BIHAR'S FLOOD FURY; END OF KOSI CIVILIZATION

iGovernment » Governance Bihar's flood of fury: End of Kosi civilisation?

The quantum of the severity of this flood of fury is yet to completely seep in. Most of the areas under Kosi's new, course may now never resurface

Published on 8/29/2008 7:52:54 PM

By Om Prakash Yadav

Over one lakh people in 102 relief camps, about 2.5 lakh houses destroyed, crops in 1.06 lakh hectare wiped off, and while the government claims it has so far evacuated nearly three lakh people, the total number of population affected has swelled to 1.2 crore.

This is day thirteen of the catastrophe that hit Bihar on August 18. And while relief measures and funds have started flowing in, it seems the quantum of the severity of this flood of fury is yet to completely seep in, even though the overflowing Kosi—the sorrow of Bihar—has been sinking most of the human habitat that has come on the way of its new, changed course.

A close look at the history of this North Bihar river, and one realises that the worst is yet not over.

According to experts and the data of rainfall and water discharged from the Bhimnagar Kosi barrage every year, an additional 2.1 lakh cusecs of water is likely to flood in from Nepal between September and October.

And what does that mean? Experts suggest that it is just the beginning of the problem, for one, the changed course of the river has swallowed millions of hectares of land and which are hardly going to resurface even after the water recedes. 

Two, these inundated areas are technically in the river bed, thereby completely uprooting those living in these areas—not to talk about the loss of agriculture land, houses, livestock, ponds, wells and above all their dreams.

Three, the devastation of this magnitude is unheard in modern civilisation, with the entire Kosi civilisation on the verge of eclipse.

The genesis of disaster

Like many other rivers of North Bihar, Kosi gathers water from Himalayas in Nepal. However, it is a trans-boundary river and flows between Nepal and India.

Kosi is also one of the largest tributaries of Ganga and after flowing through nearly 70,000 sq kilometres confluences into Ganga near Kursaila in Katihar district of Bihar.

In Nepal, this river lies to the west of Himalayan peak, the Kanchanjangha and has seven major tributaries namely Sun Kosi, Tama Kosi, Dhudh Kosi, Indravati, Likhu, Arun and Tamar. That is why it is known as 'Sapta Kosi' in Nepal.

This river has earned notoriety since time immemorial due to its unruly, turbulent and unpredictable behaviour.

On an average, it carries 70-80 million tons of silt every year and it is perhaps due to this feature, it tends to change its course after a definite period of time. This is also one of the most important differences between Himalayan rivers and rivers of Europe or America.

Many experts are therefore, of the opinion that viability of high dams on any Himalayan river is very bleak, because the heavy siltation makes barrages useless after a period of time.

Kosi has an average discharge of 55,000 cusecs of water that increases by as much as twenty times during the monsoon or flood season, thereby assuming dangerous proportions.

The speed and velocity of the river's flow is also very high, causing devastation that is most often unthinkable. As the river is relatively new, experts suggest that it has not matured enough to settle a definite course.

Mapping the old course

The first attempt to map the meandering of this swift, fast and turbulent river was made by British surveyor C C English way back 1779.

According to district gazetteer of Saharsa, he tracked the course of Kosi since 1731 and the maps prepared by him suggest that the 18th century Kosi that flowed near Purnea moved westwards in the ensuing 300 years—shifting its course from from Purnea to Supaul.

On the basis of this inference, it is being said that the Kosi has come back to its 18th century course. According experts, the river that had shifted 120 kilometres from east to west in over 250 years has suddenly again reversed its course.

Kosi, Floods and Devastation

Kosi and floods in Bihar have inseparable history, with the river being responsible for some of the most devastating floods caused in the state—from the one in 1954 to those in 1963, 1971, 1984, 1987, 1991, 1995 and the present flood in 2008.

According to the records available with Water Resources Department (WRD), overall 850,000 cusecs of water was discharged from the river during the 1954 flood. It was under these unprecedented circumstances that the Government of India (GoI) decided to look for a long lasting solution to the problem.

The initiative to tame this mighty and uproarious river saw India sign the historic 'Kosi Agreement' with Nepal on April 25, 1954. While Gulzari Lal Nanda signed the agreement on behalf of the GOI, Nepal was represented by Bir Shumeshwar.

The agreement envisaged setting up of a barrage by GOI. The barrage was to be located about eight miles upstream of Hanuman Nagar town; the barrage was built at Bhimnagar and it took over seven years (1956-63) to complete the work.

The terms and conditions of the agreement, however, stipulated that India would be responsible for any the repair and maintenance of the barrage. The Government of Nepal also handed over the project area land was on lease for 193 years.

Other than the barrage, a 39 Kilometre long embankment from barrage site to Chatra in Nepal was also built to 'jacket' and tame the turbulence of this river. The 'jacketing' directed the flow of the river to the barrage and swift and fast Kosi was brought to control to a great extent.

Spurs—a diagonal structure to check the speed of current and protect embankment—were also constructed along the eastward embankment to prevent the erosion or breach in embankment.

The August 18 Breach

While the jacketing of this river upstream barrage did prove successful in guiding and controlling the direction of the flow over the last 45 years, it was also moving towards becoming disastrous because of heavy siltation.

As this river carries heavy silt with it, in due course of time the bed of the river rose above the field itself and this, in fact, has been the typical reason of flood every year in this area.

Unfortunately enough, while all previous floods in Kosi always happened due to breach in embankments downstream the barrage, the present flood has been caused due to breach in the embankment near Kusaha which is located upstream the barrage.

According to reports available with sections of media, the signs of breach in this eastward upstream embankment were perceptible in the very first week of August itself. 

The current started eroding and damaging the embankment between 12.10 and 12.90 kilometres. The officials of WRD say that the law and order situation in Nepal has under gone a change and they were not getting required amount of co-operation from the Nepalese authorities.

They justified their alleged inaction by saying that when the team of engineers visited the site at Kusaha, they were not allowed to work and were forced to flee from the site.

Gradually, the spurs near Kusaha also got damaged and finally breached on August 18, 2008 at 12.80 kilometre point. This site was about 12 kilometres away from the barrage, therefore within few hours waters flowed into the Indian territory.

With the river flowing in full swing, the surging water took no time in widening the breach by up to two kilometres the same day. With the water gushing out through the breach, the situation had worsened and within 24 hours the entire Kosi barrage was almost empty.

Although engineers tried to lessen the damage and control the discharge of water through the breach by opening 54 out of 56 sluice gates of the barrage, the current had by that time adopted a different course, making the attempt to prevent the disaster futile.

The roaring Kosi took eastward course from here and entered into Bihar through Birpur. Within hours, the water inundated Birpur, Belwa Bazar (native village of former Chief Minister Dr Jagarnath Mishra), Chatarpur, Pratapganj, Raghopur and Triveniganj of Supaul district.

The surging water moved further east southwards and engulfed areas like Farbisganj and Narpatganj of Araria district. The direction of the flow was such, that its entry into Purnea district was easily forecasted. This was exactly the route that Kosi had been flowing through in the 18th century.

As the river found no natural course in east-south downward direction, it got divided into many branches and entered into different areas inundating and marooning them.

Within a week, the water inundated Narpatganj, Ghurna, Bela, Basmatia and Bhargama Blocks of Araria District, Pratapganj, Udhampur, Raghopur, Triveniganj and Chatarpur of Supaul district. Some areas of Kisanganj district were also affected.

District like Madhepura also came in the way of this river. Firstly Kumarkhand, Udakisanganj, Bihariganj, Alamnagar, Murliganj, Purni, Gwalpara, Singheshwarsthan and Sankerpur blocks of Madhepura got badly affected and people got trapped in the flood.

On August 27, flood water entered the Madhepura town itself.

