Pairokar

Don’t judge a book by its cover. Sometimes the cover of a book can be deceptive. Normally the title of a book is made catchy to attract the attention of the readers. But what can you say about a serious book having a cumbersome rather embarrassing title like ‘Honeymoon’ by Sushil Chand Shrivastav, an officer in the secretariat of Uttar Pradesh? I hesitated to read this book for more than two years because of its cover title but during this summer vacation, I started reading the book and found it to be amazingly good, highly informative and replete with shlokas, chaupais and folk idioms. The story of the novelette begins with a daughter of an air force officer, who laid down his life in the service of Mother India in the 1971 war and an idealist Sooraj, a son of the retired Vice-Principal of a College. One marvel at the description of the scenario that was built around and after the 1971 war between India and Pakistan. It is like a refreshing memory for those who have witnessed the

 Justice Markandeya Katju once remarked about the Allahabad High Court, quoting the Hamlet of Shakespeare, that there was something rotten in the state of Denmark (paraphrase it with Allahabad High Court). There are three recent incidents related to the Allahabad High Court which further reinforce the comments of Justice Katju. Although he has not been considered a tongue-tied judge, yet it isn't easy to disagree with his views on Allahabad High Court.                                                                   Just think over it.  Is it not ridiculous to request the astrology department of Lucknow University to determine whether a woman, who is an alleged rape victim is a ‘ Manglik ‘ or not? In this case, a person, who has been sexually exploiting a woman on the pretext of marrying her refused to marry on the most bizarre ground of her being ‘ Manglik’ ( a horoscope condition being born under the influence of mars(mangal). This was a case of cheating, fraud and rape by the m

Justice has to be dispassionate. It cannot be allowed to succumb to the demands of a mob or yield to agitations. The sit-in dharna of some wrestlers against the WFI chairman Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for more than a month demanding his arrest and removal from his present post cannot, in all fairness, be acceded to. The complaint against Singh is that he outraged the modesty of a minor girl and sexually exploited many of the female wrestlers. It may or may not be true, but sexual exploitation of girls and that too, of any minor girl is certainly a serious matter. It is a cognisable and non-bailable offence. Nevertheless, the police have no power to arrest the person unless something tangible is found against him in the preliminary enquiry. More so, when the allegations have been made many months after the commitment of the said crime or offence. The Supreme Court has accepted the petition of the wrestlers that an FIR against Brij Bhushan Singh should be lodged which must be enquired.