Tag: Education

Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, morals, beliefs, and habits.

UP Must Have At Least 10 High Court Benches

Let me begin on a very bitter note by pointing out that crime against women are multiplying most rapidly in UP and this is most felt in West UP which is the worst affected of all the regions of UP. Throwing of acid on woman or rape, gang rape, molestation and all other forms of crimes against women and girls are openly being perpetrated in West UP especially as also in UP which is certainly most concerning!
                                   Why talk about women alone? Even men are not safe here! Policemen themselves are not safe here! Criminals are killing whomever they want with impunity and then we see how they easily manage to get bail and the criminal cases keep pending interminably!  This must stop forthwith if a semblance of law and order is to be restored in UP! But how? By ensuring that cases against criminals are decided at the earliest.
                                      How can this be ensured that cases are decided at the earliest against criminals? By setting up at least 10 high court benches in Meerut, Agra, Kanpur, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Mahoba, Sultanpur, Aligarh, Badaun or at any other place which is in desperate need of the same! This cannot be allowed to fester indefinitely as we have already lost a lot of precious time!  
                                               What an unbeatable irony that Allahabad High Court tops with maximum pending cases at 10 lakh and still it has least high court benches – only one at Lucknow for just 8 districts! No other High Court in India has 10 lakh or 9 lakh or 8 lakh or 7 lakh or 6 lakh or 5 lakh or 4 lakh or even 3 lakh cases pending and still some of them have got 3 high court benches like Karnataka, Maharashtra and others but UP has just one bench only! Why this step-motherly treatment for UP?
                                         We are all seeing how Saharanpur is burning after violent clashes erupted between Dalits and Thakurs that left many dead and many injured! We all saw how BSP leader Munawwar Hasan Rana and his 6 family members were brutally killed in Muzaffarnagar just recently! We all know how Meerut and Agra top in the number of incidents of communal clashes and how everyday the local newspapers is flooded with cases of murders, rapes and other heinous crimes! The situation in communally sensitive districts like Aligarh and Kanpur in West UP among others is no better! Still no effort is being made to establish a high court bench here!
                                      This West UP with 26 districts has an area of 98,000 square km which is more than the area of many other states and has a population of more than 9 crore which is more than any other state except Maharashtra and Bihar. Here too areawise West UP is bigger than Bihar which has an area of 94,000 square km. Yet no bench!
                                           It is most hurting to read that dacoits are fearlessly killing innocent people on highway as happened most recently on May 25 and then in front of their men had the guts to gang rape the 4 women accompanying them just a kilometer away from the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida and when one man resisted he was shot in the chest from point blank range who died  and others were thrashed badly! Even after a week police has no clue as to who were involved! This shows the complete lawlessness in West UP! This clearly demonstrates that women are not safe even when accompanied with their entire family! Such incidents keep happening on a regular basis in West UP especially! 2 minor girls were gangraped recently in Moradabad! Criminals fully know that West UP has no high court bench and Allahabad High Court tops in the number of pending cases about 10 lakh pending cases and it would take ages before the cases are finally decided as they keep on lingering interminably and by the time they are decided they would die a natural death and victims would suffer endlessly travelling again and again 800-900 km away from West UP to Allahabad as West UP with 26 districts have no high court bench!
                                          This must change now if the fear of law is to be ingrained permanently in the minds of such criminals! We all know fully well that how a similar incident had triggered huge protests in July 2016 when a mother and daughter were gangraped in Bulandshahar! The newly appointed Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhonsle rightly lashed out at the law and order situation in UP and said that in Maharashtra from where he hails women or girl venture out in night anywhere yet never such incidents of gang rape occur.  
                                                Still you see the irony! Maharashtra has 3 high court benches at Nagpur, Aurangabad and Goa apart from high court at Mumbai but West UP has not even a single bench of high court! In UP itself both high court at Allahabad and a single bench at Lucknow are located so close to each other with a distance of just about 150-200 km. Why not a single bench of high court was created in West UP even though Justice Jaswant Singh Commission appointed by former PM late Mrs Indira Gandhi very strongly recommended 3 benches for West UP and hilly areas adjoining it which now form a separate state – Uttarakhand at Agra, Nainital and Dehradun? Why women victims have to travel so far away to Allahabad which is about 700-800 km away from most of the districts of West UP and be made to suffer so much for the inordinate delay and made to bear the huge expenses in fighting the case for her right in making sure that sexual offenders are sent behind bars?
                                                It is most shocking and disgusting to see that Uttar Pradesh which is the most populated state in India has least high court benches – only one and that too just 150-200 km away from Allahabad where the high court is located! Why no high court bench for 26 districts of West UP which are about 700-800 km away from Allahabad where high court is located ? Why no high court bench for Bundelkhand region as the districts there too are very far away from Allahabad? Why no high court bench at Gorakhpur to which the present Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath belongs? Interestingly enough, Yogi Adityanath as MP had raised the bench issue in Parliament very vociferously a long time back!
                                                          Why when UP which is among the largest States, has maximum population – more than 22 crore as CM Yogi Adityanath keeps pointing out every now and then, maximum districts – 75, maximum constituencies,  maximum MPs – 80, maximum MLAs – 404, maximum PM including Narendra Modi, maximum pending cases – more than 10 lakh and here too West UP accounts for more than half of pending cases as noted by Justice Jaswant Commission about 57%, maximum Judges which earlier was 160 and increased to 200 in high court, maximum vacancies of Judges – 75 in high court, maximum poverty, maximum villages more than one lakh  as opposed to other states who have not more than few thousands at the most, maximum cities more than 700, maximum fake encounters killings, custody killings, custodial tortures, maximum dowry cases, maximum rape and gang rape cases, maximum acid throwing cases, maximum bride burning cases, maximum cases of human rights violations, maximum undertrials, maximum cases of crime, loot, arson and riots and here too West UP tops with Saharanpur riots, Meerut riots, Muzaffarnagar riots tarnishing our international reputation to the extent that former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon termed UP as “crime and rape capital” of India and what not yet Centre is not prepared to create even a single bench for not just West UP but entire UP? Why when UP sends maximum MPs to Lok Sabha – 80, maximum MPs to Rajya Sabha – 30, maximum MLAs to State Assembly – 404 MLAs and maximum members to State Legislative Council – 100 MLAs and yet has least benches – only one and that too just 150 km away from Allahabad at Lucknow?
                                                It is so shocking and disgusting to see that West UP is fast becoming the epicenter of all kinds of crimes, rapes, gangrapes, brutal murders, mass murders, dacoity, robbery and what not! What is even more shocking to see is that all political parties barring Samajwadi Party have openly espoused the creation of a high court bench in West UP but still even after seventy years of independence we see no sign of it happening anytime soon! What is most shocking is that inspite of West UP accounting for more than half of the crime cases all over UP, not a single high court bench has been created here since 1947 till now even though a high court bench was created at Lucknow which is just about 150-200 km away from Allahabad way back on July 1, 1948! What an unbeatable irony that Allahabad High Court tops with maximum pending cases at 10 lakh and still it has least high court benches – only one at Lucknow for just 12 districts! 
                                          What a shame that man and boys in West UP have the guts to indulge in molestation as they 14 of them did in Rampur district in West UP when they  molested and assaulted 2 girls in broad daylight in a village under Tanda police station in Rampur and also filmed the act on their cellphone cameras and later put it on Facebook! One accused even forcibly lifts her up laughing! While the girls are seen pleading with them to let them go, the youths are seen laughing and misbehaving with them! This is fast becoming the norm in West UP and even UP!
                                      We all saw how recently in Kushinagar a rapist got bail and after coming out he again tried to rape the same victim and threatened her with dire consequences! Even hospitals are not safe for women and we read recently how a woman was raped in a top hospital itself by rapists in capital of UP that is Lucknow without any fear whatsoever!
                            There is zero fear of law in West UP and UP! How long will the government keep tom-tomming the same old argument on lawlessness in West UP and UP? Why no strict action is taken against culprits?  Rajnath Singh who is Union Home Minister while addressing public gathering in Patiyali constituency of Kasarganj district is on record stating in February 2017 that UP reported 7,673 riots, 4660 murder, 4096 robberies and 260 dacoities in just one year and has pledged on numerous occasions his unstinted support for a high court bench in West UP but even after his BJP led government is nearing 3 years in power yet it has failed to create even a single more bench of high court not just in West UP but anywhere in UP! Why?
                                                                                                                        Such criminals know fully well that Allahabad High Court has the highest number of pending cases – about 10 lakh as compared to other states where the number of pending cases don’t exceed 1 lakh or at the most 2 lakhs cases! They know that they will easily get bail and by the time cases are finally decided they will die a natural death. This must change which is possible only if at least in my opinion 10 more benches of high court are created in different parts of UP! Such poor, hapless women and girls, for God sake, need more high court benches and not more temples!
                                               But see the unpalatable irony! Politicians are not prepared to create even a single bench anywhere in UP leave alone West UP!  It is a matter of great shame that Allahabad High Court which last year on March 17 had completed its 150th year of establishment has the least benches in India – only one at Lucknow and that too just about 150-200 km away from Allahabad! Why no high court bench in West UP at Meerut or Agra or at Jhansi or some other place? We all know that Allahabad High Court is the biggest court in whole of Asia and also the oldest court! Still why it has least benches in India only one which is so close to Allahabad? If Lucknow is capital of UP, Bhopal is also capital of MP, Bhubaneshwar is also capital of Odisha and so is the case with many other big cities which neither have high court nor bench!
                                          Why politicians have ensured that a high court bench was created for Lucknow about 69 years back on July 1, 1948 but not at any other place especially in West UP, Bundelkhand and Gorakhpur even 70 years later? Why Centre decided to create 2 more benches for Karnataka at Dharwad and Gulbarga for just 4 and 8 districts but not a single for West UP with 26 disricts? Why 230th report of Law Commission submitted in 2009 which recommended creation of more benches has only been implemented in Karnataka alone and not in UP, Bihar or other big states? Why Karnataka has just 6 lakh population which is less than the population of even West UP which has 9 crore population, has less than 2 lakh pending cases as compared to UP which has 10 lakh pending cases still 2 more high court benches created for it but not a single more for UP?
                                           When Dr Sampoornanand who was the UP CM way back in 1955 very strongly recommended a high court bench for West UP at Meerut, Jawaharlal Nehru refused as he felt that one bench at Lucknow was enough. The number of pending cases way back in 1948 were not much but see the situation now! West UP now accounts for more than half of the pending cases of total pending cases of UP and UP tops the maximum pending cases state list with 10 lakh pending cases still it has just one high court bench as no more benches were created in UP since 1948! Other states like Karnataka and Maharashtra don’t have 10 lakh or 9 lakh or 8 lakh or 7 lakh or 6 lakh or 5 lakh or 4 lakh or 3 lakh or even 2 lakh cases still they have got 3 high court benches but UP has only one! Is this fair?
                                              Why not a single bench of high court was created in West UP even though Justice Jaswant Singh Commission appointed by former PM late Mrs Indira Gandhi very strongly recommended 3 benches for West UP and hilly areas adjoining it which now form a separate state – Uttarakhand at Agra, Nainital and Dehradun? Why women victims have to travel so far away to Allahabad which is about 700-800 km away from most of the districts of West UP and be made to suffer so much for the inordinate delay and made to bear the huge expenses in fighting the case for her right in making sure that sexual offenders are sent behind bars?
                                              Eminent and senior Supreme Court lawyer and former Law Minister Kapil Sibal himself had mentioned that he had recommended a high court bench at Meerut but the then state government led by Akhilesh Yadav refused to endorse it! It was way back in 1955 that Dr Sampoornanand had recommended a high court bench for West UP at Meerut but even after 62 years we see no bench as Centre had refused then! Similarly many other UP CM had also recommended the creation of a high court bench here but to no avail! Why? Our former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had himself raised the demand for a high court bench for West UP in 1986 inside Parliament but even after more than 30 years we are nowhere! 
                                         Lawyers of West UP have been striking work for 6 months without break several times demanding high court bench as they did in 2001 and for 3 months as they did in 2014-15 and we keep seeing strike nearly every month apart from the strike of Saturdays yet no bench! They even go on strike every Saturday since May 1981 to protest West UP not being given a bench even though Justice Jaswant Commission had explicitly recommended 3 benches! What they get is just fake assurances sometimes from Centre and sometimes from State! Nothing else! 
                                           Finally and most importantly, now no more delay and no more lame excuses! Now only and only more benches for UP! Only then will the more than 22 crore people of UP get some relief especially women and girls who are most vulnerable to all types of crimes and will not have to waste huge money and time to get justice which they don’t get usually in their lifetime as Allahabad High Court is overloaded with more than 10 lakh pending cases and more than half of High Court Judges post are still lying vacant! This open endless sham must end now!
                                           If a high court bench is created it is “poorest of poor” and the most deprived and hapless women who will benefit most as they will be saved from the unnecessary trouble of travelling so far and spending so much extra money, time etc to just attend one hearing alone! Centre must have some pity on woman at least who are most unsafe in lawless UP and especially West UP and immediately order creation of more benches not just in West UP but also in other parts of UP where the crime rate is high! Crime rate is highest in West UP which necessitates creation of bench here on  a war footing!    
                                               Why Centre decided to create high courts for Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur with just 36, 29 and 27 lakh population but denied a bench to West UP with more than 9 crore population? Why Centre has overlooked that as UP accounts for maximum pending cases – more than 10 lakh cases and here too West UP accounts for more than 57% of pending cases, UP must have maximum and not minimum benches and West UP must have most benches and not none?
                                         Why Centre takes no time in creating high court itself at Sikkim where the number of pending cases are just 69 – 54 civil and 15 criminal but fails to approve even a single bench for West UP which has several lakhs of pending cases? Why Centre takes no time in creating two more high court benches for Karnataka which has just 6 crore population at Gulbarga and Dharwad even though the number of pending cases are just 1,55,690 and it already had a bench at Hubli whereas in UP the population is 20 crore and the number of pending cases are more than 10 lakh at least yet it has least benches in India and West UP with 26 districts and more than 7 lakh cases have none but Centre refuses to approve even a single bench leave alone 3 benches as recommended by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission? Not just this, it refuses to set up even a single bench in any hook and corner of UP even though senior Cabinet Ministers like Rajnath Singh, Dr Sanjeev Baliyan etc repeatedly keep pledging their unstinted support for a bench!
 In an unprecedented event which shall definitely have far-reaching consequences, the Chairman of UP Bar Council – Anil Pratap Singh while addressing lawyers at Meerut just recently very categorically said that it is necessary to create at Meerut a Bench of High Court. Never before in my life have I ever seen such a senior and distinguished lawyer of eminence openly supporting the age old demand for a high court bench for West UP at Meerut. The lawyers of not just Meerut but of entire West UP are very happy with this historic development which shall certainly have far reaching consequences!
                                                         Anil Pratap Singh who has been the Chairman of UP Bar Council has not just assured his unstinted support for the age old demand for a high court bench in West UP but has also said unambiguously that very soon along with a delegation of senior lawyers would meet the Chief Justice of India and Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court to press for the creation of a High Court Bench in West UP. He also said that according to population and the number of pending cases also it was imperative to create a High Court Bench in West UP. We all know that UP has maximum pending cases in India with Allahabad High Court owing for more than 10 lakh cases which is highest among all High Courts and here too cases from West UP are more than 57% which was accepted by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission also way back in late 1970s!
                                                       Anil Pratap also said that very soon he would make sure that a High court Bench would be created in West UP! For the first time we can see that a real glimmer of hope is emerging for the creation of a High Court Bench in West UP. One hopes that it materializes soon.
                                             I must express my utmost gratitude and profuse compliments to former Justice BP Singh (retd) of Allahabad High Court for not just accepting the invitation to swear in the newly elected members of Meerut Bar but also publicly supporting the age-old demand for a high court bench in West UP. He said that Centre should promptly create a high court bench in West UP without any more further delay. He also exhorted the lawyers of Meerut Bar to make bench movement a public movement. He also suggested that it is only by connecting people that the bench movement will be made stronger.
                                     Justice BP Singh minced no words in making it absolutely clear that as long as this bench movement for creation of a high court bench in West UP is restricted to lawyers only and will not get connected with people it will never attain success. It is a no brainer thus that the more than 9 crore people of West UP would have to connect with this bench issue to make it a splendid success. There can be no denying this and when such an experienced Judge of the Allahabad High Court himself says this on record, what more should I say?
                                            It is a matter of deep anguish that lawyers who represent people in court and are law officers of court are increasingly being targeted by criminals themselves and killed without any fear. How can any legal system operate where lawyers are themselves not safe? Lawyers all across UP are not safe and feel constantly threatened to heir lives. This alone explains why at the call of the UP Bar Council, lawyers all across UP keep going on strike as the lawyers keep getting killed every now and then! Why Ajay Kumar Shukla who is a senior advocate in Allahabad high court and former Chairman of UP Bar Council support creation of a bench in West UP as also Madhulika Yadav who is Vice Chairman of UP Bar Council? It is because as Rajinder Chaudhary who was a senior minister in former UP CM Akhilesh’s Cabinet noted while addressing lawyers of Meerut Bar that UP needs not just one or two but 6 benches!
                                      Who will benefit if more high court benches are built –  Hindus alone or Muslims alone or Sikhs alone or Christians alone? No, all people of all religions will benefit equally if more high court benches are built especially in UP which is notorious for being the “rape and crime capital of India” as former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon put it aptly! Then why are all politicians of all parties adamant that except the one bench created by Jawaharlal Nehru about 70 years back at Lucknow on July 1, 1948 no bench should be created anywhere else under any circumstances? Is the ghost of Nehruji compelling them to behave so irrationally? Why the recommendations of Justice Jaswant Singh Commission to create a high court bench at Aurangabad was promptly accepted but recommendations to create 3 high court benches at Nainital, Agra and Dehradun were blatantly disregarded?  
                                            If a high court bench is created it is “poorest of poor” of all castes and all religions and the most deprived and hapless women of all religions and all castes who will benefit most as they will be saved from the unnecessary trouble of travelling so far and spending so much extra money, time etc to just attend one hearing alone! What will temple give? Only Hindu devotees will be satisfied and for justice they too who live in West UP would have to march 700-800 km as we see right now! Centre must have some pity on woman at least now who are most unsafe in lawless UP and especially West UP and immediately order creation of more benches not just in West UP but also in other parts of UP where the crime rate is high! Crime rate is highest in West UP which necessitates creation of bench here on  a war footing by which people of all religions and all castes and all sexes will benefit equally!  
                                              Dr Satyapal Singh who is the former Mumbai Police Commissioner and presently represents Baghpat constituency as BJP MP raised most forcefully the pressing issue of setting up of a high court bench issue in Lok Sabha on March 9, 2016. He pointed out how despite UP having more than 22 crore population and 75 districts has least benches and West UP has none! Should we proud of this? He rightly said that, “I had raised the issue of the HC bench in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. This is not only a need for lawyers but also the need of the common people as well. There should be a bench in Meerut, Agra, Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Jhansi. If the Lucknow bench of HC can be created for 12 districts, why can’t we have 4-5 separate benches for all the 75 districts in the state? The first war of independence began from Meerut and the movement to provide affordable justice to people should also start from Meerut. I have already written a letter to PM Modi and I will write to him again. We don’t need the consent of either the state government or the CJ of the Allahabad HC”.
                                         Why can’t 10 high court benches be created for UP which has 75 districts which means at least one bench for 7 to 8 districts? Why 2 more high court benches for a peaceful state like Karnataka and not a single more for a lawless state like UP? What is stopping politicians from creating more benches in UP? They must answer! Lower courts in UP has more than 50 lakh cases pending and still we see that there is only one high court bench in UP and that too very near to Allahabad! Why? Introspect! UP needs more benches and not anti-Romeo squads! UP needs more benches and not more temples!  
Sanjeeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kaankerkhera,
Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.  

