THE HINDU Imp. News Jan.

26th 2012 Page-1

Supreme Court orders probe into all fake encounters in Gujarat: Dealing a blow to the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat, the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Monitoring Authority (MA) headed by M.B. Shah, a retired Supreme Court judge, to probe all fake encounter deaths in the State from 2002 to 2006. A Bench of Justices Aftab Alam and C.K. Prasad passed the order on two petitions filed by Javed Akthar, B.G. Varghese and others for a direction to order a CBI probe into the 22 fake encounters that had taken place during the period. After hearing counsel Prashant Bhushan and Nitya Ramakrishnan, the Bench asked the MA to probe the killings and file its report within three months. Norway agrees to hand over children to their uncle: There is good news for the family of the two Indian children who are in the custody of the Norwegian Child Welfare Services on grounds of emotional disconnect with their parents authorities of that country have agreed to hand over the children to their uncle and he will be their primary caregiver and give them an upbringing that meets their needs. The agreement says Mr. Arunabhash Bhattacharya had agreed to the parents' wish and was aware of the responsibilities entailed with taking over the custody of the children. He lives in Kolkata and will be sent to Norway by the government on Monday, where the Child Welfare Services will ensure a gentle transition and allow him to meet the children before he returns to India. Page 2 New Vande Mataram to touch our hearts: To coincide with the 63{+r}{+d}Republic Day celebrations, tabla player Bickram Ghosh has composed and created a special music album on the country's national song, Vande Mataram . Releasing the album here late on Tuesday evening, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said: Hindustan's sangeet is unparalleled in the whole world. Vande Mataram is a beautiful nazam and the new song is an excellent tribute to the original one. Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah chose to sing the national song rather than speak about the new album. This prompted Sonu Nigam, who was nursing a soar throat, to sing along with him. Sonu complimented the senior politician for his excellent gayaki and suggested that the duo sing together for a music album. The album has brought together two dozen top-notch singers and A goal is a dream with a deadline. Page 1

classical musicians to give a fresh version of the iconic song. The poem was originally penned by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in his famous novel Anandamath . EDITORIAL This is no way, Norway: Notwithstanding the agreement reached on Wednesday between India and Norway which puts a temporary lid on the matter, the case of Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya whose young children were placed in foster care by the Child Welfare Services in the Norwegian city of Stavanger raises disturbing questions. Last year, the couple's children, a boy of three and a girl aged one, were removed to an emergency shelter and then to a foster family, apparently on the grounds that their mother was not in a fit state to bring them up. In fact, the family court annulled the child services' decision to remove the children, but was itself overruled on appeal. Under the current order, the family will not be reunited until the children turn 18 in 2026 and 2028 respectively. Parental access will consist of three hours' contact a year, in three separate visits. A sense of shock in India is fully understandable over this use of state power in family life. The Norwegian authorities say they are bound by confidentiality and will neither confirm nor deny the account the parents have provided of what the child welfare officers found lacking in their treatment of the two children. Cheating science: Ever since the disgraced South Korean stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-Suk's fraud in the papers retracted by Science in 2004 and 2005 brought the spotlight back on the malaise plaguing science, the number of researchers getting exposed for data falsification, fabrication, and plagiarism has been increasing. But the sobering fact is that this number is barely the tip of research misconduct. A recent British Medical Journal (BMJ) survey of nearly 2,800 doctors and medical academics revealed that 13 per cent of respondents claimed to have first-hand knowledge of someone inappropriately adjusting, excluding, altering or fabricating data. Two previous surveys in 1992 and 2001 had reported slightly lower figures 10 per cent and nearly 11 per cent respectively. Despite the problem being all pervasive, the United Kingdom has done little to tackle the issue. Last year, the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee found the general oversight of research integrity to be unsatisfactory. If the availability of modern tools and the pressure to publish papers is forcing many researchers to resort to unethical means, there is also little to deter them from cheating. With the exception of plagiarism, journals are not fully geared to spot all forms of cheating prior to publication. A precarious Indo-Pak nuclear balance: The recently held India-Pakistan Expert Level Talks on Nuclear CBMs' have once again failed to move the two countries away from their precarious nuclear balance. The Islamabad meeting achieved' two things: one, Indian and Pakistani officials agreed to recommend to their Foreign Secretaries the extension of the validity of the Agreement on Reducing the Risk from Accidents Relating to Nuclear Weapons (signed in 2007) for another five years; and two, both sides reviewed the implementation and strengthening of existing CBMs in the framework of [the] Lahore MoU, and agreed to explore possibilities for mutually acceptable additional CBMs. A goal is a dream with a deadline. Page 2

