The Latest: Top stories of the day
1. Invisible hand prevented probe in chopper deal, says Union defence minister Manohar Parrikar.
2. Jat quota stir: Investigation team submits its report on the alleged sexual assaults in Murthal.
3. Twenty five constituencies vote in the last phase of the West Bengal polls today.
4. An Assamese migrant worker dies in Kerala after being tortured, tied up and left on the road in the sun for hours.
5. United States Presidential elections: Donald Trump is the only Republican candidate left in the race as John Kasich drops out.
6. Indian Premier League: Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa combine again to take Kolkata to a seven-run win over Punjab
The Big Story: Unpoetic justice
The Uttarakhand High Court recently played a small if significant role in protecting Indian democracy. On April 21, it quashed an order by the Union government that placed Uttarakhand under Central rule. The court ruled that the arbitrary imposition of President’s rule from Delhi “undermines the foundation of federalism (and)… toppling of a democratically elected government…breeds cynicism in the heart of the citizens who participate in a democratic system”.
Within a fortnight, however, the chief justice of the Uttarakhand High Court, KM Joseph, has been transferred to Andhra Pradesh. After the Uttarakhand fiasco, this sudden move was bound to set tongues wagging about how the Union government is undermining the independence of the judiciciary. On Wednesday, senior lawyer Indira Jaising took to Twitter to protest the decision.
Crucially, she also pointed out that this had become a pattern – in February, Justice Rajiv Shakder had been transferred from Delhi to Madras. Last March, Shakder had authored the judgement that set aside the Union government’s lookout notice against Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai, which had led her to being offloaded from a London-bound flight.
Technically, of course, all transfers are recommended by a collegium of Supreme Court judges headed by the Chief Justice of India. But increasingly, some believe that there is an arbitrariness to the decisions.
The Big Scroll
Modi’s speech to judges: Even strongmen should realise that a robust judiciary is vital for democracy, warns Sanjay Hegde.
Politicking & Policying
1. Delhi approves a proposal to set up a memorial to President Kalam at Dilli Haat.
2. The Shiv Sena attacks the Modi government, saying it changes colours faster than a chameleon.
3. Arunchachal Pradesh: The Opposition has demanded a CBI inquiry into the police firing in Tawang on Monday that led to the death of two people and left many injured.
Punditry
1. The suffering of millions in the Deccan drought does not create public outrage, much less government accountability, says Harsh Mander in the Indian Express.
2. In the Telegraph, Mukul Kesavan weighs in on the Obama Presidency and the making of Donald Trump.
3. In the Hindustan Times, Gopalkrishna Gandhi asks a provocative question: Why give MPs a chance to swear in the name of God?
Don’t Miss
Should the law be more lenient about using names of victims killed in sexual crimes, asks Ipsita Chakravarty.
The raped girl’s safety or privacy does not seem to be the concern here. The judgment flows from paternalistic notions where the female body is the vessel of a society’s honour, so the brutalised female body must be the source of its shame. It becomes the raped woman’s burden to live out this shame, usually by burying herself in anonymity.
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