Tag: Justice Katju

The BBC commentary on Modi

By Justice Katju
The central government has blocked youtube and video tweets showing the BBC commentary on the Gujarat riots.
Is this restriction valid ?
In this connection the judgment of the celebrated Justice Louis Brandeis of the US Supreme Court in Whitney vs California ( 1927 ) is noteworthy :
” Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears. To justify suppression of free speech there must be reasonable ground to fear that serious evil will result if free speech is practiced. There must be reasonable ground to believe that the danger apprehended is imminent. There must be reasonable ground to believe that the evil to be prevented is a serious one. Every denunciation of existing law tends in some measure to increase the probability that there will be violation of it. But even advocacy of violation, however reprehensible morally, is not a justification for denying free speech where the advocacy falls short of incitement and there is nothing to indicate that the advocacy would be immediately acted on. The wide difference between advocacy and incitement, between preparation and attempt, between assembling and conspiracy, must be borne in mind. In order to support a finding of clear and present danger it must be shown either that immediate serious violence was to be expected or was advocated, or that the past conduct furnished reason to believe that such advocacy was then contemplated ”.
He went further to say :
” Those who won our independence by revolution were not cowards. They did not fear political change. They did not exalt order at the cost of liberty. To courageous, selfreliant men, with confidence in the power of free and fearless reasoning applied through the processes of popular government, no danger flowing from speech can be deemed clear and present, unless the incidence of the evil apprehended is so imminent that it may befall before there is opportunity for full discussion. If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence ”.
This judgment should be considered by our courts if there is challenge to the restriction.
Author Hon’ble Justice Markandey Katju is former Chairman, Press Council of India and former Judge, Supreme Court of India.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors’ and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house.

January 22, 2023
Imran Khan’s party will sweep the polls whenever elections are held, but army will be the real ruler.

The News Caravan News Desk
Justice Markandey Katju
In my opinion all this talk is irrelevant. The real ruler of Pakistan, was, is, and will remain its army. So even if Imran Khan again becomes the Prime Minister, he will only be a dummy and a puppet.
It is said that Imran Khan has massive support in Pakistan. That may be true. But if these supporters create any problem, a grape of whiffshot will make them disperse and disappear, like the Paris mob at Vendemiarie in 1795 when faced with Napoleon’s troops.
Author Justice Markandey Katju is former Chairman , Press Council of India and former Judge , Supreme Court of India.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors’ and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house.

November 16, 2022
Ghalib describes the present situation in India – Justice Katju

TheNewsCaravan WebDesk
Rau mein hai rakhsh-e-umr kahaan dekhiye thame
Nai haath baag par hain na paa hai rakaab mein – Mirza Ghalib
रौ में है रख़्श-ए-उम्र कहाँ देखिये थमे
नै हाथ बाग पर हैं ना पा है रिक़ाब में
رو میں ہے رخش عمر کہاں دیکھیے تھمے
نے ہاتھ باگ پر ہے نہ پا ہے رکاب میں
مرزا غالب –
This sher of Ghalib describes the age we are living in. Rau means galloping, rakhsh means horse, umr means age or era, thame means halts.

Mirza Ghalib
So the first line means “ The horse of our times is galloping. Let us see where it halts “. In other words, things are happening fast nowadays, developments are taking place rapidly.
In the second line, ‘baagh’ means the rein ( of the horse ), ‘rakaab’ means stirrup. So the literal meaning of the second line is “ neither are the reins in the rider’s hands, nor are his feet in the stirrups “. In other words, things are out of control.
This seems to describe conditions in India today, where developments are taking place fast, but everything seems to be out of control
Author Justice Markandey Katju is former Chairman , Press Council of India and former Judge , Supreme Court of India.
Justice Markandey Katju
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors’ and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house.

November 15, 2022
14th November is Nehru’s birthday Justice Katju

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru 14th November, is the birthday of Pt Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister.
A friend of mine told me this story when I was a lawyer in Allahabad. This friend, who was a few years older than me, is now no more.
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 UP governor (in protest against some issue). Consequently, these students were expelled from the university.
They decided to go to Delhi and request prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to get their expulsion revoked, thinking that since Allahabad was Nehru’s parliamentary constituency, he would get their expulsion revoked.
They took the night train to Delhi, travelling without tickets. When the travelling ticket examiner (TTE) 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; get lost), 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 security personnel, 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 don’t need any appointment).
When the security personnel would still not allow them entry, the students threatened to commit suicide at the gate of the prime minister’s house, and created a ruckus.
This news reached Nehru, who ordered that they be allowed entry. The students then trooped into the prime minister’s house, and were ushered into a big hall, where there were a lot of dry fruits, such as kishmish, badaam, akhrot and cashew nuts. They ate some and pocketed a lot for future use.
After a few minutes, Nehru came into the hall, in shorts and a vest, and shouted “Jao padho, padho “ (Go and study). The students replied “ Kahaan padhein sahib? Hamein expel kar diya gaya hai “ ( Where should we study, sir? We have been expelled). Nehru again shouted “ Padho, padho “ and left the hall.