Situation in these areas are fast deteriorating and condition is becoming precarious. While official figure indicates nearly 50 causalities so far, unconfirmed sources suggest that the number of deaths would be much more than what anybody would guess.

In Purnea district, blocks like Bikothi, Banmankhi, Rupauli, Dhamdaha and Amaur are either partially or totally affected by this catastrophe.

While moving east west downward direction, areas like Sonbarsha, Sourbazar, Pataghat, Banganwan and Simribakhtiarpur of Saharsha district also witnessed the fury of flood. People have lost lives, properties, homes and perhaps everything.

Kosi confluences into Ganga near Kursaila in Katihar district, therefore red alert have also been sounded to evacuate areas like Kursaila, Barari and Korha. Sources suggest that water can enter these any moment now and cause further destruction.

Magnitude of the problem

With over 20 blocks of six districts in the state badly in the grip of the ferocious flowing Kosi water, the magnitude of problem is not difficult to estimate. About 15 lakh people are trapped in different places, and there is an urgent need to evacuate them, or else the state might lose them forever.

Even if all such persons are rescued, huge numbers of relief camps are required to be set up. A rough calculation of the displaced based on the number of blocks and villages affected suggest that the state government would need to chalk out plans for rehabilitating over 1.2 crore affected population.

Rescuing the marooned population, providing relief and arranging rehabilitation is a herculean job, because almost entire infrastructure has been destroyed. Worse, the state government has neither the manpower nor the resources to meet this unprecedented situation.

The immediate question, however, is to find out enough space to set up relief camps and make arrangements for the basic needs, including adequate food, for supporting over 15 lakh people.

Carrying the entire population and shifting them to distant and safer places has never been an easy task, not to talk about running the relief camps on such a large scale and for a long time; experts in WRD suggest that the situation is likely to remain unaltered till October.

And while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has declared it as a national calamity and aids have been flowing in—from Rs 1,000-crore package central government assistance to free rail services and relief material being supplied by the Indian Railways and financial assistance announced by the governments of Maharashtra, Delhi, the United State, Britain and Unicef—the distribution of the relief on such large scale is a huge challenge in itself.

The changed course of the river has swallowed millions of hectares of land that are hardly going to resurface even after the water recedes, posing a massive challenge of shifting and rehabilitating a huge population.

It is not hard to guess the cost of this rehabilitation programme, both in terms of money and time. And while experts say that it would be possible to bring back Kosi to its original course, what if they fail to reverse the situation?

While the failure to do so will mean that there would be sand dunes everywhere in the old course, it also means that the state and its people will permanently lose their properties, fertile lands, infrastructure, and all.

This also means that unless the situation is handled with precision care of a surgeon doing an open heart surgery, Bihar will witness a pre-1963 like situation when the Kosi belt was known for drought and famine.

The impact of this catastrophe is also manifold—the pace of development of Bihar is certainly going to come to a grinding halt, or may even get reversed.

Many would agree that history is going to repeat itself. The irony is that the international community is sitting quite and except for few announcements there has been no initiative as such to help the nation and the state tide over the disaster that is fast turning severe than the recent Tsunami.

The magnitude of devastation and destruction is such that no government will be able to tackle it single handedly. The job is enormous and response so far has been cold.

This is the time to fight back; Bihar is looking for help from all corners, all agencies and many nations. And while Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the entire state machinery are struggling hard, so are the denizens of entire North Bihar.

Let helping hands come out and take Bihar out of this 'national calamity'.

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Post Comments Total Comments: 38 

Posted By P K Jha on 9/1/2008 5:03:50 PM 

Thanks a lot for such clear and to the point description. 

It is unfortunate to see few and lukewarm response to a huge catastrophe. It seems influential only get attention. Had there been industry and influential people with union etc. it would have attracted many fold response. 

Who cares (only few humane) for the poor lot? 

See how Orissa got support or for that matter Bhuj Earthquake. 

Still the large mouthed politicians are trying to gain millage only over the dead bodies and hungry, ill clothed affected. 

Thanks again for the call. 

Regards 

P K Jha 

Posted By Vikas Vaibhav on 9/1/2008 10:45:56 PM 

History always Repeats, and what we have to do is to learn from it and make sure that good things which happened in past happen again and again and at the same take precautions to never let the disasters repeat themselves. But it seems that some people never learn. We knew that if this river has shows its real self then something like this is sure to happen, but still we are not able to take precautions and steps in maintaining the barrage at Bhimnagar. But it seems that we are good only at finding the reasons after the damage is done. 

The ignorance of the government and taking the issue of maintaining the barrage in its condition lightly is finally costing us the life of crores of people. 

Well! what can i say, the damage is done and u say that the worst is still to come.what can be worst than this, is it going to wipe out the entire state. Keeping in mind the past history of the state and how it was moving ahead in the direction of development. This event seems to break the backbone of Bihar. 

If stopping this plague needs a hand of a surgeon, then i really wish to God to send one. Otherwise i really don't know how Bihar is going to recover from this loss. But still whatever may be the situation, no matter how worst it becomes we can not leave each others hand. 

I only wish to God that soon the authorized people can figure out a solution to stop this demon and stop this social slaughter. 

Posted By Sanjay Kumar on 9/2/2008 12:20:28 PM 

Outstanding article, gives clear picture of the magnitude. The write deserves credit of making this report exclusive and eye opener. The Kosi so far was a myth for me. Thanks I could understand the history and geography of it. 

Sanjay Kr, Hajipur 

Posted By Gajendra Kr Singh on 9/2/2008 12:29:02 PM 

Simply excellent and mind opener. The writer has successfully delineated the picture of the flood. He has given the history, hitherto unrevealed. He has successfully portrayed the picture in the aftermath of the flood 

Gajju 

Posted By A.K.Chandra on 9/2/2008 2:07:23 PM 

The writer has given the picture no newspaper was able to do it. He has rightly said that Bihar's development is going to be badly affected. The top level bureaucracy has be fooled Nitish Kr. IAS officers are unwilling to go to the affected area and they are doing only lip service. The writer has an indepth understanding of the problem. 

A K Chandra 

Posted By Aradhana Dutta on 9/4/2008 10:05:09 AM 

An eye opener for all readers. This article is really outstanding. I couldn't have got a better perspective about the cause for the present flood situation and demography of the problem. 

The havoc caused is immense but more unfortunate thing is the problem could have been avoided, its high time that we don't take Nature for granted. 

Aradhana 

Posted By Dr Birendra, IAS on 9/7/2008 12:54:32 PM 

The writer has given both historical and geographical picture hitherto untouched in media. The picture attached clears the concept very vividly. The web should publish such reports instead of publishing stereotype news and rhetoric. 

Birendra 

Posted By R. Ashok Kumar on 9/20/2008 12:59:10 PM 

It is interesting that the Eastern Embankment breach started on the 6th of August 2008. On the 5th of August 2008 a 6 MM quake occurred near the 12th May Sichuan quake: 

2008,08,05,094917.26, Latitude32.76, Longitude105.49,6.0MM 6km depth. 

And on the 25th of August 2008 a 6.8 MM quake occurred at Western Xizang. This was the last straw. 

See http://damsquakeskosirivershifts.blogspot.com 

This article shows the genesis of the catastrophe lies in quakes caused by dams on the Indian subcontinent. 

Posted By Colonel Mithilesh singh on 9/21/2008 11:04:52 AM 

I hail from Madhepura and I can understand the woes and sufferings of the victims. The writer has rightly described the picture. The real problem will start when the water recedes. The Kosi area is going to witness pre-1963 like situation. It requires massive investment and intense monitoring. 

Mithilesh 

Posted By Colonel Mithilesh Singh on 9/21/2008 3:53:15 PM 

The writer has very intelligently described the woes of the flood. The state govt must learn a lesson and do the needful 

mithilesh 

Posted By Rohit Ranjan on 9/22/2008 11:16:02 AM 

The writer has rightly projected the magnitude of the problem. The govt must act and search long lasting solutions instead of a cosmetic surgery. 

