The Brave Pedestrian

Mumbai, 1st March, 2018: Sometime today morning or afternoon, Diipesh Bhagtani will be produced before the magistrate, again, for the fourth time since he surrendered to EOW on 11th January. The magistrate may decide to keep him in judicial custody for a few more weeks, or release him on bail. We hope that the magistrate will exert pressure on Mukesh and Laxman (who are absconding) by not releasing Diipesh till they surrender... but that may be wishful thinking. Over 2,500 families who lost their life-savings, their peace of mind, their health and their dreams of owning a flat in Mumbai, are thinking only one thing day and night: "Will we get back our money? How? When?" Meanwhile, gang members and accomplices who systematically helped the Bhagtanis to loot Rs 600 crore are roaming free, because EOW hasn't named them as co-accused in the FIRs. (It's like letting Dawood Ibrahim's shooters and hit-men go free because, hey, they were only employees doing...

While Salman Khan secured bail in barely three hours after his conviction, over 60% of undertrials spend more than three months in jail before they can secure release. The prolonged incarceration is due to their inability to get bail. Government data shows that roughly 1.75 lakh of 2.78 lakh people facing criminal charges are unable to secure bail before three months. Over 40% (1.1 lakh) of undertrials take more than six months to secure bail, over 64,000 spend more than one  year in jail before they are released on bail, while over 30,000 spend more than two years in jail. Image: http://tinyurl.com/jail-bail-India And further to this, thousands of convicts are detained months or even years AFTER COMPLETION OF THEIR SENTENCES due to non-payment of fines. These are inmates who remain in jail even after completion of their jail sentences because they are unable to pay the fine amount! At the end of 2013, there were 3000 such prisoners. Of these, 1375 prisoners, or 4...

Are judges unduly friendly with big corporates? Last year, Reliance wrote in a letter to former Chief Justice of Bombay High Court KR Vyas: “I am pleased to inform you that your consultancy is further extended for one year i.e. upto April 30, 2015.” The letter reveals that Justice Kshitij Vyas was receiving hefty amounts from Reliance as consultancy. Several other retired Judges who were approached by Dhirubhai’s successors had refused to be on company’s pay roll. Justice Ksh itij R Vyas, formerly Chief Justice of Bombay High Court, was reportedly close to Mukesh Ambani and also the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi. On recommendations of Modi, Justice Vyas was appointed as the Chairman of the monitoring authority overseeing fake encounters in Gujarat. However in a setback to Modi, Supreme Court removed Justice Vyas from the chair -- a rare snub by the apex court to a former CJ. Reliance Industries Limited gave an appointment letter to Justice (Retd) Kshitij Vyas....

The legendary Justice Sujata Manohar was appointed as Chief Justice of Bombay High Court on 5th January 1994. About three months later, on 21st April 1994, she was transferred as Chief Justice of Kerala High Court. Then, on 8th November 1994, Justice Sujata Manohar became judge of the Supreme Court of India. Justice Anil R Dave, a sitting judge of Supreme Court, assumed the office of Chief Justice of Bombay High Court on 11th Feb  2010. And then, just about two months later on 30th April 2010, he was elevated as Judge of the Supreme Court. Instances of such super-short tenures of Chief Justice are abundant. One finds dozens of instances. Bilal Nazki, a sitting judge of Bombay High Court, was made Chief Justice of Orissa High Court a mere FOUR DAYS before his retirement at the age of 65. Mr Nazki moved to Bombay High Court in January 2008. He moved from Bombay to become Chief Justice of Orissa High Court on 14 November 2009. He retired four days later, upon attaining the ...

