The Brave Pedestrian

It is amusing to find the Supreme Court lamenting that its writ does not run over High Courts. (See  http://tinyurl.com/HCs-not-listening  ) The fact is that the writ of Supreme Court and High Courts does not run over ANY LOWER COURTS. Litigants have learned the hard way that citing Supreme Court and High Court judgments is of doubtful value in any court, because judges freely ignore them. The belief that Supreme Court judgments establish a firm precedent to be obeyed by every court in the land, is total rubbish. Only idealistic civil-society members and activists still believe in the Law of Precedents. (See http://tinyurl.com/law-of-precedents-India ) Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share  ·

Each and every judge carries the guilt of having been elevated to his current position by doing favours to government officials, politicians, senior counsels, etc. in exchange for recommendations to the collegium. His entire career is controlled by the collegium of judges at High Courts and Supreme Court. There are no rules, no benchmarks, no due process to be followed, and no reference to any institution created by any law; the words of the collegiums -- which are illegal -- are the only law. How can such judges and chief justices safeguard our fundamental rights against encroachment by the powers-that-be? And that is why the public finds that judges usually avoid taking action against corrupt government officials and politicians. That is because, as the saying goes, those who live in glass houses avoid throwing stones. Like  ·  Comment  ·  Share

Mohd Azazur Rahman, an electrical engineer from Basti district of Uttar Pradesh, was forced to come to Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital last month. It turned out that he was a great fan of Pehelwan brand of bidis all his life, smoking 2-3 packs per day. Even today, although his disfiguring oral cancer is painfully evident, he is having a hard time kicking the habit and still ends up smoking 4-5 Pehelwan bidis every day.