![Can India & Pakistan Unite again? Full Interview [ Click Here ]](https://thenewscaravan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/katju.jpg)
Division of India & Pakistan was British conspiracy?
Cause of Partition of India, and recent developments in the Indian subcontinent.
Justice Markandey Katju’s interview by eminent Pakistani journalist Moeed Pirzada.
Tag: Justice Katju
Why are Pakistan Generals so hostile to Imran khan ?
I have been wondering why the Pakistan army is so hostile to former Prime Minister Imran Khan ? After all, he has overwhelming popular support in Pakistan, as he is regarded as broadly honest, as compared to the PDM leaders who are perceived by the people of Pakistan to be totally corrupt ( as indeed the Panama Papers and other evidence shows ), and his PTI party will sweep the polls if eletions are held ( as all opinion polls indicate ).
Also, Imran Khan has repeatedly said that he wants good relations with the army, and has offered to talk with the army chief, but the latter has not shown any willingness or inclination..
After a lot of thinking I have come to these two conclusions as to the reason for this hostility :
(1) Almost all senior Pakistan army officers have children or close relatives working on well paid jobs in U.S. Corporations, or are studying in top American Universities like Harvard,Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, etc with full scholarship. These army officers have probably been told by the US Govt authorities that Imran Khan is persona non grata with the US Govt, and must not be allowed to come back to power. The Pak army officers are ingratiated with the favours they have got, and will comply faithfully
(2) Imran Khan believes that the Pak army must be subordinate to the civilian govt, as in USA, UK, France, Germany, India and other democratic countries, and should not not meddle in politics. This is anathema to the Pak officers, since it will adversely affect their economic interests. The Pak army has penetrated into numerous sectors of the Pakistan economy, and has acquired huge economic vested interests, which it will have to surrender if there is civilian control over it.
The Pak army officers spend a large part of the budget on themselves for their life style and retirement benefits. They are some of the richest people in Pakistan, and after joining the army and getting promoted as major and above their lifestyle drastically changes, and they live in splendour, having huge houses, big imported cars, and all kinds of luxuries.
All this will change if there is real civilian control of Pakistan’s army. There will then be accountability, the army officers will then have to live on their pay ( as in all democratic countries ), and some serving and retired officers may even be called upon to return their loot.All this will be extremely unpalatable to the army officers, and they will oppose it tooth and nail.
These are the two reasons why they are so hostile to Imran KhanKatju, thonkte raho by Justice Katju
Today morning I saw this message sent by someone on my fb messenger :
” Hello sir, I am a lawyer practising in Allahabad High Court.
Today an elderly advocate reminded me about your past time when you were a sitting judge of Allahabad High Court.
I was waiting to argue a matter of demolition when a very old advocate sitting beside me said ” Ye aaj ke judges kya demolition rokenge ? Woh Justice Katju tha jo aise officers ki hekdi nikaal deta tha. Mai usi waqt ka waqeel hun jab Katju jaise judge ek bhi dukaan ya makaan nahi girne dete the..
You are still the gem in many hearts ‘This message reminded me of what happened about 25 years ago, and perhaps what that elderly lawyer was referring to. I was then a junior judge of the Allahabad High Court, having been appointed in 1991.
In UP, state assembly elections were held in 1993 and a coalition SP-BSP govt came into power, under Chief Ministership of Ms Mayawati. The SP and BSP claim to represent the lower castes, and hence to achieve their goal of ‘social justice ‘ for the lower castes, the ruling politicians in the state devised a unique modus operandi for grabbing the houses of the upper castes.
This modus operandi was to get a surreptitious allotment order passed by the Rent Control and Eviction Officer ( who, being a govt officer, would willingly comply with orders of the ruling politicians ), behind the back of the owner/tenant/occupant ( i.e. without serving any notice on him ) and thereafter quickly grabbing the house along with a mob of hooligans and anti-social elements ( which every political party has ).
I was then sitting in the jurisdiction where dozens of writ petitions were filed challenging such illegal house grabbings. I quickly realised that if this was permitted to continue there would be complete collapse of law and order in the state, and jungle raj.
I summoned the Home Secretary and the Director General of Police of UP, ordering them to personally appear in my Court. When they appeared in the jam packed court, I told them it was the duty of the bureaucrats and police officers to maintain law and order, but it was regrettable that they were not justifying their salt by behaving in a cowardly manner before the politicians.
I told them that our ancient thinkers were of the view that the worst state of affairs possible in society is a state of lawlessness. When the rule of law collapses it is replaced by matsya nyaya, which means the law of the jungle.