The construction of high dam is not the solution. It is surprising why the de-silting has not been done. 

Posted By Vimal Kr on 9/22/2008 12:10:20 PM 

Let the river be de-silted first before constructing high dams. The politics of flood relief should stop and real work should begin. 

Posted By N. Sinha on 9/22/2008 1:28:53 PM 

The writer has very minutely and geographically described the course of Kosi. It is a balanced and well contained article. The govt should take into account the valuable suggestion extended by the writer. 

N.Sinha 

Posted By R.K Verma on 9/22/2008 6:59:51 PM 

The writer has rightly said that the need has come to reconsider the viability of dams. 

Posted By Mantu on 9/22/2008 7:34:32 PM 

I hail from Madhepura. The writer has rightly said that the entire region will face pre-1963 like situation. The officials responsible should be punished. Nitish Kumar is good man but he should come out of the clutch of IAS coterie. IAS people are ruining this state. They have destroyed RJD and they would destroy NDA also. 

Posted By Murari Pd. Singh on 9/23/2008 11:43:55 AM 

Google is very helpful in searching good articles on various issues. I was trying to understand this flood from geographical and social points of view. Several articles, I read, most of them political. This article has solved my problem. Now I could understand the technicality of the problem. everyone cries dam and dam, no one talks about desilting of the rivers. Thanks google and iGovernment for this beautiful article 

Posted By Ajay on 9/23/2008 12:33:39 PM 

The writer is requested to give a complete write up regarding rehabilitation. what should be done to bring back the areas to track. It seems that the writer has a deep knowledge about it he should share it with all. 

Posted By Riya Alias Swetlana on 9/23/2008 2:51:49 PM 

This is my papa's article and therefore I read it with much interest. Before this I could understand flood only through News channels. Now I understand it in a better way. Thanks to Papa 

Posted By Sapan Roy on 9/23/2008 3:06:50 PM 

Its an excellent article and the writer has described the intricacy of the problem in a lucid way. The magnitude of the problem is such that only govt cannot help it out.

Sapan, Patna 

Posted By Vivek on 9/28/2008 10:58:26 AM 

Such a devastation and so cool response from National media? This is not a flood it is a catastrophe. Bihar should be helped out of this tragedy. Unfortunate for this state. Nitish is doing hard. Politics should stop and rehabilitation and reconstruction should begin. 

Posted By Adarsh Bhardwaj on 10/6/2008 11:51:18 AM 

Finally there is an article that explains the clear story of Kosi's disasters. The immediate question, however, is to find out enough space to set up relief camps and make arrangements for the basic needs, including adequate food, for supporting over 15 lakh people. 

Posted By Amit on 10/6/2008 12:02:22 PM 

Its a really a good article that I have read in recent times on this problem.

Posted By Neeradhi on 10/6/2008 1:55:47 PM 

The article is really informative. Hope the politicians stop trying to gain political mileage out of the saddening situation and really do something for the suffering people. 

I hope we behave like responsible citizens and genuinely help our country mates. 

Posted By Kulkiran Preet on 10/6/2008 2:44:26 PM 

Really touching . Bihar should be helped to recover from such tragedy.Govt shouldn't sit quie. 

Posted By Nitin Bhardwaj on 10/6/2008 2:54:01 PM 

Never did I realise that the problem was so grave till I read this article. Good article to know the exact nature of problem. The Indian government should take this problem on high priority and seriously do something to put the river on right course or at least find some solution to construct a dam which can control the water of the river. 

The eminent and powerful personalities should also come forward to draw the attention to this problem. 

Nevertheless, the financial aid should continue so that the flood-hit people can fulfill their basic necessities. 

And I'll also like to know that how the posting of replies to this article only, is going to help Bihar?

Posted By Vishal Verma on 10/6/2008 3:07:43 PM 

The author has provided an in-depth detail of the Kosi Problem. In reality, it shakes all our claims of being competent with so called Super Powers. I think our government should take some corrective actions so that these kind of disasters do not happen again. Its time to do action action and action. 

Posted By Shekhar Verma on 10/6/2008 3:35:57 PM 

A comprehensive description of the disaster and its reasons.... Unfortunately there is no channel in our so called democratic country where common man can give its opinion and make them work for us ... however, with this posting we can at least make people aware of the things....Thanks to the writer ... 

Posted By Rahul Agarwal on 10/6/2008 4:07:42 PM 

The article gives the real picture of how the drastic catastrophe has ruined the lives of lakh of people in North Bihar. Unfortunately the governance is not paying the required attention. 

This is not just about what has happened, it's a warning for us on what could happen if appropriate measures are not taken in time. 

Such researched articles are required to make people aware of the reality which they don't get to know through media. Worth reading and giving a thought!! 

Posted By Shashank Arun Sinha on 10/6/2008 4:42:10 PM 

Excellent article. It's really first time I got to know the true picture. Till now I was only dependent on the information from TV news channels. It is really a great effort to draw the real picture of the tragedy. The govt should take into account the valuable suggestions given here by the writer. Please don't take the nature for granted. 

Posted By Rahul Deb Mukherji on 10/6/2008 5:42:08 PM 

Real eye opener.Very nice article. 

Posted By Gyanendra Kumar Gupta on 10/6/2008 8:09:30 PM 

Nice article. Shows the depth and knowledge of author. 

Posted By Anil Thatipalli on 10/6/2008 8:21:00 PM 

Nice article. 

Posted By Khushboo on 10/6/2008 9:27:06 PM 

This is a brilliantly written article that gives a full coverage of causes and effects. The writer has precisely pointed out the facts and figures in the article, which is an eye opener for many. 

Posted By Tuhina Dubey on 10/6/2008 10:08:23 PM 

This is truly an eye opener ... The problem needs to be addressed in a much bigger forum. 

Posted By Mitali Lalwani on 10/7/2008 11:38:08 AM 

An eye-opener for the Government ...but seems its still sleeping and innocent people are suffering due to the delay of the permanent cure of this.

BIHAR VIGILANCE; ACTIVE BUT SUBJECTIVE; BIG FISHES ENJOY BUT SMALL ARE FRIED

iGovernment » Issues Bihar Vigilance Department active but subjective

Vigilance sleuths in the state are trapping corrupt government officials with renewed vigour but 'big fishes' are still far away from its grip

Published on 10/21/2008 2:44:10 PM

By Sarita Yadav

Patna: In a fresh drive against corruption the state vigilance sleuths arrested six government employees from different offices across the state.

A sub inspector of police posted at Doriganj police station in Saran district was nabbed while taking Rs 1,000 from a retired army personnel for giving a passport verification report.

In another trap, the vigilance team arrested two assistants and a peon of district treasury office in Saran.

In Begusari district, one head clerk of revenue block was arrested when he was accepting Rs 30,000 as bribe for a mutation. With these arrests, while the total number of arrests by the state vigilance department has gone up to 66 this year, the total number of traps and arrests has swelled to 233.

The vigilance wing laid 108 traps in 2007 and arrested 126 officials.Raid was conducted at the residence of former Bihar Director General of Police Narayan Mishra, but he was not arrested.

It speaks volumes about the subjective mode of working of the department. In fact, the bureau has failed to nab any police official above the rank of sub-inspector of police till date.

Reports suggested that maximum number of complaints lodged in Janata Darbar of the Chief Minister were of corruption in the Police Department. However, the working of the vigilance department has also come in for some sharp criticism from different sectors including the judiciary.

While giving a clean chit to the then Madhepura District Magistrate HC Jha, the court had reprimanded the bureau for the manner and the circumstances in which the officer was arrested.

