Emergency is bad; but not per se bad

The nation sadly remembered the 'Emergency-Era' of yester years which made the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi besides a coterie of drum-beaters not only infamous but villains in the eyes of the people. Had the Emergency been not imposed in 1975 with the oblique motive of saving her throne, the name of Indira Gandhi would have been written in history with golden letters. Indeed, once described as a 'goongi-gudiya', Priyadarshini had emerged as the most powerful woman leader of the world, particularly after breaking the permanent headache called, Pakistan into two namely viz. Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1971.

The extraordinary circumstances that permit imposition of emergency have been narrated in the Constitution of India. Accordingly, Art. 352, 355, 356 and 360 deal with National Emergency, President's Rule in States and Financial Emergency respectively. After the 44th Constitutional Amendment Act passed in 1978, the expression 'internal disturbances' has been substituted by the words 'armed rebellion' to make the situation more specific.

No doubt, no sane person would agree that there were sufficient grounds for the imposition of Emergency by the crest-fallen Indira Gandhi whose election to the Parliament was set aside by the Allahabad High Court in the famous Raj Narain vs. Indira Gandhi Nehru and others case. The nightmare that followed the imposition of Emergency has left indelible black mark on our country which boasts up as the largest democracy in the world. At the end, after 21 months of the ordeal, the nation gained nothing except a bitter lesson how these self-centred politicians can eat up the very fabric of democracy irrespective of the size of the electorate.

Notwithstanding the fact that any provision in the Constitution has the potential to be misused by cunning and greedy politicians to the detriment of public interest, still in the scheme of the Constitution, the provisions of Emergency need to be retained. In a dynamic parliamentary democracy, rulers come and go but the national interests are paramount.

Seen in this perspective the year 2020 offers huge challenges of multiple nature. The country today has been facing the wrath of invisible global aggressor called Corona virus which has taken a heavy toll of several thousands in the country and several lakhs all over the world. Considering the fact that the effective medicine to cure COVID-19 affected patients is yet to be invented while vaccine is a far cry, it becomes all the way more important to assure that as a fall out of this pandemic situation, the young and educated are not left high and dry. Our country has an asset of about 65% of the young population and the present pandemic has rendered most of them disappointed and depressed since the future appears to be not so promising, if not totally dark. Further, with the shadows of Chinese aggression looming large over our country there prevails a sense of anxiety and anger. The economic blockade of Chinese goods which appears to be just a dream would have far reaching consequences on the financial well being of a huge battalion of traders dependent on the Chinese goods. And to say the least, our perpetual opponent Pakistan too is leaving no stone unturned to disturb our economic balance and mental peace. Added to this are the home grown enemies under the guise of human right activists, minority leaders and self proclaimed intellectuals. Considering the present disturbing scenario, the need of the hour is to take some drastic steps to arrest the situation from going out of hands otherwise the above named two external and internal factors coupled with the propelsion provided by the myopic, communalist and separatist political leaders across the fence would cause an irreparable damage to the society.

Therefore, let the wisdom prevail over the Delhi moghuls and capacitate them to read between the lines. The word Emergency though in the historic perspective is devoid of any virtue, but let us not treat it as untouchable. The Emergency whether at the national level, state level or in the financial sphere should be sparingly used to protect the interests of the nation. And perhaps this is the right time to do so.

Magic, masala common

names: Madras HC

In a recently delivered judgment, a bench comprising justice C.Saravanan noted that the terms 'Magic' or 'Masala' are common words in Indian food industry and therefore, no one can claim monopoly over the same.

Delivering the judgment in a plea filed by ITC Limited against Nestle India Limited, seeking to restrain the latter from using the words 'Magic Masala' and 'Magical Masala' with respect to the noodles product 'Maggie' the court held that the petitioner had failed to make out a case against the respondent for an injunction.

The petitioner while claiming exclusive right to use these words with respect to its noodles brand 'Sunfeast Yippee' argued that it amounts to passing off and sought permanent prohibitory injunction against the respondent.

"It is a common name for describing the mixture of spices in majority of the Indian languages. Therefore, it can never be appropriated", the Court held and added that if a Trademark had been used uninterrupted for a long number of years then it would have qualified to become a 'distinctive mark' entitled for protection and monopoly.

Needy advocates permitted to do alternative jobs

In order to help such lawyers who are facing difficulty in meeting ends due to the lockdown situation, the Gujarat Bar Council has passed a resolution on June 21 permitting temporarily its members to engage in any other profession, job or business. Such lawyers will be exempted from Sec. 35 of the Advocates Act which prohibits them to pursue any other activity than legal profession. However, the resolution will come into effect after the same is approved by the Bar Council of India (BCI).

Webinars on contentious legal issues held

A series of Webinars on burning legal issues has been on stream through Youtube and social media since quite some times. These Webinars are being conducted under the auspices of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti which basically spearheads the movement for Hindu Rashtra.

The Webinars cover a wide spectrum of subjects such as secularism, discrimination between the majority and minority communities in the Constitution, Uniform Civil Code (UCC), and Kashmir after stripping off Articles 370 and 35A and rehabilitation of Pandits, Triple Talaq, CAA and NRC, threat of Chinese aggression etc. The Webinars have been addressed by legal luminaries practicing as advocates in Supreme Court as well as High Courts.

Penalty for skirting RTI reply

The Madhya Pradesh Information Commission has imposed a penalty of Rs.25,000 against an Under Secretary of the state government's revenue department for alleged malafide and wilful intention of not sharing the information sought by an RTI applicant related to a corruption case.

While hearing an appeal filed by an RTI applicant, Achal Kumar Dubey, Information Commissioner Rahul Singh in a recent order slammed the officer concerned for adopting dilatory tactics to avoid response to the desired information. EOM