India Legal 03 June 2019

NDIA EGALL STORIES THAT COUNT
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June 3, 2019
America’s directive to India not to lift Iranian oil leaves New Delhi with tough choices. It cannot
afford to lose US markets or jeopardise its ties with Iran and the crucial Chabahar Port link
TheGreatOilSpill
Election Commission:
Credibility gap
EDITORIAL
Modi’s burden

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4 June 3, 2019
RIME MINISTER Narendra Damo-
dardas Modi’s well-wishers should
appropriately advise him of William
Shakespeare’s famous line from King
Henry IV: “Uneasy lies the head that
wears a crown.” This pearl of wisdom conveys to
a person with great responsibilities, such as a
monarch, that his days of sleeping soundly every
night are over. Modi’s second electoral victory is
huge. But so are the thorns that stud his crown.
And they are also sharper. As he enters the next
five years of his premiership, he will be scrutini-
sed with far more critical intensity by the same
voters who gave him his resounding majority.
And history has proven that the Indian public,
which has acquired a voracious appetite for the
ballot, is prone to mercurial shifts in its mood.
This election seemed to show that the public
viewed Modi’s first five years as a trailer—a pre-
view of attractive promises to be kept after the
actual show begins. In that sense, the prime min-
ister’s second term is the beginning of the real
movie and, as the voting percentages and voter
turn-outs indicated, it is house full. There are no
more excuses now. Grave policy and administra-
tive lapses will no longer meet with benevolent
acceptance on the ground that a first-time prime
minister with little experience of running any-
thing larger than the state of Gujarat should, at
least, be given a second chance in case, despite
his best intentions, he goofs up.
He now has no opposition from within his
own party, from the Sangh mothership RSS, or
from the brutally mangled Opposition in which
family-led parties will either disintegrate or even
see their factions merge or ally with the BJP. And
that is why the burden rests even more heavily
on Modi to pull the country out of the quagmire
into which it has fallen in the last five years. In
2014, blaming the Congress or previous parties
which ran India for its problems, was a credible
excuse. But in the last five years, the difficulties
besieging the nation can only be blamed on the
prime minister and the party which ran the gov-
ernment during this period.
Since most of the national press has virtually
stopped playing the role of critical watchdog, and
most parties have been rendered politically im-
potent in mounting credible agitations against
misgovernance and malfeasance—witness the
flop show on making the Rafale fighter plane
purchase a national issue—the responsibility of
taking up reform, restoration, and revival rests
only with the leader during whose previous
regime these crises were exacerbated. And the
burden will rest squarely on the shoulders
of Modi.
Event management, as Modi has shown
during his Madison Garden foray and other for-
eign trips, his donning of fancy headgear, his
splendid isolation in a Himalayan cave and his
provocative harangues instigating majoritarian-
ism have combined to bind their spells. But how
long can you keep a country beleaguered with
crises and setbacks mesmerised by bread-and-
circuses routines?
Post-independence India’s history is replete
with examples of the political chickens coming
home to roost at both the state and national lev-
els. And Modi, more than most politicians, must
surely be aware of this historical certitude. One
major takeaway from this election which Modi’s
own die-hard supporters admit is that he over-
promised and under-delivered. Most of the wel-
fare schemes he promised remained stuffed as
paperwork in bureaucratic drawers and cabinets
as the promotion of cultural nationalism took
pride of place over rapid economic development
and poverty alleviation.
Still, his supporters, and those whom he drew
towards his political bosom through charisma,
polarisation, electoral arithmetic, and his larger-
than-life all-India presence, appear to believe
that no other leader was more capable of solving
India’s problems as decisively as Modi and
therefore he must be given a second chance lest a
hodge-podge alliance comes into power and
makes things worse than they already are.
MODI’S BURDEN
Inderjit Badhwar
P
ThisLokSabha
electionsseemedto
showthatthepublic
viewedNarendra
Modi’sfirstfive
yearsasatrailer—a
previewof
attractivepromises
tobekeptafterthe
actualshowbegins.
Hissecondtermis
thebeginningofthe
realmovie.There
arenomoreexcuses
now.Gravepolicy
andadministrative
lapseswillnolonger
meetwith
benevolent
acceptancethata
first-timeprime
ministerbegivena
secondchance.
Letter from the Editor

And herein lie Modi’s challenge and
opportunity. Will he ensure that things
get better during his second coming or
will he let matters slip much to the disap-
pointment of his supporters, among
them the severest critics of his non-per-
formance who still voted for him? The
latter was a combination of those who
really believed he would be a better
leader than anybody in the Opposition, as
well as those who believe that national-
ism requires all other issues be sacrificed
at the altar of Hindu majoritarianism.
It was heartening to hear Modi, dur-
ing his first post-election speech, swear
his allegiance to the primacy of the
Constitution. One can only hope that
after the heat and dust of communal
campaigning and anti-minority dog
whistles, this signalled a continuing
adherence to the founding fathers’ vision
of a multi-cultural, multi-religious na-
tion. Is Modi also signalling a renewed
commitment to help to restore the cred-
ibility of institutions like the CBI, the
Election Commission, the RBI, the CAG, as well
as non-interference in the Judiciary? Will he
stand by his commitment to disengage with
those who have raised Nathuram Godse, the
assassin of the Father of the Nation, to an iconic
figure of worship?
T
he affairs of this nation will improve only
when the leadership publicly acknowl-
edges and enunciates the issues. Nobody’s
purpose is served by running away from them or
arm-twisting government agencies to juggle sta-
tistics. The challenges are daunting. Modi’s eco-
nomic advisers admit that the nation may be
slipping into a situation where middle class pur-
chasing power which stimulates the economy has
flattened out. The liquidity crunch and palpable
economic slowdown because of demonetisation
and uncertain indirect tax policies show no signs
of abatement. Rising unemployment, reverse
migration and severe under-employment are
breaking the backs of the rural poor. SMSEs and
the unorganised sector are reeling under the
weight of increased petroleum prices which
could damage India’s entire economic infrastruc-
ture in the face of the impending Iranian oil cri-
sis caused by the US-Iran standoff.
The faith of the public in the banking system
is eroding because of financial strains, the drying
up of rural credit and the scandalous rise of
NPAs. New investment in the manufacturing
sector is at a standstill. Ease of doing business
remains a slogan. Pledges to protect the environ-
ment and clean up our rivers have remained
hollow. There is total confusion on the issue of
reservations across the board ever since the
announcement of the 10 percent quota for
upper castes.
It is not as if the public was unaware of these
problems. Nor did it ignore them. You don’t need
the Opposition or the Congress party to tell a
hungry, suicidal peasant that he needs a solid
meal. The truth is that the voters believed that
Modi would be better equipped and capable of
solving these problems than any other leader
competing with him. So they have put the bur-
den back on his shoulders. And this needs solid
performance. Not event management.
House-fulls can empty out pretty fast if the
feature presentation doesn’t match the trailer.
Remember, India is the biggest film-going nation
in the world.
| INDIA LEGAL | June 3, 2019 5
BLESSED FOR
ANOTHER TERM
PM Narendra Modi
coming out of the
Kedarnath Temple
during his recent
two-day pilgrimage to
Himalayan shrines in
the Rudraprayag
district of Uttarakhand
Twitter: @indialegalmedia
Website: www.indialegallive.com
Contact: editor@indialegallive.com
UNI

ContentsVOLUME XII ISSUE29
JUNE3,2019
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6 June 3, 2019
LEAD
12The Politics of Oil
America’s directive to India to not lift Iranian oil leaves the new Modi government with tough choices. It
can neither afford to lose US markets nor jeopardise ties with Iran and the crucial Chabahar Port link
17Short-lived Relief
The Supreme Court has passed a stay against a Delhi High Court order which granted relief to
Gautam Khaitan, one of the accused in the AgustaWestland case
SUPREMECOURT
18Not Above Suspicion
The EC has been performing the difficult and challenging task of conducting polls in a generally
non-partisan manner, but can the same be said of the 2019 general elections? A critical analysis
NATIONALPOLITICS

HEALTH
Banking
on Brands
Retaining the brand name in a new
drug formulation is misleading and
harmful for patients, and state drug
controllers can crack down on
companies which do so
REGULARS
Followuson
Facebook.com/indialegalmedia
Twitter:@indialegalmedia
Website:www.indialegallive.com
Contact:editor@indialegallive.com
Cover Design: ANTHONY LAWRENCE
Ringside............................8
Courts ...............................9
Is That Legal...................10
Media Watch ..................39
Satire ..............................50
CYBERSECURITY 40
Misplaced Priorities
The Zero Draft EIA notification of 2019 from the environment ministry
takes ease of doing business to an extreme even when the crisis of
climate change is looming
26
COLUMN
Looming Threat
It is time to regulate the Dark Web which is not accessible
through regular browsers and where terror activities and
cyber attacks are planned
24
Trump’s New
Immigration
Policy
Indians could be
beneficiaries of
President Donald
Trump’s preference
for a skill-based
new immigration
policy instead of the
current Green Card
family-based
approach
32
GLOBALTRENDS
Soft Targets
A recent study shows that racism tops the
litany of complaints from hundreds of
people from the Northeast in Bengaluru
48
No Hard and Fast Rule
While the maxim “ignorance of law is no excuse” cannot be entirely
done away with, in a recent interpretation, the Supreme Court has
shown that it need not be used bluntly and in all cases
28
LEGALEYE
Ruling with an Iron Fist 34
A new, stringent law in Singapore which gives the government extensive powers to police
online media and free speech has drawn flak
Collective Win 36
Concerted efforts by the Sikh community in the UK have ensured that the Offensive
Weapons Bill does not impact their right to buy, own and use kirpans for religious reasons
Far from the Truth 42
As the government hides data and refuses to look at the reality of leprosy cases increas-
ing, it is getting ready to declare that India has eliminated it. This can have ill effects
STATES
CSR for Fodder 45
As rampaging and hungry cattle invade fields
and roads, the Uttar Pradesh government has
asked district magistrates to rope in corporates
to run cow shelters as part of their CSR activities
Biased Referee?
Despite the magnitude
of the NDA’s win, many
ordinary people
continue to debate
about whether the
incumbent Chief
Election Commissioner,
Sunil Arora, has lived up
to the standards set by
his predecessors
21