Jha was arrested while he was carrying Rs one lakh in his official vehicle on way to attend an official meeting at Patna.

The anti-corruption crackdown was carried out by two wings of the vigilance department—State Vigilance Bureau (SVB) and Special Vigilance Unit (SVU).

The SVC was constituted on the lines of the Central Vigilance Commission last year and the SVU comprised retired officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Out of five cases so far registered against senior officers including IAS and IPS officers, two of them have been retired unscathed. The SVU failed to arrest the officer and no charge sheet could be prepared and filed against them.

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Post Comments Total Comments: 3 

Posted By Rohit Ranjan on 10/21/2008 3:53:25 PM 

It is interesting to learn that not even a police officer above sub inspector has been nabbed by the bureau so far. Is is possible that no officer above sub-inspector are corrupt? IAS and IPS officers are amassing huge wealth here, but none of them have been booked. Nitsh should think over it. Taking bribe is crime. While people have been arrested with one hundred rupees, those who have been found with crore have not even been arrested. It is shocking. 

Posted By Murari Pd. Singh on 10/30/2008 2:26:19 PM 

Vigilance bureau is doing eye wash rather than any thing else. No police officer above the rank of sub inspector has yet been arrested. They are targeting small fishes. IPS and IAS in Bihar have been minting money, every one know but no action has been taken so far. Police deptt has been most corrupt but no senior officer has been arrested. They are befooling CM Nitish Kr and patting own back on trivial matters. Arresting peons, clerks, BDO engg etc are not going to remove corruption, IAS IPS has to be booked. 

Posted By M Gopal on 11/2/2008 2:35:37 PM 

Vigilance sleuths are be fooling Nitish Kr. Peons, clerk and lower functionaries are not the main culprits. Why are IAS, IPS, Ministers and Judges not being caught?

SINGUR SYNDROME; LESSONS TO LEARN

Tatas' failed efforts for acquiring land at Singur in West Bengal for its car project is a lesson for policy makers of the country

Published on 10/7/2008 7:06:40 PM

By Sarita Yadav

The dictum that there is a little bit of politics in every economics has once again been vividly projected in Tatas' efforts for acquiring land at Singur in West Bengal.

Who is the loser and who the gainer in the exercise is another chapter for discussion but it has triggered a fresh debate on land acquisition processes and rehabilitation issues across the country.

Tatas are one of those corporate houses in the country who have a reputation for returning more to the society than taking from it. Then, what went wrong in Singur with this business group? 

Many believe that it is the beginning of second deindustrialisation of Bengal; the first happened in the colonial period. Nonetheless, it is too simple a proposition to believe that it is only Mamata or Budhadeb or for that matter Ratan Tata, who is responsible to this sad and unceremonious exit of India's one of the biggest industrial houses from the state.

The story began when this dream project of Ratan Tata of manufacturing a 'lakhtakia car' choose Singur, a small block town in Hooghly district, situated about 50 km North-West of Kolkata on the National Highways-2, as the suitable site for this venture.

It required about one thousand acres of land, which the West Bengal government readily agreed to make available. The land acquisition process began in 2006 and required area of land was acquired.

We all know that the lands in our country are acquired through a law named Land Acquisition Act, 1894, last amended in 1984. This is a colonial law and speaks about acquisition of land for 'public purpose' even without the consent of the tillers or land owners. In fact Section 4 of the Act categorically mentions about the manner in which the lands would be acquired.

About 997.11 acres of land for this project was acquired, which involved about 8,890 farmers. Tata began the construction in January, 2007, when the problem started. Initially, it was confined to the locals who were opposing this acquisition under one 'Bhumi Uchhed Committee' banner. 

The inept handling of the situation by the Government and subsequent intermingling of communist cadre further deteriorated the situation. Gradually, this movement started gaining momentum and turned violent leaving many people dead and several injured. 

Some eye witnesses are of the opinion that this was the worst kind of violence the communist state has ever witnessed. Ultimately, the movement caught political overtones.

The entry of Mamata Banerjee into the movement metamorphosed it into a full-fledged political agitation. The issue by now had turned to be an issue of two political person's individual rivalry, therefore; in spite of Governor's personal intervention, the matter could not be settled. 

Mamata made the demand of restoring 400 acres of land to the farmers as it was kept for ancillary industries and there was no construction proposed over this land for the plant. This was the demand, Tata was unable to accept and thus the road was paved for the final exit of Tata from Singur.

The questions remained unanswered are: who is responsible for this fiasco and could it have been averted? Why are such problems occurring so frequently? 

Such protests leading to change in decision of industrial houses have taken place in Jharkhand, Orissa, Karnataka, Nandigram (WB) and many such places.

Farmers have violently protested in Noida and Karnataka also, which resulted in police firing leaving some farmers dead.

Is it not oversimplification and extreme generalisation of the fact that these movements are politically motivated? Is it not administratively wrong to squarely and blame Mamata for this fiasco?

It appears that one has to peep into the entire gamut of issue and find the real and root cause of the problem, otherwise the dream of industrialisation would face rough weather not only in West Bengal but also in other states.

The Reason Theories

Some people are of the opinion that the Communist Cadres have had been in possession of many lands illegally. They did not have legal documents and therefore were not likely to get compensation for the acquired lands, because compensation, according to the law, would be paid to those who posses legal and valid documents. Is it is therefore they, who started the problem?

Another group of experts are of the opinion that the rate of compensation and 'solacium' money being paid here are perhaps the lowest in the country and that is why the farmers were unwilling to give their lands to the Government.

According to information available, the amount of compensation being paid to those displaced in Singur was Rs 8.40 lakh per acre for single crop land and Rs 12 lakh per acre for double crop land.

As Singur is located on the National High way and that too, only 40 km from the state capital, the amount fixed for compensation was definitely less than the actual market price.

Actually, the price of compensation is fixed as per 'market value' which is calculated according to price of the land registration. But the problem is that the value shown in such registration is always very less as compared to the real price. 

This calculation is done as per the provisions of this Land Acquisition Act and therefore Collectors do not have discretion in enhancing this rate. Of course, there are ways for the government to do away with this discrepancy by way of framing policies.

R&R Policy

In Bihar for instance, one 'Bihar Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy, 2007' has been framed and the amount of compensation to be paid to the land owner has been considerably hiked.

The provisions have been made to add flat 50 per cent amount to the rate fixed by the collector. The existing rate of 30 per cent Solacium money has also been doubled. The policy also seeks to provide compensation for other losses like structures, trees and ponds which are there on the acquired land.

Thus, the amount of compensation has been increased many folds. This is the reason perhaps, why Bihar is facing no problem in land acquisition processes.

Jharkhand has also framed its Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Policy, 2008. But the amount of compensation and solacium money has not been hiked like those of Bihar.

No wonder then, the state is also facing similar problems in land acquisition process. 

So far as Singur is concerned, there were communication gaps also between the owners and tillers on the hand and Tata on the other. The company left the state government to deal exclusively with the land owners and kept itself away from the process.

It appears that the real problem lie here itself. In fact, as per the counter-affidavit filed by the Government in the Kolkata High court in one Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against this acquisition, these lands were being acquired for West Bengal Industrial development corporation (WBIDC) and later the WBIDC was supposed to lease out these lands to Tata.

Therefore; naturally the company did not like to play a pro-active role vis-a-vis the land acquisition and its transfer to it. This communication gap later boomeranged and snowballed into the large scale anti-land acquisition agitation.

Apart from land owners, there were two other groups namely sharecroppers and agricultural labours. They thought that well, the land owners would get compensation, but what would they get? In absence of a transparent dialogue, this apprehension could not be addressed properly and timely, which added fuel to fire.

Role of NGOs

One more reason which deserves attention is the role of the so called non–governmental organisations (NGOs). One should think over the situation that how and why suddenly so called NGOs appear in far flung areas. Is it not a matter of interest that how and who did sustain the months long agitation in Singur? Who financed the supply lines? 

