By Sidharth Mishra

By Sidharth Mishra

Judicial interventions are often decried by the governments of the day as judicial activism. Judicial activism has been described variously by those affected by it. Some say it to be a practice in the judiciary wherein judgments are delivered based on ‘personal opinions’ rather than on existing laws. The other view is that it’s a practice in judiciary of protecting or expanding individual rights through decisions that depart from established precedent or are independent of or in opposition to supposed constitutional or legislative intent.

By Sidharth Mishra

The political parties of every hue in our country have great belief in what Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw had said. The creator of classics like  Man and Superman, Pygmalion and Saint Joan, Shaw exercised great influence over western theatre, culture and politics during his lifetime and thereafter. He once observed, “A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on Paul’s support.” Shaw’s comment was inspired by the Biblical saying, “to unclothe Peter to clothe Paul.”

Last week on getting the diesel tank of my vehicle filled, I was rattled as the fuel pump helper raised a bill of Rs 3600. In 2013-14, when the Achche Din (good days as promised by challenger to the throne Narendra Modi) were still to dawn, the tank of a similar vehicle would get filled for Rs 2200. Thanks to the lockdown, as the need for filling the fuel tank arose after quite a while but the price of diesel came to actually pinch.

By Sidharth Mishra

The departure of Dr Harshvardhan from Ministry of Health last week earned him sympathies from most unusual quarters — the leaders belonging to the Opposition Congress party. Former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh in a post on the tweeter said that the Lok Sabha member from Chandni Chowk had been made a scapegoat for “monumental failures at the highest level — nowhere else.” The Congress leader also said the former Health Minister is a good man.

By Sidharth Mishra

The appointment of the formidable Dharmendra Pradhan as the new Education Minister is a clear indication that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants an end to the backseat driving in the functioning of this major ministry. There has been an increasing feeling, with comparatively weak ministers in the saddle, about too much ‘outside interference’ in functioning of the educational institution under the aegis of the central government.

By Sidharth Mishra

Last week a remark made by the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, “elections no guarantee against tyranny,” went viral. This was said by the Chief Justice while delivering a memorial lecture in the national Capital and the qualifying lines of this expression are very relevant to illuminate on the pattern of governance in the national Capital, which some also consider to be microsome of the Indian political system.

By Sidharth Mishra

Some Englishmen, a statesman in particular, who till not very long ago were used to be a household name in India, would be a very satisfied soul finding their words to be prophetic. Last week we talked of TS Eliot and his poem Hollow Men, this week it would be appropriate to quote the much polarizing former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Historians claim Churchill to be anti-India but by his own admission he loved India, however, was worried about the kind of people who would come to govern the country. He once famously said, “Power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters; …men of straw. They will fight amongst themselves for power and India will be lost in political squabbles.”

By Sidharth Mishra

The popular tune of Come September, unlike the rage which the 1961 Hollywood flick created for millions, would not be music to the ears of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat. The former student activist and present Lok Sabha member from Garhwal was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on March 10 this year in the midst of the Kumbh fiasco, which is largely now being blamed for the second wave of coronavirus across the Ganga plains and other parts of the country.