Tag: Justice Katju

Validity of Imran Khan’s trial in jail

After former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan was ordered to be released on bail in the toshakhana case by the Islamabad High Court he was rearrested in the cypher case, and will be tried in Attock jail where he has been incarcerated.
The question is whether such a trial away from the public gaze is valid ? In my opinion it is not.
The Greek philosopher Plato in his book ‘Laws’ said that justice is not a private affair, and so citizens should be allowed to attend court proceedings. Similarly, the German philosopher Hegel said that judicial proceedings must be public, since the aim of the court is to do justice, which is universal.
A Constitutional Bench of Indian Supreme Court in Naresh Shridhar Mirajkar & Ors Vs State of Maharashtra (1966 3 SCR 744) laid down the importance of open court proceedings.
The Court held :
“It is well-settled that in general, all cases brought before the Courts, whether civil, criminal, or others, must be heard in open court. Public trial in open court is undoubtedly essential for the healthy, objective and fair administration of justice. Trial held subject to the public scrutiny and gaze acts as a check against judicial caprice or vagaries, and serves as a powerful instrument for creating confidence of the public in the fairness, objectivity, and impartiality of the administration of justice.
Public confidence in the administration of justice is of such great significance that there can be no two opinions on the broad proposition that in discharging their functions as judicial tribunals, Courts must generally hear causes in open and must permit public admission to the courtroom.”
Similarly, in Chief Election Commissioner vs MR Vijaykumar ( 2021 ) the Indian Supreme Court observed :
” Courts must be open both in the physical and metaphorical sense. Save and except for in-camera proceedings in an exceptional category of cases, such as cases involving child sexual abuse or matrimonial proceedings bearing on matters of marital privacy, our legal system is founded on the principle that open access to courts is essential to safeguard valuable Constitutional freedoms.

The concept of an open court requires that information relating to a court proceeding must be available in the public domain. Citizens have a right to know about what transpires in the course of judicial proceedings. The dialogue in a court indicates the manner in which a judicial proceeding is structured. Oral arguments are postulated on an open exchange of ideas. It is through such an exchange that legal arguments are tested and analyzed. Arguments addressed before the court, the response of opposing counsel, and issues raised by the court, are matters on which citizens have a legitimate right to be informed. An open court proceeding ensures that the judicial process is subject to public scrutiny, which is crucial to maintaining transparency and accountability. In the functioning of democratic institutions this is crucial to establish the public faith in them ”.
In R. vs Socialist Workers Printers and Publishers, exparte Attorney General ( 1974 ) Lord Widgery observed :
” The great virtue of having the public in court courts is that discipline which the presence of the public imposes upon the court itself. When the court is full of members of the public it is bound to have the effect that everybody is careful about what they do, and there is a disciplinary effect on the court which would be totally lacking if there were no critical members of the public or press present. When one has an order for trial in camera, all the public and press are evicted at one fell swoop, and the entire supervision by the public is gone. Public scrutiny fosters confidence in the process. Public discussion and criticism works as a restraint on the conduct of a judge ”.
Similarly, in Naresh Shridhar Mirajkar vs State of Maharashtra ( 1966 ) CJI Hidayatullah observed :
” Hearing in open court of causes is of the utmost importance for maintaining confidence of the public in the impartial administration of justice: it operates as a wholesome check upon judicial behaviour as well as upon the conduct of the contending parties and their witnesses. An open court serves an educational purpose as well. The court becomes a platform for citizens to know how the practical application of the law impacts upon their rights ”.
The virtues of openness were discussed by the Supreme Court of Canada in A.G. Nova Scotia v. MacIntyre which quoted eighteenth-century philosopher Jeremy Bentham:” In the darkness of secrecy, sinister interest and evil in every shape have full swing. Only in proportion as publicity has place can any of the checks applicable to judicial injustice operate. Where there is no publicity there is no justice. Publicity is the very soul of justice. It is the keenest spur to exertion and the surest of all guards against improbity. It keeps the judge himself while trying under trial ”.
According to the Supreme Court of Canada in Vancouver Sun (Re), the open court principle enhances the public’s confidence in the justice system:” Public access to the courts guarantees the integrity of judicial processes by demonstrating that justice is administered in a non-arbitrary manner, according to the rule of law. Openness is necessary to maintain the independence and impartiality of courts. It is integral to public confidence in the justice system and the public’s understanding of the administration of justice. Moreover, openness is a principal component of the legitimacy of the judicial process and why the parties and the public at large abide by the decisions of courts ”.
The open court principle has long been recognized as a cornerstone of the common law in the UK. In its 1913 decision in Scott v. Scott, the House of Lords noted the right of public access to the courts is “one of principle, turning not on convenience, but on necessity”. Viscount Haldane L.C., noted that “Justice is not a cloistered virtue”.
In the 1936 decision of Ambard v. Attorney-General for Trinidad and Tobago, Lord Atkin noted “Publicity is the very soul of justice. It is the keenest spur to exertion, and the surest of all guards against improbity.”^[
Thus, all over the world it is accepted that court proceedings should ordinarily be open to the public gaze, except in some cases like sexual offences, child molestation and matrimonial proceedings. Unlike hearings by bureaucrats of public grievances, which can be in their offices behind closed doors, ordinarily all court proceedings must therefore be open to public view.
Section 352 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Pakistan states :
” Courts to be open: The place in which any Criminal Court is held for the purpose of inquiring into or trying any offence shall be deemed an open Court, to which the public generally may have access, so far as the same can conveniently contain them:
Provided that the Presiding Judge or Magistrate may, if he thinks fit, order at any stage of any inquiry into or trial of, any particular case, that the public generally, or any particular person, shall not have access to, or be or remain in, the room or building used by the Court ”.
Thus this provision accepts the general principle that criminal trials should ordinarily be in open court, to which the public should have access.
The exceptions may be, as mentioned above, in cases of sexual offences, child molestation, matrimonial cases etc but Imran Khan’s cypher case does not fall in these exceptional categories.
An exception cannot override the general rule. If it was felt that a huge crowd will come if Imran Khan is tried in open court causing law and order problems, security arrangements could surely have been made. Also restriction on the number of people who are granted entry into the courtroom could have been placed, as in the Eichmann trial of 1961 in Israel in which too the people wanting to attend was far in excess of the seating capacity in the courtroom, and hence lots were drawn, and only those who got tickets were granted entry.
It is obvious that the real reason for not holding the trial in open court was the fear in the minds of the Pakistan Establishment that public viewing of the brave man whose spirit could not be crushed by his incarceration would further increase his popularity. However, to my mind this cannot be said to be a valid reason for not holding the trial in open court