8 June 3, 2019
“
RINGSIDE
“Institutions are
fine, and these insti-
tutions are built
over the years. I do
believe only a bad
workman quarrels
with his tools. A
good workman
knows how to utilise
these tools.”
—Former President
Pranab Mukherjee
on EVM controversy
“I will not do any-
thing with the ill in-
tention.... I may ma-
ke mistakes. I will
not do anything for
myself but I assure
you, every moment
of my life and every
cell in my body will
work... to ensure...
country keeps mov-
ing forward.”
—PM Modi after the
BJP returned to
power at the centre
“This is condem-
nable...Mahatma
Gandhi is father of
nation and people
will not like if any-
one talks about
Godse in this man-
ner. We should not
tolerate such
things.”
—Bihar CM Nitish
Kumar on the
comment by BJP’s
Pragya Singh Tha-
kur that Nathuram
Godse was a patriot
“Whom are you
(media) trying to
help by misusing
our name. I am
thinking of bringing
in a law. What have
you thought of us
politicians?.... You
are belittling us.
Do we look like
cartoon characters
to you?....”
—Karnataka Chief
Minister HD Kuma-
raswamy on regulat-
ing news channels
“Sometimes what
appears to be funny
and harmless at first
glance to one, may
not be so to others. I
have spent the last
10 years empower-
ing...underprivileged
girls, I can’t... think
of being disrespect-
ful to any woman.”
—Actor Vivek Oberoi
on Twitter after delet-
ing an offensive
meme on Aishwarya
Rai Bachchan
“Everybody knows
the success stories of
Shah Rukh Khan,
Amitabh Bachchan,
Akshay Kumar...
how they became
mega stars...no one
knows about those
who failed...neither
does anybody want
to know....”
—Actor Rakesh
Bedi to The Indian
Express
“There are two
schools of thought—
one represented by
Narendra Modi and
the BJP and the
other by the Cong-
ress.... But we will
have to accept that...
Modi and the BJP
have won in this
election.”
—Rahul Gandhi after
the Congress lost the
Lok Sabha polls
“You will always have a couple of individuals
stepping up every game, but without team support,
you can’t do much. Just because of one individual,
you can’t win a tournament. No way. Unless others
chip in at every crucial stage. If that doesn’t
happen, there will be disappointment.”
—Sachin Tendulkar, on India's chances of winning
the cricket World Cup
Anthony Lawrence
The New Chowkidars

Courts
—Compiled by India Legal Team
HC relief for Jeetendra in
sexual assault case
The Himachal Pradesh High Court
quashed an FIR filed against actor
Jeetendra in connection with a sexual
harassment case. The complainant had
mentioned in the FIR that the actor was
the son of her aunt and that in January
1971, when the complainant was 18
years old, the actor allegedly committed
sexual assault on her in a
hotel room in Shimla.
Justice Ajay Mohan
Goel quashed the FIR,
saying that “the alleged
incident dates back to
the month of January
1971 and there is an
inordinate delay in
filing the FIR”.
SC dismisses the plea
of ex-Kolkata CP
The Supreme Court refused to set up a
special bench to hear the plea of
former Kolkata Police Commissioner
Rajeev Kumar seeking extension of his
protection from arrest in connection with
the probe in the Saradha chit fund scam
cases. Kumar had approached the apex
court for relief, citing the ongoing
lawyers’ strike in West Bengal. His
request was placed before Chief Justice
of India Ranjan Gogoi who, acting in his
administrative capacity, declined to grant
the urgent listing. On May 17, a three-
judge bench headed by the CJI had vacat-
ed the interim protection given to Kumar
from arrest by the CBI. The bench had
granted Kumar seven days’ time to seek
legal remedies. Kumar has been charged
by the CBI with tampering with evidence
in the Saradha chit fund scam cases.
The Supreme Court ter-
med as “extraordinary”
the situation in West Ben-
gal where lawyers have
been on strike since April
29, thereby impacting the
fundamental right of life
and liberty of citizens
to even seek bail from
courts. A vacation bench
of Justices Indira Banerjee
and Sanjiv Khanna said
this while hearing the bail
pleas of eight persons,
who have been arrested
under the provisions of
the West Bengal Gambling
and Prize Competition Act.
The bench said the “call
for cessation of work
given by the Bar Council
of West Bengal” on April
29 was coming in the way
of seeking relief for the
petitioners who were
arrested on April 23 in
connection with an alleged
IPL betting racket. The
bench directed the petiti-
oners to be produced
before the Calcutta High
Court in connection with
their bail pleas.
SC calls lawyers’ strike in
West Bengal extraordinary
After a long time, the Supreme Court
will function at its full strength of 31
judges as four new judges have been
elevated to the apex court. Their swear-
ing-in ceremony took place on May 24
after President Ram Nath Kovind cleared
their appointments on May 22. The new
appointees are (L-R) Justice BR Gavai,
judge of the Bombay High Court; Justice
Surya Kant, chief justice of the Himachal
Pradesh High Court; Justice Aniruddha
Bose, chief justice of the Jharkhand High
Court; and Justice AS Bopanna, chief
justice of the Gauhati High Court. The
names of Justice Gavai and Justice
Surya Kant were recommended to the
president by the Supreme Court col-
legium nearly three weeks ago. At the
same time, the collegium also reiterated
its recommendation to elevate Justice
Bose and Justice Bopanna to the apex
court. It may be recalled that the centre
had, on May 7, returned the proposal
forwarded by the collegium for their ele-
vation. The centre had reportedly sought
the reconsideration of the recommenda-
tion to maintain the principle of proper
regional representation.
4 new judges
take oath; SC
strength at 31

ISTHAT
What is a Public Interest
Litigation?
A Public Interest Litigation,
or PIL, is a plea filed in a
court of law to seek justice
on an issue of larger public
interest. The whole idea is
to protect public interest
and it must be clear that
the person filing a PIL has
no vested interest. A PIL
can be filed in a court
either by an individual, an
NGO, or any other rights
group. However, the Judi-
ciary has taken a serious
note of many frivolous and
irresponsible PILs being
filed in courts and exempla-
ry fines have been imposed
in such cases. Under Order
XXXVIII Rule 12 of the Sup-
reme Court Rules, 2013, a
PIL may also be taken up
suo motu by any court. A
court may also decide to
convert a plea into a PIL
depending on the issue
at stake.
—Compiled by Ishita Purkaystha
For Protecting Public Interest
Ignorance of law is no excuse. Here are answers to frequently asked
queries regarding matters that affect us on a day to day basis
What is the role of an amicus
curiae in courts?
An amicus curiae is a person
who is not a party to the case
but is appointed by a court to
assist it in the case. He/she pro-
vides necessary information and
facts on the case, unbiased opi-
nion on the issue involved and
even gives suggestions on ques-
tions of law to help the Court
decide a matter. However, it is
the discretion of the Court whe-
ther to accept the advice or not.
The role of an amicus curiae is
also sought when an accused is
not represented by a lawyer and
a petition is made in this regard.
In this case, an amicus curiae is
appointed by the Court to defend
the accused. It can also appoint
an amicus curiae in any matter
of public interest.
A Friend of Court
?
Can consumers get justice for
poor quality of goods or ineffi-
cient service?
A consumer complaint can be
filed with the district forum
under Section 12 of the Con-
sumer Protection Act, 1986.
However, the chances of red-
ressal in a matter involving
complex questions of law
increase if the case is filed in
a civil court.
Appeals against an order
from the district forum should
be filed with the state com-
mission and then with the
National Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commi-
ssion (NCDRC). A
consumer can also
directly approach the
Supreme Court under
Section 23 of the
1986 Act if he/she is
dissatisfied with the
order given by the
NCDRC. According to Order
XXIV of the Supreme Court
Rules, 2013, such appeals
must be presented within 30
days from the date of
the order.
Getting Justice for Consumers
10 June 3, 2019
On what grounds can a
person request the Supreme
Court to reconsider its
verdict in a case?
Whenever a person feels
aggrieved by an order of the
Supreme Court, he or she
can file a Review Petition in
the Court. However, the plea
must state the grounds on
which the Review Petition is
being sought—it could be an
important point/aspect
missed by the Court, an
error which needs to be rec-
tified, and so on. The prem-
ise of entertaining a Review
Petition is to prevent gross
miscarriage of justice.
According to the laws laid
down by the Supreme Court,
the Review Petition must be
filed within 30 days of the
judgment, and as far as
practicable, it is to be circu-
lated, without oral argu-
ments, to the same bench of
judges who delivered the
judgment or order sought to
be reviewed. In case the
Court sticks to the same
conclusion in the Review
Petition, a Curative Petition
can be filed within a reason-
able timeframe stating the
same grounds.
Judicial
Re-examination
Of a Case