Who are they that catered to every needs of agitation and thrive it for so long periods? In some quarters, there is a perception that perhaps business rivalry played a vital role in it. 

Well, no body, right now, have any evidence in favour of it. But the possibility of such nexus cannot be flatly ruled out. The Government must probe into it, because most of them are proving to be a major hurdle in the progress of the nation. 

Trust Vs Mistrust

In India, for instance the mistrust and suspicion on part of the farmers are not unfounded. Have we made them stakeholders in the development processes? Have not we created oasis in the deserts?

A quick round in some of the areas surrounding of Bokaro Steel factory, BCCL at Dhanbad in Jharkhand, and one can see that the farmers and land tillers, whose lands have been acquired four decades ago, are still displaced. 

Besides, the kind of experience that these farmers go through during the process of land acquisitions is also, most of times horrible. They have to run from pillar to post for the money to be paid in lieu of their own lands. These experiences and hardships have made the farmers and tillers alien, if not hostile, towards the entire process of land acquisition. 

But unfortunately, efforts that are being made are not farmer centric. Only cosmetic efforts are being made and jargons are used in government policy papers. 

The government is sitting over the Land Acquisition Bill, 2007 over more than a year. Let this Bill be circulated amongst the stakeholders and amend it suitably. The problem with such legislation is that, the language used therein, is so complicated and jargonised, that a common person fails to understand it and could not participate in it. 

In a nut shell, we can say that unless all the stakeholders and specially the farmers, tillers and sharecroppers are made coalition partners, such problems are likely to come up with more intense magnitude.

Taking into account all above mentioned issues, the government has to reorient its approach with regard to land acquisition process. One can take examples of other nations also. 

In Vietnam for instance, the process of land acquisition is not done without taking into confidence the land owners. The Doi Moi Policy which is based on a coalition of land owners-entrepreneur-government is the corner stone of Vietnam's success.

This policy has been working very successfully and smoothly for many years and has changed the socio-economic and industrial face of this war strife torn nation. 

The Land Acquisition Act of Thailand is another success story. The land pooling and land re-adjustment policy of this country has five basics viz community organisation, land sharing agreement, densification-re housing, reconstruction and capital investment.

This policy has changed the civic life of this country to such an extent that almost all the slums have been metamorphosed into well planned cities. They have set up millions of industries without causing much pain to the population. 

We can do it here also, but what we require is a strong political will and vision. 

China is another magnificent example of transformation. Den Xiao Peng had launched one Town and Village Enterprise (TVE) movement in 70s with the help of Land Administration Law. This movement changed not only the settlement pattern but also the industrial milieu. 

The Land Acquisition Act, 1966 of Singapore has the same type of philosophy in which thrust is on the wilful coalition of all the stakeholders.

Similarly, the Constitution(1988) of Brazil, Expropriation Law 1936 of Mexico, Expropriation Act 1975 of South Africa, Constitution of USA (5th Amendment) and Town and Country Development Act, 1990 of UK have similar provisions which are based on the coalition of all the three stakeholder viz State, Entrepreneurs and Land owners.

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Post Comments Total Comments: 10 

Posted By Murari Pd. Singh on 10/7/2008 9:17:15 PM 

Excellent article and the writer has given some points which hitherto are untouched by all other writers. almost all writer has written on political angle but this article has for the first time touched upon the real and core issue, the issue of compensation. The simplest thing is that if good price and alternate livelihood are offered, there is no point why this type problem would occur. 

Posted By Mantu on 10/8/2008 5:45:16 PM 

This time again happiness of common people sacrificed at the alter of the politicians bigotry and obstinacy. Why such irresponsible lady is being tolerated by innocent people of Singur. This incident will push Mamata in corner of politics. She will have to pay a price for this. 

Posted By Gajendra Kr Singh on 10/8/2008 8:14:33 PM 

Singur symbolises failure of communist ideology and its being gradually obsolete. the time has come to re-orient the approach of not only govt but also of common people, because after all it the commoners who are to suffer. 

Posted By Maneesh Ranjan on 10/9/2008 6:12:15 PM 

The writer has rightly said that the big fire starts with a small sparks. Both Tata and Budhadeb failed to understnad it. The rate of compensation was the single most important reason. Later all politicians and NGOs added fuel to fire and whole dream of Bengal burnt to ashes. 

Posted By Danish Ansari on 10/10/2008 2:45:03 PM 

I guess that a great take on the "Burning Issue" that led to cacophony & multiple deprivation of lives/Good Health. The article raises a critical issue of Land Acquisition right that do need to be reformed. Lets not 

still live with the forlorn Collonial Laws. 

Its time We need a paradigm shift for the primordial law that Exist in 20th Century. 

3 Cheers..... to such a take on the Issue. 

Posted By Nitin Bhardwaj on 10/10/2008 4:48:33 PM 

Nice article !! Actually the main point highlighted in this article has gone unnoticed in Land Acquisition Act. The landowners should be definitely taken into confidence before acquiring their land even for public purpose. They should be compensated in accordance with prevailing market rates in advance so that this land transition should go off smoothly. Also the productive agricultural land should not be wasted and unproductive land should be given for setting up the factories etc. 

Posted By Shridhar Kumar on 10/11/2008 9:41:18 AM 

An excellent article and work out to address the bottom line problem of after Independence and after 50 years of independence we are unable to solve it : LAND REFORMS and LAND LAWS. 

This problem of SINGUR has exposed many faces and raised many questions. 

One point must be clear in every mind that whether we have “TATA in SINGUR” or not it will not change the economy of the state or the country over night. 

What we need ? 

A Honest Start and Initiative. 

We must accept that as a state WB and as a Nation all fail to deliver after the 50 Years of Independence. 

What Nation Like China, Japan, Brazil, Thailand, Vietnam had done Two or Three decades back WE are NOT ready to learn. 

Exposed : 

1. Our land reforms and Land acquisition laws 

2. Political will and Interest 

3. Land laws status in a State after the two decades rules of Communist party 

4. Role of common man 

5. Role and Understanding of Intelligentsia (not only in WB all over the country) 

6. Nationalist and Political Parties on the issue of Development. 

7. Understanding the common man’s problems by Social Worker, Intelligentsia and Administration and Method of Handling these problems 

Question : 

1. Are we ready to Learn from SINGUR ?

2. Who will analyze the problem of SINGUR ? 

3. What will be the Parameters ? 

4. Will we able to Identify the responsible behind this failure ? 

5. Are National Interest of Different Political Parties are different ? 

6. Why we are unable to frame a Uniform Law for Land Reforms ? 

7. Are existing Law working ? Are these Law’s only paper lion ? 

8. Why this problem not found in GURGAON (HARYANA) ? How Farmers are happy and ready to accept the changes ? 

9. Did we ever try to make the farmers a Share Holder in the Profit of Future? 

Posted By Sanjay Kumar on 10/11/2008 10:38:42 AM 

Land acquisition process is boomeranging everywhere but govt is sitting over the bill. The problem is the the law framers do not have the first hand experience of problems. IAS sits in AC rooms and frame laws so they fail. 

Posted By Raj Sinha on 10/13/2008 3:03:59 PM 

Worth Reading!!! 

I would say its a lesson for both policy makers and corporate houses. The land owners should be taken into confidence before acquiring their land. 

Posted By Rahul Gupta on 10/13/2008 3:58:08 PM 

Its very interesting and informative, especially the R&R Policy. 

Good work!!

INQUIRY COMMISSIONS ARE BLACK HOLES IN INDIA

iGovernment » Governance Inquiry Commissions in India are black holes

Nanawti Commission report on the Godhara incident has once again opened the Pandora's Box over logic of setting up Inquiry Commissions in India

Published on 10/3/2008 7:10:07 PM

By Sarita Yadav

Part one of the Nanawti Commission report, probing into the Godhara incident in Gujarat, released last month has once again opened the Pandora's Box over logic of setting up Inquiry Commissions in the country.

