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A new innings Systemic leakages
again |
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UP minister in the
dock
Policing problems
Ability redefined
The changing music
scene calls for new laws to regulate the surfeit of objectionable
lyrics that make up the emerging music market and has the potential to
provoke criminal offences
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Systemic leakages again
The
Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) has found poor monitoring resulting in serious lapses in the implementation of the UPA’s Rs 52,500-crore debt waiver launched ahead of the 2009 general election. Some 34 lakh ineligible persons reportedly got the benefit while 24 lakh deserving farmers were left out. A sample of 9,334 accounts in nine states was audited and a clearer picture will emerge after the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament examines the CAG findings. Though the CAG has not blamed the government or calculated the amount grabbed, the BJP was quick to smell a scam and ask for a CBI inquiry. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has promised “stringent possible action”. The CAG, whose allegations of Rs 176 lakh crore loss in the auction of second-generation spectrum caused a nationwide uproar, has avoided finger-pointing this time. It has, however, pulled up the Department of Financial Services under the Union Finance Ministry for laxity in monitoring the scheme. The department operated the scheme through the RBI and NABARD, which relied on data supplied by banks and cooperative societies. There was no independent verification of the claims. No debt waiver/relief certificates were issued nor any acknowledgments secured. The Finance Ministry is in the process of recovering the money handed over to ineligible persons. The 2008 scheme provided for the waiving of the entire loan of farmers owning up to two hectares and 25 per cent relief to those owning more. Since there were no computerised records of the needy and the payments had to be made within a deadline, unscrupulous elements made good with the taxpayer’s money disbursed with a political motive. The irregularities in the debt waiver scheme highlight, once again, loopholes in the delivery system. The ongoing direct benefits transfer scheme, which is based on the unique identity numbers issued under the Aadhaar scheme, hopes to plug the leakages. The challenge, however, will be to reach out to every needy person.
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UP minister in the dock
The
controversial UP Minister for Jails and Food and Civil Supplies, Raghuraj Pratap Singh, popularly known as Raja Bhaiya, has been made to resign following allegations that DSP Zia-ul-Haque was murdered in broad daylight in the Kunda area in Pratapgarh district by henchmen of this mafia don-turned- politician. He had no right to remain in the government. Now the next course of action should be to bring him to justice. This scion of the former princely family of Kunda is known for eliminating anyone who dares to challenge his authority in his area. His terror tactics have become part of folklore in the district and the rest of the state. He has been winning the assembly elections ever since he entered politics in the early nineties mainly because of the terror spread by him in Kunda town and the surrounding areas. He was associated with the BJP before he joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) of Mulayam Singh Yadav. He successfully contested the previous election as an Independent candidate. The ruling SP leadership was fully aware of Raja Bhaiya’s shady past when he was inducted into the Akhilesh Yadav ministry. He had many criminal cases registered against him. But the party had to oblige him with a ministerial position because of his support for SP candidates during the assembly elections. Perhaps it was believed that the Kunda MLA might change his ways after getting ministerial responsibilities. But that was not to be, as proved by the latest development. The police officer was done to death when he reached Hathgawan village in the Kunda area following reports of the murder of the village pradhan and his brother. He was on official duty. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has assured the people that the law would take its own course “without pressure from any quarter”. But the slain officer’s widow has alleged that the investigation being done is aimed at protecting the controversial politician. Under the circumstances, only a CBI probe, as promised by the Chief Minister, can help unravel the truth behind the police officer’s murder. Raja Bhaiya must get exemplary punishment if his role is finally established in the chilling killing. But Akhilesh Yadav, too, has a lot of explaining to do for giving a berth in his ministry to a person who did not deserve it owing to his criminal past.