Lead/ US-Iran Imbroglio
12 June 3, 2019
EST Asia is once
again in turmoil.
The sabre rattling
between the US and
Iran has increased
tension in the region
and led to fears of a possible war there.
Though Saudi Arabia, UAE and other
US allies have not hiked oil prices and
there is plenty available at the moment,
American directives to India and China
not to lift Iranian oil have now kicked
in. The fact that Iran is a major supplier
of oil and both the Asian giants buy
large quantities of it makes the situation
even more complex. The angry war of
words between Washington and Tehran
has not helped to calm an already
volatile situation.
Despite the rhetoric, an immediate
military confrontation is ruled out. But
experts believe that with the entire re-
gion armed to the teeth, an accidental
slip by one or the other may lead to an
all-out war. Waiting on the sidelines and
The
Politics
of OilAmerica’sdirectivetoIndianottoliftIranianoilleaves
thenewgovernmentwithtoughchoices.Itcanneither
affordtoloseUSmarketsnorjeopardisetieswithIran
andthecrucialChabaharPortlink
By Seema Guha
W
en.eghtesadonline.com

rooting for US action against Iran are
Saudi Arabia and Israel, both close con-
fidants of the Trump White House. Add
to this US National Security Adviser
John Bolton who had for long been
pushing for war and a regime change in
Iran. The US has already dispatched the
USS Arlington, an amphibious ship with
a Patriot missile battery, to join the USS
Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group
and a bomber task force in US Central
Command to the Gulf. The show of mili-
tary might is a warning to Iran that the
US is ready to strike if needed.
US President Donald Trump’s tweet
on May 20 ratcheted up the war of
words: “If Iran wants to fight, that will
be the official end of Iran,” he tweeted.
“Never threaten the United States
again!” In reply, Iran’s foreign minister,
Mohammad Javad Zarif, posted his own
message on May 21 on Twitter: #Econo-
micTerrorism & genocidal taunts won’t
“end Iran”. #NeverThreatenAnIranian.
Try respect—it works!
T
rump wants to cut Iran down to
size and change the contours of
West Asia to reflect a new reality
where America’s interests and its allies
call the shots. Having walked out of the
nuclear deal with Iran, Trump is looking
to rework it to America’s advantage and
ensure that Iran does not challenge
American allies in the region. Though
all major countries including Iran, the
US and Saudi Arabia profess they do not
want war, the atmosphere is surcharged
with threats and counter-threats.
Israel and Saudi Arabia had, like
Trump, bitterly opposed the nuclear
deal of 2015. The Joint Comprehensive
Plan of Action negotiated between Iran
and the P5+1 (China, France, Germany,
Russia, the UK and the US), the hall-
mark of President Barack Obama’s sec-
ond term in office, was a major diplo-
matic triumph for the world. Iran ag-
reed to give up its nuclear programme
INTENSE LOBBYING
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
(left) with Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj
MAJOR CONCERN (Facing page) An oil facility in Iran which is a major supplier to India and
China; US President Donald Trump wants to cut Iran down to size to suit US interests
UNI
UNI

14 June 3, 2019
in return for the lifting of crippling
sanctions which had been slapped on it
for decades. The deal led to great opti-
mism across the world and strengthen-
ing of moderate elements in Iran. Its cit-
izens looked forward to a boom in busi-
ness and opportunities as foreign com-
panies could now invest in the country.
U
nfortunately, the hopes were
quickly belied. Obama left off-
ice and Trump who had always
regarded the nuclear deal as a sell-out
to Iran, made no bones about going
back on America’s commitment.
Trump wants to bring Iran to its knees
through sanctions and get Tehran to the
negotiating table to work out a fresh
nuclear deal in accordance with
Washington’s interests.
Israel and Saudi Arabia are delight-
ed. As Trump got his son-in-law, Jared
Kushner, to work on a Middle East
Peace Plan, Washington, always a close
ally of Saudi Arabia, grew even closer
to Saudi king Salman and his son,
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Israel and Saudi Arabia are partners in
the US venture to reshape the Middle
East. The Trump administration has
called for a Peace to Prosperity confer-
ence in Bahrain at the end of June to
work at a solution to the Israeli-
Palestine problem. Unfortunately, after
having announced the shift of the US
embassy to Jerusalem, which means a
virtual endorsement of the Israeli posi-
tion, it is unlikely that this initiative
would succeed. But this is part of the big
US push in the Middle East. For the
Palestinians, America is no longer an
honest broker as it has already compro-
mised its position on Jerusalem. As in
his Middle East peace plan which is
heavily tilted towards Israel, Trump’s
policy towards Iran veers towards Israel
and Saudi Arabia.
Whether there is threat of war or
not, India’s immediate concern is that
Iranian oil is now out of bounds. Buying
oil from it now will mean that Indian
companies will be under US sanctions.
This entails closure of US markets and
financial institutions not just for India,
but other countries, including China. No
nation can afford to be cut off from the
American financial system and its high-
tech industries. So while India had
always said that it does not abide by
sanctions slapped by individual nations
and respects only UNSC sanctions, in
reality, it has little room to manoeuvre
with the US at the moment.
The US introduced sanctions against
Iran in November 2018, but gave a six-
month waiver to eight nations, includ-
ing India, which allowed them to import
some Iranian oil. The irony is that the
US after walking out of an international
LuckilyforIndia,oilpricesatthemoment
arearound$70abarrel.Withthe
worldeconomyslowingdown,the
demandisnothighandthereareenough
oilsuppliesintheworldmarket.
HARD DECISION
US President Barack Obama with Gulf
Cooperation Council members in US in 2015,
allaying their concerns over Iran’s nuke deal
UNI

India’s global status, would prefer to
confine Delhi to South Asia, but we
need to expand every which way and
play an important part in the world.’’ He
believes India needs to take a hard look
at its strategic interests and lay out its
foreign policy vision clearly.
Vandana Hari, founder, Vanda In-
sights, a Singapore-based provider of
macro-analysis on the global oil mar-
kets, made the same point as Ahmad on
dumping Iran: “Longer-term, India
risks jeopardising its relations with Iran
by staying away from its oil. Those rela-
tions are deep-rooted in history, impor-
tant for both countries and go far
beyond the oil trade.”
Luckily for India, oil prices at the
moment are around $70 a barrel. With
the world economy slowing down, the
demand is not high and there are en-
ough supplies in the world market.
Though India buys most of its petrole-
um from Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and
other countries in the region, it has also
tried to diversify by buying shale oil
from the US. Earlier, some amount also
came in from Nigeria, Mexico and
Venezuela, but the transport costs are
exorbitant due to the distance. So India
relies on West Asia for its oil needs.
But Hari said: “India loses on multi-
ple fronts by being forced to halt Iranian
crude purchases. These barrels made up
around 7 percent of India’s total crude
imports for the past six months and a
higher proportion before that. Replace-
ment supplies of similar quality crudes
are indeed available from Saudi Arabia
and some of its Arab neighbours with
spare capacity. However, as we have seen
from the premiums set by Saudi Arabia
and Iraq for their June exports to Asia,
the alternatives are coming at a cost.”
Due to banking sanctions imposed
by the US for doing business with Iran,
India and Iran have been carrying out
trade through a rupee account in UCO
Bank which has limited exposure in the
US. This was done earlier too when Iran
was under sanctions. India deposits pay-
ments in rupees in Iran’s account for the
oil purchased and that is then used to
agreement endorsed by the Obama gov-
ernment has decided to punish Iran
with sanctions and the rest of the world
despite anger against the US, is not in a
position to defy Trump.
I
ndia was allowed to buy an average
of 3,00,000 barrels per day of oil
during November-April, but actual
volumes varied from month to month
due to lack of ships after foreign ship-
ping lines backed out of Iranian deals
under pressure from US sanctions. In
April, Washington asked buyers of Ira-
nian oil, mostly in Asia, to halt purchas-
es or face sanctions.
Zarif flew in to Delhi earlier this
month to discuss the sanctions and
met External Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj. But he was told that she could
give him no commitment as national
elections were on and the decision
would have to be taken by the next gov-
ernment in power.
Talmiz Ahmad, former ambassador
to Saudi Arabia and an expert on West
Asia, told India Legal: “Our relations
with Iran are not focused on oil alone.
India and Iran have long-term interests
and we cannot reduce everything to a
buyer-seller relationship.”
India’s strategic interests involve the
Iranian port of Chabahar, which gives
Delhi access to Afghanistan and opens
up markets in Central Asia. Pakistan
does not allow access through its territo-
ry for Indian goods to landlocked
Afghanistan. The US, however, is not
stopping India from expanding and
modernising in Chabahar.
America is keen to stabilise Afgha-
nistan and get its troops out of that
country. So work on Chabahar can con-
tinue. But it is unlikely that Tehran will
be interested in doing so at a time when
Delhi is choosing to stand with the US
on sanctions.
“We need to think through our for-
eign policy. We need a vision and a
strategy to protect our long-term inter-
ests,” said Ahmad. “Worry about China
is pushing us closer to US, but India
needs to deal with China in its own
terms. Western powers, despite talk of
“OurrelationswithIranarenotfocused
onoilalone.IndiaandIranhavelong-term
interestsandwecannotreduceevery-
thingtoabuyer-sellerrelationship.We
needtothinkourforeignpolicy.”
TalmizAhmad,formerambassadortoSaudi
Arabia,andanexpertonWestAsia
“Longer-term,Indiarisksjeopardising
itsrelationswithIranbystayingaway
fromitsoil.Therelationsaredeep-root-
edinhistory,importantforbothandgo
farbeyondtheoiltrade.”
VandanaHari,founder,VandaInsights,
thatoffersmacro-analysisonoilmarkets

