ARE WE READY FOR WAR ?

With the tentacles of war, nay, the global war or the World War III spreading rapidly to the hitherto unaffected geo-political destinations, it is high time that we too take a serious note of the prevailing situation and devise appropriate plans to face the impeding war. We, like many other countries, are quite unsure as to which country will target us and when, but one thing is certain that our indulgence in this mega war is imminent and may be in a near future.

The on-going clashes of Titans, such as the US, Russia, NATO, China, Israel, Ukraine, have sent shockwaves throughout the world. The United Nations (UN), to which the hapless populations look for succour and effective action to establish peace, apparently is in a hopeless condition. Nobody seems to be in a mood to listen to others. Israel has gone to the extent of calling the Secretary -General of UN as a persona non- grata ! Maybe this is just a vocal expression of Netanyahu out of frustration and the feeling of having been betrayed by the world body, but other countries, not so vocal as Israel, too, have been nurturing similar sentiment. In short, eventuality, the UNO will meet the fate of the League of Nations with no word body to pacify the warring nations.

In view of such a frightening situation, it is necessary that we, as a nation ponder over the developments seriously, preferably by national consensus and devise a strategy to face the war effectively. Article 352 of the constitution specifically provides for such a scenario. It authorises the President to issue the proclamation of emergency. For doing so, the Council of Ministers headed by the prime minister has to adopt a resolution to the effect that there exists a grave threat of war or external aggression. This resolution is then sent to the President for issuing the proclamation of emergency. Indeed, the present situation in the country is quite 'explosive'. The Jihadi, terrorist and anti -national forces are burning their midnight oil to see that the country is disintegrated and anarchy takes over the situation. The hostile neighbours have with the hawk eyes are just waiting for the opportunity to wage a war against Bharat.

Unfortunately, after the infamous illegally imposed emergency of 1975 with the ulterior motive of retaining political power which resulted in the untold suffering of millions of innocent people, emergency has acquired a dubious acrylic of the devil's rule. But this is not true. Consider the proclamations of emergency during 1962 China war and 1971 Pakistan war. Nobody had raised a finger against these two emergencies. Therefore, the word emergency per se, is not bad, but if the intention behind the decision to impose the emergency is to serve personal or partisan interest, then it is bad and undesirable.

In this perspective, the proclamation of emergency is not only desirable but also inevitable. One cannot start digging the well while awfully thirsty, but the same has to be done to visualise the need of water well in advance. The constitution has incorporated this foresight in Article 352 . The imposition of emergency should be followed by the enforcement of Defence of India Act and rules made thereunder.

In sum, it is high time that the government foresees the tremendously worrisome situation and takes all the legal and executive steps to ensure safety, security, sovereignty, integrity, unity and democracy in the country.

TIRUPATI LADDU: SC APPOINTS A NEW SIT

In a bid to assuage the sentiments of millions of devotees of Lord Venkateswara also called, Lord Balaji, the Supreme Court on October 4 appointed a new Special Investigation Team ( SIT ) to investigate into the allegations of adulteration, including the use of animal fat, in making the Laddu prasadam.

While disposing of a batch of writ petitions filed by Dr Subramanyan Swami and others, the apex court' s bench, comprising Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan, expressed itself strongly against politicisation of the issue. The court also made it clear that in forming the SIT to probe the highly sensitive matter , it does not express its opinion on the SIT already appointed by the State government.

Notably, on September 30 hearing the matter, the apex court had taken a strong exception to the public utterances by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh even before the matter was yet to be investigated. However, the counsel for the State, in course of hearing on October 4, clarified that the Chief Minister had made the statement on the basis of the report of the laboratory of the National Dairy Development Corporation (NDDB). The SC-appointed SIT consists of two officers of the CBI to be nominated by the Director, CBI, two officers of the State police and one officer of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) .The SIT will be working under the supervision of the Director , CBI.

ALLAHABAD HC SEEKS PROTOCOL ON PREFIX 'HONOURABLE '

Justice J J Munir of the Allahabad High Court, while hearing a writ petition filed by one Krishna Gopal Rathore, directed the authorities to file an affidavit explaining as to under what protocol the officials working under a government were addressed as 'Honorable.' The court found that the collector of Etawah had addressed the Kanpur divisional commissioner as 'Honourable Commissioner.'

Justice Munir observed, " This court is fully aware that the word 'Honourable' is certainly to be prefixed in the case of ministers and other sovereign functionaries, but we are not aware if the same holds good for secretaries serving the State government. "

DELHI HC AWARDS EX-GRATIA TO FAMILY OF KID WHO DIED OF DOG ATTACK

The Delhi High Court in a recent judgment granted Rs.2.5 lakh ex-gratia to the family of a 5 month-old infant who died due to a dog attack.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav observed," The responsible authorities should endeavour to manage the menace with the same compassion to ensure equilibrium in the living conditions of both humans and dogs. The issue requires a multi-faceted response, fostering an environment of empathy and balanced co-existence."

The victim’s mother had asked for compensation of Rs.50 lakh alleging negligence on the part of the municipal authorities. However, the court rejected the plea stating that it was not proved if the dog was a stray or a pet carelessly let lose by its owner. The court permitted the petitioner to approach civil court for further relief and directed the subordinate court to dispose of the case within a year and not to consider the ex-gratia relief granted in the litigation.

GUJARAT HC INFORMED ABOUT DEMOLITIONS OF RELlGIOUS STRUCTURES ON PUBLIC PLACES

The government of Gujarat on October 1 informed the high court that 604 unauthorised religious structures were demolished by it in the last two months. The court had taken Suo Motu cognisance of a report in ‘Times of India’ and directed the authorities to demolish unauthorised religious structures from public places. A bench, comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agrawal and Justice Pranav Trivedi, noted that of 604 demolished religious structures, 318 were in district areas, while 286 were in the municipal corporation areas. The court noted that 87 such structures have been relocated and six have been regularised.

TG ADVOCATES PROTEST OVER POLICE ' ZULM ' !

Advocates of subordinate courts in Telangana staged a dharna and in majority of courts boycotted work on October 3. The call for agitation was given by the State Federation of Advocates’ Associations.

The protests sparked after the reported insult of and assault on an advocate allegedly by the police station on the outskirts of Hyderabad. A delegation of bar leaders also staged a dharna at the office of the Director-General of Police and handed over a representation to him demanding stern action against the erring police personnel.