Tag: Justice Markandey Katju

  • The correct tactics for overseas Pakistanis

    The correct tactics for overseas Pakistanis

    Overseas Pakistanis are probably over 90% in favour of Imran Khan as they perceive him to be honest. He has hardly any assets abroad, whereas the ruling PDM leaders are regarded by Pakistanis as a bunch of dacoits who have looted Pakistan, and have siphoned off huge amounts of money abroad ( as the Panama Papers and other credible evidence discloses ).

    Hence overseas Pakistanis are bravely carrying on a campaign in USA, Canada, UK, middle east countries, and elsewhere for release of Imran Khan ( who has been incarcerated in Attock jail on bogus charges ), and for holding free and fair elections in Pakistan at the earliest.


    In this connection I wish to give them an advice : they have been crying hoarse against the fascist reign of terror unleashed by the Pakistan army and police, and violation of civil liberties and human rights in Pakistan.


    While I too condemn violation of human rights, I submit this is a wrong approach. While Westerners may talk a lot about human rights, they do not really mean what they say, and do not care about violation of human rights as long as their financial interests are not adversely affected. What they really care about is money.

    So long as their investments in Pakistan are safe, they really do not care if thousands of Pakistanis are arrested, beaten, tortured, killed or ‘disappeared’.


    The correct tactics for overseas Pakistanis is therefore this : they should talk less about violation of human rights, and instead explain, particularly to US Congressmen, Government officials, businessmen, and the American public ( and also people in other countries ) how US financial investments in Pakistan ( and in the long run also in some neighbouring countries ) are being endangered and jeopardised by the continuing agitations and instability in Pakistan.
    For this purpose, overseas Pakistanis need to do research, and find out details of these US investments in Pakistan ( and also in some neighbouring countries ), publicise them, and explain to US officials and Congressmen that business requires peace and stability.


    With almost 90% Pakistanis supporting Imran Khan ( as all opinion polls indicate ), there will certainly not be peace and stability in Pakistan as long he is kept in jail, and early parliamentary elections are not held. And if the present agitations and volatile situation in Pakistan continues, it may well spill over into neighbouring countries, thus further jeopardising US financial interests.


    So it is in their own interest that the American Government should give up their present hostility towards Imran Khan, advise the Pakistan Government to release him and withdraw all cases against him, and hold early free and fair parliamentary elections.


    Imran Khan’s PTI will certainly sweep the polls in these elections, and he will become Prime Minister again.


    Only then can there be peace and stability in Pakistan, and only then will American economic interests in the region be safe.

  • When Imran Khan came to my home town Allahabad

    When Imran Khan came to my home town Allahabad

    Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is prominently in the news these days, and I have been his strong supporter on the social media for long ( though I have never personally met him and am not connected to him in any way ), as he is bravely leading the democratic forces in Pakistan. against the fascist reign of terror unleashed by the Pakistan Establishment

    https://writerscafeteria.com/guest-blogging/imran-khan-in-jail/
    As I said, I have never personally met Imran Khan, but I have seen him once, and I would like to relate how this happened.

    There was an Indian cricketer named William Ghosh, who played first class cricket for the Indian Railways from 1949 to 1968 ( though he never played in a Test match ).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ghosh

    William Ghosh was a friend of Imran Khan’s father, who persuaded Imran to come to Allahabad ( my home town ) in 1984 to play a William Ghosh benefit cricket match, whose proceeds would go to Ghosh, who was then in some financial distress.

    The match was played in the huge Madan Mohan Malviya cricket stadium in Allahabad, with a massive crowd of spectators, all eager to see the legendary cricketer.

    I was then a lawyer in Allahabad High Court, and when I heard that the celebrity Imran Khan would be playing I decided to take the day off from court and witness the match along with my son Vikram, who was then 9 years old..

    Imran flew from Pakistan to Delhi, and then travelled to Allahabad by train. I was told that on the train he ate orange after orange, and little else.

    Imran captained the Geep XI team in the match. This was in the winter of 1984, and I still remember he wore a white woollen pullover with red border.

    His team bowled first, and we all wanted to see his fast swing bowling. Unfortunately, some time before this match Imran had suffered a serious leg injury, and had been advised by his doctors not to run for a few months. So Imran did bowl, but he bowled without any run up, standing near the bowler’s end, near the umpire. Even then he captured some wickets.

    When his team’s turn came to bat, Imran played a fantastic innings which Allahabadis who saw the match would never forget. 

