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Courage and Conviction -- An autobiography of Gen. VK Singh. Book review by MG Devasahayam.

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Book Review: COURAGE AND CONVICTION – An Autobiography

Details of the Book:
Author: General VK SINGH (with KUNAL VERMA)
Publisher: ALEPH BOOK COMPANY (New Delhi, India)
Year: 2013
ISBN: 978-93-82277-57-6
No. of Pages: 396 (including photographs)
Price: Rs. 595
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The ethos of the Book and the man on whom this autobiography is written can be found between what two soldiers turned Nobel laureates-Ernest Hemmingway (WW I) and Alexander Solzhenitsyn(WW II) have written and quoted in the Book (beginning and end):

Hemmingway wrote in ‘A Farewell to Arms’:

         “Few men for the right cause brave the disrespect of their fellowmen, censor of their colleagues and ignorance of society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential vital quality of those who seek to change a world which yields out painfully to change.” (Robert F Kennedy - The day of Affirmation Speech)

As a rustic boy from Bapora in Bhiwani District, Haryana, General VK Singh PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC had grown up listening to the village elders “secure in the knowledge that not one of them, individually or collectively, would ever bend before the wind.” The Book is the testament of how he lived up to his rugged legacy and Hemmingway’s ‘one essential vital quality’! This he has done despite horrid Goebbelesian onslaught on his honour, patriotism and integrity. I should know because as the first Commissioner of the newly created Bhiwani District (1972) I had met him as a fledgling Rajput Regiment 2nd Lieutenant and decades later known him as the Chief of world’s third largest Army.

VK Singh had a troubled childhood with his mother suffering from cancer. His schooling was at Birla Public School in Pilani where in the NCC he had an interesting experience that he narrates: “I was initially in the Naval wing, before being shifted to the Army and then yet again to the Air Force before leaving the school.” Though he was ‘infatuated’ with the Indian Air Force and wanted join it, at his father’s (an Army Officer) insistence he opted for the Army.

Barely out of NDA, VK Singh came face-to-face with the Date of Birth issue which he describes thus: “It then transpired that in the original UPSC form, my year of birth had been filled in as 1950. Other supporting data and the certificate sent by the school independently had correctly listed it as 1951…...The various papers were then forwarded to the UPSC who accepted the documents and the explanation and cleared me to join NDA. The matter having been resolved, I embarked on the journey to join the Academy almost a week later than rest of the batch because of this snafu”….Indeed this belief turned out to be misplaced….As the author reached the pinnacle of his career this ‘resolved’  matter was dug out, severely distorted with lies and skullduggery and turned into a ‘brahmastra’by corrupt and powerful vested interests with near-total support from mainstream media leading to head-on confrontation between him as Army Chief and the Government.

The book is the story of a conscientious soldier written in a flowing language by filmmaker and author Kunal Verma, who has penned ‘The Long Road to Siachen’ and the ‘Northeast Trilogy’. It is easy to read. Kunal, a Doon School-Madras Christian College product is son of Major General Ashok Kalyan Verma, former Colonel Commandant of Rajput Regiment.  Kunal has used his considerable knowledge and insight into Army’s structure, functioning and culture to narrate General’s own story in a flawless and seamless manner. While reading about VK Singh’s days in the battalion, my mind went back to mine (17th Battalion, The Madras Regiment) in the watery valleys of Assam, desert sands of Rajasthan, forbidding Rann of Kutch and the hostile jungles of Nagaland.

The Book contains revelations and revealing information on several momentous events and episodes relating to Army’s operations in the last over four decades:

v Bangladesh War that liberated former East Bengal from Pakistan
v The mess that was ‘Operation Blue Star’ and the sycophantic shenanigans of Lt Gen K Sundarji who later became Chief of the Army Staff
v The perspective on Operation Meghdoot, the code name given for the 1987 operations to occupy Siachen.
v Operation Brasstacks and Operation Trident that are classic examples of how a war can be engineered by misinterpreting pieces of intelligence inputs without proper in depth analysis
v IPKF operation in Sri Lanka wherein the Indian Army that went to protect the Tamils ended up fighting the Tamils. This is an unmitigated disaster of India’s Foreign Policy which persists till today!
v ‘Operation Parakram’ that brought to light the effect of critical shortages in equipment considered vital for fighting war

General VK Singh was the first commando to become India’s Army Chief and the best at that.  At the Young Officers Course in Mhow he was awarded the Commando Dagger and the coveted Sam Manekshaw Trophy. He topped the Ranger Combat Leadership Course of the US Armyconsidered the ‘toughest in the world’! ‘Commandos’ are defined as ‘a small fighting force specially trained for making quick destructive raids against enemy-held areas.’ All-pervading corruption and resource-loot being India’s worst enemies, VK Singh started his four-star career by daring them. Within weeks he took on the then Union Home Minister and declined to let loose the Army on the jungles of central/east India. 

It is with this episode that General VK Singh opens his Autobiography with the narration of his first encounter as Army Chief with Palaniappan Chidambaram, then Union Home Minister. The prologue titled ‘The Moment of Truth’ gives an account of this encounter…. “Without beating about the bush, Chidambaram came straight to the point: “General, you know the Naxal problem is a major national issue. So why do you oppose the deployment of Army in Naxal areas?”…..Realising that a half baked answer would open the door general had responded:  “I am fully aware of the situation on ground, Minister. It is a socio-economic and governance issue and needs to be addressed accordingly. At the same time this is not a secessionist movement and it would not be correct to use the army, against own people”.

       TheAutobiography is silent about the fallout of this encounter. The fact is that daring Chidambaram directly and PMO indirectly, and speaking up for the oppressed, VK Singh had thrown down the gauntlet! In retaliation he faced the combined assault India's political, bureaucratic, corporate and media establishment that “looks like a mobile cocktail party, gliding, champagne glasses in hand, in and out of each other’s drawing rooms, television studios, boardrooms and award ceremonies like actors in an elaborate charade,” to quote a leading investigative journalist! The brahmastraused was a contrived controversy as to whether VK Singh was born in 1950 or 1951-something statutory documents like birth and matriculation certificates-both recording 1951-had long established!

The Book needs to be read to understand about the various controversies that surrounded VK Singh while in service and after that. Though he has dealt with them-‘line of succession’, ‘age controversy’, ‘Technical Services Division’ (TSD), ‘TATRA Loot’, ‘bribe offer’,  ‘leaked top secret letter to PM’, ‘concocted coup story’ and North East Trilogy-it is all in sober language without rancour and there is no hype as many would expect.

While the General has come down heavily on the PMO, he has dealt with Defence Minister AK Antony with velvet gloves. Writing about TATRA and BEML General implies that the corruption 'trail goes right up to a very high official in the PMO.' He has also fortified the common perception of collusive understanding among political parties while sharing defence procurement loot. After the BEML-TATRA scandal broke out  a senior opposition leader told him off record, ‘General saab, lapetna tha to aapne Tatra kyon pakra? Isme hum halla machayenge to hum bhi phaste hain.’ [General, if you had to catch them, why Tatra? If we back you, we’ll also get exposed]. A ‘Raksha Mantri’ who has presided over such rot for over seven long years, in the process causing incalculable harm to defence preparedness and civil-military relationship, goes unscathed. This is something amiss!

On retirement a General was supposed to fade away into golf-cum-party circuits. But not so for VK Singh. He had unfinished tasks to complete…. “After a month’s break, I felt my job as a citizen of this country was only half-done. I had long discussions with colleagues and others who over time had become friends. They all more or less said the same thing – go out into the countryside and see what is happening. A former soldier/bureaucrat, whose relentless fight against corruption has thrown up a new word ‘kleptocracy’, said to me, ‘You have seen the rot that has set in on defence matters. Grassroots, man, get down to the grassroots,’ he emphasized, ‘only then can you expose the rascals who are today in power and are relentlessly eating up this country.”

VK Singh perceives his unfinished task is to “create a movement to bring in democracy as envisaged by greats like Mahatma Gandhi and Jayaprakash Narayan. Something that starts at the grassroots levels, something that starts in the villages, something in which a common man has a role to play. Today he doesn’t have, he gives his vote and then for 5 years he can get kicked around. Now surely that is not democracy…..” One wishes strength to his shoulders.

General signs off the Book not as a hard-boiled soldier, but as a deeply concerned citizen: “When I sat down to write the autobiography I was acutely conscious of the fact that my story could probably match that of any other officer in the Indian Army….At the end of the day, I didn’t want anything more from the state. I have got much more from the country and the Army than anyone can hope to get in a lifetime. As I rose through the ranks, I tried very hard not to forget how every decision would impact the men in the trenches. To stand up for what you consider to be your duty towards your country is our ultimate dharma. Towards that end, I hope my story and the words I have written serves a purpose.” 

Then he raises a query and finds an answer: “Are mere words enough to serve any purpose? Here I seek assurance from the famous clarion of the Russian rebel writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn: “It is infinitely difficult to begin when mere words must move a great block of matter. But there is no other way if none of the material strength is on your side. And a shout in the mountains has been known to cause an avalanche.” (The Oak and the Calf)

The big question is-will these words cause an avalanche? Yes, it would provided the whole truth is told. As of now the Book reflects the view expressed on behalf of the just retiring Pakistan Army Chief, General Parvez Kayani when asked whether he would write a Book: "He will not, because one cannot write the whole truth."

But Alexander Solzhenitsyn has a different take. In his 1970 acceptance speech as he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature he quoted the famous Russian proverb, "One word of truth shall outweigh the whole world." With this statement Solzhenitsyn, victim of totalitarian evil, had not suddenly out-powered the Soviets with some self-generated ‘truth.’ Rather, out-powered, out-numbered, and out-gunned, he as one single person seized and wielded truth as a sword that could not be resisted, crying out, "Grant, O Lord, that I may not break as I strike." 

This could as well be the sword and the clarion of General VK Singh in a democratic state run on totalitarian means! As for complete Truth, one has to await a sequel to this well-edited and handsome Book produced by Aleph Book Company and David Davidar, its irresistible publisher. Hope this happens soon.

A must read for every soldier past, present and future and all civilians who feel for the nation and not just feed off it!
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[Blogger is a former Army Major and IAS Officer of the Haryana cadre]

The masked ball of the secularist stormtroopers -- Jay Bhattacharjee

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THE MASKED BALL OF THE SECULARIST STORMTROOPERS

Posted by Jay Bhattacharjee  /   November 25, 2013  /   Posted in CommentaryHeadline  /   15 Comments
picture courtesy: Google Images
Nemesis is a strange phenomenon. It is a silent companion for the mighty and the wicked, as they carry on their criminal capers for decades and some. Then, suddenly, it strikes. Like the bolt from the blue, or the wrath of the Gods or whatever you prefer to treat it as.  Let me be very clear – this retribution does not always materialise for millions of wrongdoers and low-lives. As a Hindu atheist, I would be going against my fundamental belief-system if I were to expound some gibberish doctrine about just desserts for the bad boys and girls, whether in their lifetimes or in the hereafter.
The Greeks, the original torch-bearers of western civilization, infinitely more than the Romans, got some of their basic ideas at some stage from Indians. The ravaging hordes under the Macedonian warlord, Alexander, took back many lessons they had learnt from the vanquished fellow-citizens of the good king Puru. And I would like to think that divine retribution is one of them.
In Greek thought, nemesis is closely linked to the notion of hubris. This is, of course, the sin of overweening pride or arrogance. Those guilty of hubris also display an insufferable confidence in their own achievements, competence or potential. If these attributes fit in with your experience and notion of the Indian media’s glitterati, you are spot on. Indeed, these “qualities” apply to the entire range of venal crooks and criminals that can broadly be labeled as the desi elite or establishment.
As Greek tragedies evolved over time, the goddess Nemesis became a central figure who avenges crime and punishes hubris. She dealt out fortune to each person according to what he or she deserved. If this “right” proportion is disturbed, the sense of justice of Nemesis would not allow it to go unpunished.
The sudden and unexpected fall from grace of Tarun Tejpal in the last few days must be looked at in the above context. He had it coming, as our American friends would say. The fact that it has happened (though the fellow can still get away clean from the mess, given the functioning of the Indian judicial system) will please all those who subscribe to the nemesis principle.
Currently, the country’s Fourth Estate is a stomping ground and refuge of individuals with the worst type of human characteristics. The ultimate litmus test of success in this cesspool is chutzpah, bravado, ability to dispense human fertiliser in copious quantity and the gift of the gab. Leading the pack is the brand of denizens I have always referred to as the sarkari secularists (SS).  The initials fit this bunch perfectly; these people, like the original Herrenvolk lot, have firm notions about their ingrained superiority, swagger around the major metros, specially the national capital, where their habitat comprises the principal TV studios, Raisina Hill, the Lutyens zone and the IIC.
Their intellectual level is frozen at the Senior Cambridge/Class 11-12 level, and the elder ones are all from the Billy Bunter/Battler Britain/Wodehouse and Enid Blyton school. Their contempt for this country’s ancient culture and civilization knows no limits; the ones who are not the kitchen-English types are the Mughal–Persian–Arab admirers, whom I have always labeled as the Ghazal-Shazal wallahs.
In the present vaudeville show, we must start our exercise by looking at the two protagonists. The first is Tarun Tejpal, the star of the show, and the second is his Sancho Panza, a lah-di-dah prima donna, Shoma Chaudhury, who has now ascended the gaddi at the Tehelka racket they were running.
Baba Tarun is the archetypal post-Partition Delhi Punjabi. These people have a veneer of western education,  having often studied at convent schools and/or the so-called public schools. Many of them have also been to that great promised land of the kaala Angrez, the St. Stephen’s College in Delhi. The vast majority of them end up in the never-never land between a tawdry Anglo-Indian persona and an Indian one that they always try to hide. It is the exact desi version of the “Black Skins, White Masks” phenomenon that the great black French sociologist Frantz Fanon described.
Between the summer of 2000 when Tejpal left Outlook to start Tehelka and now, Tejpal’s net worth increased on a logarithmic scale. His ascent on the social ladder was equally meteoric. From being the number two to Vinod Mehta, he became his own boss and, the rest, as they say his history. Even when working in Outlook, he was running his own publishing outfit, India Ink, and achieved the coup of publishing Arundhati Roy’s first book,The God of Small Things. Was he moonlighting? One will never know the arrangement he had with his employers (the Raheja group) and his editor Vinod Mehta, but clearly they had soured by 2000. There were reports that the parting was hardly amicable.
Even when Tejpal and his new outfit was making waves with their so-called sting operations, some capital watchers were curious about Tejpal’s choice of targets. Admittedly, the NDA regime of Vajpayee, son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya, and LK Advani was also a fairly colourable institution. However, Tejpal never trained his guns on the Congress and its bags of sleaze. With his Bongo 2IC, Shoma Chaudhury, who also left Outlook to join him, these two were quite hesitant and reluctant to do any major exposés of UPA’s never-ending loot from 2004 onwards, and specifically from 2009. Their preferred targets were the Hindu movement, any attempt at promoting Indic culture and any form of nationalism that did not compromise with their grotesque SS world.
In recent years, there were many rumours about Tejpal’s venture being funded by a Trinamool MP who has been dubbed as the country’s Chicken King. The start of the Think festival, sponsored by this business group, was the beginning of Tejpal’s personal decline and that of his magazine. Delhi’s corridors were rife with stories about Tejpal and his cronies trying to gouge corporates for funds. One of his former long-time colleagues has written openly about Tehelka killing one of the biggest scoops it had, because Tejpal wanted to “monetise” it.
Now, let us look at the way this duo has performed during this sordid saga.
Tejpal and his “recusal from office” for 6 months, if you please: the phrase, itself, reeks of grandstanding.  Does the fellow think he is a Supreme Court judge who finds a conflict of interest in a particular case before him and decides to withdraw from hearing it, in case his probity is questioned ? This is what any unbiased observer will think. The man’s arrogance and conceit are so evident in his posturing.
His defence line that is slowly emerging : that of consensual sex. This is one of the oldest tricks in the trade and has been used by the most despicable criminals throughout history. Even Eichmann claimed that the Jews voluntarily marched to the gas chambers. Proof: he had a string of violinists lined up to play merry waltzes as the inmates went on their death march.  Tejpal has now lined up one of the country’s top-notch law firms to come out with this obscene tripe.
If Tejpal is grotesque, wait to see how his second-in-command performed in the last three days.
Apology for her stand taken on TV: her “tonality” was wrong. Does the woman think she is being judged in a voice test for a musical recording ?
Calling Tejpal’s alleged offence a “transgression”: all that convent education coming out, as I had warned you. Did she look up the Thesaurus for all the mildest versions of sexual assault and rape that she could think of ?
And then the crème de la crème : the victim of the alleged assault was looking for “justice outside the penal system”. Does this harridan believe in the flat-earth theory ? Or is she peddling snake juice to the Indian public ?
And then the limit in self-aggrandisement : “If the case against Tejpal is proved in court, I will accept that his offence is one of rape”. A combination of Marie Antoinette and Empress Victoria, eh?
To wrap it up now, Ms. Chaudhury, the Supreme Court has made the legal position for you abundantly clear. Since you were in a position of authority, when your young colleague  informed you about the sexual offence perpetrated on her, it was mandatory and obligatory on your part to inform the appropriate police authority about the crime. Period. No if and buts here for you to use your editorial prerogative.  Personally, I am in good company if I say there are strong grounds  for you, too, to be prosecuted under the law for your disgraceful conduct.
The case citation is : Vishaka and others V. State of Rajasthan and others.
(AIR 1997 SUPREME COURT 3011)
(J.S. Verma CJI, Mrs. Sujata V.Manohar and B.N. Kirpal. JJ.)
………………………………………………………………………………………….
The author is an analyst in corporate laws and business affairs based in Delhi.
 

15 COMMENTS

  1. anand November 25, 2013 5:25 pm Reply
    very well said.
  2.  
  3. Ramdas Menon November 25, 2013 5:42 pm Reply
    Exquisitely said, Jay babu. You really have a way with words. It is very tempting to believe in the hubris and nemesis theory, when do you think Karunanidhi and his murderous family will get theirs?
  4.  
  5. Kusum Pant Joshi November 25, 2013 7:42 pm Reply
    Another masterpiece from Mr Bhattacharya!
  6. Kusum Pant Joshi November 25, 2013 9:28 pm Reply
    Brilliant piece, Jay Bhattacharjee ji. Have been following the story and your write up really exposes the facade.
  7. M S Chandramouli November 26, 2013 1:14 am Reply
    A picture is worth a thousand words. A prose image is worth a thousand pictures. Jay Bhattacharjee has done precisely that – drawn up in prose the image of an individual, a clan, consumed by hubris and confronted by nemesis. His “thousand pictures” indict a community which has aided and abetted a kleptocracy in not so much running a country for a good part of 60 years as running it down for personal aggrandisement. As the nefarious narrative of all those honourable men and women begins to unravel we shall need many more prose pictures of the genre of the current article to fully bring home the full story of how a hoary civilisation of 5000 years looks schizophrenically at its future not fully comprehending the nature of the domestic pestilence with which it is infected.
  8. Vijaya Pant November 26, 2013 4:20 am Reply
    Jay Bhattacharjee I salute you on your superb article.Your graphic introduction leading up to the ‘unmasking’ of Tarun Tejpal,his erstwhile lady associate et al is very apt.
    Let us hope that these ‘unmasked secularist stormtroopers’ begin the Danse Macabre —– and lead themselves to their nemesis!!!!!!
  9.  
  10. Arun Bhambhra November 26, 2013 11:26 am Reply
    Excellent article with superb analysis.
  11.  
  12. Rakesh Prasad Chaturvedi November 26, 2013 12:32 pm Reply
    Extremely well put. Thanks for sharing.
    Yes, Nemesis catches up………….someday. And that ‘some day’ seems to be nearing for everyone………2014?
    I particularly liked the one about ‘peddling snake juice’.
  13. rainareconnectsDr.Shobha November 26, 2013 2:12 pm Reply
    Brilliant piece.
  14.  
  15. sbharti November 26, 2013 2:20 pm Reply
    “लोहा लोहे को ही काटता है” – brilliant language and references to beat the sh*t out of lutyen’s coterie
  16.  
  17. Anil Trivedi November 26, 2013 2:32 pm Reply
    A article reflecting the divide between so called elites and the common man seeking justice. Just because he is near to Lutyens, the victim will be seen with political glasses.
    A very true article reflecting Delhi’s, oh sorry…’Media’s helplessness to stand with the victim.
  18. Vijay November 26, 2013 3:08 pm Reply
    A hindi translation of this piece will be good for Indians, this will inhance the western understanding of ideas. Anyway nice work
  19.  
  20. VS Chowdhry November 26, 2013 3:25 pm Reply
    Describes Tejpal aptly.
  21.  
  22. H L Parthasarathy November 26, 2013 3:45 pm Reply
    Nice Article.People who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others.
- See more at: http://www.indiafacts.co.in/the-masked-ball-of-the-secularist-stormtroopers/#sthash.RYA62vdc.hJ4E6sZQ.dpuf

http://www.indiafacts.co.in/the-masked-ball-of-the-secularist-stormtroopers/

Sri Lanka raises concern over Sethu project which may damage Ramasetu sacred to many in South Asia, unites Sri Lanka and India culturally.

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Sri Lanka raises concern over Sethu project which may damage Ramasetu sacred to many in South Asia, unites Sri Lanka and India culturally.

SL raises concern over Sethu project





New clues may change date of birth of the Buddha. Find of a shrine in Lumbini

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Map of Lumbini, Nepal.
Dan Vergano
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 25, 2013
Time to push back the Buddha's birth date a century or so? Archaeologists may have uncovered evidence of the oldest Buddhist shrine yet discovered, dating to around 550 B.C.
Located at Nepal's Lumbini pilgrimage center, the legendary site of the Buddha's birth, the discovery points to the renowned religious figure living more than a century earlier than dates accepted by many scholars. (See also: "Buddha Rising.")
"What we have got is the earliest Buddhist shrine in the world," says archaeologist Robin Coningham of the United Kingdom's Durham University, lead author of the discovery study, released on Monday by the journal Antiquity.
In the study, the international archaeology team reports digging beneath existing brick structures at the shrine, which is visited yearly by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims.
Photo of archaeologists Robin Coningham and Kosh Prasad Acharya directing excavations within the Maya Devi Temple, uncovering a series of ancient temples contemporary with the Buddha.
PHOTOGRAPH BY IRA BLOCK, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Archaeologists Robin Coningham (at left) and Kosh Prasad Acharya direct excavations within the Maya Devi Temple.
The excavations showed that older wooden structures lay beneath the walls of the later brick Buddhist shrine. The layout of that more recent shrine duplicates the layout of the earlier wooden structures, pointing to a continuity of Buddhist worship at the site, Coningham says.
"The big debate has been about when the Buddha lived and now we have a shrine structure pointing to the sixth century B.C.," Coningham says. The team used two kinds of scientific dating to find the age of the early shrine.
Outside scholars applauded the discovery but cautioned against too hastily accepting the site as the oldest discovered Buddhist shrine without more analysis.
"Archaeologists love claiming that they have found the earliest or the oldest of something," says archaeologist Ruth Young of the United Kingdom's University of Leicester in an email message.
The Buddha's Birthplace
Buddhism is one of the world's great religions, with more than 350 million followers, most living in East Asia.
By tradition, Lumbini is the garden site where the Buddha's mother, Maya Devi, grasped a tree and gave birth to the historical figureSiddhartha Gautama, who later became the Buddha.
The exact date of the Buddha's birth is disputed, with Nepalese authorities favoring 623 B.C., and other traditions favoring more recent dates, around 400 B.C.
Regardless, by 249 B.C. Lumbini had became one of the four sacred centers of Buddhism, marked by sanctifying inscriptions and a pillar left there in 249 B.C. by the Indian emperor Ashoka, who helped spread Buddhism across Asia.
Later abandoned, the site was rediscovered in 1896 and re-established as a worship center, the Maya Devi temple, which is now a World Heritage site.
Concerned about wear from visitors, UNESCO, along with Japanese and Nepalese officials, supported Coningham and colleagues as they documented conditions at Lumbini and investigated the history underneath the layers of brick structures left from Ashoka's era.
The research was also supported by the National Geographic Society.
"We had almost unique access to the site that probably won't come again for another generation," Coningham says. "For that reason, we made our work completely open and transparent to pilgrims. Their experiences were quite moving to see as we did our work."
Ancient Tree Shrine
Digging beneath a central shrine, the researchers uncovered postholes pointing to a wooden railing surrounding a tree shrine and dating to around 550 B.C., says Coningham. They also found an older brick structure.
The center of the shrine was unroofed, the team found, and contained mineralized tree roots, surrounded by clay floors worn smooth by visitors. It was likely an ancient bodhigara, or tree shrine.
The tree roots appear to have been fertilized, and although bodhigara are found in older Indian traditions, the shrine lacked the signs of sacrifices or offerings found at such sites.
"It was very clean, in fact, which points to the Buddhist tradition of nonviolence and nonofferings," says Coningham.
The team zeroed in on the shrine's age with radiocarbon dating of charcoal from the wooden postholes and optically stimulated luminescence dating, a method that reveals radioactive decay times of elements in the soil to reveal when it was last on the surface.
Overall, Coningham argues, excavations at the site point to its cultivation starting around 1,000 B.C., followed by the development of a Buddhist monastery-like community by the the sixth century B.C.
Scholarly Caution
"The new evidence from this project shows that this ritual activity was taking place centuries prior to the Asokan levels and this is really significant and interesting," Young says.
Julia Shaw, a lecturer in South Asian archaeology at University College London, called the claims for a wooden railing surrounding a possible tree shrine convincing but speculative.
Pilgrims meditate at the wall below the nativity scene within the Maya Devi Temple at Lumbini, Nepal. The remains of the earliest temples at the site are in the background.
PHOTOGRAPH BY IRA BLOCK, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Pilgrims meditate in the Maya Devi Temple at Lumbini, Nepal. The remains of the earliest temples at the site are in the background.
She was cautious about the oldest Buddhist shrine claim.
"The worship of trees, often at simple altars, was a ubiquitous feature of ancient Indian religions, and given the degree of overlap between Buddhist ritual and pre-existing traditions, it is also possible that what is being described represents an older tree shrine quite disconnected from the worship of the historical Buddha," Shaw says.
"Still, it does indeed present some new insights into the archaeology of Indian ritual in general," she adds.
Coningham called the chance to study the site and contribute toward Lumbini's conservation important, particularly due to its growing popularity as a pilgrimage site.  By 2020, more than four million pilgrims are expected to visit.
"It was amazingly busy at times, people praying and meditating," Coningham says. "It was challenging and exciting, working on a living religious site."

'Earliest shrine' uncovered at Buddha's birthplace


Archaeologists Robin Coningham (left) and Kosh Prasad Acharya direct excavations within the Maya Devi Temple, while Thai monks meditateThe remains lay buried beneath the present day Maya Devi Temple

Related Stories

Archaeologists digging at Buddha's birthplace have uncovered remains of the "earliest ever Buddhist shrine".
They unearthed a 6th Century BC timber structure buried within the Maya Devi Temple at Lumbini in Nepal.
The shrine appears to have housed a tree. This links to the Buddha nativity story - his mother gave birth to him while holding on to a tree branch.
Its discovery may settle the dispute over the birth date of the Buddha, the team reports in the journal Antiquity.
Radiocarbon
Every year thousands of Buddhists make a holy pilgrimage to Lumbini - long identified as the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Buddha.