16 June 3, 2019
make payments to Indian exporters of
goods to Iran.
According to reports, there is around
`12,000 crore to `15,000 crore currently
in the rupee account. Most of this will
have to be paid for oil purchases in the
last two months.
Another fallout is that basmati prices
in the local markets are crashing
because Iran is no longer buying rice.
Iran will need this money to buy medi-
cines and other essentials now.
Politically, relations with Iran are
bound to plummet as Tehran will keenly
watch countries that abandon it in its
time of hardship.
According to Hari, India will have to
pay what experts term as the “sanctions
premium”. Iranian oil was priced lower.
She said that Asian refiners are having
to pay the price for having provided the
biggest market for Iranian crude and
now being the most in deficit as a result
of the loss of those barrels. Iran was
offering crude at bigger discounts and
generous credit terms compared with
its peers in an effort to retain its mar-
kets while under US sanctions, she
explained.
India has been buying shale oil from
the US. However that cannot replace
Iranian oil as Indian refineries are
designed to refine petroleum from the
Middle East countries.
Shale oil was once touted as the big
new find, though it is extremely difficult
to extract. It also needs large quantities
of pure fresh water sources. Except for
the US, few countries have attempted to
extract shale oil. And the supplies are
expected to dry up in the US by 2025.
Perhaps India will be able to deal
with not buying oil from Iran for the
short term. But the balancing act which
successive Indian governments have
succeeded in treading may be difficult
with a person like Trump in the White
House. His motto, much like that of
George Bush after the 9/11 terror
strikes would be: “You are with us or
against us.”
India has to soon make up its mind
on whether it wants to go wholly to the
US camp with China in mind or work as
it did earlier for a bi-polar world togeth-
er with European partners, as well as
China and Moscow. There is a strong
lobby in the government veering
towards the US.
But there is also a section that is
uneasy about moving closer to America.
No self-respecting country should be in
a position that most of the world is in
now. Do business with Iran at your
own peril. It is time the world stood up
unitedly against Trump on issues such
as punitive sanctions which affect not
just Iran but countless other countries
both in Europe and Asia.
READY FOR WAR?
(Left) The US has already dispatched the
warship USS Arlington to join the USS
Abraham Lincoln Strike Group in the Gulf;
(below left) the Chabahar port in Iran
MCSA Shelby M. Tucker/ UN Navy
Alireza Numberone/ commons.wikimedia.org

Supreme Court/ AgustaWestland Case
HE Supreme Court on May
21 stayed an order of the
division bench of the Delhi
High Court granting relief to
lawyer Gautam Khaitan in a
matter pertaining to the
AgustaWestland chopper scam and alle-
gations of depositing black money into
an offshore account. Khaitan is one of
the accused in the `3,600-crore Agusta-
Westland chopper scam case and is
currently out on bail.
In 2015, the government enacted a
law—the Black Money (Undisclosed
Foreign Income and Assets) and
Imposition of Tax Act, 2015—to deal
with black money after it was found that
there were increasing deposits of unac-
counted for money in offshore accounts.
The objective of the Act was: “An Act to
make provision to deal with the problem
of black money that is undisclosed for-
eign income and assets, the procedure
for dealing with such income and assets
and to provide for imposition of tax on
any undisclosed foreign income and
assets held outside India and for matters
connected therewith or incidental there-
to.” Khaitan was charged retrospectively.
However, the Delhi High Court
recently granted him relief. The prose-
cution had alleged that he deposited
`6,000 crore in offshore accounts. The
criminal miscellaneous application was
argued by senior counsel PV Kapur and
Siddharth Luthra. The contention of the
petitioner was that the Act itself came
into effect on April 1, 2016, and hence, a
retrospective effect to the provision
through a notification cannot be prom-
ulgated from April 1, 2015. The counsel
for the respondents, appearing on behalf
of the finance ministry, stated that Sec-
tions 85 and 86 of the Act were specifi-
cally enacted to remove the difficulty in
the execution of the Act. Hence, the
authorities had the power to apply the
effect of the Act retrospectively.
The bench of Justices Anu Malhotra
and Siddharth Mridul said: “Parliament
in its wisdom enacted the said Act and
expressly provided therein that save as
otherwise provided in the said Act, it
shall come into force on the 1st day of
April, 2016. There is, therefore, no gain-
saying the legal position that, the power
to make Rules or remove difficulties
under the provisions of Sections 85 and
86 of the said Act, could only be exer-
cised by the Central Government, once
the said Act came into force on 1st April,
2016, the date expressly stipulated by
Parliament in this behalf, and not prior
thereto.” Accordingly, they stayed the
proceedings against Khaitan.
The government decided to move the
Supreme Court against the order of the
High Court on May 20. A vacation
bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and
Sanjiv Khanna agreed to hear the case
after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta
mentioned the matter for urgent hear-
ing, saying that the High Court ruling
would “affect all ongoing cases under
the Black Money Act”. The Supreme
Court stayed the order and allowed the
government and authorities to proceed
in the matter as per law.
—Furkan Ahmed
No Reprieve Yet
ThecentrehasmovedagainstaHighCourtorderwhichgranted
relieftoGautamKhaitanwhowasoneoftheaccusedinthiscase
T
MULTIPLE CHARGES
Gautam Khaitan has been accused of money
laundering and possession of black money
Inandoutofjail
Gautam Khaitan, managing partner
of OP Khaitan & Co, had first been
arrested by the Enforcement
Directorate (ED) in September 2014
after a raid on his premises in Delhi.
He was wanted in connection with his
alleged involvement in and his board
membership of a company related to
the AgustaWestland scam.
He was later remanded to judicial
custody where he remained for sever-
al months despite repeated attempts
to secure bail on various grounds.
In November 2014, the ED filed a
charge sheet naming Khaitan, his
wife, Ritu, Chandigarh-based firm
Aeromatrix and two Italian middle-
men, Carlo Gerosa and Guido
Haschke, as accused in the case and
booked them under the Prevention of
Money Laundering Act.
Khaitan was finally granted bail in
January 2015 for a personal bond of
`10 lakh after spending more than
three months in Tihar Jail.
In July 2018, the ED filed supple-
mentary charge sheets against
Khaitan as well as ex-IAF chief SP
Tyagi and his family and several other
alleged middlemen.
Khaitan was again arrested by the
ED on January 25, 2019, following
fresh black money allegations unrela-
ted to the AgustaWestland scam.
He was released on bail on April 16
after paying a personal bond of
`25 lakh.
hwnews.in

18 June 3, 2019
HE meandering seven-
stage process of the 17th
Lok Sabha elections lasting
six weeks has drawn to a
close. With 900 million
voters, India’s election is
heralded as the “greatest show on earth”,
because of its massive scale, size and
diversity. “Show” means game and India’s
elections are indeed super-mega events,
even exceeding the scale of the Summer
Olympics and World Cup football.
How do we evaluate such a humon-
gous event? Here, Grantland Rice’s
famous quote comes to mind: “For when
the One Great Scorer comes to score
against your name, He writes—not that
you won or lost—but HOW you played
the Game.”
The game was played by the political
parties seeking to capture power by
hook or by crook. And the umpire was
the Election Commission of India (ECI).
How the game of Election-2019 was
played and how it was umpired became
a subject of intense debate all over the
country.
Though the game (electoral process)
had laws, rules, regulations and codes,
political parties that played the game
had none. So, for them, and especially
for the ruling party, it was a free-for-all
with all kind of abuses and violations.
Therefore, the Herculean task of enforc-
ing rules and regulations so as to ensure
free and fair elections fell on the shoul-
ders of the umpire, which is a creature
under Article 324 of the Constitution.
How did the umpire function during
this election? There are six distinct
activities in an election—ensuring elec-
toral rolls don’t leave out one eligible
voter; the nomination process; cam-
paigning in accordance with the laws,
rules and codes; actual polling; safe
storage of the EVM-VVPATs; counting;
Waiving The Rules
Thepollbodyhasperformedthetaskofconductingpastelectionsinabyandlargenon-partisan
manner,butthesamecannotbesaidofthe2019LokSabhaelections.Acriticallook
National Politics/ Election Commission/ Column MG Devasahayam
REGISTERING PROTEST
Opposition leaders N Chandrababu Naidu, Arv-
ind Kejriwal, Kanimozhi, Derek O'Brien, Ghulam
Nabi Azad and others after meeting the CEC
T
Photos: UNI

and declaration of results. All these are
challenging tasks which successive
ECIs have been performing under huge
stress, but by and large in a non-parti-
san manner. The same cannot be said
about this election. Let us critically
look at each of these:
Electoral Rolls: The biometric identi-
ty database of Aadhaar is an instrument
of surveillance and has turned out to be
a tool for exclusion, not inclusion. Using
it to streamline the electoral rolls, the
basic database of any democracy, was
inviting trouble. This is what happened
with the ECI’s National Electoral Roll
Purification and Authentication
Programme relying on Aadhaar to check
the veracity of voters’ lists. This led to
largescale exclusion of voters. Karnataka
is a typical case wherein allegations
came up regarding targeted exclusion of
a minority community (Muslims) from
the electoral rolls.
But the worst was the alleged dele-
tion of the names of around 40,000
Christian voters from 42 coastal villages
in Kanyakumari parliamentary con-
stituency just before the polling day. A
local sub-collector level desk inquiry
was done and it was found that about
10,000 voters were deleted. This was a
number that could decide the outcome
in the event of a tight race. Yet the ECI
ignored it as if nothing had happened.
Since this amounted to disenfran-
chisement of the minority community,
civil society got together and sent a
memorandum to the ECI demanding an
immediate formal inquiry by involving
the aggrieved citizens who had been
denied the right to vote. The possibility
of deletion being the outcome of a pre-
meditated conspiracy was also men-
tioned in the memorandum. Yet the ECI
did not budge as if deliberate disenfran-
chisement of thousands of Christian
minority voters just did not matter.
Nomination process: This is more
the job of returning officers at the dis-
trict level rather than the ECI and is to
be carried out as per Standard Oper-
ating Procedure (SOP). So, barring
some complaints, like in Varanasi where
the ex-BSF jawan was not allowed to
contest, it was a normal process.
Campaigning and the Model Code
of Conduct (MCC): It is here that this
ECI failed miserably. This prompted the
Constitutional Conduct Group compris-
ing over 150 former civil servants (IAS,
IPS, IFS, IA&AS etc.) to write to the
president of India and the ECI on April
9, 2019, two days before the commence-
ment of the poll (Phase I). The letter
pointed out specific instances of serious
and serial violations of the MCC and the
ECI’s partisan attitude towards the rul-
ing politicians.
Despite this timely cautioning, cam-
paigning in this election descended to
the lowest standards of discourse.
Humans were classified as termites and
sections of them have been threatened
with expulsion from the country. Blatant
appeals were made to divisive religious
sentiments and politicians went so far as
to warn voters of the consequences of
not voting for them. The sacrifices by
security forces were made to serve as
election fodder. Vicious personal attacks
were the order of the day and serial
offenders from previous elections dis-
played their dubious talents freely.
Equally galling has been the brazen pro-
motion of a single personality through
multiple media modes without any hint
of embarrassment or concern for con-
vention. We were also treated to the dis-
gusting spectacle of a self-styled sadhvi
denigrating the memory of a senior
police officer who died in the Mumbai
26/11 attacks. And this woman became
the flag-bearing MP candidate of the
ruling party!
Even though the MCC has a moral
rather than punitive force, Article 324 of
the Constitution, backed by various
Supreme Court rulings, gives the ECI
plenipotentiary powers to enforce its
writ in grey areas where the law is silent.
But the ECI did nothing and instead
went on issuing “clean chits” to the Nar-
endra Modi and Amit Shah combine as
if it is a self-washing laundry. The
TheoneElection
Commissioner—
AshokLavasa—
whodissented
wasisolated
andvirtually
ostracisedin
theECI!
EXERCISING THEIR RIGHT
Voters queuing to cast their votes at a polling
station in Kolkata

