cardiac
arrest could take place due to shock upon falling
from a pole 36 feet in height. In the event of death by any
means, the cardiac arrest or cardiac failure has to take place
and only after that, a person is usually declared as dead.
Talk about teaching biology.
CONSUMER WATCH
Tight-fisted insurance company
Illustrations: Aruna
May 15, 2014
78
May 15, 2014
79
Khemkas bitter pill
SELLING the same flat or land to
more than one buyer is an old trick of
fraudsters. But when a state-owned devel-
opment agency does it, it is time to sit up
and take notice. A buyer had booked a flat in
Narela under Delhi Development Authoritys
(DDA) housing scheme in 1997. He was allotted
the flat but discovered that it was allotted to another
person. When he approached the district consumer
forum, his complaint was dismissed. He went to the Delhi State
Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DSCDRC), which directed
the DDA to provide the complainant another flat of the same description
in the same locality or nearby. It further said that if the DDA didnt do so,
it would have to pay `3 lakh to the complainant because of skyrocketing
prices between 1996-1997. DDA challenged it by filing a revision petition
with NCDRC, which imposed a fine of `5 lakh on the DDA. It asked it to
recover the damages from the salaries of delinquent officials who had
been pursuing meritless litigation and ordered that out of `5 lakh, `2.5
lakh would be given to the complainant and the rest deposited in the
commissions Consumer Legal Aid Account.
THE Kharar-based Central Government Employees Welfare Housing
Society (CGEWHS) got a taste of Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khem-
kas medicine when the Mohali District Consumer Forum ordered it
to pay compensation to
Khemka for poor service.
Khemka had paid the sec-
ond instalment for his
3-BHK flat in Mohali on
October 10, 2007. But the
society, which said it would
start construction by that
time, did so only in July
2008.The societys rules
stipulate that if buyers dont
pay in time, they would pay
15 percent of the total
amount as late fee. In view
of this, Khemka filed a com-
plaint in the district forum,
accusing the society of
deficiency in service. The forum asked CGEWHS to pay him 15 per-
cent of the second instalment amount, which worked out to `49,689;
the same amount CGEWHS intended to charge as late fee. It also
ordered the society to pay an additional compensation of `25,000 to
Khemka for not meeting the deadline for starting construction work.
Justice delayed is
justice denied
Two-in-one flat
THE wheels of justice move slowly. But thats no
excuse for paralysis in the functioning of a consumer
forum and delay in appointment of a full-time presi-
dent there. This sorry situation at the North Goa
Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum in Porvorim led
to the pendency of at least 240 consumer com-
plaints against builders, automobile dealers, elec-
tronic companies and insurance and banking firms.
While the state government appointed a president
and two other members, these were temporary
assignments, resulting in inordinate delays in cases
and judgments. To top it, the Porvorim forum is
mostly open only for half-a-day.
As per Section 10 of the Consumer Protection Act
1986, the president, who is equivalent to a district
judge, should be appointed on a full-time basis. The
state government has appointed a regular president
for the Goa State Commission, but this is not so for
district forums.
Why this step-motherly treatment?
80
May 15, 2014
TAKING advantage of goodness is nothing new. When the gov-
ernment granted a waiver to national spot exchanges from regu-
latory oversight in 2007, little did it realize that it would lead to
irregularities like the `5,500 crore payment crisis on the National
Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL), last year. Wiser by experience, it is
now contemplating withdrawing the exemption.
Earlier, the consumer affairs ministry under Sharad Pawar had
oversight over commodities futures and provided the exemption
on the condition that the exchanges would not permit short
salesselling a commodity without owning itand ensure that all
outstanding positions at the end of the day resulted in deliveries.
However, the exemption was violated by the now defunct NSEL. It
allowed members to not just roll over their positions but also set-
tle contracts after 25-36 days, in excess of the 11-day norm for
spot contracts after the trading date.
These violations were discovered by the Forward
Markets Commission (FMC) in 2012. Subsequently,
the consumer affairs ministry directed NSEL to
suspend trading in July 2013 and settle
all existing contracts.
This, in turn, triggered a payments cri-
sis. NSEL defaulted on several weekly pay-
ments, after which, FMC was empowered
by the government to oversee settlements.
The CBI is investigating the NSEL scam,
including the role of senior bureaucrats in the
ministry of consumer affairs to grant NSEL an
exemption in 2007.
CONSUMER WATCH
Stemming the rot
Want a smooth ride ?
IGNORANCE is not bliss. Passengers who pay exorbitant bus
fares without getting good service from private bus operators are
often unaware that it is possible to complain to the Regional
Transport Office (RTO) and consumer forums in such cases. They
often receive very few complaints against private buses.
All RTOs can take direct action against operators for not pro-
viding proper service if people come forward and complain.
Commuters can email to the particular RTO with the
number of the bus, and action will ensue under the
Motor Vehicles Act. Operators can be either fined
or have their permits suspended.
Similarly, commuters can demand compensa-
tion from the concerned private bus owner. And,
if the company refuses to pay, they can file a case
in the consumer court.
So, what are you waiting for? Approach the
RTOs and consumer forums with your com-
plaints. They are just eagerly waiting to give
you a smooth ride.