President From West UP Still No High Court Bench Here

Coming straight to the centre-stage, let me begin by voicing my utmost happiness to learn that for the first time in the history of independent India a President has been elected from not just UP but also West UP which is among the most neglected regions even though it contributes maximum by way of revenue and earnings. Ram Nath Kovind who was the NDA’s candidate and former Bihar Governor will become India’s 14th President and first RSS member to become Indian President. His being elected as President is the biggest slap on those who foolishly term RSS as a “terror organization”. Will our President join a terror organization?
                                              Kovindji was elected India’s 14th President on July 20 winning two-thirds (65.65 percent) of the total votes polled in the fight against the Opposition candidate Meira Kumar. He will take oath on July 25. He will be the second Dalit President after late President KR Narayanan but more significantly the first from not just UP but also West UP.
                                           Kovindji is a self-made man who practised brilliantly at the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court for 16 years. He was also a Central Government Counsel for some time. He has worked for the rights of the weaker sections particularly the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women. He joined the movement of SC/ST employees against the central government over 1997 orders which adversely affected their interests. The orders were subsequently nullified by amendments adopted during the first National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. He also worked for providing free legal aid to the poor and weaker sections of the society as an advocate.
                                                 He represented India at the United Nations and addressed the United Nations General Assembly in October 2002. He also served as member on the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Management Kolkata and that of Dr BR Ambedkar University, Lucknow. He served two terms as the Rajya Sabha member (1994-2006) and was member of a number of Parliamentary Committees, including on Hme, welfare of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and the Hindi Shiksha Samiti.   
                                           Kovindji while recalling his humble roots said his home had “mud walls” and the “straw roof” could not stop water from leaking in when it rained. He said that, “Today it rained in Delhi, reminding me of the monsoon of my childhood. We had a kuccha house and the roof leaked. We, the siblings, would huddle around a wall, waiting for the rain to stop. There would be so many Ram Nath Kovinds in the country today, getting drenched in the rain, doing farm work, labour and sweating it out so that they can get their evening meals. I want to tell them that this Ram Nath Kovind of Paraunkh village (in Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh) is going to Rashtrapati Bhavan as their representative.” Very rightly said!
                                                Who can be better than Kovindji to convince Centre that West UP from where he hails has more than 9 crore population, accounts for more than half of the total pending cases in UP, accounts for maximum riots, murders, rapes, gang-rapes, dacoities and other crimes and still West UP has no Bench of High Court due to which the people here have to travel 700-800 km on average all the way to Allahabad as there is no High Court Bench here? Who can be better than Kovindji to convince Centre that lawyers of West UP have been agitating since last many decades for a High Court Bench and have even been striking for 6 months continuously as they did in 2001 and every Saturday since May 1981 in protest against Centre decision not to set up a High Court Bench here even though Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice Jaswant Singh and appointed by Centre itself had way back in 1980s recommended that 3 High Court Benches be set up at Agra, Nainital and Dehradun even though on its recommendations High Court Bench were set up at Aurangabad in Maharashtra way back in 1985, at Jalpaiguri in West Bengal and Madurai in Tamil Nadu? Who can be better than Kovindji to convince Centre that it is the “poorest of the poor” in West UP who are suffering the most due to High Court Bench not being set up here and Benches and High Courts of 8 states and even Lahore High Court in Pakistan is nearer to West UP as compared to Allahabad?
                                        Who can be better than Kovindji to explain to Centre citing the brutal gang rape incident of 4 women on national highway at Jewar near Greater Noida in West UP and murder of their men when they resisted and even after 56 days no arrests have been made and it is West UP which must have a High Court Bench? Who can be better than Kovindji to explain to Centre that even though people of my area are basking in joy at my being elected but still they will have to travel all the way to Allahabad to attend court hearings and spend so much of extra money to travel whole day all the way to Allahabad as there is no High Court Bench here in West UP as both High Court at Allahabad and a single Bench set up at Lucknow on July 1, 1948 which is just 150-200 km away from Allahabad are both in Eastern UP? Who can be better than Kovindji to explain to Centre that when 2 high court benches can be set up for just 4 and 8 districts at Dharwad and Gulbarga in Karnataka in 2012 by previous UPA government in Centre then why can’t the present NDA government set up even a single Bench of High Court for 26 districts of West UP at Kanpur or Meerut or Ghaziabad or Agra or Aligarh or anywhere else wherever it deems appropriate?     
                                               Who can be better than Kovindji to explain to Centre that maximum caste violence is taking place in West UP as we saw recently in Saharanpur due to which even Mayawati resigned her membership as Rajya Sabha MP as she felt that she was not allowed to rake it up in detail and so High Court Bench must be created here? Who can be better than Kovind to explain to Centre that it was way back in 1955 that Dr Sampoornanand had recommended a High Court Bench in West UP at Meerut and many other Chief Ministers also recommended the same but till now still no Bench has been created here? Who can be better than Kovindji to explain to Centre that Rajnath Singh who is our Union Home Minister and former UP CM  just recently had assured the lawyers at Meerut that very soon they will get to hear happy news pertaining to setting up of a High Court Bench in West UP? Who can be better than Kovindji to explain to Centre that former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had himself demanded the setting up of a Bench in West UP right inside Parliament in 1986 while in Opposition?
                                                    Who can be better than Kovindji to explain to Centre that being a lawyer himself in the past who can be better than him to understand how much miseries the more than 9 crore people of West UP have to suffer due to it not having a High Court Bench even though all the elected representatives from here support the age old legitimate demand for a Bench? Who can be better than Kovindji to explain to Centre that 230th Law Commission advocates setting up of more High Court Benches and UP being the biggest State with maximum crime deserves High Court Bench more than any other State as even former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon termed UP as “rape and crime capital Of India” so that justice is available to people living here at doorsteps? I am certain that Kovindji will be the representative of the poor on Raisina Hill as he has himself assured. Even former PM late Mrs Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, VP Singh Dr Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee had acknowledged that a bench of high court for west UP is perfectly justified with Vajpayee raising it even in Parliament! 
                                Kovindji must also ask Centre: Why can’t our leaders understand that a high court bench in West UP is not going to benefit just people of one religion or one caste or one sex alone? Why don’t our politicians appreciate that people of all religions, all communities, all castes, all sexes and all others who comprise part of 9 crore people staying in West UP will benefit if a high court bench is set up here? Why should litigants be compelled to travel so far to Allahabad and waste huge money in staying, travelling, eating and other expenses? Why no one is caring for “poorest of poor” who have to travel so far all the way to Allahabad to get justice? Why Rajinder Aggarwal who is BJP MP from Meerut brings forward private member bill in Parliament for creating high court bench in West UP but Centre refuses to support it? Why eminent, senior lawyers like Anil Bakshi who is Member of UP Bar Council and also former President of Meerut Bar Council proudly says that he has been to jail in past while agitating for a high court bench in West UP and can go any number of times to jail for the sake of bench in West UP? It is because bench is a dire need for the more than 9 crore people of West UP who are suffering interminably due to no bench being created here!
                                 If a high court bench is created in West UP for more than 9 crore people living here it is “poorest of poor” and the most deprived and hapless women who will benefit most as they will be saved from the unnecessary trouble of travelling so far and spending so much extra money, time etc to just attend one hearing alone which can certainly be avoided if a high court bench is created here! Centre must have some pity on woman at least who are most unsafe in lawless UP and especially West UP and keeping the interests of such women victims in mind immediately order creation of more benches not just in West UP but also in other parts of UP where the crime rate is high! Crime rate is highest in West UP as validated by recent incidents which necessitates creation of high court bench here on  a war footing! 
                                                      Who can be better than Kovind to explain to Centre that how can he speak for the whole of India if the people of West UP from where he hails are suffering the worst form of injustice by being denied even a single High Court Bench since last 70 years? Who can be better than Kovind to ask Centre that why states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam and others have 3 high court benches even though the number of pending cases in these cases is not 10 lakh or 9 lakh or 8 lakh or 7 lakh or 6 lakh or 5 lakh or 4 lakh or 3 lakh or even 2 lakh as opposed to UP which has more than 10 lakh pending cases and yet has only one single high court bench at Lucknow which is just 150-200 km away from Allahabad leaving the rest of UP high and dry? Who can be better than Kovind to ask that why when more than 57% of pending cases are from West UP as was testified by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission did Centre not approve even a single bench here nor for any other place in UP? Who can be better than Kovind to ask Centre that why this step-motherly treatment with UP and especially West UP?
                                           Who can be better than Kovindji to ask Centre that why when UP which is among the largest States, has maximum population – more than 22 crore as CM Yogi Adityanath keeps pointing out every now and then, maximum districts – 75, maximum constituencies,  maximum MPs – 80, maximum MLAs – 404, maximum PM including Narendra Modi, maximum pending cases – more than 10 lakh and here too West UP accounts for more than half of pending cases as noted by Justice Jaswant Commission about 57%, maximum Judges which earlier was 160 and increased to 200 in high court, maximum vacancies of Judges – 75 in high court, maximum poverty, maximum villages more than one lakh, maximum cities more than 700, maximum fake encounters killings, custody killings, maximum dowry cases, maximum rape and gang rape cases, maximum bride burning cases, maximum cases of human rights violations, maximum undertrials, maximum cases of crime, loot, arson and riots and here too West UP tops with Saharanpur riots, Meerut riots, Muzaffarnagar riots tarnishing our international reputation to the extent that former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon termed UP as “crime and rape capital” of India and what not yet Centre is not prepared to create even a single bench for not just West UP but entire UP? Who can be better than Kovindji to ask Centre that why when UP sends maximum MPs to Lok Sabha – 80, maximum MPs to Rajya Sabha – 30, maximum MLAs to State Assembly – 404 MLAs and maximum members to State Legislative Council – 100 MLAs and yet has least Benches – only one and that too just 150 km away from Allahabad at Lucknow? You see for yourself the distance from Allahabad to all major districts of West UP and they are as follows: –
District                          Distance
Meerut                          637 km
Muzzaffarnagar            693 km
Saharanpur                  752 km
Ghaziabad                    607 km
Bijnore                          692 km
Gautambuddhnagar     650 km
Bulandshahr                 537 km
Hathras                         550 km
Rampur                         633 km
Moradabad                    662 km
Aligarh                           501 km
Mathura                         501 km
Agra                               464 km
Etah                               497 km
Mainpuri                         462 km
Shamli                            720 km
Hapur                             600 km
Sambhal                         650 km
Amroha                     692 km    
Kanpur                             620                                            
                                 Kovindji must also ask Centre:  Why West UP has an area of 98,933 square km which accounts for 33.61 percent of total area of UP and yet no bench but Lucknow in Central region has just 62,363 square km and yet it has a bench?   Centre has all the power to create a high court bench in West UP without any recommendation from the state government as the former Attorney General Soli J Sorabjee had rightly said way back in 2001 when he was asked about it. He had rightly said that, “The Centre without any recommendation from the State Chief Minister or Chief Justice of a State is fully empowered under our Constitution to set up a high court bench anywhere it wants at its own volition.” Still why Centre is not acting? Now NDA is in power both in Centre and in UP then what is the problem in creating a High Court Bench in West UP? One can understand that former Union Minister in UPA regime RPN Singh had pointed out that Kapil Sibal who was earlier Union Law Minister had wanted to create a High Court Bench in West UP at Meerut but the then UP CM Akhilesh Yadav was not prepared for it but NDA is in power now in both Centre and UP then where is the problem? Why Centre ignores blithely what the former Chairman of Supreme Court Bar Association Krishna Mani had said explicitly that, “Only by the creation of a bench of high court in West UP will the people be able to secure speedy and cheap justice at their doorsteps!”             
                                    Who can be better than Kovindji to ask: Why women victims have to travel so far away to Allahabad which is about 700-800 km away from most of the districts of West UP and be made to suffer so much for the inordinate delay and made to bear the huge expenses in fighting the case for her right in making sure that sexual offenders are sent behind bars? Why poor farmers and poor people from West UP are made to travel so much and spend so much extra money just to secure justice to the extent that they have to mortgage their land, property etc? Why can’t Centre create a High Court Bench here? Centre must itself ponder that how can it allow the more than 9 crore people of West UP from where the new President Ram Nath Kovindji hails to continue suffering endlessly by being denied even a high court bench to West UP even in 2018 even though Lucknow has a bench since 1948 even though it is just about 150-200 km away from Allahabad where the high court itself is located?
Sanjeeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kaankerkhera,
Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.  

New Mental Health Care Bill Decrimialising Attempt To Suicide Is Truly Historic From All Angles

Coming straight to the nub of the matter, let me begin first and foremost by penning down my extreme happiness and utmost satisfaction to note that the new Mental Health Care Bill  decrimialising attempt to suicide is truly historic from all angles!  It gives me more happiness to note that this new Mental Health Care Bill has been passed by both the Houses of Parliament. Thus we see that the Parliamentary approval has been secured which was mandatory for it to become a law.
New Mental Health Care Bill Decrimialising Attempt To Suicide Is Truly Historic From All Angles

                                                      While craving for the exclusive indulgence of my esteemed readers, let me inform them that the new Mental Health Care Bill the new Mental Health Care Bill which decriminalises attempt to suicide and bans use of electric shock therapy for treating children with mental illness was passed by the Lok Sabha on March 27, 2017. With the Lok Sabha’s assent to the legislation, the new Mental Health Care Bill secured parliamentary approval as it  was earlier passed by the Rajya Sabha in August 2016. This is a very good news especially for those who require mental health care. Also, it has received the Presidential assent on April 7, 2017.
                                                        To put things in perspective, an important salient factor in the Bill is that it separates attempt to suicide from the Indian Penal Code. In effect, IPC provisions cannot be invoked in case of an attempt to suicide. Since the person undertakes the extreme step of killing oneself in extreme mental stress thus meaning that it is triggered by mental illness – the Bill does not criminalise it. This is what is so laudable and it has been lauded by human rights activists, lawyers, doctors and all right minded people. Those who attempt to commit suicide need treatment and not punishment. Many times even a good friend can do the job of a doctor and help his/her friend to come out of the mental illness and again lead a normal life much like any other ordinary person.
                                Be it noted, the new Mental Health Care Bill provides for a rights-based comprehensive health care to the mentally ill. It aims to provide for the right to better health care for mentally ill persons. Any mentally ill person shall have the right to –
·       Access mental health care
·       Community living
·       Seek protection from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
·       Equality and non-discrimination
·       Information
·       Confidentiality
·       Access medical records
·        Personal contacts and communication
·       Legal aid                      
·       Make complaints about deficiencies in provision of services
·       Place restriction on release of information in respect of mental illness
                                      Let me bring out here that the new Bill also allows a mentally ill person to have the right to restrict release of information with respect to the illness and make a complaint about deficiencies in provision of services. All this will surely benefit them and have therefore been very rightly incorporated in the Bill. Apart from this there are many other laudable features in this Bill. Some of them are as follows : –
1.   The Mental Health Care Bill ensures that every person has the right to access mental health care and treatment from health services run or funded by government.
2.   It assures free treatment for mentally ill persons if they are homeless or poor, even if they do not possess a Below Poverty Line card.
3.   Health Minister JP Nadda himself said in Lok Sabha that, “This Bill compels the state to have a mental health programme and it empowers the individuals,” adding that the Bill has a “patient-centric” approach with the aim of increasing participation of service users.
4.   It also goes forward to provide that a person with mental illness will have the right to make an advance directive in writing specifying the way the person wishes to be cared for and treated for a mental illness.   
5.   It also recognizes the role of caregivers as those who can be appointed as a nominated representative of a mentally ill person, members of the Central Mental Health Authority and State Mental Health Authorities, or members of Mental Health Review Boards.
6.   On the clauses decriminalizing suicide, the Bill states that  a person who attempts suicide should be presumed to have severe stress and shall not be punished. It shall benefit mainly those who are poor or have failed in an exam or have suffered any other major setback in their respective lives due to which they don’t feel like living further. JP Nadda who is our Health Minister also said that, “Suicide is a mental disease. It will not be a criminal act, it will be decriminalized. It recognizes that it is done under severe mental stress”. This is really most historic and will benefit not just poor farmers who attempt suicide due to poverty but all other persons who attempt suicide due to one reason or the other. No one has been left out and this is really good. Punishing further a person who is already tormented does not make any sense and this alone explains why most of the countries in the world are now doing away with the penal provisions which punishes persons who attempt to commit suicide but fail due to one reason or the other.
7.   It is expressly provided in the Mental Health care Bill that, “Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, any person who attempts to commit suicide shall be presumed, unless proved otherwise, to have severe stress and shall not be tried and punished under the said Code.” No sane person will ever recommend further punishing a person who is already under so much of stress and strain that he/she attempts to end his/her life. This is therefore most laudable and must be applauded by one and all.
8.   It also provides mentally ill people a right to confidentiality in respect of mental health, mental healthcare, treatment and physical healthcare. Photographs or any other information pertaining to the person cannot be released to the media without the consent of the person with mental illness. This will ensure that no one is able to mock the mentally ill persons through media or in any other manner unless they consent to it.
9.   The Bill empowers the government to set up a Central Mental Health Authority at the national level and a State Mental Health Authority in every state. Every mental health institute and mental health practitioners including clinical psychologists, mental health nurses and psychiatric social workers will have to be registered with this Authority.
10.         A Mental Health Review Board will be constituted to protect the rights of persons with mental illness and manage advance directives.
11.         Under Section 108 of this Mental Health Care Bill, the punishment for flouting of provisions will attract up to six months in prison or Rs 10,000 fine or both. Repeat offenders can face up to two years in jail or a fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh or both. This will make sure that the rights of mentally ill persons are protected under all circumstances. No one will dare transgress and still if someone transgresses then he/she will be awarded the appropriate punishment.
12. Section 18 stipulates that every person shall have a right to access mental health care and treatment from mental health services run or funded by the appropriate government.
13. Section 20 stipulates that every person with mental illness shall have a right to live with dignity and be protected from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in any mental health establishment.
14. Section 21 guarantees the right to equality and non-discrimination to every person with mental illness. No discrimination of any kind will be permitted under any circumstances against the mentally ill persons.
15. Section 19 guarantees to every person with mental illness to have a right to community living and not to be segregated from society.
16. The Bill defines “mental illness” as a substantial disorder of thinking, mood, perception, orientation or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognise reality or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life, mental conditions associated with the abuse of alcohol and drugs, but does not include mental retardation which is a condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind of a person, specially characterised by subnormality of intelligence.
17. A person with mental illness shall have the right to make an advance directive that states how he/she wants to be treated for the illness and who his/her nominated representative shall be. It includes the right not to be treated and say no to institutionalization. The advance directive should be certified by a medical practitioner registered with the Mental Health Board. If a mental health professional/relative/care-giver does not wish to follow the directive while treating the person, he can make an application to the Mental Health Board to review/alter/cancel the advance directive.
18. A person with mental illness shall not be subjected to electro-convulsive therapy without the use of muscle relaxants and anaesthesia. Also, electro-convulsive therapy will not be performed for minors. Sterilisation will not be performed on such persons. They shall not be chained in any manner or form whatsoever under any circumstances.  
19. The Bill clearly emphasizes on ensuring no intrusion of rights and dignity of people with mental illness.
20. The Bill provides for ensuring healthcare, treatment and rehabilitation of persons with mental illness “in a manner that does not intrude on their rights and dignity”.
21. The Bill also stipulates administrative bodies at central, state levels to register, supervise, maintain list of mental health establishments; develop quality and service provision norms; keep register of mental health professionals; train officials; receive complaints and advise the government on matters of mental health.
                                   This Bill has undergone wide ranging public consultations, debates and discussions from 2010 onwards. These include regional consultations and a national consultation that was attended by nearly 300 stakeholders. In a first, Parliament devoted six hours exclusively debating and discussing mental health issues. Also, it merits mention here that a record number of 29 MPs had participated in the debate, without the usual acrimony, ruckus, cacophony or disruptions and most important of all they all expressed their unstinted support to it.
                                       The Bill lays down that “Every person shall have a right to access mental health care and treatment from mental health services run or funded by the appropriate government. The right to access mental health care and treatment shall mean mental health services of affordable cost, of good quality, available in sufficient quantity, accessible geographically, without discrimination on the basis of gender, sex, sexual orientation, religion, culture, caste, social or political beliefs, class, disability or any other basis and provided in a manner that is acceptable to a person with mental illness and their families and care-givers.”
                                   It would be pertinent to mention here that the range of services specified in it includes outpatient and impatient services, half-way homes, sheltered accommodation, supported accommodation and provisions for child and old-age mental health services. It also contains a provision for the notification of a list of essential medicines, providing which will be the obligation of the relevant government.  
                                    It must be highlighted here that Pune-based psychiatrist Dr Saumitra Pathare who had drafted the Bill along with Professor Jaya Sagade said the Bill will turn good lot of aspects in the mental health care. Dr Pathare said that, “For the first time, there is an emphasis on rehabilitation within the community. The Bill talks about the patients right to live within the community and not in seclusion. This changes the perspective with which we look at mentally ill patients,” adding that the Bill has a clause that mandates the government to increase the number of mental health workers.   
                               It is no ordinary thing that 150 million Indians require treatment for mental illness but nearly 80-90%  receive just no treatment. Also, we spend less than 1% of the public health budget on mental health even though it is true that mental health problems constitute nearly 13% of the health burden. An estimated 6-7% of India’s population suffer from some kind of mental illness, while 1-2% have an acute condition.
                               
                                    As things stand, the nation’s grossly inadequate base of professional resources is evident from its ratio of 0.3 psychiatrists for 100,000 people with marginally higher numbers taking independent private practitioners into account as compared to China’s 1.7. There are also massive deficiencies in the availability of trained clinical psychologists and psychiatric social workers. All this must be set right which is a herculean task but definitely not impossible!
                                        It must be noted here that India which has 17.5% of the world’s population alone accounts for 17% of the world’s suicides. As per government data, 1,31,666 Indians committed suicide in 2014. This grew to 1,33,623 suicides in 2015. 150 million Indians need treatment for mental illness but nearly 80-90% receive no treatment. We spend less than 1% of the public health budget on mental health even though mental health problems constitute nearly 13% of the health burden. This alone explains what necessitated the urgent bringing of this Bill and passing it as soon as possible so that it comes into effect at the earliest!
                                 All said and done, this new Mental Health Care Bill which decriminalizes attempt to suicide is truly historic from all angles. This alone explains why it has been hailed by a lot of eminent jurists, intellectuals and lawyers. Even the 210th report of Law Commission had recommended to decriminalize the attempt to suicide. To punish a person who is already not mentally well can never be justified under any circumstances! So it is really great to see that finally humanity has won and this is clear from the passage of this historic Bill and has even received the assent of the President now.
                                     No looking back! A change in people’s perception is also required towards those suffering from mental illness as this alone can remove the stigma and discrimination that stands in the way of finding cures and enabling them to live a complete life which they actually deserve also! Let’s hope so! In fact hoping alone will not suffice! We all have to collectively work together to ensure that this new Bill once it comes into effect is effectively implemented instead of just leaving everything on the Government alone! It is certainly not easy but definitely it is eminently possible provided we are all committed to it! The present NDA government must be lauded for bringing forward such a historic Bill and in fact all those MPs who ensured its passage in Parliament must also be lauded unequivocally no matter from which party they hail! This ostensibly shows that all MPs who have ensured the passage of this historic Bill in Parliament are all concerned equally about the deplorable plight of the mentally ill persons and have done their level best to ensure that they are adequately protected and cared for!
          Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,
Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.

Patna HC Upholds Life Term For Mohammad Shahabuddin

Introduction
                                                     Let me at the very outset begin by stating that the Patna High Court on August 30, 2017 upheld a lower district court order of life sentence to former Rashtriya Janata Dal MP and Siwan strongman Mohammad Shahabuddin along with three others in a double murder case for giving an acid bath to two brothers and murdering them 13 years ago. Shahabuddin and the others had challenged their conviction. The former MP is currently lodged in the high security Tihar jail of New Delhi.