The report while giving clean chit to the Narendra Modi Government has supported the theory of conspiracy, leading to a widespread criticism across the country.

Many call it 'eye wash' and other call it 'sponsored report'. Communists have termed it a 'piecemeal' and fabricated report, whereas; National Democratic Alliance (NDA) calls it 'triumph of truth'.

Justice Nanawati report in fact contradicts the UC Banerjee report which also probed the Godhara incident. How a single incident draws two extreme conclusions?

The two reports have raised a very debatable issue. What do judicial commissions, appointed by the various governments to examine issues ranging from riots, scandals and assassinations to inter-state disputes actually achieve?

Critics of commissions say that their recent history has been extremely spotty. Apart from taking inordinately long to deliver reports, they seldom achieve anything.

Keeping apart from such allegations and counter allegations, the issue that has again come to fore is whether an inquiry commission can substitute criminal prosecution?

Do these Commissions serve any purpose? Is it not an eye wash? Are these Commissions able to bring culprits to book? Are not Commissions of inquiry a waste of time and money?

To understand the entire issue, one has to discuss the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 itself. Before this Act came into being, the governments used to order an inquiry by executive notifications under Public Service Inquiry Act, 1850. Sometimes, they used to enact adhoc and temporary legislations too.

To meet the public demand for impartial and judicial inquiries, the Government of India came out with a comprehensive legislation, which resulted into passage of this Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952.

Since its enactment, the constitution of Inquiry Commissions has become a tool for the various governments to subside the public anger.

Since Independence, more than a hundred Inquiry Commissions have been set up, but a very few have served the purpose. And the reasons are obvious. First, the provisions enshrined in this Act are not of deterrent in nature and secondly, most of the time the Commissions are set up under retired Judges for obvious reasons.

Section 4 the Act provides for powers and it is clear that the Commission has no power to compel a person to adduce before it and give evidence. It cannot pass verdicts or judgments which could be enforceable.

The helplessness is such that even if an offence has been committed in view of or in presence of Commission, the Commission needs to forward the case to the Magistrate for trial as provided in Criminal Procedure code.

The appointment of retired Judges, as head of the Commission is very much suitable for the government. It is not merely a chance that one Judge has headed more than one Commission. The public perception is such that these Inquiry Commissions are becoming post retirement placement schemes for the favourite retired Judges.

We have a long list of such Commissions, which have made inordinate delay in submitting their reports. Many of them have taken decades in so called "conducting inquiries" and even then the report which was submitted were so voluminous that we required another committee to find out ways to implement the recommendations.

For example, as many as ten Commissions or committees have so far been set up with regard to the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

First of all it was the Marvah Commission headed by Additional Commissioner of Police Ved Marvah, that was set up in November, 1984.

The Commission was about to finish the assigned task when it was abruptly wounded up in May 1985 and a new Commission headed by Justice Rangnath Misra was constituted. The new Commission was asked to carry out further inquiry hitherto done by the Marvah Commission.

The Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission which was appointed under Section 3 of The Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, was asked to inquire into "allegations" of violence and not to inquire into the "nature" of violence, a departure from the terms of reference of over a dozen other commissions on communal disturbances since Independence.

It is needless to mention that what has happened to reports and how much amount have been spent on these exercises. Has any prominent leader been punished so far? Many persons, against whom leveled charges were being inquired into, have died. Such are the frustrating results of these Commissions and Committees.

As far as time and money aspect of these Commissions are concerned, its enough to look into the expenses of just couple of Commissions to understand the quantum of impact—both in terms of the amount and time spent.

The one that tops the chart is the Liberhan Commission. Set up under retired Justice M S Liberhan on 16 December, 1992 to probe into Babri mosque demolition, the Commission has so far been given more than 41 extensions. Overall the government has already spent Rs 90 million on this single man inquiry Commission, which is yet to come out with its report.

Similarly, Justice B N Kripal Commission of inquiry was set up on 13 July, 1985 to probe into the bombing of the Air India Flight 182 on 23 June, 1985 which led to the crash of this plane into the Atlantic Ocean leaving 329 passengers including crew dead.

The Commission submitted its report after extensive tours of countries like Canada and USA but when the prosecution began, nothing could be proved and none could be punished. The entire 'investigation and inquiry' went in vain. It is needless again, to calculate the amount which was spent on such inquiries.

Phukan Commission was set up to probe the Tehelka expose into fictitious defence deals. Everyone saw the tape on television and the then Government just to avoid immediate legal course, set up this Commission.

In May 2005 the Newsweek reported that Justice Phukan along with his wife and eight officials used IAF plane and went to Pune, Mumbai and Shirdi. The Ministry later said that the Judge was not entitled to use the military plane and it was made available to him by the then government in order to influence the Judge.

Such allegations and incidents definitely erode public faith in such Commissions. The situation is such that every Government in power uses this provision to oblige the retired judges.

In Bihar for example, Justice Amir Das Commission was set up to probe into the alleged connections of political leaders with a banned outfit called Ranveer Sena in 1997.

The Commission was finally wounded up in 2006 as it could hardly do anything except for some tours and recording the statements some leaders in over eight years of its existence.

Similar is the case of Justice Ali Ahmed Commission that was set up to look into excess withdrawal in 1996. In fact, very little is known about the outcome of the Commission, including the recommendations that it submited or the actions taken by it.

Commission under Justice R C P Sinha and Justice Samsul was set up on Bhagalpur communal riot in 1989. Reports were submitted in 1995. But when the new government came to power it set up N N Singh (retired Justice) Commission to investigate the matter again.

In 2008 a Commission under retired judge Sadanand Mukherjee was set up to probe into the Kahalgaon police firing. This commission is still a non starter vis-a-vis investigation of the incidence.

Not to miss the fact that when the recent breach in Kosi embankment that caused a major flood in Bihar led to lot of allegations and counter allegations, the state government was quick to constitute a Commission under Rajesh Walia, again a retired Judge to probe into it.

And while there is no bias against the judiciary or the retired judges, who are a national repository of knowledge as far as judicial matters are concerned, the question needs to be examined is whether a Commission can substitute the country's criminal investigation system.

How can a Judge be better equipped to do forensic test, do scientific investigations than a professionally trained police officer? Has the Commission power to make arrests to the persons likely to tamper evidences?

The answer to these and many such questions has been provided by a two Judge commission itself. Set up by in 1987 to investigate the Fairfax Deal, the Justice Thakkar and Natarajan Commission in its report have said that the Commission of Inquiry Act was "ineffective and toothless". They two, in fact, devoted one full chapter on the inadequacies of this Act.

It is important to note that India has a criminal justice system, which is based on the twin pillars of investigation and dispensation of justice. How can the Judiciary be asked to do the work of investigation, which is the work of the State as enshrined the law of the land?

The Criminal Procedure Code and for that matter entire Criminal Justice System is erected on this principle (Article 50 of Chapter IV on Directive Principles of State Policy) and perhaps it is due to this principle, that the judiciary and executive have been completely separated in 1973, when the Code of Criminal Procedure was amended.

Besides, most of these Commissions, after years of its investigation, usually submit reports that are so voluminous that it again requires some committees to suggest measures to implements the recommendations.

Not to talk about the fact that such reports are not obligatory and mandatory for the government to implement.

It is also worthwhile to mention here that the Judiciary in India is an independent system and that is precisely the reason why Article 220 restricts practise by retired Judges. The idea is that there should not be any scope, whatsoever, of favour or disfavour by the serving Judges.

By appointing the retired Judges in these Commissions or for that matter in any other body tends to clearly violate the spirit of the Constitution itself.

