India: Bharat now, Hindu rashtra next !

Defying the Shakespearean gospel: What is there in a name, rose is rose, it will smell sweet, the BJP led NDA government at the Centre has chosen to switch over the word, Bharat in preference to its English equivalent, India. And the newly formed Opposition combine has instantly taken it up as a very big stick to beat the BJP and NDA and started dancing in chorus : Eureka... Eureka...

The fact of the matter remains that there is nothing new in calling the country by its ancient name Bharat in so long the subsequently adopted name, India is not abandoned immediately. Further, when in the past the Congress government itself had moved a motion in parliament to use the name Bharat in preference to India !

The Constitution of India, in its very first Article describes the country as, India, that is Bharat. Its original copy signed by the members of the Constituent Assembly bears the sketches drawn by the legendary artist, Nandlal Bose. These sketches relive our national heroes, such as Lord Ram, Lord Krishna and others. Thus, there is nothing wrong or unconstitutional in calling the country by its original name Bharat. Absolutely, to describe the use of word, Bharat as changing the name of the country reflects bankruptcy of mind.

The real reason for opposing the use of the word Bharat by the so called secular lobby is that the move signals the onset of a new era, called the Hindu Rashtra. Indeed, it is because of this lurking fear of Hinduphobia that compels the elements like A. Raja and Udhayanidhi Stalin of ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu to spit venom against Sanatan or Hindu followers and calling the Hindu religion as HIV, Flu and Malaria etc. Earlier, pigmy parties like RJD, AIMM, Congress, SP etc., have also hurled uncharitable epithets against the majority religion, that is, Hindu.

The fear psychosis has gripped the so called secular lobby so much that its leaders are ready to go to any extent, including collaborating with anti national elements within the country and out of borders.But the writing on the wall is crystal clear: The nation is becoming a truly Hindu Rashtra officially notwithstanding all the crying and chest -beating by the Opposition. The political powers be should know the basic principle of a democracy, that is, the Will of the majority of electorate irrespective of other hair splitting explanations churned out by some legal brains , shall prevail. Now, it remains to be seen as to which party or combination of parties is successful in cashing on the majority sentiment. Obviously, the cake shall belong to that party or combination!

* SC CONVICTS FORMER MP AFTER 28 YEARS FOR DOUBLE MURDER!

Once again the saying : the mill of judiciary though runs slow, but it grinds fine, has been proved right.

On August 18, the Supreme Court sentenced a former Member of Parliament (MP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Prabhunath Singh to life imprisonment in the double murder case of 1995. While pronouncing the sentence, the Apex Court also directed compensation of Rupees 10 lakh each for both the deceased and Rs 5 lakhs each for the injured in the incident, to be paid by the Bihar Government and the convict separately. The Court also imposed a sentence of seven years imprisonment on Singh for the offence of attempt to murder under Section 307 IPC.

“The fine has been awarded of the magnitude referred to above considering the shocking facts and circumstances of the case” ,a bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Vikram Nath said in the order pronouncing his sentence.

In a rare move, the Court directed the Bihar Government to pay compensation to the legal heirs of the deceased and the injured, as it was of the view that the State had failed to prosecute the case fairly and had in fact assisted the accused .

“Considering the conduct of the State as noticed in the judgment dated September 1, 2023 and also the amount of trauma and harassment faced by the victim’s family, we are of the view that in addition to the damages awarded under section 357 CrPC further compensation be awarded under section 357-A CrPC. The State of Bihar will compensate the legal heirs of the two deceased.

The Apex Court convicted Singh in the double murder case of 1995, reversing his acquittal granted by the trial court and confirmed by the Patna High Court. Singh, who was contesting elections as a candidate of the Bihar People's Party (BPP) then, was accused of murdering two persons near a polling booth in Chhapra in March 1995 for not voting as per his suggestion.

In a strongly worded judgment, the Supreme Court called the trial "shabby" and the investigation "tainted", which showed the "highhandedness of the accused-Respondent no.2, who was a powerful person, being a sitting M.P. of the Ruling Party.

The Apex Court in the case titled, Harendra Rai Vs. State of Bihar in its judgement listed out several lapses on the part of the prosecution and the Investigating Agency and called the case "an exceptionally painful episode of our Criminal Justice System.”

The Apex Court noted that the three main stakeholders in the criminal trial, i.e, the Investigating Officer, part of the police of the State of Bihar, the Public Prosecutor, and the Judiciary, all failed to perform their respective duties.

* BOMBAY HC ON TRADEMARK LAW

The Bombay High Court has protected the trademark of a prior user by passing and ex-parte and ad-interim order, which was recently confirmed while reiterating that a case of infringement and passing would be made out if the rival trademarks are phonetically, visually and structurally similar.

The dispute concerned a question of whether the marks ELEKTROMAG (used by the plaintiffs) and ELEKTROMAGNETISCH (used by the defendants) were deceptively similar.

* TOP COURT OF FRANCE UPHOLDS BAN ON ABAYA

The top administrative court of France on September 7 upheld the ban on wearing Abaya ( over wear) in schools.

The court said wearing Abaya display s religious affiliation of Muslim students that goes against the country 's policy of secularism. The Hijaab (head scarf) has been already banned earlier.