                                          No merit
                                          While craving for the exclusive indulgence of my benevolent readers, let me inform them that the Division Bench of Justices KK Mandal and Sanjay Kumar of the Patna High Court said without mincing any words while pronouncing the landmark verdict that, “This court finds no merit to interfere with the judgment of conviction and order of sentence passed by the trial court”.  It must be revealed here that the court had completed the hearing in the case on June 30 but had reserved the order. This is certainly a big jolt for Shahabuddin and three others who were keenly anticipating of getting bail from the High Court but that did not happen!
                                                  For the exclusive indulgence of my benevolent readers, let me also inform them that Shahabuddin’s lawyer had earlier pleaded the trial court order to be quashed as the former MP Shahabuddin’s name had not figured in the initial FIR and was added only after 62 months which is certainly quite a long time. But the High Court was not convinced by these arguments. The High Court felt that there was credible evidence to implicate him in the case.
                                  Life Term Upheld
                                                 It must be brought out here that the Patna High Court while endorsing the life imprisonment awarded to Mohammad Shahabuddin also rejected Shahabuddin’s plea challenging the sentence awarded by the Siwan District Court on December 11, 2015. Shahabuddin and three others were sentenced to life imprisonment by Additional District Judge of Siwan Special Court – Ajay Kumar Srivastava in 2015. Shahabuddin’s lawyer told journalists that the High Court has upheld the life imprisonment conviction and they would now move the Supreme Court for relief.
                         Conviction by lower court
                                              It may be recalled here that while hearing the case of abduction and double murder of Satish Raj and Girish Raj, both young sons of a prominent businessman of Siwan, Chandrakeshwar Prasad alias Chanda Babu, the Special Court in Siwan on December 11, 2015 had sentenced Shahabuddin aand Munna Mian, Sheikh Aslam and Rajkumar Sah. The Special Court of Additional District Judge Ajay Kumar Srivastava had found all the accused persons guilty under Sections 302 (murder), 364A (kidnapping for ransom etc), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
                                 Acid poured
                                        Truth be told, Satish Raj and Girish Raj were abducted and, later, killed by pouring acid on August 16, 2004 allegedly by Shahabuddin and his henchmen. Chanda Babu’s third son, Rajiv Roshan who is an eyewitness in the murder of his brothers, too was shot dead on June 11, 2014, three days before he was to testify. Shahabuddin was accused in the murder of Rajiv Roshan also.
                                    Justice meted out
                                              After the Patna High Court order, Chanda Babu told journalists over phone that. “Justice has finally prevailed and his faith in God restored”. He felt strongly that justice has been meted out to the killers of his 3 sons who were killed one after the other by Shahabuddin and his henchmen. He exclaimed that, “Although my loss is irreparable I’m happy that justice has been done. But Shahabuddin and his aides should have got the death penalty.”
            Other Cases Against Shahabuddin
                                                 Let me hasten to add here that Shahabuddin has a very long past criminal track record. He was convicted on May 8, 2007 by a Special Court that gave him life imprisonment for the abduction of CPI(ML) worker Chhote Lal Gupta in February 1999. On August 30, 2007, he was found guilty of attacking Siwan SP Sanjiv Kumar Singhal. He faces a jail term of 10 years in the case. Till September 10, 2016, he remained incarcerated, shuttling between Bhagalpur and Gaya jail. The Patna High Court on September 7, 2016 granted him bail in a case involving the murder of a witness in the killing of siblings Girish anad Satish Raj. The Supreme Court on September 30, 2016 cancelled Shahabuddin’s bail and directed the Bihar government to take him to custody immediately. Of the 40 criminal cases that he faces, judgment has come in 12 cases. He was acquitted in 4 while he has nearly completed his sentence in 8 other cases. He has been convicted in 10 other cases. In other cases the trial is yet to complete.
                               How the process started
                                        Be it noted, it was after the petition of Chandu Babu and Asha Ranjan, widow of slain journalist Rajdeo Ranjan, that the Supreme Court ordered the Bihar government to shift Shahabuddin to Tihar jail to facilitate a “free and fair trial”. Shahabuddin who is a four-time RJD MP from Siwan and infamous as the “Sultan of Siwan” for many years, is facing trial in more than 40 cases and has been convicted in 8 of them.  
                                         Conclusion
                                                    On a concluding note, it has to be said that the prospects of Shahabuddin getting bail from Supreme Court are very dim. His involvement in so many criminal cases will all go against him. More importantly, the ghastly manner in which the two sons of Chanda Babu were murdered after pouring acid on them and then not sparing even the third son Rajiv Roshan who was aan eye witness are bound to pour cold water on all aspirations of Shahabuddin and 3 others who were involved in the double murder case. But it would be premature to still predict what verdict the Supreme Court will give. But certainly the Patna High Court has dashed all hopes of Mohammad Shahabuddin and 3 others of coming out of jail any time soon and its landmark judgment has vindicated loudly the old adage that, “Law does take time to catch up but when it catches up it doesn’t spare anyone. Be you ever so high, the law is above you”!   
Sanjeeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kaankerkhera,
Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.  

Why Can’t West UP Have A High Court Bench?

What the lawyers of West UP did on September 11? Strike. What will the lawyers of West UP do on September 12? Strike. What will the lawyers of West UP do on September 13? Strike. What will the lawyers of West UP do on September 14? Strike. In addition there has been no work earlier also in courts of West UP on 7 and 8 September!

                                      Lawyers in West UP are not safe even from policemen what to say about goons! A lawyer Suresh Raj was brutally thrashed by cops themselves in Greater Noida some time back. Still no FIR was lodged against the erring cops. To protest this, the lawyers of West UP of 22 districts decided that they will be on strike from September 11 to 14 and this may extend even further if still no action is taken. It is most hurting to see that lawyers of West UP are compelled to go on strike again and again! But it seems no one is caring!
                                      What the lawyers of West UP did for full 3 months in 2014-15? Strike demanding a high court bench in West UP and ended only after assurances from Arun Jaitley of looking into the matter! What did Centre do in last 3 years? Nothing but assurances and the most firm assurance from Centre came from none other than BJP President Amit Shah and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh that bench will soon be created but again after many months nothing happened!
                                    In 2001, the lawyers of West UP went on strike not for 6 days or 6 weeks but for full 6 months consecutively demanding high court bench but again they got nothing but only empty assurances! This has happened many times in the past also! Lawyers of West UP have been regularly striking work everySaturday since May 1981 demanding the creation of a high court bench in West UP! They protested that Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by Justice Jaswant Singh who was a former Supreme Court Judge had recommended the creation of 3 benches in West UP but not a single bench created till now even though benches were created for Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Madurai in Tamil Nadu and Jalpaiguri in West Bengal! We saw how in June newspapers were flooded with breaking news that Brijesh Pathak who is the Law Minister of Uttar Pradesh saying pompously that, “Western Uttar Pradesh will soon have a high court bench. We will discuss the details soon and inform you.” But three months later we are still seeing no action on the ground!   
                                     Why are lawyers of West UP forced to go on strike again and again sometimes for 3 months or 6 months or for many weeks or for few days as they will do now on 11, 12, 13 and 14 September, 2017 and every Saturday since 1981 and even many times on Wednesday? Why lawyers including senior lawyers are compelled to block highways, lie down in front of a train and indulge in different form of protest on roads and highways instead of practicing quietly since last many decades and even go on padyatra demanding bench many times and the most famous one was that of 1989? Why lawyers of West UP are compelled to sometimes even boycott Lok Adalats as they did in 2014-15 and whole night sat outside the court in protest against West UP not being given a high court bench?
                                       Why eminent criminal lawyer, former President of Meerut Bar and present member of Bar Council of UP – Anil Kumar Bakshi proudly points out that he is among the few lawyers who have been to jail because of his active participation in the holy struggle for creating a high court bench in West UP? This is because it is certainly one of the most holy struggle and this alone explains that why lawyers here are ready to go to any extent to ensure that a high court bench is created here! Going on strike for months and months is easier said than done and only lawyers of West UP best understand that how much hardship they have faced to ensure that the sacred agitation for a high court bench in West UP continue uninterrupted!
                                     How long will Centre ignore that lawyers of West UP keep boycotting work everySaturday since 1981 demanding high court bench and apart from this keep boycotting work even on Wednesdays many times apart from other days which is decided by Central Action Committee constituted way back in 1981 to pursue the people’s struggle for a high court bench in West UP as it is the common man who faces the most inconvenience due to West UP not having a bench here since 1947? Justice BP Singh (retd) of Allahabad High Court too fully supports the demand for a bench in West UP but cautions that it will not become successful as long as it remains a lawyers movement and it can become successful only if it becomes a people’s movement!  
                                   How long will more than 9 crore people of West UP be made to travel more than 700 km on an average to travel all the way to Allahabad as there is no high court bench in West UP? How long will Centre keep coughing out innumerable excuses for not creating a bench here? How long will Centre keep treating more than 9 crore people of West UP as third rated citizens who must be made to travel all the way to Allahabad just to attend a court hearing as there is no high court bench in West UP? How long will Centre ignore the latest recommendations of the 230th Law Commission report which strongly recommended creation of more high court benches and castigated the “Uncle Judges” culture prevalent in various high courts due to lack of more benches?
                              Dr Satyapal Singh who is the former Mumbai Police Commissioner and presently represents Baghpat constituency as BJP MP recently made Union Minister raised most forcefully the pressing issue of setting up of a high court bench issue in Lok Sabha on March 9, 2016. He pointed out how despite UP having more than 22 crore population and 75 districts has least benches and West UP has none! Should we proud of this? He rightly said that, “I had raised the issue of the HC bench in the Lok Sabha. This is not only a need for lawyers but also the need of the common people as well. There should be a bench in Meerut, Agra, Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Jhansi. If the Lucknow bench of HC can be created for 12 districts, why can’t we have 4-5 separate benches for all the 75 districts in the state? The first war of independence began from Meerut and the movement to provide affordable justice to people should also start from Meerut. I have already written a letter to PM Modi and I will write to him again. We don’t need the consent of either the state government or the CJ of the Allahabad HC”.
                                         Misbauddin Siddiqui who is the President of the Meerut District Bar Association lamented, “The problem is that the Allahabad High Court has the highest number of pending cases. The pressure is huge. Allahabad is very far from Western UP. It is around 800 km from Saharanpur. Eight other high courts are closer to Western UP, and interestingly Lahore High Court in Pakistan is closer than Allahabad High Court. The cost of travelling to Allahabad, and then staying there is huge for poor people. That is why we have been demanding a high court bench. Successive governments have denied us this.” All we see is strike, strike and nothing but strike and no work in the courts of the 26 districts of West UP!
                                    How long will Centre ignore that none other than eminent jurist Soli J Sorabjee as Attorney General had strongly said way back in 2001 that, “The Centre without any recommendation from the State Chief Minister or Chief Justice of a State is fully empowered under our Constitution to set up a high court bench anywhere it wants at its own volition”. How long will Centre ignore what BN Krishnamani who is the former Supreme Court Bar Association Chairman had said that, “Only by the creation of a bench of high court in West UP will the people be able to secure speedy and cheap justice at their doorsteps”?
                                            Why the newly appointed Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhonsle rightly lashed out at the law and order situation in UP and said that in Maharashtra women or girl venture out in night anywhere yet never such incidents of gang rape occur? Yet why Maharashtra has 3 benches and UP only one and West UP none?
Why even Atal Bihari Vajpayee raised the demand of a high court bench in West UP inside Parliament way back in 1986? Why Rajnath Singh who is Union Home Minister while addressing public gathering in Patiyali constituency of Kasarganj district is on record stating in February 2017 that UP reported 7,673 riots, 4660 murder, 4096 robberies and 260 dacoities in just one year yet it has least benches in India and West UP has none where maximum crime incidents are reported?
                                                 Let me on a very bitter note  point out that crime against women are multiplying most rapidly in UP and this is most felt in West UP which is the worst affected of all the regions of UP. Throwing of acid on woman or rape, gang rape, molestation and all other forms of crimes against women and girls are openly being perpetrated in West UP especially as also in UP which is certainly most concerning!
                               We are all seeing how Saharanpur is burning after violent clashes erupted between Dalits and Thakurs that left many dead and many injured! We all saw how BSP leader Munawwar Hasan Rana and his 6 family members were brutally killed in Muzaffarnagar just recently and a BJP leader too killed most recently in Ghaziabad! We all know how Meerut and Agra top in the number of incidents of communal clashes and how everyday the local newspapers is flooded with cases of murders, rapes and other heinous crimes! The situation in communally sensitive districts like Aligarh and Kanpur in West UP among others is no better! Still no effort is being made to establish a high court bench here! Why?
                                      This West UP with 26 districts has an area of 98,000 square km which is more than the area of many other states and has a population of more than 9 crore which is more than any other state except Maharashtra and Bihar. Here too areawise West UP is bigger than Bihar which has an area of 94,000 square km. Yet no bench!
                                           It is most hurting to read that dacoits are fearlessly killing innocent people on highway as happened most recently on May 25 and then in front of their men had the guts to gang rape the 4 women accompanying them just a kilometer away from the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida and when one man resisted he was shot in the chest from point blank range who died  and others were thrashed badly! Even after a week police has no clue as to who were involved! This shows the complete lawlessness in West UP! This clearly demonstrates that women are not safe even when accompanied with their entire family!
                                    Such incidents keep happening on a regular basis in West UP especially! 2 minor girls were gangraped recently in Moradabad! Many more have taken place even after! Criminals fully know that West UP has no high court bench and Allahabad High Court tops in the number of pending cases about 10 lakh pending cases and it would take ages before the cases are finally decided as they keep on lingering interminably and by the time they are decided they would die a natural death and victims would suffer endlessly travelling again and again 800-900 km away from West UP to Allahabad as West UP with 26 districts have no high court bench!
                                          This must change now if the fear of law is to be ingrained permanently in the minds of such criminals! We all know fully well that how a similar incident had triggered huge protests in July 2016 when a mother and daughter were gangraped in Bulandshahar!                   Why talk about women alone? Even men are not safe here! Policemen themselves are not safe here! Criminals are killing whomever they want with impunity and then we see how they easily manage to get bail and the criminal cases keep pending interminably!  This must stop forthwith if a semblance of law and order is to be restored in UP! But how? By ensuring that cases against criminals are decided at the earliest.
                                      How can this be ensured that cases are decided at the earliest against criminals? By setting up at least 10 high court benches in Meerut, Agra, Kanpur, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Mahoba, Sultanpur, Aligarh, Badaun or at any other place which is in desperate need of the same! This cannot be allowed to fester indefinitely as we have already lost a lot of precious time! What a pity that Centre is not prepared to set up even one more bench anywhere in UP!  
                                   Eminent and senior Supreme Court lawyer and former Law Minister Kapil Sibal himself had mentioned that he had recommended a high court bench at Meerut as was disclosed by another Union Minister in UPA regime – RPN Singh but the then state government led by Akhilesh Yadav refused to endorse it! It was way back in 1955 that Dr Sampoornanand had recommended a high court bench for West UP at Meerut but even after 62 years we see no bench as Centre had refused then! Similarly many other UP CM had also recommended the creation of a high court bench here but to no avail! Why? Our former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had himself raised the demand for a high court bench for West UP in 1986 inside Parliament but even after more than 30 years we are nowhere! 
                                               What an unbeatable irony that Allahabad High Court tops with maximum pending cases at 10 lakh and still it has least high court benches – only one at Lucknow for just 8 districts! No other High Court in India has 10 lakh or 9 lakh or 8 lakh or 7 lakh or 6 lakh or 5 lakh or 4 lakh or 3 lakh or even 2 lakh cases pending and still some of them have got 3 high court benches like Karnataka, Maharashtra and others but UP has just one bench only! Why this step-motherly treatment for UP?
                                   How long will Centre ignore that only Karnataka has gained from the recommendations of 230th Law Commission recommendations when 2 more benches were created at Dharwad and Gulbarga for just 4 and 8 districts even though the pending cases are just about 1 lakh and that of UP are more than 10 lakhs and that of West UP alone are more than 5 lalkhs still West UP has no bench and UP has just one bench? Why Centre decided to create high courts for Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur with just 36, 29 and 27 lakh population but denied a bench to West UP with more than 9 crore population? 
                              How long will Centre ignore that it is a matter of great shame that Allahabad High Court which on March 17, 2016 had completed its 150th year of establishment has the least benches in India – only one at Lucknow just about 150-200 km away from Allahabad and that Allahabad High Court is the biggest court in whole of Asia and also the oldest court? How long will Centre ignore that  UP which is among the largest States, has maximum population – more than 22 crore, maximum districts – 75, maximum constituencies,  maximum MPs – 80, maximum MLAs – 404, maximum PM including Narendra Modi, maximum pending cases – more than 10 lakh and here too West UP accounts for more than half of pending cases as noted by Justice Jaswant Commission about 57%, maximum Judges, maximum vacancies of Judges – about 78 in high court, maximum poverty, maximum villages more than one lakh, maximum fake encounters killings, custody killings, maximum dowry cases, maximum bride burning cases, maximum cases of human rights violations, maximum undertrials, maximum cases of crime, loot, arson and riots and here too West UP tops with Saharanpur riots, Meerut riots, Muzaffarnagar riots tarnishing our international reputation to the extent that former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon termed UP as “crime and rape capital” of India and what not yet Centre is not prepared to create even a single bench for not just West UP but entire UP? How long will Centre ignore that UP sends maximum MPs to Lok Sabha – 80, maximum MPs to Rajya Sabha – 30, maximum MLAs to State Assembly – 404 MLAs and maximum members to State Legislative Council – 100 MLAs and yet has least benches?
                                      How long will Centre ignore that if a high court bench is created it is “poorest of poor” who will benefit most as they will be saved from the unnecessary trouble of travelling so far and spending so much extra money, time etc to just attend one hearing alone? How long will Centre keep dilly-dallying on such a burning issue that directly affects a common man? What will temple give? Only Hindu devotees will be satisfied and for justice they too who live in West UP would have to march 700-800 km all the way to Allahabad senselessly as we see right now! When a bench can exist in Lucknow then why not in West UP? Centre must have some pity on woman who are most unsafe in lawless UP and especially West UP and immediately order creation of more benches not just in West UP but also in other parts of UP where the crime rate is high! Crime rate is highest in West UP which necessitates creation of bench here on  a war footing by which people of all religions and all castes and all sexes will benefit equally!  
                                 Above all, how long will Centre very conveniently ignore that it is West UP alone where there are maximum cases of riots, murders, rapes, gangrapes and all other incidents of crime yet West UP has no bench? Nehruji created a bench in Lucknow 70 years ago in 1948 but why no PM till 2018 is ever willing to create even a single bench elsewhere? Why no PM can act like Nehruji in 2018? Gajendra Pal Singh who is former President of Meerut Bar laments that,  “Western UP still does not have high court bench. Think of this, Western UP is 98,933 square kilometres in area. It is bigger than countries like Hungary, Portugal and Jordan. Plus, the population of West UP is huge. We have been demanding a high court bench for so long. Successive governments have done nothing about it. This high court bench has been promised to us multiple times by different politicians. But, nothing has happened. All those statements are only political statements, nothing else.”
Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,
Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.

Why Politicians Don’t Care For Human Rights Of Our Soldiers?

Let me begin at the beginning itself by stating that I feel most hurt whenever I hear politicians criticizing our soldiers who every second while in service put their own life in jeopardy so that we all citizens can live our life without any fear. My grievance is not just against Azam Khan alone who most recently poured venom against our soldiers and equated them with rapists and justified violence against them by saying “Soldiers have been beaten by women in Kashmir, Jharkhand and Assam and their private parts were chopped off. The truth is that women are forced to act against Army rapists. It is a message that Hindustan should be ashamed of.” It is against the political class as a whole who have always treated our brave soldiers with contempt for reasons known best to them. They keep quiet when soldiers like Lieutenant Umar Fayyaz are brutally murdered after kidnapping him unarmed from a wedding ceremony at gunpoint! They don’t utter a word on dreaded terror outfit ISIS flags being openly waved in Kashmir!
Why Politicians Don’t Care For Human Rights Of Our Soldiers?