    Since he could not run due to his injury, he decided to hit boundaries and sixes only, to avoid running between the wickets.. His sixes dwarfed the size of the MMM stadium, with the ball landing outside on each occasion. If I remember correctly, he scored about 80 runs before being caught near the edge of the field while attempting another six, and his team won the match.

    All this happened almost 40 years ago, but the recollection and flashback of that memorable day is embedded permanently in my mind

  • Letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan and other SC judges

    Letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan and other SC judges

    To Hon’ble The Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and his Companion Judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan

    Islamabad

    Dear Brothers/Sister,
    I am writing this letter to you as a brother Judge of India with great grief and anguish in my heart.

    As you know, the Islamabad High Court has today suspended the sentence on former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the toshakhana case and ordered hs release on bail. However, he has been rearrested by the FIA in connection with the cypher case against him.

    About 150 criminal cases have been filed against Imran Khan ever since he was ousted from power.
    https://www.livemint.com/news/world/whole-charade-is-to-imprison-me-imran-khan-on-150-criminal-cases-filed-against-him-11685866726910.html

    If he is rearrested after getting bail in each of these cases it will mean he will have to spend his whole remaining life in jail, even if all these cases are ultimately found to be false and frivolous. Is this justice ?

    Apart from that, a fascist reign of terror has been unleashed in Pakistan after the incident of 9th May, with thousands of persons arrested and imprisoned, often after the security aqencies broke into their houses and vandalised them, many tortured, beaten and ‘disappeared’, while you have turned a Nelson’s eye on these horrors and atrocities.

    You, Brothers/Sister took a solemn oath to uphold the Constitution and protect the fundamental rights of life and liberty of the people, but it seems to me you care only for your salaries, perks and pensions, and have forgotten your duties.

    After the shameful Munich Pact of 1938, Winston Churchill, who later became Prime Minister of England, accused the then Government of Neville Chamberlain quoting from the Bible ” Thou art weighed in the balance, and found wanting ” ( Daniel 5.27 ).

    The same can be said about you.

    Now if there is still some sense of honour and dignity left in you, please use your suo motu powers and immediately issue these orders ( after giving a few days time and a very short hearing to the government counsel ) :

    (1) Imran Khan is released on bail in all the cases against him and will not be rearrested, on condition of his giving an undertaking not to leave Pakistan without permission of the Court

    (2) All cases against him are clubbed and put up before a single court

    (3) All persons arrested in connection with the incident of 9th May are released on bail forthwith, and adequate compensation is granted to them.

    (4) All PTI leaders and workers are released on bail forthwith, and will not be rearrested.
    (5) Officials responsible for the atrocities on the people ( and for filing false cases against Imran Khan and others ) are forthwith suspended and chargesheeted ( modalities can be worked out after consulting prominent lawyers known to be upright ).

    (6) A firm date not later than 15th of November is fixed for holding national parliamentary elections, and sufficient funds will be released for this purpose by the State Bank of Pakistan, and all security provided to ensure free and fair polls. All those disobeying this order will be sent to jail forthwith for contempt of court.

    Justice Markandey Katju

    former Judge, Indian Supreme Court

    29.8.2023

    91-9821181334

  • The way out for Pakistanis

    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.

    The way out for Pakistanis

    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.

    The way out for Pakistan

    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.

    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

  • Alice in Daakustan

    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.

  • Can Parliamentary Democracy Solve India’s Deep-rooted Socio-political Challenges?

    Can Parliamentary Democracy Solve India’s Deep-rooted Socio-political Challenges?

    Karan Thapar, to my mind, exemplifies and epitomises most mediapersons and so called ‘intellectuals’ who are strutting around the scene in India today like peacocks, but who are totally shallow, superficial and mediocre 

    To explain, let us consider Karan’s recent interview of Gautam Bhatia

    In this interview the proposed Election Commision Bill, 2023, which has been introduced recently in the Rajya Sabha ( the Upper House of the Indian Parliament ), was discussed

    https://prsindia.org/billtrack/the-chief-election-commissioner-and-other-election-commissioners-appointment-conditions-of-service-and-term-of-office-bill-2023

    This Bill seeks to replace the interim arrangement made by the Supreme Court in its verdict in Anoop Baranwal vs Union of India

    https://indiankanoon.org/doc/56882156/

    https://thewire.in/law/decoding-the-supreme-courts-election-commission-judgment

    It is alleged that this Bill, if it becomes law, will undermine the independence and neutrality of the Election Commission

    https://thewire.in/government/election-commissioners-appointment-bill-farewell-to-free-and-fair-elections

    https://www.indiatoday.in/programme/india-s-agenda/video/congress-slams-centre-over-new-bill-on-election-commission-members-appointments-2419495-2023-08-11

    But suppose we have a truly independent and neutral Election Commission. Elections will still be largely on the basis of caste and religion. Everyone in India knows that when most voters in India go to vote they rarely see the merit of the candidate, whether he is a good man or bad, educated or uneducated, etc, but only see his caste or religion ( or the caste or religion which his party claims to represent ). Hence we have caste and communal vote banks, which most Indian politicians are experts in manipulating, and a large number of persons with criminal backgrounds are in our legislatures.