Lumbini

  • Located in the south-western Nepali plains 300km from Kathmandu and very close to India's border
  • Birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, who later become the Buddha
  • Designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1997
  • Surrounded by large zone in which only monasteries can be built and no commercial premises
  • The site has a number of ancient ruins of monasteries, a sacred Bo Tree and a bathing pool
Yet despite the many texts chronicling his life and teachings, it is still uncertain when he lived.
Estimates for his birth stretch as far back as 623 BC, but many scholars believed 390-340 BC a more realistic timeframe.
Until now, the earliest evidence of Buddhist structures at Lumbini dated no earlier than the 3rd Century BC, in the era of the emperor Ashoka.
To investigate, archaeologists began excavating at the heart of the temple - alongside meditating monks, nuns and pilgrims.
They unearthed a wooden structure with a central void which had no roof. Brick temples built later above the timber were also arranged around this central space.
To date the buildings, fragments of charcoal and grains of sand were tested using a combination of radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence techniques.
"Now, for the first time, we have an archaeological sequence at Lumbini that shows a building there as early as the 6th century BC," said archaeologist Prof Robin Coningham of Durham University, who co-led the international team, supported by the National Geographic Society.
Thai monks inside the Maya Devi Temple meditate over the remains of the oldest Buddhist shrine in the worldThe holy site remained open for meditation while archaeologists excavated
"This is the earliest evidence of a Buddhist shrine anywhere in the world.
"It sheds light on a very long debate, which has led to differences in teachings and traditions of Buddhism.
"The narrative of Lumbini's establishment as a pilgrimage site under Ashokan patronage must be modified since it is clear that the site had already undergone embellishment for centuries."
The dig also detected signs of ancient tree roots in the wooden building's central void - suggesting it was a tree shrine.
Tradition records that Queen Maya Devi gave birth to the Buddha while grasping the branch of a tree within the Lumbini Garden.
The discovery could aid conservation efforts at the holy site - which has been neglected despite its Unesco World Heritage status.
"These discoveries are very important to better understand the birthplace of the Buddha," said Ram Kumar Shrestha, Nepal's minister of culture, tourism and civil aviation.
"The government of Nepal will spare no effort to preserve this significant site."
Monks within the Maya Devi Temple at Lumbini in NepalArchaeologists hope their discovery will aid conservation efforts at the site
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25088960

New finds at Lumbini may push Buddha's birth to 6th century BC



http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/New-finds-at-Lumbini-may-push-Buddhas-birth-to-6th-century-BC/articleshow/26406078.cms?

A shrine within a shrine reveals evidence of Buddha's birth

New evidence of Buddha's birthplace
Thai Monks on the walkways around the Maya Devi temple at Lumbini in Nepal. Archaeologists work at the tree shrine trench in the foreground. (Ira Block / November 25, 2013)



Ancient bricks, tile roofing and wood charcoal discovered beneath a Nepalese pilgrimage site are providing new evidence for the time of Buddha's birth, according to archaeologists.
In research published Monday in the journal Antiquity, scholars wrote that the evidence supports a 6th century BC nativity for the Buddha.
A precise date of birth remains unknown. Historians have wavered over dates ranging between 623 BC and 340 BC.
Much of the confusion has to do with the lack of a written record. While inscriptions on monuments that were paid for and erected by the Indian emperor Asoka, or Ashoka, in the 3rd century BC provide some clues, earlier evidence is harder to come by, researchers say.
The Antiquity paper focused on recent archaeological work at the Maya Devi Temple at Lumbini, said to be the site of Buddha's birth. The dig, which was financed by the Japanese and Nepalese governments and the National Geographic Society, was done within the shrine, a UNESCO world heritage site.
Robin Coningham, the paper's lead author and professor of archeology at Durham University in Britain, said the dig revealed a previously undiscovered temple build of wood beneath a succession of later brick temples. 
The original timber structure appears to have been built around an open space that likely held a tree, the authors wrote.
"This central portion of the temple had always been open to the elements. It had never been covered by a roof," Coningham said. "Also, the team found fragments of mineralized tree roots."
According to Buddhist tradition, Siddhartha Gautama, as he was known before enlightenment, was born in a garden, beneath a tree. Immediately after his delivery, Buddha stood and walked as his mother, Queen Maya Devi, held a tree branch for support.
Coningham said that because of this tradition, it was not surprising that a tree would feature prominently in the shrine.
"This is one of those rare occasions when belief, tradition, archeology and science actually come together, because here we have a very early shrine built around a tree," Coningham said.
The Lumbini temple is one of four key temples associated with the life of Buddha, or "enlightened one." The others are Bodh Gaya, where he attained enlightenment; Sarnath, where he first preached; and Kusingara, where he died at age 80. 
The first Lumbini shrine was likely built by wealthy adherents of Buddhism at a time when the religion was considered a cult. At the time of his death, Buddha is said to have recommended that all Buddhists visit "Lumbini."
Subsequent shrines were constructed with large open areas as well, researchers said.
At some point the temple was forgotten and overgrown by jungle. It was rediscovered in 1869 and found to have a large sandstone column with an inscription that called the site Lumbini and said that Ashoka had visited there. 
Researchers said most of those earlier shrines at the site were covered by more recent construction, and an examination of the buried materials was not possible until now.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims visit Lumbini each year, and the temple remained open to archaeologists as they conducted their work.
"All of this work occurred within a living temple," Coningham said.
Researchers used fragements of charcoal from the early wooden temple and grains of sand to date the structure. The tests involved "a combination of radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence techniques," the authors said.



http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-buddha-birth-site-20131125,0,6638758.story#ixzz2llcupr3U

Full text pdf file: http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/subscriptions/howtoaccess.htm?PageWanted=http://antiquity.ac.uk/Ant/087/1104/ant0871104.pdf  (NEEDS SUBSCRIPTION)
Mirror: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4BAzCi4O_l4cF9lZVBabHRQamM/edit?usp=sharing
Volume: 87  Number: 338  Page: 1104–1123 
The earliest Buddhist shrine: excavating the birthplace of the Buddha, Lumbini (Nepal)
R.A.E. Coningham1, K.P. Acharya2, K.M. Strickland3, C.E. Davis1, M.J. Manuel1, I.A. Simpson4, K. Gilliland4, J. Tremblay1, T.C. Kinnaird5 and D.C.W. Sanderson5
1Department of Archaeology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK, 2Pashupati Area Development Trust, Kathmandu, Nepal, 3Orkney College, University of the Highlands and Islands, East Road, Kirkwall, Orkney KW15 1LX, UK, 4School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK, and5Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride G75 OQF, UK

http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/087/ant0871104.htm
buddha

Kanchi Acharya framed under a disgusting Christian conspiracy & vote-bank secularists like Soniaji -- Ashokji Singhal

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We pray to the paramaatman to give us the strength to protect dharma. With Devi's anugraham, everything is possible.

Kalyanaraman

The verdict in the Puducherry court has vindicated that a Hindu Sanyasi had been purposely framed in a false case.  Sri Ashok Singhal in a statement expressed his opinion that the arrest and belittling of Kanchi Shankaracharya is clearly a Christian conspiracy to run down Hindu holy men and Hindu society, a habit of Sonia’s regime.  Sri Singal hoped that the secular pseudo-secular brigade of Sonia, Mulayam Singh Yadav and others will be routed by the Hindu society in the forthcoming Parliamentary polls.  
Press : Ma. Sri Ashokji Singhal (VHP) on acquittal of Ven. Kanchi Sankaracharyas. They were framed under a Christian conspiracy.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Press statement issued by VHP Patron Ma. Ashokji Singhal

VEN. SANKARACHARYA SWAMI JAYENDRA SARASWATI JI WAS FRAMED UNDER A CHRISTIAN CONSPIRACY

- Ma. Ashokji Singhal, Patron, VHP

AllahabadNov. 27, 2013 – A Court of Law in Puducherry today acquitted Ven. Jagadguru Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham Sri Jayendra Saraswatiji Mahaswamigal of murder charges. Now it is clear that the then Christian Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Late Mr. Rajasekhar Reddy had, under a big conspiracy, arrested Ven. Sankaracharyaji in the dark of night on the eve of Diwali – the biggest Hindu festival (of Lights) in 2004 at Hyderabad. The arrest was made under an agenda to humiliate the topmost Mahatma of Hindus. 

Ever since Soniaji has got planted in Bharat she has been engaged in crushing our holistic, altruistic and syncretic Dharmic and Cultural beliefs, convictions and affiance. The Ven. Acharyas of the famous and leading 2500 year old Adi Sankara School of Thought, who have been looked up to and adored by our society as virtually God in human form, were not only insulted but the respect and veneration of the society for them was laughed at by the media. 

It was all under a deliberate, well-planned and open Christian agenda to destroy the veneration and adoration of society for the Saints, Acharyas, Mahants and Mahatmas of the indigenous traditions of Bharat. The conspirators know that in order to be able to get hold of the power, assets and resources of the great country Bharat (India) they have to completely uproot the Sant Fraternity and the pro-Hindutva organizations here. The proselytizing, land & economy-grabbing Christian forces have, therefore, been hatching conspiracies to show our Sant Fraternity on the wrong side law so that the society would look down upon them. With the clear and unblemished acquittal of Ven. Swami Jayendra Saraswatiji, this conspiracy has now been exposed. Conspiracies are being hatched to declare Pragya Bharati, Aseemanandji, and now I can also say, Asaram Bapu who has crores of followers in Bharat, as criminals. 

The Hindu society can never forgive this disgusting conspiracy of Soniaji. She has to account for it sometime. The time has come our society gets fully exercised about the Vote Bank Secularists like Soniaji and the atheist organizations including Mulayam Singh and other Burqa secularists that have been proactive in crushing the indigenous culture and moorings of Bharat and totally uproot them in the Mahabharat of the 2014 Parliamentary elections. It is only then that our Hindu society and our Sants can remain safe and secure.        

- Prakash Sharma (Advocate), Spokesperson, VHP

Sankararaman murder case: Court acquits all accused including Kanchi seers 27/11/13 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sankararaman-murder-case-Court-acquits-all-accused-including-Kanchi-seers/articleshow/26456224.cms

PUDUCHERRY: A court in Puducherry on Wednesday acquitted all the accused, including Kanchi seers Jayendra Saraswathi and Vijayendra Saraswathi, in thesensationalSankararaman murder case.

All the accused except an absconding person were present in the court when Puducherry principal district and sessions judge C S Murugan pronounced the verdict.

The judgment came more than nine years after A Sankararaman, manager of Sri Varadharajaswamy temple in Kancheepuram, was murdered.

The judge said there was no substantial and corroborative evidence to prove the murder charge against the accused. The court said the motive for the commission of the murder was not proved since Padma, wife of Sankararaman and witness number 1, and her son Anand Sharma, who is witness number 3, failed to support the prosecution case.

The judge also said the chief investigation officer admittedly failed to do investigation with respect to the final letter (letter of motive) dated August 30, 2004, alleged to have been sent by Sankararaman.

The murder case that attained nationwide attention took several twists and turns, including prosecution witnesses turning hostile during the course of examination and reexamination.

Sankararaman who had levelled charges of financial mismanagement against the Kanchi seers, was found murdered on September 3, 2004. He was believed to have been murdered by an armed gang.

The Kanchi seers were charged with criminal conspiracy, misleading the court by giving false information, criminal trespass and supply of funds to carry out the criminal activity.

The Tamil Nadu police arrested the senior seer on November 11, 2004, from Mehboobnagar in Andhra Pradesh. The junior seer was arrested on January 10, 2005. The arrests evoked widespread uproar from pro-Hindu parties and outfits. The murder and arrests happened during the previous tenure of J Jayalalithaa's AIADMK.

Police arrested 22 others, including junior seer's brother and the mutt manager. However, the senior seer was granted bail on January 10, 2005. The junior seer got bail on February 10 the same year. One of the accused, M Kathiravan, was murdered in March this year.

The Supreme Court in October, 2005, transferred the case from a Chengalpet court to the Puducherry court following a special leave petition, which claimed that the atmosphere in the state was not conducive for a fair and free trial. The apex court also ordered appointment of a special prosecutor from Puducherry to conduct the trial to replace prosecutors from Tamil Nadu.

The Puducherry principal district and sessions court began the trail in November, 2005. Four judges - M Chinapandi, D Krishnaraja, T Ramasamy and C S Murugan - heard the trial that had lasted for eight years.

The Madras high court stayed the trial from August, 2011, to February, 2012, following a petition alleging that the key accused had attempted to influence the judgment. The court directed a district judge to conduct an inquiry into the allegations. The judge submitted the inquiry report to the registrar general (vigilance), who in turn submitted the report to the administrative committee comprising of seven judges.

The court lifted the stay on the trial in the Puducherry court based on the inquiry findings and later transferred the then principal district sessions judge, T Ramasamy, who was trying the case, to Perambalur and posted Murugan in his place.

As many as 187 witnesses were examined and re-examined by the prosecution and defence counsels. Eighty-two witnesses and a lone approver, Ravi Subramanian, turned hostile.

​Sankararaman murder case: Timeline
September 3, 2004: A Sankararaman, manager of the Sri Varadharajaswamy temple in Kancheepuram is found murdered on the temple premises. An armed gang is believed to have murdered him.

November 11, 2004: Senior seer Jayendra Saraswathi is arrested from Mehboobnagar, Andhra Pradesh.

January 10, 2005: Junior seer Vijayendra Saraswathi is arrested

September 3, 2004 to January 10, 2005: Twenty-four persons, including the two seers and two other mutt officials and brother of the junior seer, are arrested

January 10, 2005: Jayendra Saraswati is granted bail

February 10, 2005: Vijayendra Saraswati gets bail

October 26, 2005: The Supreme Court transfers the case from a Chengalpet court to a Puducherry court on a special leave petition filed by the senior seer. On his plea, the apex court orders appointment of public prosecutor from Puducherry to conduct the trial

November 27, 2005: Trial begins

November 2005 to November 2013: A total of 187 witnesses are examined and re-examined by the prosecution and defence counsels. Eighty-two witnesses and a lone approver, Ravi Subramanian, turn hostile

November 2005 to November 2013: Four judges, Chinnapandi, D Krishnaraja, T Ramasamy and C S Murugan, hear the case

August, 2011: Madras HC stays trial after a petition alleges attempts to influence case

November, 2011: A district judge submits report to the registrar general (vigilance) on the allegation

February, 2012: HC replaces judge T Ramasamy with C S Murugan

August, 2012: A local court directs the authorities concerned to hand over copies of audio and video cassettes of the case proceedings to Anand Sharma following a petition

August 2012: The Madras high court stays a lower court order to provide copies to Anand Sharma following a petition by one of the accused people M Kathiravan

March, 2013: M Kathiravan murdered

November 12, 2013: Principal district and sessions court announces that the verdict will be pronounced on November 27

November 27, 2013Principal district and sessions court acquits all accused, including Kanchi seers.

Who owns Tehelka? Tejpal arrest imminent? Psecularatti with their knickers in a twist

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Published: November 27, 2013 17:36 IST | Updated: November 27, 2013 18:12 IST

Parikkar rejects Tejpal’s charges

PTI
Rejecting allegations of showing undue interest in and interfering with the probe, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said the state government has a duty to do justice to the girl in the case of alleged sexual assault by Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal. File photo
The HinduRejecting allegations of showing undue interest in and interfering with the probe, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said the state government has a duty to do justice to the girl in the case of alleged sexual assault by Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal. File photo
Rejecting allegations of showing undue interest in and interfering with the probe, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said the state government has a duty to do justice to the girl in the case of alleged sexual assault by Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal.
“I am the administrator of the state. As Chief Minister of the state my job is to ensure justice to the girl...if what she says has legal support to ensure that justice is made out,” he told a press conference here.
He denied there was any pressure from any quarters on the Goa police investigating the case of the alleged assault by Mr. Tejpal on a woman journalist of his office in an elevator in a Goa hotel during a Thinkfest organised by his magazine Tehelka earlier this month.
“The state government does not intend to monitor (the case) except asking the police department for a speedy disposal of the case. I have told the police not to take any pressure from any quarters,” he said.
Replying to questions about Mr. Tejpal’s charge in his bail petition before the Delhi High Court that the BJP government was targeting him, Mr. Parrikar said he (Tejpal) did not realise that when he held the function nor when he “confessed” or when he went on “sanyas”. “So suddenly he has realised it is the BJP government,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the investigating officer takes the final decision as to who should be called or not for questioning.
“I don’t have the time, patience or inclination to monitor the investigation of the case. It is for the investigating officer to conduct a fare probe.
“When the girl has come out openly and is cooperating with the police, it is the duty of our state government to give her justice,” Mr. Parrikar said ruling out any vendetta.
He said that the girl has arrived in Goa after police requested her and is giving statement before the police.
Asked about BJP leader Sushma Swaraj’s tweet this morning that a Union Cabinet Minister is “shielding” Mr. Tejpal, the Chief Minister said that she was free to comment but her views will not influence the state government.
“It is the duty of the state government to ensure justice. Justice will be through legal procedures and not otherwise. So far Goa police has not got any pressure. When a major crime is involved or committed and prima facie it is there can I not say it” he said.
He also said that in a bail petition an accused always makes lot of allegations. “I feel psychologically his guilt conscience made him take self sanyas for six months. It is a testimony to his guilt conscience. Probably he thought the issue will cool down after this.”
Mr. Parrikar said that Mr. Tejpal’s email (accepting guilt) was not written by BJP nor was his resignation or the apology and the SMSs he had sent.
He said Mr. Tejpal’s sudden suspicion toward Goa police must have emerged out of the advice given by his advisers or he must have realised that he was getting sucked into deep trouble.
Mr. Tejpal went for anticipatory bail even before Goa police summoned him.
On Mr. Tejpal’s claim that his organisation’s sting operation against Bangaru Laxman, who had to resign as BJP president, was one of the reasons behind the Goa police action against him, the Chief Minister countered, “How does it make any difference in the crime committed by him, if he has committed.
“He himself has said he has resigned for six months. Prima facie a clear case is there. Does Mr. Tejpal accept that he is a Congress stooge. First let him explain this.”
Mr. Parrikar said it would pain one to read what the girl has said in her complaint. “It is not easy for a girl to come out and say these things. This is the positive outcome of what happened on December 16 (gangrape of a girl in a bus in Delhi). Now girls are coming out very openly without fear.”
He said investigation will take its own course and since it was a sensitive case he appealed to the media to allow the law enforcement agencies to do proper investigation in a legal way.
Asked whether a fasttrack court will be set up to try this case, he said there was no need for such a court in Goa where cases are disposed of quickly.
Mr. Parrikar said that the victim has recorded a statement before a magistrate under section 164 of the CrPC in Goa.
Replying to another question, he said there were a number of cases in which Supreme Court has said how investigation has to be conducted.
Mr. Parrikar said initially Ms. Shoma Chaudhury had said she would not cooperate with Goa police but she has now fully cooperated with the police.
He said that the previous Congress government has given Rs 45 lakh for Thinkfest event. But the BJP government sanctioned only Rs 3 lakh as a tourism promotion initiative last year. This year the event was not funded despite a request.
“The logic was simple, why should government fund the event that can generate money on its own,” he said.

Published: November 27, 2013 18:11 IST | Updated: November 27, 2013 18:21 IST

HC rejects Tejpal’s plea for interim protection from arrest

PTI
Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal’s plea for four-week interim protection against his arrest in the woman journalist sexual assault case was on Wednesday rejected by the Delhi High Court. File photo
The HinduTehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal’s plea for four-week interim protection against his arrest in the woman journalist sexual assault case was on Wednesday rejected by the Delhi High Court. File photo
Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal’s plea for four-week interim protection against his arrest in the woman journalist sexual assault case was on Wednesday rejected by the Delhi High Court which reserved its order on his anticipatory bail petition.
Justice Sunita Gupta will pronounce the order on November 29 on the anticipatory bail plea of Mr. Tejpal which was strongly opposed by the Goa police.
While Mr. Tejpal said the victim’s version has to be taken with a “pinch of salt”, the Goa police said, “There is no question of consent. This incident happened to the hapless victim.”
“This offence shows the depravity of highest order by a man who is having control over the victim,” senior advocateMukul Rohatgi, appearing for Goa Police, said.
Mr. Tejpal said the story of complainant needed to be taken with a “pinch of salt” and there are embellishments in the FIR.
“I am a man enough to own up my mistakes,” senior advocate K.T.S. Tulsi, appearing for Mr. Tejpal, said.
Besides anticipatory bail, Mr. Tejpal had also sought interim protection against arrest for a period of four weeks.
During the hearing, Mr. Tulsi orally submitted that the plea for anticipatory bail be treated as a protection from arrest for four weeks.
He said he was seeking temporary protection from arrest till he reaches the competent court.
He argued that the police in order to harass and humiliate Mr. Tejpal has neither filed a status report nor told him the status of CCTV footage.
“Let them give CCTV footage to the court. Truth must not be obfuscated to serve political purposes and that is not the role of the police,” the counsel said.
“Registration of FIR under section 376 of IPC is a complete abuse of their power by police at the behest of political masters,” he said.
The Goa police has registered the FIR against Mr. Tejpal for allegedly sexually assaulting his junior on November 7 and 8 at a five-star hotel in Panaji.
The alleged incident happened in the hotel lift. The victim on Tuesday recorded her statement before the Goa police in Mumbai.

Published: November 27, 2013 18:21 IST | Updated: November 27, 2013 18:21 IST

Tehelka case: Sibal accuses BJP, RSS of vilifying him

PTI
Stung by BJP’s attack in the Tehelka case, Law Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday hit back at the principal Opposition and the RSS, accusing them of vilifying his name and said magazine’s editor Tarun Tejpal was not related to him and he does not hold shares in the entity.
Hours after Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj tweeted that a “Union Cabinet Minister who is the founder and patron of Tehelka is shielding Tarun Tejpal,” Mr. Sibal said leaders who are “tangentially talking about me should name me if they have the courage.”
Ms. Swaraj had not named anyone in the tweet.
The Congress leader also referred to a message in circulation in the social media which said that Mr. Tejpal is the son of Mr. Sibal’s real sister and that the Union minister held 80 per cent shares in Tehelka.
“There is a message going around in the social media which says that Tarun Tejpal is the son of a Punjab Congress Committee member and an MLA. I don’t know...
“Then it says his mother is the real sister of Kapil Sibal. Now, I am sorry, I did not expect the RSS and the BJP to stoop to this level. They can attack me politically, but they should not bring my family into it,” he told reporters here.
Mr. Sibal said he has only one sister, Asha Nanda, who lives in Maharani Bagh here. “I have no other sister,” he said.
“...because I have been attacking (Narendra) Modi and attacking the BJP, obviously for them this is the only way to spread lie and to vilify my name. And if they have the courage they should name me. These political leaders who are tangentially talking about me should name me if they have the courage,” he said.
Referring to claims that he held 80 per cent shares in Tehelka magazine till 2011, he said, “I don’t even have a single share. No share has ever been allotted to me.”
Mr. Sibal said he does not believe in “this kind of political discourse” ahead of Lok Sabha elections.
“What if I were to say, remember that image of the Leader of the Opposition with her head on shielding the Reddy brothers. But this is not the kind of political discourse we want in this country. We are going into a general election, let’s talk about issues,” he said.
Mr. Sibal said opposition parties should “not reduce the general election as if you have applied for a life-long patent for lies. Maybe the RSS has that life-long pattern, but at least the Leader of the Opposition should not apply for the licence of that patent.”
Referring to the message in circulation in the social media which claims that under such circumstances, justice could not be given to the junior journalist who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Tejpal, he said it was unfair to drag him in the issue.
“Now, in such a sensitive matter, when courts are dealing with it, these people are trying to politicise the issue and bring my fair name into the picture merely because they know that I state facts about their leader,” he said.
On Ms. Swaraj’s tweet, Mr. Sibal said “there is someone in BJP who has said that I am shielding Mr. Tejpal. That person should have the courage to name me.”
“I think that at least the leaders of opposition of political parties, those who claim to have been in the law should be a little more sensitive in a matter which involves a young girl and not politicise these matters,” he said.

Who is the real owner of Tehelka?

  | New Delhi, November 27, 2013 | 17:35
The investments in Tarun Tejpal's companies are raising suspicion. Documentary evidence in possession of Headlines Today shows that the venture Tehelka.com Private Ltd. has Buffalo Networks Private Ltd as a  major shareholder. However, according to the records of the Registrar of Companies, the company Buffalo Networks Private Ltd. is a dormant company.

According to the RoC records, out of the 10,300 equity shares Tarun Tejpal holds only 200 shares. Whereas, K D Singh of Al Chemist holds only 100 shares. Rest of the 10,000 shares are in possession of Buffalo Networks Private Ltd, which according to government records is dormant.

The address of Buffalo Networks according to the RoC records is C-1, Soami Nagar, New Delhi - 17. Headlines Today went to this address to do a physical verification of the registered address.

According to one of the occupants, there is no company by the name Buffalo Networks Private Ltd. operating from this building. In 2007 the plot was sold to a builder who had constructed apartments.  However, the occupant confirmed that the gun license to Tarun Tejpal had been issued from this address. Around two years back, the occupant had received a letter from ACP licensing, South Delhi requesting Tarun Tejpal to renew the gun license that he was holding.
Tarun Tejpal
Tarun Tejpal


The authorized share capital of Tehelka.com Private Ltd. is Rs. 25 lakh and the paid up share capital is Rs. 1.03 lakh. The directors on the board are Tarun Tejpal and his brother Minty Tejpal.

Experts opine that usually a dormant company is the one where there are no significant transactions during the last two years and/or statutory returns are not filed within government.

Experts also opine that it is difficult to believe that the major shareholder of such a large company is a dormant company where no one knows who the real owners are.

Experts  have also raised questions on who is attending the statutory meetings (AGM) of the board of the company when it is not clear on who are the real shareholders.

It is important to note that once the company is declared dormant, the documents of the company are no longer in public domain.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/tehelka-ownership-tarun-tejpal-buffalo-networks/1/326779.html

Tehelka sexual assault case: Is Tarun Tejpal's arrest imminent?

  | Panaji, November 27, 2013 | 17:48
Tarun Tejpal
Even as the statement of the woman journalist,who accused Tehelka's editor Tarun Tejpal of sexually assaulting her, is still being recorded , the Goa Police has given the besieged editor a Thursday 3 pm deadline to appear before them for questioning.

While briefing the media in Panaji, the Goa DIG OP Mishra said that the investigating officer is summoning the accused in the case to appear before him on Thursday at 3 pm. Meanwhile, the victim has been summoned too, but before 3 pm. The Goa Police has requested the media to keep away and not mob or hound the complainant journalist. The Police has even warned the media that they will not hesitate to act is their request to leave the victim alone is ignored.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court has also rejected Tejpal's plea for interim protection against arrest till it pronounces an order November 29, which means that Tejpal may most likely be taken into custody by Goa Police on Thursday.
Victim breaks down while narrating how drunk Tejpal molested her

The statement of the victim was recorded on Tuesday morning at her residence in Mumbai suburbs. The team headed by Crime Branch Police Inspector Sunita Sawant started recording the statement at 11.45 am and continued till 2 pm to record statement of more than seven pages. The email complaint copy letter is also part of the statement.

Goa police sources who are part of this sensitive investigation reveals that the 23-year-old victim was crying through out while recording the statement. In the statement she narrated the whole incident which took place on November 7 and 8 of Think Fest event of Tehelka Group at Grand Hyatt hotel located at Bambolim of South Goa.

She handed over the complaint email copy which she wrote to her Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhary complaining about the sexual assault by Tarun Tejpal in the hotel elevator. She mentioned in her statement how Tejpal even after her protest was touching and kissing her until the elevator at block 7 stopped and she managed to run from there. She pleaded Tejpal saying he is like a father figure to her and also childhood friend of Tejpal's daughter and what he is doing is wrong. She said Tejpal was drunk and for two consecutive days he tried to sexually assault her even after the protest and after reminding him that my father is his friend.
OPINION: Nothing inevitable about this scandal

In her statement she says that she did not got any support from Shoma Chaudhary but few colleagues of the organisation were very supportive who helped her to fight this battle. After the statement was recorded she asked the investigating officer that will she get the justice or not and started crying again when family members came and convinced her not to cry. Goa police is still in Mumbai and will be bringing the victim to Goa to record her statement in front of Magistrate. On other hand Goa police has issued a summon to Tejpal to appear before them for questioning in this case.
This is a copy of the FIR that the woman journalist filed against Tarun Tejpal with Goa Police:
 


http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/tehelka-rape-case-tarun-tejpals-arrest-imminent/1/326782.html

Tehelka live: HC reserves bail order, Goa Police summon Tejpal

by Nov 27, 2013
5.27 pm: Goa police summons Tejpal by 3 pm tomorrow

Goa DIG OP Mishra has said that the investigative officer has asked Tarun Tejpal to appear before him by tomorrow by 3 pm.

"The summon has been conveyed to Tejpal through email and telephone," Mishra said.

5.17 pm: Delhi HC reserves order on Tejpal's bail plea till 29 November

The Delhi High Court has reserved its order on Tarun Tejpal's bail plea till 29 November. However, he has no legal protection from arrest.

