"Reinstatement Of Complainant Reiterates Truthfulness In her Allegations"
Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave on Sexual Harassment Complaint Against Ex-CJI
Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave while delivering his address at the "Justice Hosbet Suresh Memorial Lecture", made some scintillating remarks while elaborating on the topic of the day "The Supreme Court in Decline: Forgotten Freedoms & Eroded Right", Livelaw.in reported on Saturday.
"We as citizens have lost our courage to stand up and ask for our rights. Charity begins at home. No one should get violent but we must put pressure on Constitutional Bodies. Nothing but Moral Pressure will recuperate the system," said Dave in his opening remarks.
Dave opined that the fallacies in the judiciary cannot be solely attributed to 2014, i.e. when the BJP Government came to power but to the year 1992, when the Collegium system came to being, Dave said that Judges who were thus being appointed were not "at par".
Dave: The fallacies in the SC began not in 2014, I'm sorry. But in 1992 when the Judges took it upon themselves to appoint judges in HC & SC - The Collegium System.
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) September 18, 2020
Further, elaborating on India's collective character Dave says, "We must remember that we cannot go back in time and defeat Babur and though we have to deprecate him, we must not forget to appreciate Akbar either," According to him, India's collective character is down, and history was to be respected and accepted, with a correct perspective.
Emphasising on the way that the Judiciary has spiralled down in accountability as well as conduct, Dave touched upon the sexual harassment charges which were alleged on Ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi and the subsequent reinstatement of the Complainant, which pointed to truthfulness in her allegations.
Dave: Can you imagine in any country in the world, a judge who has been accused of a Sexual Harassment charge is allowed to continue his term?
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) September 18, 2020
Eventually complainant was reinstated. What does that mean? This means she was right, would she ever be reinstated if she was wrong?
Senior Counsel and Supreme Court Bar Association President Dushyant Dave then went on to elaborate how the "Rule of Law" was singularly absent from our country and said that the concept was only applicable for the "rich and powerful". India is not short of talent and we are second to none, he said but can move forward only if we are guided by proper persons.
Recalling the Nizammuddin Markaz issue, Dave urged to introspect on how we as a country, demonised and criminalised a religious exercise. "They were here to learn! What did we do, we termed them criminals!" he iterated.
He then added that in the same way, a gathering of thousands should have been therefore criminalised in Ahmedabad when Donald Trump visited India. "Ideologies are not my concern, my concern is how minority rights are being deprecated everyday," he added.
Dave refers to the Nizammuddin Markaz issue, says "how can we criminalise religious exercises?"
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) September 18, 2020
He adds, "then in the same way, why not criminalise President @realDonaldTrump's even in Ahmedabad where thousands came?"
Dave later reflected upon the Constitutional Assembly debates where Dr. BR Ambedkar had based the fate of Muslims into the hands of majority following the partition.
In Constituent Assembly debates, Dr. Ambedkar had said "the fate of those Muslims who chose to live in India after Partition is in the hands of the majority". In that context, responsibility is of the majority community to protect their rights, said the senior Advocate.
Dave: In Constituent Assembly debates, Dr. Ambedkar had said
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) September 18, 2020
"the fate of those Muslims who chose to live in India after Partition is in the hands of the majority"
In that context..... responsibility is of the majority community to protect their rights.
He also spoke about how the Bar had not come forward to speak up for the lost Constitutional tenets, "ultimately, the bar and bench work in tandem," he said. "My question is, where is the Bar today? What, just 5-6 people? They all come on television and give us sermons but they never speak against Judiciary, because they have to appear before them!"
Elaborating on how Globalisation and liberal thought was sought to be killed, Dave said that our pharma industry could take a huge hit if Chinese raw materials are completely banned.
In his concluding remarks, he urged the new generation of lawyers to be flag-bearers of Constitutional tenets.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