August 30, 2023
Bhagavad Gita and the first atomic bomb explosion

On 16th July, 1945, in a desert in Alamogordo in the state of New Mexico, U.S.A. the first atomic explosion in the world took place at 5.45 a.m. which changed the world.
The Director of the Manhattan Project, which manufactured the atomic bomb, was Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the top nuclear physicists in the world, who is also regarded as ‘the father of the atomic bomb’.
Dr. Oppenheimer, apart from being a great scientist, was also a great scholar of Sanskrit. He had studied a vast number of Sanskrit books in original, including the Bhagavad Gita ( which is part of the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata).
When the massive nuclear blast whose blazing light covered most of the sky took place, the following words in Chapter 11 shloka 12 came out spontaneously from Dr. Oppenheimer’s lips :

“Divi surya sahastrasya bhaved yugapad utthita
Yadi bhah sadrashi sa syat bhasastasya mahatmanah”

which means :

” If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once in the sky, that would be like the splendour of the mighty One”.
But when the sinister and gigantic mushroom cloud rose higher and higher in the far distance over Point Zero, and some onlookers feared it may soon engulf the whole world, he uttered another line from the Gita : ” Kaalo asmi loka kshaya kritpraviddho” ( Chapter 11 shloka 32). i.e.
” Now I am become Death, the destroyer of the worlds “
( see the book ‘ Brighter Than a Thousand Suns ‘ by Robert Jungk )

Much later, in a television interview in 1965 ( which can be seen on Youtube), Dr. Oppenheimer said
“We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed (immediately after the nuclear explosion), a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince (Arjuna) that he should do his duty, and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form, and says :” Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds”.

August 30, 2023
The way out for Pakistanis

Pakistan is in a terrible situation. The government is bankrupt and the economy is in shambles. Massive protests are being held everywhere against exorbitant electricity bills, and rise in prices of oil, gas and food.

The political situation is dismal, and a reign of terror has been imposed by the army and police, thousands thrown in jail, often after being dragged out of their homes, and many beaten, tortured, killed, or ‘disappeared‘. The judiciary, whose duty was to uphold people’s rights under the Constitution, is lying impotent. Minorities, like Shias, Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs, live in fear.
Pakistan has become a paagal khaana
Justice Katju’s letter to Pakistani Judges
What should Pakistanis do ?
No doubt by their massive ongoing demonstrations they have proved that they are not a bunch of cowards, as was earlier supposed, and will not take things lying low. But that is not enough. Clarity of ideas is now needed, otherwise they will be like blind men or men groping in the dark, and going from the frying pan into the fire.
Since the time of Partition in 1947, and even from before, false ideas were drilled into the heads of Pakistanis e.g. Partition of India and the creation of Pakistan as an Islamic State was correct and justified, since Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations ( the 2 nation theory ), who cannot live together, and Jinnah, the main creator of Pakistan was a great man ( Baba-e-Quom or Father of the Nation ),
Changing the mindsets of people, removing false ideas, and replacing them with truthful ones, is an extremely difficult and long drawn process. It is very painful to the majority who have held such false ideas for long, and would be very reluctant to discard them. And it requires tremendous patience and forbearance in the enlightened minority seeking to educate the majority and persuade them to give up their false ideas. They will have to endure abuses, vilification, and often even physical attacks by the majority.
Historical experience shows that the majority give up false ideas only when there is an economic crisis or war, for then people’s lives are so terribly and adversely affected that they find it impossible to continue living and thinking in the old way.
For instance, the French Revolution of 1789 was caused by the bankruptcy of the government of King Louis 16 and the huge rise in the price of bread.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 was caused by the First World War, and the huge rise in prices of bread in Russia.
The Chinese revolution which culminated in 1949 was caused by the Japanese invasion of China, and rural bankruptcy in China.

