PILs - not the best way
PIL - Public Interest Litigation - is ofcourse the original name. But there are other names like Private Interest Litigation, Paisa Interest Litigation and so on.
Here is a perfect example of well meaning law, being twisted and misused by people.
Some recent examples:
- PIL filed against Aishwarya Rai in Patna HC, for 'allegedly' marrying a tree. Read On..
- PIL against Orkut, because someone decided to start a 'i hate india' community there. Read On...
- PIL filed in Rajasthan, against Liz Hurley/Arun Nayar for allegedly disrespecting indian customs via there recent wedding. This at a time when Tourism Ministry is busy selling India as an exotic Wedding Destination !!! Read On...
Now, lets look at PILs which indeed seem genuine. Say these would be on the lines of: 'PIL seeking improvement in traffic management in a state', 'PIL asking for more primary schools in a city', 'PIL protesting against poor quality of food available at Railway Stations across India', 'PIL seeking to stop Dam Construction', and so on...
These are good and sometimes necessary PILs. BUT, take a close look - these PILs are seeking what is taken for granted in Developed Countries, they are seeking much of what is guaranteed in the constitution, they are asking for better administration... etc.
So, it has been argued that then these are 'good' PILs and more and more of them should be filed. This is a not a good trend in my opinion. It is direct pointer to a much serious underlying problem - i.e whimsical and bad administration. And THAT problem should be corrected at its root. After all how many PILs are we going to file? Electricity Shortage - file a PIL. Water shortage - file a PIL. Bad Roads - file a PIL. Corrupt Minister - file a PIL. If a enemy nation attacks our country - are we supposed to file a PIL as well to defend our country? I hope not!
A tree which is being hollowed by termites from within - cannot be saved by throwing pesticide at it, everytime you see a decaying branch. It requires constant and repeated care. So with Administration. Patch work is not going to help anyone.Look around - try to locate the best run companies, and worse run companies. One thing will be obvious - Good companies always have good people at its helm. Bad ones always have bad ones at the helm. 'At the helm' - is the key thing here. Same principal applies to Administration of the Country as well. 'People' and NOT 'Processes' are the solution or the problem. Good People will find ways around Bad Processes. Bad People will find ways around Good Processes. So, if there is a failing administration - its because of People In Charge. Ok.. so we digressed a bit here... but thats the flow...... :) .
Supreme Court, advises High Court here:
PIL [petition] is a weapon which has to be used with great care and circumspection and the judiciary has to be extremely careful to see that behind the beautiful veil of public interest an ugly private malice, vested interest and/or publicity seeking is not lurking. This attractive brand name of PIL [petition] should not be used for suspicious products of mischief"
posted by Apun Ka Desh @ 3:46 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I agree AKD but what are the solutions when the same "at the helm" people have closed all other channels of holding them accountable? I must admit my ignorance about there being other ways in which these monkeys can be held accountable.
You might argue that we can vote right but you know what, I think I always vote right.
You might say that we hold demonstrations. Protests. Ok. But the fact is that people like me dont like the heat and rain so much and the office is quite comfortable.
One of the only other ways could be media awareness. Jessica Lal is a case in point there. Media has the power and the platform to align interests of common people with the executive and judicial system in India. What do you think?
Musings you are right... not sure how to keep the monkeys accountable.
The best way as you have also mentioned is a good media. Not the Aaj Tak/Star News/Zee News cheap variety. A little on the lines of NDTV, but much better. Not sensationalism, but good journalism. Let them award good bureaucrats, hound bad ones. Let them Congratulate the Sports Minister - when india comes back with 'tending to ZERO' medals from Beijing Olympics next year. Let them, ask the Reservation Hungry HRD Minister - if India should get reservation for 20% of all medals at Olympics ? (we can cite whatever reasons we want.. we are experts at that).
There are MPs who taking people illegally out of this country. Imagine if one of them while doing this was actually arrested at a foreign airport(for illegal trafiicking) - (not in india) - what a bad name it will bring to the country!
What EXACTLY is preventing INDIA from Progressing Forward?
A simple Self-consciousness (awareness), that’s what, preventing India. The consciousness to judge for improvement is lacking. A conscious mind is missing. We are aware that politicians, govn. Officers, our systems are inept and needs an urgent modification, but it’s impossible to change what is inevitable (100% sure…and which is not going to change in next 100 yrs. Do you agree with me?). Is it so difficult to hear your own voice and identify the truth? I am sure its not…then why? This WHY question is very crucial…money is one factor and probably an answer to this question. Powers, status, pursuit for position in hierarchy are possible factor contributing to this vulnerable consciousness…YES vulnerable. Distinguishable that everybody wants power, money, and status but being comprehensive that by utilizing these adjectives in its true sense (for own self) will bring about the changes that we pursue. It’s a game of manipulation; a simple lethargic consciousness (person) contributes to the downfall of self as well government, blaming the system.
e.g: a process
Ideas-->consciousness-->identify truth/false-->identifying possibilities-->factors-->temporary ideas-->manipulations-->falsified-->Ideas-->consciousness………..and never ending
But this somewhere has to break…….
Mithi river-flooded in 2005 is the classic example which shows how conscious we are towards one-self as well towards city for that matter. A 90 degree bend in river at runway (check Google earth), and the narrowed width (rather than reclaiming, the runway could have been built over the river maintaining the width for good undisturbed flow e.g Riyadh Airport) literally breaking the flow of river-MSRDC, BMC lack of vision. In Nov 2006 the river was cleaned, all debris along with other pollutants was removed but today its back the same way. Awareness among people….missing. Because of these unexpected reasons Mumbai suffered. The changing process of this I guess should start from top level and steadily bring it by means of education to people whose minds are not awakened. What we require is a true civic sense…terribly lacking. People are still spitting on roads, littering trains & public spaces, fading values and ethics…if this is built strongly only then one can raise voice towards the system….otherwise the voice will be heard as a futile urge to change what we see suppressed by the false overhaul.
any suggestions/ideas????????
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