Since redevelopment started in 1991 about two decades ago, and builders could augment the FSI (Floor Space Index) of the land by purchasing TDR (Transfer of Development Rights), cooperative housing societies started neglecting their structures. Seduced by builders who promise larger houses and new buildings, building societies have been keen to steamroll opposition to their redevelopment proposals by individual members by deliberately allowing their building to deteriorate, so that structural auditors can declare them as “dilapidated”. Earlier, it was a nightmare for a society to be told that its building was structurally unsound, and managing committee members and general body members alike were anxious to avoid it by regular re-plastering, painting and repairing. But in the last two decades, a report from structural engineers saying that the building is “dilapidated” or is in need of “major rapairs” has been the dream of every managing committee, because it legitimizes their quest ...

October 20, 2009:  Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and Maharashtra Government has given in to pressures from builders, and made far-reaching changes in existing laws through the back-door. Bypassing the state legislature, they issued GRs (circulars) that negate existing laws and Development Control Regulations (DC Rules). These changes are endangering lakhs of people in high-rise buildings, and in fact, entire neighbourhoods which are a combustible mix of high-rise buildings, slums, illegal encroachments, CNG filling stations, stores, unauthorized godowns and factories, etc. How was this legal scam carried out?  Read the below scans from a book on Mumbai’s REVISED Development Control Rules 1991 (2003-04 edition). I have marked key points in these scans with a red dot.  Also, many lines are underlined by  Mumbai's Chief Fire Officer (CFO) P D Karguppikar,  who gave these to me during an RTI Inspection. DETAILS OF THE SABOTAGE: A.   ...

Henderson knew all of Tony's annoying habits. He could never switch of his mobile. He always took a call, sometimes after a good deal of confusion and groping in his pockets. As Tony crossed the railway tracks, Henderson saw the train coming from the distance. He needed to slow him down. He phoned, and cut the line. Tony stopped in confusion, groped in his pockets. The phone was in vibrator mode. Without the ringing to guide him, he was helpless to find which pocket it came out of. He looked in his right pants pocket, then his left, and finally found the small phone in his hip pocket. Shitshitshit, he swore, as he looked at the missed-calls list.  “ Heyyy, yedayy! Gaadi aa rahi hai! Gaaadi... ” Tony heard that warning and looked about him in confusion, and saw a light. Then his mobile rang again. “Shit!” he swore. “Shit! Shit!” He pressed the ‘Accept Call’ button. “Hi, Tony. Where are you?” “ Heyyy! Andhay! Paagal! Gaadi dekh! ” He heard the shouted warning, looked about...

Chapter IX: Namita’s Revenge Namita knew she was prostitute now. Worse, she knew she was a puppet in the Sub Inspector's hands. She was completely powerless, she was completely debased and she hated it. She hated Tony the pimp for his hand in it, but more than anybody else, she hated Gaitonde the policeman. This business about 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' is greatly misunderstood. One traditionally thinks of  housewives turning nasty and throwing saucepans and rolling pins. Sometimes, people think of mistresses. Rarely, if ever, does it apply to prostitutes. Also this thing about 'Behind every great man, there is a great woman'. The phrase is understood as being applicable to wives who are extremely tolerant and supportive. It's rarely about the noble and selfless deeds of a prostitute. In the case of Gaitonde, however, this second phrase was perfectly applicable. One year was too short a period for out-of-turn promotions to materialize in...

Chapter VII: FLASHBACK — How Henderson Met Namita Henderson had come into her life very recently. More precisely, he was brought into her life by Tony. Tony knew Gaitonde because the cop had nabbed him one day in the act of smooth-talking a foreign tourist, and taken him in for questioning. And because he had used third-degree methods without asking him any questions or charging him with anything specific, Tony, alias Mayank Tandel, had confessed to the murder of Deepya in Gorai village. A few discreet enquiries over with the Gorai village police  thane  had given the wily Gaitonde some very interesting information. Deepya, in his dying declaration, had said that the heavy oar had fallen on his head. Nobody had said anything about a murder, and so the police had put it down in their files as an accidental death. That night, Deepya was cremated beside Mayank's father, and his wife had wailed with her arms thrown around Mayank's mother. If anybody knew the truth, they w...