Pakistan is currently going through a severe economic crisis, and to survive Pakistanis will now have to rethink over what was dished out to them for over three quarter of a century, and which they had faithfully lapped up.
This will be very painful for most Pakistanis, for they will be questioning what was regarded as gospel truth for long. It will be like Copernicus’ heliocentric theory questioning the Biblical ( and the Greek astronomer Ptolemy’s ) assertion that the sun goes around the earth ( the geocentric theory ), which was believed as the final truth all over Europe for 2000 years.
Moreover, it will also be dangerous because questioning them will not only invite the wrath of the mullahs and religious extremist organisations like the Tehreek-e-Labaik, it is also a crime since section 123A Pakistan Penal Code makes speaking against Partition an offence carrying a sentence of upto 10 years imprisonment.
However, the truth cannot be suppressed forever, even by laws. Supporting Copernicus’ theory was also at one time dangerous as it went against the Bible, and one could be burnt at the stake for that ( Galileo survived by recanting). Yet it spread, and is believed by everyone today.
Since long I have been saying :
(1) Partition was a British swindle, to keep Hindus and Muslims fighting each other, and thus to prevent united india from emerging as a modern industrial giant ( as China is today ) and become a big rival to Western industry.with our cheap labour.

https://indicanews.com/2023/01/24/indo-pak-reunification/
(2) Gandhi and Jinnah were the main agents of the British in this wicked design, which caused untold horrors and sufferings to millions.
A Tale of Two Rascals
https://www.hastakshepnews.com/moeed-pirzadas-inanity-and-mendacity/
(3) Pakistan is a fake, artificial country. It is part of India, and will one day inevitably reunite with India ( along with Bangladesh ) under secular, modern minded, patriotic leaders determined to rapidly industrialise and modernise the country, and give our people a high standard of living and decent lives
https://indicanews.com/2023/06/13/justice-markandey-katju-on-dr-pervez-hoodbhoys-superficial-understanding/
https://indicanews.com/2023/03/09/justice-markandey-katju-indian-reunification-is-an-idea-whose-time-has-come/
https://indicanews.com/2023/05/14/justice-markandey-katju-a-response-to-dr-akbar-ahmed/
(4) The leaders of both India and Pakistan are puppets of Western countries, and will obey their orders. So the way out for the people of both India and Pakistan is to launch a mighty united people’s struggle led by secular, modern minded, patriotic leaders to overthrow the present political systems and create a new one under which united India rapidly industrialises and modernises, and the people get decent lives..
https://indicanews.com/2023/02/22/the-puppeteer-and-the-puppets/
https://indicanews.com/2023/07/13/justice-markandey-katju-on-bastille-day/
https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2019/10/04/opinion-india-needs-modern-minded-revolution-to-become-a-first-world-nation.html
https://www.firstpost.com/india/indias-moment-of-turbulent-revolution-has-arrived-and-it-is-going-to-be-a-long-and-bloody-one-writes-justice-markandey-katju-7891541.html
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/satyam-bruyat/a-french-revolution-is-approaching/
As to when this historical struggle will begin, how much time will it take to attain success, how will it be conducted, who will be its leaders, etc it is impossible to predict, since one cannot be rigid about historical forms. The people will have to use their own creativity to figure all this out

August 28, 2023
Alice in Daakustan

One summer evening a little girl called Alice was dozing on a green meadow when she saw a white rabbit wearing a blue coat running on two legs, and seeing a watch said ” My God, I am late ”. Saying this it jumped into a hole on the ground.
Alice got up, and following him jumped into the same hole. She fell and fell, and finally landed with a big thud on a heap of garbage.
She looked around, and saw on a wall a big signboard on which it was written ” Welcome to Daakustan ”.
She wondered what that meant, and getting up enquired from a man walking nearby what the signboard meant.
He whispered into her ears ” Can’t you understand ? In this country most prominent persons are daakus ( dacoits ) ”.
Alice asked how was that ?
He replied ” It is very simple to understand. Our political leaders are mostly daakus because they have looted the country, and taken its wealth abroad, where they have bought huge assets like mansions and luxurious flats, as the Panama Papers revealed.
Our army generals, whose job is to defend the country, instead of doing that have amassed huge wealth during their tenure, and ended up as billionaires, like Gen Bajwa, and they have also imposed a reign of terror on our country, imprisoning thousands of our people, and violated all human rights ”.
Alice asked ” But don’t you have a judiciary to protect the people’s rights under your Constitution ? ”’.