                                          It merits no reiteration that Indian Army is among the most disciplined forces in the world and misconduct is not tolerated even to a bare minimum. We have seen how many times soldiers are court martialled even on the slightest of misconduct what to talk about rape yet our politicians feel that our soldiers of Army commit heinous crimes like rape and women have to act against them as no action is taken against them by Army! This is nothing but utter nonsense and a white lie!
                                               Azam Khan’s utter callous and false remarks have brutally hurt the sentiments of all those not just in the Army but also all those like me who inspite of not being in the Army always hold our soldiers in the highest esteem and no accusations will ever shatter my unflinching faith on our brave and most disciplined soldiers! This alone explains why whenever there is flood or any other crisis in any part of India which includes Jammu and Kashmir, the local population themselves demand that they want the help of not just police but also of Army because soldiers are best disciplined to help everyone without any bias or prejudice! Does Azam Khan and other politicians like him not know this simple and plain irrefutable fact? It was disclosed by Col RSN Singh in a news channel that this Azam Khan was rusticated from the college where he was studying for misbehaving with a woman and still such politicians who themselves don’t have clean record shamelessly accuse our Indian Army soldiers of indulging in rapes!  
                                               It is just not fair to tar all soldiers with one brush. There are black sheep in every field. Whenever Army finds that a black sheep has defamed its impeccable reputation it does not waste any time in taking the strictest action against him no matter how senior he may be!
                                          Justice Markandey Katju who is a a former Judge of Supreme Court had once famously said that, “Politicians of India are rogues and scoundrels.” He had squarely blamed them for all the ills of India. Why our politicians don’t accept this and rather point accusing fingers at Army who are the “real pride” of India without having any concrete proof? Justice Katju had also termed Pakistan and Bangladesh as “fake countries” created solely by Indian politicians. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan who hailed from Pakhtoonistan in Pakistan had once famously said to Jawaharlal Nehru that, “Nehru you have made me a foreigner in my own country by partitioning India”. Why politicians say nothing on this?
                                                 Why politicians say nothing on this that Jawaharlal Nehru complicated the Jammu and Kashmir problem by not allowing Indian soldiers a free hand and rushing to UN for ceasefire due to which a large part of Jammu and Kashmir went in the hands of Pakistan called Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) which even after 70 years later is still with them? Why politicians say nothing on this that the biggest act of communalism was accepting the partition of India on religious lines which was opposed tooth and nail by leaders like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad but they were in minority as most of them wanted India to be partitioned? Why politicians did not refuse to accept the partition of India on the flimsy ground of religion due to which we have been suffering interminably since last 70 years?
                                          Why politicians perpetuated inequality by putting a total full stop on Hindus marrying more than once even though prior to 1947 Hindus were free to marry as many women as they liked because there were no restrictions in Hinduism but did nothing to stop Muslims from marrying more than one except under very exceptional circumstances as is prescribed by their founder Prophet Mohammad itself? Why politicians did not allow Jammu and Kashmir to be fully merged with India? Why politicians ensured a separate flag and separate Constitution and separate laws for the people of Jammu and Kashmir when its Maharaja Hari Singh had unconditionally merged his province into India?
                                          Why politicians have so much of venom against our brave soldiers and so much of soft corner for Pakistan? Why our soldiers have been sacrificing their lives since last 70 years fighting Pakistani troops and terrorists trained and sent by Pakistan into India yet politicians have never nuked all relations with Pakistan even though small countries like Kuwait have severed all links with Pakistan and have asked Pakistanis to vacate Kuwait as they promote terror even though they are not directly affected by proxy war of Pakistan which has always since 1947 been directed only and only against India? Still do our soldiers ever criticize politicians and ask the people to be ashamed of them? No!
                                                 Why politicians unilaterally decided to grant Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan way back in 1996 even though they have not granted us the same? Why politicians ruling in Centre have taken a vow that they will not listen to their own senior leaders like Subramanium Swamy what to talk about Shashi Tharoor and under no circumstances will ever withdraw the MFN status conferred wrongly and unilaterally on Pakistan just few years after terrorists sponsored by Pakistan ensured the killings and exodus of lakhs of Hindus and even those Muslims who helped them in any manner way back in 1989? Does Pakistan deserve MFN status? Incidentally China and India both conferred MFN status to each other way back in 1988!
                                           Why politicians are so insensitive towards the sufferings faced by our Indian soldiers who risk their life every second in Siachen glacier, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Assam and other parts of India and care a least for their basic human rights? Why politicians very strongly feel that ordinary criminals like rapists or dacoits or robbers or murderers or any other ordinary criminals not trained by ISI or Pakistani Army are not worthy of being engaged in talks and dialogues rather it is only and only terrorists who are fully trained in rogue nations like Pakistan and fully armed to the teeth to spread maximum destruction in India by killing maximum soldiers and innocents who are best suited to be invited for talks and dialogues? Why politicians appoint interlocutors and declare ceasefire only for terrorists and not for rapists or dacoits or other ordinary criminals not trained in Pakistan or any other foreign country on how best to destroy India?                   
                                              Why politicians of nearly all political parties were united in according a red carpet welcome to Pakistani invader General Pervez Musharraf who masterminded Kargil war in which we lost more than 600 soldiers as per official figures even though unofficially the figure was quite high and were unanimous in saying that, “Paar baat jab aaygi Pervez ki nahin paar baat jab aaygi Musharraf ki humein to Musharraf chaiyein, humein to Pervez, Pervez, Pervez, Musharraf, Musharraf, Musharraf. Lagta hain bada pyaara dikhta hain bada pyaara.” Even though senior Supreme Court lawyer Aman Lerkhio very strongly felt that Gen Musharraf who was responsible for Kargil war and the brutal killings of hundreds of our brave soldiers should have been arrested right when her landed in India and after being tried for war crimes should have been hanged but see how politicians tom-tommed in front of him even though politician like Sandeep Dixit have no qualm in equating our present Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat with “Sadak ka Gundaa”! Are politicians on pay role of Pakistan or Musharraf? If not then why so much of kowtowing in front of them and extra soft corner for them?
                                          Why repeatedly Pakistan sends its Border Action Team (BAT) to India with sharp weapons to behead our soldiers, mutilate their bodies and even their private parts are not spared and still politicians keeps tolerating it quietly? During Kargil war Pakistani soldiers captured Captain Saurav Kalia alive along with 5 soldiers of 4 Jat Regiment and brutally tortured them not for 1 day or 2 days or 5 days or 10 days or 15 days or 20  days but for nearly a month before finally shooting them on their head! Their eyes were gouged out after piercing them with hot iron rods, their ears were also cut in similar fashion and their whole body bore signs of cigarette torture! Not just this their fingers too were brutally cut and not just this their private parts were also not spared! They were beaten mercilessly for nearly a month before finally killing them by shooting on their head!           
                                              Why politicians gave importance to relations with Pakistan and did not even raise bilaterally the brutal killing of Captain Kalia and 5 soldiers with Pakistan? Why instead Pakistani invader Gen Musharraf who himself admitted that he entered 15-16 km inside Indian territory to boost the morale of his soldiers was given a grand welcome in India and that too just 2 to 3 months after Kargil war? Why for nearly 18 years the father of late Captain Saurabh Kalia is fighting a lone battle in Supreme Court to get justice for his child but Centre did not even provide him a senior and experienced lawyer free of cost as amicus curiae to help him fight the case legally? Why politicians like former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former Defence Minister Jaswant Singh backtracked and did nothing even after assuring NK Kalia who is the father of late Captain Saurabh Kalia that they would rake up the brutal killing of his son and 5 soldiers in every international forum and also with Pakistan?  
                                   Why politicians are still shamelessly happy with continuing bus service, train service and other service by which Pakistanis and terrorists can very easily enter India and kill innocents? It is because they are themselves not directly affected as they enjoy Z plus security so why should they be bothered? Why politicians are still shamelessly happy with not declaring Pakistan a rogue state and a terror state as demanded by Rajeev Chandrashekhar and keeping a huge army of diplomats in India to directly harm our interests and encourage separatists and help them in all possible manner? Why politicians ruling in Centre are not naming Pakistan as Aatankistaan as demanded by Maulana Mehmood Madani and nuking all relations with Pakistan by boycotting them in every forum as very rightly demanded by Madani?
                                            Why politicians are treating the beheading and mutilation of our brave soldiers as “normal routine” and are not disturbing ties with Pakistan in any manner? Why is the pro-Pakistani lobby in Centre allowed to have the final say in all matters by not disturbing relations with Pakistan in any manner? Are soldiers more important or Pakistan more important for our politicians?
                                What did India get after releasing the  surrendered 93,000 Pakistani prisoners of war after defeating Pakistan in 1971 war? Pakistan didn’t release our 54 prisoners of war and none other than former PM of Pakistan – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto himself testified in his book that he could daily hear the cries of Indian soldiers as they were tortured by Pakistani soldiers whole day and whole night! Why politicians did just nothing to ensure their safe return even though when some politician’s daughter is kidnapped as happened way back in 1989 when Rubaiya Sayyed who was daughter of former Home Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayyid then politicians agreed to release many hard core terrorists who later indulged in a lot of mayhem and killing of innocent people in Kashmir?
                                            Why even PM Narendra Modi has time to crashland in Pakistan and attend the marriage ceremonies of Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif’s relatives and that too uninvited but has no time to console the wife, parents and children of those unfortunate brave soldiers who are most brutally assaulted, tortured, murdered, beheaded, mutilated and what not? Why Modi listened to his crazy advisers who advised him to unilaterally invite Pakistan’s notorious ISI agents to inspect that very place in Pathankot where terrorists trained by ISI executed merciless killings of our brave soldiers including a Major of Army and all this happened just after Modi’s visit to Pakistan? Why Pakistan refused NIA to even enter their country leave alone interrogate the key suspects? Why politicians shamelessly refuse to learn any lesson from history?
                                                    Why a consistent hardline approach is not followed with Pakistan? Why even after winning 1971 war with Pakistan did politicians not take back whole of PoK from Pakistan and ensured the safe release of 54 Indian soldiers who were condemned to suffer endlessly at the hand of Pakistani Army and ISI which alone explains why the then Pakistan PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had remarked famously that, “Even though we have lost the battle on the ground but politically and diplomatically we have won the game because it is India that has made all the concessions!” Why politicians surrendered the pride and dignity of our brave soldiers so weakly?
                                                     Why One Rank One Pension (OROP0 which soldiers were enjoying till 1971 was stopped suddenly soon after winning 1971 war? Why OROP for IAS, IPS and senior generals but not for soldiers who actually fight the real battle on the ground and lay down their invaluable lives for a thankless nation? Why even now OROP has not been fully granted which alone explains why soldiers are still protesting and many have been braving lathis and one ex-soldier had even died while protesting?
                                                   Why politicians like  Azam Khan are just ready to always level some allegation or the other on our brave soldiers and ask us to be ashamed of them but never feel ashamed by repeatedly compromising with foreign powers and surrendering our nations pride abjectly time and again? Stonepelters in Kashmir are ostensibly paid by their ISI handlers but who pays politicians to always bat in favour of Pakistan  and invite this very notorious ISI to inspect the site where terror attack is carried out by terrorists trained and armed by ISI themselves and Pakistani invaders like Gen Pervez Musharraf who masterminded Kargil war in which we lost more than 600 soldiers as per official figures and who even contemplated to nuke India during Kargil war and after attack on Indian Parliament way back in 2001 and paid Rs 1 lakh as cash prize to dreaded Al Qaeda terrorist Iliyas Kashmiri for presenting him a  head of an Indian soldier as trophy yet was treated like a royal emperor and given grand welcome just 2 to 3 months after Kargil war without caring for the sentiments of those who lost their bravehearts in Kargil war! It is high time and it is not just the common man but even politicians who must themselves realise that India is safe because of soldiers as they face all dangers which alone explains why no politician ever sends his children to Army! A nation who does not care for human rights of their soldiers who brave all odds to protect our borders and our safety can never survive long!  
Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,

Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.

NHRC To Govt: Give Rs 5 Lakh Relief To Mohammed Amir Khan Acquitted Of Terror Charges

Coming straight to the nub of the matter, let me begin by first and foremost expressing my profound dismay and utmost dejection to learn that Mohammad Amir Khan was long incarcerated in prison for 14 years on terror charges even though he was later acquitted. Not me nor anyone else except the person who has been “wrongly framed” as a “terrorist” can understand the horrendous pain and irreparable loss suffered to his reputation and normal living as well as his whole family. I have no words to express my feelings when I learn of such cases.

                                                     Let me be forthright in saying that every Indian must learn patriotism from Mohammad Amir Khan. Even after losing his father who felt heart broken when everyone in society used to mock him as “father of terrorist” and even after his mother too becoming paralysed due to shock and trauma and later dying and he himself being incarcerated for 14 long years in prison and that too in his prime age from 18 to 32, he still swears by India and feels proud to be an Indian. He never raised anti-India slogans unlike what we saw sometime back in JNU campus where educated Indians were chanting slogans in support of Afzal Guru and decrying India. They were openly shouting “Bharat teri barbadi tak jung ladenge, jung ladenge. Ek nahin do nahin hazaar tukde karenge bharat tere. Afzal tere hatyare abhi zinda hain hum sharminda hain hum sharminda hain etc”. They all must study what happened with Mohammad Amir Khan who inspite of all his untold and unending sufferings still feels proud to call himself an Indian and must imbibe some love for their motherland just like Mohammad Amir Khan!  
                                          Truth be told, in a deeply touching book which he wrote with Nandita Haksar titled “Framed As A Terrorist: My 14-Year Struggle To Prove My Innocence”, he describes how when he was 20, one late-winter evening in February 1998, in a by-lane of Old Delhi which was close to his home, he was picked up by plainclothes policemen, and driven to a torture chamber. He recounted his most harrowing experiences of days and nights of most brutal torture: He was stripped naked, his legs stretched to extremes, boxed, kicked, subject to electric shocks, anti-Muslim abuse and threats to frame his parents. He finally succumbed and agreed to sign numerous blank sheets and diaries. As a result, he was charged in 19 cases of terror crimes.
                              It needs no rocket scientist to conclude that if the police had damning proof of his involvement in terror cases, it would not have taken 14 long years to prove it. More importantly, Mohammad Amir would not have been exonerated in 18 of 20 cases if he was actually a terrorist. Those guilty of wrongly framing him as a terrorist deserve the most strictest punishment on earth. They have ruined his whole life and are also responsible for the untimely death of his parents as a result of the mental shock which they suffered due to him being wrongly labelled a terrorist!
                                                While craving for the exclusive indulgence of my esteemed readers, let me inform them that observing that the actions of the state authorities took away “14 prime and precious years” of a man’s life, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has recommended that the Delhi government pay Rs 5 lakh as interim relief to Mohammad Amir Khan – incarcerated since he was 18 – who was acquitted in cases of terror. This amount is a very small amount for the terrible sufferings, worst torture and irreparable loss that he suffered in last 14 years and even thereafter till now. He should have been awarded at least Rs 5 crore. But better something than nothing!
                                                   For my esteemed readers exclusive benefit, let me also inform them that in an order dated November 8, 2016, the NHRC noted that the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Vigilance, had forwarded an inquiry report to the NHRC, stating that Amir Khan was arrested in cases related to a series of bomb blasts in Delhi and its adjoining states in 1996-1997. The DCP said Khan was convicted in two cases and appeals against his acquittal in two other cases were pending before the Delhi High Court. But NHRC was not convinced by what the DCP stated.
                                             As it turned out, the NHRC order said very categorically that, “The reply to the showcause notice is not based on merits. The notice was issued on the point of acquittal of the victim in 18 cases by the courts and long incarceration of the victims in prison. The commission is not concerned with appeals pending in two cases. The fact is the victim had to spend 14 years in prison for no reason, violating his rights. The commission finds no merits in the report of the DCP, Vigilance, and recommends that Rs 5,00,000 as interim relief be paid to him.” The NHRC also noted that, “The victim has been acquitted in 18 of 20 cases by astonishing acknowledgement of lack of evidence.” This is most astounding, to say the least.
                                                        Let me be direct in saying: All those police officers and cops who were involved in any manner in framing wrongly terror charges on him must be publicly named and tried for implicating an innocent person as “terrorist”. Under no circumstances should they be allowed to escape scot free. A very strong and loud message must go out: Those cops and police officers who dare to wrongly frame an innocent as terrorist would have to give huge damage as compensation to the person wrongly framed as terrorist and would have to land behind bars for the rest of their life. But most unfortunately, we don’t see any such thing happening in India which alone explains why many times we find that an innocent like Mohammad Amir Khan is wrongly framed as terrorist.
                                                 Be it noted, Amir Khan, who has been trying to stitch his life together since his release in 2012 said if the NHRC’s recommendation is implemented, this would be the first time that he will receive financial assistance from the government. Amir Khan also said that, “I welcome the decision. Financial assistance would help rebuild my life. But what I need more is a job to support my family. A job will restore my dignity and respect in society. I once dreamt of being a pilot but I could not complete my studies.” Most tragic and most disappointing! No money, no award and no honour can ever in life compensate him for the irreparable loss and untold sufferings that he wrongly suffered and still he feels proud to be an Indian! India needs many more Indians like him and they must be given the highest award for expressing solidarity with India inspite of undergoing untold sufferings and losing his parents and everything else instead of waving Pakistani flags and chanting anti-India slogans as we saw in JNU and keep seeing in Kashmir Valley!    
                                                    In hindsight, it can be said that great injustice has been done with Mohammad Amir Khan which cannot be compensated by any Bharat Ratna or crores of rupees or anything else. An NHRC official said that, “Implicating innocent persons would not only go against justice and the rule of law, but also lead to culprits’ escape. During incarceration, the victims suffered the death of his father. His mother became paralysed due to shock and trauma and later died.” He also said that, “We will send a reminder to the government.” It also took note of the conduct certificate Khan was given by the jailor, District Jail, Ghaziabad. Commission officials said the Delhi government was asked to submit proof of payment in six weeks. The six weeks were over on December 29, 2016.
                                                            Let me bring out here that his father – Hashim Khan as long as he was alive was present at every hearing. Amir recalls how “Abbu arrived before the courts opened. He went straight to the typists who sit in rows outside the lawyers chambers…He came early so he could get his applications typed…for permission to meet me in the lock up… to give me home-made food…Armed with his application Abbu made his way through the crowds to the court where my case would came up… to catch a glimpse of me”. The police continued to harass his parents, money for lawyers ran out, none came forward for help, as they were stigmatized as parents of a terrorist. This left his father completely heart broken!
                                            Let me also bring out here that on one hearing in 2001, the Judge noticed that his father was absent, and the policeman explained that he was in hospital. The Judge permitted him to see his father for an hour. Surrounded by tubes, Abbu’s first words to him were: “I could not come to your hearing”. Amir recalled how much he was worried for him, but was satisfied that by then he had been acquitted in 11 of the 19 cases. It was in courts week later that he was informed that his father had died. His father was most hurt when all his neighbours mocked at him for being the “father of a terrorist” and avoided to even talk with him let alone rendering any help to him in any manner!
                                     As if this was not enough, the huge burden of fighting his cases fell on his mother alone, who negotiated the uncharted and masculine worlds of courts, jails and lawyers chamber for another 11 years. She started attending court proceedings and carried messages she hardly understood to lawyers and had to remain standing for many hours in court rooms. This took a heavy toll on her health and her mother became  bed ridden! Still after being released he took care of his mother in her last days and thanked Allah for it and not once did he raise anti-India slogans nor ever decried India whom he still feels proud of and calls himself an Indian first, always and every time!
                                              What an unbeatable irony that no  Judge asked him about the torture nor did the concerned doctors record his torture wounds! He was acquitted in one terror case only to face another terror charge! Imagine a person being acquitted in 18 cases of terror charges! This speaks for itself and is more than enough to lay bare the deep conspiracy hatched against him by men in uniform!
                                                 May it be added here that Mohammad Amir Khan was charged in 20 cases for terror crimes and waging war against the nation. He was accused of masterminding 17 low-intensity bomb blasts that occurred in Delhi and neighbouring states between December 1996 and December 1997. A Delhi High Court judgment lambasted while overturning his conviction in one of the cases that, “The prosecution has miserably failed to adduce any evidence to connect the accused appellant with the charges framed, much less prove them.” What more should I say?  
                                                     With due respect to NHRC, let me voice my personal view that Rs 5 lakh is just nothing! He deserves Rs 5 crore at least and also all those who framed “false terror charges” against him must be arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned without pay and they must also be ordered to pay huge compensation to Mohammad Amir Khan for ruining his entire life! I hope that the amount of Rs 5 lakh will be raised to Rs 5 crore. However, what is of supreme importance is that under no circumstances should they who implicated him falsely in terror cases should ever be allowed to go scot free! No case has shaken me so much in my entire life till now as his after I read about it! It is beyond the capacity of my pen to express in words the boundless courage which he summoned in facing so many harrowing experiences and still reaffirming his hundred percent love for India whom he still proudly calls his motherland! Every Indian must learn something from him!
                                                    When Centre can spend crores and crores of rupees on various expenses like security, staying and lodging expenses, visiting foreign countries of Hurriyat leaders who openly rant against India from every possible platform as was brought out by eminent lawyer ML Sharma in his PIL which though was rejected but not before Justice Anil R Dave openly nodded and acknowledged that this irked them also and lamented that, “We also share the same feeling…everybody sitting here feels the same”  then why can’t it pay a few crores to Mohammad Amir Khan who has lost his prime age in prison bearing third degree torture for a crime which he never committed and most importantly saw his parents suffering endlessly in front of his own eyes and saw them dying in sorrow for no fault of theirs? It is the bounden duty of Centre to admit the worst suffering wrongly faced by Mohammad Amir Khan and do everything best possible to mitigate the terrible suffering he had to bear through in his prime age for no fault of his by compensating him adequately which he is entitled also legally!   
                                              Finally, on a concluding note let me say that his unflinching faith in Indian judiciary and undying optimism and love for his motherland is most touching and that too after suffering so much that cannot be described in words! Every Indian must learn something from him and especially those who raise anti-India slogans and burn Indian flags at the drop of a hat must learn something from him who inspite of losing his whole youth in jail and losing his parents so unjustly still feels proud to be called an Indian! I salute him from the innermost core of my heart! For me he is the biggest national icon whom I have ever known in my entire life till now! He is the real national hero and real national icon at least for me! He lost his parents, his prime age in prison yet he swears by India and not by Pakistan and still loves to be called an Indian! Indian politicians also who spare no opportunity to criticise our Army and Judiciary must also imbibe some invaluable lessons from his real life which he led bravely even after facing so much of upheavals and stop criticising our Army and Judiciary on one pretext or the other which only makes Pakistan very happy!  

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,
Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.   

Lawyers Of West UP Are Compelled To Strike Repeatedly

What will the lawyers of West UP do on September 11? Strike. What will the lawyers of West UP do on September 12? Strike. What will the lawyers of West UP do on September 13? Strike. What will the lawyers of West UP do on September 14? Strike. In addition there has been no work earlier also in courts of West UP on 7 and 8 September!