In Sanskrit the word ‘matsya’ means fish, and matsya nyaya means the state of affairs when the big fish devours the smaller one. All our ancient thinkers have condemned matsya nyaya ( see ‘History of the Dharmashastras’ by P.V. Kane, Volume 3 page 21).
This idea of matsyanyaya ( the maxim of the larger fish devouring the smaller ones or the strong despoiling the weak) was frequently dwelt upon by Kautilya, the Mahabharata, and other works. It can be traced back to the Shatapath Brahman (Chapter 11,1.6.24) where it is said “Whenever there is drought then the stronger seizes upon the weaker, for the waters are the law”, which probably means that when there is no rain, the reign of law comes to an end, and matsyanyaya begins to operate.
Kautilya says “If danda be not employed, it gives rise to the condition of matsyanyaya, for in the absence of a chastiser the strong devour the weak”. That in the absence of a king (arajaka) or when there is no fear of punishment the condition of matsyanyaya follows has been declared by several works e.g. Ramayana,( Chapter 67), Shantiparva of Mahabharata, (15.30 and 67.16), Kamandaka (@.40), Matsyapurana (225.9), Manasollasa ( 2.20.1295), etc.
Thus in the Shantiparva of Mahabharata it is stated:
“Raja chenna bhavelloke prithivyaam dandadharaka
Shule Matsyanivapakshyun durbalaat balvattarah”
which means : “When the king carrying the rod of punishment does not protect the earth, then the strong persons destroy the weaker ones, just like in water the big fish eat the smaller ones”.
In the Shantiparva of Mahabharata Bheeshma Pitamah tells Yudhishthir that there is nothing worse in the world than lawlessness, for in a state of matsyanyaya nobody, not even the evil doers, are safe, for even the evil doers will sooner or later be swallowed up by bigger evil doers.I then pronounced judgment in all these house grabbing cases ( there were dozens of them ) restoring possession to the valid occupant, and ordering the police to throw out the illegal house grabbers within 24 hours. I did this because behind the sinister phenomenon of house grabbing in the state I could see the looming danger of matsya nyaya ( see my judgment in Smt Chetan Atma Govil vs Rent Control & Eviction Officer, Saharanpur Writ Petition 9973 of 1995 decided on 9.5.1995 ).
Thus, in Ram Kumar Agarwal vs Rent Control & Eviction Officer, Bareilly, Writ Petition 41457 of 1994 decided on 28.4.19945 I said ” This Court cannot tolerate this state of affairs, otherwise no decent and law abiding citizen will be safe in his house. A mob of hooligans may storm into the house with a surreptitious allotment order, beat up the occupants, throw them out along with their belongings, and hoist a flag of the party there, as is being done these days ”.
Appeals were filed before the Supreme Court against my judgments in these house grabbing cases, and they were all dismissed by a bench presided over by Justice Kuldip Singh.
Some time after I had delivered these judgments I met Justice Kuldip Singh in a function in Delhi which we were both attending. He said to me ” Katju, thonkte raho, thonkte raho ”
My contact with Pakistanis
By Justice Katju
Although I am an Indian,. I have lots of Pakistani friends and acquaintances, with whom I used to regularly chat on skype and whatsapp.
Of late, however, these contacts have dried up or snapped, and this seems to be due to recent developments in Pakistan where the military and police have unleashed a reign of terror after the events of 9th May. Thousands of people have been arrested, beaten, ‘disappeared’ or even killed, the media has been largely silenced, military tribunals set up which will dispense kangaroo justice, and fear haunts the land.
In this situation, my Pakistani contacts, who told me that whatsapp and skype are being closely monitored by intelligence agencies, seem to be scared that if they talk with me or message me they may be arrested on the charge of communicating with an Indian RAW agent ( after all, every Indian is a RAW agent ! ). So now they don’t take my whatsapp calls or respond to my messages. One female Pakistani journalist, with whom I used to chat daily, has even removed her number and name from my whatsapp contact list.
In my articles and tweets I have been harshly criticising Pakistan army chief Gen Munir and the Corps Commanders, who have imposed fascist rule and a kind of martial law In Pakistan.
I have also strongly supported Imran Khan, who has now become persona non grata with the Pakistan Establishment.
I could do so sitting safely in India, but if I had done so in Pakistan I would have been ‘disappeared’ a long time back. Naturally Pakistanis who communicate with a person critical of that holy institution, the Pakistan army, are themselves suspect, and are in danger of being arrested or ‘disappeared’.