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It is never too late to be what you might have been. — George Eliot
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Policing problems COME to think of it, it was a small matter about the distribution of medals in 1980 to the police officers who had excelled themselves in their tasks. Yet the function blew out of proportion when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who had just returned to power, stopped the ceremony and walked out. She was annoyed because the officers had been recognised for their "courageous work" to punish those who had committed atrocities during the Emergency. Medal ceremonies were only a routine job. The real casualty was the National Police Commission's report which was presented to her at the function. The commission, appointed after the Emergency, had worked hard for three years to suggest ways and means to depoliticise the police. She considered anything done when out of power a criticism of the Emergency when she ruled like a satrap. It was a good report but she threw the baby with the bath tub. Thirtythree years have gone by, but the report has got lost in the objections raised by the states and the Centre's lack of determination. Even the Supreme Court's intervention to get the report implemented has produced no result. The court has advised the implementation of the recommendations. What comes in the way of the report is that the law and order is constitutionally a state subject. The Centre cannot interfere in it because of the states' autonomy. This has assumed importance today in the midst of bomb blasts at Hyderabad and threats of terrorism elsewhere. The state blames the Centre which, in turn, claims that it had warned Andhra Pradesh two days before the bomb blasts. Apparently, the lack of coordination has led the bureaucracy to renew the proposal of National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) for an overall control. Even in the diluted form it is a welcome step. The performance of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), set up despite protests from some states, has not been effective. Established after the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai, the NIA has taken up 11 cases with only two of them having made some headway. One case challenging the NIA's jurisdiction is pending in the Bombay High Court and the other stuck elsewhere. Once again the question of demarcation of authority between the centre and the states has arisen. Ordinarily, such a question should not have posed an intractable situation. The reason why no satisfactory solution emerged is the politicisation of institutions. The government of different colours in the states fears that the Centre has done little to efface the stigma of interference. The Sarkaria Commission report on Centre-State relations has found very few states implementing it. Once again, the fear is that the state would lose its identity. The Congress is the most to blame for politicisation. It has left no institution where it has not introduced its bias. The party was the first to pick up anybody it liked and reward them by appointing to the gubernatorial post. For example, it introduced the dictum of consulting the states but not seeking their concurrence for appointing governors. This violated the spirit of the Constitution. New Delhi has repeatedly argued that the constitution wanted it to consult the states concerned but not seek the concurrence. Gradually, even the sham of consultation has been dropped and the Centre has started appointing governors directly. Politics has taken over norms. Naturally, the institutions have become effete. The politicisation of the police takes the cake. The force is at the mercy of the chief minister of a state and he or she uses it like a private force. A recent example is that of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who removed the Director-General of Police, Ranjit Kumar Pachnanda, then and there. The Centre, not always for altruistic reasons, wants to oversee the police work in the states so that it keeps the finger in the pie. Were the Centre and the states to combine and pool their resources, they can really curb terrorism within the country or from across the border. At present, they seem to be working at cross purposes and not following the stray, useful information from some ordinary intelligence department. The post-analysis of so many bomb blasts has shown that if the stray intelligence had also been taken seriously, the incidents probably could have been prevented. In the US, the coordinated command after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington has kept the country free of terrorist acts. That is because a new Central institution was constituted and given all powers to collect intelligence, decipher it and take the necessary action without bringing any politician in it. India can follow the example provided the states do not mistrust the Centre and this does not mix politics with the police. Yet experience tells that the states are not bothered about the Centre or the country's overall advantage so long as they can keep their house clean. I recall that once in Kerala, New Delhi had to use the IPS officers from the all-India service under the supervision of the Centre to save the federal property like post offices from a state-sponsored strike. No amount of plea on the point of federalism worked with Thiruvananthapuram. The IPS officers, however, did respond to the Centre's request which was otherwise constitutionally wanting. In fact, the country needs a federal police, on the pattern of America, so that crimes which transcend borders can be dealt with effectively. This would particularly help in the instances of discrimination and denial to the lower castes, including the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The states, for political reasons or vote bank considerations, do not act or act cursorily when it comes to central offences. The federal police should be autonomous, answerable to Parliament, so that the ruling party at the Centre does not lessen or exaggerate the crime for political considerations. In the light of increasing parochialism within the country, a federal police may provide the
answer.
