The recent judgements pronounced by the Supreme Court are worth taking note of by the people. The first, of course, concerns the denouement about Ninth Schedule introduced into the Constitution. This schedule was created through Amendment 31B. One of the salient clauses of 31B clearly states that if the Parliament includes any law under this schedule it would go beyond the purview of the Supreme Court. Already over 280 laws have been included into the Ninth Schedule. When Supreme Court began taking a close look at this, we had commented as under
Archive for January, 2007
Apex Court shows discretion in two tricky cases
January 28, 2007
Q & A by Cho Ramaswamy
January 28, 2007Kollam S Krishnamurthy, Chennai 61Question: What is your take on the Assamese ULFA terrorists who have murdered more than 60 Hindi-speaking people in cold blood in the north eastern state? Answer: The Central Government began \”talking\” to ULFA on this issue. Whatever be their colour, if a government begins talks with extremists, the ultras would use the opportunity to increase their strengths. To avoid this, all governments should mercilessly crush all extremists. Under such circumstances, they will be more malleable and powerless to dictate terms. The Central and state
The \’Sixth Sense\’ of the cops
January 22, 2007In the recently concluded 150th anniversary of Chennai City Police, President APJ Abdul Kalam requested the uniformed fraternity to repeat nine oaths after him. Cops obeyed him implicitly till the sixth one. \”We will proceed against all those who err against the law with great diligence and speed,\” was the sixth oath pronounced by the President. The cops seemed to be in some difficulty in repeating after the President. Since the policemen\’s voices were almost a whisper, the President in complete innocence requested them to raise their audibility. \”Why are
Q & A by Cho Ramaswamy
January 22, 2007P Ravichandran, Pattukkottai Question: An opinion poll conducted by Loyola College students has found that the majority of the people interviewed by them advised actor turned politician Vijaykanth to go it alone. Comment. Answer: Those who have given their answers haven\’t expressed any view as to who would benefit from this isolation. Therefore, I am filling that void and commenting that it would help the DMK greatly. P Narayanan, Madurai 18 Question: In the light of the election scene heating up in Uttar Pradesh, what
Q & A by Cho Ramaswamy
January 22, 2007S Sayyed Mohammad, Chennai 93 Question: [The late] MGR was the best Chief Minister to rule Tamil Nadu, says a finding by Loyola College students. Comment. Answer: The same students also found that the Karunanidhi regime had majority support amongst the masses. But the report eulogising MGR has proved to be a dampener vis-à-vis the pro-government finding as far as the CM is concerned. N Kuppuswamy, Venkittapuram Question: Had Periyar been alive, would he have praised the Jayalalithaa regime or pilloried it? Answer: Till he
Saddam got what he deserved
January 22, 2007The hanging of Saddam Hussein has evoked strong protests in India . This didn\’t surprise me at all.Usually, when a person is taken to task for his evil deeds, people forget the past and find fault with the severity of punishment. And if it so happens that the person being so punished is a big shot, the general public experience a feeling of shock. This doesn\’t happen when the long arm of the law catches up with ordinary mortals. But if the person happens to be a former ruler
The Reality About Leftist Ideology
January 22, 2007If the masses at large in this country fail to understand the stand of the leftists, one cannot fault the communists for it. Leftists have removed all the curtains that hid their ideology in the state of West Bengal and proved that the entire brouhaha about communism is mere cacophony. The land allocation in West Bengal for a motor vehicles factory of the Tatas have shown that there is a right of centre angle to leftism. The manner in which the communist government in West Bengal is countering the opposition of Mamta Bannerjee betrays
Q & A by Cho Ramaswamy
January 22, 2007N Kuppuswamy, Venkittapuram Question: \”We have submitted ourselves to the poor,\” says Karunanidhi. Comment. Answer: Kindly note that the ruling party has submitted only itself to the poor and not its vast wealth. The already over-burdened poor will now have to bear the weight of the ruling party functionaries on their shoulders. S Chokkalinga Adityan, Rosmiyapuram Question: Which political party can be termed as farsighted? Answer: Immediately, the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP springs to the mind. Its leaders claim that they are only
PM\’s Proclamation
January 22, 2007I must say that the BJP leaders are simply an insatiable lot. Just because our Prime Minister made a statement which was half an aside, BJP MPs indulged in slogan shouting in Parliament throwing its functioning out of gear. Pray what did the PM say? In a meeting of the National Development Council, he was quoted as saying thus: \”Religious minorities, especially Muslims, should have the first call on all national resources.\” The BJP has opposed this tooth and nail creating a feeling amongst the hoi polloi that the party has understood
Q & A by Cho Ramaswamy
January 22, 2007A Shivamani P Puliyampatti Question: Capital punishment for a crime will not solve the issue of lawlessness, say civil liberties activists. Comment. Answer: If one takes this as the correct line of argument, nobody can be punished for any crime. If there is no punitive action on the part of the courts, there will be no criminal cases! K Ganeshan, Maraimalainagar Question: During every Lok Sabha polls I have had the privilege to nominate Atal Behari Vajpayee as the prime ministerial candidate. At the
RamasamyC 