I can understand all this. Maybe I would have done the same had I been in their place. I remember the lines in Hindi poet Shyam Narain Pandey’s famous poem ‘Haldighati’ :
” Tha shor maut se bacho bacho
Talwaar chali, talwaar chali ”.
But I have also advised all Pakistanis to silently knit the names of their oppressors, like Madame Defarge in Dickens’ novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’
The Honble Chief Minister of Karnataka Bangalaru
Dear Chief Minister,
I am writing to you in connection with Abdul Nassir Maadhany, a religious cleric of Kerala, who is facing trial in the Bangalore bomb blast case of 2010.
He was falsely implicated in the Coimbatore bomb blast case for which he was imprisoned from 1998 to 2007, but was then found innocent by the Court and acquitted in 2007. Subsequently he was arrested in 2010 in connection with the Bangalore bomb blast case, and his trial in that case is still going on. He was in jail in Bangalore in connection with that case for many years, and presently he is under house arrest, and prohibited to go to his home state Kerala.
Without going into the merits of the case, by this letter I am appealing to you on humanitarian grounds to recommend to H.E. the Governor of Karnataka to pardon him in excercise of his power under Article 161 of the Constitution, for the following reasons :
1. He has already undergone almost 22 years in jail ( of which the 9 years in connection with the
Coimbatore bomb blast case was clearly illegal as the Court found him innocent in 2007 ).
2. He is physically handicapped as he lost one leg in 1992, and he can move about only on a wheel chair.
3. Both his kidneys have failed, and he will be shortly on dialysis.
4. He is partially blind, and has been undergoing treatment.
5. He suffers from severe diabetes, which has affected many of his organs, and was probably the cause of his partial blindness.
6. His father is paralyzed and bed ridden.
Even if it is assumed he is guilty, surely he has been punished enough.
In this connection I would like to refer to Portia’s famous speech in Shakespeare’s play Merchant of Venice, in which she said that justice should be tempered with mercy.
I may also quote a sher ( couplet ) of the famous Urdu poet Faiz :
“ Qafas udaas hai yaaron saba se kuch to kaho
Kaheen to beher-e-khuda aaj zikr-e-yaar chale “.
Justice Markandey Katju, former Judge, Supreme Court of India
31.5.2023
91-9821181334
Strange behaviour of the Pakistan Supreme Court Judges By Justice Katju
A bench of the Pakistan Supreme Court today declared Imran Khan’s arrest by the Pakistan Rangers, on a warrant of the NAB relating to a corruption charge regarding Al-Qadir Trust, illegal, and ordered his release.
I agree that the arrest was illegal, though for reasons different from that given by the court. However, before I give my reasons, I would like to comment on the strange behavior of the judges on the bench hearing the case.
From the internet it appears that on seeing Imran Khan in court, the Chief Justice remarked ” We are very happy to see you ” ( Aap ko dekh kar badi khushi hui )
With great respect to Justice Bandial, this remark was totally uncalled for and unwarranted, and it tends to convey a wrong signal that the CJP and Imran Khan are buddies.
Francis Bacon, a Lord Chancellor of England once remarked ” A much talking judge is like an ill tuned cymbal ”, and all judges should keep that in mind. The less they talk in court the better.
There was widespread violence in Pakistan following Imran Khan’s arrestThe CJP observed that he did not approve of the manner of the arrest.
Now an act being improper, and it being illegal, are two very different things. The court can interfere only if it is illegal, and cannot interfere merely because it is improper.
If the Pakistan Supreme Court regarded the arrest illegal, then it should have clearly mentioned in its order which specific law did it violate ? Is there any law in Pakistan which says no arrest can be made in a court building ? I doubt it. There is none in India, and the Pakistani Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code broadly follow the law in India.
After declaring the arrest illegal and setting Imran Khan free, the Pakistan Supreme Court directed him to appear the next day before the Islamabad High Court. What for ? If the arrest was illegal, why should he be made to appear in the High Court ? The Supreme Court should have itself granted him bail using its suo motu powers, as well as its power under Article 187(1) of the Constitution which states ” the Supreme Court shall have power to issue such directions, orders or decrees as may be necessary for doing complete justice in any case or matter pending before it ”.
Now I may give my own reasons why I regard the arrest illegal.
