Hereditary Members of Indian Parliamentary Monarchy

India a Democracy or a Monarchy? Heading towards a Hereditary Monarch and Indian Princelings
India: A Portrait by Patrick French – review
Patrick French's affectionate portrait of modern India hymns the tiger economy but ignores the country's contradictions and complexities

French retells the story of Ramanujan, the brilliant young Tamil mathematician who died in England before he could fulfil his promise. The suggestion is that the talents of 1.2 billion Ramanujans – all of them tremendously multicultural and supremely talented – are on the verge of exploding. The leading historian of modern India, Ramachandra Guha, chose to end his magisterial work, India After Gandhi, on a more sombre note: his countrymen, he pointed out, could be legitimately proud of their democracy but they had to remember that the task of lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty still lay ahead of them.

Patrick French offered this startling revelation about the Indian Parliament:
"Every MP in the Lok Sabha under the age of 30 had in effect inherited a seat, and more than two-thirds of the 66 MPs aged 40 or under were HMPS [Hereditary Members of Parliament]. In addition, this new wave of Indian lawmakers would have a decade’s advantage in politics over their peers, since the average MP who had benefited from family politics was almost 10 years younger than those who had arrived with ‘No Significant Family Background’. In the Congress, the situation was yet more extreme: every Congress MP under the age of 35 was an HMP. If the trend continued, it was possible that most members of the Indian Parliament would be there by heredity alone, and the nation would be back to where it had started before the freedom struggle, with rule by a hereditary monarch and assorted Indian princelings."

He has divided his book into three parts: Rashtra (nation), Lakshmi (wealth), and Samaj (society). While that's a neat division, a multi-everything nation like India can be sub-divided in many different ways. The deeper question is: does it hold together and form a coherent narrative? That depends on the reader's expectations.
Read more: India: A Portrait by Patrick French – review
Another Review: India: Click here

Do Retired Generals of the Armed Forces as Governors perform better than the rest?

Generals as Governors and Lt Governors of Indian States
1. Arunachal Pradesh Gen J.J. Singh PVSM, AVSM, VSM(Retd)
2. Assam Lt Gen Ajai Singh, PVSM, AVSM (Retd)
3. Mijoram Lt Gen M.M. Lakhera, PVSM,AVSM,VSM (Retd)
4. Punjab Gen S.F. Rodrigues, PVSM, VSM (Retd)
5. Andaman & Nicobar Lt Gen Bhopinder Singh, PVSM, AVSM (Retd)

In the dominion of the Indian Constitution, the Governors have appraised powers and functions at the state level as that of the President of India at the capital. In this regard, it should be noted that like the governors at the National Capital of New Delhi and the lieutenant Governor in the union territories enjoys the same power and position as the President of the nation. On the other hand, it should be observed that in conformity with the measures of the Indian Constitution, the governor acts as the nominal head whereas the real power remains within the periphery of the Chief minister and with the council minister of the Chief minister.

In general, a Governor is elected for a term of 5 years. Different types of powers including the Executive Powers (all the executive powers of the state government), Legislative Powers and also the Discretionary Powers are also given to the Governors. In the appointment of the Chief Minister of a State the Governors performs as the main person. In the appointment of the Council of Ministers, the instrumental role player is the governor. The Governor also plays a cardinal role in the appointment of the judges of the District Courts.

In contrast the Governor writes the sessions of both houses of the State Legislature and holds over them. The governors are entrusted with the power to dissolve the State Legislature or the Vidhan Sabha. A bill that has passed by the State Legislature will not be eligible until and unless the Governor gives his/her assent to it. The Governor has the power to earmark certain bills for the President.

At certain situations the Governor can act according to own judgment. Though it is very important on the part of the Governors to act in accordance with the recommendation of the Council of ministers that is headed by the Chief Minister, and thereby to take decisions. These are enforced at the critical situations, and are called the discretionary powers of the Governor.
Governors of Indian States

Performance Audit: Apex ESM Organisations should evolve a rating system based on the following parameters:

Is their governance exemplary?

Are they trend setters?

Do they set high standards?

Exude personal example and leadership in improving development works?

Is interaction with citizens friendly and approachable?

Do they denigrate their status by VIP treatment given by the Administration?

Article 49-O of our Constitution. Does it exist?

Image from: Churumuri, swalpa sihi, swalpa spicey

By now, most of readers of this blog must have received a chain mail stating that there is a right provided to every citizen under Article (sic) 49-O of the Constitution of India wherein voters can refrain from voting and if such voters exceed the number of votes of the winning candidate, then the winning candidate’s candidature gets cancelled and re-poll has to be ordered.

Well, the above is untrue and the email is a fake.

For starters, there is no Article 49-O in our Constitution. The said rumour emanates from Rule 49-O of the Conduct of Election Rules, the said Rule 49-O reads as below:

49-O. Elector deciding not to vote.- If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form 17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark.

Hence this rule deals with persons who decide not to vote. But the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, nowhere provide any cancellation of candidature or negative declaration of result on the basis of this rule. There is no cancellation on the basis of Rule 49-O and there is no re-poll. Readers are advised and encouraged to read the complete rules to satisfy themselves.