    Casteism and communalism are feudal forces, which must be destroyed if India is to progress, but parliamentary democracy in India further entrenches them, as it runs on their basis. Hence it must be replaced by another political system under which India rapidly industrialises and modernises, as that alone can solve our massive socio-economic problems. 

    https://indicanews.com/2023/07/02/tavleen-singhs-superficial-thinking/

    This is not possible within the framework of the Constitution of India. In other words, the solutions to India’s huge problems of massive poverty, record and rising unemployment, appalling level of child malnutrition , skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, almost total lack of proper healthcare and good education for the massers, atrocities and oppression of minorities, etc lie outside, and not within, the present Constitutional system 

    https://indicanews.com/2023/07/17/justice-markandey-katju-lies-damned-lies-and-statistics-in-india/

    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

    The test of every political activity and political system is one, and only one : does it raise the standard of living of the people ? Does it give them better lives ?

    So even if we have a truly independent and neutral Election Commission how will that matter to the vast majority of our people ? Their lives will be as miserable and poverty stricken as before. 

     It is only by a mighty historical people’s struggle, which will be protracted, arduous, and in which tremendous sacrifices will have to be made, that we can create a just political and social order in which our people will get decent lives.

    https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2019/09/04/opinion-india-edges-closer-to-its-own-french-revolution.html

    https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/satyam-bruyat/a-french-revolution-is-approaching/

    What that alternative political and social order will be, how will it be created, how much time will that take, who will be the modern minded leaders who will lead the movement– all these are matters which no one can presently predict. One cannot be rigid about historical forms.

    All this Karan Thapar, Siddharha Varadarajan, Ravish Kumar, Rahul Kanwal, Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai, Shekhar Gupta, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Vikram Chandra, Manak Gupta,and other mediapersons, and ‘intellectuals’ like Yogendra Yadav, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Shashi Tharoor, Ram Chandra Guha, Raghuram Rajan, Makarand Paranjape, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Amartya Sen, Ashis Nandy, Gautam Bhatia, etc can not understand.

     Their minds are caged within the system of parliamentary democracy, which to them is a fetish, a permanent political form, and they would be horrified to think that there can be an alternative outside it.

  • Pakistan has become a paagal khaana

    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

    .

  • This prisoner is no Dr Manette

    This prisoner is no Dr Manette


    Those who have imprisoned former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan in a tiny dirty, dingy cell in Attock jail think he will end up like Dr Manette in the Bastille ( see Charles Dickens’ ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ ), who even forgot his name during his captivity, and only knew himself as 105 North Tower.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Manette


    https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/describe-105-north-tower-tale-two-cities-680679


    Dr Manette was a medical doctor by profession, but during his captivity he was reduced to becoming a cobbler, and that is what Imran Khan’s captors think they will eventually make him,


    https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/t/a-tale-of-two-cities/summary-and-analysis/book-1-chapter-6


    Imran Khan bravely stood up for integrity, transparency, and accountability in public life, and civilian control over the armed forces, which are regarded the worst crimes in Pakistan. Hence he had to suffer the consequences.



    He is being held incommunicado ( except for short visits by his wife and lawyers ) in a tiny, dingy, bug infested cell with no bed, open bathroom, and few facilities, thinking that will soon break his will



    https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/lawyers-pakistans-convicted-imran-khan-meet-him-jail-2023-08-07/


    https://www.indiaherald.com/Politics/Read/994616564/Imran-jailed-in-bug-infested-jail-cell


    Evidently his incarcerators do not know the man. He is no Dr Manette, and they have no idea of his grit, fortitude, dauntless spirit, and gumption, and what metal he is made of.



