Words matter. These are the best Prashant Bhushan Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
Independence of Judiciary means independence from Executive and Legislature, but not independence from accountability.
The sword of contempt has kept the judiciary away from searching public scrutiny, particularly within the mainstream media. The judiciary is obviously happy to live with this situation as well.
Long live democracy!
It is a fundamental principle that every institution must be accountable to an authority which is independent of that institution. Yet somehow, the judiciary has propagated a view that the judiciary can only be accountable to itself.
In order to keep the judiciary independent of the executive, the constitution provided impeachment as the only method for disciplining errant judges.
Every Indian wants a strong and independent judiciary. Obviously if the courts get weakened, it weakens the republic and harms every citizen.
The court’s reputation is affected by what people say only if it seems to have a ring of fairness and authenticity.
A large part of the income of the ‘Big 5’ accountancy and consultancy firms derives from tax avoidance schemes which flourish in the name of tax planning. Their legality has agitated courts in India and abroad for a long time.
There exists a cell of policemen within the Delhi Police which is accountable to no one but itself. Operating without uniforms, these are the dreaded encounters specialists of Delhi.
Far from curbing terror, we find that draconian laws used by a corrupt and communal police are creating conditions which will only exacerbate the problem.
The lack of judicial accountability exemplified by the lack of a system of selecting judges and of dealing with complaints against them, has indeed led to the system gradually losing its integrity.
The illegitimate money made by corrupt public servants and the power that it gives them is then also used to perpetuate them in office. This corrupt money is one of the main factors responsible for the continued reelection of such politicians. They become masters of the people they are supposed to serve.
The secreting of wealth in tax havens is often justified as ‘legitimate tax planning.’
We must learn the correct lessons from the U.S. war on terror, which, far from making the U.S., its citizens and interests safe across the world has only increased insecurity worldwide and has led to many more terror attacks on U.S. interests and citizens across the world.
The judiciary is peopled by judges who are human, and being human, they are occasionally motivated by considerations other than an objective view of law and justice.
The main reasons for the growth and institutionalization of corruption are: a culture of secrecy with lack of transparency, and weak institutions for securing the accountability of public servants, such as the Vigilance bodies, the criminal investigative agencies and the judiciary.
The retention of the power to punish for contempt for acts of speech alone, which do not directly interfere with the administration of justice, has removed the last shred of accountability of the higher judiciary in the country.
I am extremely grateful and humbled by the solidarity and support expressed by countless persons, ex-judges, lawyers, activists and fellow citizens who encouraged me to remain firm and true to my beliefs and conscience.
PM Narendra Modi had promised to bring back black money, which he said could put Rs 15 lakh in each of our pockets. If he wants to repair his damaged credibility in this regard, we need to see swift and visible action on the Panama Papers.
The Ramaswami case and subsequent attempts to impeach judges have demonstrated the total impracticality of that instrument to discipline judges.
Our courts must send a clear signal that India is not a banana republic where foreign companies can be invited to loot our resources and even avoid paying taxes on their windfall gains from the sale of those resources.
It does not take much technical knowledge to understand why the interlinking of rivers is an absurd idea and a ruinous project.
In India, all public servants employed by the central or a state government or any other public authority under their control are required under the relevant civil service rules to submit returns of movable and immovable assets owned by them and their immediate family.
It is this obsession with GDP and FDI growth and a facile belief that this growth in the GDP would trickle down to the poor as well, that has led to the neglect of the genuine concerns of the poor in the country.
Man’s endeavour to cross even the most difficult terrain with railway lines has produced some of the most stunning marvels of engineering of the modern age.
With the passing away of Mr Tarkunde, India has lost the father of the Civil Liberties movement in the country.
The Dinakaran episode has brought to the surface the vexed problem of the arbitrary and totally unsatisfactory manner of selecting and appointing judges as well as the unresolved problem of dealing with complaints of misconduct and corruption against judges.
Those is power being largely corrupt, recognize that a non functional and corrupt judiciary will allow them to escape punishment even when they get caught.
When a few people control the bulk of money, they can not only influence elections by money power – which enables various forms of advertising and propaganda campaigns – they can also corrupt and misuse all institutions of the state to influence elections.
The U.S. economy will tank if either China withdraws its money from the U.S. Banks, or Saudi Arabia stops depositing its oil money in U.S. bonds, or even if the oil trade goes off the dollar.
Both Pakistan and India stand to suffer severe losses in the event of India using military force within Pakistan.
I had said impunity of APSPA should be removed in order to win the hearts of the people of Kashmir.
It is difficult to believe that parties are unaware of the crimes that their M.P.’s are committing. But there is no effort to take action against them, till they are caught and publicly exposed.
Joseph Stiglitz was the chief economist of the World Bank for three years till January 2000. Before that he was the chairman of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers. No one can speak more authoritatively or with greater inside knowledge about the functioning of the Washington consensus institutions.
The rule of law is the most basic principle on which our Constitution is based.
It is true that there have been excesses of judicial activism.
Every institution, including the judiciary has its share of black sheep and corrupt judges.
No insurrection bred out of desperation can be quelled by strong-arm tactics.
When I said that the court should be willing to suffer even intemperate criticism, I did not mean that people should level intemperate criticism. What I said is even if criticism is intemperate or unfair and bordering on scurrilous and abusive, it will be understood for what it is by the people.
Diet sodas contain a chemical sweetener called Aspartame, which is a potent neurotoxin and endocrine disrupter. Another key ingredient of soft drinks is phosphoric acid, which is added to give it ‘bite.’ Phosphoric acid is well known to cause tooth rot, bone loss, osteoporosis and gastro intestinal distress.
Having enjoyed enormous powers, including the power of contempt, without any accountability, the higher judiciary has over the years, trampled the toes of many persons and institutions, particularly the media.
It has always been accepted, even in pronouncements by the Supreme Court that the Court and its judgements can be subjected to strong, even trenchant criticism. Is the same yardstick not available for comments on the use or abuse of the Court’s powers of contempt?
No amount of intelligence or security can stop terrorists who are willing to give up their lives. They can only be stopped if their motivation is eliminated.
Stiglitz is not a Left economist. Indeed, it would be difficult to find a more authentic insider and establishment figure than Stiglitz.