The 1999 Lahore Declaration was a progressive step that recognised the need to understand the role played by nuclear weapons. It was crafted with a view to reducing the risk of [their] accidental or unauthorised use as well as elaborating measures for confidence building in the nuclear and conventional fields. India and Pakistan have also dutifully followed their 1988 agreement to annually exchange lists of their nuclear installations and facilities, in order to avoid attacks against them. Pakistan has apparently kept its nuclear doctrine ambiguous to continue to perplex Indian strategists. It has dismissed the credibility of India's declared no-first-use (NFU) doctrine and but has not elucidated the conditions under which it would be prompted to use its nuclear weapons. Apart from outlining some painfully general conditions of potential nuclear use, Pakistan has deliberately kept its threshold levels' or the red lines' unclear, contending that this is its only possible option to prevent an Indian attack. It is an argument that stems straight from the classical deterrence theory. There is also an urgent need to encourage non-official bilateral discussions on the issue in order to sensitise the strategic communities on both sides of the border. The Ottawa Dialogue, one of the very few track-two initiatives on nuclear issues, held most recently in Copenhagen in December 2011, recommended that India and Pakistan sign a CBM to the effect that their land-based nuclear arsenals will remain de-mated and de-alerted in peacetime; initiate a high-level official dialogue on how new and emerging technologies such as future sea-based systems and nuclear-armed cruise missiles will impact strategic stability; and add cruise missiles to the Agreement on Pre-Notification of Flight Testing of Ballistic Missiles. OP-ED Who should judge the judges?The object of placing the power of judicial appointments in an independent body is to remove patronage from the system and ensure that judges are appointed only on the basis of their qualifications. The present system of judicial appointments in the constitutional courts exemplifies the misalignment between the core values of judicial independence and accountability. The process by which a judge is appointed to the High Court or the Supreme Court has been described by Justice Ruma Pal, a former judge of the Supreme Court, as one of the best kept secrets in this country. The text of the Constitution that provides for the appointment of the judges of the Supreme Court (Article 124) and the High Court (Article 217) is deceptively simple. They provide for the President to appoint them in consultation with other judges. Originally, the power to appoint judges vested ultimately in the executive. It is now with the Chief Justice and the senior judges of the court, i.e. the Collegium. The recent case of the impeachment motion of Soumitra Sen, former judge of the Calcutta High Court, once again highlighted the need to have a relook at the process of appointment. The unanimous voice of Parliament, while considering the impeachment motion of Sen, was that there was now a greater need for a National Judicial Commission than ever before. By placing the power of judicial appointments in an independent body, the object is to remove patronage from the system and ensure that the judges are appointed on the basis of their qualifications for the job rather than anything else.

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A key question is whether the new body should be appointing (The Israel Judicial Commission is the only appointing Commission) or recommending commission. The former in which the commission takes over the full responsibility for making appointments, removes the danger of inappropriate influence by politicians but also weakens democratic accountability and lacks a potential check on abuse, corruption or incompetence on the part of the commission. These advantages and disadvantages are reversed under a recommending commission. Therefore, there is need to adopt a hybrid model where the Commission makes a recommendation, which should be ordinarily binding. The recommendation may be rejected only in cases where the candidate is disqualified or in cases where the procedure adopted by the Commission is legally flawed. The reasons for such rejection must also be recorded in each case. The example of the U.K. may be taken where the Constitutional Reforms Act, 2005 has established a Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) with one Chairperson and 14 other Commissioners, including five judicial members, one barrister, one solicitor, five lay members, one tribunal chairman and one lay judge. The Chairperson and 12 Commissioners are appointed through open competition, while the other three are selected by the Judge's Council. In South Africa, the establishment of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has attracted much attention for the way it has made the appointments process more independent. Its 23 members are drawn from the judiciary, the two branches of the legal profession, the national and regional legislatures, the executive, civil society and academia. The entire process of appointment is geared towards securing maximum transparency. The nine-member Commission that selects judges for all levels of courts in Israel consists of the President of the Supreme Court, two other Supreme Court judges, the Minister of Justice (Attorney General), another Cabinet Minister, two members of the Legislature (one of whom has traditionally been selected from the opposite ranks) and two representatives of the Israeli Bar. In India, it would be more prudent to follow the U.K. model where politicians are kept out of the Judicial Appointment Commission. The Judicial Commission should not be a very large body, containing not more than 7 or 9 members. The Commission should consist of representation from the Judiciary, the Bar, eminent members of civil society (who should be appointed by a high powered body, for example presided over by the Vice President, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India, the Law Minister and the Leader of the Opposition).