In such a situation Tejpal can approach the Supreme Court for interim protection.

The Goa police has also sought for the case to be shifted to Goa.

5. 01 pm: Tejpal seeks interim shield against arrest for 4 weeks

Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal has sought interim protection against arrest for a period of four weeks, PTI tweeted.

"The police cannot even make a case of outraging someone's modesty against me. State's suo motu complaint against me is politically motivated," Tejpal said during the bail hearing.

He also said that her fears that CCTV footage proving him innocent may be destroyed.

4.07 pm: Don't hold a single share in Tehelka, says Kapil Sibal

Kapil Sibal today slammed rumours that Tarun Tejpal's mother was his sister and said he did not own a single share in Tehelka

"Such lies should not be spread. It is an RSS patent to do such things. But I didn't know that the Opposition leader would say such a thing," he said.

Sibal refuted charges by the BJP saying, " I don't have a single share in Tehelka."

He also said that such a sensitive issue involving a young girl should not be politicised.

3.30 pm: I am not here as a BJP leader, but as CM, says Parrikar

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today dismissed any political conspiracy in his government's suo-moto action against Tehelka founder and editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal.

Addressing a press conference in Panaji, Parrikar said his government was not under any influence whatsoever and he has also asked the police department not to buckle under pressure.

When asked what his opinion about senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj's comment on Congress trying to shield Tejpal, Parrikar said," Sushma is a senior leader... her view does not influence the functioning of my government."

On being asked whether he was taking extra interest in the case, Parrikar said he was not interested in holding the press conference but it was because of the media that he had to come out and make a statement.

"It's as if Tejpal has suddenly realised there is a BJP government in the state... Or in his section (Congress) someone may have advised him... There are many lawyers there," she said.

"My phone keeps getting jammed with calls and SMS from journalists.. that's why I am holding a press conference, else I'm not interested," he said.

2.45 pm: My lawyer friend backstabbed me, says Shoma Chaudhury

Charged with trying to hush-up the sexual assault charges leveled against her editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal, managing editor of Tehelka Shoma Chaudhury has now reportedly accused a 'lawyer friend' of 'backstabbing' her.

According to a Hindustan Times report, Chaudhury had consulted her friend after a journalist alleged sexual assault against Tejpal. Her friend first advised her to get an unconditional apology from Tejpal, but later switched sides.

"Shoma told us that after the victim first lodged the complaint she (Shoma) consulted this lawyer who she considered a friend and who had advised the magazine previously on a number of issues. It was on the advice of the lawyer that Chaudhary said she had demanded an apology from Tarun,” a journalist present at a staff meeting, who did not want to be identified, told Hindustan Times, adding that Chaudhury then said that this particular friend later 'backstabbed' her and switched sides.

1.49 pm: Shoma Choudhury hits out at 'malicious campaign' against her

Tehelka Managing editor Shoma Chaudhury has made a public statement via Twitter, rejecting allegations that she was involved in publicly 'shaming' the woman journalist who has accused editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal of sexually assaulting her.

The short statement, tweeted by the official Tehelka Twitter handle in three parts read, " I strongly reject the allegations in the media that I am involved in any manner with any slander, intimidation or character assassination of the complainant journalist. This is a malicious campaign that has no basis in truth."

Chaudhury has been pilloried on social media for statements that have been construed as being less than supportive to the victim, and blindly loyal to Tejpal. She went on record as saying that Tejpal had 'another' version of events that deserved to be heard. She has also been questioned for seeking to 'cover' up the event instead of filing a police complaint upon receiving the victim's letter.

12.05 pm: Sushma says Congress shielding Tarun Tejpal

The BJP-Congress slugfest continues over the Tehelka scandal with senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj alleging that the Congress party was shielding Tejpal.

"Union Cabinet Minister who is the founder and patron of Tehelka is shielding Tarun Tejpal," she tweeted, refraining from naming the minister.

However, Swaraj could have been referring to Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal who has clarified that he has nothing to do with the publication.

"I don't have any stake in Tehelka," Sibal told the Indian Express.

 

11.37 am: Woman journalist records statement before Magistrate

The woman journalist who has accused Tehelka founder and editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal of sexual assault has recorded her statement before a magistrate in Goa, CNN-IBN reported.

On Tuesday, a team of Goa Police were in Mumbai to record the woman's statement where she reportedly corroborated the details in the FIR filed by the police.

With her statement recorded, Tarun Tejpal's arrest is imminent.

Meanwhile, news reports have said that Tehelka's managing editor Shoma Chaudhury could also be named in the FIR for allegedly concealing evidence, Times Now reported.

10.40 am: Delhi HC defers Tejpal's bail plea hearing

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday deferred till 3.30 pm Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal's anticipatory bail plea hearing  in a case of alleged sexual assault.

Tejpal had moved the court on Monday seeking anticipatory bail, but the matter was posted for hearing on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the court refused to grant interim relief to Tejpal and issued notice to the Goa Police in the case, posting the hearing for today (Wednesday).

In his petition, Tejpal had told the Delhi High Court that the 'victim' continued partying even after the incident, which called into question whether or not it really happened.

10.14 am: Not just Think fest, Tejpal to soon set up exclusive club Prufrock

The Think festival, organised every year by Tarun Tejpal's company Thinkworks and the setting for the sexual assault allegations Tejpal now faces, was not the only intellectual talk-shop the former editor of Tehelka championed.

Before being murdered last year, liquor baron Ponty Chadha agreed to invest a large sum of money in Tejpal's latest venture - Prufrock, an exclusive “private club” for “select urban Indians”.

A few months back, several prospective members of the club received invitations by email from Tejpal, promising celebrity chef-cooked meals, fine drinks, eminent personalities from across the world and a select group of “scrupulously monitored” members.

9.23 am: Tejpal case must be fast-tracked, says Goa CM

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar wants the sexual assault case against Tehelka editor-in-chief to be fast-tracked. He also rejected Tarun Tejpal's claim that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was pressuring police to act against him.

"Such high profile cases should not be dragged on. They are basically a shocker to public faith," Parrikar said, suggesting that fast tracking the case was a possibility.

"I don't come under pressure from anyone. My only instruction to them (police) is to not get pressurized due to the position of the accused. Do it without fear and favour. That's all," Parrikar said. - IANS

8.15 am: Goa Police summon Tarun Tejpal

Goa Police have reportedly issued summons to Tehelka founder and editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal to be present before investigators and to cooperate with the probe.

On Tuesday, the police issued an alert to all airports and check posts in the country alerting them about Tejpal in case he attempts to flee the country.

A special team of Goa Police had also recorded the statement of the victim in Mumbai.

Updates for 26 November end

10.00 pm: Police complain against Tejpal's relative

The mother of the young woman journalist, who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Tarun Tejpal, today filed a complaint with the Delhi police against the daughter of Tarun Tejpal alleging "intimidation" over the case.

Delhi Police sources said the mother of the journalist came to Pandav Nagar police station in East Delhi and filed a complaint against her stating that she had visited her residence on Tuesday morning, the Indian Express reports.

On Saturday, the victim had issued a statement saying she and her family were being subjected to pressure and intimidation at an "intensely traumatic" time to "protect" Tejpal.

PTI

7.15 pm: Gadkari rubbishes BJP's involvement in Tejpal incident

Former BJP president Nitin Gadkari today brushed aside claims by former Tehelka chief Tarun Tejpal that the party was involved in putting him into trouble due to his alleged involvement in a sexual assault case against a junior colleague in Goa.

"The incident happened in Goa and so obviously the Goa Police will register a case. That Goa is ruled by a BJP government is only incidental. Our government will follow all norms of law in handling the case," Gadkari said.

4.30 pm: Goa Police alert border checkposts, airports

Panaji, DIG, OP Mishra said, "We have alerted all border checkposts and airports to prevent the accused from making any attempt to escape the country."

The accused here is former Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal.

4.05 pm: Victim is lying about Tehelka cover up, says Shoma

Tehelka's managing editor Shoma Chaudhury has now said that the woman journalist who has accused editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal of sexual assault is lying and her statement's cannot be a greater travesty of the truth.

Speaking to Times Now, Chaudhury said from the moment she received the email alleging sexual assault, her response to the victim has been that of immense concern.

"From the time she sent me the email my response to her has been one of immense concern and anxiety to assuage every request that she made...," she said, adding that it was a travesty that people are still accusing her of not standing up for her feminist principles.

On being asked why she didn't approach the police the moment the complaint was made, indicating a cover-up for Tejpal, Chaudhury said, "I didn't go to the cops because of my feminist principles... she (the victim) too didn't want to go... if she is now saying that she wanted to go, it is a lie... the correspondence will bring out the truth."

She further said that she will, in due course of time, make public a detailed response to her (victim's) resignation letter which will make people realise that what she has said is a lie.

"Tejpal stepping down was a global event.. how can anyone call it a cover-up or hushing up? It's sad that after all I have done it has come to a point where she and I stand opposite each other."

2.45 pm: Arrest Tejpal and Shoma, Goa Women's Commission tells police

Goa State Women's Commission on today demanded that Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal be arrested along with the magazine's Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhary for allegedly trying to abet the crime.

"We demand that Tejpal should be arrested immediately for sexually assaulting a woman in the (hotel) lift," GSWC Chairman Vidya Shet Tanavade told PTI today.

Chaudhary, who allegedly abetted the crime by trying to shield Tejpal, should also be booked and arrested, she said.

"Chaudhary knew about this crime much earlier. It was her duty to inform the police. She tried to hush up everything to protect Tejpal. It was unfair on her part to do so, especially she being a woman," Tanavade alleged.

12.58 pm: Goa Police record victim's statement

A team of Goa Police today formally recorded the statement of the woman journalist, who has alleged sexual assault by Tehelka founder and editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal, in Mumbai.

Media reports suggest that the journalist may now have to travel to Goa to record her statement before a magistrate, as required by law.

12.10 pm: Tehelka's senior editor Rana Ayyub quits

Tehelka's senior editor Rana Ayyub has resigned from her post reportedly in protest over how the organisation and its managing editor Shoma Chaudhury have handled the sexual assault case.

Last week, Shougat Dasgupta, Ayesha Siddiqa, Jay Mazoomdaar and Revati Laul had resigned from the organisation.

11.35 am: No interim relief for Tejpal, Delhi HC to hear bail plea tomorrow

The Delhi High Court today refused to hear Tehelka founder and editor Tarun Tejpal's anticipatory bail petition postponing its hearing to Wednesday. The court also rejected Tejpal's plea seeking protection from arrest till the bail hearing comes up on Wednesday.

The court has also issued a notice to the Goa Police, who are currently investigating the case on a suo-moto basis.

Tejpal had on Monday filed a petition before the HC alleging that there was political conspiracy behind the allegations of sexual assault and that the woman journalist was lying as the incident was a 'light hearted banter'.

You can read the full text of his bail petition here.

11.20 am: More trouble for Tehelka as majority stakeholder likely to pull out

Industrialist Kanwar Deep “KD” Singh, who is also a Trinamool Congress MP, and the majority stakeholder in Tehelka through direct and indirect holdings, has decided to exit the venture completely.

According to a report in today's Indian Express, Singh has confirmed that he has around 65 percent stake in Tehelka. “We are going to exit the venture completely. In the past one year, we have divested around 20 percent of it”, the newspaper quotes him as saying.

Read more here.

10.06 am: Still persuading people to be part of probe panel, says Tehelka

Hours after author and feminist Urvashi Butalia said she would not be a part of the sexual harassment committee, Tehelka has issued a statement saying they are still committed to having such a committee to investigate the matter and will try and persuade some to join the panel.

Below is a statement issued by Tehelka this morning:

Since last Thursday, Tehelka has requested several people to be a part of the Sexual Harrassment Enquiry Committee in Tehelka, including eminent people like Urvashi Butalia, Inakshi Ganguly, Sharmila Tagore, Justice Leela Seth, Prem Shankar Jha, Uma Chakravarti, Vrinda Grover, and several others.

Tehelka has also written to the complainant journalist asking her to suggest some names for the committee but she hasn't replied.

However, despite all our efforts, there is a strong sense amongst lawyers and activists that, given that a criminal enquiry by Goa Police was started on Thursday itself and a criminal case has now been filed, an Enquiry Committee would not have any legal standing.

Hence, many of the people Tehelka has approached wish to recuse themselves from the committee. We are trying to persuade them to reconsider and remain committed to having such a committee to investigate this matter.

9.28 am: 'Victim' partied through the night, says Tejpal

Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal has told the Delhi High Court that the 'victim' continued partying even after the incident, which called into question whether or not it really happened.

Tejpal's petition, filed by his lawyers Geeta Luthra and Pramod Dubey, further sought to question how the victim was at "every party and social event in the conference" and also stayed out late into the night.

The petition further states that the first incident, that occurred on the night of 7 November, was "light hearted banter". An obvious refute to the allegation made by the police in the FIR. It also states that the second meeting encounter between Tejpal and the girl took place over just a few seconds. Read the full text of his bail plea here.

8.55 am: Goa Police in Mumbai, to question Tejpal sexual assault victim

A team of Goa Police officials have arrived in Mumbai to record the statement of the woman journalist who has accused Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal of sexual assault.

The Police may then ask the woman to travel to Goa to record her statement again under a Magistrate.

Post this, the police are likely to travel back to New Delhi and question Tejpal.

7.55 am: Urvashi Butalia refuses to head sexual harassment committee

Renowned feminist and author Urvashi Butalia has refused to be a member of the formal complaints committee to probe the charges of sexual assault against Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal saying the panel was now redundant as the due process under law has already begun.

Last Thursday, Tehelka managing editor Shoma Chaudhury had said that a formal complaints committee had been constituted, in accordance to Vishaka guidelines.

The committee, she said, would be presided over by Urvashi Butalia, eminent feminist and publisher, to investigate the matter. The other members of the committee were yet to be announced.

 

 

 

7.10 am:  The organisation has failed me, victim tells Shoma Chaudhury

In a resignation letter to Tehelka's managing editor Shoma Chaudhury, the woman journalist who has accused Tarun Tejpal of sexual assault said she was deeply traumatised by the lack of support offered by Tehelka.

I am resigning from my position as ****** at Tehelka magazine, with immediate effect, because Tehelka's Editor-in-Chief Tarun Tejpal sexually molested me on two occasions in November this year.

I am deeply traumatized by the lack of support offered by the organization. In such circumstances, it is untenable for me to continue to work for this organization.

In the public acknowledgement sent to the bureau, Mr Tejpal and you referred to his act of sexual violation as “an untoward incident”- this was not an attempt to “protect the institution” but in fact, an attempt to cover up what had really occurred-the act of sexual molestation, an admission of the facts that Mr Tejpal had “attempted sexual liaison” with me (to quote his email) on two occasions despite my “reluctance to receive such attention”.

Read more here.

Updates for 25 November end.

5.36 pm: Victim agrees to cooperate with Goa police probe

The female journalist who said that she had been sexually assaulted by Tehelka managing editor Tarun Tejpal has agreed to give a statement to the Goa police, CNN-IBN reported.

The victim is likely to be brought to Panjim tomorrow, the channel said, adding that her statement would be recorded in front of the magistrate in Panjim.

Meanwhile well known author and activist Arundhati Roy has also slammed Tejpal for vilifying the woman in subsequent statements, in a blog for the Outlook magazine.

She writes:

Outrageously, it is being suggested that Tarun is being 'framed' for political reasons-presumably by the Right-wing Hindutva brigade. So now a young woman who he very recently saw fit to employ, is not just a loose woman, but an agent of the fascists? This is Rape Number Two: the rape of the values and the politics that Tehelka claims it stands for, and an affront to those who work there and who have supported it in the past."

Read the whole blog here

1.50 pm: Woman journalist, who alleged sexual assault, resigns from Tehelka

The woman journalist who has accused Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal of sexual assault today resigned from Tehelka.

According to CNN-IBN, the journalist said "it was impossible to work at the organisation."

On Saturday, the journalist had said immediate family members had met her mother in New Delhi and said Tejpal was trying to intimidate her.

Meanwhile, the Goa Police will hold a press conference today at 5 pm.

1.30 pm: What can happen in 4 minutes, that too in a lift? asks Parrikar

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has lashed out at Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal alleging that the claim that the act was consensual could not be true.

"Someone told me that this man (Tarun Tejpal) is saying that it is consensual. I wonder what he must have done within four minutes and that too in a lift," Parrikar reacted last evening addressing a function in south Goa.

Parrikar said that the police are doing their duty by having filed the FIR against Tejpal, whose conduct is "inhuman". "What he has done is inhuman," the chief minister said.  - PTI

11.55 am: Arrest Shoma Chaudhury for protecting Tejpal, says Goa Women's Commission chief

Goa State Commission for Women Chairperson Vidya Shet Tanavade today said that the Goa Police should arrest Tehelka Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhury as she has 'protected Tejpal', news agency ANI reported.

On Saturday, Tanavade had said the commission had written to the deputy inspector general (DIG) of Goa Police for a full report on the incident so that the commission could conduct its own investigation. Based on its findings, the commission will make its recommendations, she had said.

 

10.45 am: Delhi HC to hear Tejpal's bail plea on Tuesday

Editor-in-chief of Tehelka Tarun Tejpal on Monday moved the Delhi High Court seeking anticipatory bail in the suo-moto sexual assault case against him by the Goa Police.

A team of Goa Police will reportedly meet the Tehelka journalist at her Mumbai residence to record her statement in the case, post which they are likely to question Tejpal.

Media reports also said that Tejpal could move the Goa bench of the Bombay HC asking that the case be transferred out of the state.

On Saturday, a team of Goa Police quizzed Tehelka's Managing editor Shoma Chaudhury in New Delhi and collected all correspondence related to the case.

07:00 am: Colleagues corroborated victim's statment, Tejpal could be summoned later

report in the Times of India states that the three journalists who the victim included in her email to the managing editor Shoma Chaudhury have corroborated her version before the Goa Police team.

"I corroborated the chain of events as already explained by the complainant in her letter to the Tehelka management. Evidently, we were not eyewitnesses to the actual incidents. But I have given the details of our conversation and other requirements to the police. I support the complainant, (who is) my friend and colleague completely," Tehelka photo editor Ishan Tankha was quoted as saying.

The police was also quoted in the report as saying that they would send a team to interview the victim in the case at her residence in Mumbai.

According to a report in the Hindu, the police plan to question Tejpal only after they have recorded the victim's statement in the case.

However, this decision to leave Tejpal alone hasn't gone down well with the National Commission for Women that wanted him to be questioned by the team from Goa.

"It should have arrested him immediately and taken him to Goa for custodial interrogation. I don't understand why the Goa police did not do that," Nirmala Samant-Prabhavalkar from the NCW was quoted as saying in a DNA report.

End of updates for 25 November

7.00 pm: Have fully cooperated with police, says Shoma Choudhary

Tehelka Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhary, who was questioned for nine hours by a Goa Police team in connection of the alleged sexual assault case against Editor Tarun Tejpal, today said she "fully cooperated" with the police and hoped it will bring "clarity and justice" to the case.

"Yesterday, at the Tehelka office, the Goa Police took my deposition for about 9 hours, it was extremely courteous experience and I fully cooperated and showed every document that was relevant, every email exchange that was there between my colleagues, the management, it was shared, it was a good experience and I hope it helps bring clarity and justice to the entire case," Chaudhary said.

The three-member Goa Police today flew back after recording statements of three employees of the magazine who had been contacted by the victim to corroborate her version.

The police had questioned Chaudhary for around nine hours from 4:45 PM yesterday to around 2 AM at the magazine's office in posh Greater Kailash-II in South Delhi. The investigating team took into custody email exchanges among Chaudhary, the woman journalist and Tejpal, a CPU, besides several documents.

6.45 pm: Goa police might press additional charges against Tejpal

Goa Police today did not rule out the possibility of pressing additional charges against Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal, who has been booked on charge of raping a woman colleague in a five-star hotel in the state.

Deputy Inspector General of Police O P Mishra told reporters during a press conference at the police headquarters here that many things have emerged during the probe and if required, additional charges would be pressed against the accused.

"There are many things which emerged during the course of investigation. The investigation is a dynamic process and as soon as it is carried forward and things emerged, if additional charges are required, they will be added according to the development in the course of action," Mishra said.

He said the Crime Branch team that had visited Delhi, has examined Tehelka Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhury and also taken into possession relevant documents.

"They have also seized certain electronic items during the investigation," the DIG said. The police team, he said, has also "examined more people in the case."

"After carrying out the first round of questioning, the team has left Delhi. They are likely to reach Goa and carry out further investigation into the case," he added.

PTI

5.50 pm: Goa cops question 3 employees in Tehelka sexual assault case

The Goa police team probing the alleged sexual assault case against Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal returned today after questioning three employees of the magazine who had been contacted by the victim to corroborate her version as it seized a hard disc and documents.

Contrary to reports, the three-member police team, which had flown into Delhi from Panaji yesterday, left without questioning Tejpal.

The police had questioned Tehelka Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhury for around nine hours from 4:45 PM yesterday to around 2 am at the magazine's office in posh Greater Kailash-II in South Delhi.

The investigating team took into custody the e-mail exchanges among Chaudhury, the woman journalist and Tejpal, a CPU, besides several documents.

5.00 pm: Will take action against those sharing victim's mail: Goa DIG

Goa DIG OP Mishra has confirmed that his police team has not established contact with Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal as yet, but they have questioned other people related to the case.

Speaking to the media, Mishra said that they had received several statements and had also seized several electronic items deemed to be important to the case.

He also appealed to the media and public to stop sharing details of what had happened to the victim, including the emails she is believed to have written to Managing editor Shoma Chaudhury, with explicit details of what happened to her.

"Publishing details of the victims email have criminal implications as well. We have taken note, and will not hesitate to use legal action if violations take place", he said, adding that media organisations needed to be sensitive.

4.13 pm: Fully cooperated with Goa police, says Shoma Chaudhury

Tehelka Managing editor Shoma Chaudhury told CNN-IBN that she had fully cooperated with Goa police and shared all details with them. "I have shared every email, every communication and action taken in the case and I'll be happy to share anything else the police wants to know", she told the channel.

Choudhury was questioned by the Goa police for nine hours on Saturday. Three colleagues of the victim whom she confided were questioned today, and reports indicated that they had corroborated the victim's version of events.

"I know nothing about details of 3 Tehelka staffers who deposed today", Choudhary said. "Everyone involved must speak out fearlessly".

The police team from Goa has returned to Delhi after having questioned several people key to the case.

3.30 pm: NCW asks Mumbai police to provide security to the victim

According to IBN-Live, the National Commission for Women has written to the Mumbai Police asking them to provide security to the woman journalist who has accused Tarun Tejpal of sexually assaulting her.

The victim had yesterday release a public statement saying she feared intimidation from Tejpal's family and friends.

2.26 pm: Tehelka witnesses corroborate victim's version

Three colleagues of the woman journalist who claims she was assaulted by Tarun Tejpal, have reportedly corroborated the victim's version of events.

The police spoke to all three today, as they were considered crucial witnesses in the case. In her letter to Tehelka managing editor Shoma Chaudhury, the victim had said that she had told her three colleagues about what had transpired with Tejpal.

Meanwhile reports said that Choudhury, who was questioned for nine hours on Saturday, was likely to be called in for further questioning today. Tejpal may also be questioned.

The statements were recorded at at Goa Sadan in Delhi.

PTI quoted sources as saying that a three-member team of Goa police led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Sammy Tavares, which arrived in Delhi on Saturday, had gone to the magazine's office and questioned Chaudhary and a couple of other employees.

Later, the team, which also includes Sunita Sawant who is the Investigating Officer in the case, also recorded the statements of Chaudhary and the other Tehelka employees questioned, they said.

12.55 pm: Tejpal to move court?

The latest development in the Tejpal sexual assault case is that Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal is contemplating moving court in a bid to get the probe transferred.

The Times Now television channel reported that Tejpal was planning to move courts and ask that the investigation into the matter be moved from the Goa police to an independent agency.

The channel also said that a writ petition was being prepared, questioning the impartiality of the probe if it were to be conducted in Goa.

Meanwhile other reports indicated that the Goa police were getting to set to file additional charges against Tejpal, including that of criminal intimidation.

10:20 am: Goa Police question victim's colleagues 

The Goa Police team is presently questioning three witnesses in the case, reports Times Now.

The three witnesses are the three colleagues the victim had confided in following the incident and were copied in the emails she had written to managing editor Shoma Chaudhury.

9:00 am : Tejpal, victim could be questioned by Goa Police

The Goa Police team that questioned managing editor of Tehelka Shoma Chaudhury is likely to question her today as well.

However, after their questioning of Chaudhury they could call former editor-in chief Tarun Tejpal as well today.

According to reports, the team may also question the victim in this case.

CNN-IBN reported that the team will be questioning three witnesses in the case at Goa Sadan in Delhi today. However, the police hasn't disclosed who the three will be.

The Goa Police has already said that there was no CCTV camera inside the hotel in which the incident took place and will be relying on statements from witnesses.

End of updates for 23 November

8.25 pm: Hollywood legend Robert de Niro finds inadvertent mention in FIR

Firstpost has exclusive possession of the first information report (FIR) filed by the Crime Branch, which formally accuses Tehelka editor-in-chief of sexually assaulting a junior colleague in an elevator of Grand Hyatt, a five star resort located near the capital.

The Oscar award winning actor's name now unwittingly features prominently all over the FIR filed by the Goa Police at 2 pm on Friday, 22 November.

The FIR contains exercepts from the woman journalist's letter to managing editor Shoma Chaudhury where de Niro's name features repeatedly. Read more here.

7.50 pm: Family member of Tejpal visited me, fear intimidation, says journalist

The woman journalist who has accused Tehelka founder Tarun Tejpal of sexual assault has reportedly issued a statement saying one of Tejpal's immediate family members came to her mother's house in New Delhi to ask her who she was seeking legal help from and what she wanted as the result of the complaint.

Below is the full text of her statement:

"On the night of 22nd of November 2013, a member of Mr Tejpal's immediate family came to my mother's house in New Delhi, asking my mother to protect Mr Tejpal and demanded to know 1) who I was seeking legal help from and 2) what I "wanted" as the result of my complaint of sexual molestation by Mr Tejpal, that was made to the Tehelka management earlier this week.

This visit has placed tremendous emotional pressure on my family and I at an intensely traumatic time. I fear this may be the beginning of a period of further intimidation and harassment.

I call upon all persons connected to Mr Tejpal and his associates to refrain from approaching me or my family members."

6.55 pm: Will offer all cooperation to police officials, says Tejpal's lawyer

Former editor of Tehelka Tarun Tejpal's lawyer has reportedly said that the team of Goa Police which is currently in Delhi has not yet got in touch with him, adding that his client will offer all necessary cooperation to the investigating team.

Speaking to NDTV, Raian Karanjawala, Tejpal's lawyer, said, "We have not been contacted by the police so far. We will cooperate with the police... We will put out our version to the police."

6.25 pm: Shoma should have defended the victim from day one, she didn't, says Revati Laul

Revati Laul, a former Tehelka employee and a friend of the victim said the behaviour of Shoma Chaudhury clearly indicated that she was firmly on the side of Tarun Tejpal.

Speaking to CNN-IBN this evening, Laul questioned the need for Tarun to speak through Shoma in his apology to Tehelka staffers.

"Why should Tarun be speaking through Shoma? Why should the perpetrator be speaking through Shoma? Shoma should have come out in support of the victim from day one... she didn't... merely saying won't help."

On being asked if her friend would approach the police on her own, Laul said it was irrelevant now as the police has already taken suo-moto action in the case. "Many are asking why she doesn't come out and make a statement to the public... I think it is valid for her to make her first statement before the magistrate and not in public."

Laul further said this was a clear case of rape and lauded the victim for taking on Tehelka. "I believe it was completely non consensual... he (Tejpal) even said he was sorry and he takes complete responsibility for forcing himself on her... Tarun's act was much more that transgressing the editor-journalist relationship, it was rape."

4.55 pm: Goa Police at Tehelka office, to quiz officials

A joint team of Delhi and Goa Police have arrived at the Tehelka office in South Delhi and will question staff who were present during the ThinkFest.

The police may also seize electronic devices used during the festival including laptops, iPads, hard disk drives.