What is more shocking is that instead of modernising and equipping the investigating agencies to probe into such serious issues of national shame, the country has been a mere spectator to the cosmetic make ups.

In India, every one knows about the 'normal' pace of the court proceedings, and so all these commissions, needless to say have virtually become black holes.

—Views expressed in this article are of the author and not those of iGovernment

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Post Comments Total Comments: 9

Posted By Vimal Kr on 10/4/2008 8:58:49 AM

What about the Rajesh Walia commission. Even a man of common intellect understands that the breach was caused due to utter negligence of the govt. then why a commission? Is it not an eye wash? Why only retired Judge. Kahalgaon police firing commission was also set up to save a IAS officer and an IPS officer who are favourite of govt. The writer should mention about these commission also.

Posted By Gajendra Kr Singh on 10/4/2008 11:52:42 AM

What an excellent article on commission of inquiry. It is clearly an eye wash and nothing more than that. These commissions have become post retirement engagements and the govt awards the favorite judges by appointing them in such institutions. It should be stopped. After all institutions are bigger than the individuals.

Posted By Mantu on 10/4/2008 12:13:00 PM

Wonderfull article and an eye opener also. It is shocking that how the public money is being misutilised. It should be stopped or provisions should be made so that it is made mandatory to submit the report on time or else no payment would be made.

Posted By Abhimanyu on 10/4/2008 7:12:35 PM

I went through your article and it was excellent and informative. It is shocking to know that after an elapse of 16 years the liberhan commission has not submitted its report. What a wastage of public money?

Posted By S. Kumar on 10/7/2008 1:09:10 PM

These inquiry commissions are eating up the state's exchequer. It is said the Judge never retires. They have systematically constructed so many institutions for themselves so that they may get post retirement engagements. Press council, NHRC, NMC, tribunals, backward commissions, information commissions, SC ST commissions etc are nothing but post retirement placement bureau. Shut it down or make transparent system of appointment.

Posted By Mantu on 10/7/2008 2:07:01 PM

Is the commission fails to submit its report in time, the pays and perks should not be given. Once they are appointed, they go on getting extensions and continue to enjoy the facilities. It is high of hypocryacy. It should stop. the judges should refrain from doing such things other wise they will loose respect.

Posted By Suresh Kr Intara on 10/7/2008 3:17:06 PM

Very good article and an eye opener also. It is shocking that how the public money is being misutilised. It should be stopped or provisions should be made so that it is made mandatory to submit the report on time or else no payment would be made.

Posted By Sanket on 10/7/2008 7:23:03 PM

Excellent stuff and lots of facts are depicted. Bihar govt should look at these facts and bring them into action. System should be much more transparent to the public.

Posted By Maneesh Ranjan on 10/9/2008 6:16:14 PM

What a shame of our system. It is very shocking to know how the public money is being misutilised? Fix responsibility and say perform or perish. Why crores of cases are lying pending why judges are not disposing them. It easy preaching than done.

SACKING GOVERNMENT EASIER THAN REMOVING A JUDGE IN INIDIA

iGovernment » Governance Sacking govt easier than removing judges in India

Transparency International in its 2007 report said Judiciary in India was the third most corrupt institutions. Recent instances seem proving it

Published on 9/16/2008 3:33:35 PM

By Sarita Yadav

The letter written by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention in initiating impeachment proceedings against a sitting judge of Calcutta High Court, has triggered a debate again regarding corruption in higher judiciary and its impunity.

We have seen removal of governments and Prime Ministers so many times, but removal of High Court and Supreme Court judges has not been so far heard after the Constitution of India came into force in 1950.

Independent India has, however, witnessed one impeachment, when Justice Shiv Prasad Sinha of Allahabad High Court was removed by the then Governor General of India, C Rajagopalachari in 1949 on the recommendation of the Federal Court.

The Chief Justice has given detailed information about Justice Sen's misconduct when he was appointed receiver by Justice AN Roy in Steel Authority of India versus Shipping Corporation of India case in 1993.

The three-Judge panel comprising Madras High Court Chief Justice AP Shah, MP High Court Chief Justice AK Patnaik and Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice RM Lodha inquired into the charges leveled against Justice Sen and found them true. 

The panel submitted its report in February, 2008. On March 16, the Collegiums of the apex court comprising of Chief Justice BN Agarwal and Justice Asok Bhan asked Justice Sen either to resign or to opt for voluntary retirement.

However, with Justice Sen deciding not to comply with either of the two options, the Chief Justice was forced to resort to this unprecedented move.

The move is unprecedented, because neither there is any provision in the constitution about such recommendation nor before this, any Chief Justice has taken such 'extreme step'. 

In fact Article 124(4) of Indian Constitution provides for removal of High Court and Supreme Court Judges. 

The Article says: “A judge of Supreme Court shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the President passed after an address by each House of Parliament supported by a majority of the total number of membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting has been presented to the President in the same session for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.”

There is no separate provision for removal of High Court judges and Article 217(1)(b) provides for this and says, “A judge may be removed from his office by the President in the manner provided in clause(4) of Article 124 for the removal of a judge of the Supreme Court.”

The processes of removal of High Court and Supreme Court judges are the same. The above Article of the Constitution provides for impeachment, whereas; Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 determines the process of impeachment. 

According to this Act, the impeachment of a judge can be done only by Parliament and impeachment can be initiated after a motion addressed to the President of India is signed by at least 100 members of the Lok sabha or 50 members of Rajya Sabha.

Such is the process and such is the impunity. Such Judicial impunity has been conferred on Judiciary for the sake of its independence.

The above provision is similar to the rule prevailing in England, since the Act of Settlement, 1701, to the effect that though judges of the superior courts are appointed by the Crown, they do not hold office during his pleasure, but hold their office on good behaviour and the Crown may remove them based on a joint address from both the Houses of Parliament.

Any way the credit must be given to Chief Justice, who could take such extra-ordinary step, because after all, extra-ordinary situation demands extra-ordinary steps.

But unfortunately, the government was sitting over it as it was written two months ago and could only be known to public through media. 

Before any debate on this issue, it should be clearly borne in mind that above cumbersome procedure of impeachment and other judicial impunities have been enshrined in the Constitution for making Judiciary independent. 

Independence of Judiciary

The independence is guaranteed in our Constitution and the concept has been borrowed from the US Constitution. Article III of US Constitution guarantees Independence and Supremacy of Judiciary in the US. 

Independence of Judiciary is the tenet of democracy and therefore, even Russian Constitution of 1993 (Chapter-7 Section 120-122) also guarantees independence of Judiciary in the country.

In fact section 124 of the Russian Constitution says, “Judges shall posses immunity and criminal proceedings may not be brought against a Judge except as provided for by federal law.”

In India, this independence and limited Judicial Supremacy are enshrined in the Constitution and are expressed in the methods of appointment of judges; the process of impeachment; and the power of judicial review.

Now, if all these provisions of the Constitution are analysed, inference can easily be drawn that the problems lay here themselves and so do solutions.

The Appointment Rules

Articles 124 and 217 provide for appointment of Judges of Supreme Court and High Court respectively. They clearly stipulate that the appointments have to be made by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice.

The word 'consultation' has been always a matter of dissent and controversy. In fact, when AN Ray was appointed as Chief Justice after superseding three senior Judges namely Hegde, Grover and Shelat, there was uproar in Judicial community including the Bar council of the apex court.

They argued that judges have been superseded owing to their judgement in Keshavanand case (AIR 1973 Supreme Court) which went against the government. 

Gradually the direction of Executive in matters of appointment of judges started diminishing. In 1993, a land mark judgment came from Supreme Court in 'Advocates on record versus Union of India' case. 

The apex court ruled that the recommendations for appointment of Judges in High Court and Supreme Court will be made by collegiums of three Judges and shall be in a way binding on the government.