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Ability redefined The
doorbell rang. No, not again. This modern gadget can be a bit of a nuisance, sometimes. I was in the bathroom. Must be some useless caller. I ignored it. It buzzed again. The visitor was persistent. “Who is it?” I shouted from the bathroom. “Courier,” came the answer. “From where?” I queried. “From the bank...cheque book,” I thought I heard. Ok, I remembered, I had applied for a new cheque book at my bank. Now this was important. “Alright, wait a few minutes... I am coming,” I shouted back. I quickly finished my bath, hurriedly got into my clothes and answered the door. It was from a bank alright, but a credit statement related to a card I was not using anymore. Still I got couriered statements
of regularly. This made me furious. “Where is the cheque book?” I almost shrieked. “What cheque book?” “You said cheque book.” “I said bank...your credit card statement.” “I don’t want this statement. I don’t use this card anymore. Anyway, why didn’t you just shove the letter under the door? It was not that important a document…only a credit card statement, for God’s sake, not a cheque book,” I banged the door on him. This sort of thing happens all the time. One would be really, really busy and running late, the doorbell would go ding-dong and it would be a salesman selling door to door something one would never use all one’s life or a service provider offering free services for a gadget one doesn’t even own. Then, there would be these glorified beggars with a receipt booklet of some obscure organisation asking for charity, just taking a chance. Or some sadhus going on a pilgrimage. All able-bodied people, begging on some pretext or the other. The doorbell buzzed again. Murmuring, I approached the door. There he was, a young man in his early twenties. He smiled. “Didi, I have come from the school for the handicapped,” he said very slowly in a highly slurred speech. Oh no, not again, someone’s come begging for charity. Sorry, I was about to say. “Didi, I have come to sell some products we make at our school, would you like to
buy some?” “What do you have?” I asked almost disinterestedly. “Oh, things like perfumed candles, incense sticks, greeting cards,” he said as he eagerly shoved some of the cards into my face. They were very beautiful, the cards with flowers, landscapes and smiling human faces adorning them. I bought some gladly. The cards had a heart-warming message at the back — self-help, not charity is our motto. “Thank you, didi,” he went away but not without leaving a smile on my
face.
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The changing music scene calls for new laws to regulate the surfeit of objectionable lyrics that make up the
emerging music market and has the potential to provoke criminal offences
William
Shakespeare in “Twelfth Night” laments, “If music be the food of love, play on”. The speaker is asking for music because he is frustrated in courtship. The “Sound of Music”, a US musical made in 1965, was filmed at exotic locations in Salzburg, Bavaria and California. It won five Academy awards and the United States Library of Congress deemed it “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”. Music theatricals at West End in London and epic musicals at Broadway theatre, New York, have been hailed for historical shows of “Marry Poppins”, “Les Miserables” and “King David”. Traditional Indian music from “gharanas” carrying rich cultural traditions and values of India have wafted from time immemorial carrying legacies through fables, legends and ballads. Music, the messenger, since the advent of mankind, has served the test of time for the human race. But, tested today, it is fraught with dangers from murky waters and storms emerging in modern society with new trends.
The problem Today, music is in a dilemma. Driven by some commercial adventurers through vulgar overtones, it has acquired pitch-crossing limits of decency and morality. Obscene and misogynist lyrics attacking the female gender using pseudonyms and vernacular phrases are hurled at the impressionable youth with a cocktail of westernised blends. Unmindful of social repercussions and moral norms, musical fortune hunters are making inroads into a rich cultural heritage of music unpolluted by time. The alarming pace with which this virus is infecting and plaguing society has no antidote.
Central laws There is, fortunately, recourse available in law. Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, punishes singing, reciting or uttering any obscene song in or near any public place with three months’ imprisonment, fine or both. The Copyright Act, 1957, does not permit any person to publish a sound recording unless it displays the owner of the copyright of such work, person who made the sound recording and the year of its publication. Entry 60 of the Union List of the Constitution empowers the Central government to enact laws for the sanctioning of cinematograph films for exhibition. The Cinematograph Act, 1952, provides for certification of cinematograph films and empowers the District Magistrate to revoke the certificate for a particular area in view of public health and safety. The Censor Board, in turn, classifies a film for restricted or unrestricted public exhibition. Further, the Government of India, under the Union List, can enact laws for wireless, broadcast and other like forms of communication. Besides, there are content restrictions for cable television in the Cable Network Act, 1995, and restraints for the Internet in Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which prohibits publication of obscene material in electronic form. The Internet content is also controlled by guidelines for Internet service providers who are under an obligation to prevent any obscene, objectionable and unauthorised material over their networks.