4.20 pm: Goa Police to question Tehelka staff

A team of Goa Police officials are likely to question Tehelka staff who were at the Think Fest event held in Goa earlier this month, media reports said.

Earlier today the Goa Police had met Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhury, who confirmed to reporters that all information and documents sought by the investigative agencies have been provided.

1.45 pm: Gave all info to Goa Police, says Shoma

Shoma Chaudhury, managing editor of Tehelka, was the first person that the Goa Police team met in Delhi. Soon after, Chaudhury told reporters that she has provided with all the information and documents that the police wanted. PTI quotes her:

"I have given all the information demanded by Goa Police and even talked to them regarding any more help needed from my side," Shoma Chaudhury said, refuting reports in the media that she had not been cooperative with investigators.

According to the DIG, the victim in question has also been intimated by the police tea m via email that she might be required to talk to the team. "We have already emailed her. And it is everyone's moral duty to assist in the probe," said the DIG. Other reports suggest that the victim has agreed to cooperate with the Goa Police and record her version of the incident.

1.08 pm: Hotel doesn't have CCTV camera footage, says DIG, Goa Police

In another shocking turn to the Tehelka sexual assault case, now the DIG of Goa Police has told the press that the elevator, inside which Tejpal allegedly accosted the victim, has no CCTV cameras. "The lobbies and aisles of the hotel are fitted with CCTV cameras. But there are no cameras inside the elevators," a reporter told CNN IBN.

11.28 am: Goa Police team reaches Delhi

A team from Goa Police who left for Delhi early today morning has reached the capital, reports CNN IBN. Sources claim that Tejpal will be questioned shortly. Meanwhile Delhi Police has assured full support and cooperation to the Goa police team. According to PTI, the team will meet Shoma Chaudhury first.

They will first record the the Managing Editor's statement and then collect emails of the victim in which she had complained about the alleged sexual assault by Tejpal.

With inputs from PTI

10.37 am: CCTV footage from inside elevator not available, says Goa Police

A source from Goa confirms meanwhile that the Goa police have said CCTV footage from the elevator where the assault is said to have taken place is not available.

No reason was given for the unavailability. Police confirmed that there is CCTV footage from outside the elevator which shows the victim moving out in a hurry.

9.35 am: 'I have violated long standing relationship'

According to more emails accessed by several houses, in another letter addressed to the victim Tejpal had admitted to have 'violated' her trust and apologized for breaching the boundaries of dignity. A report on The Indian Express states that in an email sent to the victim a day after she complained to managing editor Shoma Chaudhury, Tejpal aslo confessed that he had tried establishing sexual contact on two occasions - 7 November and 8 November - despite having understood that the girl did not reciprocate his intentions.

However, the victim, in reply wrote back saying, "he sexually molested me, on two separate occasions and that he violated my bodily integrity and trust".

When contacted by The Indian Express Tejpal said that he had written the mails because managing editor Shoma Chaudhury had insisted he issues an apology as demanded by the victim to close a 'contentious' issue. He added that he has a completely different version of the events which will be revealed in course of the probe.

Read the full report here.

9.00 am: Goa Police team leaves for Delhi

After they filed a suo motu FIR in the sexual assault case, a team from Goa Police left for Delhi today. Tarun Tejpal in his last public statement had offered his 'full cooperation' with the police and later in the day Tehelka's managing editor Shoma Chaudhury also said that they are willing and prepared to assist a probe.

Consequently, the team left today morning from Goa, reports CNN IBN.

End of updates from 22 November

10.20 pm: I am being framed, political forces behind it, says Tejpal

Former editor of Tehelka Tarun Tejpal on Friday said he was being framed by in the alleged sexual assault case and said the truth in the matter will come out soon.

In an emailed response to The Indian Express, Tejpal said: "It is a totally mendacious account of what happened, in its details, in its tonalities, in its very suggestion of non-consensus."

Tejpal further told the daily that he was getting "rock solid support from family, friends and most of my colleagues. They know the details and know how much is being dangerously falsified".

"It's been rough and debilitating and we'll claw our way back as the facts become clear," he said.

8.55 pm: Incident unfortunate, let law take its own course, says Tewari

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari today said the legal process relating to the allegation of sexual assault against Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal should be allowed to reach its logical conclusion.

"The alleged incident is unfortunate. There is a legal process which is playing itself out. It should be allowed to reach its logical conclusion. It is incumbent upon all concerned to cooperate with legal processes and procedures," Tewari
said.

Meanwhile, Law Minister Kapil Sibal said whatever has come out should be probed. "Whatever has come out should be probed," he said when asked to comment on the issue.

6.39 pm: Tejpal says he apologised because Shoma Chaudhry insisted

Tarun Tejpal has reportedly said that he only apologised "out of an attempt to preserve the girl's dignity and on "Shoma's adamantine feminist-principle insistence" that he keep correct form by apologising", according to The Hoot.

More on what Tejpal's version of events is at The Hoot.

6.23 pm: MHA seeks more details into Tejpal assault case

Minister of State for Home Affairs RPN Singh has just officially confirmed that the MHA has asked for more details on the Tejpal sexual assault case, saying that it was an 'extremely serious matter'.

Singh made the comment on his Twitter feed:

 

Earlier as well, the MHA had asked the Goa police for more information into the incident.

6.00 pm: Feel dirty for having participated in Think India, says Park Street rape survivor

5.45 pm: Shoma Chaudhry's conduct is shameful, says Tavleen Singh

Speaking to NDTV, Tavleen Singh has lashed out at Tehelka managing editor Shoma Chaudhury, saying that her statements made it seem as though it was Tarun Tejpal who was the victim, and not the girl who had been sexually assaulted.

Anti-corrution activist Kiran Bedi added that "Chaudhury had lost it", saying that it would have been better if she had said nothing at all.

5.40 pm: Tejpal is the culprit, says Goa CM Parrikar

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has said that one thing was certain in the entire sexual assault case - that Tejpal was the culprit and the young girl was the victim.

Speaking to Times Now, Parrikar refused to comment on the police investigation, saying that it was up to the police to collect evidence to prosecute. He also cautioned media that only an FIR had been filed, adding that this was not the same thing as a chargesheet.

5.15 pm: Delhi police team reach Tarun Tejpal's residence

A team of officers from the Delhi police visited Tarun Tejpal's Delhi residence. The team had left after a few minutes, and had reportedly only said that they had come to deliver some papers to Tejpal.

Another officer said they had come to see that there were untoward incidents outside Tejpal's home.

However Times Now reported that the Goa police had formally asked the Delhi police for help in its investigation into the sexual assault case against the Tehelka editor. It is not yet known if the police visit is related to this request.  It is likely that they were checking to see if Tejpal was still in the national capital.

A Goa police is reportedly en route to Delhi, in connection with a suo moto FIR it filed into the incident after perusing CCTV  footage. The police have charged Tejpal with rape.

3.41 pm: Tehelka is legally bound to cooperate with police probe, says Goa DGP

The Goa police has constituted a special team to investigate the Tarun Tejpal sexual assault case, according to DGP Kishan Kumar.

Addressing a media conference, Kumar said that they had already written to Shoma Chaudhury, asking her to hand over the correspondence by the victim, adding that the management of Tehelka was legally bound to do so.

He added that he could speak about the arrest of Tejpal, saying that it was for the IO to conduct necessary procedures according to law.

3.10 pm: Don't call Tejpal a rapist, says Shoma Chaudhury

Meanwhile speaking to NDTV, Tehelka managing editor Shoma Chaudhury hit out at the fact that Tejpal was being accused of 'rape', saying that basic reporting guidelines dictated that the word 'alleged' should be used in describing the incident.

In particular she referred to BJP leader Arun Jaitley, saying that as an eminent lawyer and former law minister, he should have known better than to take such a strong position in calling the incident rape. She added that now that the case was no longer an institutional affair and was in the public domain, Tejpal had a right to provide his version of the story.

Chaudhury added that it was sad that she was being seen as acting against the victim, when she was actually very proud that she had spoken out. "That said however, in a public discourse my loyalty is to the truth, and my allegiance is to both sides", she said.

She added however that if the girl's statement was proven to be correct, she would call the incident rape or an attempt to rape.

2.50 pm: Goa police team leaves for Delhi to arrest Tejpal

A team of policemen from Goa has left for Delhi to arrest Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal, according to a report by the NDTV news channel.

The news came even as the Goa police confirmed that it has filed an FIR in the case, and Tejpal broke his silence to say that he would fully cooperate with the probe.

The police action to file the FIR and their move to arrest Tejpal despite the lack of a complaint from the victim are done in accordance with more stringent powers granted to them to act against sexual assault under the new anti-rape provisions that were passed by Parliament.

2:40 pm: ABVP holds protest rally outside Tehelka office

A group of ABVP activists are holding a protest outside the Tehelka office.

Their demand? The immediate arrest of Tehelka's former editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal

2:20 pm: Parrikar says he has asked police to deal with case with an iron hand

"I have told the police to act as per the rule of law," Parrikar told Times Now.

Parrikar said that he had asked the police to deal with the matter with an 'iron hand' and said he ensure the police acted on crimes which affected society.

"It is important to crack down on crimes by so called VIPs which shake faith of common people," Parrikar said.

Tehelka cannot say it will not cooperate. The FIR has already been filed, he said.

2:00 pm: Tarun Tejpal issues statement, promises to cooperate

In his first response since the controversy began, Tehelka former editor in chief has issued a statement:

There have been serious allegations cast on me in this last week, and unfortunately as sometimes happens in life, the complete truth and the need to do the honorable thing can come into conflict. In this case this anguish was accentuated by the fact that very many intimate people, professional and personal, were involved.

For four days, as demanded by Shoma Chaudhury, the managing editor, and the recipient of the complaint, I have tried to do what was honorably demanded of me. On Tuesday I issued an apology for the alleged misconduct, as desired by the journalist through Shoma Chaudhury.

On Wednesday I stepped down from the editorship of Tehelka and removed myself from the office premises. On Thursday I learnt of the formation of the complaints committee.

I offer my fullest cooperation to the police and all other authorities, and look to presenting all the facts of this incident to it. I also urge the committee and the police to obtain, examine and release the cctv footage so that the accurate version of events stands clearly revealed.

Tarun J Tejpal

2:00 pm: DGP says case of rape filed against Tejpal

Speaking to Times Now, Goa DGP Kishan Kumar said that the case against Tarun Tejpal is under sections of law pertaining to rape and outraging the modesty of a woman.

1:58 pm: Will arrest Tejpal if he doesn't co-operate, says DGP

Goa Police DGP Kishan Kumar said that they had filed an FIR against the former editor-in-chief of the magazine and they would arrest Tejpal if he did not co-operate.

The seniormost official in Goa Police said that they would expect Tarun Tejpal to co-operate with the probe but if he didn't they could arrest him.

"We can't tell you further details of investigations," Kumar told CNN-IBN.

1:50 pm: Goa Police files case of attempt to rape against Tejpal

The Goa Police has registered an FIR against Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal, reports CNN-IBN.

The police has registered a case under sections of law for attempting to rape a woman and outraging the modesty of a woman, the channel reported.

The Goa Police had already collected CCTV footage from the hotel in which the incident allegedly took place and had earlier been instructed by the National Commission for Women to file an FIR.

1. 11pm: Won't cooperate with Goa police unless victim files complaint, says Chaudhry

Even as the Goa police has said that it is investigating the CCTV footage from the hotel in which the incident of sexual assault concerning Tehelka managing editor Tarun Tejpal and a young woman journalist is believed to have taken place, Managing editor Shoma Chaudhry has said she will not cooperate with the probe.

Speaking to CNN-IBN earlier, Chaudhry said that there was no reason for her to cooperate with the probe if the victim herself had not made a complaint to the police.

"As a woman, as a feminist, I believe that she get to decide what to do next as this is her body", Chaudhry told the channnel.

Earlier  DIG Panaji, OP Mishra said that a preliminary inquiry has begun, and confirmed that they had asked Shoma Chaudhary to give the statements and documents given to her by the victim.

Meanwhile Times Now reported that the Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a report from the Goa Home Department on the case.

12.09 pm: Tejpal sexual assault does not concern Tehelka, says Chaudhry

Speaking to CNN-IBN, Tehelka managing editor Shoma Chaudhry has said that  the incident did not impact Tehelka as an institution. He said that he acted as an individual, and after his decision to step down, the institution stood outside of him.

She refused to engage or accept with the premise that the incident was tantamount to an abuse of power on the part of Tejpal, and reacted angrily to suggestions that Tehelka was not holding itself to the same standard that it held everyone else accountable to.

She also claimed that Tehelka was being subjected to a trial by media, likening the situation to 'what had happened to the Talwar's' in the Aarushi case, prompting Rajdeep Sardesai to ask if Tehelka was projecting itself as the victim here.

Chaudhry, insisting that her remarks were being misinterpreted, kept reiterating that the panel would look at both 'versions' of the incident, and come to a conclusion that the organisation would abide by.

She added that  it was the prerogative of the woman journalist concerned to decide whether or not to take the complaint of sexual assault further, saying that it was her body and it was her decision to go to the police or not.

 11.59 am: Tehelka does not have double standards, insists Chaudhry

Directly confronted about whether or not Tehelka's response to the case of sexual assault was a case of double standards, Managing editor Shoma Chaudhry denied that this was the case.

Speaking to CNN-IBN, she said that in four days she had constituted an internal panel committee, had made Tejpal resign, and apologise.

11.49 am: Tejpal had a different version of events, says Shoma Chaudhry

Noting that she was 'devastated' by the account of a woman journalist who said she had been sexually assaulted by Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal, Managing editor Shoma Chaudhry said Tejpal had a different version of what had happened.

Speaking to CNN-IBN, Chaudhry refused to divulge Tejpal's version of events, saying that she had already overridden it. She also denied that Tejpal stepping down was little more than a cover up.

She also defended a decision to constitute an internal probe, and said she had sought to redress the situation as quickly as possible. "I was driven by the sense by that she wanted an institutional response and I was working towards getting that", she said.

She also dismissed that the incident was a 'criminal case', saying that the woman journalist concerned had not filed a police complaint.

11.15 am: Goa police examining CCTV footage

The Goa police has said that it has received the CCTV footage from the hotel, in which the sexual assault of a female journalist by Tarun Tejpal took place and are examining it.

11.00 am: Tarun Tejpal is not running away, says Chaudhry

Tehelka Managing editor Shoma Chaudhry has said that Tarun Tejpal is not 'running away' from the sexual assault charges levelled against him, adding that he would fully cooperate with the internal panel to set up to investigate the incident.

Chaudhry also pleaded for 'more time to do the right thing', adding that ever since the letters had been leaked, she had been working in real time, and had not had a chance to do right by the victim. She also asked that the media wait for the findings of the committee.

She reiterated that her sole focus had been on the victim thus far, which had not let her 'do right' by the institution.

10.56 am: Shoma Chaudhry denies Tehelka 'delayed' action on sexual assault

Tehelka editor Shoma Chaudhry has dismissed allegations that there had been a delay in Tehelka addressing the charge of sexual assault directed at editor Tarun Tejpal, saying that within three days, she had made Tejpal apologise, that he had stepped down, and she had constituted a committee of inquiry.

Speaking to media outside the Tehelka office in New Delhi, Chaudhry added that she had no idea that the young journalist was 'disappointed' with Tehelka's response, saying that she had only heard as much through television channels. She added that the journalist concerned had only asked for an unconditional apology, which she had received. Chaudhry added that when the journalist had seen Tejpal's letter she had 'agreed that he seemed genuinely sorry'.

Chaudhry added that she had overridden Tarun Tejpal's contention that the incident between him and a female journalist had been consensual,  and had confronted him angrily the moment she had received the complaint from the concerned female journalist that she had been sexually assaulted.

"Because my sole focus was on her, I sent out the letter to everyone, forgetting that it was the first time that this was going public. I was so focused on her, that I should have realised that it could have been leaked", she added. She also said that she didn't realise that the tone of Tejpal's letter could be construed as being vain, considering that it was a letter he had written to her.

10.00 am: NCW to file FIR with Goa police

The National Commission for Women have written to the Goa police and instructed them to file an FIR  in connection with the Tarun Tejpal sexual assault case. The NCW has also expressed its shock at the manner in which the matter has been handled by the Tehelka management.

9:10 am: Goa police seek emails from Tehelka staffer

A report from Mayabhushan Nagvenkar in Goa states that the state police has already procured a copy of the victim's emailed letter to Tehelka's managing editor Shoma Chaudhury, as well as some other key intra-office communications.

As he reports the Congress and BJP are currently sparring over what action will be taken against the Tehelka editor-in-chief.

End of updates for November 21

9.45 pm: Tehelka constitutes sexual harassment complaint panel

The Tehelka administration has finally constituted a sexual harassment complaint panel to probe the charges of sexual assault against its editor in chief Tarun Tejpal.

The panel will be headed by noted women's rights activist Urvashi Butalia as well as other prominent leaders in the field.

Below is the full statement issued by Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhury:

In furtherance to Tehelka's acceptance of Tarun Tejpal's recusal from editorship of Tehelka on November 20th, which followed the official unconditional apology he had mailed to the journalist concerned on November 19th, Tehelka has now constituted a formal complaints committee, in accordance to Vishaka guidelines, to be presided over by Urvashi Butalia, eminent feminist and publisher, to investigate the matter. The other members of the committee will be announced shortly.

In addition to this, Tehelka will ensure setting up a formal complaints committee, according to section 4 of the Sexual Harassment of Women (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal Act, 2013), an institutional mechanism that was sorely missing in Tehelka.

 

7.30 pm: Editors Guild condemns incident, says there must be no cover up

Meanwhile, the Editor's Guild of India has condemned the incident and said no attempt must be made to cover up or play down the extremely serious incident.

Following is the full text of the statement:

The allegations of grave sexual assault made by a journalist of Tehelka against the magazine's editor Tarun Tejpal, are on the face of it shocking and shameful. Such incidents anywhere are condemnable in the strongest terms but the Guild is particularly saddened that they should engulf a media organisation. It is emphatically the philosophy of the Guild that the media that is in the business of holding public persons accountable should itself be held to the highest standards of conduct and decency. The conduct that has been alleged would constitute grave sexual assault at the very least taking advantage of the authority and power of the perpetrator within the media organisation. It also brings out vulnerability of young women journalists who need to be protected and free to pursue their careers without the fear of being subjected to such assaults.

There ought not to be any attempt to cover up or play down this extremely serious incident. Self-proclaimed atonement and recusal for a period are hardly the remedies for what the allegations show to be outright criminality. The full force of the law must be brought into its investigation and prosecution. Due regard must be paid to the sensitivity and privacy of the victim who has already been put to grievous suffering.

 

7.23 pm: Vice President Ansari puts Tejpal's withdraws Tejpal's name from Prasar Bharti board

The Vice President of India Hamid Ansari has decided to put on hold former Editor-in-chief of Tehelka Tarun Tejpal's name from the list of recommended journalists to be a part of the Prasar Bharti board.

The committee that recommends names includes the PCI chief Markandey Katju and a member of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry besides Ansari.

6.44 pm: Goa Police procures CCTV footage from hotel

Goa Police have confirmed to Times Now that they are in possession of CCTV footage from the hotel where the incident took place.

The police have also written to the Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhury asking for details of the ThinkFest event that concluded earlier this month.

5:05 pm: Have asked if FIR possible, says Goa CM

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has said that he has sought a preliminary enquiry into the matter and would await the findings of the police.

"High profile cases need high profile action," Parrikar said.

"We will wait for the report, once we get it, we will consider further action... tht is the status as of now," Parrikar told reporters in his office.

He further said that a preliminary inquiry does not require a complaint from the victim, saying if the criminal offence took place in the jurisdiction of Goa then the government is required to investigate irrespective of whether there is a complaint or not.

Parrikar further added that the Goa Commission for Women could take up the case suo moto.

4:45 pm: Tehelka editor says that committee will be formed today, still an internal matter

Managing editor Shoma Chadhury said that she was setting up a committee and it would be completed by the evening.

"I am being driven by what the aggrieved journalist wants, please let me address her concerns first," she said.

"An apology has been given and the editor has resigned. Are these not actions? What more do you want?" the editor said.

Chaudhury has said that the management of the magazine had met all the demands of the aggrieved journalist and if she was upset about it her priority would be to deal with her concerns.

She also said that it was still an internal matter and would have remained one until the emails were leaked to the media.

"It is not a case. The aggrieved party sent me a mail. She wanted action and it has been taken... It is an internal matter," Chaudhury said.

3:30 pm: Network of Women in Media protests incident, seeks action

An organisation representing women in the media has also protested against the incident and has demanded that the magazine assist the victim in initiating criminal proceedings and action under the sexual harassment act.

"At the same time we think it is important for the media to refrain from circulating details that could reveal the survivor's identity and/or are merely titillating and do not serve any public purpose," The Network for Women in India said in its statement.

2.57: Goa Police to summon Tarun Tejpal for questioning

Sources in the Goa Police have told Times Now that they will summon Tarun Tejpal to Goa for questioning as early as this evening or tomorrow.

Earlier today, Goa CM Manohar Parrikar said the government was taking suo moto action in the case and has asked the hotel to hand over CCTV footage of the incident.

2:42 pm: Delhi Union of Journalists condemns incident

The Delhi Union of Journalists has also condemned the incident and said that no journalist found guilty of sexual harassment should be let off.

2:30 pm: Shoma Chaudhary seeks more time to respond

Under fire managing editor of Tehelka Shoma Chaudhury has requested that the media give her more time to act on the complaint and said she would address all the questions on the matter.

"I wont respond to the question at this point. I need more time," she told reporters outside the Tehelka office in Delhi

"I want to address the issues that have been raised.. I understand the need for transparency. Please give me the time to respond to it," she said.

"The way these letters have leaked I have not been able to act in a matter that I would like to," the editor said.

Chaudhury has been under for allegedly playing down the incident and said that despite the seriousness of the incident there was no need to take action hastily.

"I am not a fugitive. Tejpal is not a fugitive. The institution is not a fugitive. A grievous incident has taken place," she said.

Chaudhury also said that she was in touch with the victim and was "not mad to say things without being in touch with her".

She did not rule out the possibility that she would hold a press conference later.

2:10 pm: Should Tehelka managing editor face action for ignoring victim

https://twitter.com/raju/status/403438168206475264

2:05 pm: Essential that Tehelka does the right thing, says Vardrajan

Former editor-in-chief of The Hindu Siddharth Vardrajan said that it was important that Tehelka took the appropriate steps to ensure the victim in this case received justice.

"You can't be outraged about what is happening within society unless we have safe working environments for women," the senior journalist told CNN-IBN.

He said it was matter that concerned law, society and it was important that Tehelka did the right thing.

2:00 pm: I&B Minister says they will comment later

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari has refused to comment on the issue.

"This is a very sensitive issue. We will look into the matter and then comment," he said.

1:45 pm: Goa Chief Minister Parrikar says they will take action

Speaking to Times Now, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said that he has been in touch with the police that has now identified the hotel in which the conference the victim referred to was held.

"We will take action," Parrikar said.

1:40 pm: AIPWA chief says victim wants to file case with police

Kavitha Krishnan, who heads the All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) said that she was in touch with the victim in this case and she has every intention about taking the matter to the police.

The victim wanted a sexual harassment cell set up in the magazine as well and was seeking more action against Tejpal than what has been done so far, Krishanan said.

"The apology is not really an apology... The complainant is not asking for penance but proper process," Krishnan told CNN-IBN.

The magazine should form a inquiry committee to look in to the matter, she said.

1:20 pm: BJP draws parallels with snooping scandal and Tehelka scandal

The BJP has decided to go after the Congress and Tehelka over the issue of Tarun Tejpal's decision to recuse himself as editor-in-chief.

"Do they have such a committee on board? Has such an incident taken place in the past?" BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said.

She pointed that Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhary had been protesting rape laws and crimes against women

"Some sort of cover up seems to be underway. If the girl has shown the gumption to come out in public we should stand by her," she said.

"I am on purpose trying to draw a parallel between two women. One women is seeking anonymity and it is being violated," she said.

Lekhi accused media persons of covering acts of criminality and said all groups needed to work together to ensure justice is delivered to all women. She also accused the Congress and its surrogates of double standards.

"Here when a woman is undergoing all this no help is coming," Lekhi said.

"A private issue should not be sensationalised and a sensational issue should not be covered up," she said.

She accused the media of running a 'malicious campaign' against the woman who was seeking privacy in the snooping scandal in Gujarat and even claimed some memos from the Tehelka office had gone missing.

1:00 pm: Goa cops seek CCTV footage from hotel where conference was held

CNN-IBN reports that the Goa police is seeking CCTV footage from the hotel in which the alleged incidents of sexual assault took place.

This comes despite the woman not filing a complaint with the police in the matter.

]AFPAFP
As reported earlier, in the event of physical abuse the police can take suo motu cognisance of it and file a complaint based on evidence like CCTV footage.

12:30 pm: Woman reiterates that she is unsatisfied with management's response

Times Now quoted the woman as saying that despite the Managing Editor's claim that she was satisfied with the action taken so far, she was not.

"I am disappointed with the response," she told the news channel.

She also reportedly said that others in the magazine were equally unhappy with the action taken by the publication against its editor-in-chief.

12:00 pm: Outrage against Tehelka's action against Tejpal

Many have already begun to question whether the action taken against Tejpal is inadequate.

What has sparked further outrage is a statement by Chaudhary that the magazine won't be instituting an inquiry into the matter and said it was "an internal problem".

Some like Javed Akhtar, who came to Tejpal's defence, were also roundly chastised. Andalmost all on Twitter sought further action against Tejpal, with his name and that of the managing editor's both trending on the micro-blogging site.

Even within the journalistic fraternity, on and off Twitter, most backed stronger action against Tejpal.



Some like CNN-IBN's National Affairs Editor Bhupendra Chaubey were stinging in their criticism of the action taken against Tejpal so far and questioned why the organisation wasn't taking further action against him or why a body like the National Commission for Women didn't take action against him.

However, practising Supreme Court lawyer Sanjay Hegde said that if the abuse faced by the woman was verbal then it was indeed an internal matter and a committee in Tehelka could decide the action against Tejpal.

An internal committee within Tehelka was adequate to decide whether his recusing himself as editor in chief was adequate, Hegde said.

"If there was any physical attack, then irrespective of whether the victim complains or not if there is evidence like video recordings, it can be enough for filing of a criminal complaint," Hegde told CNN-IBN.

The woman in her complaint had said that the assault had taken place in an hotel elevator in Goa and according to Hegde, a case could be registered in Goa.

Despite the sea of outrage over the incident, Tejpal has maintained a stony silence and apart from Chaudhary's statement claiming it to be an internal matter, Tehelka has said nothing else. Unfortunately, silence and obfuscation will not help.
http://www.firstpost.com/india/tehelka-live-hc-reserves-bail-order-goa-police-summon-tejpal-1241951.html

Conspiracy against Kanchi Sankaracharyas collapses -- Sandhya Jain

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Foisting a false case against Kanchi Acharya is a direct attack on Hindu dharma. 

Sandhya ji rightly notes that the arrest of the Kanchi Acharyas was the greatest civilisational insult to the Hindu people since the assassination of Guru Tegh Bahadur by a fanatic iconoclast. 

What remedies exist in law and a social contract which set up the state, to undo this insult?

Vinaas'a kaale vipareeta buddhi. Conspirators endowed with vipareeta buddhi (perverted minds), should be punished for their perverted actions. Karma is one possibility. There should be other recourses in the rule of law to hunt down the conspirators and bring them to justice..