National Politics/ Election Commission/ Column/ MG Devasahayam
20 June 3, 2019
Election Commissioner—Ashok
Lavasa—who dissented was isolated and
virtually ostracised in the ECI!
Another area where the ECI failed is
in reining in the abhorrent practice of
political parties buying votes and people
selling them. This is a clear violation of
the Representation of the People Act
and the MCC. Rule 16A of the MCC
empowers the ECI to either suspend or
withdraw the recognition of the political
party violating this code after giving the
party reasonable opportunity to show
cause. Let alone taking such harsh
action, the ECI did not even initiate
normal legal measures against this
deplorable practice despite deploying an
army of general and expenditure
observers, spending tax-payers’ money.
Actual Polling: Like in the nomina-
tion process, polling is conducted by the
chief electoral officer in the states,
returning officers and other election
staff as per a well laid-down SOP. But
this time around there have been several
complaints of defective EVMs and their
malfunctioning impacting the integrity
of these machines as a tool of democrat-
ic election.
Safe storage of EVM-VVPATs: This
hardly used to be an issue in earlier elec-
tions. This time there have been reports
of several security breaches in EVM
strongrooms. Vehicles were allowed to
enter the premises of the counting cen-
tres where EVMs were stored. In some
places, EVMs were brought to counting
centres without security. There are also
reports of official delay in depositing the
EVMs in strongrooms.
Incidents of security breaches were
reported from Ghazipur, Chandauli,
Jhansi, Mau in Uttar Pradesh, Saran in
Bihar, Fatehabad in Haryana and
Madurai in Tamil Nadu.
The ECI delayed its response but ev-
entually said all matters were resolved.
This did not convince many. Even a nor-
mally reticent former CEC SY Quraishi
said that the ECI, instead of giving
vague replies, should clearly state its
findings in each case of complaint.
Counting and declaration of results:
The seven-stage, six-week-long election
process is an oxymoron in the sense that
after taking so long to record the vote of
the electorate, the ECI wanted to count
it quickly. In this activity ECI did not
function as a constitutionally mandated
institution. Despite evidence to the con-
trary and widespread negative percep-
tion about the integrity of EVMs, the
ECI continued to serenade the machines
and virtually became marketing agents
for these contraptions.
The ECI never realised that in the
public domain “truth is not the truth,
perception is the truth”. In any case elec-
tions are an exercise in democracy, not a
display of technology. But, the ECI had
no concern for the democracy principles
in elections whatsoever.
As if part of a pre-set agenda and
in utter disregard for voter confidence,
the ECI has been consistently hostile
to any cross-verification of electronic
counting with manual counting of
VVPAT slips.
The ECI’s EVM worship was so deep
and despicable that the deputy election
commissioner in charge of EVMs stated
falsehoods and committed perjury in the
Supreme Court. He even resisted its
order to increase the VVPAT slip count
from the dismal one booth per assembly
constituency to a minuscule five. Even
this, the ECI did not implement proper-
ly, i.e., verifying upfront before the main
electronic counting to establish the
integrity of the EVMs.
It outrightly rejected the fervent plea
of 22 opposition parties in this respect.
In essence, instead of upholding the
integrity of the electoral process, the
ECI severely damaged it. It is a typical
case of the “fence eating the crops”.
—The writer is a former Army
and IAS officer
SAFETY UNDER THREAT?
Polling officials putting labels on VVPAT and
EVM cases at a distribution centre in Agartala
Thistimearoundtherehavebeenseveral
complaintsof defectiveEVMsand
theirmalfunctioningimpactingthe
integrityofthesemachinesasatool
ofdemocraticelection.

DespitethemagnitudeoftheNDAwin,manyordinarypeoplecontinuetodebateabout
whethertheincumbentCEChasliveduptothestandardssetbyhispredecessors
By India Legal Bureau
National Politics/ Election Commission/ CEC Sunil Arora
OVERNMENTS routinely
make appointments that
end up being controversial.
The appointment of Sunil
Arora, a retired Rajasthan-
cadre IAS officer, as the
chief election commissioner (CEC) was
one such that raised many eyebrows. Six
months after his appointment, he has
just presided over the most contentious
general election that the country has
ever seen.
The very nature of the CEC’s job is
such that it is simply not possible to
keep everyone happy. But Arora’s ac-
tions, or rather, the lack of them, have
ensured that his tenure will go down in
history as the most controversial ever.
Former President Pranab Mukherjee
was only partially right when he praised
the Election Commission (EC) on May
20 for the conduct of elections, and then
in less than 24 hours, lent his voice to
the chorus of protests against the alle-
ged tampering with the electorate’s ver-
dict. His turnaround came even as 22
Opposition parties as well as citizen
groups in many parts of the country
drew the EC’s attention to reports of
what appeared to be suspicious EVM
movements in several constituencies.
They demanded verification of
VVPAT slips before counting of votes
and not after the last round of counting.
Social media was flooded with pictures
and videos of EVMs allegedly being shif-
ted around. These were brought to the
EC’s notice but little was done about it.
This left Opposition leaders wondering
if there was a level playing field.
Controversial Referee?
G
LENIENT STAND?
CEC Sunil Arora's approach in dealing
with MCC complaints from the Opposition
parties raised criticism
UNI

22 June 3, 2019
Earlier this month, the EC, without
batting an eyelid, had disposed of a
complaint against the prime minister
(PM) for allegedly misusing the facilities
and personnel of the NITI Aayog, the
government think-tank that replaced
the Planning Commission in 2015, dur-
ing the campaign. The Congress party’s
complaint was that the PMO had direct-
ed the NITI Aayog to write to bureau-
crats at places where the PM was sched-
uled to campaign, and ask them to send
local area knowledge ahead of his visits
there. This was specifically in three con-
stituencies in Maharashtra--Gondia,
Wardha and Latur. But, addressing a
press conference in mid-May, Deputy
Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena
said that the EC found no merit in the
complaint as the PM by virtue of ins-
tructions issued on October 7, 2014, is
permitted to combine his official and
electioneering visits. It later came to
light that the clean chit was given
despite one of the ECs, Ashok Lavasa,
seeking further clarification on the mat-
ter from NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh
Kant on whether they had actually fol-
lowed the PMO directive and whether
such information was used during the
visit of Modi. The complaint was, how-
ever, dismissed as both Arora and the
third EC, Sushil Chandra, were of the
opinion that the “instructions” issued in
October still stood and hence the char-
ges were infructuous.
H
owever, the same circum-
stances prevailed during the
time of Indira Gandhi too and
she was punished for her misdemea-
nour. Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of the
Allahabad High Court declared her elec-
tion to the Lok Sabha in 1971 void and
disqualified her from Parliament and
banned her from holding any elected
post after her opponent, Raj Narain,
filed a petition challenging her election
for violating the Representation of the
People Act, 1951. Chapter XV111, section
1.1 of the RPA, clearly states that “gov-
ernment officials at all levels.....should
maintain an attitude of strict impartiali-
ty in relation to elections....that no
Government officials should do any act
(other than the giving of vote) which
could be interpreted as furthering the
prospects of any party or candidate at
the election.” Narain’s contention was
that her polling agent, Yashpal Kapoor,
was a government servant and by using
a public servant for personal election-
related work, she was guilty of electoral
malpractices.
The crux of the recent charges agai-
nst the EC was that it had chosen to be
a silent spectator to excesses of the BJP
while being too eager to wield the stick
against the Opposition. The violations,
in fact, began immediately after the EC
announced the schedule for the seven-
phase elections. Leading from the front
was the PM himself, followed closely by
his party president, Amit Shah. They
invoked the armed forces by asking vot-
ers to keep their “sacrifice” in mind.
Former Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurappa
even went to the extent of saying at a
rally that the Balakot airstrikes would
bring a lot of votes into the BJP kitty.
The EC’s reluctance to act despite the
Supreme Court making the poll body
conscious of its powers emboldened
leaders and candidates. But invariably,
those from the ruling side managed to
get away while those from the Opposi-
tion were not so lucky.
Consider these: Samajwadi Party
lawmaker Azam Khan was quoted com-
menting about his opponents’ undergar-
ments for which he was promptly ban-
ned from campaigning for three days.
But when UP CM Yogi Adityanath
invoked religious sentiments and took
Bajrang Bali’s name as a counterpoint to
Ali or referred to the Indian Army as
“Modiji’s Sena”, he got away with a mi-
nor rap on the knuckles. Rahul Gandhi
was pulled up for misquoting Modi, but
the latter was cheered when he ques-
National Politics/ Election Commission/ CEC Sunil Arora
RAISING DOUBTS
The EC was accused of inaction when social
media was flooded with pictures and videos
of EVMs being allegedly shifted
Twitter