Punjab film Act The Punjab Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1952, governs the matter relating to licensing and regulation of cinemas in the territory of Punjab. The Punjab Dramatic Performances Act, 1964, provided for better control of dramatic performances in Punjab and empowers the District Magistrate to prohibit any objectionable dramatic performance in a public place. The Music in Muslim Shrines Act, 1942, was enacted to control performances by girls in Muslim shrines and barred any woman or girl to either sing or dance in a Muslim shrine, which is publishable with imprisonment of six months or fine or both. Other than this, music for society in general, is unregulated by any state enactment applicable in Punjab, primarily because it is within the domain of the Government of India to make a regulatory law applicable throughout the territory of India. Punjab laws alone may not apply outside its territory and lewd compositions will still haunt air waves if the lyricists or singers operate outside Punjab.
Yawning gap Irrespective of the matter being a Central subject, Entry 33 of the State List of the Constitution empowers the state government to enact laws for theatres and dramatic performances, sports, entertainments and amusements. Since, sound recordings are not regulated by any Central enactment like the Central Board of Film Certification under the Cinematograph Act, 1952, the music industry goes unchecked as song content has no regulatory mechanism to check lewd lyrics. The producer of a song — a combination of lyrics, compositions and voices of a performer recorded in a studio — is its first owner under the Copyright Act, 1957. Regardless, pirated music sold at ridiculously low costs rules the roost. However, offensive and vulgar lyrics do not find statutory roadblocks other than Section 294 of the IPC for punishing obscene acts and songs.
Possible remedy The deep-rooted societal impact of loud and bawdy music with double meanings has become fashionable among youth. It is feared it may precipitate and provoke actions amounting to criminal offences. Law ought not to permit this. Since unethical singers are germinating and flourishing with abandon in Punjab, they ought to be checked, as this surrogate industry has developed in the state irrespective of territorial constraints. Under Entry 33 of the State List of the Constitution, the Government of Punjab is well within its powers to consider music as part of “entertainment” and enact a new regulatory law to curb the communication of vulgar music to the public emanating from Punjab. The Music in Muslim Shrines Act, 1942, and the Punjab Dramatic Performances Act, 1964, are examples of Punjab legislation which emulate this proposition to be put into practice. New-generation societal ills need fresh thought to check fresh maladies. Law has to catch up with offenders who take advantage of lack of checks. An innovative perspective defining vulgar music compositions, checking lyricists, defining indecent songs and containing wholesome provisions in the new arena of music law is the need of the day. Punjab could well have a music censor board under a new regulatory law for sanctioning and certifying content of sound recordings on the same terms as films. If Punjab can make a start, other jurisdictions will follow. A positive start is needed. A job well begun will be half done.
The author is a Chandigarh-based lawyer
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The code of conduct
Indian Penal Code, 1860 Section 294: Obscene acts and songs Copyright Act, 1957 Section 52-A: Particulars to be included in sound recording and video films 1) No person shall publish a sound recording in respect of any work unless the following particulars are displayed on the sound recording and on any container thereof, namely:
2) No person shall publish a video film in respect of any work unless the following particulars are displayed in the video film, when exhibited, and on the video cassette or other container thereof, namely:
Cinematograph Act, 1952 Section 5-A: Certification of films 1) If, after examining a film or having it examined in the prescribed manner, the board considers that:
2) A certificate granted or an order refusing to grant a certificate in respect of any film shall be published in the Gazette of India. 3) Subject to the other provisions contained in the Act, a certificate granted by the board under this Section shall be valid throughout India for 10 years. Punjab laws
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