To give an example, the Commission in South Africa has made efforts to ensure that the process by which candidates are selected for interview is as open as possible. The statutory provisions provide that when a vacancy arises, the Commission must advertise the post and seek nomination from a wide variety of sources. The names of candidates short-listed for interview by a screening sub-committee are made public and the views of relevant institutions (among them, the Law Society of South Africa, the General Council of the Bar and the Department of Justice) on their suitability are canvassed by the Commission. On the other hand, the system of public interviews was opposed by pointing towards the example of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing as demonstrating the danger which public interviews posed since the same could degenerate into personalised attacks on the candidates, A goal is a dream with a deadline. Page 4

and such demonstrations, far from increasing legitimacy, would undermine public confidence. The system was further opposed by stating that leading members of the Bar would be discouraged from coming forward if the meetings were made public. Tackling this lack of diversity in the judiciary will require fresh approaches and a major re-engineering of the process of appointment. Diversity is likely to be achieved only if equal opportunities are placed at the heart of the judicial appointments process and are promoted through sustained and proactive initiatives. One such example comes from Ontario, where one of the first actions of the newly established Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee in 1990 was to ask the Attorney-General to write a personal letter to 1,200 senior women lawyers in the province asking them to apply for judicial office. This conscious and innovative attempt to expand the number of workmen in the recruitment pool produced such a marked increase in the number of applications from well qualified women that between 1990 and 1992, 41 per cent of the judges appointed by the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee were women. Health care for all: The High Level Expert Group constituted by the Planning Commission and chaired by Professor Srinath Reddy recently proposed Universal Health Coverage for all citizens. Article 21 gives the citizens the Right to Life. As with all fundamental rights, the Right to Life is justiciable. Many other obligations, required to produce an egalitarian society, are enshrined in the Constitution and are listed under Directive Principles of State Policy. These include Article 47, 39 and 38, which argue for the need to raise the level of nutrition, enhance standards of living and improve public health. They also make a case for social justice and sustainable livelihoods. The Delhi High Court issued a landmark ruling in the Consolidated Laxmi Mandal/Jaitun case in June 2010 holding that the denial of maternal health care is a violation of fundamental constitutional and human rights. Justice S. Muralidhar emphasised that the government is obligated to ensure maternal health services under the judicially recognised constitutional rights to health and reproductive rights. In May 2011, the Court noted that the denial of a ration card to a person living below the poverty line is a denial of the right to food and thereby the Right to Life under the Constitution. The landmark People's Union for Civil Liberties versus the Union of India case established the right to food and prompted the government to propose the Food Security Bill. The judiciary should recognise that the right to health is constitutionally guaranteed and justiciable. It should fast track PILs related to health and should accept the persuasive value of decisions made in the High Courts. Judges may opt to close off the call of justice and renew the rule of the law in relation to the new question that is presented. On the other hand, they may take up the challenge and rethink, remake and cite the law as best as they can in a way that measures up to the call of justice. Page- 12 Substantial evidence to prosecute Modi : Mr. Bhatt, who shot off yet another letter to Mr. Raghavan on Tuesday (his fourth this month), said he was writing in response to reports that the SIT had sought legal opinion on whether or not to prosecute A goal is a dream with a deadline. Page 5

Mr. Modi for the post-Godhra violence. Drawing on his depositions before the SIT, Mr. Bhatt said he had personally met and alerted Mr. Modi to the deteriorating law and order situation on February 28, 2002, focusing especially on the imminent carnage at Gulberg Society. The police officer said: My depositions to the SIT have been under Section 161 of the Cr.PC which does not even require my signature. However, a statement under 164 of the Cr.PC cuts both ways. It is legally binding, but if I have lied, it also allows my prosecution for perjury. Is that too much to ask? Mr. Bhatt said that instead of reacting to the alerts, Mr. Modi instructed him (Mr. Bhatt) to dig out details of past instances wherein Mr. Jafri had supposedly opened fire on Hindus during earlier communal riots in Ahmedabad. Not bound by U.S. and EU sanctions against Iran: IndiaWith indications that both New Delhi and Tehran are looking at a new way to make payments for the purchase of crude oil, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Jaipal Reddy said best efforts were being made by the country to source crude oil imports from Iran and the country was not bound by the U.S. or European Union sanctions. Iran accounts for 12 per cent of India's crude oil imports and there are fears that Turkey may come under pressure and stop routing payments. Iran is the second largest supplier of crude oil to India. There will be no energy supplies problems even in case of shutdown of supplies from the Persian Gulf nation. Indian refiners are looking at diversifying their sourcing to avoid problems in future, he said. State-run Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) is the largest buyer of Iranian oil at 1.42 lakh barrels a day. TAPI: a step forward: In a breakthrough that will take forward the ambitious $7.6-billion TAPI (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan) pipeline project, India and Pakistan on Wednesday agreed to have a uniform transit fee to ferry natural gas from Turkmenistan. This was decided at a meeting between Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Jaipal Reddy and visiting Pakistan Energy Minister Asim Hussain here. The 1,735-km-long pipeline will run from Turkmenistan's Yoloten-Osman gas field to Herat and Kandahar province of Afghanistan, before entering Pakistan. In Pakistan, it will reach Multan via Quetta before ending at Fazilka (Punjab) in India. The project envisages a total throughput of 90 million standard cubic metres a day (MSCMD) of gas, of which India is expected to receive 38 MSCMD. Page- 13 Padma Vibhushan for Hazarika, Mario Miranda, T.V. Rajeswar As many as 109 awards five Padma Vibhushan, 27 Padma Bhushan and 77 Padma Shri from various disciplines and spheres of activity such as social work, literature, civil service, sports, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, education, art and music were announced on the eve of the Republic Day. As many as 14 persons in the category of foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and posthumous figure in the list. There are 19 women among this year's awardees. The Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.