Hussain, all ministers who held the avi-
ation portfolio.
Nirvachan Sadan has had controver-
sial CECs before. Yet, they were different
and never so openly partisan. Former
CECs, such as TN Seshan and James M
Lyngdoh, were also efficient administra-
tors. Seshan held office between 1990
and 1996, six years that saw elections
being cleaned up. A no-nonsense officer,
he endeared himself to the aam aadmi
by wielding the stick against politicians,
however high and mighty. But he had
his downside too. He was a favourite of
Rajiv Gandhi and at his bidding, kept a
hawk’s eye on VP Singh’s Janata Dal and
was known to have even deferred or
cancelled elections where Singh’s party
had frontrunner status.
Seshan was also unpredictable. He
displayed this trait by cancelling the
Punjab assembly elections when only a
few hours were left for the polling to
begin. In 1992, a few Opposition parties
called for impeachment proceedings
against him, but the then PM, PV Nara-
simha Rao, would have none of it.
His unpredictable and arrogant na-
ture finally led to the government ex-
panding the EC to three members in
1993. Seshan challenged the appoint-
ment in the Supreme Court, but the
Court not only held the appointments
valid, but directed that in order for any
decision of the EC to be valid, it must
have the backing of at least two mem-
bers. As CEC in 2002, Lyngdoh, too,
had a run-in with Narendra Modi, then
Gujarat CM, which finally saw the
Supreme Court stepping in.
Seshan, Lyngdoh and others who
followed did not bend before the pow-
ers that be and ensured that the play-
ing field was level and everyone
adhered to the spirit and letter of the
law. Despite the NDA’s spectacular win,
millions of ordinary Indians will con-
tinue to harbour new doubts about the
system and the process.
tioned the presence of “Pakistani flags”
in Wayanad, the second seat Rahul was
contesting, besides Amethi. Modi had
said that Rahul was afraid to contest
from a Hindu-majority constituency and
had therefore chosen the seat in Kerala
where Muslims outnumber the Hindus.
Modi was to repeat his “minority-major-
ity” jibes against Rahul on many occa-
sions. For that and his invocation of
Balakot, complaints were lodged with
the EC. The Congress alone had given
37 representations to the EC against
Modi and Shah, of which 10 can be cate-
gorised under “hate speeches, virulent,
divisive, polarising” by Modi and Shah.
A
nd what was the action taken? A
clean chit to the PM and his
lieutenants. However, this led to
a rift within the EC after the CEC ref-
used to place on file the dissenting re-
marks of Lavasa. Lavasa, a retired Har-
yana-cadre IAS officer, had recused
himself from the meetings to discuss
alleged violations of the model code of
conduct as a mark of protest against the
exclusion of his minority view in the
EC’s official orders. While EC rules are
silent on the matter of recording dissent,
former CEC OP Rawat felt that “if an
opinion is recorded that differs from the
final decision, the differing opinion is
recorded as dissent”. Ex-CEC SY
Quraishi too tweeted: “The dissenting
note need not be included in the order
but it should be a part of office proceed-
ings. And be made public if the commis-
sioner concerned wants it.” But it made
little dent.
Arora’s elevation as CEC last Dec-
ember at a politically critical juncture
wasn’t entirely surprising considering
that his career graph has witnessed
upswings under BJP governments, be it
at the centre or in his cadre state of
Rajasthan. He has had brushes with
controversy, the most notable being in
2009 when the infamous Radia tapes
caught him chatting with Niira Radia
about corruption in the Judiciary. Arora
was heard telling the corporate lobbyist
about a Supreme Court judge’s role in
the Delhi land sealing cases and of
another judge from the Delhi High
Court being paid `9 crore by a middle-
man in exchange for a favourable verdict
in a case. Similar conversations caught
on tape have led to powerful people,
including some in the media, losing
their jobs. But Arora, then an additional
secretary-rank officer, went unscathed
yet again. Earlier, as Indian Airlines’
chairman-cum-managing director, he
survived several skirmishes with Praful
Patel, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Shanawaz
ChiefElectionCommissionerslikeTNSeshan(left),JamesMLyngdohandothersdid
notbendbeforethepowersthatbeandensuredthattheplayingfieldwasleveland
thateveryone,includingthehighandmighty,adheredtothespiritandletterofthelaw.

Cyber Security/ Dark Web
24 June 3, 2019
ITIZENS normally use that
part of the web which is
called the “Surface Web”
where information is freely
available through search
engines and publicly in a
state of anonymity. As we dive deeper,
we encounter what is called the “Deep
Web” where normal search engines may
not be able to reach. The Deep web is
not used for any illegal activities but is
accessible under authentication.
However, there is a third category
called the “Dark Web” which is hidden
from the civilised world and used for
criminal activities. It is the “under-
world” in cyber society. Dark Web users
use the same tools of connectivity as
Surface Web and Deep Web users such
as connected computing devices but
engage in criminal activities.
The Dark Web today also sustains
the drug trade, illegal arms trade and
major bank heists. Sometimes, its users
execute assignments for cyber terrorists
and cyber warfare. This Web creates
tools of crime and sells them to other
small-time criminals. “Crime as a
Service” is the motto of leaders of the
Dark Web, quite like the mafioso.
If somebody creates a crude bomb,
throwing it does not require any skill.
Similarly, if malware tools are appropri-
ately designed, there could be many
criminals who can use them.
All cyber criminals who get
caught by the police are not mem-
bers of the Dark Web. They only
interact with the agents of the Dark
Web. Members of the Dark Web
make money by selling crimeware
and avoid coming on the radar of
law enforcement agencies.
The economy of the Dark Web is
strong and supported by crypto cur-
rencies like Bitcoin. By cultivating
friends among the corrupt, Dark
Web mafia try to get their under-
world currencies like Bitcoin inte-
grated with currencies of the Meta
Society so that they can enjoy their
ill-gotten wealth.
Unsuspecting and ill-informed
persons think that crypto currencies
and anonymity are symbols of a free
society and should be encouraged.
The gullibility of such people is
exploited by Dark Web dwellers in
getting crime-friendly regulations,
making the task of law enforcement
difficult. It is essential for the sur-
vival of civilised society that we take
whatever steps are necessary to regu-
late this monster so that it is chained
and rendered harmless.
The general topography of the
internet is that every device has a
unique ID issued by a regulatory
agency and its identity should be
part of every communication that
goes out as data packets. This is the IP
address with which we should be able to
track every internet activity. The device
ID can be optionally a part of such com-
munication. This helps law enforcement
detect any activity on the web and
enforce law on such players.
The Dark Web, however, creates a
system of “Onion Routers” where mes-
sages are transmitted with layers and
layers of transmission along with strong
encryption. The routing is through
many dummy systems to hide the IP
address. Unravelling it requires several
layers of the routing to be peeled (like
onion skins) and also decryption. The
surface communication that is available
Mafioso of the
Wired World
Itistimetoregulatethispartofthewebwhichisnot
accessiblethroughregularbrowsersandwherenefarious
activitiesandcyberattacksareplanned
By Na Vijayashankar
C
Anthony Lawrence

to law enforcement is actually a false IP
address and prevents them from identi-
fying the users of the system.
Data accessible in the Dark Web is
stored in servers managed by its mafia
and is often hosted in countries where
the governments are supportive of the
criminal activities for their own selfish
reasons. Data is encrypted and access is
managed through a strong access con-
trol system. Many servers of the Dark
Web do not provide hosting accounts
unless the applicant proves his hacking
credentials. Further, the onion routing
system hides the identity of the servers
in messages.
I
t may not be out of place to mention
here that the origin of the Dark
Web concept can be traced to Swit-
zerland which created “Numbered Swiss
Bank Accounts” which enabled crimi-
nals to hide their wealth. It took years to
persuade Swiss authorities to cooperate
with other nations to reveal secret bank
account data at least where criminality
is proven. We can, therefore, appreciate
how hard it would be to convince rogue
nations not to allow hosting of Dark
Web servers.
At the user level, there are specia-
lised browsers like “Tor” browsers which
can be downloaded by anybody in the
Surface Web and used. A combination
of the Tor browser and the secure host-
ing in a friendly rogue country can help
Dark Web activities to be technically
enabled.
Despite the difficulty and enormity of
the task, there is no excuse not to
attempt regulation of the Dark Web
with a view to mitigating its adverse im-
pact on society. Some of the solutions
that civil society needs to consider along
with legal enablement are:
Choke the economy of the Dark Web
by banning crypto currencies at a global
level. Let the transactions come to the
Surface Web where they can be netted.
Replace the concept of total anonymi-
ty with the concept of “Regulated
Anonymity”.
Regulated Anonymity as a concept is
where the identity of a data user is de-
identified and the de-identification algo-
rithm is controlled in a decentralised
framework that avoids governmental
control. But it is still open for law
enforcement under a due process which
is acceptable both for privacy activists
and governments.
Declare Dark Web activities as “terror-
ism” and declare the countries which
host Dark Web servers as “terror-sup-
porting countries”.
Tighten intermediary regulations to
ensure that “agents of the Dark Web”
are punished adequately.
Regulate the use of Tor browsers and
other tools of encryption that assist the
Dark Web through a system of voluntary
registration.
Create a “Secure Surface Web”
where every participant is identified
(KYC grade) and transfer all the finan-
cial transactions above a reasonable
limit from the surface web to a secured
Surface Web. This will be a trusted
web to be used voluntarily by interested
persons.
Device ID should be made part of the
Transmission Control Protocol/IP com-
munication protocol and Surface Web
intermediaries should reject packets not
accompanied by verifiable device IDs.
There is no doubt that many mem-
bers of the Surface Web are sympathis-
ers of the Dark Web. And just as remo-
val of corruption and black money in the
Meta Society has insurmountable chal-
lenges, the war against the Dark Web
would also be challenging.
However, challenge need not deter us
if our goal is clear—to have a trusted
digital society. And here, there is no
place for the Dark Web.
—The writer is a cyber law and
techno-legal information security
consultant based in Bengaluru
TheeconomyoftheDarkWebisstrong
andsupportedbycryptocurrencieslike
Bitcoin(left).TheDarkWebalsosustains
thedrugtrade,illegalarmstrade(below)
andbankheists.Itcreatestoolsofcrime.
UNI