    The man who believed in fighting until the last ball, who led a ramshackle underdog Pakistan cricket team to victory in the 1992 World Cup, who could have spent the rest of his life comfortably in England with his millionairess wife, but whose disgust at what was happening to his country ( which was being looted by the Sharifs and Zardaris ) brought him back to start a new political party, the PTI, in 1996 to fight corruption, which after 22 years hard struggle he led to power in 2018, the man who set up Pakistan’s first cancer hospital Shaukat Khanum, the man who wanted ‘haqeeqi aqadi’ for Pakistan, and after his perfidious and Machiavellian ouster from power bravely led the people against the fascist reign of terror unleashed by the Pakistan Establishment— can such a man’s courage and spirit be crushed by mere incarceration ?


    Imran Khan has repeatedly said he will continue living in Pakistan, and not fly abroad like the corrupt Nawaz Sharif ( who was convicted by the Pakistan Supreme Court ). He has no assets abroad, unlike PDM leaders, whose names appear in the Panama Papers, and other credible material.


    Earlier, 70% Pakistanis supported him ( according to opinion polls in Pakistan and the bye elections results ). But now the number has drastically risen, and is reaching 90%. This means about 220 million out of the 240 million Pakistanis support Imran Khan.


    Imran Khan is now no longer a person, he has become an idea in Pakistan, representing honesty, truth,and commitment to the people’s welfare.. Even if he is imprisoned or physically eliminated, the idea will live on, like the ghost of Caesar after his assassination.

  • A Judge is not a Knight Errant

    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.

  • Moeed Pirzada and Justice Katju

    Moeed Pirzada and Justice Katju


    I saw this video of the eminent Pakistani journalist Moeed Pirzada a few hours back on Youtube

    Moeed Pirzada


    Moeed and I share our common support of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
    But in the video above I noticed a certain tone of despondency and low spirit in him, like a nervous nellie.


    (1) Moeed laboured on the issue of denial of the same electoral symbol to PTI which it presently has, saying that it would mislead the public, resulting in significant loss of votes to PTI.
    In this Moeed is totally wrong. The people of Pakistan, 80-90% of whom are solid supporters of Imran Khan ( as all opinion polls indicate ), are no fools, and in recent months their political awareness has increased exponentially. Within 24 hours of announcement of a new symbol everyone in Pakistan will know of it, and no one will be befooled.


    (2) Moeed believes the delimitation of constituencies will be done in such a way ( by gerrymandering ) that it will cause significant losses to PTI in the elections.
    Again, Moeed is totally mistaken.
    All opinion polls indicate that 80-90% Pakistanis solidly support Imran Khan, as he is perceived to be honest, while the PDM leaders are regarded as highly corrupt ( as indeed established by the Panama Papers and other strong evidence ). This figure is increasing as time passes, since jailing Imran Khan has generated a wave of sympathy for him, and it will cross 90% shortly.
    So however much gerrymandering is done, the results will be the same, and delaying the elections will only benefit Imran Khan .


    (3) Moeed believes Imran Khan has faith, but lacks strategy or ‘tadbeer’.
    What tadbeer is Moeed talking about ? Imran Khan is bravely leading the democratic forces in Pakistan against the fascist reign of terror unleashed by the Pakistan Establishment ( i.e. the army and the PDM ), and he continues to do so even from inside jail. The spirit of the man is unbroken even when confined in a dingy dirty cell.

    What a man! – says Justice Katju


    Sooner or later parliamentary elections will be held in Pakistan, and then Imran Khan will again become Prime Minister, as I have explained in these articles and video

    U.S. Government’s attitude towards Imran Khan is bound to change

    The future of Imran Khan


    Moeed reminds me of the character Defarge in Charles Dickens’ famous novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’.


    In an early part of the novel, a conversation takes place between Defarge, a wine seller, who is also secretly a member of a revolutionary society working for destruction of the feudal monarchy and aristocracy in France, and his wife Madame Defarge.


    Defarge is like Moeed, while Madame Defarge is like me.


    Defarge is despondent and dispirited because he thinks that the revolution for which he has been working for several years may not come about in his lifetime.


    To which Madame Defarge replied :
    ” What of that ? It will come. “
    Defarge says ” But when will it come ? How much time does lightning take to strike the ground ? “
    ” How much time does it take to build that lightning ? ” replied Madame Defarge. ” An earthquake strikes suddenly, causing massive death and destruction. But how much time does it take to build that earthquake ?


    You may not see the end. But you have contributed to it. Let that be your consolation, and be satisfied by it ”.


    Those who get despondent and think that Imran Khan is finished should see this video, where I have said ” Sach aur haq kabhi nahi khatm ho sakta ”.