Judicial Trinity

There are three judges who have covered themselves with glory in the recent controversy over disclosure of assets by judges. They are K.Kannan of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, D.V.Shylendra Kumar of the Karnataka High Court and K.Chandru of the Madras High Court. It is reported that all three are persons of impeccable integrity and are around 55 years of age which means they will continue to serve on the Bench for some more years and hopefully may get elevated to the Supreme Court also. Judges like these form an oasis in the venal justice system. One hopes that age and the overwhelming system will not tame them into submission to corrosive political influences.

Dr.Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy

Dr.Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy , Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh who was killed in a helicopter crash on 2nd Sept. was of course a politician. His government was notoriously corrupt. However, certain facts about him stand out.

1) He had his schooling in the Besant Theosophical High School run by Kalakshetra Foundation. This should have had atleast some impact on his value system.

2) He was a broadminded Christian equally at home in Bethlehem and Tirumala, as noted by The Hindu.

3) He was a medical doctor and he always empathised with the poor.

We have lost an assertive and confident politician.

Public arguments

Public arguments among the well-known are becoming more frequent. For example, a sitting judge of the Karnataka High Court, Mr.Shailendra Kumar recently openly contested the authority of the Chief Justice of India to represent the views of all judges. CJI in turn snubbed him as publicity-crazy. Open discussions are welcome, but the bitterness evident in some arguments is eminently avoidable.
Now comes Mr.Homi Sethna's outburst against Mr.Kalam, former President who had earlier endorsed the success of Pokhran atomic test. This debate has been triggered by Mr.K.Santhanam, a former DRDO scientist who once again questioned the success of the test. While endorsing Mr.Santhanam's views, Mr.Sethna argued, "Mr.Kalam was not a scientist and Mr.Santhanam is a phycisist and he knew what he was talking. What does Mr.Kalam understand about physics? What did he know about extracting, making explosive grade? He did not know a thing. By being a President, he appeared to wear the stature. He relied on atomic energy to gain additional stature."
Mr.Sethna may be correct in his views regarding the atomic test. The tenor of arguments reminds us of what Krishna says in the Bagavad Gita, chapter 10, stanza 33. He says,"Among those who debate, I am Vaada i.e. the open-minded discussion for determining the truth." It is said that there are three types of debates -- jalpa, vitandaa and vaada. Jalpa is a kind of debate in which both parties seek to establish their own view point and ignore the merits of the counter-view. In vitandaa, one party understands his view is demolished and yet takes up extraneous arguments, draws red herrings and insults the counter-view. Vaada is open-minded discussion wherein the only objective of the participants is to grasp the truth. Vaada is welcome; the other two formats are dysfunctional.

Auditors' Report : Provogue ( India ) Limited

Auditors' Reports never cease to entertain. It is a pity that they are rarely read. Annexure to Auditors' Report of Provogue (India) Limited for the year 2008-09 says that " The Fixed Assets register was maintained by the company till the previous year. However during the year the same has been misplaced and the Company is in the process of compiling the new fixed assets register". The Annexure goes on to add, "There are adequate internal control systems commensurate with the size of the Company and the nature of its business with regard to purchase of inventories and FIXED ASSETS and for the sale of goods and services".

If the internal control systems are adequate, how come the Fixed Assets Register was lost? How long will it take to compile the new fixed assets register? Do you think that a company that takes a long time to compile a duplicate register will have a credible 'Disaster Recovery Plan'?

Auditors' Report : Cholamandalam DBS Finance Limited

The 2008-09 Annual Report of captioned company is quite glossy and invites reading. The Auditors' Report is pretty candid about the governance in the company. One interesting sentence reads "In our opinion and according to the information and explanations given to us, the company has GENERALLY not defaulted in the repayment of dues to banks and debenture holders." Does it not imply that there were sporadic defaults?
When this issue was raised in the acrimonious AGM held on 28th July, 2009, the company categorically stated that there was no default at all. This raises the question : Why did the directors not insist that the Auditors should avoid misleading words? Am I wrong in assuming that the directors go through the Auditors' Report?

Folic Acid

The Economist dated 29th August reports that the recommended daily dose of 0.4 mg of folic acid is converted into folate in most people. The conversion to folate takes place in the liver. The liver has only a limited capacity to make this conversion. Unmetabolised folic acid is found in human blood and urine. Intake of folic acid of more than 1 mg a day increases the body's exposure to circulating unmetabolised folic acid. High doses of folic acid are suspected to exacerbate certain cancers.
In India the most recommended folic acid drug is FOLVITE . This tablet contains 5 mg folic acid ! The ministry of health should study the possible harmful effects of such abnormally high dosage of essential chemicals.

Supreme Court : Justice Kannan's blog

Justice K.Kannan of the Punjab and Haryana High Court recently shot into limelight for voluntarily disclosing his assets to the public though he also opined that demanding voluntary disclosure from judges is fraught with risk to independence of judiciary.

His blog is atypical of a judge. He expresses his views on various judgements, mostly in agreement. Recently he posted his views on a judgement from the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the right of a mentally retarded person to carry a child to term.The person was a serial victim of bestial behaviour of people. The High Court had decided that the victim did not have an inviolable right to deliver the baby in view of various disturbing circumstances. On appeal, the Supreme Court reversed the decision and said the victim cannot be forced to terminate the pregnancy.

I commented on the views expressed by Justice Kannan as follows:

" Your succinct reasoning reminds us that the Supreme Court is not supreme because it is infallible, but it is infallible because it is supreme". This is a quote from an American judge. I thought that this comment was innocuous, meaningful at best and irrelevant at worst. However, the comment was deleted by Justice Kannan.

I wonder what could be the reason for deletion. Perhaps judges do not want to be seen as even remotely enabling people to express even tangentially hurtful views on the majesty of the Supreme Court, however truthful they are.