Kalyanaraman


Conspiracy against Kanchi Sankaracharyas collapses

By Sandhya Jain on27 Nov 2013

Political conspiracy against Kanchi Sankaracharyas collapses
Nine years after a sinister political conspiracy led to the Diwali-day arrest of Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati in November 2004 (Bal Perivaar Vijayendra Saraswati was arrested on January 10, 2005), the case collapsed into nothingness this morning as Puducherry Principal District Sessions Court Judge CS Murugan acquitted both seers and 21 others in the murder of A. Sankararaman. One accused, M Kathiravan, was murdered at KK Nagar in March this year.
Simply put, there was no evidence to support the prosecution case against the accused. This was mainly because the murder, believed to be related to a dispute over temple property under the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments department, was not properly investigated. Instead, on the basis of lose talk by some disgruntled elements, the Acharyas of Kanchi Matham were implicated along with several bhakts. Sankararaman, a former Matham employee and later manager of the Sri Varadarajaperumal temple in Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, was brutally murdered on the temple premises on September 3, 2004; the Acharyas were later arraigned as principal accused. The co-accused included Matham manager N Sundaresan and MK Raghu, brother of the Bal Sankaracharya. The Supreme Court had transferred the case to Puducherry in 2005 following an appeal by Swami Jayendra Saraswati that the atmosphere in Tamil Nadu was not conducive for a free and fair trial. Early in the trial, it was obvious the prosecution would not be able to establish its case as 83 out of 189 witnesses turned hostile. These included approver Ravi Subramanian.
The case was riddled with holes from the start and the prosecution mainly relied upon organised media propaganda to win the battle in the public domain. Tamil Nadu public prosecutor K Doraisamy called Swami Jayendra Saraswati a ‘most undeserving criminal’, and tried to deny him bail. Accordingly, the court extended his judicial remand by a fortnight. Thebank accounts of the Matham, from which the alleged killers were allegedly paid, mysteriously changed from ICICI to Indian Bank. A key accused told the court he was tortured to confess, but retracted a day later, while still in custody. At the same time, the State Government awarded of Rs five lakhs to the wife of the murdered man.
While the scandal caused many eminent devotees to melt away, loyalists noted the hand of vested interests behind the crisis. Perivaar, as the Swami is known to his devotes, was a major obstacle in the path of evangelists as he planned to build a temple in every Scheduled Caste village and to give personal darshan there. He challenged missionary monopoly over higher education via the Chandrasekharendra Maha Vishwavidyalaya, a Deemed University that controls several educational and medical institutions which serve the villages. In fact, the Scheduled Castes protested against his arrest in several places, but the news was largely suppressed in the media. The Sankaracharya had launched several development schemes at Irulneeki village, his birthplace, for the welfare of the depressed classes, and the Kattunanyakan scheduled tribe, scavengers by profession, had built an Amman temple in 1992 with his help. As village chief Natesan then said, “When many still considered us untouchables, he treated us with dignity”. In November 2002, he performedpuja at the Veerakali Amman temple in Melur region, where 250 scheduled caste Hindus were converted en masse by a Canadian priest of the Seventh Day Adventists on 25 August 2002.
The Kanchi Matham took up the anti-conversion agenda with gusto; the seer was adamant that Hindu dharm does not promote or envision discrimination and regards people of all sections of society as equals. Hindu tradition, he stressed, was of living amicably as ‘family’; and while there are always differences in society, discrimination is not the hallmark of dharm. The Veerakali Amman temple attracts devotees from all castes and is locally renowned as a symbol of communal harmony as Muslims regularly join its annual festival in January.
Swami Jayendra Saraswati also travelled to Tirunelveli to insist that all that castes have an equal right to enter any temple across the State, individually, and offer prayers. He asserted that appropriate action would be taken against those trying to prevent Harijans from entering temples. The Sankaracharya maintained this momentum even after the devastating murder case was sprung upon him, and after being released on bail, met the fisher folk from Devanampatti in Cuddalore district when they sought his blessings before resuming fishing after the tsunami; he gave them a month’s food stocks as prasadam and ensured that all had a checkup at the Matham’s Free Medical Centre before returning to sea. He said, “In every family, there is a kula daivam and an ishta daivam they pray to. In the same way, by praying to whatever deity is beloved to your mind, obtain well-being – I bless you”.
Despite the criminal case taking a huge toll on his personal health, Swami Jayendra Saraswati maintained unrelenting pressure on missionaries in defence of Hindu dharm. In June 2009, he met Cardinal Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran, president of Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, in Mumbai and upstaged him with the request to give Hindus the same promise of non-conversion as was given by Pope Benedict XVI to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in Jerusalem the previous month. When the Cardinal demurred that conversions were mainly done by Protestants, he told him to return with all Christian denominations and solve the issue permanently.
Recalling Pope John Paul II’s call to plant the Cross in Asia in the third millennium to facilitate the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, he challenged the Cardinal to explain the First Coming of Jesus Christ, when there was no Christianity or Church to convert the world. Swami Jayendra Saraswati also denounced the US Commission on International Religious Freedom as an “intrusive mechanism of a foreign Government” to interfere in India’s internal affairs. On subsequent visits to this country, the Cardinal avoided him completely.
Whichever way one looks at it, the arrest of the Kanchi Acharyas was the greatest civilisational insult to the Hindu people since the assassination of Guru Tegh Bahadur by a fanatic iconoclast. Sadly, the BJP was then in the vice-like grip of a geriatric leadership that could not even fathom the extent of the danger and it was the now disgraced kathakar, Asaram Bapu, who gave vent to Hindu trauma in the crisis. Tamil bhakts always believed that American evangelists were behind the affair. They were upset about the anti-conversion law and delighted when the State Government scrapped it. The then President George Bush Jr was an avid advocate of evangelism and immediately after his re-election hosted Iftaar and Diwali dinners simultaneously at the White House and attended only the former.

http://www.niticentral.com/2013/11/27/political-conspiracy-against-kanchi-sankaracharyas-collapses-162226.html

'Clean' party with 'criminal cases' ? -- Dr. Swamy on AAP. Lies of Kejriwal -- Meenakshi Lekhi

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BJP steps up attack on AAP

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) BJP today stepped up the attack on AAP leaders 
for their alleged involvement in criminal cases and said the Arvind 
Kejriwal-led party should stop misleading people with its claims 
of being a "clean" party.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, in an interaction with reporters here, 
raised the issue of criminal cases against AAP leaders, relating 
to rioting and disrupting public servant in discharging duty.

He asked Kejriwal to explain the criminal cases pending against him.

"With such allegation on him, how can he claim to a clean party, he should accept the fact that they are like any other party," Swamy added.

He alleged that the party was accepting funds from abroad, including 
places like Bermuda and Cayman Islands which were notorious for money 
laundering.

Questioning what verification the party or Kejriwal had carried 
out before accepting the donations from abroad, he said "as a test 
case, a US citizen Mr Ramesh Narayanswamy has sent bogus data on 
passport details on the AAP website and without verification his 
donation of Rs 500 was accepted and a receipt was received by him."

The BJP leader said, "He has still to answer my question as to what 
verification he has done to ensure that foreigners do not contribute 
to the AAP which is an offence under Foreign Contribution Regulation 
Act (FCRA)."

Swamy said that Kejriwal was yet to reply to the 30 questions asked 
by the Home Ministry, which they have sent on November 4, on this issue.

"He must do so before December 1 and post it on his party's website 
so that he can meet his claimed adherence to transparency," he said.

BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi, who was also present during the 
press conference, accused AAP of spreading communal feeling through 
its manifesto and party pamphlet by asking Muslims to vote for them.

"We are filing a complaint against AAP with the Election Commission 
for asking Muslims to vote for them and spreading communal feeling 
through their manifesto which says that the party would work for 
their benefit and raised the issue of Batla House encounter," she said.

Asking votes by spreading communal feeling was not only the violation 
of Model Code of Conduct but also Representation of People's Act, Lekhi added.

She termed Kejriwal's claim of him being the Commissioner before 
quiting the job "as pack of lies" and said, "he retired as Joint 
Commissioner and his statement that he could have easily made money 
when an inspector could make crores, paints even the honest person 
in black which is not right."

"We want to know, if he had the knowledge of an inspector in his 
department was making crores of rupees, had he taken action against 
any of his juniors," she said, adding "his wife also works in the 
same department, so is she earning in crores?"

Swamy and Lekhi, both accused Congress of shielding Editor of Tehelka 
Tarun Tejpal, and said "there is involvement of some Ministers of 
UPA government, which even magazine's Managing Editor Shoma Choudhary 
had said that she was in touch with three UPA Ministers." 

PTI

Shoma Chaudhury: A modern Madame De Pompadour -- Jay Bhattacharjee

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Shoma Chaudhury: A modern Madame De Pompadour

By Jay Bhattacharjee on27 Nov 2013

Shoma Chaudhury: A modern Madame De Pompadour
Rape for your lot is never a crime
Since you are doing it all the time
(with my apologies to Ogden Nash)
Rest assured, young lady, that I write this letter with the greatest possible distaste swirling in my mind, and with the utmost reluctance. However, there are some tasks that are quite unavoidable. To let you know the feelings of the vast majority of Indian citizens is one of them. I assure you I am in the good company of millions, but most of them find it impossible to get over their disgust and pen their thoughts to you.
It is also likely that you may not read this epistle. However, people like you always have sounding boards who will do your spadework and report to you. So here it is, barbs and all.
Let us start with your entire charade of defending the shenanigans of your boss and colleague Tarun Tejpal in every-which way – an Americanism that you will relate to immediately. At this stage, we should ask you about your concept of loyalty. Anybody who has had even a rudimentary education, domestic and institutional, will tell you that there is loyalty, misplaced loyalty and then cover-up of crimes and transgressions. You, madame, have been in the third category for quite some time. And this has been amply demonstrated for the Indian public throughout this grotesque episode.
The second question relates to your moral fabric or an ethical framework, or a lack of either or both. The third query, connected to the second, concerns your disingenuousness and your infinite capacity to dole out fertiliser. The last issue is your enormous desire for grandstanding and the size of your ego. Honestly, in recent times, I have yet to come across overweening arrogance of the type that you have been displaying on the small screen (and everywhere else, I can safely assume).
Let us deal with these themes sequentially. The first is your loyalty to your boss, your chief, your CEO, whatever you prefer. Clearly, you made a seamless transition from the morally-defensible position of loyalty to “cover-up” at some stage of your career and life. Given your lamentable standards that have been on display on the idiot box during the last few days, my surmise is that this leap of faith took place quite some back. That is because you are now so proficient in your new habitat, and above all, you look so comfortable in this role.
There are, however, some occupational hazards with this chosen role of yours. Cover-up artistes face flak in real life, not just from a disgusted public, but also from the law. In fact, the Anglo-Saxon legal code that we have inherited from our erstwhile colonial masters imposes severe penalties on people like you. The folks who actually commit crimes are the primary accused, but those that conspire with them, prior to the commission or post-facto, also face the long arm of the criminal justice system. For heaven’s sake, there is an entire section in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that exactly covers the lamentable conduct of yours in this saga. Section 202 says the following : “Whoever, knowing or having reason to believe that an offence has been committed, intentionally omits to give any information respecting that offence which he is legally bound to give, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months or with fine or both”.
Now, you entered this twilight zone exactly when you deliberately did not report the complaint of the hapless young colleague of yours to the appropriate police office as soon as she E-Mailed it to you. You were under a legal obligation to do so, under the terms of a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court delivered sixteen years ago. I will deal with that a little later in this missive. Instead, you initiated your pathetic ruse of an “enquiry committee”, very conveniently headed by a friend of the Tehelka family. This is such a huge eye-wash that I am surprised you thought you could get away with it.
This brings us to the second issue, that of your moral fabric or ethical framework or, more appropriately in your case, a lack of either or both. I am sorry to say, Ms. Chaudhury, you represent the Bengali bhadralok (or Bhadramahila) culture in its terminal stage. You are a convent-educated version of Mamata di, with a more sophisticated façade but representing the same shabby ethos. There is a more apt comparison – you are a mirror image of that other abomination, Sarmila Bose, who claimed that the Pakistani Army was actually carrying out a philanthropic mission in East Pakistan during the 1971 Liberation War.
You had the unmitigated gall to term the alleged offence of your boss as a “transgression”. Did you really think you would get away with this drivel ? This is like General Dyer referring to the Jalianwalla Bagh massacre as the weekly “target practice” of his boys in the regimental shooting range. This is the archetypal behavioral pattern of an amoral person – one who has no moral compass.
The third element in your psyche is your disingenuousness and your ingrained ability to dish out fertiliser. One example will suffice, because it is so egregious that there will be no demand for any more samples. This is your claim that you thought the victim of the alleged assault was seeking “justice outside the penal system” and that she would be satisfied with a mere apology from Tejpal. This is so grotesque and bizarre that it places you in that rarest of rare category : the mistress of guile. Here, I have to quote one of my favourite writers, Lillian Hellman : “Intellectuals can tell themselves anything, sell themselves any bill of goods, which is why they are so often patsies of the ruling classes.”
Coming now to your last attribute : your grandstanding and your monumental ego. You are truly a cotemporary desi version of Madame de Pompadour, the one who grandly proclaimed : “After us, the floods”. No, I will not give you the satisfaction of writing the original French version here, because I am sure that is the sort of posturing you absolutely love. Why I equate you to the other woman is the incredible declaration of yours on the box “If the case against Tarun is proved in court, I will accept that his offence is one of rape”.
It is crunch time now. The moment when you get to know how perversely you violated the law of the land by not taking the young colleague’s complaint to the appropriate police authority and why your statement that it was not your responsibility to do so, is a direct contempt of the apex court.
Let me reproduce for you the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Vishaka case which will tell you what your duty and obligation was and is in a situation that you faced a few days ago:
(A) It shall be the duty of the employer or other responsible persons in work places or other institutions to prevent or deter the commission of acts of sexual harassment and to provide the procedures for the resolution, settlement or prosecution of acts of sexual harassment by taking all steps required.
(B) Where such conduct amounts to a specific offence under the IndianPenal Code or under any other law, the employer shall initiate appropriate action in accordance with law by making a complaint with the appropriate authority (emphasis added).
(C) Whether or not such conduct constitutions an offence under law or a breach of the service rules, an appropriate complaint mechanism should be created in the employer’s organisation for redress of the complaint made by the victim. Such a complaint mechanism should ensure time- bound treatment of complaints.
(Vishaka and others V. State of Rajasthan and others.)
(AIR 1997 SUPREME COURT 3011)
This, fortunately, brings me to the end of my letter. Having commenced it with my own attempt at poetry, admittedly an amateurish version of the inimitable Ogden Nash, I must end with genuine verse, the immortal words of Walter Scott. Do try and grasp what the titanic person wrote – it might, just might, suggest some salvation for folks like you :
Oh what a tangled web we weave
When first we practise to deceive!
(Marmion, Canto vi. Stanza 17)

Related Articles

http://www.niticentral.com/2013/11/27/shoma-chaudhury-a-modern-madame-de-pompadour-161938.html

SoniaG hides details of her foreign tours -- Dr. Swamy raises questions under FRCA

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BJP DIGS UP DIRT ON ‘CLEAN’ AAP

Thursday, 28 November 2013 | SR | New Delhi
Targets Sonia for hiding details of her foreign visits
Leading a scathing attack on Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party (AAP), BJP leader Subramanian Swami on Wednesday said the party’s source of funding was still under question. He alleged that the party has so far failed to answer as to what verification has been done to ascertain that foreigners do not contribute to the AAP.
Swami alleged that the AAP is receiving donations from foreigners who have no Indian passport; hence an offence under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). Referring to one US citizen Ramesh Narayanswamy, whose donation of `500 was accepted despite bogus details of his passport, Swamy said that the party has not maintained transparency on its part and is trying to present a clean image in the public domain.
He also mentioned two foreigners from Barmuda and Cayman Islands — Anil K Chhomatil and Bharat Singh — who have contributed money without even possessing an Indian passport.
Swamy said that the matter is pending before the Delhi High Court and Kejriwal is yet to respond to the 30 questions asked by FCRA and the Union Home Ministry by the end of this month and post the same on AAP’s website. The BJP leader also demanded that Kejriwal should explain criminal charges against him and other key member Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai and must clarify charges of misdirection and misappropriation leveled by his former Guru Anna Hazare and  colleagues including Swami Agnivesh and Rajesh Agarwal.
Swamy also targeted UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for hiding details of her foreign tours. He alleged that Gandhi has made payments by cheque in foreign currency for stay in posh apartments in Manhattan, New York and for her medical bills for treatment for cancer in Sloan Kettering Hospital.
“The apartment is owned by a Dubai commercial group for which Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Ministry of External Affairs, and PM’s principal Secretary Pulok Chatterjee should be questioned under the FRCA. I have written a letter to MHA in this regard and if the ministry could not initiate penal action against these people, I will file PIL before the court,” he said. 
Stepping up attacks on AAP, BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi, who was also present during the Press conference, accused AAP of spreading communal feeling through its manifesto and party pamphlet by asking Muslims to vote for them.
 
 

http://www.dailypioneer.com/city/bjp-digs-up-dirt-on-clean-aap.html

What non-consent means? What about the piles of salt? -- Justice system should punish both Tejpal and Shoma

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November 28, 2013

What non-consent means

Tarun Tejpal’s counsel told Delhi High Court on Wednesday that the version of the journalist who accused the Tehelka editor of sexual misconduct should be taken “with a pinch of salt”.
But the court denied Tejpal immediate relief and will decide on his request for bail on Friday. Goa police have asked Tejpal to present himself before the investigating officer by 3pm on Thursday.
By the evening, an “informal” email Tejpal purportedly sent the girl on November 19, a day after she formally complained to Tehelka managing editor Shoma Chaudhury of thesexual assault, did the rounds. The email seeks to portray a “flirtatious” and “playful” environment.
Soon after, a rebuttal attributed to the young journalist and sent to Tejpal and Chaudhury on November 20 emerged. The following are excerpts from Tejpal’s email and the response. Some words have been redacted to protect identities.
______________________________________
‘PLAYFUL’
Tejpal: The context that ill-fated evening, of our conversation, as you will recall, was heavily loaded. We were playfully and flirtatiously talking about desire, sex; you were telling me the Bob Geldof story in graphic detail, and about (her male friend), and the near-impossibility of fidelity….
Girl: The conversation from that night was not “heavily loaded” or “flirtatious” — you were talking about “sex” or “desire” because that is what you usually choose to speak to me about, unfortunately, never my work, which if you had had occasion to read, you might not have attempted to sexually molest me, and certainly would have known that there was no way that I would stay silent about it and just vanish.
THUNDERCLOUDS
Tejpal: (You were telling me) of the aftermath of meeting me one stormy evening in my office when I was sitting watching the thunderclouds.
Girl: There was no “aftermath” of that evening with the “thunderclouds” — this is exactly what happened: I wanted to discuss the first story I had written about a rape survivor with you. xxxx called me to your office, I walked in and you were lying on the couch with the lights off. I asked you if you wanted me to turn the lights on, and you refused. You continued to lie on the couch. I sat on a chair across from you in the same room and told you the survivor’s story. I wish again, that you remembered the professional reason I had met you that evening, instead of the storm and the thunderclouds.
THE BOSS
Tejpal: I also want to clarify that yes, you did say at one point that I was your boss, and I did reply “that makes it simpler” but in the very same breath and sentence I said to you “I withdraw that straight away — no relationship of mine has anything at all, ever, to do with that”. It was in this frivolous, laughing mood that the encounter took place.
Girl: You never, even once uttered the following words: “I withdraw that straight away — no relationship of mine has anything at all, ever, to do with that’. If your attempt at sexual molestation were really as consensual as you seem to imply that it was Tarun, why would you have suddenly switched to speaking in legal terms in a “frivolous, laughing” moment?
NON-CONSENSUAL
Tejpal: I had no idea that you were upset, or felt I had been even remotely non-consensual, until (his daughter) came and spoke to me the next night.
Girl: This is what non-consent constitutes: the moment you laid a hand on me, I started begging you to stop. I invoked every single person and principle that was important to us — (Tejpal’s daughter, wife, Chaudhury) — the fact that you were my employer, to make you stop. You refused to listen. In fact, you went ahead and decided to molest me again on the following night. We have often spoken of “what turns men into beasts” at Tehelka edit meetings, you yourself have commissioned several stories on this. It is this — not being able to take no for an answer.
DAUGHTER’S FRIEND
Tejpal: I was shocked and devastated at the time. Both because you felt I had imposed on you (which had neither been my reading or intention), and because I felt I had been totally irresponsible and foolish to have anything furtive to do with my daughter’s intimate friend. At that very moment I was filled with shame, and still am.
Girl: Not only did you lash out at me verbally for telling (Tejpal’s daughter), you also sent me a text message the next morning saying “I can’t believe you went and told her even the smallest thing. What a complete absence of understanding of a parent-child relationship”.
Tarun, I can’t believe you think molesting an employee your daughter’s age, who is also your daughter’s friend, is something you’d describe as “the smallest thing”. What an absence of understanding of what Tehelka stands for.
WRONG APOLOGY
Tejpal: You have made it clear that I read it all wrong, and I will not dispute it, nor underplay your anger and hurt. This is easily the worst moment of my life — something ostensibly playful gone so horribly wrong, damaging of all that I hold dear in life, from people to principles. I ask you to forgive and forget it. I will meet your mom and apologise to her too — and (the male friend) if you so wish.
Girl: Unfortunately, your desire to apologise to (the male friend) only reeks of your own patriarchal notion that men own and possess female bodies.... The only people you owe an apology to are your employees at Tehelka, for desecrating their and my faith in you. Please do not attempt any further personal correspondence with me — you lost that privilege when you violated my trust and body.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1131128/jsp/frontpage/story_17620821.jsp#.UpaLl9IW3-U

See: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-full-text-tarun-tejpal-s-original-first-mail-to-sexual-assault-victim-1925873

Kanchi Acharya's acquittal -- V. Sundaram

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Nov. 27, 2013

Kanchi Shankaracharya and Kanchi Vijayendra Saraswati Swamiji and more than 20 other accused in the Shankararaman Murder Case have been honourably acquitted today by a Court of Law in Puducherry today. The whole country knew that this was a case foisted by the AIADMK Government of Selvi J. Jayalalithaa in November 2004. In order to foist a false criminal case upon the venerable Kanchi Shankaracharya, a depraved Police Officer called Prem Kumar with a criminal record of service was specially chosen for the hatchet job! Napoleon Bonaparte rightly declared in 1814 that in matters of government, justice means force as well as virtue. In our country in general and in Tamil Nadu in particular, it is a sad fact that justice in government, ever since April 1967, has always meant wicked force as well as atrocious vice.
 
The honourable acquittal of Venerable Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati Swamiji, Kanchi Vijayendra Saraswati Swamiji and others marks the spectacular triumph of Eternal Justice over the mortal forces of machination and evil emanating from the government of the day.
 
I fully endorse the following Statement of Shri Ashok Singhalji on the honourable acquittal of the Kanchi Shankaracharya.
 
“Ever since Soniaji has got planted in Bharat she has been engaged in crushing our holistic, altruistic and syncretic Dharmic and Cultural beliefs and convictions. … It was all under a deliberate, well-planned and open Christian agenda to destroy the veneration and adoration of society for the Saints, Acharyas, Mahants and Mahatmas of the indigenous traditions of Bharat. The conspirators know that in order to be able to get hold of the power, assets and resources of the great country Bharat (India) they have to completely uproot the Sant Fraternity and the pro-Hindutva organizations here. The proselytizing, land and economy-grabbing Christian forces have, therefore, been hatching conspiracies to show our Sant Fraternity on the wrong side of law so that the society would look down upon them. With the clear and unblemished acquittal of Ven. Swami Jayendra Saraswatiji, this conspiracy has now been exposed.”
 
Right from May 2004, when Sonia Gandhi got a stranglehold over the UPA Government in New Delhi in her capacity as the Italian widow of Rajiv Gandhi, I have been consistent in my description of anti-Hindu UPA Government of Sonia Gandhi in the following words: “Bharatvarsha can get liberated only on that day when she is able to get rid of the Islam-embracing, Christianity-coveting, Hindu-baiting and Hindu-hating UPA Government functioning under the stranglehold of a woman Catholic imposter from Italy, owing her allegiance to the Pope in Rome and not to the Letter and Spirit of the Indian Constitution.”
 
In this context, I cannot help quoting the absolutely appropriate furious, nay, flaming words of Shri V Seetharaman Naidu: “This country is run by a semi literate, politically and spiritually depraved, utterly amoral and loathsome Madame from mafia Italy. … To remove this poison, there is no point in merely treating the symptom. UPA is a all pervasive cancer which has sapped the energy of this nation. Unless the parasite called UPA is destroyed the mighty tree of Bharatvarsha that is India will fall.”
 
Justice Mulla of the Allahabad High Court had made a historic declaration to the following effect in 1962: “THERE IS NO MORE ORGANIZED CRIMINAL FORCE IN THE COUNTRY TODAY THAN THE INDIAN POLICE FORCE.” When the then Government of Uttar Pradesh Appealed to Justice Mulla for a Review of his observations, he refused to oblige the Government by reaffirming that he had only stated the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The Uniformed criminals in Maharashtra have been keeping Sadhvi Pragya an innocent Hindu Swamini for more than 5 years under illegal detention. She has been brutally tortured in jail by the Maharashtra Police under orders from the Italian Firangi Memsahib Sonia Gandhi. As a result of the inhuman torture, Sadhvi Pragya has developed cancer. No Charge Sheet has been filed against her so far because the Anti Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra Government has not been able to gather any credible and admissible evidence under the Indian Evidence Act. Sadhvi Pragya has not yet been released because she is a Hindu Swamini and not a Christian or Muslim woman. Further the Congress Government of Maharashtra has not so far received any over-riding and over-awing directions from theFirangi Memsahib Sonia Gandhi and her ISI-backed Advisor Ahmed Patel.
 
Now to come back to the arrest of Kanchi Shankaracharya in November 2004. I had written the following article in News Today, two days after his arrest. I HAD VIEWED HIS ARREST NOT JUST AS AN ATTACK ON A VENERABLE HINDU SWAMIJI BUT AS A SAVAGE ASSAULT ON HINDUISM AND SANATANA DHARMA.
 
AN ASSAULT ON HINDUISM (15-11-2004)
 
V. SUNDARAM IAS
 
l am very amused by the way in which the politicians of India and Tamil Nadu are viewing the arrest of Sankaracharya of Kanchi. Madam Justice should remove the bandage from her eyes long enough to distinguish between the vicious and the unfortunate.
 
We do not require the politicians to tell us in a viciously solemn manner. “Be you never so high, the Law is aboveyou”In all parts of the world JUSTICE is viewed as TRUTH IN ACTION. In India because of the criminalization of politics during the last 50 years, Justice is often viewed by the people as blatant untruth in abrupt action. I am not for a moment suggesting that the Kanchi Achaya is above the law: Respect for the Rule of Law, the Principle of Equality Before the Law and the overriding Majesty of Law should all mean that our lawless politicians remainsilent when the matter is sub-judice All the politicians (with one or two spectacular exceptions) criminally arraigned in several criminal cases havebeen treated as pampered bridegrooms  and givenextraordinary facilities and courtesies as prisoners. 
                                              
As the religious head of a great Mutt like Kanchi Mutt, the Sankaracharya should also be treated with utmost courtesy and consideration. He must be deemed to be innocent till the charges against him are proved beyond any shadow of doubt  in a Court of Law. Cicero in his famous work 'De Officiis' (44 BC) wrote:“There is difference between justice and consideration in one's relation to one's fellow men. It ithe function of justice not do any wrong to one's fellow men; of considerateness, not to wound their feelings”.

I am nauseated by the glib oral assertions of our wicked men in politics to the effect: “Be  bold; be firm; let the law take its own course etc”. We have heard this blustering before in many situations onmany occasions and we know in what it all ended. It is the blustering of small and little men. They should all remember that the LAW has no eyes; the LAW has no hands; the LAW Is nothing, nothing but a piece of paper printed by the State's Printer, with the so-calledKing's Arms at the top---till public opinion breathes the breath of life into the dead letter. The silent and tolerant Hindus of India, in their myriad millions, have been deeply hurt by the arrest  of a religious head like Kanchi Sankaracharya. They view it not just as an arrest of a law-breaker but as a brazen and premeditated assault on Hinduism at the instigation of the forces like that of Evangelism, Communism and Sonia Congress brand of pseudo-secularism.