                                         The law and order situation in West UP has been in shambles since last many decades but in last few years it has been worst with criminals gunning down even lawyers and police cops. Leave alone women or common man even the lawyers themselves are not safe in West UP. Time and again we hear some lawyer or the other being shot dead in broad daylight most brutally by criminals without any fear of law whatsoever. The Bar Council of UP too had called for strike as protest against killings but what really UP needs is more benches and more Judges in high courts which is truly missing!
                                          Such criminals know fully well that Allahabad High Court has the highest number of pending cases – about 10 lakh as compared to other states where the number of pending cases don’t exceed 1 lakh or at the most 2 lakhs cases! They know that they will easily get bail and by the time cases are finally decided they will die a natural death. This must change which is possible only if at least in my opinion 10 more benches of high court are created in different parts of UP! Such poor, hapless women and girls, for God sake, need more high court benches and not more temples or anti-Romeo squads!
                                               But see the unpalatable irony! Politicians are not prepared to create even a single bench anywhere in UP leave alone West UP even though they are ready to create many temples which is visited only by Hindus and here too they have to also go all the way to Allahabad to attend court hearing as there is no bench in West UP!  It is a matter of great shame that Allahabad High Court which last year on March 17had completed its 150th year of establishment has the least benches in India – only one at Lucknow and that too just about 150-200 km away from Allahabad! Why no high court bench in West UP at Meerut or Agra or at Jhansi or some other place?
                                          We all know that Allahabad High Court is the biggest court in whole of Asia and also the oldest court! Still why it has least benches in India only one which is so close to Allahabad created way back in 1948 at Lucknow by Nehruji but see the most dangerous irony that 70 years later with 2018 fast approaching no steps are being taken to create a high court bench anywhere else in UP leave alone West UP even though the 230th report of Law Commission very specifically recommended for the same in big states? Why Dr Manmohan Singh had the guts to create 2 more high court benches for just 4 and 8 districts in Dharwad and Gulbarga in Karnataka but neither he nor any other PM nor the present PM – Narendra Damodardas Modi has the guts to create even more bench not just in West UP but in any hook and corner of UP except the one created by Nehruji in Lucknow way back in 1948?  
                                              Why maximum crime, maximum riots, maximum killings all take place in West UP but still no high court bench? Why a lawless state like UP whom former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon slammed as “the rape and crime capital of India” has least high court benches in India and West UP which owes for more than 57% of the pending cases as acknowledged by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission has not even a single high court bench? Why Karnataka which has less than 7 crore population, less than 2 lakh  cases pending has three high court benches but UP which has not 2 lakh or 3 lakh or 4 lakh or 5 lakh or 6 lakh or 7 lakh or 8 lakh or 9 lakh but more than 10 lakh cases pending in high courts and more than 50 lakhs in lower courts which is the highest in India and has more than 22 crore population has least high court benches in India and more than half of the vacancies of Judges in high court are lying vacant? Why this step-motherly treatment for UP which sends maximum MPs to Parliament and West UP in particular?
                                      Why when UP which is among the largest States, has maximum population – more than 22 crore as CM Yogi Adityanath keeps pointing out proudly every now and then, maximum districts – 75, maximum constituencies,  maximum MPs – 80, maximum MLAs – 404, maximum PM including Narendra Modi, maximum pending cases – more than 10 lakh and here too West UP accounts for more than half of pending cases as noted by Justice Jaswant Commission about 57%, maximum Judges which earlier was 160 and increased to 200 in high court, maximum vacancies of Judges – 75 in high court, maximum poverty, maximum villages more than one lakh  as opposed to other states who have not more than few thousands at the most, maximum cities more than 700, maximum fake encounters killings, custody killings, custodial tortures, maximum dowry cases, maximum rape and gang rape cases, maximum acid throwing cases, maximum bride burning cases, maximum cases of human rights violations, maximum undertrials, maximum cases of crime, loot, arson and riots and here too West UP tops with Saharanpur riots, Meerut riots, Muzaffarnagar riots tarnishing our international reputation to the extent that former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon termed UP as “crime and rape capital” of India and what not yet Centre is not prepared to create even a single bench for not just West UP but entire UP? Why when UP sends maximum MPs to Lok Sabha – 80, maximum MPs to Rajya Sabha – 30, maximum MLAs to State Assembly – 404 MLAs and maximum members to State Legislative Council – 100 MLAs and yet has least benches – only one and that too just 150 km away from Allahabad at Lucknow?
                                                It is so shocking and disgusting to see that West UP is fast becoming the epicenter of all kinds of crimes, rapes, gangrapes, brutal murders, mass murders, dacoity, robbery and what not! What is even more shocking to see is that all political parties barring Samajwadi Party have openly espoused the creation of a high court bench in West UP but still even after seventy years of independence we see no sign of it happening anytime soon! What is most shocking is that inspite of West UP accounting for more than half of the crime cases all over UP, not a single high court bench has been created here since 1947 till now even though a high court bench was created at Lucknow which is just about 150-200 km away from Allahabad way back on July 1, 1948!
  
                                      This alone explains why the lawyers of West UP have been demanding a high court bench here since ages! Lawyers in West UP are not safe even from policemen. A lawyer Suresh Raj was brutally thrashed by cops in Greater Noida some time back. Still no FIR was lodged against the erring cops. To protest this, the lawyers of West UP will be on strike fromSeptember 11 to 14 and this may extend even further if still no action is taken. It is most hurting to see that lawyers of West UP are compelled to go on strike again and again! But it seems no one is caring!
                                          What the lawyers of West UP did for full 3 months in 2014-15? Strike demanding a high court bench in West UP and ended only after assurances from Arun Jaitley of looking into the matter! What did Centre do in last 3 years? Nothing but assurances and the most firm assurance from Centre came from none other than Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh!
                                         In 2001, the lawyers of West UP went on strike thus becoming non-practising lawyers not for 6 days or 6 weeks but for full 6 months consecutively demanding high court bench but again they got nothing but only empty assurances! This has happened many times in the past also! Lawyers of West UP have been regularly striking work every Saturdaysince May 1981 demanding the creation of a high court bench in West UP! They protested that Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by Justice Jaswant Singh who was a former Supreme Court Judge had recommended the creation of 3 benches in West UP but not a single bench created till now even though benches were created for Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Madurai in Tamil Nadu and Jalpaiguri in West Bengal! We saw how in June newspapers were flooded with breaking news that Brijesh Pathak who is the Law Minister of Uttar Pradesh had firmly reiterated that, “Western Uttar Pradesh will soon have a high court bench. We will discuss the details soon and inform you.” But three months later we are still seeing no action on the ground!    
                                             Why even though it was way back in 1955 that Dr Sampoornanand who was the then UP CM had recommended a high court bench at Meerut but Centre refused even though it was approved for Lucknow? Why inspite of recommendations from so many other UP CM – 17 as the President of Meerut Bar –  Rohitashawa Kumar Aggarwal disclosed about an year back did we see no high court bench coming up in any of the 26 districts of West UP and when Uttarakhand was also part of West UP and UP about 40 districts?  Why there are so many other capitals like Bhopal, Dehradun, Bhubaneshwar, Thiruvananthapuram etc where there is neither high court nor bench but Lucknow inspite of being so close to Allahabad was selected for bench leaving the hilly areas of Uttarakhand and West UP high and dry?
                                            If a high court bench is created it is “poorest of poor” and the most deprived and hapless women who will benefit most as they will be saved from the unnecessary trouble of travelling so far and spending so much extra money, time etc to just attend one hearing alone! Centre must have some pity on woman at least who are most unsafe in lawless UP and especially West UP and immediately order creation of more benches not just in West UP but also in other parts of UP where the crime rate is high! Crime rate is highest in West UP which necessitates creation of bench here on  a war footing!    
                                      Who will benefit if more high court benches are built –  Hindus alone or Muslims alone or Sikhs alone or Christians alone? No, all people of all religions will benefit equally if more high court benches are built especially in UP which is notorious for being the “rape and crime capital of India” as former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon put it aptly! Then why can’t a single bench be built here more than 70 years after independence in 2018!
                                        Why inspite of BJP leaders being killed most ruthlessly in West UP as happened recently still Centre is taking no steps to create a high court bench in West UP? Why Nehruji had the great guts to set up a high court bench in Lucknow just about 200 km away from Allahabad where high court is located and that too 70 years ago in 1948 and so also Dr Manmohan Singh had the guts to set up 2 more benches for Karnataka which already had a bench at Hubli but no Prime  Minister till date with 2018 about to start has summoned the courage to set up not a single more bench in UP leave alone West UP or in Bihar which is another lawless state and which has not even a single high court bench?
                                                  Why are lawyers of West UP forced to become non-practising lawyers by going on strike again and again sometimes for 3 months or 6 months or for many weeks or for few days as they will do now on 11, 12, 13 and 14 September, 2017 and everySaturday since 1981 and even many times on Wednesday? Why lawyers including senior lawyers are compelled to block highways, lie down in front of a train and indulge in different form of protest on roads and highways instead of practicing quietly since last many decades and even go on padyatra demanding bench?  Why this has just no effect on Centre? Why even Atal Bihari Vajpayee raised the demand of a high court bench in West UP inside Parliament way back in 1986?
                                    Misbauddin Siddiqui who is the President of the Meerut District Bar Association lamented, “The problem is that the Allahabad High Court has the highest number of pending cases. The pressure is huge. Allahabad is very far from Western UP. It is around 800 km from Saharanpur. Eight other high courts are closer to Western UP, and interestingly Lahore High Court in Pakistan is closer than Allahabad High Court. The cost of travelling to Allahabad, and then staying there is huge for poor people. That is why we have been demanding a high court bench. Successive governments have denied us this. Now, we are hopeful as there is the same party in both the Centre and state and the law minister has given us an assurance.” But after nearly six months we still see no signs of any action in creating a bench in West UP! All we see is strike, strike and nothing but strike and no work in the courts of the 26 districts of West UP!
                                            Why the newly appointed Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhonsle rightly lashed out at the law and order situation in UP and said that in Maharashtra women or girl venture out in night anywhere yet never such incidents of gang rape occur? Yet why Maharashtra has 3 benches and UP only one and West UP none? Why Rajnath Singh who is Union Home Minister while addressing public gathering in Patiyali constituency of Kasarganj district is on record stating in February 2017 that UP reported 7,673 riots, 4660 murder, 4096 robberies and 260 dacoities in just one year yet it has least benches in India and West UP has none where maximum crime incidents are reported?     
                                    Why West UP has an area of 98,933 square km which accounts for 33.61 percent of total area of UP and yet no bench but Lucknow in Central region has just 62,363 square km and yet it has a bench?   Centre has all the power to create a high court bench in West UP without any recommendation from the state government as the former Attorney General Soli J Sorabjee had rightly said way back in 2001 when he was asked about it. He had rightly said that, “The Centre without any recommendation from the State Chief Minister or Chief Justice of a State is fully empowered under our Constitution to set up a high court bench anywhere it wants at its own volition.”  Why Centre ignores blithely what the Chairman of Supreme Court Bar Association Krishna Mani had said quite explicitly that, “Only by the creation of a bench of high court in West UP will the people be able to secure speedy and cheap justice at their doorsteps!” You see for yourself the distance from Allahabad to all major districts of West UP and they are as follows: –
District                          Distance
Meerut                          737 km
Muzzaffarnagar            793 km
Saharanpur                  752 km
Ghaziabad                    707 km
Bijnore                          792 km
Gautambuddhnagar     750 km
Bulandshahr                 737 km
Hathras                         750 km
Rampur                         733 km
Moradabad                    762 km
Aligarh                           701 km
Mathura                         601 km
Agra                               564 km
Etah                               597 km
Mainpuri                         562 km
Shamli                            720 km
Hapur                             700 km
Sambhal                         650 km
Amroha                     792 km                                                
                                       Still should a high court bench not be created in West UP? Even former Law Minister Kapil Sibal had recommended creation of a bench as former Union Minister RPN Singh pointed out but the then UP CM Akhilesh Yadav didn’t agree! No Prime Minister in principle has ever opposed the demand for a bench in West UP still we see no bench coming up!

                                         How many points should I write to drive home my billion dollar point that creation of a high court bench in West Up is the crying need of the hour? I can keep going on endlessly as to why West UP must have a high court bench and UP also more benches but what is most shocking is that not a single bench is coming up anywhere in UP even though now both UP and Centre is being ruled by same party – BJP as PM Modi still is no mood to relent! UP CM Yogi Adityanath himself raised the demand for a bench inside Parliament a long time back in 1998-99 but now even he feels helpless as Centre is not relenting! Why? Why Rajinder Aggarwal who is BJP MP from Meerut demanded the setting up of 3 benches in UP at Meerut, Agra and Gorakhpur right inside Parliament and Satyapal Malik another BJP MP who was recently made Union Minister too demanded the setting up of 5 more benches in UP at Meerut, Agra, Jhansi, Gorakhpur and Varanasi but Centre is not prepared to set up even one bench anywhere in UP?  Why this senseless stubbornness in denying even a single bench to West UP and UP? This nation wants to know why? When a high court bench can be set up for Andaman and Nicobar Islands at Port Blair for just 3 lakh people residing there and high court for small states like Sikkim, Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur among others where the population is just few lakhs and cases pending don’t exceed few thousand or even hundred as in Sikkim then why not for more than 9 crore people residing in 26 districts in West UP who are wrongly compelled to travel about 700-800 km on an average as there is no bench in West UP? 

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,
Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh. 

Why Lawyers Of West UP Keep Striking Again And Again?

Coming straight to the nub of the matter, let me begin on a disconcerting note by observing that it is most astonishing that why lawyers of West UP have been regularly going on strike to protest against the non-creation of a high court Bench in West UP since last many decades but no one in the ruling establishment seems to be doing anything to address it. Leave alone women or common man even the lawyers themselves are not safe in West UP. Time and again we hear some lawyer or the other being shot dead in broad daylight most brutally by criminals without any fear of law whatsoever.
                       
Why Lawyers Of West UP Keep Striking Again And Again?

      

                                        Such criminals know fully well that Allahabad High Court has the highest number of pending cases – about 10 lakh as compared to other states where the number of pending cases don’t exceed 1 lakh or at the most 2 lakhs cases! They know that they will easily get bail and by the time cases are finally decided they will die a natural death. This must change which is possible only if at least in my opinion 10 more benches of high court are created in different parts of UP! Such poor, hapless women and girls, for God sake, need more high court benches and not more temples!
                                               But see the unpalatable irony! Politicians are not prepared to create even a single bench anywhere in UP leave alone West UP!  It is a matter of great shame that Allahabad High Court which last year on March 17 had completed its 150th year of establishment has the least benches in India – only one at Lucknow and that too just about 150-200 km away from Allahabad! Why no high court bench in West UP at Meerut or Agra or at Jhansi or some other place? We all know that Allahabad High Court is the biggest court in whole of Asia and also the oldest court! Still why it has least benches in India only one which is so close to Allahabad created way back in 1948 but see the most dangerous irony that 70 years later with 2018 fast approaching no steps are being taken to create a high court bench anywhere else in UP leave alone West UP even though the 230th report of Law Commission very specifically recommended for the same in big states? Why Dr Manmohan Singh had the guts to create 2 more high court benches for just 4 and 8 districts in Dharwad and Gulbarga in Karnataka but neither he nor any other PM nor the present PM – Narendra Damodardas Modi has the guts to create even more bench not just in West UP but in any hook and corner of UP except the one created by Jawaharlal Nehru in Lucknow way back in 1948?  
                                       As if this is not enough, now lawyers in West UP are not safe even from policemen. A lawyer Suresh Raj was brutally thrashed by cops in Greater Noida some time back. Still no FIR was lodged against the erring cops. To protest this, the lawyers of West UP will be on strike from September 11 to September 14 and this may extend even further if still no action is taken. It is most hurting to see that lawyers of West UP are compelled to go on strike again and again! But it seems no one is caring!
                                      Why can’t a high court  bench be set up in West UP even 70 years after independence in 2018 even though a high court bench was set up for Lucknow for just about 8 districts way back in 1948 onJuly 1? Why lawyers of West UP are compelled to go on strike every Saturday since May 1981 to protest against the step-motherly treatment meted out to West UP by denying them even a single high court  bench even though Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice Jaswant Singh had very strongly recommended creation of 3 high court benches in West UP and hilly areas adjoining West UP which have now been carved out as a separate state Uttarakhand as the people had to travel thousands of kilometers just to attend a single court hearing in Allahabad high court? Why benches were set up in other states like at Aurangabad in Maharashtra which already had two benches, Madurai in Tamil Nadu and Jalpaiguri in West Bengal but not in West UP?   
                                                Why maximum crime, maximum riots, maximum killings all take place in West UP but still no high court bench? Why a lawless state like UP whom former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon slammed as “the rape and crime capital of India” has least high court benches in India and West UP which owes for more than 57% of the pending cases as acknowledged by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission has not even a single high court bench? Why Karnataka which has less than 7 crore population, less than 2 lakh  cases pending has three high court benches but UP which has not 2 lakh or 3 lakh or 4 lakh or 5 lakh or 6 lakh or 7 lakh or 8 lakh or 9 lakh but more than 10 lakh cases pending which is the highest in India and has more than 22 crore population has least high court benches in India and more than half of the vacancies of Judges in high court are lying vacant? Why this step-motherly treatment for UP which sends maximum MPs to Parliament and West UP in particular?
                                      Why when UP which is among the largest States, has maximum population – more than 22 crore as CM Yogi Adityanath keeps pointing out proudly every now and then, maximum districts – 75, maximum constituencies,  maximum MPs – 80, maximum MLAs – 404, maximum PM including Narendra Modi, maximum pending cases – more than 10 lakh and here too West UP accounts for more than half of pending cases as noted by Justice Jaswant Commission about 57%, maximum Judges which earlier was 160 and increased to 200 in high court, maximum vacancies of Judges – 75 in high court, maximum poverty, maximum villages more than one lakh  as opposed to other states who have not more than few thousands at the most, maximum cities more than 700, maximum fake encounters killings, custody killings, custodial tortures, maximum dowry cases, maximum rape and gang rape cases, maximum acid throwing cases, maximum bride burning cases, maximum cases of human rights violations, maximum undertrials, maximum cases of crime, loot, arson and riots and here too West UP tops with Saharanpur riots, Meerut riots, Muzaffarnagar riots tarnishing our international reputation to the extent that former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon termed UP as “crime and rape capital” of India and what not yet Centre is not prepared to create even a single bench for not just West UP but entire UP? Why when UP sends maximum MPs to Lok Sabha – 80, maximum MPs to Rajya Sabha – 30, maximum MLAs to State Assembly – 404 MLAs and maximum members to State Legislative Council – 100 MLAs and yet has least benches – only one and that too just 150 km away from Allahabad at Lucknow?
                                                It is so shocking and disgusting to see that West UP is fast becoming the epicenter of all kinds of crimes, rapes, gangrapes, brutal murders, mass murders, dacoity, robbery and what not! What is even more shocking to see is that all political parties barring Samajwadi Party have openly espoused the creation of a high court bench in West UP but still even after seventy years of independence we see no sign of it happening anytime soon! What is most shocking is that inspite of West UP accounting for more than half of the crime cases all over UP, not a single high court bench has been created here since 1947 till now even though a high court bench was created at Lucknow which is just about 150-200 km away from Allahabad way back on July 1, 1948!
  
                                          Why lawyers of West UP are compelled to go on strike for 6 months in a row as they did in 2001 and for 3 months as they did in 2014-15 and many times go for weeks together demanding a high court bench in West UP? Is it just for fun? Why Centre is doing nothing to address it even though time and again Centre keeps assuring just like Rajnath Singh as also the Law Minister of UP had assured few months back that West UP will soon have a high court bench?Eminent and senior Supreme Court lawyer and former Law Minister Kapil Sibal himself had mentioned as disclosed by another former UPA Union Minister RPN Singh that Kapil Sibal had recommended a high court bench at Meerut but the then state government led by Akhilesh Yadav refused to endorse it!
                                      Why even though it was way back in 1955 that Dr Sampoornanand who was the then UP CM had recommended a high court bench at Meerut but Centre refused even though it was approved for Lucknow? Why inspite of recommendations from so many other UP CM – 17 as the President of Meerut Bar Rohitashawa Aggarwal disclosed about an year back did we see no high court bench coming up in any of the 26 districts of West UP and when Uttarakhand was also part of West UP and UP about 40 districts?  Why there are so many other capitals like Bhopal, Dehradun, Bhubaneshwar, Thiruvananthapuram etc where there is neither high court nor bench but Lucknow inspite of being so close to Allahabad was selected for bench leaving the hilly areas of Uttarakhand and West UP high and dry?
                                            If a high court bench is created it is “poorest of poor” and the most deprived and hapless women who will benefit most as they will be saved from the unnecessary trouble of travelling so far and spending so much extra money, time etc to just attend one hearing alone! Centre must have some pity on woman at least who are most unsafe in lawless UP and especially West UP and immediately order creation of more benches not just in West UP but also in other parts of UP where the crime rate is high! Crime rate is highest in West UP which necessitates creation of bench here on  a war footing!    
                                      Who will benefit if more high court benches are built –  Hindus alone or Muslims alone or Sikhs alone or Christians alone? No, all people of all religions will benefit equally if more high court benches are built especially in UP which is notorious for being the “rape and crime capital of India” as former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon put it aptly!
                                               Why inspite of BJP leaders being killed most ruthlessly in West UP as happened recently still Centre is taking no steps to create a high court bench in West UP? Why Nehruji had the great guts to set up a high court bench in Lucknow just about 200 km away from Allahabad where high court is located and that too 70 years ago in 1948 and so also Dr Manmohan Singh had the guts to set up 2 more benches for Karnataka which already had a bench at Hubli but no Prime  Minister till date with 2018 about to start has summoned the courage to set up not a single more bench in UP leave alone West UP or in Bihar which is another lawless state and which has not even a single high court bench?
                                                  Why are lawyers of West UP forced to become non-practising lawyers by going on strike again and again sometimes for 3 months or 6 months or for many weeks or for few days as they will do now on 11, 12, 13 and 14 September, 2017 and everySaturday since 1981 and even many times on Wednesday? Why lawyers are compelled to block highways, lie down in front of a train and indulge in different form of protest instead of practicing quietly since last many decades and even go on padyatra demanding bench?  Why this has just no effect on Centre? Why even Atal Bihari Vajpayee raised the demand of a high court bench in West UP inside Parliament way back in 1986?
                                           Why Centre takes no time to set up 2 more high court benches at Karnataka which is a relatively very peaceful state as compared to UP in Dharwad and Gulbarga for just 4 and 8 districts but has just no time to set up even a single bench for 26 districts of West UP who have been agitating ever since my father was a small baby? Why the 230th report of Law Commission which recommended the creation of more benches has been implemented only in Karnataka alone? Why people of West UP are compelled to travel more than 700 km on an average all the way to Allahabad as there is no high court bench here even though the population of West UP is more than 9 crore?
                                          Misbauddin Siddiqui, President of the Meerut District Bar Association said, “The problem is that the Allahabad High Court has the highest number of pending cases. The pressure is huge. Allahabad is very far from Western UP. It is around 800 km from Saharanpur. Eight other high courts are closer to Western UP, and interestingly Lahore High Court in Pakistan is closer than Allahabad High Court. The cost of travelling to Allahabad, and then staying there is huge for poor people. That is why we have been demanding a high court bench. Successive governments have denied us this. Now, we are hopeful as there is the same party in both the Centre and state and the law minister has given us an assurance.” But after nearly six months we still see no signs of any action in creating a bench in West UP!
                                            Why the newly appointed Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhonsle rightly lashed out at the law and order situation in UP and said that in Maharashtra women or girl venture out in night anywhere yet never such incidents of gang rape occur? Yet why Maharashtra has 3 benches and UP only one and West UP none? Why Rajnath Singh who is Union Home Minister while addressing public gathering in Patiyali constituency of Kasarganj district is on record stating in February 2017 that UP reported 7,673 riots, 4660 murder, 4096 robberies and 260 dacoities in just one year yet it has least benches in India and West UP has none where maximum crime incidents are reported?     
                                              I can keep going on endlessly as to why West UP must have a high court bench and UP also more benches but what is most shocking is that not a single bench is coming up anywhere in UP even though now both UP and Centre is being ruled by same party – BJP! UP CM Yogi Adityanath himself raised the demand for a bench inside Parliament a long time back in 1998-99 but now even he feels helpless as Centre is not relenting! Why Rajinder Aggarwal who is BJP MP from Meerut demanded the setting up of 3 benches in UP at Meerut, Agra and Gorakhpur right inside Parliament and Satpal Malik another BJP MP recently made Union Minister too demanded the setting up of 5 more benches in UP at Meerut, Agra, Jhansi, Gorakhpur and Varanasi but Centre is not prepared to set up even one bench anywhere in UP?  Why this senseless stubbornness? This nation wants to know why?
Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,
Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.  

