Don't destroy, weaken the system but transform it: CJI
New Delhi, Aug 15 : Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Wednesday said it was easy to criticise, attack and destroy a system but instead an endeavour should be made to transform and reform it by transcending personal ambitions or grievances.
"To criticise, attack and destroy a system is quite easy (but) very difficult and challenging to transform it into a performing one. For this one has to transcend one's personal ambitions or grievances", the Chief Justice said.
"There may be some elements who try to weaken the institution," but "I and you (lawyer community) together will refuse to succumb," Misra said in an apparent reference to discordant voices coming from within the top judiciary and outside.
He called for the "constructive steps to be taken with a positive mindset of reforms, no matter how small they are and a concrete reform must be undertaken with rationality, maturity, responsibility and compassion. It has to be productive, instead of being counter-productive."
Mishra said this while speaking at the Independence Day function organised in the Supreme Court by the Supreme Court Bar Association.
Referring to the mention of "polity of identity" in Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's speech at the event, Chief Justice Misra said: "I must say I am happy the Law Minister of India has expressed concern about the identity of the citizens. I only like to add that this identity has to be founded on the identity of humanness which is fundamentally, constitutionally legitimate."
"How far we expand this idea only the future will tell. And why I say so all of you are absolutely aware."
Misra also disagreed with Prasad that people, wherever they go in India, should visit the freedom fighters in recognition of their contribution to the freedom struggle and praise them.
"I do not deny that each citizen during that period, in his own or her own way fought for the freedom of country. The Law Minister says that when we go to some place in India we must visit them and praise them. I disagree. People who fought for the country did not fight for their praise. They did not even bother about you. They fought because they fought for the country", Chief Justice Misra told the gathering comprising of sitting and former judges of the apex court, senior lawyers including Fali Nariman and Soli Sorabjee and others.
To fight for one's own country, own civilisation and all the rights, the Chief Justice said is possibly a tribute to them.
Prasad called for striking a healthy balance between the three organs of the state saying that the governance of the country must be left to the elected representatives as governance and accountability go together.
The Law Minister while recalling the trauma of partition, said that despite large-scale destruction and dislocations, India chose not to be theocratic with the State having no religion or faith.
This he described as a "general larger blueprint of India".
Referring to the different phases of development over the last seven decades, the Law Minister said initially it was a "polity of want, then came polity of identity and now we have polity of aspiration and hope".
Speaking on the occasion, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal pointed to the overcrowding of the court rooms and corridors. He called for joint efforts by the top court, the Law Ministry and the Supreme Court Bar Association to address the problem.
Making a distinction on how differently independence means to the state and the people, Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh said "Independence is a state of mind and not a conferment of a status."
He said what was important was how people can serve their country.
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