He replied ” Our judges are only concerned about their salaries, perks and pensions. They too are daakus because instead of protecting the people’s rights they help the above two kinds of daakus by giving dishonest verdicts, like Justice Munir who invented the ‘doctrine of necessity’ justifying army coups, like Chief Justice Maulvi Mushtaq Husain who sentenced former Prime Minister Bhutto to death, or like Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court Aamer Farooq who coerced Additional Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar into giving a dishonest judgment against former Prime Minister imran Khan and sending him to jail for 3 years, to deprive him of the right to contest elections, and promptly rewarded him by sending him and his family to London ”.
Alice was shocked to hear all this.
She walked ahead and saw thousands of people with their lips sealed and eyes closed, with their hands on their ears, carrying placards which read ” Speak nothing, see nothing, hear nothing ”.
She asked some people there what this meant, but none was willing to answer. Ultimately one man gathered courage, and whispered into her ears ” Keep quiet, or else you too will be carted off to a dungeon, like those who protested ”
She walked further ahead, and saw a huge crowd of people who were evidently hungry and looking like beggars. She asked one of them the cause of their plight, and he replied in a whisper ” All our wealth has been taken away by our daakus, and we are left with nothing. Our leaders are now going around to the IMF, Saudi Arabia, etc begging for money ”.
Alice saw an army officer, and asked him why they were behaving like tyrants ?
He was surprised how anyone could ask such an impertinent question, and then replied ” The people are like dumb driven sheep and cattle, and the only way to control them is by using a whip and a danda. Power grows out of the barrel of a gun, and we will use the gun we have against this riffraff, rabble, scum, hoi polloi and ragtag and bobtail ”.
Alice shouted ” You are nothing but a bunch of daakus ”, at which he pointed his gun at her, and was about to shoot, when Alice woke up, and realised she had been dreaming.

August 24, 2023
President Arif Alvi has been economical with the truth
By Justice Katju
The President of Pakistan Arif Alvi has stirred up a hornet’s nest in Pakistan by this tweet :
” As God is my witness, I did not sign Official Secrets Amendment Bill 2023 & Pakistan Army Amendment Bill 2023 as I disagreed with these laws. I asked my staff to return the bills unsigned within stipulated time to make them ineffective. I confirmed from them many times that whether they have been returned & was assured that they were. However I have found out today that my staff undermined my will and command. As Allah knows all, He will forgive IA. But I ask forgiveness from those who will be effected ”.
This tweet has created a huge controversy and uproar in Pakistan.

In his connection we may consider Article 75 of the Constitution of Pakistan
Article 75: President’s assent to Bills
1. When a Bill is presented to the President for assent, the President shall, within ten days,-
a. assent to the Bill; or

b. in the case of a Bill other than a Money Bill, return the Bill to the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) with a message requesting that the Bill or any specified provision thereof, be reconsidered and that any amendment specified in the message be considered.
2. When the President has returned a Bill to the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), it shall be reconsidered by the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) in joint sitting and, if it is again passed, with or without amendment, by the
Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), by the votes of the majority of the members of both Houses present and voting, it shall be deemed for the purposes of the Constitution to have been passed by both Houses and shall be presented to the President, and the President shall give his assent within ten days, failing which such assent shall be deemed to have been given. ; and
3. When the President has assented or is deemed to have assented to a Bill, it shall become law and be called an Act of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament).
Thus, when a Bill passed by both Houses of the Pakistan Parliament ( Majls-e-Shoora ) is submitted to the President he may assent to it or return it within 10 days to Parliament for reconsideration.
President Alvi says in his tweet that he had asked his staff to return the Bill to Parliament within the stipulated time ( i.e. 10 days ), and confirmed with them many times whether the 2 bills had been returned, and his staff assured him that they had.
I regret that President Alvi has been evasive and economical with the truth, and has a lot of explaining to do, particularly on these issues :
1. When the President returns a Bill to Parliament surely he will do that in writing by a letter addressed to Parliament signed by him.
President Alvi in his tweet does not say that he ever wrote such a letter addressed to Parliament signed by him. All he says in his tweet is that he had asked his staff to return the 2 Bills to Parliament within the stipulated period. This is sheer obfuscation and sophistry. He should clarify whether he had written and signed a letter addressed to Parliament returning the 2 Bills, and asked his staff to convey this letter to Parliament. Merely telling his staff orally to return the Bills is not enough.
If the President says that he had indeed written such a letter to Parliament, he should produce a copy of it. The fact that he has not yet done so indicates that probably no such letter was ever written.
1. President Alvi says in his tweet that ” I asked my staff to return the bills unsigned within the stipulated time to make them ineffective. I confirmed from them many times that whether they have been returned & was assured that they were ”.
Here again President Alvi obfuscates, equivocates, and dissembles. He should have disclosed the name of his staff member whom he told to return the Bill to Parliament. After all, the President would be having a huge staff. Using the general expression ” my staff ” without disclosing any name or names is sheer dissimulation and mendacity.
1. If indeed President Alvi’s staff deceived him, what action has he taken against the culprits ? Has he suspended them ? If his forged signatures were taken ( as some people allege ), has he directed an FIR to be lodged against the delinquents ?
  These are very serious offences, but President Alvi has chosen not to clarify.
This episode confirms that Pakistan has indeed become a paagalkhana ( lunatic asylum ), as stated in the article below
Pakistan has become a paagal khaana
August 21, 2023
Pakistan has become a paagal khaana

By Justice Katju
I have been following developments in Pakistan on the social media for long, and now my mind has started spinning and my eyes boggling. Sometimes I feel like Alice in the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party ( see Lewis Carrol’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ ).

