Secessionist forces more dangerous than coronavirus!

Whoever imagined that after becoming the Prime Minister in 2014, Narendra Modi who had accorded the topmost priority to "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" (Clean India movement) and roped in several celebrities from different walks of life, would not remain confined only to the garbage cleaning on roads and streets of the country, but also set to cleanse the society as a whole, right from the garbage of corruption, black money, nepotism to Award Wapsi and Tukde-Tukde gangs to crass communal and secessionist forces such as Hurriyat, SIMI, PFI and all other abcd...!

The divisive, communal and secessionist forces have of late, come out in open to demand one more Pakistan from India after having miserably failed to retain Jammu and Kashmir under the false pretext of 'Kashmiriyat' after committing unpardonable genocide of genuine Kashmiri Pandits and driving away those left to survive in 1990.

Indeed, the Prime Minister's speech in Parliament on February 6 will go down into history of the country as the rarest of the best speeches ever delivered by any prime minister. He did not mince words to condemn these forces as being the dangerous anti-national elements.

He rightly took these pro-Islamic and disintegratory forces to task by stating that they are trying to mislead the people by holding the national flag in their hands and falsely swearing to their obedience to the Constitution of India. Courts have been established under the provisions of the Constitution and these elements have scant regard for the courts and judicial system, he added.

Indeed, the present agitation by the vested communal and political interests is nothing but the direct affront to the Constitution and thereby, the whole nation. In the Preamble, the Constitution unequivocally assures "the dignity of the individual and unity and integrity of the nation."

Therefore, those who demand another Pakistan by making their intents clear with communal and divisive slogans have to be taught a fitting lesson by the people of this great country, called Bharat.

Alas! like China we don't have a system whereby the government can approach the Supreme Court seeking its permission to terminate some 30,000 odd people suffering from the deadly coronavirus! Otherwise, the virous of fanaticism, extremism and secessionism, all rolled in one, is equally, if not more, deadly for the survival of our nation as one strongly united country and therefore, would have justified the en mass termination of such virus affected people, may be with a heavy heart!

Apex on Shaheen Bagh issue

In an unfortunate development, the Supreme Court has declined to pass any order on the Shaheen Bagh protests till the Assembly elections on February 8 are over and posted the matter to February 10.

The petitioner, Amit Sahni, a lawyer had earlier approached the Delhi High Court seeking the decongestion of roads due to on-going protests at Shaheen Bagh. The High Court disposed of the petition asking the authorities to look into it, but without any formal order regarding the same.

Therefore, he knocked the doors of the apex court by way of a Special Leave Petition (SLP) stating that due to over a month-long agitation in Shaeen Bagh an 'alarming' situation has arisen due to the 'blockade' of the road between the Kalindi Kunj and Mathura Road region which connects the busy the Delhi-Noida- Faridabad road.

The petitioner averred that lakhs of commuters and residents living in the vicinity were suffering due to the closure of the road. Describing the situation as 'extremely sensitive,' the petitioner urged the apex court to strike a balance between competing claims of different interests.

Unfortunately, the apex court adopted the wait and watch approach instead of calling spade a spade and granting immediate relief to the innocent residents and commuters.

Indeed, one can understand the paradoxical situation so far as the Delhi State and Central governments are concerned due to their electoral stakes, but it is incomprehensible as to what are the constraints for the apex court to take a definitive stand on the issue.

SC on change of DoB in service records

A division bench comprising Justices R Banumathi and A S Bopanna of the Supreme Court has reiterated that if a particular date of birth is entered in the service register of an employee, a change sought cannot be entertained at the fag end of service.

Allowing the Civil Appeal No. 1009 of 2020 filed by the employer Bharat Coking Coal Ltd & Ors vs Sham Kishore Singh, an employee, the court took note of the fact that the employee had joined the service on 27-02-1982 and retired on 31-03-2010.

His date of birth as shown in the service records as well as in the Provident Fund papers the employee has shown his date of birth as 04-03-1950. The court also noted that just prior to his retirement, the employee made a representation to alter his date of birth in the year 2009.

Stating that even if there is good evidence to establish that the recorded date of birth is erroneous, the correction cannot be claimed as a matter of right, the apex court cited a catena of its judgements before allowing the Appeal of the Employer company.

Bonanza awaits judges at all levels

Happier days are ahead for the judges working at different levels, right from the junior level to the district level. On January 29 the Second National Judicial Pay Commission submitted its final recommendations in the Supreme Court.

The Commission constituted by the Supreme Court as per its order in the All India Judges Association case on November 16, 2017 with the former judge of the apex court, Justice P V Reddy as the Chairman and former Judge of the Kerala High Court Justice R Basant and Vinay Kumar Gupta, a District Judge of Delhi as members made recommendations to hike the pay, pension and allowances of judicial officers across the country.

Accordingly, it is recommended to revise the pay structure for Junior Civil Judges/ First Class Magistrates whose starting pay will be hiked from `27,000/- to `77,840.

Similarly, Senior Civil Judges and District Judges have been recommended for the higher pay of Rs 1,11,000 and `1,44,840 respectively. The District Judge (STS) has been recommended for the pay of `2,24,100. Other recommendations include reverting back to the old pension scheme as it is more beneficial and increasing allowances suitably.

Difficult dialogues conference

Difficult Dialogues, an annual forum examining issues of contemporary relevance in South India, will this year focus on the "State Law". The conference to be held at International Centre, Goa University, Goa from February 14 to 16 will bring together lawyers, some eminent chief justices, law teachers and others having stakes in the legal field.

The event is being hosted in partnership with Goa University, O.P Jindal Global University, V M Salgaoncar College of Law, University of Oxford and Centre for Study of Law and Governance (Jawaharlal Nehru University) at Goa.

The Bar Association of India (BAI) is supporting the event. The event offers an opportunity to all the interested persons to attend and participate. There is no registration fee.