Tuesday 27 April 2021

Who will win ?

When current second wave of COVID has run its course, who would have won ?

Ø Humans going out for work ( to earn a livelihood ) , even risking Covid infection ?

Ø Humans having a strong personal belief in “ salvaging the next life “ ( by taking a dip in Holy Ganga ) , even at the risk of losing current life ?

Ø Humans “ brain-washed “ into thinking that voting in election is a higher priority than saving family members ?

None !

One cannot escape a sad feeling that the winners will be :

Ø Those who committed “ Sins of Omission “ ( failure to take positive action to prevent bad things from happening )

May be it was this “ Sin of Omission “ that made Madras High Court to say :

27 April

Extract :

Ø The Madras high court on Monday observed that the Election Commission of India (ECI) was responsible for the second wave in the country and that its officials should probably be tried on murder charges for allowing political parties to hold massive rallies without following Covid-19 norms

Ø In its order copy released later in the day, the court had toned down its observations against the election body as the statement on murder charges wasn’t part of the written order

May be Madras HC realized that EC officials could not be tried for their “ Sins of Omission “, in the absence of :

Ø Needed : a Service Liability Act…………………………. [ 12 June 2019 ]

Where I have prepared a brief list of such “ Acts of Omissions “ – and suggested a framework for such an Act

I invite readers to add to this list through their comments ( post on this blog or send to hcp@RecruitGuru.com )

Question :

While understanding the reason for dropping out the mention to try the officials of Election Commission, from its written order, could HC have done something positive ?

For Example :

Without doubt the Hon Judges of HC realize the boundaries of their power being limited to “ interpret “ the existing laws ( Of course, there have been numerous judgements / court observations / directives / guidance , of JUDICIAL ACTIVISM )

I suppose Hon Judges realized that EC was constitutionally bound ( under REPRESENTATION of PEOPLEs Act ) to announce / hold elections within 6 months of the expiry of the term of a State Legislative Assembly

But,

Ø I presume, under a NATIONAL HEALTH EMERGENCY ( of the type prevailing in India for past 14 months ), the President of India has the power to suspend the Representation of People Act, for ( say ) 1 – 2 years

If there is no constitutional provision for this, I believe we should suitably amend our constitution

Ø Election Commissioner reports to the President of India

Ø High Court could have , in their formal written order, ‘ directed “ the Election Commissioner to send a formal request to the President to suspend the Act for 2 years

This would enabled EC to postpone the State Elections

In the meantime, I urge members of the Supreme Court Bar association to prepare a draft BILL for the SERVICE LIABILITY BILL and send it to our Law Minister, Shri Ravishankar Prasadji

Dear Shri Prasadji,

If there ever was a time for LEGISLATIVE ACTIVISM , it is NOW

It is time to start treating “ Sins of Omission “ on par with “ Sins of Commission “

It is time to declare a National Health Emergency and suspend ALL occasions ( political or religious ) where millions gather to spread infections

Vaccinating our entire population twice ( 2 dozes ) could well take 2 years

It is still not too late to prevent acceleration of deaths due to Covid through all means

This is a WAR of the kind that mankind has not seen in the past

Far more frightening is to be told by eminent scientists from around the World that Covid-type pandemics must be expected to descend on the mankind ( and especially poor countries like India badly affected by ill-effects of CLIMATE CHANGE ), every few years

Our laws must keep pace with these changes

I am 88 years old and may not be around long enough to see the next pandemic strike

But it is time to think about the future of our children and grand-children

I am not out to spread any FEAR among our citizen – even if unintentional

But should you think so, I offer my apologies in advance

===================================================

With regards,

Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 27 April 2021