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The highest civilian honour of Bharat Ratna has not gone to anybody this year as well. The last Bharat Ratna awardee was in 2008 eminent vocalist Bhimsen Joshi, who got it posthumously. Jallikattu is a black mark on India's reputation, says PETA: Animal rights activists, led by a costumed injured bull and waving banners in Tamil, Hindi and English, held a protest outside the Indian High Commission here on Wednesday demanding a complete ban on jallikattu which they described as a stain on India's reputation. Tourists and lunch-hour office crowd watched with amusement as members of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) stood at the gates of India House with a bandaged bull on crutches and holding a placard that said: Save India's reputation: End Jallikattu. Later the bull moved to a wheelchair. Jallikattu is a black mark on India's reputation. These events are illegal they violate the ban on using bulls in entertainment and are completely against the spirit of India's animal-protection laws, which prohibit beating, kicking and torturing animals, said PETA's spokesperson Poorva Joshipura. INTERNATIONAL Disgust, shock in Iraq over Haditha verdict: 24 unarmed civilians killed in 2005 by American troops U.S. soldier gets away with light term U.S. Seals rescue hostages: The helicopter-borne U.S. commandos that swooped into Somalia in a daring overnight raid to rescue two hostages an American and a Dane belonged to the same SEALs unit that killed Osama bin Laden. The raid was carried out by Navy SEALs, the same special forces unit that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a dramatic operation in Pakistan last year, CNN reported quoting an official. The Navy SEALs commandos had last year on May 2 swooped down on the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad and shot dead the then most wanted terrorist. The operation had caught the Pakistani military unawares as the SEALs flew in with radar evading helicopters. BUSINESS Ministry for petroleum products under GST: Seeking an end to the discriminatory taxation regime adopted for petroleum products, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has asked the Finance Ministry to bring petroleum products, including crude oil, petrol, diesel, ATF and gas, under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in line with the recommendations of the XIII Finance Commission. To address the concerns of the State governments of revenue loss due to inclusion of this sector in the GST regime, levy of an additional tax, if necessary A goal is a dream with a deadline. Page 7 Will pursue legal channels: Maliki

(without any input tax credit) as recommended by the XIII Finance Commission on these commodities in addition to GST, while retaining them in the ambit of GST maybe considered, the communication states. India offers to export petro goods to Pakistan: Seeking to enhance the level of economic co-operation and extend a friendly helping hand'' to its neighbour, India on Wednesday offered to export petrol, diesel and other petroleum products to Pakistan. Should there be an agreement, India could even build a pipeline to carry these products. India-Thailand trade target fixed at $14 billion: Addressing leaders of Indian industry at a luncheon meeting hosted by Confederation of India Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) here, Ms. Shinawatra said: My government has decided to invest in transport and connect with our neighbours. We could set up a maritime linkage with Chennai and Dawei seaport in Myanamar along with road connectivity. The two countries want to upgrade it to a full-fledged Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) covering not only goods but also services and investment. Haryana to set up dispute resolution centre: Haryana's first District Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre is being set up at Sonepat. Laying the foundation stone in the Sonepat judicial complex on Wednesday, Supreme Court Judge and National Legal Services Authority Executive Chairman Justice Altmas Kabir said that the Centre would provide legal aid and prove beneficial for the legal services sector. Highlighting the importance of paralegal volunteers, he urged them to work with a missionary zeal and facilitate justice to the people. Supreme Court Judge Justice Surender Singh Nijjar said that the past decade had seen a great increase in the requirement of legal services and aid.Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge and Haryana Services Legal Services Authority Executive Chairman Satish Kumar Mittal said such Centres would be set up in all the 18 session divisions of the State.

A goal is a dream with a deadline.

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