The latest event there really takes the cake. The President of Pakistan, Arif Alvi, has tweeted that he did not sign two bills ( the Official Secrets Act Amendment Bill, and the Army Act Amendment Bill ), and instead he had directed his staff to return them to the government for reconsideration, but only later he learnt that they had become laws ( due to which further atrocities are being committed against the people of Pakistan ).

Arif Alvi said his staff had told him that as directed by him they had returned the Bills to the Government, but it has now transpired that they did not. If the President is correct, someone forged his signatures on the Bills, and the government notified them as laws, and they have been acted upon.

It seems everyone in Pakistan has become mad as a hatter.
There is a Cheshire Cat, to whom Alice asks ” What sort of people live here ? ”. The cat replies ” In this direction lives a Hatter, and in that direction lives a March Hare. Visit either you like : they are both mad ”

So visitors to Pakistan can go in any direction they wish. It will not matter, because the authorities, particularly the army officers and police, have gone mad everywhere.

And there is a judiciary, which keeps sleeping like the Dormouse, and has become a joke.

Alice went to see the trial of the Knave of Hearts, who stole some tarts.

The Queen shouted ” Off with his head ”. The King suggested that a trial be held first before the sentence, but the Queen kept shouting ” Sentence first, trial afterwards ”, and the accused were beheaded without a trial.

This is what is happening on a large scale in Pakistan. Tens of thousands of people have been imprisoned without a trial, their homes broke
into and ransacked, and many brutally tortured.
There is a Constitution in Pakistan, and lawyers in court keep arguing about the meaning of its provisions e.g. Article 224(2) which says that elections must be held within 90 days of dissolution of a state assembly. But what do the words in the Constitution mean ?

“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’
’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’
’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”

Humpty Dumpty is being followed in Pakistan. The Pakistan army is the master. The Constitution means what the army says it means
.

August 20, 2023
A Judge is not a Knight Errant

Justice Benjamin Cardozo, the celebrated Judge of the US Supreme Court, wrote in his book ‘The Nature of the Judicial Process’ :

” A Judge is not a Knight Errant roaming at will in search of his own ideal of beauty and goodness ”.
I submit with respect that the recent release of a 30 page handbook by the Chief Justice of India for guiding judges to avoid using gender stereotypes is violative of the above dictum of Justice Cardozo.
Supreme Court launches handbook to combat gender stereotypes within legal community
SC launches handbook on gender unjust terms; street sexual harassment to replace eve-teasing, sex worker in place of prostitute

If a 30 page handbook is needed for combating gender stereotypes, why not issue a 30 page handbook for combating stereotypes of politicians ? Can they be called crooks in a court order ( which many people think most of them are ) ?

Why not a 30 page handbook for guiding Supreme Court judges as to what words they should use for High Court judges ( e.g. should the Supreme Court in its judgment call the High Court as ‘the Court below’ ? ). And what words should the High Court judges use for subordinate judiciary judges ?

What about 30 page handbooks for civil servants, teachers, lawyers, engineers, farmers, workers, students, doctors etc ?

I submit that judges learn judicial etiquette and most things not from handbooks but by observing court conventions while practising as a lawyer, and as a junior judge from one’s seniors.

It is a long standing, well established, convention that judges should only speak through their judgments, and that is what I was taught by my seniors in the judiciary e.g. former CJI MN Venkatachaliah and former CJI J.S. Verma. Sermons and homilies delivered in 30 page handbooks are not part of a judgment, and are therefore best avoided.

August 18, 2023
Pt. Nehru and Students of Allahabad University : Justice Katju

A lawyer friend of mine , who is now no more, was a few years older than me. He told me this story when I was a lawyer in Allahabad. In the late 1950s a Convocation was held in the Allahabad University. In this function some University students, including my friend, put a garland of shoes on the neck of the Chief Guest in the function, the U.P. Governor ( in protest over something ). Consequently they were expelled from the University.

They decided to go to Delhi and request the Prime Minister Pt. Nehru to get their expulsion revoked ( Allahabad was not only Nehru’s constituency, it was also his home town ).

They took the night train to Delhi, travelling W.T. ( without ticket). When the TTE ( Travelling Ticket Examiner ) came and asked for their tickets they shouted “Hum Prime Minister ke constituency ke hain. Bhaag jao ” ( We are from the Prime Minister’s constituency. Beat it ), and the poor TTE fled.

On reaching Delhi they went straight to the Prime Minister’s residence at Teen Murti.
When they wanted to enter the house they were stopped by the securitymen, who naturally asked whether they had an appointment. They said “Hum Prime Minister ke constituency ke hain. Hamein appointment wapointment ki zaroorat naheen hai” ( We are from the Prime Minister’s constituency, we dont need any appointment ).
When the secuirity men would still not allow them entry they threatened to commit suicide at the gate of the P.M.s house, and created a ruckus.
This news reached Pt. Nehru, who ordered that they be allowed entry. The students then trooped into the P.M.s house, and were usherted into a big hall, where there were a lot of dry fruits–kishmish, baadaam, akhrot, cashew nuts, etc on a table. They ate some, and pocketed the rest for future use.