Congress old hand at snooping, violation of privacy -- Prakash Katoch, veteran Special Forces of Indian Army

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Congress old hand at snooping, violation of privacy


Prakash Katoch28 Nov 2013


Congress old hand at snooping, violation of privacy
No! This is not about the new album by Snoop Dogg, nor of cutie Snoopy from the comic strip. This is about the ongoing media storm raising over the snoop scandal of Gujarat. ‘The hyenas are baying for blood’, for there is this terrible prophecy emanating in the outback that the ‘Great Wind’ that brings the plague to wipe them out is coming. So, there’s no surprise that the pack has closed ranks. The one that hid in the stables during the Uttarakhand disaster now blows nostrils on the idiot box. The one with the perpetual lizard smile has joined the chorus. The fellow who won entry into politics defending the fodder scamster continues his vitriol. The circus is complete.
There are whines that the Gujarat snoop scandal is on the same level as depraved psychos Asaram and Tejpal. Dame Dikshit says this snooping has outraged the modesty of the girl but then, does the President – the Constitutional head of the country – possess any modesty and can that be outraged? If yes, by whom? MK Dhar, former Joint Director, Intelligence Bureau writes in his book ‘Open Secrets – India’s Intelligence Unveiled’ that throughout the tenure of Zail Singh as President (July 1982 to July 1985) his bedroom and office in Rashtrapati Bhawan were bugged on the orders of the Congress High Command (note that the author doesn’t say Government) and the transcripts were regularly passed on to the Congress High Command. So more specifically, this is not only about the raging controversy over the allegedly illegal surveillance on a young woman architect by the Gujarat Government, but the issue of snooping itself, leaving aside a letter from the girl’s father saying his daughter was aware of being shadowed but saw it as a ‘help’.
According to some reports, the Gujrat snoop scandal has violated the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 – an Act to amend the law relating to Telegraphs in India. Scrutiny of this Act shows there is nothing related to snooping. Besides, Britishers who defined the Act obviously were without access to Nostradamus or Bhrigu in order to visualise what the snooping and surveillance technologies in the twenty-first century would be. So while reference to the Constitution with respect to individual privacy is appropriate, quoting the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 appears preposterous. But Constitution apart, what is the stance of our Government with respect to snooping – leaving Gujarat aside? When Snowden blew the lid off the PRISM program of US’s National Security Agency (NSA) what was the reaction of Government of India even with the information that our foreign missions were being snooped upon under PRISM. While America’s closest allies went berserk on this count, Salman Khurshid actually defended PRISM by saying, “This is not scrutiny and access to actual messages. It is only computer analysis of patterns of calls and emails that are being sent. It is not actually snooping specifically on content of anybody’s message or conversation….”. Mr Minister, this is hardly a game of ringa ringa roses. If PRISM is not snooping, what is? Kapil Sibal sidelined the question about Khurshid’s comments but said, “We do not know the nature of data or information sought (by PRISM).” Mr Minister, you may not know the nature of data collected by PRISM but you would certainly know that security agencies very well use the data mined to blackmail the polity in their own national interest, no matter what strong-rooms the skeletons are locked up in. Is that the reason the US is ‘nudging’ India on Kashmir, why the Government is bending backwards to Pakistan and China, why support is being orchestrated to vacate Siachen, and why the PLA is allowed to sit 20 km deep inside Indian territory for 25 days despite a 1.2 million-strong army? How many of you are in the PRISM stranglehold?
So, if Central Ministers are defending PRISM, isn’t it acknowledgment enough the Government is ‘for’ and ‘not’ against snooping. Isn’t this the reason the much-hiked UIDAI scheme was being forced through despite the security hackles raised by the MHA? Was this not invasion of individual privacy, linked with vote-bank politicking (to dole out largesse selectively) and is this not the reason the Court has struck down its linking with grant of individual subsidies? Then, mirroring PRISM is the Centralised Monitoring System (CMS) being implemented by the Government of India. Will the latter not mean conducting multiple privacy-intrusive activities, ranging from call data record analysis to location-based monitoring? How will it differ from PRISM, if at all? But why even bother when we don’t have objections to PRISM in the first place. So, be prepared for snooping on your phones and the Internet. If you think the Government is not already doing so, you have to be kidding. Just speak to your friends in NTRO and IB. Who do you think was interested in snooping on Amar Singh some years back, or more recently, Arun Jaitley?
Unquestionably, surveillance through a system like CMS is warranted in the interest of national security but it is the wrongful use of such a system that needs to be stamped out. To quote MK Dhar once more in his above quoted book, he writes that all intelligence agencies in India are tasked for and focus on how to do down the Opposition. Isn’t that the main reason why the much-needed NCTC could not come through? When the current dispensation does not hesitate to even pitch one intelligence agency against another for political gains, how do you expect them to use the NCTC to focus only on terrorism?
Next issue is who can order the snoop. The obvious answer will be Government in national interests. So far so good, but then how did the President of India come to be snooped upon for three full years on the orders of Congress High Command? Are the Congress High Command and the Government of India Jekyll and Hyde or are they aiamese twins? MK Dhar makes another disclosure – three years before Babri Masjid demolition happened, all meetings of the BJP and RSS were secretly audio taped and videotaped by the Intelligence Bureau on orders of Congress High Command and although scores of these were available in IB archives, only a few (which had an element of doubt) were handed over to the enquiry commission. Forget Congress High Command, the question whether the Central Government alone can order the snoop is itself debatable considering that the Government has absolved itself from dealing with a major internal security threat like the Maoist insurgency centrally and has left it to the States. So can both the Central and State Governments order snooping? And, what are the numerous private James Bond agencies doing in the country, who and what is regulating them?
Reportedly, the petition related to the Gujarat snoop scandal is slated to be dealt with by the Supreme Court on December 6, but who will deal with the numerous questions mentioned herein?
Some two years back, there was considerable commotion in media on the reported bugging of the office of the Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, who as per reports, confirmed that he suspected that offices of the Finance Ministry were bugged and wrote to the Prime Minister. The incident actually happened in September 2010, with discoveries in the office of the Finance Minister, his advisor, his personal secretary and two conference halls of the Finance Ministry. Following the discovery, strangely, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) was called in instead of the IB. Later, the IB brushed the incident away on orders of the High Command. There is a move now to usher in legislation against bugging as well but are we going to need another Lokpal to legislate it if the Government itself is involved, IB and NTRO exempt from RTI and High Command untouchable?
Then there are the ever expanding networks, computers and Internet users in India that are bugged or have sleeper bots within. India only assembles computers with practically all parts imported mainly from China. This is similar to considerable software and telecommunication equipment – 95 per cent of BSNL and MTNL equipment – being Chinese. All this leaves tremendous scope for embedding malware at the development stage itself. To top this, India does not have the capacity to test such imported equipment for bugs and Trojans. The NSCS issued a warning earlier this year against Chinese firms ZTE and Huawei. ZTE maintains a diverse relationship with PLA including collaborative research (satellite navigation, data link jamming techniques include), training of PLA personnel and is the prime supplier of customised equipment to PLA while Huawei has is linked to Chinese and PLA research institutes and the including dual use applications. However, the venerable MHA has lifted all embargos recently on whose behest? Obviously, when we are happy with PRISM and don’t mind snooping on our citizenry – CMS included – what is the problem with a little bit of snooping by our Chinese brethren? As per a report in the Wall Street Journal published in July 2013, global hacker firms like Auriemma and Ferrante have sold their services to Israel, Britain, Russia, India and Brazil – reportedly some of the biggest spenders in this regard. Hopefully, we will be using these services in building comprehensive national security and not political security of the ruling dispensation. Exposed, the NSA has justified snooping to vulnerability of critical infrastructure, susceptibility of the military’s command and control structure and economic dependence on the Internet, even as potent cyber offensive capabilities are rapidly building under General Keith Alexander.
Given the range of snooping, the justification is hardly a fit. Additionally, the full horror of what Snowden holds is yet to emerge. What is becoming clear in the US is that for nearly 20 years, most of America’s biggest corporate sectors, from energy to finance to telecom to computers, all have been doing the intelligence community’s bidding. Indeed, the private technology sector effectively built the NSA’s surveillance system, and got rich doing it. So, one can expect our own CMS following suit, for isn’t it the moolah that attracts the big corporate? TV debates dare not go beyond political skullduggery. Damn individual privacy of the citizenry!
(Prakash Katoch is veteran Special Forces of Indian Army.)

Dravidian fascism vis-a-vis Hindu assertion -- Laura Kelly (Australia)

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from: laura kelly kelly <laurakelly@rediffmail.com>
date: Thu, Nov 28, 2013 at 6:48 AM
subject: Dravidian Fascism Vis a Vis Hindu Assertion

On Thu, 28 Nov 2013 17:16:29 +0530 wrote

Editor in chief
Hindu Voice
Mumbai

Dear Mr.Deivamuthu,

Namasthe Hindu Brothers and Sisters.

The judgement, on politically surcharged "Sankraraman Murder" case has been delivered, yesterday. 

It has brought no doubt, great relief, to the beleaguered Kanchi Acharyas, and his devotees. Even in 2004, the night he was arrested , I wrote the following article where I had analyzed the forces that were at work in Tamilnadu, that framed the acharyas by enemies of the mutt, from within and without, which includes, alien forces like the Vatican, in collusion,with its Indian spies, studying, and using the weak defenses of a typically Hindu Mutt. Now it is no time to relax, but to go on the aggressive mode. I had written on this international conspiracy in 2004 NOV/DEC Hindu Voice.My stand has been vindicated after 10 years by the Indian court that delivered the judgement by Judge Murugan.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
H.H. SRI JAYENDRA SARASWATHI -
A VICTIM OF GUTTER POLITICS OF TAMILNADU 
NOV 4.2004

BY

Laura Kelly
Journalist
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wrote that the Murder was orchestrated,planned and executed with precision, by the enemies of Enemies of the Hindu Acharya from within Hindu Society, from within the Mutt and Enemies from without in collusion.The judgement coming on the 10th year, of the Sankararaman murder case, is too late but not too little. Executed with precision by Dravidian + Christian Fundamentalists. The fear psychosis unleashed by AIDMK's Jayalalitha, who was the Chief Minister of the State Govt is a permanent blot in Hindu History is unforgivable.

It is now time for Jayalalitha to personally seek seek apology from Holy seers of the Mutt, by falling at their Holy feet feet and seeking pardon .

She must also apologize and to the billion strong Hindus, whose sentiments were trampled like by a mad elephant.

Hindus should now demand an unconditional apology from the Tamilnadu State Machinery, AIDMK, POLICE and MEDIA.

Hindus should never forgive this incidence attacked by Dravidian fascism.

Followers and devotees of the Acharya, must now sit and ponder, what went wrong with their defense systems within the mutt?

This incident should serve as eye opener, to prominent Gurus like Sri Sri Ravishankar, Mata Amirtananda Mayi, that they could also be framed under, for any crime under the present Vatican led Sonia UPA 2.

I request the Hindu Voice to re-publish my 2004 article along with this letter.

Now the Tamilnadu Police, that Kanchi seers and other have been acquitted, the onus of responsibility lies with the prosecution to identify the real assassins of Sri Sankararaman.

The smoking gun points to Tamil Extremists, Dravidian Thugs +Naxalite+Christian+LTTE+other rival mutts inimical to the kanchi mutt, who were not factored into the hotchpotch investigation carried out by the Tamilnadu Police.

The docile devotees of Kanchi Mutt now wake up to the extreme level, be that what it may , and seek revenge to punish the enemies-Mahabharata style.

They must approach the supreme court for record compensation and for the mental anguish that the revered Acharyas and all his devotees,suffered all these years. Jayalalitha must be made be personally accountable for the violence unleashed, and who will be seeking blood after the defeat must be sued.

They also must seek legal recourse, to seek grave punitive damages, a billion dollars, if not less, from the AIDMK's Jayalalitha Government, who was then in power in 2004, and now 2013 (28 November 2013).

It is now or never to uproot Dravidian Fascism in Tamilnadu,DK, DMK OR AIDMK, and send strong signals of HINDU ASSERTION as this is election time so that Sonia Gandhi will never again, tamper with Hindu leadership again.

In case you do not have a copy, I am resending the same.


Regards,

Laura Kelly

Toowoomba
Australia
28/11/2013
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H.H. SRI JAYENDRA SARASWATHI -
A VICTIM OF GUTTER POLITICS OF TAMILNADU 
NOV 4.2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BY

Laura Kelly
Journalist

The midnight arrest of his holiness Sri Shankaracharya of Kanchi mutt is against all accepted international norms of civil liberty,civilised conduct to be displayed by the State,leave alone the code prescribed by the Supreme court of India for taking into custody any alleged suspect.The decorum and courtesy of civil behaviour that ought to be shown to respected religious head of one of the most venerated religious monastic institution of the hoary Bharat was not shown.

J.Jayalalitha Chief Minister and President of AIADMK is known for her impusiveness, vendetta & impetuousness.

PREVIOUSLY She attempted to arrest her principal opponent Dr. M.Karunanidhi (the DMK henchman) in the midnight on June 21 2001.The Sun TV and its sister CHANNELS in all south Indian languages (DMK outfit) managed to create a huge propaganda )with a dubbed voice on its broadcast,attempting at a crude imitation of karunanidhi's voice crying out aloud, that he was being killed.The regular transmission was interrupted for several days.This created a furor all over the country.With the help of sheer propaganda power his arrest was cut short and Jayalalitha was reined by the DMK

JJ again tried her luck with N.Ram and Malini Parthasarathy of the Hindu for having criticized Jayalalitha and her policies in the news paper coloumns. The Speaker of the Tamilnadu assembly K.Kalimuthu issued a warrant to arrest Malini, V.Jayanth and the others. Having been tipped off by a friendly reporter who was covering the assembly proceedings and they went into hiding and thereby saved from incarceration in Jail.The same N.Ram,threatened Deivamuthu( editor Hindu Voice Mumbai) with legal action for having criticized him.On a stout rebuttal from Deivamuthu, N.Ram kept quiet. In his editorial dated 13.11.2004, he is calling Sankaramaran "as a humble opponent of Sankaracharya". N.Ram has praised the arrest of the H.H Sankaracharya. He did not empathize with the arrest of Sankaracharya .

Perhaps his memory is short, and he should go and verify his papers dated Nov 9 and 10 2003.He barely escaped arrest.His editor Jayant ran away like a coward and went into hiding for more than 3 weeks. But unlike the cowards Karunanidhi,Murasoli Maran,N.Ram, N.Murali,Malini Parthasarthy and V.Jayanth, the Kanchi Sankaracharaya did not run away and did in fact co operate with the Police officers,though he does not have the media in his control.He did not unleash a propaganda war like the Sun TV, (known for its inaccuracies and stupid pronunciations) and The Hindu.

The arrest has more to do with the long drawn Dravidian politics of Tamilnadu versus the Sri Sankara Mutt.The Dravidian parties have been spewing venom at Hindu institutions for over sixty years now. Brahmins were their target and according to them their head Sri Shankaracharya should go.This is Dravidian fascism at its best and has seen its objective achieved.

In 1971 the Dravidian politicians threw stones and cow dung at the present pontiff, when he was proceeding by walk in a Chennai's suburb Saidapet.Since then the fascist Dravidians have come a long way. 

The AIADMK under the leadership of J.Jayalalitha,who was mere film personality at best, started her political career as the head of the ideological wing of AIDMK when M G Ramachadran held sway over the masses. He started AIADMK in 1971 as a break away faction of the DMK. 

In the last 30 years J.Jayalalitha has come a long way .She was accused by the DMK for her belief in Astrology, her visits to Temples drew particular attention . She was called an anachronism.

Even Karan Thapar in his BBC hard talk interview, did provoke her by asking the same questions that her critics were asking for years in Sept 2004.

Ms. J.Jayalalitha lost in the 2004 Parliamentary elections. She did not retain even one seat in the 40 parliamentary constituencies.Her image was lost forever.In the competition between Karunanidhi who is holding the Tamilnadu's key to center, with a posse of Ministers, from a wide ranging coalition the situation for Jayalalitha was loss.The Dis Proportionate wealth case against her was revived with the blessings of the DMK central ministers. 

With the arrival of UPA in the center and the congress government in the neighouring Karnataka, the cases pertaining to JJ were transferred to Bangalore, under the influence of DMK ministers in the center. With the elimination of the bandit Verrappan Jayalalitha, saw her ratings better.Just two weeks ago the governor of the state Ram Mohan Rao was summarily transferred to Arunachal pradesh.The DMK was accusing him of siding with JJ and he was also called an "RSS man". He summarily tendered his resignation.The replacement came in the form of Surjit singh Barnala, a DMK favorite.This is the second term he is holding an office in the same state.

The Murder of Sankararaman on September 3 was utilized by the opposition to the fullest.They were planning to hold an agitation on Nov 12,2004 in kanchipuram.

The Tamil magazine editor Nakkeran, who was earlier colluding with Verappan.He was arrested for his alleged involvement in the Rajkumar kidnapping case. He published a news of the Sankararaman's murder, and implicated the H.H. Pontiff and the Matt.

Following the death of Verrappan, who had links with Karunanidhi,through known and unknown Tamil Militants was exposed in the media. The cine actor Rajni kant was said to have been acted as some form conduit, who helped in the negotiations and transfer of money.There were strong rumours that some 2 crores Rupees changed hands, and part of it landed in the coffers of Karunanidhi.Karunanidhi was about to be exposed, as the diary of Verrappan revealed the list of beneficiaries.

The death of Sankararaman came as a blessing in disguise.The DMK having threatened with an agitation, the race between karunanidhi and Jayalalitha as to who was the "Best Dravidian",had reached new levels.Jayalalitha wanted to reach her original popularity and compensate for the losses. The prized catch of Verrappan, dead gave he the fillip required and a strategy ,to increase it further, which had seen an all time low. 

Have they found any evidence that Shankaracharya himself gave the orders to assassins ? He was used to so much traveling that the claim of having all the record of cell phone conversations could prove to be big a weak link in the case. 

Who were the initial bunch of assassins who had surrendered voluntarily ? 

From where did they emerge ? who ordered these volunteers? 


These are Vital questions. If the police could not produce tapes of the alleged calls made on the exclusive phone of the Sankaracharya, it could prove to be lighting the wick on the wrong end of the bomb.

This is political gimmick between Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi in their race for "who is the best DRAVIDIAN gutter politician of Tamilnadu".

With J.Jayalalitha's second coming doubtful, and her attack on Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin is well Known,after losing in the election 2004, she wanted to patch up with Sonia, went to Delhi and made a statement to that effect.She was criticized for her anti conversion act, 2002.

The Kanchi pontiff has been speaking against conversions.He has spoken against converting Dal its to Christianity in last few days.In Hyderabad he spoke on the return of Hindu temples to Hindus. 

It is well known that evangelicals have been waiting for a god given opportunity with the reentry of Bush .There was an attempted murder on one of the Hindu activists close to the Kanchi Mutt by the evangelicals .He was vigorous in trying to stop the missionaries.(This has not been covered by the News papers.) There were at least two Christian police officers, who were in the arrest team.(Samson Deputy superintendent of Police and Premkumar DSP)

JJ had everything to gain and nothing to lose by this arrest of His holiness Sri Sankaracharya.H.H has become the scape goat. Hindus are soft targets. The arrest of their holy head will not after all spark riots.

The real killers are from ranks of the extremist Tamil groups who have used - the UNILATERAL rift between Sankararaman and HH Sankaracharya to settle score with the Mutt, which they have been gunning for decades. Every Tamilnadu Town has been for years full of graffiti against The Kanchi Mutt, written by the D.K. thugs.

They were earlier known to be settling scores with kidnap of the Kannada matinee idol RajKumar and the state Minister Nagappa,that lead to inter state row,coupled with cauvery river water sharing, and the earlier attack on Tamils in Karnataka in 1991 December.

These Tamil outfits were known to colluded with the LTTE in Rajiv Gandhi's assassination for sending IPKF into SRILANKA .The cloud over karunanidhi is still hanging thick, so too the corruption charges against J.Jayalalitha.

JJ had everything to gain and nothing to lose by this arrest of His holiness Sri Sankaracharya.

H.H has become the scape goat.It is for Hindus to react now. This arrest ought to galvanize Hindus to unite against the aggressors and throw the corrupt Political system.Even soft Hindus, are angry now.They look for protection from the UPA government.They need the RSS,VHP and the BAJRANG DAL more than ever before. 

The Hindus must speak in one voice - the VOICE OF DHARMA.

Tarun Tejpal was trapped in a skin not his own -- Mahesh Peri

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‘Tarun Tejpal was trapped in a skin not his own’

25 November 2013
unnamed
Former Outlook* publisher, Maheshwar Peri, who now runsPathfinder Media, the magazine company which publishesCareers 360, on his friend and former colleague Tarun J. Tejpal**.
***
MaheshPeri
By MAHESH PERI
The stupidity of our nation gets greatly exposed with the extreme reactions to Tarun J. Tejpal—the cult following of his journalism at one end, and the lynch mobs baying for his blood, following the outing of his sexual escapades, at the other.
Tarun comes across as a sexual predator, on the prowl, in search of his next victim. He used his power and influence over young women half his age. The girl is his daughter’s friend and his friend’s daughter.
However, this should not take away some of the most seminal work that the journalists of Tehelkahave done over the years.
***
Tarun’ s story in itself is an alchemy of desire. He was like most of us: chirpy, fun-loving, naughty. However, post Tehelka, he donned the robe of a saint. He became preachy and started espousing causes that he never stood for and never could.
He was nothing that the nation started acknowledging him for.
He was a normal guy with all the flaws, fallacies and weaknesses.
It was a facade he had to put on for the survival ofTehelka, which was losing money, each year. Only the power exuded by Tehelka could make it viable.
He glorified himself when not due. He “owned” the company when the money came from others. He acted the hero while he was just a team member.The existence of Tehelka is not just because of Tarun.
Tehelka exists because of:
1) The financial contributions of many citizens, celebrities and most importantly [the banker]Shankar Sharma, and,
2) The work of Aniruddha Bahal and Ashish Khetan.

If Tarun’s lofty objective was to start a not-for-profit free and aggressive media enterprise, he could have made all contributors as shareholders. He crowd-funded Tehelka but did not part with ownership. The new shareholders include K.D. Singh, a Trinamul Congress MP, who bought his way into Rajya Sabha.
Any intelligent person should have cried foul then.
It is too late now.
***
Sometime in 2009 when my fledgling publication wrote against an educational institution with doubtful credentials, we got into a lot of trouble.
Editors like Aditya Sinha (New Indian Express)Vir Sanghvi (Hindustan Times)Shekhar Gupta (Indian Express) personally supported us.
We were going through multiple cases and draining all our resources.
When Tehelka decided to do a story to the subject, we were too happy. Who can espouse the cause of investigative journalism better? Only till we got the questions from the journalist. We realised that it was a story being done on behalf of the institution to throw insinuations at us.
I was very upset because I knew Tarun personally but for him, it didn’t matter. We responded professionally, sticking to facts. I dared them to do a story despite the facts. It was no coincidence that the dubious institution is Tehelka‘s biggest advertiser taking all its back covers.
The story never appeared, because our response didn’t leave any gaps. And the owner of the institution was at the THINK fest in Goa, rubbing shoulders with the then HRD minister Kapil Sibaland gained access to a ministry that should have punished him.
Kapil Sibal later attended a special screening of a movie produced by this institution, and the picture was advertised/showcased all over to unsuspecting parents and students. For me, THINK became a place which conducted an orgy over social issues.
I stopped following it.
***
This is not just about Tarun.
It is about abuse of power, by a journalist, an editor and a man. A self-styled messiah. Each time, they believe they can get away with unfair demands, they push the envelope further.
People in power with no humility can destroy like nothing else. The desires, fantasies and a coterie is a very potent combination.Tarun is a victim of his own facade, fantasies and greed. He was never what he was portrayed, then and now. He was never a saint and neither can he be a rapist.
He is trapped in a skin not his own. We couldn’t stop people from hailing him as God, as much as we cannot stop them from calling him a devil.
Alas. It is too late now.
Disclosures apply
** This comment was first posted by the author on Facebook
Photographs: courtesy Karamchand Jena, and Campaign India

Also readTarun J. Tejpal steps aside as editor of Tehelka
Life yourselves up, dearie, or get into my elevator
POLL: Is sexual harassment rampant in Indian media?
Online petition to protect Tehelka journalist’s privacy
***
Tarun Tejpal on the five facets of his life
How Congress regime stepped in to help Tehelka
A magazine, a scam, a owner & his Goan house
NYT, WSJ weigh on Tehelka‘s Goa controversy
Tehelka promoter says he didn’t turn off FW tap

 http://wearethebest.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/tarun-tejpal-was-never-a-saint-nor-is-he-a-rapist/

Pradeep Sharma can’t play ‘video’ game for long -- Kartikeya Tanna

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Pradeep Sharma can’t play ‘video’ game for long


Kartikeya Tanna28 Nov 2013
Pradeep Sharma can't play 'video' game for long
Amidst the extensive media coverage of the Tehelka rape case involving its editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal, IAS officer Pradeep Sharma gave several interviews across news channels talking about the alleged snooping on a young woman architect. In these interviews, there arise some contradictions and questions as under:
1. In this interview telecast on ABP News, Sharma says (at the 1:10 mark) that the Modi Government got his house raided and his computer and other material confiscated. All this, he says, was done because Modi suspected he had an obscene clipping involving the woman which could embarrass Modi. He then tells the interviewer “halaa ki aisi koi clip thi nahi … chor ki daadhi mein tinka” (“however, there wasn’t any such clip” followed by a Hindi proverb. However, in the very same interview (at the 3:21 mark), he says he got the clipping through an anonymous letter involving the woman, the fact of which he shared with friends. In fact, in his affidavit before the Supreme Court in 2011, he had actually stated (his remarks were expunged by the visibly disgusted Bench hearing this case) that he did indeed confirm the existence of such a video clipping.
Question: Mr Sharma, is there a clipping or is there not one? Why this contradiction?
2. Another instance of Sharma contradicting himself can be found in this interview to NDTV’s Sreenivasan Jain. After the 13:20 mark, Sharma says that the reason the Modi Government has initiated action against him for alleged illegalities is because Modi thought Sharma was in the possession of the video clip which could also damage Modi’s image and rise to the top. The impression he seems to have given Jain and the NDTV audience is that though Modi thought there was a clipping, there was actually none. Jain confirms this to me via this tweet.
Question: Once again, why this contradiction, Mr Sharma? Or, is Sreenivasan Jain misreporting your statements?
3. He claims to be so close to the woman’s family that, according to him, the first meal that he ate as soon as he was arrested was brought by her parents. He then said that her parents made Sharma talk to her on the phone and that she was upset at what the Gujarat Chief Minister had done to Pradeep Sharma. All this he talks about in an interview with IBNLive reporter here and many other interviews. In another interview, he also said that the woman confided in him showing him the SMSs Modi allegedly sent her.
Question: If he was so close with the woman and her family, how did he then have the moral gumption to share the fact of a sexually explicit video involving her with his friends at the time he received it? Why did he destroy her reputation by gossiping with his friends about it? In any event, let us assume that the reason he shared this with his friends was to get their advice. Why did he, thereafter, allude to this clipping in his affidavit before the Supreme Court – an affidavit, which is, and can easily, be a part of public record? What’s worse? In that affidavit, he had even named the woman in question.
Lastly, even if we assume that the affidavit would have been read by, at the most, a few hundred people, why is he now coming on several TV channels saying with confidence that the obscene clipping he got and saw did involve the woman and thereby destroying her dignity with this widespread tamasha? Is this how he plans to repay the alleged trust and proximity the woman and her parents share with him? Is, or was, the family really close to him as he keeps claiming? Doesn’t the unabashed manner in which he shared the existence of an obscene video he conveniently got from an “anonymous source” depict a deliberate disregard for the woman’s dignity and privacy? What kind of a person, who claims he cares for a woman, does that?
Sharma’s rather contrived attempt at creating a sensation through these interviews remind us of 2011 when former IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt made a wild statement that he was at the meeting where he heard Modi ordering the police to go slow on Hindu rioters. He was hailed as a ‘Singham’, taking on the mighty Narendra Modi. As we now know, the SIT has rubbished his awfully contradictory claims with clinical precision, the Amicus Curiae has questioned his tactics and tricks, his wife had to suffer the embarrassment of a colossal electoral loss in the Gujarat 2012 election despite being supported by the Congress, and the Union Home Ministry has had to eventually agree that he needs to be dismissed from the IPS.
Pradeep Sharma, it seems evident, will meet the same fate. Such is his desperation to highlight the ‘video’ to create a sensation in the media, little does he realise that it does not take long to figure out the contradictions in his tales. This is just the beginning.

http://www.niticentral.com/2013/11/28/pradeep-sharma-cant-play-video-game-for-long-162662.html

Nataraja temple case in Chidambaram, arguments by Dr. Subramanian Swamy in Hon'ble SC

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Nataraja at CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research, Switzerland’s pre-eminent center of research into energy, the “world’s largest particle physics laboratory” and the place where core technologies of the internet were first conceived — “where the web was born.