81
May 15, 2014
have fun with
english. get the
right answers and
play better scrabble
WORDLY
WISE
1. One who uses both
hands equally well is
called ....... .
A: amphibian
B: ambidextrous
C: bipolar
D: dualist
2. Which part of the
body is affected in
trachoma?
A: Windpipe
B: Hair
C: Eye
D: Toe
3. Gita believes that
God is all-powerful,
i.e. ....... .
A: omnipresent
B: omniscient
C: omnivorous
D: omnipotent
4. Whats the full form
of TQM?
A: Total Quality Mark
B: Top Quality Make
C: Total Quality
Management
D: Tough Question
Marks
5. A place where bees
are kept is called
.
A: apiary
B: tree-duct
C: quagmire
D: aviary
6. What does arcane
mean?
A: stupid
B: a chemical
C: bright
D: mysterious
7. In SMS lingo, KOTL
would mean ....... .
A: Kick on the Leg
B: Kiss on the Lips
C: Kindly open the
Letter
D: Keep Ogling, Talk
Less
8. German silver is an
alloy of ....... .
A: gold, copper and tin
B: silver, copper and
iron
C: silver, nickel and zinc
D: copper, nickel and
zinc
9. Whats pret-a-porter?
A: Domestic servant
B: Hypocrite
C: Pretty girl
D: Ready-to-wear
10. Which of the follow-
ing words does NOT
mean detective?
A: gumshoe
B: G-man
C: gadabout
D: snoop
11. A political candidate
with no local connec-
tions is .
A: carpetbagger
B: yes-man
C: gladhander
D: godfather
12. Whatever will be,
will be.
A: Que sera sera
B: Quid pro quo
C: Veni, vidi, vici
D: Sine qua non
13. What does internet
slang 2m mean?
A: 2 minutes
B: 2 maximum
C: Tomorrow
D: Too much
14. Which is the correct
proverb?
A: A bird in the hand is
worth two in the bush
B: A bird in the nest is
worth two in the bush
C: A bird in the sky is
worth two in the bush
D: A bird in the hand is
worth two in the sky
15. If you fear foreign-
ers, you have ...... .
A: demophobia
B: xenophobia
C: gynophobia
D: astraphobia
16. Some say Narendra
Modi is as hard as
...... .
A: nails
B: graphite
C: diamond
D: iron
17. When US President
Barack Obama said:
That tears it! he
meant ....... .
A: Thats tear-jerking!
B: That can be easily
torn!
C: You are right!
D: Thats too much!
18. What do you under-
stand when the
bosss response is
Horsefeathers!?
A. Nonsense
B. Novel
C. Strange
D. Ingenious
19. That which cannot
be corrected is .
A: indelible
B: illegible
C: incorrigible
D: unintelligible
20. A person speaking
many languages is
.
A: verbalist
B: polyglot
C: lingoist
D: wordsmith
SCORES
0 to 7 correctYou need
to do this more often.
8 to 12 correctGood,
get the scrabble
board out.
Above 12Bravo!
Keep it up!
1 . a m b i d e x t r o u s
2 . e y e
3 . o m n i p o t e n t
4 . T o t a l Q u a l i t y
M a n a g e m e n t
5 . a p i a r y
6 . m y s t e r i o u s
7 . K i s s o n t h e L i p s
8 . c o p p e r , n i c k e l a n d
z i n c
9 . r e a d y - t o - w e a r
1 0 . g a d a b o u t
1 1 . c a r p e t b a g g e r
1 2 . Q u e s e r a s e r a
1 3 . t o m o r r o w
1 4 . A b i r d i n t h e h a n d
i s w o r t h t w o i n t h e
b u s h
1 5 . x e n o p h o b i a
1 6 . n a i l s
1 7 . T h a t s t o o m u c h !
1 8 . n o n s e n s e
1 9 . i n c o r r i g i b l e
2 0 . p o l y g l o t
ANSWERS
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Aruna
82
May 15, 2014
CHILDHOOD
FANTASIES
Innovation works well
during polls and
Gaurav Sharma in
South Mumbai took
the cue from
spiderman. He scaled
walls to seek votes.
CANVASSING,
CANADIAN STYLE
A fake mayoral
election campaign sign
with a fictitious candidate
is seen in Toronto. Mayor
Rob Ford made global
headlines last year when
he admitted he had
smoked crack cocaine.
BALLOT POWER
Voting is not a right but also a privilege. And this
feeling was not lost among tribals in Tripura.
PEOPLE/
mandate 2014/moods and flavors
OVER THE TOP
Narendra Modi had supporters eating out of his hands in Uttar Pradesh.
His supporters even did the monkey act in Mathura to catch a glimpse.
IS IT GAS
POLITICS?
It is all about
choosing the right
symbol in elections.
Who knows it better
than Shailendra
Singh, the
independent
candidate from
Lucknow. Singh
had his gas
cylinder symbol
all over him.
CALLING
ATTENTION
So what if he
was up against
Arun Jaitley and
Amarinder
Singh in
Amritsar. For
SL Gandhi, who
campaigned on
a cycle, the
fight wasnt
over till results
came out.
Photos: UNI
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