After a few minutes, Pt. Nehru came into the hall, wearing only a vest and shorts, and shouted “Jao padho, padho”
The students replied “Kahaan padhein sahib ? Hamein expel kar diya gaya hai ” ( Where should we study, sir ? We have been expelled ).
Pt. Nehru again shouted “Padho,padho “and left the hall.

The students were bewildered and nonplussed, and they left the house wondering what the P.M. meant.
They then caught the night train to return to Allahabad,( again travelling W.T. and eating the dry fruit they had pocketed at the P.M.s residence).

In the morning, when the train reached Fatehpur, the station before Allahabad, one of them got off the train and bought a newspaper at the platform.
There it was published that their expulsion had been revoked by the University Vice Chancellor.
Probably Pt. Nehru, the magnanimous man that he was, had told a secretary to telephone the Vice Chancellor and request him to forgive the students and readmit them. After all boys will be boys (particularly Allahabad boys ! ).

August 5, 2023
Mixing truth with falsehood: Justice Katju
An Article by Justice Katju
A few years back some elderly relatives of mine wanted to visit the Akshardhaam temple in Delhi, so I took them there.
Among other things there, is a cultural boat-ride inside a tunnel, and we went on it. Inside this tunnel are scenes from ancient Indian history. Many of these are truthful, like Sushruta doing a surgery, Aryabhat explaining mathematics to his students, Panini teaching grammar, etc. But there was one scene which completely put me off.
That was a scene showing an aeroplane allegedly built in ancient India.

Afterwards, I went to the head priest of the temple, and told him that while the other scenes were truthful and should certainly be shown to people who should know about the great achievements of our ancestors, the scene of an aeroplane in ancient India was false, as there were no aeroplanes then. Showing such falsehood dilutes the great achievements of our ancestors by mixing truth with falsehood.
Unfortunately in recent years there have been such false and fantastic claims by even high political authorities and some scientists in India who want to curry favours from them, which dilutes our real great achievements in science in the past, and makes us a laughing stock in the world. I may therefore deal with this.
Truths
1. One of the greatest inventions in the world was the decimal system in mathematics invented by Indians about 2500 years ago, without which scientific progress would have been extremely slow, if not impossible. I have explained this in my article below Indians were once leaders in science Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta, Varahamihir, etc made great advances in mathematics ( see on google ).
1. Ancient Indians also made great advances in astronomy, carefully studying movements of stars and planets with naked eyes ( there were no telescopes then ). The ‘patras’ used in India on the basis of their calculations can accurately predict the times of solar and lunar eclipses even today.
Indian Astronomy
Astronomy in Ancient India
1. Plastic surgery was invented by Sushrut in India 2000 years ago, while Europeans learnt it only about 200 years back. In plastic surgery, no plastic is used. In plastic surgery, a piece of one’s own body is removed and placed on another part of one’s body.
For instance, in a heart bypass surgery (when a heart artery gets blocked), a part of a vein in one’s leg is removed and is placed in one’s own heart. We cannot put a piece of someone else’s body in our body, because our immune system will reject it.
All this was discovered by Sushruta.

Ancient Indian physicians such as Charak were perhaps ahead of the whole world in medicine at that time
1. In the Harappa-Mohenjodaro (Indus Valley) civilisation, we had developed the concept of town planning (which exists only on paper in most of our cities today), an excellent drainage and sewage system (which has largely collapsed in many cities in India today), and created a surprisingly modern port (at Lothal)
2. Ancient Indians had a profound knowledge of architecture. For instance, south Indian temples are massive and unbelievable unless one visits them, and they reveal the high level of knowledge of architecture and geometry of the ancient and medieval south Indians. The Brihadishvara temple of Tanjore is simply astounding, and one wonders how the builders could use such huge stones in building it (which reminds one of the Egyptian pyramids).
The Konark temple of Odisha, Martand temple in Kashmir, etc also show the high level of knowledge of architecture of ancient Indians.
The gigantic rock relief ‘Descent of the Ganges’ in the ancient port city of Mahabalipuram, capital of the Pallav Empire, is truly amazing.
1. Scientific grammar was invented by the great grammarian Panini about 2500 years ago. Even today the Roman alphabets used in English, French, Germans etc are unscientifically arranged, all jumbled up. There is no logical reason why d is followed by e, e by f, h by i, p by q, y by z, etc.
On the other hand, Panini in the first 14 sutras of his book Ashtadhyayi arranged vowels and consonants scientifically. Thus, the ka varga ( sequence ) i.e. ka kha ga gha nga has 5 consonants, all sounds emitted from the throat. The cha varga has sounds emitted from the middle of the tongue, the tta varga from the roof of the mouth, the ta varga from the tip of the tongue, and the pa varga from the lips.
Panini’s grammar is used even today in computer science
Panini’s Grammar and Computer Science
Falsehoods
1. Many people say that in ancient India there were aeroplanes. People who make this claim refer to the Pushpak Viman mentioned in the Ramayan.
Now it is true that the Ramayan mentions Pushpak Viman, an alleged flying chariot on which Lord Rama was said to have brought Sita from Lanka to Ayodhya, after defeating Ravana. On this basis, it is claimed that there were aeroplanes in ancient India.
However, we must understand what the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are. They are epic poems, and a poet has the right to exaggerate as he has what is called ‘poetic licence’. So, one must not take all things in poetry literally. Many things are imaginative.
Everyone knows that the first aeroplane in the world (the Kitty Hawk) was built in America by the Wright brothers in 1903.
If there were aeroplanes in ancient India, then there must have been engines in ancient India (because an aeroplane requires an engine). In that case, soldiers should have fought in tanks, instead of in chariots and horses as depicted in the Ramayan and Mahabharata.
1. Similarly, the claim that there were guided missiles and atom bombs in the ancient India (because there is a mention of brahmastra, agnyastra, narayanastra, etc., in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana) is also nonsense. These were only poetic imaginations.
1. Indian Prime Minister Modi claimed that ancient Indians knew head transplant surgery and genetic science, and he referred to the alleged head transplant of the god Ganesh and birth of Karna outside Kunti’s womb in the Mahabharat.
Vedic plastic surgery to test-tube Karna — non-science claims flowed from Modi downwards
PM Modi takes leaf from Batra book: Mahabharat genetics, Lord Ganesha surgery
Indian prime minister claims genetic science existed in ancient times