SC Bench is expected to pronounce the judgement on the petition on 4 December 2013, 10:30 AM.

Brilliant, scintillating arguments by Dr. Subramanian Swamy; a significant contribution to Indian jurisprudence -- in.the cosmic dance, Tandava nrityam of Tillai Nataraja.

Kalyanaraman

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS:IN NATARAJA TEMPLE CASE
              SLP(C) No.30278 of 2009 on November 28, 2013

I.           PRELIMINARIES

1.  This SLP No. 30278 of 2009 [Vol I, p.56-75] is against the 2009 DB judgment of MHC dt.15.09.09 [Vol I, p. 214-68] on Writ Appeal WA No.181 filed by Respondent 3 [Sri Sabhanayagar Temple] was dismissed. I was an Impleaded Party in the said WA.

2.  The Counter of the State of Tamil Nadu, i.e., Respondent No. 1, is on p. 280-347. My Rejoinder Affidavit is on p.394-448 [the nature of the temple is at p 396, para 3].

3.  Prayer is on p.7. I submit for your Lordships two propositions for allowing my SLP and quashing the G.O. issued in 2006 by the Government of Tamil Nadu [Respondent] for the take over the administration of the Sri Sabhanayagar Temple, otherwise known as Nataraja Temple in the town of Chidambaram.


  
II.         CAUSE OF ACTION

1.  Respondent No.1 had issued a G.O. No. 168 in 2006 approving Commissioner’s earlier Orders dated 5.8.87[p.124] and 31.07.1987{Hand in Commissioner’s Order}.

2.  This G.O. notified the approval of TN government of the appointment of an E.O. u/s 45(2) of HR&CE Act (1959) [ Vol II, p.126-32] to “go and takeover the temple”

3.  In the those orders, Section 45 of the re-enacted HR&CE Act of 1959 was invoked, and because of alleged [and admittedlyunproven mismanagement] of the Podu Dikshidars, an E.O. appointed and asked to “proceed to Chidambaram at once to take charge of the temple and its properties etc. without any delay” [SLP Vol., p.124].

4.  Presently [vide Counter of Respondent No.1 at p.303], the “Arulmigu Sabhanayagar Temple, Chidambaram, is under the control of the HR&CE Department.”

5.  But this exercise of “control” is now subject to an interim Order of this Hon’ble Court passed on March 15, 2010 wherein the EO is restrained from carrying out any major construction, barring simple repairs, or demolition work.

4.  First proposition is that the impugned G.O. is completely vitiated by Res Judicata and hence is null and void.

5.  Second proposition  is that Section 45 of the TN HR&CE Act under which the Respondent No.1 claims authority to issue the G.O. is ultra vires Article 31A(1) (b) of the Constitution[ Rejoinder of this Petitioner p. 412-13].

III.       RES JUDICATA ARGUMENT

1.  The first attempt after Independence to bring the temple administration under State control was vide Notification No. G.O. Ms. 894 dated 28-8-1951 in which G.O. several charges of mismanagement and misappropriation were made against the PDs.

2.  This G.O. was challenged by the PDs before the DB of MHC and a judgment was delivered on the matter in the Shirur Mutt case [CV-I, p. 1-50].

3.  The Hon’ble DB quashed the said G.O. holding the PDs to be a “religious denomination” [Vol-II, p.94&118] and hence as laid down under Article 26 of the Constitution, have a fundamental right to administer such property in accordance with law.

4.  Such a law cannot be TN HR&CE Act vide Section 107 of the said Act.

5.  It is an admitted position [e.g., in WP 544 of 2009 in this Hon’ble Court, para 12 states that  “ …Section 107 of the [HR&CE] Act specifically bars the application of the Act to institutions coming under the purview of or enjoying the protection of Article 26 of the Constitution of India.”

6.  It further adds for emphasis that: “In all cases where
Article 26 comes in, Section 45 would automatically go out”. This is repeated in Counter to an IA in the same WP.

7.  At present in fact there is no law other than the IPC to address misappropriation of funds of a temple administered by a denomination.

8.  Hence, the crucial question is if Article 26 can be invoked for the PDs and the temple. It can as I will show that it became a settled issue that the Podu Dikshidars are a religious denomination.

9.  In 1953, this judgment was challenged by the same Respondents herein, by way of a SLP filed in this Hon’ble Court, and was heard before a Constitutional Bench as CA No.39 of 1953. HAND IT STATEMENT OF CASE OF MADRAS GOVERNMENT

10.    In para 33.1& 33.2 of the said Appeal, the Appellant TN Government, had challenged the Shirur  Mutt case Division Bench judgment of the MHC.

11.    TheCA was dismissed by a Speaking Order of the Hon’ble Constitutional Bench [Vol II, p.119-23]. The Respondent herein as Appellant earlier had given an undertaking to withdraw the impugned G.O.

12.    The said DB judgment of the Madras High Court [V-II, p.76-95; and 119] thus became final in 1954 when the CA No.39 of 1953 filed by the Madras government against the DB judgment, was dismissed by a Constitutional Bench of this Hon’ble Court [Vol-II, p.119-123].

13.    TheCA was dismissed by a Speaking Order of the Hon’ble Constitutional Bench [Vol II, p.119-23]. The Respondent herein as Appellant earlier had given an undertaking to withdraw the impugned G.O.

14.    The said DB judgment of the Madras High Court [V-II, p.76-95; and 119] thus became final in 1954 when the CA No.39 of 1953 filed by the Madras government against the DB judgment, was dismissed by a Constitutional Bench of this Hon’ble Court [Vol-II, p.119-123].

15.    Hence any legal challenge to the denominational status of the PDs, since then, is ab initio void and barred as Res Judicata.

16.    However, disregarding the bar of Res Judicata, the TN government made a second attempt after 52 years, and issued G.O. 168 of 2006 to take-over temple administration [Vol II, p.133-50].

17.    This G.O. was challenged by the PDs inter alia, on the ground of Res judicata in Writ Petition WP No. 18248 of 2006, and heard by a Single Judge Bench[Vol II p. 162, paras 8, 9-14; PDs logic on p. 166 paras 20&24].

18.    In that WP it was prayed that G.O.168 of 2006 [Vol II p.133-50] be quashed.  The WP was dismissed.


19.    This order of dismissal of the Hon’ble Single Judge  was challenged before the Division Bench in a WA [SLP No.32111 of 2009 (SLP-2, p.300-16)].

20.    In 2009, the Division Bench of the MHC in [Vol-I, p.1-55, p.241-42 at para 44-47] dismissed the WA.

21.    Against this Order, SLP No. 30278 of 2009 [Vol I, p.56-75] has been filed by this Petitioner.

IV.       TWO CONCEPTS

22.    The first concept is of religious denomination.

23.    The word “religious denomination” occurs in the Constitution [Article 26] but it is not defined therein.

24.    In two HR&CE Acts of 1951 and 1959, and in subsequent amendments enacted by the TN Legislature, we also do not find any definition of “denomination”.

25.    Religious denomination was defined in the said 1951 Shirur Mutt case [(1952) 1 MLJ 557; SLP p. 76-118; Citation Volume (CV)-I p. 1-50 at p.34-35] which draws on the Oxford Dictionary to define it as “a collection of individuals classed together under the same name: a religious sect or body having a common faith and organization and designated by a distinctive name”.

26.    The Division Bench then held the Podhu Dikshidars [p. 601; CV-I p. 45] to be a ‘Religious Denomination’ with a clear finding that:   “Looking at from the point of view, whether Podhu Dikshidars are a denomination and whether their right as a denomination is to any extent infringed within the meaning of Article 26 it seems to us that it is a clear case in which it can be safely said that the PDs who are Smartha Brahmins, form and constitute a religious denomination, or in any event, a section thereof.”

27.    In a catena of judgments delivered after the Shirur Mutt judgment [e.g., Durgah Committee vs. Hussain Ali (1962) 1 SCR 383 at p. 410-412 para 3; Citation Vol I p.89-127], the definition of a religious denomination followed has remained the same.

28.    In fact these judgments cite the Shirur Mutt case, covering the three main parameters: common faith, common organization, and a designation by a distinctive name. There is no difference therefore in the definition of denomination followed contrary to the view of the Hon’ble Single Judge in 2009.   

29.    Since the landmark MHC 1952 DB judgment in the Shirur Mutt case, and which was upheld by a constitutional bench of this Hon’ble Court, the Respondents Nos 1 and 2 herein have been respondents in a plethora of litigations against this temple in which this question arose, but they have always held, till 2009, that the PDs have been found by the Hon’ble Supreme Court to be a religious denomination.

30.    In a writ petition filed by the Podu Dikshidars [WP 616/ 1981] against a fresh order of the Commissioner, HR&CE, Justice Mohan observed that the Respondents herein, did not pursue [in this Hon’ble Court] their averment against the denomination status of the PDs, which had been decided in favour of the PDs by the Hon’ble Division Bench in the Shirur Mutt case.

31.    In the Counter filed in the Hon’ble MHC by the Respondent 2 [in W.P. 7843 of 1987], it is admitted in more than one place on oath that the Supreme Court “has found the Podhu Dikshidars at Chidambaram constitute a religious denomination”.

32.    Hence judicially there can be no doubt whatsoever that PDs constitute a religious denomination to attract the protection of Article 26 of the Constitution.

33.    We may refer to the SLP [in Vol.I at p.56; Grounds on p. 59-68] for this Hon’ble Court’s judgment in the Shirur Mutt’s case [p. 61-64 Ground B] wherein three paras of the Shirur Mutt’s judgment [1954) SCR 1005 at 1023-24] are extracted.

34.    in the impugned MHC Single Judge and Division Bench judgments a bald and untenable distinction was made between the concepts of “religious denomination” and “denominational temple”.

35.    This is without any precedent or merit. The former concept in fact encompasses the latter. The Respondents appear to have adopted this presumed erroneous dichotomy before Your Lordships here, as a desperate and futile attempt to circumvent the bar of res judicata.

36.    Thus the Hon’ble Division Bench in 2009 wrongly held that [ SLP p.237, para 37]: “This observation [of the PDs being a religious denomination], by itself, cannot be regarded as a finding recorded on the issue as to whether the temple is a denominational temple. That issue was not directly and substantially in issue in the Shirur Mutt case”.

37.    Respondent No.1 in the Counter in my SLP herein for the first time [starts at p.280; then p.282-83 p. 399-403] has stated that: “Hon’ble High Court has decided the religious denomination of Podhu Dikshidars alone in the above case in (1952) 1 MLJ 557[p. 399 SLP].Read my reply SLP p. 394-448 esp. p.399.  

38.    In may be noted at this stage that the PDs are held not only as a mere ‘denomination’ but in fact a ‘religious denomination’ because they not only satisfy the criteria of the Oxford dictionary to be a denomination, but a close reading of the Shirur Mutt judgment points to their founding and managing of the Sri Sabhanayagar temple.

39.    In the said impugned judgment, the Hon’ble Division Bench had also examined the question of founding and management of the Sri Sabhanayagar Temple [CV-I p.41-2] which are relevant here for notice. It is an admitted position that the SST is a hoary temple whose origin is lost in antiquity.

40.    Under the HRE Act of 1927, under which Act there was a proviso for a Board which was empowered to appoint a E.O. subject, of course, to Government approval.

41.    The President of the Board, Mr. T.M.Chinnaiya Pillai, in his Inspection Note dated March 31, 1946 for the Board Meeting held on 19.12.1946, stated [see lines 35, 36 &37 of the Note]: “I have no quarrel on the claim of the Podu Dikshidars that they are hereditary trustees of this temple and that the temple came into existence because of the efforts of their ancestors.”

42.    This Note and subsequent developments are referred to in para 11 of CA 39 of 1953 of the Respondent No.1 herein.

43.    The Notification of the temple by the said Board, vide Notice No. 5 of 1947 u/s 65A of the 1927 Act dated 11.8.47 though issued, was withdrawn by G.O. No.440 dated 7.2.48 by the government.

44.    Even if there is no written document proving that the temple was established by the Dikshidars, with Lord Nataraja as one of the Dikshidars, it nevertheless stands as an undisputed article of faith with the Hindus. No other group in Chidambaram or elsewhere has laid claim to the temple.

45.    In the Constitutional Bench judgment in Venkataramana Devaru v. State of Mysore [(1958) SCR 895; CV-II p. 221-48 at p. 232] this Hon’ble Court specifically defined a religious denomination of the Gowda Saraswat Brahmins  “not as a mere denomination”, but “a sect associated with the foundation and maintenance of the Sri Venkataramana Temple.”

46.    Consequently, a temple founded and managed by a religious denomination is by definition a denominational temple. The Respondents thus are making a distinction that is absurd.

47.    Such a temple may or not be a public temple, or vice versa. In the Madurai Sourashtra Sabha case [(1971) 84 Law Weekly 86; SLP p.402-03] a DB of the MHC held: “Admittedly, there is no direct evidence that the temple in question belongs to the Sourashtra Hindu Community at Madurai as to when and by whom the said temple was constructed. It is significant that none of the other communities living in Madurai town had at any time chosen to lay claim to the suit temple as their own. It was also the case that the said temple was throughout maintained by the Sourashtra community. Under such circumstances, it is held that the suit temple must be held to be belonging to said community.”

48.    The same view was expressed in the case of the Vellalar Samudaya temple [(1980) 2 MLJ 358: see my SLP p.399] herein it was held that: “Where there is no direct evidence…. The suit temple belongs to the said community”  

49.    In any case, Article 25(2)(b) requires every temple to be “substantially” open to the general Hindu public i.e., subject only to reasonable restrictions on the access permitted [Devaru case, op.cit.].

50.    The Hon’ble Division Bench of the MHC also referred to a new HR&CE Act having being enacted in 1959 repealing the 1951 Act and hence, the Hon’ble Bench opined[p. 241-44; at para 46 p.242] that the matter of denomination has to be denovoconsidered.

51.    This is contradicted by a Constitutional Bench judgment of this Hon’ble Court in the Pathak’s case [AIR 1978 SC 803 paras 24- 26, p. 815,  CV-II at 342] . The Hon’ble Division Bench of MHC has not referred to as to why this judgment would not be applicable or binding or relevant in this matter.

52.    I had filed Written Submissions before the Division Bench after my impleadment in which I had brought the Pathak judgment to the Hon’ble Bench’s attention. But I could not lead oral arguments because of the violence directed against me by sympathisers of the LTTE in open court while arguing the matter before their Lordships of the Hon’ble Division Bench.

53.    The Report of Justice Sri Krishna Committee gives full facts of those sordid events.

54.    This makes it necessary for this Petitioner to elaborate on the second concept --that of Res Judicata.

55.    In [Gangai Vinayagar Temple v. Meenakashi Ammal [(2009) 9 SCC 757 at page 768 in para 81]it is held:

“81. Res judicata is an ancient doctrine of universal application and permeates every civilised system of jurisprudence. This doctrine encapsulates the basic principles in all judicial systems which provide that an earlier adjudication is conclusive on the same subject-matter between the same parties. The principles of res judicata reflect a wisdom that is for all time”].

56.    The principle of Res Judicata has been further re-iterated by this Hon’ble Court [in (2010) 3 SCC 353 at 376 para 60].

57.    In the classic: The Doctrine of Res Judicata [Butterworth, London, 1996]originally authored by G.Spencer Bower in 1924 and revised by Hon’ble Justice Handley of Australia, after a review of all English law cases, it is re-iterated that a final decision even if subsequently proven wrong is binding on the same issues and same parties, as Res Judicata [p.14].

58.    Thus, the Hon’ble DB of the MHC in the Shirur Mutt case finding that the PDs are a religious denomination and entitled to the protection of Article 26, acts a bar of res judicata in all subsequent litigation between the same parties on the same issue, even if the laws have changed since, or the finding of the Court was erroneous. 

59.    I submit, in view of the cited judgments of this Hon’ble Court, any proceedings herein between the same parties and same issues under the HR&CE Act, is hit and barred by Res Judicata and the Sri Sabhanayagar Temple is protected by Article 26(c)&(d) of the Constitution because the PDs are a religious denomination. 

V.         THE CONCLUDING ARGUMENTS FOR THE TWO PROPOSITIONS
My submissions before Your Lordships are:   
First, it is settled law since 1953, that the Podu Dikshidars constitute a religious denomination within the meaning and of Article 26 of the Constitution and hence entitled to the protection of the said fundamental right.
The impugned DB judgment of 2009 of the Hon’ble the Madras High Court, upholding the said G.O. 106, is therefore vitiated by Res Judicata and thus and ought to be set aside.
This prayer is further fortified since admittedly Section 45 is barred from application vide Section 107 of the HR&CE Act for a religious denomination protected by Article 26.
Under Article 26 [(2005) 6 SCC 166 at 171 para 19; CV-II p. 317-23 at p.322], the invoking of Section 45 against the Podhu Dikshidars and the Sri Sabanayagar Temple is thus not valid in law.
The G.O.No. 168 is sourced to the power vested in the Respondents vide Section 45, and hence it is infructuous. Thus the Notification is to be quashed.

Second, the take-over of temple properties comes under the purview of Article 31(A)(1)(b).
A judgment of a Seven Judge Constitutional Bench of this Hon’ble Court  [reported in AIR 1969 SC 168 at 176, CV-II p. 388 at p. 400-01] and Karnataka [(1998) 2 Kar L.J 587 [DB] at p.609, para 38], Kerala, Punjab, and AP High Courts have clarified that the scope of “property” in that Article covers other items than estate or land. Temple lands and properties thus would come within the ambit of Art.31A(1)(b).
Period limitation was incorporated in Article 31A(1)(b) of the Constitution by way of the First Amendment in 1951, and before the HRE Act 1951, which therefore contained the five year limitation.
Significantly, the 1951 HRE Act in Section 64(4) [p. 454 in the Brief] had placed a limit of 5 years for a notification for take-over, to remain valid.
But for inexplicable reasons, in the 1959 HR&CE Act, it was replaced by Section 72 [p. 449-453] after deleting the period limitation.
Thus Section 45 acquisition besides being impermissible for Denominations vide Section 107 of the HR&CE Act of 1959, is also ultra vires Article 31A(1)(b) of the Constitution.
Third, it also is ultra vires Article 27 since the State is not constitutionally empowered to further or to derogate any religion, as well as the Preamble regarding state commitment to secularism.
Prolonged take-over of temples will for example require paying salaries and stipend to priests and archakas from State funds.
Since 1959, there is not a single instance of the Respondents returning to the trustees a taken over temple.
After an amendment to the Act in 1965, take-over and retention of a temple became a discretionary open-ended option for the Government vide Section 72(6) [p. 450] for to rescind or not to, the G.O..
The 1965 amendment now empowers the government to take-over temples even if there is no prima facie evidence of mismanagement. This is against case laws.
In fact it has been brazenly disclosed by the authorities that it is government policy to take-over temples [in Jyotiramalingam case, AIR 1985 Mad 341; CV-I p.69 at p.72-74]. 
There are today about 45,000 temples in the Respondents’ control most for over several decades, with no oversight agency to monitor the use or misuse of temple funds. Hand over a list.
In any case as held by the Constitutional Bench [op.cit.,], a mere discretion of the Government to return the property is not an acceptable answer.
Thus, if any take-over by government is without a period limit then it becomes ultra vires Art 31A(1)(b), if challenged as infringing Article 14 and/or 19 [here it can be under 19(g)].
The impugned G.O. No.168 is therefore not only ultra vires Article 26 which protects denominations, but also Article 31 A(1)(b) of the Constitution, since there is no indication in the text of the said G.O. that the acquisition of the management of the resources and properties of the said temple, is only for a limited period .
Fourth, the said G.O. has been issued without a  completing a proper inquiry, in accordance with the judicially canonized rule of audi alteram partem. It is thus in violation of the principles of natural justice and therefore fit for quashing[p..].
Fifth,that the aforesaid G.O. was issued on the directions of political authorities, who are known for their bias against the Hindu religion in general and this temple in particular. Hence the said G.O. is vitiated as being malafide thus invalid.
Sixth, on grounds of natural justice. The impugned G.O. represents a gross non application of mind resulting in a failure of natural justice.
This Hon’ble Court has made clear [(2010) 7 SCC 678, para 23; CV-I 51 at p. 59-60] that application of mind is best demonstrated by disclosure of mind by the authority recording the reasons for making the order.
It is admitted by Respondent No.2 that the Commissioner’s order of 31.07.87 is based on allegations without proving their veracity beyond doubt [ Para 12 ].
In fact, the said order was issued even as the inquiry was ongoing. The impugned G.O. No. 168 of 2006 thus has been issued without application of mind.
In the counter-affidavit, the Respondent has stated  [p.14  ] that “.. the legal position was that the Commissioner was at liberty to pass an order appointing an Executive Officer without a prior notice to anybody who may be interested in the temple.”
The 31.07.87 order of the Commissioner was the consequence of  proceedings in WP 5638 of 1982 challenging the first Commissioner’s Order of 1982 to appoint an E.O..
Justice Mohan had explicitly directed that the 1982 Order would be treated just as a ‘Show Cause’ Notice of the Commissioner to the PDs, but that the final “orders of the Commissioner will be passed on merits.” 
The specific direction of the Hon’ble Court to pass orders on merits was however recklessly flouted.
To do so, the Commissioner appears to have relied on a decision of Single Judge [reported in AIR 1976 Mad 264; CV-II p. 63-5].
This decision was however subsequently overruled by a Division Bench [reported in (1995) 2 LW 213; CV-II 102 at p. 106], but after the issuance of the Commissioner’s 1987 Order.
The Hon’ble Single Judge in 2009 therefore had upheld the order of appointment of an EO dated 31.07.87 by the Commissioner because 1976 decision was not overruled till 1995, and hence presumed to have held the ground in 1987.
But even if so, the 1995 Division Bench judgment was well before the impugned G.O. issued in 2006 by Respondent No. 1 herein in this SLP, approving the order of the Commissioner. But the government took no cognizance of the High Court order.
The Hon’ble Single Judge ought therefore have taken cognizance of this, and set aside the impugned G.O.
Moreover, even prior to 1995, there were two Division Bench judgments of the Madras High Court [AIR 1971 Mad 295; CV- I, p.66-68 at p.67—even prior to 1976 !] and [AIR 1985 Mad 341; CV- I, p.69-74 at p.71 ], and a Constitutional Bench judgment of this Hon’ble Court [(1965) 2 SCR 934; CV-I, p.75-88 at p. 85] that in ratio went against the cited 1976 decision of the Single Judge.
In the said Constitutional Bench it was held that in view of the finding that the Commissioner failed to establish any of the allegations against the trustees, hence no case was made out for the appointment of the EO.
This natural justice principle has been re-affirmed in another case by a Bench of Justices Sinha and Bhandari [(2007) 2 SCC 181 at 191; CV-II p. 411-32 at p.421] which squarely applies here.
Hence, both the HR&CE Commissioner  and the Secretary of the Department of the TN government have shown a reckless disregard for legal precedents as also for Article 141 of the Constitution, and thus passed an order without application of mind-- thus vitiated by arbitrariness.
The impugned Division Bench judgment of 2009 thus also suffers a fatal infirmity on this score.    
Seventh,  this Hon’ble Court had already cautioned the HR&CE Department that to invoke the power under Article 25 and 26 of the Constitution, there have to be grave and substantive allegations of mismanagement by the temple trustees which  are proven in an legally tenable procedure established on the principle of audi alteram partem.
Even today after this Hon’ble Court is seized of the matter this kind of atmosphere prevails as evidenced by the recent physical attempts by atheists such as Communists to storm the temple [see cuttings].
The G.O. No.53 of 2008 is another example of gross interference in religious affairs by the TN Government.
Finally, the eighthsubmission is of malafide. The prima facie basis for malafide can be discerned from the list of dates from which it can be seen that the HR&CE Dept, or its predecessors of the TN government, have been trying since 1931 to take over this temple.
This leads this petitioner to lead the argument of malafide intention of the Respondents, who are admittedly the representatives of atheists who are in the political authority, and hence answerable to them.

This authority has publicly declared that physical destruction of this temple in particular is an essential part of atheism and Tamil liberation to which the said authority publicly subscribes.   
The Dravidian Movement which was originally inspired by British imperialists to oppose the Freedom movement adopted the British nefarious goal set by Macaulay to rubbish India’s ancient culture and religion. Atheism became the easy route to do so.
Thus blowing up temples was a central call of the movement and destroying of Hindu idols was another [see AIR 1958 SC 1032]. The Sri Sabhanayagar temple was singled out for blowing up by cannon firing to signal “Tamil liberation”.
Sanskrit slokas were another target and were placed against Tamil language. The singing of Tevaram and Tamil songs in the sanctum sanctorum[ see G.O.No.53 of 2008…] was a strategy for it

Physical threats to the Podu Dikshitars such as laying a siege [see enclosed Times of India cutting] was yet another way. Earlier their sacred thread by the cadres of the Dravidar Kazhagam[ a DMK ally] was another method to harass and demean the PDs.

Let grama sabhas of Western Ghats decide. Why is Catholic Church of Kerala meddling? -- CI Issac

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Environmentalist Madhav Gadgil opposes ministry decision on Western Ghats

Friday, Oct 18, 2013, 21:15 IST | Place: Panaji | Agency: IANS
Madhav Gadgil during the convention about drought organised by Lok Bharati at Sane Guruji Smarak
Madhav Gadgil during the convention about drought organised by Lok Bharati at Sane Guruji Smarak - DNA Research N Archives
Environmentalist Madhav Gadgil, who headed a committee that authored a study on the Western Ghats, on Friday criticised the decision of the union ministry of environment and forests to create "ecologically sensitive areas" in the area.
The exclusionist development of the biodiversity hotspot would be detrimental to people living there, Gadgil has said.

Gadgil, a Padma Bhushan award winner, said gram sabhas in the villages of the Western Ghats region should be empowered to decide what development is needed in their areas.



"The decision of the ministry is the most regrettable decision, violating science, democracy and environmental concerns, and it is to be hoped that the enlightened people of the Western Ghats tract will ensure that their will prevails," Gadgil said in a written statement.

Gadgil has, in the recent past, opposed vehemently the findings of a high-level working group headed by eminent scientist Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, which advocated that part of the Western Ghats be opened up for development and part for conservation.

The MoEF decision to carve Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESA) in the Ghats is only the first step, before areas for development in the forested areas is notified, Gadgil claims, adding that the approach of the Kasturirangan committee was top-down and imperialist.

"A democratic process of taking recommendations to all the gram sabhas in the region in their own languages and basing the final decision on the basis of their feedback (should have been followed). This has been set aside and a decision has been imposed on the basis of a limited web-based consultation in the English language, that is totally inaccessible to the real stakeholders, the people at the grass roots," Gadgil says in his statement.

The Western Ghats, close to India's west coast, serve as a crucial landmass that captures the monsoon clouds which pass over the peninsular stretch, and spread over a vast part of the western coast, from southern Gujarat and Maharashtra to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.

The rains that these mountain ranges bring, feed six states -- Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

The Ghats, which also account for six major rivers that flow out of the mountains into the plains, are listed by UNESCO as one of the top eight bio-diversity hotspots of the world.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-environmentalist-madhav-gadgil-opposes-ministry-decision-on-western-ghats-1905341

Published: November 19, 2013 00:11 IST | Updated: November 19, 2013 00:12 IST

Gadgil says WGEEP report is far from ‘dead’

Krishnadas Rajagopal
Madhav Gadgil
Madhav Gadgil

Terms environment ministry’s memorandum unconstitutional

Madhav Gadgil, chairman of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), has said that his report is far from “dead” and the unrest in the State is an aftermath of the “sabotage of democracy” caused by the denial of role to the local population, especially the grama sabhas, in decision-making.
“In both the Kasturirangan panel’s recommendations and the Environment Ministry’s memorandum there is not a word on the role of the grama sabhas in categorising areas as ecologically sensitive. The local population has no voice. This is unconstitutional,” Professor Gadgil told The Hindu over the phone on Monday.
Professor Gadgil said the memorandum was against the spirit of the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution, which envision local bodies to “perform effectively as vibrant democratic units of self-government”.
“The government’s denial of role to the local population and no mention of grama sabhas in the office memorandum is against the very object of the constitutional Amendments, which was brought about to empower the people at the grassroots to decide on the developmental and conservation activities in their own zones,” he said.
Article 243A of the 73rd Amendment prescribes that “a grama sabha may exercise such powers and perform such functions at the village level as the Legislature of a “State may, by law, provide”.
Professor Gadgil expressed anguish at how the memorandum was silent on the very existence of the grama sabhas.