Section 157 of Pakistan’s Criminal Procedure Code ( which is identical to section 157 of the Indian Cr.P.C. ) states :
” Procedure where cognizable offence suspected:(1) If from information received or otherwise, an officer incharge of a police-station has reason to suspect the commission of an offence which he is empowered under Section 156 to investigate, he shall forthwith send a report of the same to a Magistrate empowered to take cognizance of such offence upon a police-report and shall proceed in person, or shall depute one of his subordinate officers not being below such rank as the Provincial Government may, by general or special order, prescribe in this behalf to proceed, to the spot, to investigate the facts and circumstance of the case, and, if necessary, to take measures for the ‘discovery and arrest of the offender ”.
The last few words in this provision clearly imply that arrest is not a must in every case. This is evident from use of the words ” if necessary ”. So if an investigation can be done without arresting a suspect, e.g. by questioning him at his residence or place of work, an arrest would be unnecessary and unwarranted, and would violate section 157.
In India and Pakistan policemen who arrest a person are often complying with an order received from some higher police or political authority. Are they bound to carry out such an order? All arrests are not legal. What usually happens in India ( or Pakistan ) is that the moment an FIR of a cognizable offence is lodged in a police station, the police rush to arrest the accused.But what is the correct legal position?
In Joginder Kumar vs. State of U.P. (AIR 1994 S.C. 1349), the Indian Supreme Court observed: “No arrest can be made because it is lawful for the police officer to do so. The existence of the power to arrest is one thing. The justification for the exercise of it is quite another. The police officer must be able to justify the arrest, apart from his power to do so.
Arrest and detention in police lock-up of a person can cause incalculable harm to the reputation and self-esteem of a person. No arrest can be made in a routine manner on a mere allegation of commission of an offence made against a person.It would be prudent for a police officer, in the interest of protection of the constitutional rights of a citizen, and perhaps in his own interest, to ensure that no arrest should be made without a reasonable satisfaction reached after some investigation as to the genuineness and bona fides of a complaint and a reasonable belief both as to the person’s complicity and even so as to the need to effect arrest.
Denying a person of his liberty is a serious matter. The recommendations of the Police Commission merely reflect the constitutional concomitants of the fundamental right to personal liberty and freedom. A person is not liable to arrest merely on the suspicion of complicity in an offence.There must be some reasonable justification in the opinion of the officer effecting the arrest that such arrest is necessary and justified. Except in heinous offences, an arrest must be avoided if a police officer issues notice to person to attend the Station House and not to leave the Station without permission would do.”
The last sentence is important, though usually ignored by policemen. In the same judgment, the Indian Supreme Court has observed that the power to arrest is a major source of corruption for the police, and that according to the Third Report of the National Police Commission, about 60 per cent of arrests in our country are either unnecessary or unjustified.
The observations of the Pakistan Supreme Court are, in fact, in accordance with Section 157(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which I have quoted above.
The CrPC deliberately uses the words “and, if necessary, to take measures for the discovery and arrest of the offender.” The caveat “if necessary” indicates that the law does not authorise the police to arrest a suspect in every criminal case. The reality in India ( and probably also in Pakistan ), however, is that the moment an FIR of a cognisable offence is lodged, the police rush in to arrest, ( and often demand money for not doing so ).
The correct position in law is that they must refuse to carry out an illegal order, failing which the policemen concerned will themselves have to face severe criminal as well as civil penalties.
In R. vs. Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis, ex parte Blackburn, (1968), Lord Denning observed that the police are under a duty to follow the law. It follows that if there is a conflict between the law and an order issued by an executive authority, the police must ignore the illegal order of the executive authority, however high.
In the Nuremberg Trials held after the Second World War, the Nazi war criminals took the plea that they were only carrying out orders of their superior authority, Hitler. This plea, that ‘orders are orders ‘ was rejected by the International Tribunal, and many of the accused were sentenced to be hanged.
So if a policeman gets an illegal order, whether from a higher police authority, or a political authority, it is his duty to refuse to carry it out, otherwise he will have to face criminal and civil liability. To make an illegal arrest is a crime (wrongful restraint and wrongful confinement) punishable under sections 341 and 342 I.P.C.
A wrongful arrest is violative of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees life and liberty to all persons. In Deepak Bajaj vs. State of Maharashtra ( 2008 ) the Indian Supreme Court observed:
“The purpose of Article 21 is to safeguard the liberty of the citizen which is a precious right not to be lightly transgressed by anyone.The imperative necessity to protect those precious rights is a lesson taught by all history and all human experience. Our founding fathers had lived through bitter years of the freedom struggle and seen an alien government trample upon the human rights of our citizens. It is for this reason that they introduced Article 21 in the Constitution ”.