New Mental Health Care Bill Decrimialising Attempt To Suicide Is Truly Historic From All Angles

Coming straight to the nub of the matter, let me begin first and foremost by penning down my extreme happiness and utmost satisfaction to note that the new Mental Health Care Bill  decrimialising attempt to suicide is truly historic from all angles!  It gives me more happiness to note that this new Mental Health Care Bill has been passed by both the Houses of Parliament. Thus we see that the Parliamentary approval has been secured which was mandatory for it to become a law.
New Mental Health Care Bill Decrimialising Attempt To Suicide Is Truly Historic From All Angles

                                                      While craving for the exclusive indulgence of my esteemed readers, let me inform them that the new Mental Health Care Bill the new Mental Health Care Bill which decriminalises attempt to suicide and bans use of electric shock therapy for treating children with mental illness was passed by the Lok Sabha on March 27, 2017. With the Lok Sabha’s assent to the legislation, the new Mental Health Care Bill secured parliamentary approval as it  was earlier passed by the Rajya Sabha in August 2016. This is a very good news especially for those who require mental health care. Also, it has received the Presidential assent on April 7, 2017.
                                                        To put things in perspective, an important salient factor in the Bill is that it separates attempt to suicide from the Indian Penal Code. In effect, IPC provisions cannot be invoked in case of an attempt to suicide. Since the person undertakes the extreme step of killing oneself in extreme mental stress thus meaning that it is triggered by mental illness – the Bill does not criminalise it. This is what is so laudable and it has been lauded by human rights activists, lawyers, doctors and all right minded people. Those who attempt to commit suicide need treatment and not punishment. Many times even a good friend can do the job of a doctor and help his/her friend to come out of the mental illness and again lead a normal life much like any other ordinary person.
                                Be it noted, the new Mental Health Care Bill provides for a rights-based comprehensive health care to the mentally ill. It aims to provide for the right to better health care for mentally ill persons. Any mentally ill person shall have the right to –
·       Access mental health care
·       Community living
·       Seek protection from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
·       Equality and non-discrimination
·       Information
·       Confidentiality
·       Access medical records
·        Personal contacts and communication
·       Legal aid                      
·       Make complaints about deficiencies in provision of services
·       Place restriction on release of information in respect of mental illness
                                      Let me bring out here that the new Bill also allows a mentally ill person to have the right to restrict release of information with respect to the illness and make a complaint about deficiencies in provision of services. All this will surely benefit them and have therefore been very rightly incorporated in the Bill. Apart from this there are many other laudable features in this Bill. Some of them are as follows : –
1.   The Mental Health Care Bill ensures that every person has the right to access mental health care and treatment from health services run or funded by government.
2.   It assures free treatment for mentally ill persons if they are homeless or poor, even if they do not possess a Below Poverty Line card.
3.   Health Minister JP Nadda himself said in Lok Sabha that, “This Bill compels the state to have a mental health programme and it empowers the individuals,” adding that the Bill has a “patient-centric” approach with the aim of increasing participation of service users.
4.   It also goes forward to provide that a person with mental illness will have the right to make an advance directive in writing specifying the way the person wishes to be cared for and treated for a mental illness.   
5.   It also recognizes the role of caregivers as those who can be appointed as a nominated representative of a mentally ill person, members of the Central Mental Health Authority and State Mental Health Authorities, or members of Mental Health Review Boards.
6.   On the clauses decriminalizing suicide, the Bill states that  a person who attempts suicide should be presumed to have severe stress and shall not be punished. It shall benefit mainly those who are poor or have failed in an exam or have suffered any other major setback in their respective lives due to which they don’t feel like living further. JP Nadda who is our Health Minister also said that, “Suicide is a mental disease. It will not be a criminal act, it will be decriminalized. It recognizes that it is done under severe mental stress”. This is really most historic and will benefit not just poor farmers who attempt suicide due to poverty but all other persons who attempt suicide due to one reason or the other. No one has been left out and this is really good. Punishing further a person who is already tormented does not make any sense and this alone explains why most of the countries in the world are now doing away with the penal provisions which punishes persons who attempt to commit suicide but fail due to one reason or the other.
7.   It is expressly provided in the Mental Health care Bill that, “Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, any person who attempts to commit suicide shall be presumed, unless proved otherwise, to have severe stress and shall not be tried and punished under the said Code.” No sane person will ever recommend further punishing a person who is already under so much of stress and strain that he/she attempts to end his/her life. This is therefore most laudable and must be applauded by one and all.
8.   It also provides mentally ill people a right to confidentiality in respect of mental health, mental healthcare, treatment and physical healthcare. Photographs or any other information pertaining to the person cannot be released to the media without the consent of the person with mental illness. This will ensure that no one is able to mock the mentally ill persons through media or in any other manner unless they consent to it.
9.   The Bill empowers the government to set up a Central Mental Health Authority at the national level and a State Mental Health Authority in every state. Every mental health institute and mental health practitioners including clinical psychologists, mental health nurses and psychiatric social workers will have to be registered with this Authority.
10.         A Mental Health Review Board will be constituted to protect the rights of persons with mental illness and manage advance directives.
11.         Under Section 108 of this Mental Health Care Bill, the punishment for flouting of provisions will attract up to six months in prison or Rs 10,000 fine or both. Repeat offenders can face up to two years in jail or a fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh or both. This will make sure that the rights of mentally ill persons are protected under all circumstances. No one will dare transgress and still if someone transgresses then he/she will be awarded the appropriate punishment.
12. Section 18 stipulates that every person shall have a right to access mental health care and treatment from mental health services run or funded by the appropriate government.
13. Section 20 stipulates that every person with mental illness shall have a right to live with dignity and be protected from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in any mental health establishment.
14. Section 21 guarantees the right to equality and non-discrimination to every person with mental illness. No discrimination of any kind will be permitted under any circumstances against the mentally ill persons.
15. Section 19 guarantees to every person with mental illness to have a right to community living and not to be segregated from society.
16. The Bill defines “mental illness” as a substantial disorder of thinking, mood, perception, orientation or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognise reality or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life, mental conditions associated with the abuse of alcohol and drugs, but does not include mental retardation which is a condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind of a person, specially characterised by subnormality of intelligence.
17. A person with mental illness shall have the right to make an advance directive that states how he/she wants to be treated for the illness and who his/her nominated representative shall be. It includes the right not to be treated and say no to institutionalization. The advance directive should be certified by a medical practitioner registered with the Mental Health Board. If a mental health professional/relative/care-giver does not wish to follow the directive while treating the person, he can make an application to the Mental Health Board to review/alter/cancel the advance directive.
18. A person with mental illness shall not be subjected to electro-convulsive therapy without the use of muscle relaxants and anaesthesia. Also, electro-convulsive therapy will not be performed for minors. Sterilisation will not be performed on such persons. They shall not be chained in any manner or form whatsoever under any circumstances.  
19. The Bill clearly emphasizes on ensuring no intrusion of rights and dignity of people with mental illness.
20. The Bill provides for ensuring healthcare, treatment and rehabilitation of persons with mental illness “in a manner that does not intrude on their rights and dignity”.
21. The Bill also stipulates administrative bodies at central, state levels to register, supervise, maintain list of mental health establishments; develop quality and service provision norms; keep register of mental health professionals; train officials; receive complaints and advise the government on matters of mental health.
                                   This Bill has undergone wide ranging public consultations, debates and discussions from 2010 onwards. These include regional consultations and a national consultation that was attended by nearly 300 stakeholders. In a first, Parliament devoted six hours exclusively debating and discussing mental health issues. Also, it merits mention here that a record number of 29 MPs had participated in the debate, without the usual acrimony, ruckus, cacophony or disruptions and most important of all they all expressed their unstinted support to it.
                                       The Bill lays down that “Every person shall have a right to access mental health care and treatment from mental health services run or funded by the appropriate government. The right to access mental health care and treatment shall mean mental health services of affordable cost, of good quality, available in sufficient quantity, accessible geographically, without discrimination on the basis of gender, sex, sexual orientation, religion, culture, caste, social or political beliefs, class, disability or any other basis and provided in a manner that is acceptable to a person with mental illness and their families and care-givers.”
                                   It would be pertinent to mention here that the range of services specified in it includes outpatient and impatient services, half-way homes, sheltered accommodation, supported accommodation and provisions for child and old-age mental health services. It also contains a provision for the notification of a list of essential medicines, providing which will be the obligation of the relevant government.  
                                    It must be highlighted here that Pune-based psychiatrist Dr Saumitra Pathare who had drafted the Bill along with Professor Jaya Sagade said the Bill will turn good lot of aspects in the mental health care. Dr Pathare said that, “For the first time, there is an emphasis on rehabilitation within the community. The Bill talks about the patients right to live within the community and not in seclusion. This changes the perspective with which we look at mentally ill patients,” adding that the Bill has a clause that mandates the government to increase the number of mental health workers.   
                               It is no ordinary thing that 150 million Indians require treatment for mental illness but nearly 80-90%  receive just no treatment. Also, we spend less than 1% of the public health budget on mental health even though it is true that mental health problems constitute nearly 13% of the health burden. An estimated 6-7% of India’s population suffer from some kind of mental illness, while 1-2% have an acute condition.
                               
                                    As things stand, the nation’s grossly inadequate base of professional resources is evident from its ratio of 0.3 psychiatrists for 100,000 people with marginally higher numbers taking independent private practitioners into account as compared to China’s 1.7. There are also massive deficiencies in the availability of trained clinical psychologists and psychiatric social workers. All this must be set right which is a herculean task but definitely not impossible!
                                        It must be noted here that India which has 17.5% of the world’s population alone accounts for 17% of the world’s suicides. As per government data, 1,31,666 Indians committed suicide in 2014. This grew to 1,33,623 suicides in 2015. 150 million Indians need treatment for mental illness but nearly 80-90% receive no treatment. We spend less than 1% of the public health budget on mental health even though mental health problems constitute nearly 13% of the health burden. This alone explains what necessitated the urgent bringing of this Bill and passing it as soon as possible so that it comes into effect at the earliest!
                                 All said and done, this new Mental Health Care Bill which decriminalizes attempt to suicide is truly historic from all angles. This alone explains why it has been hailed by a lot of eminent jurists, intellectuals and lawyers. Even the 210th report of Law Commission had recommended to decriminalize the attempt to suicide. To punish a person who is already not mentally well can never be justified under any circumstances! So it is really great to see that finally humanity has won and this is clear from the passage of this historic Bill and has even received the assent of the President now.
                                     No looking back! A change in people’s perception is also required towards those suffering from mental illness as this alone can remove the stigma and discrimination that stands in the way of finding cures and enabling them to live a complete life which they actually deserve also! Let’s hope so! In fact hoping alone will not suffice! We all have to collectively work together to ensure that this new Bill once it comes into effect is effectively implemented instead of just leaving everything on the Government alone! It is certainly not easy but definitely it is eminently possible provided we are all committed to it! The present NDA government must be lauded for bringing forward such a historic Bill and in fact all those MPs who ensured its passage in Parliament must also be lauded unequivocally no matter from which party they hail! This ostensibly shows that all MPs who have ensured the passage of this historic Bill in Parliament are all concerned equally about the deplorable plight of the mentally ill persons and have done their level best to ensure that they are adequately protected and cared for!
          Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,
Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.  

China Is Responsible For Doklam Standoff With India

 It needs no rocket science to conclude that China itself is most responsible for unnecessarily intruding into Doklam and creating an unnecessary confrontation with India by flexing its military prowess. What it conveniently forgets is that India of today is not the India of 1962 and India’s gentle approach is being taken for granted by China! Much water has flown under the bridge since 1962 and India too can go to any extent to defend itself and its neighbour Bhutan with whom India enjoys good equations and to whom India has pledged its support against any kind of attack by any foreign power!
China Is Responsible For Doklam Standoff With India

                                             Be it noted, Doklam is known as Donglang in China. It is an area with a plateau and a valley lying between Tibet’s Chumbi Valley to the north, Bhutan’s Ha Valley to the east and India’s Sikkim state to the west. This Doklam plateau which is north of the trijunction between Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet has immense strategic importance which alone explains that why India and China have witnessed such a ugly stand-off since last more than two months! It has been depicted as part of Bhutan in the Bhutanese maps since 1961 but it is also claimed by China.
                                   It is a matter of great regret that till date we have not seen this prolonged dispute getting resolved despite several rounds of border negotiations between Bhutan and China. Needless to add, this area is of immense strategic significance to all three countries – India, China and Bhutan. India has always shown commendable restraint even in the face of huge provocation from the Chinese side! Bhutan’s ruler Jigme Singye Wangchuk in 2001 had rejected in the National Assembly the unilateral offer made by China to take 500 square kilometer of land in the northwestern part of Bhutan in lieu of giving China 269 square kilometer of land of Doklam plateau!
                                           It merits mention here that the government of Bhutan has refuted Chinese foreign ministry claims about Thimphu telling Beijing that the trilateral border stand-off area in Doklam in the Sikkim sector is not Bhutan’s territory. Beijing has blamed New Delhi for Doklam standoff and accused Indian soldiers of trespass and preventing Chinese soldiers from building a road in the region, which is claimed by Bhutan. China wants India to withdraw its troops from Doklam before the two sides begin talks. India has made its position clear that the road, if built, will alter the status quo.  
                                              To put things in perspective, while reacting to the developments in Doklam, Bhutan had onJune 29 issued a Press release in which it clearly stated that the construction of the road inside Bhutanese territory is a direct violation of the agreements and affects the process of demarcating the boundary between the two countries. In the Press release, Bhutan said the Chinese Army started constructing a motorable road from Dokola in the Doklam area towards the Bhutan Army camp at Zompelri on June 16, 2017. This is totally unwarranted.
                                        Truth be told, Bhutan in its Press release further said that the boundary talks between Bhutan and China were under way and the two countries had written agreements of 1988 and 1998 stating that they agree to maintain peace and tranquility in their border areas pending a final settlement on the boundary question. The two countries have also agreed to maintain a status quo on the boundary as before March 1959 and refrain from taking unilateral action or use of force, to change the status quo of the boundary. Bhutan has hoped that the status quo in the Doklam area would be maintained by China as it was before June 16, 2017.   
                               While craving for the exclusive indulgence of my esteemed readers, let me also inform them that Bhutan has also issued a demarche to China over the construction of the road and asked Beijing to restore the “status quo” by stopping the work being undertaken forthwith. This unilateral action by China is what has compelled India to step in. So China has no right to blame India for the impasse!
                                                 It is imperative to mention here that Bhutan has no direct diplomatic relations with China and maintains contacts with Beijing through its diplomatic mission in New Delhi. India has rightly maintained that both sides should first pull back their troops for any talks to take place. India has also cited the Bhutanese Foreign Ministry as emphasizing that “the construction of the road inside Bhutanese territory is a direct violation of the 1988 and 1998 agreements between Bhutan and China and affects the process of demarcating the boundary between these two countries”. India has conveyed to China unequivocally that the road construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for New Delhi!
                                  What assumes immense significance here is that under the 2007 India-Bhutan Friendship Treaty, the two sides have agreed to “cooperate closely with each other on issues relating to their national interests. Neither Government shall allow the use of its territory for activities harmful to the national security and interest of the other.” Under the previous treaty of friendship signed in 1949, India was to guide Bhutan on foreign and defence policies.
                                   No doubt, the language of 2007 treaty is interpreted to mean respecting the sensitivities of Bhutan regarding its sovereignty. But the ground reality is that as per the 1949 treaty, the Indian military is virtually responsible for protecting Bhutan from all kinds of military threats and this includes the threat posed by Chinese military also! Let there be no doubt about it.
                                   It was clearly stipulated in the 1949 treaty that a troop of Indian Army will always be stationed in Bhutan to train Bhutan’s army and to help them in time of need as and when required! As China began illegally constructing road on the triangle of Bhutan and Sikkim border, Bhutan took an offence to it and termed it a direct encroachment on its territorial integrity and sovereignty. As a consequence, the stepping in of Indian Army to help Bhutan ward off the impending Chinese threat became imperative in accordance with the terms and conditions of the treaty! How can China brush all this aside? It cannot!
                                              As things stand, India and China have been locked in a standoff for more than two months in Doklam near the Sikkim sector which is near the India-Bhutan-China trijunction since June 16. There are 12 major areas of dispute along the over 4,000-km Line of Actual Control (LAC). The faceoff started after Indian troops stopped Chinese military from building a road India believes would allow Beijing to cut its access to the northeastern states. Bhutan has maintained time and again that Doklam is an integral part of it but China while mocking it has claimed sovereignty over the area.
                                            It needs to be understood that Doklam plateau is governed by Bhutan and has long been inhabited by the Bhutanese shepherds. China has been eyeing this coveted piece of hilly terrain because of its immense strategic significance. It cannot be lost upon us that Doklam is very close to the Siliguri Corridor in West Bengal that connects the northeastern states to India with the rest of the country. It is the sole passage for supplying materials as also transportation to and from the northeastern states. In one fell swoop, China can break all links of India with the 7 North-Eastern States by occupying this passage! So India has to do all it can to prevent China from doing so!
                                            Truth be told, while delivering the General BC Joshi Memorial Lecture in Pune recently, Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat warned strongly in no uncertain terms that standoffs with China like that at Doklam are likely to “increase in future”. He said that, “The recent stand-off in the Doklam plateau by the Chinese side attempting to change the status quo are issues which we need to be wary about, and I think such kind of incidents are likely to increase in the future”. The standoff started when Indian troops after receiving formal request by the Royal Army of Bhutan stopped the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China from illegally constructing a highway through Doklam area. According to Gen VPMalik who is former Army Chief: “India has operational advantage at Doklam but it has to be prepared for skirmishes in any part of the Line of Actual Control – from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh. The military part, there is no doubt we must review. We have to improve our border roads and military capability in the mountains as long as we continue to have an unresolved boundary with China. Lately, the frequency of such confrontations along the LAC (Line of Actual Control) has been increasing. The cycles are getting shorter. The decibel level of threats and warnings has gone up. Under these circumstances, the military has to be prepared for all eventualities. Even if there was no sakirmish, a long stand-off would take its own toll. We will require considerable amount of logistics and high-altitude conditioning of troops and equipment. Our troops are quite capable of going through that. But it will definitely have its financial and some health costs.”
                                                Truly speaking, China has made no bones in making it absolutely clear that it stands for territorial expansion at the cost of its smaller neighbours. It has also made it clear time and again that it can stoop to any extent to further its grand ambitions of being the undisputed supreme power in the whole region! We are living in a fools paradise if we think that China will behave properly if we extend diplomatic niceties and overtures with them by regularly backtracking from our stated position!
                                              Let me be direct in asking: What did we gain by recognizing Tibet as an integral part of China as we saw in 1954 through a consultative agreement and again during the 2003 visit of Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee explicitly acknowledged that the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) was part of the People’s Republic of China? Has China ever cared to respond? What did Pakistan which is China’s closest ally gain by  ceding almost 6,000 sq km area north of Karakoram mountain ranges in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir? It is only China which has gained!
                                                Let me also be direct in asking:  What will Pakistan gain by China Pakistan Economic Corridor? It is China which will gradually increase its leverage in developing ports in Pakistan and ultimately occupy it! China is not sparing even its closest ally Pakistan then how can we expect them to be fair with us?
                                 Kanwal Sibal who is India’s former Foreign Secretary very elegantly brings out in his enlightening article titled “Doklam: Bundle of Chinese Lies” in ‘The Economic Times’ dated 11 August, 2017 that, “China is wallowing in its own mendacious propaganda on the Doklam stand-off. China obfuscates the Doklam issue by suddenly finding great virtue in colonial era unequal treaties which it rejects as in the case of the McMohan Line, for instance. It now argues that the 1890 British India-China treaty on the Tibet-Sikkim border extends to Bhutan too, even though neither Sikkim nor Bhutan were a party. China is distorting the content of Nehru’s 1959 letter to Chou En Lai which, while accepting that the Sikkim-Tibet boundary had been settled, refers to the unsettled tri-junction with Bhutan. China refers selectively to the 2006 talks between the Special Representatives (SRs) and omits mentioning the 2012 pact between SRs that the tri-junction would be settled in negotiations with third country involvement (Bhutan) and until then the status quo will be maintained. China’s contention that India has entered its territory in Doklam is bogus as this area has figured in the 24 rounds of China-Bhutan talks so far on border differences. For India, the plateau is Bhutanese territory claimed by China, just as, by virtue of its occupation of Tibet, China claims Indian territory. India has entered Bhutanese territory under existing bilateral security arrangements. India is acting in close coordination with Bhutan. China has done lasting damage to bilateral ties, as India will henceforth be exceedingly cautious about its intentions. China is alienating a billion plus Indians.”  
                                     Briefly stated: We must be prepared to engage in war with China under all circumstances. We must deploy more troops in our border with China. We cannot afford complacency of any kind on this score! We need to speed up in developing roads and all infrastructure in borders with China because they are far ahead of us and our leaders have not shown sufficient maturity in dealing it on an urgent priority even after suffering serious reverses in the 1962 war with China!
                                          All said and done, we should not take lightly what China has threatened us that if we enter India, it will be chaos. This can certainly be repulsed strongly if our political establishment cares to be more generous in spending more in developing all the border areas with China! Centre must remember the time tested old adage that, “The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war!”
                                      It is heartening to note that the Army is taking no chances on the Sikkim axis. It has been steadily but discreetly moving the bulk of its soldiers under the 17 (Gangtok) and 27 (Kalimpong) Mountain Divisions (each has over 10,000 troops) of the Sukna-based 33 Corps to their “operational alert areas” to cater for any contingency! Also, around 2500 soldiers have been moved forward to Zulung and Nathang Valley in Sikkim after proper acclimatization by early July to reinforce the over 6000 soldiers that were already deployed in eastern and north-eastern parts of the state!  
                                       But still a lot more needs to be done as we cannot afford to take any threat by China lightly and the military has been raising concerns about lagging behind in defence preparedness and military transformation since last many decades! Indian Army has sought Rs 20,000 crore from the Defence Ministry as part of the efforts to build up emergency reserves of spares and ammunition. This comes at the same time the Ministry of defence (MoD) has sought Rs 20,000 crore more to meet its financial requirements! Army needs to meet deficiencies in 46 types of ammunition and spares for 10 types of weapons. This itself speaks aloud as to how well prepared we are for war with China! It is shameful that this years defence allocation constitutes just 1.56% of the GDP, much lower than the recommended 2% and this is worse than the situation in 1962! Centre must come out of its complacency and deep slumber well before China suddenly pounces upon us and leaves us with so deep scars that may be worse than even 1962!
                                      Let me now cite here what Gen VP Malik who is a distinguished former Chief of Army Staff (1997-2000) has said that, “Somehow, both the public opinion and the government have not backed the armed forces in this and we have continued to neglect the defence of our northern borders. The mindset in the government has never recognized that we can have a serious confrontation with China sometime or the other. Otherwise why should our infrastructure on the northern border be so weak? We have been talking about infrastructure on the northern border from the time I was Army chief, that is nearly two decades ago. Plans were made but they remain on paper mostly. Even though the budget as a percentage of GDP has been going down every year, we are often unable to spend the capital side. We have been surrendering part of the budget so often.”
                                       Recalling his controversial statement at the time of the Kargil war that “We will fight with what we have”, Gen Malik said the situation was no better now. He lamented that, “The same kind of problems, attitudes that we faced in my time, the present lot [in the Army] seems to be facing.” This is truly regrettable!
                                  In hindsight, Centre must at least now pay heed to what he has said with all the experience of more than 45 years under his belt otherwise we may again end up licking our own wounds for which Centre can blame no one but its ownself! Does Centre wants this to happen? Centre should not repeat the same mistakes committed by Jawaharlal Nehru of treating China as a friendly country only to be backstabbed most grievously!  
                                        A lot more needs to be done than what is being done at present to give a bloody nose to China without itself suffering many casualties and still strongly repulsing any kind of unprovoked and sudden attack that China has been planning all along! For this to happen our preparation has to be complete which in turn can happen only if Centre spends more on Army and in developing all areas connected with the border alongside China! Let there be no doubt of any kind on this!
                                On a concluding note, let me reiterate again that India while doing all it can to enhance friendly relations with China should not tolerate any kind of intrusion by Chinese PLA inside Indian territory if it really wants to be a global power! It is heartening to note that even USA has endorsed India’s position on Doklam and has castigated China for unnecessarily provoking India by trying to illegally construct road in Doklam which belongs to Bhutan! But it is India that has to fight its own battle and make it clear to China that it cannot dare to take India for granted! Gen VP Malik hits the nail on the head when he articulates most emphatically that, “India is not interested in picking a fight, but when your national interests are jeopardized, like in this case, diplomacy without adequate military backing cannot succeed. Your risk-taking ability in negotiations gets enhanced when you know that you can defend yourself on the border. We don’t want a war, but when you are faced with such a situation, you don’t want to leave your diplomacy and political initiatives without any backing. It’s nothing new to say that globally, diplomacy feels more comfortable in negotiations when they know that there is a strong military to defend the country.”     
Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,
Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.