After a 'presidential reference', the number in the collegiums was increased from three to five. 

This judgment was a landmark because it took virtually all discretionary powers of the Executive in matters of appointment of judges in higher judiciary. Thus, the word 'consultation' became 'concurrence'. 

Some people in legal domain argue that it was a dangerous development and was against the principles of the Constitution itself. How can a person or a group of persons appoint themselves which goes against the ideas enshrined in Article 311? 

They opine that there must be a transparent and justifiable procedure for such appointments. There are instances where persons from one family are becoming Judges for two to three generations.

The judicial community of higher Judiciary is becoming an elite club of few 'privileged families'. Candidly, it is not what 'independence' meant for.

The Impeachment

The process of impeachment as discussed in the article above, clearly indicates that it is a cumbersome process. No wonder then, not a single judge could be removed in India since 1949. 

It may be recalled that in 1991, the impeachment proceedings for removal of Justice V Ramaswami fell flat on its face after members of the Congress party decided to abstain from voting. 

The process of impeachment is laid down in Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968 which says that even if the motion is accepted, the presiding officer of the House has to constitute a three judge committee to further inquire into the matter. 

The process suggests that the motion will be put to voting once again after the submission of the report by the Judges' Committee. However, unlike in the case of a no confidence motion against a government, which requires a simple majority to survive, the impeachment motion against a judge requires a two-third majority.

That is why, it is truly said that it is easier to decide the fate of 100 billion people by way of forming and toppling Governments in India than removing a Judge in the country.

It is also but strange that the country which has seen many a ministers and bureaucrats being convicted on charges of corruption does not have a single incidence of a judge being impeached.

The ‘Transparency International' in its report of 2007 has counted judiciary as the third most corrupt institutions in India, an inference totally in contrary to the common perception that instances of corruption in higher judiciary are not unheard of.

The former CJI Y K Sabarwal himself is in the eyes of storm for his judgement pronounced in the ‘Delhi Sealing Case', which allegedly benefited his son. When a report in this regard appeared in one Newspaper, a suo motto contempt proceeding was initiated and the concerned reporter was sought to be punished.

The Contempt of Court Act, 1971, which itself is not yet codified, is another tool which sometimes is used to gauge the voice of dissent.

In another infamous case, the vigilance department of UP Police exposed misappropriation of funds worth Rs 23 crore from the GPF account of Class III and IV employees of Ghaziabad Civil Court.

One of the accused arrested in this connection, made startling revelation that he has parted the money both in cash and kind, with one sitting Judge of SC, ten Judges of HC and 23 Judges of lower courts.

The investigation is not proceeding as Police cannot interrogate judges without the consent of SC, though such protections are not given in Judges (Inquiry) Act. The matter is still pending with the apex court and the CJI has to convince the nation, whether there is equality before the law or not.

Not to forget the matter of the two Haryana High Court Judges whose names have figured in a case in which a law officer from Haryana has alleged to have sent Rs 15 lakh to them. The Matter has been referred to CBI by the apex court.

The list is long and result is dismally naught. And while one may agree that it is easy preaching than done, the question being asked by common citizen is that who will judge the judges?

The Remedies

• The provisions of RTI should be made applicable to all components of functioning of Judiciary. Accordingly, suitable amendments in RTI Act, 2005 can be made.

• The procedure of selection of Judges should be made more transparent and justifiable. Panel of judges can be made well in advance before recommendation and be known to public by way of websites or media.

• Idea of setting up of a National Judicial Commission can also be made into reality, after all if you are required to go for a test for becoming a clerk, why does selection of judges not require any test. An all India test might also be conducted to select judges of higher judiciary.

• The Government is sitting over the Judges (inquiry) bill, 2006 for more than two years, therefore it should be passed, but before that necessary amendments are required, because the concept of ‘brother judges' doing inquiry has proved ineffective if not futile.

• The contempt of Court Act, 1971 should be suitably amended, because healthy criticism of any institution is generally beneficial for the system itself in the long run. The Judiciary should prepare itself for listening to its criticism and bring about change by itself, a change though painful but helpful.

—The opinion expressed in this article are of the writer and not those of iGovernment

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Post Comments Total Comments: 13 

Posted By SC Vashishth on 9/17/2008 11:25:52 AM 

It is very humane to be corrupt if there is no public eye and the authority enjoys such impunity! I thoroughly agree with the writer. The suggestions, if implemented, will go a long way in restoring people's faith in the judiciary. At the same time, we have to 

be careful that it is kept beyond the purview of the dirty party politics. 

Regards 

Posted By A.K. Sinha on 9/17/2008 12:46:35 PM 

An article of excellence. The writer has fearlessly expressed her opinion. The constitutional provisions are being misused by the Judges and therefore unnecessary immunities should be done away with.

Asok

Hyderabad 

Posted By gajendra kr singh on 9/18/2008 12:56:16 PM 

The writer has boldly expressed his opinion in a candid manner. The govt and apex court should come up to the expectation of the public. If such institutions are not changing itself with the changing pace of time it will decay. 

Posted By Sanjay Kumar on 9/19/2008 10:38:55 AM 

Before reading this article I was not able to understand this complex issue. The writer has very clearly described the entire process. That is why judges are so fastidious and insensible. Make them accountable and result oriented. Target should be fixed and holidays should be curtailed. The British style of functioning should not be allowed. 

Posted By Murari Pd. Singh on 9/21/2008 11:34:53 AM 

The writer has boldly presented her views on corruption in Judiciary. I am surprised to know the kind of impunity which is given to the judges. Constitutional amendment should be made to make Judiciary more accountable. 

murari 

Posted By Yash Kr Yadav on 9/21/2008 11:51:48 AM 

An eye opener for all those who fight against corruption and justice. Make the judiciary result oriented rather than gimmick oriented. The accountability of judges should be determined in transparent way. 

Yash, Danapur 

Posted By G.Kr on 9/21/2008 1:52:12 PM 

I had not been able to understand the technicality of the matter earlier. Let the common person know about the judicial procedure and impunity and make judges more known to citizen of India 

G. Kr 

Posted By Anindita Dey on 9/21/2008 2:19:27 PM 

There are black sheep in every sphere of life and judiciary may not be the exception. Moreover, the caution of ‘he who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster’ may be very much pertinent to judiciary.

For this, a system of accountability with firm time lines for different categories of cases may be drawn by the Honourable Supreme Court. The rotten bud need to be nipped by judiciary itself to protect the unnecessary gaze of public and media on judiciary and uphold its supremacy. 

Posted By Sapan Roy on 9/23/2008 3:15:16 PM 

I fail to understand how and why one should believe that Judges are incorruptible. The lawers who generally use all means to win a case, when become a Judge suddenly become custodian of Law? Let the Judiciary be made accountable and transparent. File a petition on cricket match telecast and it will be herd next day but the poor men are fighting legal battles for decades and still not herd. Who prioritise the case after all. 

Posted By G. Kr on 10/1/2008 7:58:40 PM 

Let a judicial commission be set up to select and appoint judges. The non transparent method of selection should be discontinued. In Bihar selection is done on the basis of clan not on merit. 

Posted By Vivek on 10/2/2008 12:48:35 PM 

Why govt is scared in removing the judges who are tainted? Manmohan Singh should show courage in setting in the motion in the Lok Sabha against sen and those who are involved in Ghaziabad scam. 

Posted By Mantu on 10/3/2008 12:03:48 PM 

When such charges prima facie comes into light the officer concerned is put under suspension and cases are filed. Why such actions are not taken against them. Is there two law in India. 

Posted By Abhimanyu on 10/4/2008 7:22:58 PM 

Let a selection procedure be evolved for recruitment of Judges in India otherwise only selected persons will be able to be appointed as judge. Why do only people from some selected family become judge?