Sweeping statement

The memorandum merely makes a general sweeping statement in paragraph 5, saying “all other major recommendations made by the High Level Working Group, particularly with respect to financial arrangements to incentivise green growth in the Western Ghats, participation of and involvement of local communities in decision-making, data monitoring systems especially the establishment of Decision Support and Monitoring Centre for Western Ghats, is accepted”.
This is when the Objects and Statement of Reasons for the 73rd amendment comments: “Though the Panchayati Raj Institutions have been in existence for a long time, it has been observed that these institutions have not been able to acquire the status and dignity of viable and responsive people's bodies”.
He points to Article 40 of the Constitution in which the Directive Principles of State Policy lays down that the State shall take steps to organise village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government.
He said the WGEEP report, on the other hand, was “fully democratic”, allowing the people to decide the ecologically sensitive zone in their area.

‘Vested interests’

“Our report was a starting point, until vested interests supported by the Centre and the State governments took over,” Professor Gadgil said.
He, however, said the WGEEP report “is not dead, it is alive. It is obviously stimulating a lot of thinking. During my recent visits to Kerala, there were so many people talking about it”.
“See it in this perspective: Our report was the first government panel report to state facts about the Western Ghats as they are and as per the principles of the Constitution. The Kasturirangan report, regretfully, was a whitewash as any other government report. Ours was the honourable exception,” Prof. Gadgil said.


Madhav Gadgil Committee Report and the Catholic Church of Kerala
by C I Issacon 29 Nov 20131 Comment



Kerala, the only wholly literate State in India, is proving itself to be a less educated one. For the last couple of months, the main concern of a section of Kerala society is about the potential danger facing farmers and people in general due to implementation of the Gadgil/ Kasthurirangan proposals to save Western Ghats. Unfortunately, poor people are subjected to emotions rather than reasoning by some unseen forces and interest groups and are not adequately aware of the lessons of Uttar Kashi during the last northwest monsoon season. They are not aware of the wrath of nature which awaits them.

The Western Ghats are the protector of the Indian peninsula and mother of more than a dozen perennial rivers. This is one of the most ecologically sensitive areas in the world and is now endangered due to indiscriminate human interference in the name of development. Hence, halting the rapid pace of the degradation of its environment is the main concern; this is the sum and substance of the Madhav Gadgil report.

The report was prepared after a careful and scientific survey of 18 months and presented to the Ministry of Environment and Forests on August 31, 2011. Madhav Gadgil is an outstanding professor at the Centre for Ecological Science, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; he has six titles and 215 research papers to his credit. His academic credibility is unquestioned, and it is in this light that one should see his observations and findings as a mantra for sustainability of human generations in peninsular India.

Some are opposing the report and spreading canards without reading or even seeing the text of the report. These forces began spreading baseless rumours immediately after its submission to the concerned ministry. Unfortunately, the authorities failed to provide a vernacular translation of the document to concerned quarters, which was an unpardonable lapse on their part.

Intense pressure from mysterious quarters led the Ministry to appoint another committee under Kasthurirangan to review and submit another report regarding the destiny of the Western Ghats and the people inhabiting the most sensitive locations of the Ghats, covering an area of 1,29,037 sq. km and spreading over six southern Indian States including Gujarat. Its end-to-end length is 1490 km, minimum width is 48 km and maximum width is 210 km. But the Kasthurirangan report did not differ much from the earlier report of Madhav Gadgil. The paradox is that of the six States, only Kerala reacted wildly against the report.

Out of 4156 villages spread over 142 taluks identified as ecologically sensitive by Gadgil, only 123 villages in 14 taluks lie in the State of Kerala and compared to other States villages in Kerala are small, just 8 to 14 sq. km. Among the 123 villages, only some portions are geologically sensitive. The task of identifying such places has been left to village panchayats and the Western Ghats Ecological Authority. Thus it is ‘much ado about nothing’ in one sense and in other sense the beginning of another labour pain to birth a new Kashmir in the far south.

Behind the wild reactions, the involvement of two religious forces is quite apparent - the Islamic terrorist groups and the Catholic Church of Kerala. The paradox is that other Christian Churches or the Catholic Church of Goa or Karnataka not reacted against the report in the manner of the Kerala Catholic Church. In fact, the Church of South India’s Bishop Rt. Rev. Thomas K Oommen came forward and extended the support of his Church and laity to the Gadgil recommendations.  

For more than a decade, the Kerala Catholic Church has been active in generating confusion and social tension, particularly amongst its laity, using occasions such as the Holy Mass (or Holy Communion). In the midst or culmination of the Holy Mass, they read out Pastoral Letters, which are the new version of the medieval Papal Bulls. These letters are creating unnecessary confusion and concern amongst the ignorant and poor laity which is now gripped with a sense of social insecurity. 

Since the 1957 ‘liberation’ movement against the democratically elected communist government, the Church has openly used the weapon of pastoral letters to infuriate its laity and achieve its political ends. Since 2000, the Church slightly changed its stratagem and tone towards petty social issues to generate insecurity amongst its laity.

One instance was the question of population, and the Church, in contradiction of the national population policy, called on the laity through its pastoral letters to have more births and offered very attractive incentives to those who accepted the call to have more children.

Another instance was the question of Mullapperiyar Dam. The concerns which the Church raised against the existence of the dam are, beyond doubt, false and imaginative. Moreover, the issue of dam is between two states of the Indian Union and there is a constitutional mechanism to settle such disputes. Notwithstanding these facts, the Church generated tension not only amongst Catholics but amongst the whole of society downstream of the dam. Behind all these activities there are hidden agendas.

Amidst the recent agitation against the Gadgil Report, the Catholic Bishop of Idukki threatened, ‘in Kerala they will create another Kashmir’ if the Government did not discard the proposals of both Gadgil and Kasthurirangan. This threat is still alive. The malady is that so far the Bishop has neither tendered an apology nor withdrawn from his stand of civil war against the nation. The defunct Government of Kerala has not responded to this call/threat and its machineries are in torpor. Thus no action has been enunciated against him so far. Similar calls by priests in Nagaland in the 1960s had consequences from the 1970s onwards, for which we are still paying a heavy price.  

In the meantime, it is better to see the other side of the present catastrophe. Multifarious interests are pivoting round the new issues. Both ruling and opposition fronts in Kerala favour the Islamic terrorist - Catholic Church nexus in disguise. The Church had readied such a nexus when a Catholic college professor’s hand was chopped off by Islamic fundamentalists, and the Church extended moral support to the terrorists and terminated the victim from service!

Above all, Islamic terrorist groups with the moral support of the Muslim League are demanding one more Muslim majority district and subsequently a Muslim majority state by dividing Kerala. We shall set this aside for the time being. However, the Muslim League, the main constituent of the Congress-led Front, is god-fathering Islamic terrorists in the State. They are its main source of income and votebank. Similarly to the opposition Left Front also, Islamic terrorists are dear. Both fronts are unanimously supporting the cause of the hardcore terrorist Abdul Nassar Madhani.

The leaders of both Fronts are attempting to fish in troubled waters. They have varied interests. Some MLAs and leaders of the UDF & LDF are directly or indirectly running quarries in the rock-rich Western Ghats. Once the major suggestions of the report are implemented, they will be the main losers. Other leaders are running resorts and real estate business and seek rich commissions from the contractors of future hydro-electric projects; their interest in the Ghats is enhancing daily.

The Gadgil and Kasthurirangan reports suggest eco-friendly buildings. Both propose a ban on building construction above 2500 sq. m, quarries, unscientific road construction and dam constructions. This cannot be dismissed as anti-farmer. Gadgil recommended the promotion of topographic and economic-friendly agriculture. Indeed, all over the world such movements are gaining ground, even in Kerala. Can this be dubbed as against the Bible, Pope or Church?

Concerned citizens should study the major recommendations of the reports. They focus on environment-friendly and sustainable development of the Western Ghats while preserving its natural beauty and serenity as described in Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsa. To quote Gadgil: “Kalidasa likens the mountain range of Western Ghats to a comely young maiden, her head near Kanyakumari, Anaimalais and Nilgiris her breasts, Goa her hips, and her feet near river Tapi. All over the world, such mountains, endowed as they are with high levels of environmental heterogeneity, are treasure troves of natural diversity”.

Retaining the diversity of the Ghats and the life of its inhabitants is the main concern of the report. Gadgil divided the ranges of the Western Ghats into three compartments based on its slanting, extent of forests, density of population, and hydrological considerations. But Kasthurirangan broadly divided it into two. Gadgil suggested certain do’s and don’ts based on the topographical specialty of the ranges. He left the implementation of the proposal to the joint decision of village panchayats and the Western Ghats Ecological Authority.

The 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments have bestowed decision-making powers to the Panchayati Raj Institutions and Nagarpalikas. But in reality all development decisions are being thrust on the people as most panchayats in Kerala are ruled by the Church laity.

So why are the Catholic Bishops of Kerala alone getting agitated? Of the 1,29,037 sq. km area of the Western Ghats, 41.56 percent belongs to natural forests zone and the remaining 58.44 percent is human-inhabited. In many places, the habitation exists on government record only. Its natural wealth is the attraction. Those behind the curtain of this agitation have multifarious interests, including terrorist and separatist activities. One must be careful before extending solidarity to the illusive agitation in the name of Gadgil committee report.

The author is a retired Professor of History, and lives in Trivandrum
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http://www.drexel.edu/~/media/Files/greatworks/pdf_fall09/HistoricalRoots_of_EcologicalCrisis.ashx

The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis
Author(s): Lynn White, Jr.
Source: Science, New Series, Vol. 155, No. 3767 (Mar. 10, 1967), pp. 1203-1207
Published by: American Association for the Advancement of Science


"Christianity, in absolute contrast to ancient pagan- ism and Asia's religions (except, perhaps, Zoroastrianism), not only es-
tablished a dualism of man and nature but also insisted that it is God's will that man exploit nature for his proper ends" and then Lynn White continues "By destroying pagan animism, Christianity made it possible to exploit nature in a mood of indifference to the
feelings of natural objects." Further Lynn White states
"The whole concept of the sacred grove is alien to Christianity and
to the ethos of the West. For nearly 2 millennia Christian missionaries have been chopping down sacred groves,
which are idolatrous because they assume spirit in nature"
Lynn White concludes " The greatest spiritual revolutionary
in Western history, Saint Francis, pro- posed what he thought was an alternative Christian view of nature and man's relation to it: he tried to substitute the idea of the equality of all creatures, in-
cluding man, for the idea of man's limitless rule of creation. He failed.
Both our present science and our present technology are so tinctured with orthodox Christian arrogance toward nature that no solution for our ecologic crisis can be expected from them alone".
.
This article created an uproar in the West . There were a lot of rebuttals. Prof Isaac has rightly pointed out this in context to Kerala. Probably Lynn White statement " Orthodox Christian arrogance toward nature that no solution for our ecologic crisis can be expected from them alone" can be replaced by "Orthodox Kerala Catholic and Christian arrogance toward nature that no solution for our ecologic crisis can be expected from them alone"

gajanan

Meet legal activist, economist, politician Dr. Subramanian Swamy -- Pallavi Saluja

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Meet Party in Person - Subramanian Swamy
 Pallavi Saluja Nov 28,2013

Subramanian Swamy
 
Bar & Bench speaks with Subramanian Swamy, an Indian academician, politician, economist and legal activist. In this interview, he talks about his love for law, how he got involved in litigation, and the peculiarities of being a “non-lawyer”.
 
Bar & Bench: For a “non-lawyer”, you are a familiar face in more than one court. How did it all start?
Subramanian Swamy: The first time I ever argued in court was in 1982. This was when Ram Jethmalani (he was then with the BJP and I was with the Janata Party) filed a criminal defamation case against me. It was a turning point in my life.
Most lawyers told me that they did not want to appear against Jethmalani. My wife, who is a Parsi lawyer, had a highly rated criminal lawyer friend PR Vakil and he advised me to argue myself. He said, “I will coach you but you argue”. So, that is how I began. I argued that case, and won it too, with Jethmalani on the opposite side.
Later, I was again subjected to a defamation case by Ramkrishna Hegde, who was the then Chief Minister of Karnataka. I had accused him of appropriating land in Bangalore for the benefit of his son-in-law. The reaction was the same as is now regarding my accusation against Kejriwal; because he carried the image of a man with extra-ordinary honesty and was a potential Prime Minister of India. So everybody came down upon me. He filed a Rs. 100 crore defamation suit in Bombay. Then I argued in the Supreme Court on forum non-convenience and I succeeded. I appeared before Justice Ahmadi here. It is a reported judgment.
My wife has always been the principal back up. She essentially prepares the petition because I think she has the stomach for arguing these aggressive cases.
I won every defamation case filed against me. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha filed close to 100 defamation cases against me in different courts between 1992 and 1996. I took the matter to the Supreme Court and got the famous New York Times Case of 1964 read into law. It provided that if a person in public life, including one in government, feels aggrieved by a defamatory statement, then that person must not only prove in the court that the defamatory statement is false but also that the maker of the statement knew it to be false. This principle, thus, reversed the traditional onus on the defamer and placed the burden of proof on the defamed. Later, Jayalalitha withdrew all the 100 cases filed against me.
Subsequently, Jethmalani filed three more defamation cases and lost all of them. I found that people realised that I am an authority in defamation cases that they stopped filing defamation cases against me. No such case has been filed against me since 1998.
B&B: What about all the PILs filed by you? Where did this start?
Swamy: As I started appearing in court, I found several public interest matters. There was one matter that was not quite a public interest matter. I had tried to go to an island called Katchatheevu between India and Sri Lanka and the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MG Ramachandran got me arrested. I brought the matter before the Supreme Court and won that case. Then, I filed a number of cases seeking a CBI enquiry in police firing etc. Subsequently, the big case for public interest came when I fought for Tamil farmers regarding Mullaperiyar dam and I won that too.  After that I filed a large number of PILs and have lost count now.
B&B: What prompted you to get involved in litigation?
Swamy: I felt that people were losing faith in politicians with politicians making statements that so and so is corrupt etc. Up to the mid-90’s people were ready to listen but then I felt nothing was really happening. So, I thought that I must do the logical thing of filing complaints and then going to court - that became more credible work. That was the motivation and ultimately I tested it on the 2G case and it was immensely successful.
B&B: In an article in the Indian Express you said, "I got tutorials in law from several well-known lawyers."
Swamy: Instead of directly saying that they tutored me, I would say that I have benefited by frequent conversations on social occasions, through personal contacts with lawyers like Fali Nariman, to some extent KK Venugopal and to a limited extent Soli Sorabjee. Most of all, Nariman, with whom I have been friends for a long time and, of course, he is Parsi so there is always some connection. As I told you, for criminal cases it was PR Vakil.
I have one habit, which I have acquired from the days of being a student and a professor; never hesitate to ask somebody a question, do not worry what he might think. Even when I am sitting in court also on the either side, I will ask people who are not ideologically with me like Rajiv Dhavan, or Parasaran and even Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
I was also the Law Minister for some time. So I have interacted with judges. I know some of the Supreme Court judges whom I had appointed. So I meet them and pick their brains.
B&B: You even tried registering as your wife’s court clerk to get quicker access into the Supreme Court premises. How did you get the idea?
Swamy: I tried to. What was happening was every time I would have to go to court I would have to stand in a long queue for a pass to enter the Supreme Court. So I wanted something as a long-term pass. It was suggested to me by the Supreme Court Bar Association, who later on didn’t want to be quoted, that since I do a lot of work almost as a clerk for my wife, I can apply for a clerk’s pass. It was cleared, but the Indian Express being a nasty newspaper was motivated by P Chidambaram got to know and made a big issue. The consequence of that is instead of getting daily passes now I get monthly passes; and because of the controversy they could not give me the proximity pass. The proximity pass was never denied. They have asked me to pick it up but every time I go they say “abhi Mumbai se nahi pahucha” (it has not yet come from Mumbai) or something like that.
It is true that I do a lot of clerking for my wife. She would prepare a brief and ask me to go file it. I get work done faster because everybody recognizes me, they see me on television. So, the essential work I was doing was a clerk’s work; I was not telling a lie. I am also publicly known. So I can’t tell a lie that I am a clerk. The Bar Association cleared it and recommended it also. Now the problem is over because I get monthly pass. And for Delhi High Court, I have a parliament pass. The Delhi High Court went a step further and allowed me to just show my ID without mandating a pass.
B&B: You have been filing all these PILs and are involved in a number of big cases. How does it all function, how do you research? Who is part of your legal team like?
Swamy:  I used to do most of the research myself; but now it has become so extensive - the amount of work, the number of cases and so on. And then out of the blue came two youngsters, one of them is Supriya Manan. She is a young lawyer and an absolute wizard on the Internet; and her fiancé Ishkaran Singh Bhandari is very good in looking at the law.
So, now I am being assisted by them and from time to time, some students have come and have interned with me. It was very strange but they somehow got their universities to accept that they could be my understudy while in college. So a lot of young law students have been coming and I give them projects. They have done a lot of good work.
I have devised things which others find difficult to believe.
The recent judgment on EVMs and whether a foreign citizen can be an editor of Indian newspaper in which the judgment is awaited are both quite interesting cases. These two young lawyers researched on these cases. So, now the scope of my PILs is in pioneering areas, no more in traditional arbitrariness, unreasonableness. It is more in the areas of constructing the law.
B&B: You have been appearing in courts since the 80’s. How did the judges perceive you initially and how do they perceive you now?
Swamy: I think the most important thing that has come through - and this I have heard from judges sitting next to me in airplanes as co-passengers and so on - is that they feel that many of these public interest litigations is basically a way of scaring the other side, and getting some kind of settlement. You just get paid and you forget about your litigation; or you get threatened or you get scared and you walk off.
So when I appear, I have managed to create the impression that I will not let go once I have taken something and there is nobody who will make me back down. No power can make me back down and there would be no price for which I will settle. So that confidence does matter to a judge. When [judges] see that somebody is using [litigation] as a source of blackmail they become a little apprehensive. They don’t want to be a party to that.
Second, I am in the public life and I have been Law Minister. When I ceased to be a Law Minister, the Supreme Court gave me a farewell party, which is very unusual. They said that, “for the first time we are convinced, that a non-lawyer should be the law minister because he doesn’t allow the Bar loyalties to enter the picture.” Whereas, if you are a lawyer and if you have had a clash with somebody, a lot of injustice is committed if such a person becomes a minister.
Also, the judges have found that my research is original. In fact, most of the judges ask me for my notes. When I argued the Ram Setu case, they asked for my notes and when I argued the case of New York Times Standard, Justice Jeevan Reddy said, ”Give me all your notes”. So I gave him the copy of my notes and then I found that he used them in the judgment.
Also, I have been very careful never to make an allegation against a judge no matter how adverse the judgment is.
B&B: So was it difficult to get the judges’ confidence in the beginning?
Swamy: I was always a well-known figure. Also I was a Member of Parliament and have been very active on television all the time. But over the years they feel that I have also acquired scholarship. I have a new point; I have a view, which nobody else has, about a new point of law, or a new way of looking at something. For instance, the judgment on Electronic Voting Machine - the judges have formally thanked me for it. The commitment that I have brought out and shown, that is what matters. And I am not known to be corrupt as a lawyer. I am not one of those who take fees, I do it free of charge.
B&B: Going back over the last two decades do you see any difference in our judiciary?
Swamy: I think today’s judges are more honest than the judges I saw in 80’s. I am particularly impressed with these young ladies who have come in the Patiala House [District Court] - they are very sharp. There is also enormous respect for the judiciary. Especially after the 2G judgment- the judiciary became God. I can tell you that in 90’s there were some very bad judges in the Supreme Court and the High Courts. You can see that some judges are reluctant to take up your case because they may be slated to go to the Supreme Court but generally I have found very good judges.
B&B: What are your views on the Judicial Appointments Commission and the Executive having a say in appointments?
Swamy: There is a human element in the decision-making, personal likes and dislikes and so on. I don’t think there is a perfect system. Suppose you make a rule that the Minister of Law will not be a member of the Bar, then I think a greater say for the government is also not bad. But in the end I would say any system has a human element in it and there is no perfect system unless the human being is perfect
B&B: So do you think we should move away from the collegium system?
Swamy: No, I don’t think so. I think there will be no great improvement in the selection process [with the JAC]. Both the systems have pros and cons. The collegium system was brought in because what the then Law Minister HR Bhardwaj did was terrible. His appointments were really bad. So, such things should not happen. Judges are very thin skinned, they have prejudices and so on but some corrections are there. Also, collegium recommendations are not binding, the President can always say, “No, I won’t sign the warrant.”
B&B: If you become the Law Minister once again, what legal reforms would you bring?
Swamy: I would like to bring one reform, which is very good for speedy justice. But it means a lot of work for the lawyers. I tried to introduce it when I was the Law Minister but the then Chief Justice Ranganath Mishra told me, ”You will only have strikes once you are through”. And that is the provision in the CPC for discovery and interrogatories wherein before you go to trial, you get everything in affidavit form. This system is prevalent in the USA. The cost of litigation will go up a bit but it will reduce the time taken. The plaintiff will get 20 minutes; respondent/defendant will get 20 minutes and 10 minutes for rebuttal. That is it; and then the court will retire to its chambers and come back after 15 minutes and deliver the judgment.
There are so many case files and the judges hear every one of them and people give bulky documents. I think we need to empower the judges to hire 20-30 research assistants. They can read the case, summarize the case and give them the points and the judges may not even have a hearing for dismissal. The court can notify a dismissal saying, “We are not going to take up this case as there is nothing in it”; particularly at the Supreme Court level.
I would like no judge to retire. He can be out of the Bench i.e he won’t sit in the Supreme Court after some age. I think it should be at the age of 70 so that you don’t disturb the seniority. So  at the age of  70, the judge stops sitting in the Supreme Court but he sits in another Bench like a reserve Supreme Court where the Supreme Court judge may refer cases because they are overloaded. In America, the Supreme Court handles 200 cases in a year. In India every Bench hears 300 cases a day. The Supreme Court should say, ”It is not a very important case (and is on a small technical ground) but it is important for the petitioners, so hand it over to the reserve Supreme Court.” So no judge should retire at all till he is medically certified unfit. You have to reduce the workload on the judges. It is too high. It is not fair!
B&B: What are your views on a uniform civil code?
Swamy: I am certainly for it. You call yourself a secular country and you have two different laws. It is anti-gender. Why should a man have a right to marry four women, then you should allow women also to marry four men. It is gender biased. I certainly think that a uniform civil code is very necessary.
B&B: Your party has merged with BJP. If it comes to power, how will you balance your filing of PILs as a petitioner and a party member?
Swamy: Suppose I become a Minister it will be a problem. If I get an interesting portfolio where I can do something, I don’t need to do this. I can do it through the Ministry but if they give me Sports Portfolio or something, I will say, “Look, forget about my being a Minister, I will do this.”
B&B:  Any PILs in the pipeline?
Swamy: I am preparing a PIL to do away with criminal defamation, as it is unconstitutional. We should have only civil defamation. Nobody should go to jail for expressing a defamatory view. You can go to jail perhaps if you deliberately incite people to riot but if you say someone is an idiot, you shouldn’t go to jail for that.
I have just finished a PIL and got myself impleaded in a writ petition for equal inheritance right to Muslim women where I am claiming that a Muslim father has no right to write a will according to his wishes as far as women are concerned. Women are at a disadvantage because the best they can get is one-third share.
B&B: Why didn’t you study law?
Swamy: I did attend classes at Harvard and I also briefly attended evening classes in Delhi University. It was interrupted by the Emergency and so I could not complete it. I might have got a law degree then but later on I felt that supposing I get a law degree, I would get sucked into law because you get paid so highly. Then I might forget my main mission in life, which was to be an economist. I still want to be an economist and I want to be a professor but [I] couldn’t because there was discrimination against me because I was anti-socialist. So the communists ganged up against me and won’t let me teach. I didn’t want to go back to USA.
I was selected for the job of professor of Economics at IIT (Delhi) in 1969 but the Leftists conspired to terminate my professorship within a year. I was sacked from IIT because Mrs. Gandhi was angry with me because I was criticizing her and the communist scared the hell out her. They said I would have a bad effect on students. It was not just the class, but hostels, JNU; and I was challenging the orthodoxy of Marxism and also because of my Harvard glamour I was having a huge impact. So they thought that they should get rid of me.
My wife fought that case and we won after 22 years. Now I have demanded my salary with interest which is Rs. 1 crore.
B&B: What are your views on legal profession?
Swamy: First thing, the time has now come when minimal legal knowledge should be made compulsory in school and colleges, particularly all women colleges. The law is a powerful tool. When somebody knows that you know the law, he is very careful with you. I think women are vulnerable at a physical level, so knowledge of law is very important. The police and everybody else behaves better if you know the law. So law should become like English grammar or elementary mathematics. That is one thing I would like to see.
B&B: Any legal mentor?
Swamy: I wouldn’t say I had a mentor, but there have been many lawyers from whom I have learnt and consulted. KTS Tulsi has always stood by me and any time I have difficulty in criminal matters, I will call him up. Anything on Constitutional matters I will call Nariman and sometimes KK Venugopal. I also consult PP Rao, although he is very reluctant to give advice.
B&B: Your office looks exactly like that of a lawyer.
Swamy: I am having difficulty in convincing people that I am not a lawyer. People come outside my house, “mera case le lo, mera zamin chala gaya” [Please take my case, otherwise I will lose my land]. I tell them I am not a lawyer; they won’t believe it. In many T.V programs I have been introduced as a Senior Advocate.
B&B: Any message for young lawyers?
Swamy: Well I think, the main thing one has to develop now - because the fees is growing in leaps and bounds - is you shouldn’t fight more than 50% of your cases for money. This is a profession for which the impression is that they are all sharks. That impression should be done away with. 

Chip recovered from EVM from a booth in Sagar, tampering alleged -- P Naveen, TNN

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The chip from a booth in Sagar

Chip recovered from EVM, tampering alleged

P Naveen | TNN 


Bhopal: The seizure of an electronic chip on Tuesday from a voting machine at a remote booth in Sagar has led to speculation about EVM tampering. 

    The device — larger than the size of a standard mobile sim card and three small batteries — were found wrapped in a black cloth, below the EVM, sources said. District election officer Yogendra Sharma said a probe has been launched to ascertain whether the device had 
any impact during voting. 

    Sharma summoned polling officers of Booth No. 56 in Surkhi on Thursday and directed returning officer Suresh Agrawal to submit a report. “I am waiting for a report before taking action. We will send the device for forensic analysis,” said Sharma. 

    Congress candidate from Surkhi, Kamlesh Baghel, has lodged a complaint naming a local resident, C P Singh, as the brain behind the device. Singh went underground hours after 
the complaint was lodged. 

    “Singh phoned me on November 21 for an appointment. He said three EMVs can be manipulated with a single remote. I did not hear him out. On poll
ing day when my agent reported seizure of a device, I recalled Singh’s offer,” said Baghel. 

    “Singh is on the run ever since I sent my driver to his house to enquire about the device. He sent several texts, saying he can use this device to delete all votes from the EVM.” 

    One of the texts sent to Baghel’s phone by the suspect reads, “Abi bhi sab kuch ho sakta hai, EVM ki memory ko khali kiya ja sakta hai. Lekin isme apna bhi ghata ho sakta hai. Maine EVM factory mey kaam 
kiya hai.” (It can still be manipulated. The EVM memory can be wiped out, but this could lead to losses for us too. I have worked in an EVM manufacturing factory). 

    He sent more than 10 SMSs to the Congress candidate, which was forwarded to the investigating officers. District police have launched a hunt for Singh, who has since reportedly sneaked into Gujarat. 

    Experts claim that a 2x2 mm chip can receive radio signals from a distance of 100 metres.

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