In my opinion, the claim that ancient Indians knew head transplant surgery is humbug
Firstly, a lot of our blood while circulating in our body goes to the head (maybe one-third of the total), and therefore, a head surgery causes a lot of blood loss, which one’s body will not be able to sustain.
Secondly, it must be realised that one is really one’s brain. All one’s thinking, reasoning, memories, commands to the various parts of the body, recording of sensations, etc., are functions of the brain.
If one loses one’s leg or hand, an artificial limb can replace it. Also, there can be a heart, kidney or liver transplant. But if one’s head is transplanted (assuming that can be done), and another person’s head is put in its place, it will be that other person living in one’s body.
1. In January 2019, speakers at the 106th Indian Science Congress claimed that it was ancient Hindus who pioneered stem cell research. “We had 100 Kauravas from one mother because of stem cell and test tube technology,” G Nageshwar Rao, the Vice Chancellor of Andhra University said, referring to the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata.
This shows how pseudo science has been promoted in recent years, not just by politicians ( who of course have their agenda ), but also by persons claiming to be scientists ( as in Nazi Germany ).
1. In April 2018, Tripura’s chief minister Biplab Deb used an example from the Mahabharata to claim that the internet was invented by ancient Indians thousands of years ago. He said the fact that one of the characters in the epic, Sanjaya, had been able to give an account of the Kurukshetra battle that was taking place miles away to King Dhritarashtra proved that ancient India had the internet and satellite technologies.
Others have claimed that we discovered the theory of gravity long before Newton and Einstein, that cow urine can cure cancer, etc.
More examples of such ridiculous claims even by prominent people are given in the articles below :
The false scientific claims made during Modi’s first term
BJP and Science: From Ganesha’s plastic surgery to ‘Yoga can cure cancer’
Bowel cleanse for better DNA: the nonsense science of Modi’s India
Those magnificent men and their machines
The Indian born Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan has said that the Indian Science Congress is a circus, and vowed he would never attend it again
Why do Modi and his Mantris Mock Science?
Indian Academics Confront the Threat of Nationalistic Pseudoscience
All this reminds us of Nazi Germany, where racial ‘science” was assiduously and relentlessly promoted
Science and political ideology: The example of Nazi Germany
Deep roots of Nazi science revealed
I submit that by making absurd and untrue claims about our alleged scientific ‘achievements’, we mix up the true with the untrue, replace scientific rigour by humbug, and make the true, which we should be proud of, questionable in the eyes of foreigners, and often laughed at.
Today India has huge socio-economic problems ( poverty, malnutrition, unemployment, etc ) and in my opinion these can only be solved by science. But this must be real science, not pseudo science, bunkum, and humbuggery
Indian’s and Science
August 4, 2023
Justice Katju: A dinner at JNU