Column/ Zero Draft EIA Notification of 2019 Debi Goenka
26 June 3, 2019
N the midst of electioneering, the
Ministry of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change (MoEF&CC)
had quietly circulated a Zero Draft
of the Environment Impact Assess-
ment (EIA) Notification, 2019. A
barely readable copy of the notification
running into 129 pages was sent to all
states for their comments and they
have been asked to respond within
one month.
Given the fact that the notification is
highly technical, and most government
officers were busy with elections, I won-
der if the ministry has timed it to ensure
that they do not receive any response?
The fact that the draft is partially illegi-
ble, over-written by hand in some
places, and not searchable, seems to
indicate that the first casualty of this
process will be transparency.
It seems that the MoEF&CC has also
learnt no lessons from the past—the
most easily implemented laws are those
that are short and simple. The best
example that exists is the Forest Conser-
vation Act, 1980. This entire Act com-
prises five clauses and runs into less
than two pages. The original EIA notifi-
cation of 1994 was 33 pages long, and
the EIA notification of 2006 ran into 42
pages. The 2019 draft is definitely more
complex and more difficult to under-
stand. However, the intent is clear—it is
less environmental-friendly and more
aligned to serving the interests of proj-
ect proponents who have little concern
for the environment.
Besides the lack of transparency, the
MoEF seems to have forgotten why it
was created. Its sole mandate was to
protect the environment and this man-
date remains unchanged even today. But
over the years, starting with the Vaj-
payee government, followed by the
Manmohan Singh one and now the
Modi government, all that has happened
is that continual efforts have been made
to dilute our environmental laws and
notifications. It seems that the ease of
doing business outweighs the need to
protect the environment even when the
crisis of climate change is impacting the
lives of every living being on the planet.
It is not that the ministry is not
aware of the impact of climate change.
In fact, the first draft Coastal Regulation
Zone notification of the MoEF issued in
1988 mentioned climate change and
included a proviso that areas vulnerable
to sea level rise caused by climate
change should be kept free of all “devel-
opment”. However, 31 years later, the
ministry has completely lost the plot.
This is even more surprising given
the fact that the first chief minister
(CM) to include climate change in his
state’s environmental agenda was
Narendra Modi when he was in Gujarat.
When he became prime minister in
2014, one of the first things that hap-
pened was that the Ministry of Envi-
ronment & Forest (MoEF) became the
MoEF&CC. Yet, despite the fact that the
climate change crisis is increasing in
intensity and has been universally
accepted as the biggest global crisis fac-
Losing the Plot
Thedraftfromtheenvironmentministrytakeseaseofdoingbusinesstoanextremeevenwhenthe
crisisofclimatechangeisloomingandgivesextensivepowerstodistrictauthorities
I
Anil Shakya
BEING RELEVANT
President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani (waving)
at the consultative loya jirga in KabulPresident
Whatisparticularlyshockingisthat
theZeroDraftincorporatesclauses
alreadyproposedasamendmentstothe
2006EIAnotificationandthesehave
beenstayedbyvariouscourts.

to grant environmental clearances for
up to five hectares of individual mining
lease of minor minerals and 25 hectares
in clusters to the District Environmental
Impact Assessment Authority (DEIAA).
This is chaired by the district collec-
tor/district magistrate and whose mem-
ber secretary is the sub-divisional officer
of the district. As revenue officers, both
of them are directly responsible for
granting these leases. By and large, none
of these officers have either the environ-
mental background, the expertise or the
time to scrutinise such proposals. Also,
after having granted the lease, can these
officers independently assess the envi-
ronmental impact and cancel the leases?
This decision to delegate powers to the
DEIAA was challenged in the National
Green Tribunal and was finally set aside.
Similarly, the powers to delegate the
grant of environmental clearance of con-
struction projects and area development
projects to local planning authorities
has also been challenged in the past and
stayed by the courts. Yet, the same
amendments find their way back in Zero
Draft 2019. There is also the vexed issue
of transparency. Despite numerous
requests to make the draft EIA Reports
available on the websites of the
MoEF&CC, the State Pollution Control
Boards and the Project Proponents, all
that is uploaded is the summary of the
EIA Report and not the entire draft EIA
Report. There is no provision for trans-
lating the EIA Reports in the local lan-
guage. The Zero Draft has nothing to
say about how the written comments
submitted by NGOs at the public hear-
ings will be dealt with. It makes no pro-
vision for the submission of written rep-
resentations electronically via email.
What I find even more shocking is
the fact that the participation of non-
governmental representatives on the
numerous committees has been drasti-
cally curtailed. Despite huge problems
regarding non-compliance with the
environmental clearance conditions,
there is no new provision built into the
notification to ensure better compliance.
The empanelment of institutions of
national repute to monitor compliance
is rife with potential conflicts of interest
as almost all of them are involved in the
process of preparing EIAs. Nothing is
said about what is to be done if the envi-
ronmental clearance conditions are not
complied with.
One can only hope that wiser counsel
will prevail and the MoEF&CC will
hopefully be rebooted to carry out its
mandate—that of protecting the envi-
ronment, the country and the planet for
future generations.
—The writer is Executive Trustee,
Conservation Action Trust
ing mankind, the mandarins of Parya-
varan Bhawan and their technical
experts seem oblivious of the fact that
the “business as usual” model is a sure-
fire recipe for disaster. But the new
model being proposed is even worse—it
is business as usual with relaxations and
dilutions, and of such complexity that it
will keep the batteries of EIA consult-
ants and lawyers in business for years
to come.
W
hat is particularly shocking is
that this Zero Draft incorpo-
rates clauses that have
already been proposed as amendments
to the 2006 EIA notification that have
already been stayed by various courts.
For example, the MoEF&CC had, on
March 15, 2016, delegated the authority
UNI
NO CONCERN FOR
ENVIRONMENT
(Facing page) The
Aravali hills in
Gurugram; (right)
Paryavaran Bhawan;
(below) climate change
was a major agenda of
talks between PM Modi
and Secretary General
of the UN Antonio
Guterres on the side-
lines of the G20
Summit in 2018

Legal Eye/ Interpreting the Law
28 June 3, 2019
HE Latin maxim,
Ignorantia juris neminem
excusat, translated into
English means “ignorance
of law is no excuse for
breaking it”. This is one of
the cardinal principles of jurisprudence.
The rationale behind this principle is
that if ignorance was an excuse, a per-
son charged with criminal offence or
involved in a civil suit would merely
claim that he was unaware of the law in
question in order to avoid liability, even
if he actually knew what the law in
question was.
The doctrine first shows up in the
Bible in Leviticus 5:17. It says that if a
person sins and does what is forbidden
in any of the Lord’s commands, he is
guilty and will be held responsible even
though he does not know it. The pre-
sumed knowledge of law imputes that
one is bound by law even if one does not
know of it.
Ignorance Is Not
Bliss, But...
Whileitcannotbeentirelydoneawaywith,inarecentinterpretation,theSupremeCourtshowed
thatthemaxim“ignoranceoflawisnoexcuse”neednotbeusedbluntlyandinallcases
Justice Bhanwar Singh and Dr NK Bahl
TRIGHT TO KNOW
A legal assistance-cum-
awareness camp in Delhi.
Citizens should not only be
aware of their rights but also
have sufficient knowledge
about various laws
dslsa.org

However, it is impossible, even for
someone holding graduation, post-grad-
uation or even a doctoral degree in law,
to be aware of each and every legal pro-
vision in operation. This is the price
paid to ensure that wilful blindness can-
not become the basis of expulsion.
We have so many forms of laws—
civil, criminal, revenue, personal, family,
taxation, international, to name a few—
but it is well settled that ignorance of
any law cannot become an excuse for
breaking it. Nobody is permitted to
plead ignorance as a defence to escape
the rigours of law. If it were, it would be
very easy for any person to take the plea
of ignorance though he was actually
aware of the law and its consequences.
The defence of ignorance is based on
negative facts, which is very difficult to
prove as one has to study the mental
position of the law-breaker which is
really a difficult exercise. Perhaps be-
cause of all these reasons, the policy of
law has always been not to accept the
plea of ignorance of law.
The maxim that “ignorance of law is
no excuse for breaking it” has developed
from ancient Roman law. In the good
old days, the laws were numbered and
thus could be easily remembered and
understood. The number of laws in that
period was very small and one could
have counted them. Therefore, in those
circumstances, the maxim may be said
to be justified.
N
ow in our country thousands of
laws are enacted by Parliament
and state legislatures. Rules are
also framed by the Executive under vari-
ous Acts. The Supreme Court and 25
High Courts have framed rules of their
respective procedures. Besides these
rules, various notifications and circulars
are also issued under relevant legisla-
tion. Judicial precedents in the form of
ratio decidendi are also consistently fol-
lowed by the courts in view of Article
141 of our Constitution.
Thus, it is humanly impossible to
remember, much less understand, the
chunk of laws stacked before citizens. In
India, laws are framed in English and
Hindi, with their translations in vernac-
ular languages. But what about illiter-
ates or those who can’t understand
English or Hindi? Therefore, there is a
sound justification for relaxation or
dilution of the maxim.
The doctrine of merger of judgments
also offends this maxim. We know that
the judgments of courts, lowest in the
hierarchy, are quite often reversed by
the first appellate courts. Similarly, the
judgments of first appellate courts are
reversed by the High Courts which, in
turn, are reversed by the Supreme
Court. Is it because the first appellate
court or High Court is ignorant of the
laws? If High Court is aware of the law
then why does the Supreme Court
reverse the judgment of the High Court?
Can it be said that the High Court was
ignorant of the laws? Sometimes even
the apex court itself overrules its own
decisions. Can it be then said that the
top court was ignorant of the law while
deciding the case at the first instance?
This assumes that the law in ques-
tion has been properly promulgated,
published in government gazettes and
distributed amongst the public for gen-
erating awareness. The distribution may
be in the form of its availability in news-
papers or on TV or on the internet, or
printed in volumes available for sale to
the public at an affordable price.
Article 35A of our Constitution was
unknown to everyone except for the last
year or so. One can’t find the Article
printed in any of the Bare Acts of the
Constitution or in the latest textbooks
written by famous authors. Article 35A
was added by the Constitution (App-
lication to J&K) Order, 1954, by Presi-
dent of India on May 14, 1954, exercis-
ing the powers conferred by Article
370(1) of the Constitution and with the
concurrence of the government of J&K.
The absence of this article in statute
books is proof of its non-publicity and
Themaximthat“ignoranceoflawisno
excuseforbreakingit”hasdeveloped
fromancientRomanlaw.Thenthelaws
werefewandcouldbeeasilyremem-
beredandunderstood.
LITTLE-KNOWN LAW?
Article 35-A of our Constitution was unknown
to everyone except in the last year or so
UNI