No Law And No Court Can Compel Anyone To Sing Anything

I am very clear on one thing right from the time I was child: No one can compel anyone to sing anything which he/she does not want to sing. There is not even an iota of doubt in my mind that no law and no court can compel anyone to sing anything against his/her wishes. Our Constitution guarantees not just the right to freedom of speech and expression as envisaged in Article 19 but also guarantees to remain silent to what one does not wish to sing.
No Law And No Court Can Compel Anyone To Sing Anything

                                              Having said this, let me refer here now to the latest judgment by the Madras High Court which culminated from a goof-up by the Government of Tamil Nadu. A government job applicant – K Veeramani had in his entrance exam for the post of BT Assistant written to a question that Vande Mataram was written in Bengali. The examiner said that it was Sanskrit. The applicant challenged it as he missed by just one mark. The applicant contended that in all the books he had read, Bengali was mentioned as the language in which Vande Mataram was originally written.
                                        Following this, the Judge had directed the Advocate General of Madras High Court – R Muthukumaraswamy to apprise the court of the correct answer in order to settle the dispute over the linguistic origin of the song. When the case up on July 13, the Advocate General informed the court that Vande Mataram was of Sanskrit origin but had originally been penned in Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. The Judge directed the Teachers Recruitment Board to award the mark to the petitioner.
                                                     Needless to say, the Hon’ble Madras High Court should have focused only on this. Instead what we saw is that it stipulated that the national song Vande Mataram should be compulsorily sung and played in all schools and educational establishments across the State at least once a week. Justice MV Muralidharan also ordered that Vande Mataram should be played in all Government offices and institutions, private companies, factories and industries at least once a month. Certainly I must say here that patriotism cannot be thrust upon anyone. Singing of national song or anything else must be purely voluntary.
                                         Be it noted, Justice Muralidharan also made it clear that nobody should be forced to sing the national song provided there were valid reasons. This itself proves that it is just not correct to force anyone to sing Vande Mataram or anything else which he/she does not want to sing. Singing or not singing anything cannot be made a crime by any law.
                                       But the moot question that arises here is: Who will determine these valid reasons and what standards will be applied haven’t been specified? All this will only serve to provide more leeway to authorities and moral brigade to harass a common person who is just concerned about how to earn his/her bread and butter! Moreover, every citizen have been guaranteed the fundamental choice by the founding fathers of our Constitution to sing what they want or not to sing at all! No law and no court can force any citizen to sing any song whether it is national song or anything else! Patriotism cannot be forced at gun point or lawpoint or any other point!
                                             This latest order of Madras High Court is reminiscent of the Supreme Court direction in November 2016 on the compulsory singing of the national anthem in cinema houses. We all know how some fringe elements exploit such orders to further their own narrow vested political interests by forcing people from a particular religion or group to sing something which they feel their religion does not permit them to sing! This is why I very strongly feel that no one should be forced anyhow to sing anything against his/her wishes because this is no way to usher in nationalism.
                                               Truth be told, there are many who don’t like to sing any song but they love our nation as much as we do. Why should they be made to sing any song against their wishes? Why should goons be given a pretext to attack those who refuse to sing song? How can this be legally justified?  
                                             Don’t we know that there were incidents of physical assaults on those who did not stand up when the national anthem was played in theatres and in some cases even the physically disabled people or those who can’t hear properly or see properly were beaten up! What sort of nationalism is this? Such sort of forced nationalism cannot be justified under any circumstances! All courts right from bottom to top must guard against giving such judgments which can be misconstrued by goons to further their own vested interests or the vested interests of their political masters!
                     Nationalism cannot be forcibly spoon-feeded. What is the guarantee that those who sing Vande Mataram or any other song would be good citizens or would not indulge in anti-national acts or corruption? Who invited Pakistani invader Gen Pervez Musharraf who masterminded Kargil war in which we lost more than 500 brave soldiers as per official figures? Who gave Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan unilaterally for more than 20 years which is even now continuing? Those politicians who love singing Vande Mataram and other songs!
                                       Everyday our brave soldiers are dying because of the proxy war being waged by our rogue neighbour – Pakistan and yet our politicians who keep chanting “Bharat Mata Ki Jai, Vande Mataram etc etc” are not ready to declare Pakistan as a “rogue and terror” nation just like Kuwait did recently and severe all ties with Pakistan! No national party is willing to support the likes of independent MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar who has tried several times to bring in a private member Bill to declare Pakistan a terror state! Most shameful!
                                           Even former Rajya Sabha MP Maulana Mehmood Madani who is also leader of Jamiat-e-Ulema had demanded sometime back that Pakistan be named “Aatankistaan” and India should severe all ties with Pakistan but our mainstream parties who enjoy singing national songs are just not prepared for it and feel very strongly that no matter how many soldiers are killed but relations with Pakistan must remain intact! Corruption is silently killing so many people more than that of terror killings and there are so many corrupt politicians who never tire of singing national songs yet shamelessly and wantonly indulge in corruption by nexus with corrupt contractors, engineers etc in making weak roads, weak bridges and weak buildings etc thus directly ensuring that many innocent people are killed in the most brazen manner! Thus there can be no two opinions about the irrefutable truth that moral character is the biggest asset and this should always be stressed upon right from childhood but nowadays it seems that more focus is attached on national songs etc which alone is just not enough!
                                          It is most unfortunate that sparks flew in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on July 28as the ruling BJP MLAs slammed Samajwadi Party’s Abu Asim Azmi who opposed a demand for making the singing of the song mandatory in the schools and colleges of the State. What is most disconcerting to note is that Maharashtra Public Works Minister and BJP leader Chandrakant Patil even went to the extent of saying that those who want to live in the country must say Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai! This is just not done!
                                      India is a very liberal and democratic country where everyone is free even to worship any God of his/her choice or not worship any God and remain an atheist! How can anyone be forced to worship a particular God or Goddess? I myself consider Bharat as father and not as Mata so will those who disagree with me beat me up? Same is the case with singing of national song or anthem. If some person does not like singing anything, that does not imply that he/she is an anti-national or does not love his/her country!
                                                 I am reminded of 1994 when my faith in Lord Shiva was completely shattered and my best friend Sageer Khan took a vow from me that I would worship Lord Shiva till my last breath just like he himself worshipped Allah. He rightly said to me to always remember that anything can be changed but parents, religion which includes God whom we worship right from our childhood days and nationality can never be shunned or changed! I had to agree not at gunpoint but because of friendpoint which he pointed towards me and while visiting temple alone I used to utter “Matha to tekna hain tekna hain tekna hain Shraddha nahin hain bhakti nahin hain paar matha to tekna hain tekna hain tekna hain, naak to ragaadni hain Sageer Khan ne kahan hain Sageer Khan ne kahan hain”.
                                      An old priest used to observe me daily and one day he said to me that, “You are doing a crime by worshipping Lord Shiva against your wishes and Lord Shiva will be more angry with you”. I said that I don’t care but I have to fulfill the vow which I gave to my best friend Sageer. He said that “Lord Shiva will be most angry with your best friend Sageer Khan because no God wants that anyone should worship him/her against his/her own wishes and your best friend Sageer Khan has committed the biggest sin by forcing you to worship Lord Shiva whom you don’t want to even see”! From then on I decided to always go to temple only with true dedication and not because of gunpoint or friendpoint – Sageer Khan! Also, Sageer himself never wanted that I should worship Lord Shiva in a disinterested manner or in a forcible manner. He used to say that one must worship with full dedication and zeal. For 2 years he ensured that I regularly went to temple by accompanying me regularly and it was just a coincidence that the temple where we both bowed our head was always of Lord Hanuman!   
                                      Same is the case with singing of songs. No song whether it is national song or national anthem can be forced on anyone whether it is Waris Pathan or Abu Asim Azmi or anyone else! Singing of song or anthem has to be purely voluntary! There should be no coercion at all under any circumstances.  Just because a person does not sing a song or anthem does not make him/her an anti-national and just because a person sings a song or anthem does not make him/her a true patriot! This is what we all especially those who are educated must understand and stop quarreling over such trivial issues like illiterate people! Also, Supreme Court itself had on a writ petition on this specific issue of singing of national song clearly stated that there is no mention in the Constitution of the national song that Vande Mataram is meant to be.
                                   Let me now conclude by quoting what the former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian known for his impeccable credentials and genius whom all Central Governments keep consulting from time to time and even has headed many important Committees like the one on National Education Policy had to say in this regard: “I believe that most people in India are patriotic, while they may not be overly demonstrative about it all the time. Love for one’s country is something that comes naturally and can’t be forced. Nothing can be ensured by using force.  The national anthem and Vande Mataram deserve to be respected but binding people by rules can’t ensure patriotism. In my view, it is not to be brought to the bazaar by saying that every shop and every courtroom will sing it every morning. While I respect the spirit of the Madras High Court ruling. I am critical of its application. By asking to play Vande Mataram in every classroom and every office, the court is certainly overdoing it. We should accept and accommodate different views. I think that a debate on patriotism or Vande Mataram, per se, is not required. There are insufficient debates on what’s affecting the country like poverty, preventive medication and education. Our government, Parliament, media and judiciary are not paying attention to these vital subjects.”
Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,

Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.

Punjab And Haryana High Court Pulls Up Centre, State

Coming straight to the crux of the matter, let me begin by first and foremost pointing out that the Punjab and Haryana High Court has very strongly pulled up both the Narendra Modi government and the Manoharlal Khattar government in the state of Haryana on August 26 that is a day after 32 people were killed in the violence that was unleashed by followers of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh after he was convicted of raping two women. Needless to say, if Centre and State of Haryana had acted in time, there would have been no killings at all and at the most very few people would have been injured. But this most unfortunately was not to happen!
Punjab And Haryana High Court Pulls Up Centre, State

                                                   At the first place, why were lakhs of people allowed to assemble by the Haryana State government? Why when Section 144 of Cr PC was in operation were people allowed to assemble together in such large numbers? Why were they not dispersed right at the very beginning?
                                                  Also, why was no checking done? Why the mob was allowed to carry whatever they wanted with them to carry? Why they were not disarmed promptly? Why they were not placed under arrest?
                                             While craving for the exclusive indulgence of my esteemed readers, let me inform them that a full Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court minced no words in saying that, “National integration and law and order are above everything. We are one nation, not a party nation. Politicians need to understand that the nation is one. It is the Prime Minister of India, not BJP. It is the Chief Minister of the state, not BJP. He (Satya Pal Jain) is Additional Solicitor General of India, not of any party.” It is shameful that so much of violence happened right under the very nose of PM  Modi and CM of Haryana Khattar! Why PM Modi kept on doing ‘Maan Ki Baat’ but failed to ensure that security was briefed up entirely? Why CM Khattar allowed mob to indulge in unabated violence?
                                        For my esteemed readers exclusive indulgence, let me also inform them that while stating that the Centre was treating Punjab and Haryana like a “colony”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court said that it should play a more active role. Why the PM Modi was unable to gauge the extent of damage that lakhs of followers of Gurmeet Baba Ram Rahim Singh could cause at all such places where they were in considerable numbers? On August 24, the Supreme Court had noted that the Centre should not “abdicate or avoid its responsibility”.
                                           Truly speaking, a full Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court comprising of Acting Chief Justice SS Saron and Justices Avneesh Jhingan and Surya Kant were hearing a Public Interest Litigation petition by a Panchkula resident raising law and order concerns as a large number of people had reportedly entered the district despite prohibitory orders. The Bench remarked categorically that, “This was political surrender to allure vote bank, they [the Dera followers] were outside, you allowed them to enter and stay.”
                                            Truth be told, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had observed that the Khattar government seemed to have “surrendered before the followers of Dera Sacha Sauda for political considerations.” The Court also observed that, “This was a political surrender to allure vote bank. Khattar was ‘protecting’ the Dera.” The entire ruling establishment both at the Centre and in the State must seriously introspect on this!  
                                           It is quite ostensible that the Bench of Punjab and Haryana High Court was very miffed over the way the security and safety of citizens was taken for granted. The Bench said that, “The Chief Minister is also the Home Minister. Why could you not prevent the crowd from gathering for the last seven days? They were all outsiders, but were allowed to enter Panchkula, stay there and occupy public space.” This clearly implies that the entry of lakhs of people in Haryana had the tacit support of Chief Minister Khattar because they could not have gathered in such large numbers without his consent!  
                                          As it turned out, while taking note of the suspension of Panchkula District Commissioner of Police (DCP) Ashok Kumar, the Punjab and Haryana High Court said a deeper probe was required to ascertain who was behind the flip-flop over the orders to impose Section 144. The Bench said that, “It has strengthened our belief that it is all political. You allowed the crowd to gather. A probe will expose it.” Without a doubt, there is some grain of truth in what the Bench has said! This certainly merits a free, fair and impartial inquiry headed by a former Chief Justice of India!
                                             As things stand, the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Deputy Commissioners of Punjab and Haryana to invite applications for claims regarding the damage caused to public and private properties during the violence, and ordered that no property of the Dera Sacha Sauda shall be “sold, transferred and encumbered” in any manner. The Bench said that, “The Deputy Commissioners in the States of Haryana and Punjab are directed to identify the assets and properties of Dera Sacha Sauda and submit a list of the same in this Court for attachment. The list should include assets, incomes, bank accounts and properties.” It also said that, “The reports of interception of the messages given by the Dera Sacha Sauda inciting violence shall be submitted in this Court in a sealed cover.”  
                                          It is imperative to mention here that the Advocate Generals of both the states have been directed to submit in sealed cover their strategies and plan for “preventing this kind of incidents of violence and arson in future and whether such planning includes the complete sensitization of Dera Sacha Sauda”. The Bench said that “a status report of the persons killed in the mayhem be also submitted. The States of Punjab and Haryana shall also submit the details of the expenses incurred in making all types of arrangements at Panchkula and other parts of the State.”
                                           In hindsight, we see how more than 30 people were killed for no fault of theirs and how public property as well as private property was destroyed due to the complete inaction of the Haryana state government in deploying adequate force in time! The Haryana government itself told the Bench that 32 people killed, including 28 in Panchkula were killed in the violence.
                                       The State Advocate General told the Bench that, “Arrests of as many as 524 persons have been made in Panchkula, 24 vehicles have been seized, five pistols with 79 rounds, besides two rifles with 52 rounds were recovered. Moreover, iron rods, dandas, hockey sticks and ten petrol bombs were also recovered.” The Punjab government told the High Court that “there have been as many as 51 incidents in Punjab and 39 FIRs have been registered; besides 19 miscreants have been arrested, including one Gurdev Singh who is a state-level office-bearer of Dera Sacha Sauda.
                                               To put things in perspective, the Punjab Advocate-General Atul Nanda said that, “The Bench has taken a serious cognizance of yesterday’s violence and said the loss due to the violence is a loss to the nation and the taxpayer. This loss will be compensated by those responsible for it.” The Punjab and Haryana High Court has also ordered the Haryana administration to make arrangements to take CBI Judge Jagdeep Singh and two of his staff members to the Rohtak district jail by air for pronouncing the quantum of sentence against Dera Sacha Sauda Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who was convicted for rape on August 25. The Court notified the jail as a “place of sitting of the CBI court for the purpose of hearing of quantum of sentence.”
                                          An order issued by the Registrar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court said: “Suitable accommodation for court room, etc. in the District jail, Rohtak at Sunaria shall be provided and arrangements also be made for the lawyers and parties to have an easy access in court room in the district jail. Further, necessary arrangements for security and safe transport by air of the judicial officer, who has to try the case in the district jail and two of staff members, shall also be made.”
                                     All said and done, what Punjab and Haryana High Court has said must be taken most seriously by both Centre and Haryana State Government. It has rapped on the knuckles of both Centre and Haryana State Government. Full compensation must be recovered from the properties of Dear Sacha Sauda which should be identified and then seized so that those who have suffered from the mindless wanton violence indulged in by lakhs of followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh are suitably compensated!
                                         But this alone is just not enough! It must be investigated thoroughly by a former CJI and CBI as to whether the wanton violence was pre-planned and if it was pre-planned then all those who were a part to it must be charged, tried and punished for murder and mass murder! Under no circumstances should they be allowed to go scot free!
                                              In the ultimate analysis, just attaching property or awarding compensation is a positive step, no doubt but is  a very small step which will certainly not act as a suitable deterrent unless accompanied by jail term and death sentence for all those involved in it hinging on the extent to which they are complicit in the commission of the crime! Overall, it is a very good judgment as it has not dithered in taking into task both PM and CM for not doing enough to check the mindless violence which claimed the precious life of so many people! If Army had been called in earlier, people in huge numbers who were followers of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh were not allowed to conglomerate in and around Panchkula and also huge force deployed right from the beginning then certainly the loss of lives could certainly have been mitigated!     
Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,
Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.

Why West UP Has Been Denied A Bench Of High Court?

“Western UP still does not have a high court bench. Think of this, Western UP is 98,933 square kilometres in area. It is bigger than countries like Hungary, Portugal and Jordan. Plus, the population of West UP is huge. We have been demanding a high court bench for so long. Successive governments have done nothing about it. This high court bench has been promised to us multiple times by different politicians. But, nothing has happened. All those statements are only political statements, nothing else.”
Why West UP Has Been Denied A Bench Of High Court?