In Ghani vs. Jones (1970)1 Q.B. 693 (709) Lord Denning observed:
“A man’s liberty of movement is regarded so highly by the law of England that it is not to be hindered or prevented except on the surest ground”
This observation has been quoted with approval by the Indian Supreme Court in Govt. of Andhra Pradesh vs. P. Laxmi Devi J.T. 2008 (2) SC 639 (vide para 90).
The above is the reasoning which I would have given in my order if I had heard Imran Khan’s case for quashing his arrest. I would have held that there was no need to arrest him, and he could be questioned by the police at his residence. Hence the arrest was illegalHowever, having said all this, I wish to applaud the Pakistan Supreme Court for having shown the courage to stand up for justice by setting aside Imran Khan’s illegal arrest, despite the atmosphere of fear, trepidity, and consternation prevailing in Pakistan
Undeclared martial law prevails in Pakistan By Justice Katju
”Tha shor maut se bacho bacho talwaar chali talwaar hali ”
The above line from Hindi poet Shyam Narain Pandey’s epic poem ‘Haldighati’ succinctly expresses the situation prevailing in Pakistan today, where there is an atmosphere of fear, consternation, and presentiment.
After former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s arrest on 9th May by the Pakistan Rangers, there have been protests in many cities in Pakistan by PTI supporters. These included attacks on army GHQ, Corps Commander’s residence, and military installations, as many people believed it was the army which ordered the arrest.
It is very likely that indeed it was the army which ordered the arrest.
However, the attack on army buildings and installations has provoked a strong reaction from the Pakistan army whose media wing, the ISPR, declared it as a “black chapter” in Pakistan’s history, and warned of strong action against the culprits and those behind them.
Without naming Imran Khan’s PTI, the ISPR has clearly pointed to it and its leaders as those responsible for the violence.
Consequently there has been a crackdown on the PTI, many of whose top leaders and workers have been arrested or are absconding.
The PTI leaders have called for a countrywide protest against Imran Khan’s arrest
However, after some initial response to this call, the protests have mostly died down, since the army has taken out its sword. As was said ” Sach achcha, par sach ke liye koi aur mare to aur achcha ”. Everyone values his neck.
I submit :
(1) The PTI, and its leaders, including Imran Khan are finished politically forever.
The PTI was created in 1996 by Imran Khan, who worked assiduously to build it up for over 2 decades before it came to power in 2018. Now in a few months he has destroyed it by foolishly taking on the Pakistan army, which is the real power in Pakistan.
(2) Undeclared martial law has now been imposed in Pakistan, and is likely to continue for quite some time.
The real reason for Imran Khan’s arrest was obvious : of late he had given some intemperate statements severely critical of some senior officers in the Pakistan army.
There is a dictum ‘power grows out of the barrel of a gun’, and in Pakistan the gun is with the army. So the real power in Pakistan is with the its army, which has ruled Pakistan, overtly or covertly, almost throughout its history.
Speaking against it in public is extremely dangerous, and that is what has really led to Imran Khan’s arrest, not alleged corruption.I submit this arrest will not be confined to Imran Khan alone, but will immediately send several harsh messages throughout Pakistan :
1. If Pakistanis want to remain healthy, they must never openly criticise the Pak army, otherwise they may be beaten up or end up in jail, like Imran Khan, or suffer worse consequences. This is despite the fact that the Pakistan army has looted Pakistan
When Roman general Pompey the Great went to Sicily, the people of Sicily objected to his jurisdiction on the ground that it was against an ancient law of Rome. To which Pompey replied ” Dont quote the laws to us, we carry swords ”.So laws matter little when there is martial law, declared or undeclared
2. Arrest of Imran Khan has sent a clear message from the Pakistan army to the Chief Justice of Pakistan & other judges to pipe down. Despite their earlier bravado, Justice Bandial & his companion judges will soon forget drawing contempt charges against those who defied their 4th April order ( that elections to the Punjab Assembly must be held on 14th May ), citing Justice Munir’s ‘doctrine of necessity’.
All judges in Pakistan ( and civil servants ) will soon get the message that obeying the army’s orders blindly is the only way to remain safe and healthy.
3. Many PTI members will soon quit the party, or duck for cover. Aspirants for membership must have now forgetten about it, realising that it may get them into trouble.