Many years back I was invited by the then Vice Chancellor of JNU ( Jawaharlal Nehru University ), Delhi for dinner along with about a dozen Professors of the University
Prof Sopory, VC of JNU from 2011-2016 Who Invited Justice Markandey Katju.
I was told that the budget of the University Grants Commission was Rs.41,000 crore in the Five Year plan, and the annual budget of JNU alone was about Rs.200 crores.
In my usual blunt way I said, “How has this benefited the Indian masses? It seems that the huge funds being ploughed into higher education in India are for the benefit of foreign countries and to give you Professors huge salaries and fine houses to live in rather than to benefit the Indian people.”
This sparked off a lively debate. Some of the professors tried to refute my statement, but I stuck to my guns.
I said that most of the money spent on education in India went to the institutes of higher education like the IITs and universities, and very little money was spent on primary and middle schools, particularly in rural areas, where the foundation of education was laid. There are very few facilities such as proper teachers, proper classrooms, proper seats, electricity, libraries, etc in these primary or middle schools, whereas the institutes of higher education are given huge funds and have very good facilities, state-of-the-art campuses, air-conditioning, etc.
I then gave a few examples to prove what I said:
1. I once went to a village about 40 km from Allahabad (my native city) to meet a farmer friend of mine, with whom I had studied at Allahabad University.
At his home I met one of his sons who had passed class seven and promoted to class eight in his high school in the village. I asked him to bring his class 7 mathematics book and solve a few simple problems. He could not do so. I wondered how he had been promoted to class 8 when he could not solve simple class 7 problems. I then solved those simple problems, and asked him to attempt the other problems in the lesson. He was obviously an intelligent boy, because having learnt how to solve the simple problems, he proceeded to solve the rest.
At this I asked him, “Did your teacher not teach you all this?” He replied, “Master Sahib thekedari karne lage hain, aur doosre master sahib class lene aate naheen hai” (the earlier teacher has become a contractor, and the next teacher does not come to take classes”).

2. I went to a reputed intermediate college in Allahabad and was told that in a section in Class 11 there are 250 students. I was shocked. Under the rules there should not be more than 40 students in a class. What teaching can possibly be done in a class of 250 students? I also learnt that in some of the sections at Allahabad University there are over 300 students, and there is not even place for a student to sit.
In view of this, much of the real education takes place in private coaching institutes, or at the residence of teachers who make much more money there than in their institutions. As a result, these teachers evince little interest in teaching in their institutions, and a student who does not join the coaching (paying high fees) finds it difficult to pass.
3. In many of the staffrooms of our educational institutions, teachers, instead of discussing academic matters, often discuss petty politics, often of a casteist nature or matters pertaining to their service conditions. Senior professors often get appointed or promoted people of their own caste, whether they have merit or not.
4. Teachers are often appointed not on merit but on extraneous considerations, like political connection, caste, etc. They are appointed on contract basis. In some States, “shikshamitra” who have been appointed on a salary of Rs.1,500 a month have no degree or teachers’ training qualification.
5. The level of intellect of many teachers is low, ( like the teachers in Dickens’ novels ) because many of them have not been appointed on merit but on extraneous considerations.
To give an example, when I was a judge of Allahabad High Court I had a case relating to a service matter of a mathematics lecturer in a university in Uttar Pradesh. Since the teacher was present in court I asked him how much one divided by zero is equal to. He replied, “Infinity.” I told him that his answer was incorrect, and it was evident that he was not even fit to be a teacher in an intermediate college. I wondered how had he become a university lecturer.
In mathematics it is impermissible to divide by zero. Hence anything divided by zero is known as an indeterminate number, not infinity. To explain, suppose 1/0=x. Then x multiplied by 0 should be 1. But we know that anything multiplied by 0 becomes 0. Hence it is impermissible to divide by 0.
Infinity is not a number at all. It simply means that there is no end to numbers as they are increased. It can be accurately expressed as follows :
Limit of 1/x, x tending to 0, is infinity.
I gave them many more such examples, and told the senior academicians at JNU that huge amounts of money of the Indian taxpayer is spent on the IITs and other institutes of higher education, but the graduates of these institutes often take up jobs in foreign countries. This results in brain drain. Thus, while Indians pay taxes which go towards educating our bright students, the benefit of their education goes to foreign countries and not to the Indian people. These foreign countries benefit because higher education in their own countries is very expensive, so they have to pay only a fraction of that amount to get our bright young students.
I posed them another question: the test of every system is one simple question. Does it raise the standard of living of the masses or not? I said that the huge amount of money being spent on higher education in India is not raising the standard of living of the Indian masses because about 75 per cent of Indians continue to live in dire poverty. Also, there is massive unemployment, malnutrition, skyrocketing prices, huge problems of health care, housing, etc.
Apart from that, I asked them how many Nobel laureates have our universities and other institutes of higher education produced ? Hardly any.
In many American universities one will find half a dozen Nobel laureates in their faculties.
Australia, which has a population of about 25 million, has 180 academicians who have an F.R.S. (Fellow of the Royal Society), while India, with a population of 1,200 million, has only about 20. So what are the achievements of our scientists and other intellectuals? It is only when they go to the United States or Canada or Europe that they achieve anything.
What is the quality of research work done by our academicians in institutes of higher learning? Unfortunately it is abysmally low and does not benefit the Indian people. Their publications ( often plagiarism ), are mostly poor, and done only to improve their CVs in order to get jobs.
The purpose of education is to help raise the standard of living of the masses. But in India it seems that its purpose is to raise the standard of living of a handful of people who get jobs as govt servants, corporate employees, teachers, etc
I must say to the credit of the professors assembled there that they did not take any of my remarks personally. I told them that I had no intention to insult them but was only voicing my genuine grievance about the defects in the educational system in India, and the need to make it beneficial to the masses.
At the end it was agreed that my views required serious debate

August 3, 2023