–      Gajendra Pal Singh who was Chairman of High Court Bench Central Action Committee for Western UP and also was twice President of Meerut Bar.
                                              Why when Justice Jaswant Singh Commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge Jaswant Singh appointed by the late Mrs Indira Gandhi government in 1970s recommended 3 high court benches for UP and all 3 being in West UP and hilly areas adjoining them – Agra, Nainital and Dehradun did Centre decide not to approve even a single bench here? Why on basis of this same Justice Jaswant Singh Commission high court benches were created at Aurangabad in Maharashtra? Why benches were also approved for Jalpaiguri in West Bengal and Madurai in Tamil Nadu but not for West UP?   
                                          Why states like Karnataka, Maharashtra and others have 3 high court benches even though the number of pending cases in these cases is not 10 lakh or 9 lakh or 8 lakh or 7 lakh or 6 lakh or 5 lakh or 4 lakh or 3 lakh or even 2 lakh as opposed to UP which has more than 10 lakh pending cases and yet has only one single high court bench at Lucknow which is just 150-200 km away from Allahabad leaving the rest of UP high and dry? Why when more than 57% of pending cases are from West UP as was testified by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission did Centre not approve even a single bench here nor for any other place in UP? Why this step-motherly treatment with UP and especially West UP?
                                                  Why we see maximum cases of rapes, gangrapes as we saw recently in Jewar just a kilometer away from the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida while the 4 women who were gangraped while they were travelling on national highway and that too accompanied with their men and one men was even shot dead when he resisted and the other were brutally beaten and yet after more than 14 days we see no criminals being tracked down and yet we see no bench being created here even though politicians like Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh keep assuring repeatedly that very soon good news will be heard regarding this? Why we see no bench in West UP even though we see maximum cases of riots, arson, loot and crime from West UP as we saw recently in Saharanpur when violent clashes broke out between Thakurs and Dalits which left many injured and many dead? Why the high court and benches of 8 states are nearer to West UP as compared to Allahabad and even Lahore High Court in Pakistan is nearer to West UP as compared to Allahabad yet no bench is being set up here?
                                              Why women victims have to travel so far away to Allahabad which is about 700-800 km away from most of the districts of West UP and be made to suffer so much for the inordinate delay and made to bear the huge expenses in fighting the case for her right in making sure that sexual offenders are sent behind bars? Why poor farmers and poor people from West UP are made to travel so much and spend so much extra money just to secure justice to the extent that they have to mortgage their land, property etc? Why can’t Centre create a high court bench here?
                                                   It is so shocking and disgusting to see that West UP is fast becoming the epicenter of all kinds of crimes, rapes, gangrapes, brutal murders, mass murders, dacoity, robbery and what not! What is even more shocking to see is that all political parties barring Samajwadi Party have openly espoused the creation of a high court bench in West UP but still even after seventy years of independence we see no sign of it happening anytime soon! What is most shocking is that inspite of West UP accounting for more than half of the crime cases all over UP, not a single high court bench has been created here since 1947 till now even though a high court bench was created at Lucknow which is just about 150-200 km away from Allahabad way back on July 1, 1948! Why Centre even after 70 years later in 2018 is not prepared to create even a single bench of high court in West UP in any of the 26 districts wherever it wants?
                                           Why Allahabad High Court is the biggest court in whole of Asia and also the oldest court yet it has least benches only one which is very close to Allahabad at Lucknow? Why no bench at any other place especially in West UP? Why Lucknow has bench when many other capitals like Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Thiruvananthapuram, Dehradun etc have neither high court nor bench?
                                   Why Centre decided to create 2 more benches for Karnataka at Dharwad and Gulbarga for just 4 and 8 districts but not a single for West UP with 26 disricts? Why 230th report of Law Commission submitted in 2009 which recommended creation of more benches has only been implemented in Karnataka alone and not in UP, Bihar or other big states? Why population of Karnataka is just about 6 crore and that of West UP alone is more than 9 crore yet Karnataka has high court and 3 benches but West UP has not even a single bench even though the pending cases in Karnataka are less than one lakh and that in West UP alone is more than 5 lakh in high court alone?
                                           Why when UP which is among the largest States, has maximum population – more than 22 crore as CM Yogi Adityanath keeps pointing out every now and then, maximum districts – 75, maximum constituencies,  maximum MPs – 80, maximum MLAs – 404, maximum PM including Narendra Modi, maximum pending cases – more than 10 lakh and here too West UP accounts for more than half of pending cases as noted by Justice Jaswant Commission about 57%, maximum Judges which earlier was 160 and increased to 200 in high court, maximum vacancies of Judges – 75 in high court, maximum poverty, maximum villages more than one lakh, maximum cities more than 700, maximum fake encounters killings, custody killings, maximum dowry cases, maximum rape and gang rape cases, maximum bride burning cases, maximum cases of human rights violations, maximum undertrials, maximum cases of crime, loot, arson and riots and here too West UP tops with Saharanpur riots, Meerut riots, Muzaffarnagar riots tarnishing our international reputation to the extent that former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon termed UP as “crime and rape capital” of India and what not yet Centre is not prepared to create even a single bench for not just West UP but entire UP? Why when UP sends maximum MPs to Lok Sabha – 80, maximum MPs to Rajya Sabha – 30, maximum MLAs to State Assembly – 404 MLAs and maximum members to State Legislative Council – 100 MLAs and yet has least benches – only one and that too just 150 km away from Allahabad at Lucknow?
                                 
                            It was way back in 1955 that Dr Sampoornanand had recommended a high court bench for West UP at Meerut but even after 62 years we see no bench as Centre had refused then! Similarly many other UP CM had also recommended the creation of a high court bench here but to no avail! Why? Our former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had himself raised the demand for a high court bench for West UP in 1986 inside Parliament but even after more than 30 years we are nowhere! 
                                        Dr Satyapal Singh Malik who is BJP MP had raised the bench issue in Parliament last year and demanded creation of 5 benches but till now not even a single bench created here! Another Central minister and BJP MP Sanjeev Baliyan had also assured that by end of 2016 West UP will have a bench but what we see on ground is just nothing!              
                                       Lawyers of West UP have been striking work for 6 months without break several times demanding high court bench as they did in 2001 and for 3 months as they did in 2014-15 and we keep seeing strike nearly every month apart from the strike of Saturdays yet no bench! They even go on strike every Saturday since May 1981 to protest West UP not being given a bench even though Justice Jaswant Commission had explicitly recommended 3 benches! What they get is just fake assurances!     
                                Why West UP has an area of 98,933 square km which accounts for 33.61 percent of total area of UP and yet no bench but Lucknow in Central region has just 62,363 square km and yet it has a bench?   Centre has all the power to create a high court bench in West UP without any recommendation from the state government as the former Attorney General Soli J Sorabjee had rightly said way back in 2001 when he was asked about it. He had rightly said that, “The Centre without any recommendation from the State Chief Minister or Chief Justice of a State is fully empowered under our Constitution to set up a high court bench anywhere it wants at its own volition.”  Why Centre ignores blithely what the Chairman of Supreme Court Bar Association Krishna Mani had said quite explicitly that, “Only by the creation of a bench of high court in West UP will the people be able to secure speedy and cheap justice at their doorsteps!” Centre can also cite Justice Jaswant Singh Commission in its favour and 230th report of Law Commission in its favour. But like the previous governments it is just busy in trotting out excuses for not creating a high court bench in West UP! 
                                              Even former PM late Mrs Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, VP Singh Dr Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee had acknowledged that a bench of high court for west UP is perfectly justified with Vajpayee raising it even in Parliament! The high court and benches of 8 states are nearer to West UP as compared to Meerut and even Lahore High Court is nearer to West UP as compared to Allahabad! Centre is just busy in trotting out excuses for not creating a high court bench in West UP and it will have to pay a very heavy price for this inexcusable crime in the coming elections in UP in 2017! You see for youself the distance from Allahabad to all major districts of West UP and they are as follows: –
District                          Distance
Meerut                          637 km
Muzzaffarnagar            693 km
Saharanpur                  752 km
Ghaziabad                    607 km
Bijnore                          692 km
Gautambuddhnagar     650 km
Bulandshahr                 537 km
Hathras                         550 km
Rampur                         633 km
Moradabad                    662 km
Aligarh                           501 km
Mathura                         501 km
Agra                               464 km
Etah                               497 km
Mainpuri                         462 km
Shamli                            720 km
Hapur                             600 km
Sambhal                         650 km
Amroha                     692 km                                                
                                       Still should a high court bench not be created in West UP? Why no affirmative action is being taken in this regard even now after 70 years of independence when Jawaharlal Nehru had the guts and conviction to set up a high court bench way back in 1948 just 150-200 km away from Allahabad at Lucknow? Why no Prime Minister after Nehruji took any step to create any bench anywhere else other than at Lucknow which was established under his stewardship way back on July 1, 1948?        
                                                     In hindsight, it must be asked that  when West UP contributes to 75% of total revenue of UP then why the people of West UP are compelled to travel so far to get justice? Rajinder Chaudhary who was a senior minister in UP CM Akhilesh Yadav’s Cabinet  while addressing lawyers of Meerut Bar strongly recommended creation of 6 more benches for UP and Anil Pratap Singh who is Chairman of UP Bar Council has also supported creation of a bench in West UP and even said that he would speak to Chief Justice and Chief Justice of India in this regard! Many Union Cabinet ministers like Rajnath Singh who is our home minister, Dr Mahesh Sharma, Gen VK Singh, etc have too strongly demanded creation of a bench in West UP! Still why no step is being taken to create a bench here?
                                                 Why the present CM Yogi Adityanath is happy in setting up anti-Romeo squads even though Aaj Tak newschannel exposed how some police cops are busy minting money on pretext of saving women from harassment? Why can’t our leaders understand that a high court bench in West UP is not going to benefit just people of one religion or one caste or one sex alone? Why don’t our politicians appreciate that people of all religions, all communities, all castes, all sexes and all others who comprise part of 9 crore people staying in West UP will benefit if a high court bench is set up here?
                                                 The point that I am trying to drive home here is: Why can’t a bench be set up here? Why should litigants be compelled to travel so far to Allahabad and waste huge money in staying, travelling, eating and other expenses? Why lawyers of West UP repeatedly feel compelled to go strike demanding a high court bench in West UP? Why still Centre is not addressing this so sensitive issue once and for all? Why BJP MPs from West UP keep assuring that bench will be created soon since last many years yet till now no bench? Why no one is caring for “poorest of poor” who have to travel so far all the way to Allahabad to get justice? Why Rajinder Aggarwal who is BJP MP from Meerut brings forward private member bill in Parliament for creating high court bench in West UP but Centre refuses to support it?
Shameful!
                                 If a high court bench is created in West UP for more than 9 crore people living here it is “poorest of poor” and the most deprived and hapless women who will benefit most as they will be saved from the unnecessary trouble of travelling so far and spending so much extra money, time etc to just attend one hearing alone! Centre must have some pity on woman at least who are most unsafe in lawless UP and especially West UP and keeping the interests of such women victims in mind immediately order creation of more benches not just in West UP but also in other parts of UP where the crime rate is high! Crime rate is highest in West UP as validated by recent incidents which necessitates creation of high court bench here on  a war footing!
Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,

Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.

230th Report Of Law Commission Must Be Implemented In Big States Like UP

How long will Centre callously ignore that  UP which is among the largest States, has maximum population – more than 22 crore as CM Yogi Adityanath keeps pointing out every now and then, maximum districts – 75, maximum constituencies,  maximum MPs – 80, maximum MLAs – 404, maximum PM including Narendra Modi, maximum pending cases – more than 10 lakh and here too West UP accounts for more than half of pending cases as noted by Justice Jaswant Commission about 57%, maximum Judges which earlier was 160 and increased to 200 in high court, maximum vacancies of Judges – about 78 in high court, maximum poverty, maximum villages more than one lakh, maximum cities more than 700, maximum fake encounters killings, custody killings, maximum dowry cases, maximum bride burning cases, maximum cases of human rights violations, maximum undertrials, maximum cases of crime, loot, arson and riots and here too West UP tops with Saharanpur riots, Meerut riots, Muzaffarnagar riots tarnishing our international reputation to the extent that former UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon termed UP as “crime and rape capital” of India and what not yet Centre is not prepared to create even a single bench for not just West UP but entire UP? How long will Centre ignore that UP sends maximum MPs to Lok Sabha – 80, maximum MPs to Rajya Sabha – 30, maximum MLAs to State Assembly – 404 MLAs and maximum members to State Legislative Council – 100 MLAs and yet has least benches?
230th Report Of Law Commission Must Be Implemented In Big States Like UP

                                              Why West UP has an area of 98,933 square km which accounts for 33.61 percent of total area of UP and yet no bench but Lucknow in Central region has just 62,363 square km and yet it has a bench?   Centre has all the power to create a high court bench in West UP without any recommendation from the state government as the former Attorney General Soli J Sorabjee had rightly said way back in 2001 when he was asked about it. He had rightly said that, “The Centre without any recommendation from the State Chief Minister or Chief Justice of a State is fully empowered under our Constitution to set up a high court bench anywhere it wants at its own volition.”  Why Centre ignores blithely what the Chairman of Supreme Court Bar Association Krishna Mani had said quite explicitly that, “Only by the creation of a bench of high court in West UP will the people be able to secure speedy and cheap justice at their doorsteps!” 
                                               Why is Centre still not creating a high court bench in West UP knowing fully well that it deserves a bench right since independence? How strange that not even the 230th Report of the Law Commission elicited any interest from our media which strongly advocated setting up of more High Court Benches and sharply castigated the prevailing “Uncle Judges Culture” and unsatisfactory performance of High Court in disposing of pending cases. Recently even Supreme Court had also lashed out on the prevailing “Uncle Judges Culture” in different High Courts. What I find even more paradoxical is that the maximum opposition for establishment of more Benches emanates mainly from those advocates practicing in High Court or those people residing in the place where the High Court is located. Very conveniently, they ignore the undisputed fact that it is the “poorest of the poor” and not the “richest of the rich” who will benefit the most if more Benches are created because they cannot afford heavy expenses incurred in travelling, lodging and many other related things and therefore emerge as the worst sufferers. This is exactly what not only the media but most of us tend to ignore.
                                      What is the purpose of setting up Law Commission if their recommendations are not implemented? I only hope that wisdom prevails on our policy-makers and they decide at the earliest to create many more Benches of High Court as recommended recently by the Law Commission in its 230th report especially in big States like UP and Rajasthan which have only one Bench and Bihar which does not have even a single bench. The media must at least now step forward and represent the unheard voices of thousands of undertrial prisoners residing in remote areas who are the worst sufferers in the whole process and unstintedly support the people of West UP in their noble cause for setting up a bench of high court in West UP at the earliest !
                                                  That West UP does not have a Bench since 1947 till 2017 is most disquieting! It is a ghoulish mockery of Article 21 and  Article 39 A which provides for equal justice and free legal aid and the 230th report of Law Commission which provides for setting up of more High Court benches ! Former Chairman of Supreme Court Bar Association Krishna Mani had very categorically stated that, “Only by the creation of a bench of high court in West UP will the people be able to secure justice”. Lawyers of West UP have on several occasions gone on strike for several months in support of a bench here but to no avail ! Not only this , they have been regularly going on strike since 1981 every Saturday to press home the point that bench is a dire necessity here which cannot be ignored but again to no avail ! 
                                                       Why is it that when Dr Sampoornanand who was the UP CM way back in 1955 had strongly recommended creation of a high court bench in Meerut but Centre overruled him? Why Centre decided that only the people of Eastern UP were entitled to have all three – capital, high court as well as bench and West UP to have nothing? Why Centre did not create a bench even after many UP CM like Dr Sampoornanand, Banarsi Das, ND Tiwari, Rajnath Singh etc strongly recommended creation of a bench in West UP?
                                             Why Centre decided that the people of West UP which included all those also who now comprise in Uttaranchal and who till 2000 formed part of UP had to travel about 1200-1500 km and even more all the way to seek justice to Allahabad to attend just a single hearing and waste many days in coming and going and wasting money on so many unnecessary inconveniences? Why Centre decided that even though many capitals like Bhopal which is capital of Madhya Pradesh, Bhubaneshwar which is capital of Orissa, Thiruvananthapuram which is capital of Kerala had neither high court nor bench as is the situation also in so many other states but in UP, a single bench was created in 1948 just about 150 km away from Allahabad at Lucknow which is capital of UP?
                                            Why Centre feels that even though the high court and benches of 8 different states fall nearer to West UP and even Lahore high court in Pakistan is just 450 km away but people of West UP must travel all the way to Allahabad about 600-800 km away to attend just a single hearing and spend whole life in travelling and attending cases in Allahabad? Why Centre is firm that for 12 districts falling in Lucknow jurisdiction must have high court but for 26 districts of West UP, not a single bench of high court must exist? Why Centre decided that even though Justice Jaswant Singh Commission recommended creation of 3 high court benches for West UP, not a single bench be created? Why Centre decided to create benches at Aurangabad in Maharashtra as recommended by Justice Jaswant Commission but not for West UP? Why Centre decided to create benches at Madurai in Tamil Nadu and Jalpaiguri in West Bengal but denied even a single bench to West UP?
                                                   Why former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee inspite of himself raising West UP high court bench issue in Parliament while in Opposition in 1986 failed to create a bench himself on becoming PM? Why when more than half of the pending cases of UP are from West UP has Centre decided not to create a single bench here? Why Centre decided to create 2 more benches for Karnataka alone at Dharwad and Gulbarga for just 4 and 8 districts but refused even a single more bench not just for 26 districts but for all the 80 districts of UP knowing fully well that it is UP which tops the state list of pending cases with 15 lakh cases and Karnataka is way behind with just less than 2 lakh pending cases which is far less than even the pending cases of West UP alone? Why Centre till now has overlooked the 36 year old strike by lawyers of West UP every Saturday as also the 6 months old strike by lawyers of West UP due to which courts remained close as we saw in 2001?
                                             Why Centre is still not waking up its eyes even after  80 days of strike by the lawyers of West UP? Why inspite of lawyers of West UP blocking trains, rail tracks, observing complete shut down is Centre adamant that it is perfectly in order that a single bench exist just 150-200 km away from Allahabad at Lucknow and nowhere else? Why so many Cabinet Ministers like Gen VK Singh, Rajnath Singh, Sanjeev Baliyan, Mahesh Sharma are vociferously advocating the creation of a bench in West UP but Centre is still not listening? Why lawyers of West UP were compelled to even go on strike for 2 days in a week –Wednesday and Saturday and yet Centre remained muted?
                                       Why Centre has implemented the recommendations of 230th report of Law Commission of creating more benches of high court only with respect to Karnataka by creating 2 more benches there and no other state? Is it because most of the time the law ministers were from Karnataka? Supreme Court must investigate that why 2 more high court benches were set up for Karnataka which has less than 2 lakh pending cases and not a single more for UP which has more than 10 lakh pending cases as this is a very serious issue which just cannot be brushed aside as it affects the life of not just 9 crore people of West UP but also of all such regions in India where there is no bench and people have to travel so far and mortgage their land, jewellery etc to just struggle to cope with the mounting expenses in travelling so far to Allahabad for every hearing and on many other expenses like hiring lawyer etc!
                                           Why inspite of Ban Ki Moon who is the UN Secretary General and who ridiculed UP as the “crime and rape capital of India” has UP least benches in India? Why inspite of West UP being enmeshed in communal riots time and again as we saw either during Meerut riots, Agra riots, Saharanpur riots, Muzaffarnagar riots, etc there is no bench here? Why inspite of senior lawyers being murdered time and again in West UP and crime and riots sweeping all across West UP is Centre not setting up a bench?   
                                                  Centre and State are just passing the buck of decision making on this sensitive issue on the other and both in principle agree that a bench must come up in West UP! Therefore, it is the Supreme Court which is the guardian of all which must step in now promptly! When Supreme Court can set up a “Social Justice Bench”, it must look into this also and promptly take the appropriate decision!
                                 However, let me hasten to add here that things have changed in last 3 months after the newly elected government in UP led by Yogi Adityanath of BJP was sworn in. Now Centre cannot forward the excuse that State is ruled by another party which is not cooperating! Brijesh Pathak who is the Law Minister of UP very rightly said recently while in Meerut that, “We know that lawyers from Western UP have been suffering for many years and have been agitating for long. We are considering all options that are available. We assure you that we will resolve this issue very soon. The lawyers of Western UP will not have to suffer much longer. We will soon discuss the matter and I assure you that we will set up the high court bench soon.” Let us recall here that earlier former Union RPN Singh had also disclosed that Union Law Minister in UPA regime – Kapil Sibal wanted to create a bench in Meerut but State Government in UP led by the then UP CM Akhilesh Yadav did not agree to it!
                                                  Former Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan had said that, “Only more courts can make justice delivery effective. If we have adequate courts, the system would function smoothly”.  It needs no genius to conclude that UP being one of the biggest states in India with maximum population, maximum undertrials, maximum cases of rape, loot, riots and arson and maximum pending cases certainly needs more benches and not the least as we shamefully see right now. It’s an outright fraud perpetrated on people of UP and worst affected are the people of West UP.
                                                   It is time we realised that a nation where pending cases like Frankenstein’s monster are assuming more and more gigantic proportions with UP topping the notorious hit list will go to wolves if the festering problem of pending cases is not addressed at the earliest by promptly creating more benches in UP. It makes absolutely no sense to perpetuate the historical blunder of vesting UP with only one bench at Lucknow so close to Allahabad!
                                      Prof NR Madhava Menon who is a founder director of the National Judicial Academy and a former member of the Law Commission of India very rightly said : “The litigant public now has a right to demand from the judiciary quicker delivery of justice, planned elimination of arrears and enhanced access to justice. The judiciary is indeed on trial on its commitment to timely justice. No more alibis would be acceptable to the public.” Also, the Centre should then waste no time in immediately setting up more benches all over India wherever required as recommended by the 230th report of Law Commission especially in big states like UP so that the poorest of the poor who are the worst affected can avail its benefit at the earliest. No government can afford to ignore the gargantuan problems faced by the people of West UP since independence in securing justice for themselves in a fair time which mostly often turns out to be an endless wait but which most unfortunately has been completely disregarded by all the successive governments since independence without any exception whatsoever which is most disgusting and frustrating to note !   
                                        The First Law Commission in its fourth report made in 1956 that is more than 50 years ago strongly recommended that more High Court Benches should not be created but the 18th Law Commission in its 230th report made in 2009 has strongly recommended creation of more High Court Benches all over India. Which report should the Government adhere – one made in 1956 or one made in 2009?               
                                               The 18th Law Commission in its 230th report had itself noted that, “In almost every High Court, there is huge pendency of cases and the present strength of the judges can hardly be said to be sufficient to cope with the alarming situation. The institution of cases is much more than the disposal and it adds to arrears of cases. The litigating citizens have a fundamental right of life i.e. a tension-free life through speedy justice-delivery system. Now it has become essential that the present strength of the judges should be increased manifold according to the pendency, present and probable. It is also necessary that the work of the High Courts is decentralized, that is, more Benches are established in all States. If there is manifold increase in the strength of the judges and the staff, all cannot be housed in one campus. Therefore, the establishment of new Benches is necessary. It is also in the interest of the litigants. The Benches should be so established that a litigant is not required to travel long. It is true that the new establishments will require money, but it is necessary as a development measure, particularly, when efforts are being made for all-round development of the country. Therefore, the money should not be a problem. We have to watch and protect the interest of the litigants. We must always keep in mind that the existence of judges and advocates is because of the litigants and they are there to serve their cause only. Sometimes, some advocates object to creation of new Benches and selection of new sites for construction of new buildings. But they raise objections in their personal, limited interest. Creation of new Benches is certainly beneficial for the litigants and the lawyers and a beginning has to be made somewhere. A speedy trial is not only required to give quick justice but it is also an integral part of the fundamental right of life, personal liberty, as envisaged in article 21 of the Constitution. Article 39A of the Constitution provides for equal justice and free legal aid. The said article obligates the State to promote justice on a basis of equal opportunity and, in particular, provide free legal aid by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities!”
                                                 It is more than 8 years that the Law Commission made this historic recommendation yet only one State – Karnataka has gained from it and the bigger States like UP have not gained anything! This anomaly must be set right by creating more benches in UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and other big states! It brooks no more delay now! I hope Centre will now act and accord due weightage to the landmark recommendations that were made by 230th report!
Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi,
A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,

Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.