Legal Eye/ Interpreting the Law
30 June 3, 2019
non-promulgation.
To obtain the binding force of a par-
ticular law, it must be applied to the
men who are ruled by it. This is done by
promulgating the law so that the people
who are affected by it can acquire
knowledge about it.
T
he Supreme Court of India has
recently weakened the maxim
that ignorance of law is no excuse
in Drug Inspector vs Mani Maran (Cri.
App. No. 1493 of 2018) decided by the
Court on November 30, 2018. When the
concerned drug inspector inspected the
chemist shop of Mani Maran on Dec-
ember 17, 2008, it was found that the
shop was running without a valid drug
licence required under the Drugs and
Cosmetics Act, 1940. Consequently, the
shop was seized and a charge sheet
under the Act was filed by the inspector.
The trial court convicted Maran and
sentenced him to jail for one year with
fines of `5,000 and `500 under differ-
ent provisions of the Act.
The first appeal against the judg-
ment was dismissed by the sessions
court and thereafter the High Court
acquitted the accused.
The accused in his arguments had
admitted that he had purchased the
retail shop from one Jayanti and had
shifted the shop to the current location.
The licence of the current shop expired
on December 31, 2007. The accused also
informed the court that there was no
licence for the inspected premises and
that he was not aware of the Act. Later
on, he apologised for his mistake and
requested that a licence be issued in
his name.
The Supreme Court set aside the
judgment of the High Court and found
the accused guilty. But it reduced the
sentence of the accused based on three
factors. One, the offence was committed
in 2008, about 10 years back. Two, the
accused had no previous history of con-
viction. Three, the accused had stated
that he was not aware that he had to
obtain a licence for the sale of drugs.
Considering the facts and circum-
stances of the case, the Supreme Court
while invoking the proviso to Section 27
(b)(ii) of the Act, reduced the jail sen-
tence from one year to three months.
But the fine of `5,000 was upheld.
However, nothing was said about the
fine of `500 imposed by the trial court.
That too seems to be waived.
A close reading of the Supreme Court
judgment reveals that the accused has
got two reliefs. Firstly, his sentence of
imprisonment was reduced to three
months instead of one year and second-
ly, the fine of `500 was also deemed
waived partially in view of his ignorance
of law.
The jurists have found good justifica-
tions in diluting the maxim in other
countries as well. In England and Rome,
the courts have refused to apply this
doctrine blatantly so as to do complete
justice and provide adequate relief
whenever the courts considered it on
the basis of justice, equity and good
conscience.
Justice Maula in Martindale vs
Falkner (1846) 2 CB 706 observed that
“there is no presumption in this country
that every person knows the law and it
would be contrary to common sense and
reasons if it were so.”
Justice Lush in R vs Tewkesbury (LR
3 Q. B. 629) observed that “there is no
maxim which says that for all intents
and purposes a person must be taken to
know the legal consequences of his acts.”
Lord Atkin also found good justifica-
tion in diluting this maxim in Evans vs
Bartlam, (1937) AC 473 HL. His Lord-
ship reacted in these words: “The fact is
that there is no and never has been a
presumption that everyone knows the
law. There is the rule that ignorance of
the law does not excuse, a maxim of very
different scope and application.”
The exception carved out of the
maxim, “ignorance of law is no excuse”
proved to be a bliss in Maran’s case. We
have to collectively doff our caps to the
Supreme Court for taking a lead in this
direction.
—Justice Bhanwar Singh is a former
judge of the Allahabad High Court and
Dr NK Bahl is Director, Judicial
Training Academy, and Dean, DME
School of Law, Noida
TheSChasinoneofitsverdicts
weakenedthemaximthatignoranceof
lawisnoexcuseforbreakingit.Although
theCourtheldtheaccusedguilty,it
reducedhisjailtermsignificantly.
Anil Shakya

BRINGING YOU THE STORIES THAT COUNT
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To Stay Abreast With Today, Pick Up Yesterday’s India Legal
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May 20, 2019
A tribute to Prof NR Madhava Menon known worldwide as the doyen of modern legal education.
He was not only a great teacher but also a creator of jurisprudence. Prof Upendra Baxi’s
homage to him along with excerpts from articles he penned specially for this magazineThePassingofaGiant
Supreme Court:
Credibility crisis
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No legal oversight
1935-2019
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April 29, 2019
AnexclusiveresearchpaperforIndiaLegalquestionsIndia’sGDPfigureswhichseem
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NI
May 13, 2019
The Supreme Court has ordered the central bank to disclose its annual
inspection reports of banks, along with information on all wilful
defaulters. An analysis of the potential impact.
RBI:
Under the
Hammer
Autos: Bye bye
diesel?
Sri Lanka Blasts:
India connection?
FULL
DISCLOSURE
EVERY WEEK INDIA LEGAL WILL BRING YOU
NEWS, ANALYSES AND OPINION FROM THE SHARPEST
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS AND MOST INCISIVE LEGAL
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` 100
I www.indialegallive.com
May6, 2019
JET-LAGGEDJitenderBhargava,formerExecutiveDirectorofAirIndia,analysesthe
reasonsforthecollapseofoneofIndia’smostcelebratedairlines
Chief Justice Gogoi:In the Dock Loan Write-offs:Who pays for it?
NationNational Sal Secnal Sal Sonnonnnnwww.indialegallive.com
www.indialegallive.co
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` 100
I
May 27, 2019
A public interest petition filed before the Supreme Court asks that consecutive rather than
concurrent sentences be awarded to those convicted of multiple offences.
Knee-jerk,“tough on crime” over-reliance on incarceration as a stand-alone panacea for
crime is unsustainable and counter-productive, writes Prof G Mohan Gopal
CrimeandPunishment
Online Entertainment:
The threat of censorship
Prof Upendra Baxi on Judges
Resiling from Decisions
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Global Trends/ US/ New Immigration Policy
32 June 3, 2019
HERE are hundreds of thou-
sands of Indians currently
estimated to be in the
United States on H1b tem-
porary work visas, most of
them in the IT sector.
Estimates are that they send good
amounts of money back to their families
on a monthly basis. With President
Donald Trump talking about unveiling
his new immigration policy, Indians,
especially those with technical skills,
hope that the changes will make it easier
for them to land jobs in the country.
But wait. What you have been read-
ing about is a fake policy proposal by
President Donald Trump in tweets,
without anything in writing and with lit-
tle or no consultation with the various
government and political players who
have a stake in immigration policy.
Trump, who spent his entire life running
an inherited real estate business, does
not understand the concept of consen-
sus management that underpins policy,
especially when it has international
implications. His lack of any political
experience has resulted in loud shouts
about policy and quiet retreats when
federal courts and political reality
stepped into the issue.
Trump is not anti-immigrant; he wo-
uld just like fewer non-whites from nati-
ons he has publicly scorned as terrible
places. Indians are welcome because th-
eir role in support functions within high
tech and emerging technologies is well
understood. That is why he suggests a
skills-based system instead of the cur-
rent Green Card family-based approach,
not withstanding that his wife Melania’s
family came from Slovenia on the basis
of family chain migration.
Opposition to Trump’s immigration
efforts is solid along political fault lines,
civil society organisations and a majority
of Americans, according to polling data
from multiple sources. Remember, shut-
ting down the government for six weeks
did not get him the money he demand-
ed to build the wall along the Mexican
border. Republicans cannot agree on
resolving the status of the “Dreamers”,
small children brought to America by
parents who stayed, worked and raised
them to adulthood without citizenship.
The Administration’s belief that separat-
ing children from parents of asylum
seekers would discourage other asylum
seekers has failed on multiple levels.
Asylum seekers kept coming. Moreover,
holding children in cages and makeshift
housing without information on reunit-
ing them with their parents brewed
widespread condemnation and revulsion
within America.
The current Trump focus on trade
tariffs on Chinese products is hurting
American farmers and giant agri-busi-
nesses, where Trump had significant
support in the 2016 election.
The elephant in the room is what the
Republican-controlled Senate will do
acting as a “jury” if the Democrats in the
House of Representatives vote to
impeach Trump for behaviour docu-
mented in the partially disclosed
Mueller Report.
Jumping The Queue
IndianscouldbebeneficiariesofPresidentDonaldTrump’spreferenceforaskills-based
systeminsteadofthecurrentGreenCardfamily-basedapproach
By Kenneth Tiven in Washington
T
UNI
WAITING FOR ENTRY
Activists protest against the Trump Adminis-
tration’s policies on immigrants in Manhattan

India Legal 03 June 2019

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