Negative voting if introduced may be a debatable concept since just as voters may get swayed by unethical electoral tactics in regular voting, the same can also happen in negative voting resulting in a sway of voters towards negative votes through unethical enticement.

So people, do not get enthused by fake emails, the right to vote is the most potent tool in your hand, exercise it, and exercise it with due diligence.
But Vote you must.

Posted by Navdeep/ Maj Navdeep Singh (TA)
(Major Navdeep Singh, Serving TA officer, Practising Law in Chandigarh HC)
Indian Military: Service Benefits and Issues

Comment: We thank Maj Navdeep for enlighting us on the false email doing the rounds. It is the duty and responsibility of all ESM organisations to educate their members to vote which is a sacred duty of every citizen. ESM newsletters, brochures, and thrust must be proactive advocating genuine interest in the welfare of Jawans and the Nation at large, rather than conceiving dubious means of garnering more and more funds to enrich the bank accounts without matching contribution to the welfare of its members.

Reduce corruption to reduce terror attacks

Government officers complain that they cannot help prevent corruption because the public is forcing it on them, doctors complain that they cannot help prescribing coslty medicines because only then their patients believe that they are being treated well. No doubt these are genuine complaints. There are a handful of people in this society who really want corruption to exist and doctors to prescribe costly medicines because they can afford it. But the important thing for us to take cognisance of the fact that the majority who bribe are those who cannot afford it and are forced to it by the majority of bribe takers. At the end of the day let us accept that it has become an accepted evil like dowry. But that doesn't still mean that the majority would not like to see it being wiped out. And it doesn't need any magical wand to do it.

It only needs our police and courts (including the quasi judicial bodies) to be made efficient and accountable. Unfortunately these have been rated the most corrupt and the second most corupt organisations in India today. And the law-makers are not even talking of making them accountable. In the case of the judiciary even a bill for including the executive in the process for appointing judges to high courts and supreme court is hanging fire for so many years now. And appointing judges is no deal when compared to the onus of making them deliver justice. I shall just quote two examples to prove how wayward out judiciary is.

1. In Jancy Joseph Vs Union of India (1999 (1) KLT 422), the question of applicability of Section 56 of the Civil Procedure Code while ordering arrests under the provisions of Section 27 of the Consumer Protection Act was considered by the Kerala High Court. Under Section 56 of the CPC,'the court shall not order arrest or detention in the civil prison of a woman in execution of a decree for payment of money; regarding recovery of money from others, arrest can be ordered if it is found that the person concerned have means to pay'.

The judge had ruled that 'I quash Ext P5 in so far as it holds that woman can be arrested for recovery of money under Sec 27 of the (Consumer Protection) Act and that means of judgement debtor need not be considered when the power under S 27 is exercised for recovery of money'. (Note: here the supposedly learned judge is NOT applying an exisitng law, he is making ONE!)

2. Subsequently, in Mary Chacko vs Jancy Joseph (2005 (3) KLT 925), a division bench headed by the then CJ of Kerala considered the issue of the applicability of the same Sec 56 of CPC while enforcing the orders under Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act 1993 and ordered that women CAN be arrested because 'there is a clear basis for treating the public dues different from the purely private'. Now this raises a genuine doubt whether the Constitution of India, by which all these luminaries swear by, mention anywhere that justice should be denied to individual citizens? As I see it, or as any man in his senses would see it, it is a big NO! Doesn't it suggest that these people read the Preamble to the Constitution every time they opened a case file? As well as the Gandhi Talisman for added effect?

It was recently reported in the press that a division bench of the apex court had ruled against judges making laws instead of just interpreting them. Also, in a recent case filed in the District Court here by the wife of an advocate against her husband, the advocate literally argued that it would be shame for him to appear before that court and he got an advocate commission appointed to hear the case! And it was also reported in the media that the High Court of Kerala had said that it had refrained from directing the Chief Secretary of the State to appear in person because it did not want to insult him! And that in nutshell sums up the state of our justice delivery system. Can we hope to do anything unless this system is overhauled?

The Right to Information Act had actually opened a window of opportunity to set the system right, But the lawmakers dug the first nail on the coffin of the Act by appointing only those persons whom it could identify as potential murders of the Act as information commissioners- the watch dog for implementation of the Act. And between the information commissions and the judiciary, they are vying with each other to dig the last nail in! Today the information commissions are in the same state where the judicary has landed in 60 years. Dr Abdul Kalam when he was the President asked: why is it that all the undertrials in our prisons are from the marginalised sections of the society? (And all the scams that are being reported in the media involve the politician-bureaucrat nexus!). Today we may ask in the context of RTI Act: why is it that only PIOs of lowest level public authorities have been fined while the law provides for fining the PIOs of all the public authorities if they fail to give satisfactory reply within 30 days of the application?

There are moves a foot to amend the RTI Act. The publicised reasons are of course to make it more user friendly. But going by the history of the Consumer Protection Act we can rest assured that the last nail on the coffin of the Act will be dug by these amendments.

Maj PM Ravindran (Retd)