The students were bewildered, and they left the house wondering what the prime minister meant.
They then caught the night train to return to Allahabad (again travelling without tickets and eating the dry fruits they had pocketed at the prime minister’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, 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!).
Author Justice Markandey Katju is former Chairman , Press Council of India and former Judge , Supreme Court of India.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors’ and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house.
Justice Markandey Katju

November 14, 2022
Celebrating our defeat By Justice Katju

Many Indians are celebrating Pakistan’s defeat by England in the T20 World Cup cricket tournament, as if India has won the Cup.
These fools don’t understand that India and Pakistan are in fact one country, only temporarily divided by the Britishers ( the way they divided Ireland, Cyprus, Palestine, etc ) by that historical swindle called Partition, on the basis of the bogus two nation theory, the whole object being to prevent India from emerging as a modern industrial giant ( for which it has all the potential ), like another China.
We share the same culture, look like each other, many of us speak the same language, Hindustani ( called Hindi by Indians and Urdu by Pakistanis ), and we were one since Mughal times. Indians and Pakistanis socialise abroad as if no Partition had ever occurred.
We are bound to reunite one day under a secular govt, though that will take time. West and East Germany were reunited in 1990 after a partition of 45 years.So a defeat of Pakistan is in fact our defeat, and their victory is our victory.
When an Indian soldier kills a Pakistani soldier he is behaving like a fool, because he is killing his own countryman, and similarly, when a Pakistani soldier kills an Indian soldier he is behaving like a fool because he is killing his own countryman.
Hindus and Muslims were befooled by the Britishers into thinking we are each other’s enemies, but how much longer must we remain befooled ? How much longer must we waste our precious resources in hostility with each other ? Is 75 years not enough ?
Author Justice Markandey Katju is former Chairman , Press Council of India and former Judge , Supreme Court of India.
Justice Markandey Katju
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors’ and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house.

November 14, 2022
Big business is taking over the media By Justice Markandey Katju

Rahul Gandhi has congratulated Elon Musk on his taking over Twitter, and has asked that the Opposition’s voice in India be not stifled.
What Rahul, wittingly or unwittingly, overlooks is that the big business which is taking over the media all over the world, looks only at its own interests, not the interests of others.
The take over of Twitter by Elon Musk in America is akin to the take over of CBN IBN by Mukesh Ambani, or of NDTV by Gautam Adani in India.
When I was Chairman of the Press Council of India, I came to know that the owner of one of the big Hindi newspapers, having perhaps the largest circulation in India, also owns about 50 other businesses e.g. mining, coal, iron&steel, real estate, etc. The newspaper was only a small business compared to his other businesses.
Why then was he interested in publishing the newspaper ? It was obviously to help his other businesses, e.g. by publishing something favourable to a Minister, who in return would help him in his other businesses.
Historically, the media arose in the 18th century in Europe as an organ of the people against feudal oppression. At that time all the organs of power were in the hands of feudal authorities, kings, aristocrats, etc. Hence the people had to create new organs which would serve their interests. The media ( which was then print media mainly in the form of leaflets, pamphlets, etc, not regular daily newspapers ) was one of the main organs created by the people for waging their struggle against feudalism, and it was used by great writers like Voltaire, Rousseau, Thomas Paine, Junius, etc. The media then represented the voice of the future, as contrasted to the feudal state organs, which only wanted to preserve the status quo.
Later, the role of the media changed. It was taken over by businessmen, and stopped representing the people. However, it still fulfilled a useful purpose by conveying news truthfully to the people. In India, great journalists like Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Nikhil Chakrabarty, etc fulfilled this role, like William Lloyd Garrison, Edward Murrow, and Walter Cronkite in America.
Now the wheel has turned totally around. Now the worldwide trend is to totally emasculate the media, deprive it of whatever freedom it had, and make it an organ dedicated solely to serving the commercial interests of the proprietor.
This trend is most visible in Indian television today, which has turned largely into what is called euphemistically as ‘godi media’. Now all pretences of conveying the truth have been dropped, and instead one hears only a single refrain.

Rahul Gandhi’s message is only wishful thinking, and Elon Musk is unlikely to pay any heed to it. He has invested 43 billion dollars in buying Twitter, and will only be interested in having good returns from this huge investment.
Author Justice Markandey Katju is former Chairman , Press Council of India and former Judge , Supreme Court of India. Author can be reached at justicekatju@gmail.com
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors’ and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house.

October 31, 2022