4. Imran Khan’s arrest has sent a strong message to mediahouses and mediapersons who were supporting him to pipe down, or face the consequences
5. And it has also sent a clear message to supporters of Imran Khan not to come out in protest on the streets in large numbers, otherwise a ‘whiff of grapeshot’ may be used to disperse them, as was done by Napoleon’s troops on the Paris mob in October 1795 on Vendemiare
Facebook, twitter, and youtube are reportedly shut down in Pakistan.There will of course be a Prime Minister and civilian govt in Pakistan, but this will be just a fig leaf. Undeclared martial law has been imposed in the country.
Keeping one day roza during Ramadan by Justice Katju
Though I am a Hindu, for the last 25-30 years I have kept one day roza ( fast ) during the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan ( called Ramzan in India where I live ), usually on the last Friday, called Alvida.
I also appeal every year to all non Muslims to do the same to express respect and solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters.
This does not mean that non Muslims must change their religion and become Muslims. It is just a symbolic act, to show our respect and solidarity with our Muslim brethren, who are often vilified.
I am a humble disciple of the great French political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau ( 1712-78 ) who believed in the inherent goodness of people. I too think that 99% members of all religions, whether Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jew, Buddhist or any other, and of all races and communities, are good by nature. They are, however, vilified by the bigoted acts of the remaining 1%.
We have to end the false propaganda that all Muslims are terrorists. People in the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere are tired of communalism and religious bigotry, and are realising the great harm it does. To counter this poison, we have to administer antidotes. Non-Muslims observing roza for one day during Ramzan and non-Hindus observing vrat for one day during Navratri could be one such antidote.
This year too I will observe one day roza tomorrow, 21st April 2023, which is the last Friday of Ramzan, and I appeal to non Muslims everywhere to do the same.
I enquired from my Muslim friends in Delhi who told me that the time of sehri, the time for beginning the fast in Delhi is 4.20 a.m. ( different regions have different timings ), after which one must not eat or drink anything till the time of iftaar, which is 6.50 p.m. here, when one may break the fast.
So I have told my wife to boil 2 eggs and keep them along with some bread and fruits and milk in the refrigerator at night today. I will get up early morning tomorrow, 21st April, at 4 a.m.and consume these with lots of water before 4.20 a.m, and then begin my fast, which will last till the time of iftaar.
When I was in California a few years back I kept one day roza during Ramzan, after which I had iftaar and dinner at the residence of my friend Shaista Ali who lives in California. Here is a pic of the iftaar. Standing next to me is my friend Santosh Addagulla.
Author Justice Markandey Katju is former Chairman , Press Council of India and former Judge , Supreme Court of India.
Former Supreme Court Judge Justice Markandey Katju Observes Fast on Last Friday Of Every Ramazan
Since the last 25-30 years I have observed 1 day roza in the Holy month of Ramzan ( usually on the last Friday, called Alvida ), out of respect and to show solidarity with my Muslim brothers and sisters, and each year I appeal to non Muslims all over the world to do the same.
This year the last Friday in India is on 21st April. The sehri time in Delhi ( different localities have different times ), as I was informed by some Muslim friends here, is 4.20 a.m. so I have to remain without food or water after that till the time of iftaar, which is at 6.40 p.m.
I appeal to all non Muslims all over the world to do the same.
This does not mean you have to give up your religion. It is just a symbolic act, to show our solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters.
When I was in California I observed 1 day roza during Ramzan. Here is a pic of the iftaar at the residence of my friend Shaista Ali. She is with me in this pic. On my other side is my friend Santosh Addagulla.
The notice to Neha Rathore under 160 Cr.P.C. is clearly illegal – Justice Markandey Katju
The notice to Neha Rathore under 160 Cr.P.C. is clearly illegal, as explained below.
Section 160 states :
” Any police officer making an investigation under this Chapter may, by order in writing, require the attendance before himself of any person being within the limits of his own or any adjoining station who, from the information given or otherwise, appears to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case; and such person shall attend as so required:
Provided that no male person under the age of fifteen years or above the age of sixty-five years or a woman or a mentally or physically disabled person shall be required to attend at any place other than the place in which such male person or woman resides ”.
Neha Rathore was in Delhi when the notice was sought to be served on her by the police of police station, Akbarpur, district Kanpur Dehat.
But a plain reading of section 160 shows that the police of police station Akbarpur, Kanpur dehat could only have served a notice under section 160 on a person within the territorial limits of police station Akbarpur, Kanpur Dehat, or an adjoining police station. How can they serve it on a person in Delhi ?
Moreover, the proviso to section 160 has also been violated since Neha is a woman.
Author Justice Markandey Katju is former Chairman , Press Council of India and former Judge , Supreme Court of India. Disclaimer : “The views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the TheNewsCaravan.
