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excesses of political parties, the Rafale fighter aircraft deal posts for possible terror strikes
especially those of the ruling submitted by petitioners. Taking on India.
party, is unacceptable. shelter under the guise of ‘sensi- r SiVakumar
It did not move to take note tivity of documents’ is no ground
of the explicit oversteps of the to cover wrongdoings. The strikes have also exposed
ruling party until it was rapped The Prime Minister’s Office the political fault lines in the
on the knuckles by the Supreme (PMO) seems to have created a island nation. The Sri Lankan
Court. Even after being remind- fait accompli for the Ministry of President should set aside any
ed of its own powers, it did not Defence (MoD). For argument’s lingering tensions, if any, with
find it fit to act. The Model Code sake, if we take that the PMO was the Prime Minister and develop
of Conduct exists only on paper. indeed monitoring progress, it a working relationship with
The EC should reinvent its role. brings two points to the fore. him in taking concerted steps to
Dr DVG Sankararao First, the PMO has shown its correct the security situation. Si-
lack of faith in the competency multaneously, the investigation
President shall ensure of the MoD. Second, why does into the blasts should be speeded
impartiality in CJI case the PMO not monitor other up, possibly enlisting the help of
With reference to the editorial “CJI in the dock ministries to the same level and global agencies.
as allegations of sexual harassment surface” extent? Selective monitoring koSaraju ChanDramouli
by Charanjit Ahuja
The readiness of the Supreme of the MoD raises questions on
Court Special Bench to take at the intent of the incumbent Alda’s role in promoting
face value the conspiracy theory government. science is immeasurable
advanced by a lawyer even be- Deepak SinGhal Like many I was saddened
fore verifying the bonafides of to hear that American actor,
the affidavit submitted by him is In the Supreme Court, Congress director, screenwriter, come-
baffling. president Rahul Gandhi has dian and author Alan Alda has
While no one is guilty unless reportedly expressed ‘regret’ Parkinson’s disease. I was also
proved, it is not proper for the over his “chowkidar chor hai” saddened that he felt it was
judges who are going to decide remark, explaining it as com- necessary to discuss an issue
on the case to attribute motives ments made “in the heat of that many may keep private
to the act of the complainant till political campaigning”. Thanks because as he said, “I thought, it’s
the legal process is completed. to his flippant remarks against probably only a matter of time
Since the case involves the political adversaries off and on, before somebody does a story
CJI, why can’t the President, who Mr. Gandhi has become the butt about this from a sad point of
administers the oath of office of several jokes, especially on the view, but that’s not where I am.”
to the CJI, take a call to ensure social media. He needs to keep In times of illness and passing
impartial conduct of the case? watch over what he says. we should consider the theme of
V Subramanian pG menon his message and concentrate on
the positives in life
Lanka must have taken Most will know him for his
The Constitution of the panel
is against the basic tenets of attack warnings seriously acting in MASH as a brilliant,
natural justice. Instead of ensur- The deadly serial bomb blasts trouble making doctor although
ing that an inquiry is conducted that have devastated Sri Lanka his role in West Wing as a
by retired judges, the court has pose a huge challenge to those in brilliant potential President is
decided to appoint a panel com- charge of our safety and security. well worth watching. His real
prising its senior-most judges, It is baffling that the island na- brilliance is however as a story
including future CJIs, to examine tion did not take warnings about teller and his contributions to
the case. This type of judicial a possible terror attack seriously science in this role at the Alan
action will create a sense of enough. Alda Center for Communicating
hopelessness among the people. It is even more baffling that Science. There are many who
C SambaSiVam the Sri Lankan Prime Minister can tell a story well but few tell
has claimed that he wasn’t stories of importance so well.
Selective monitoring of ‘informed’ well in advance about Science is better off because of
MoD raises questions the intelligence alert. Perhaps him as there is a need for clear
The government appears to a new worry for Indian intel- communication in a world of
be doggedly challenging the ligence agencies is of countries fake news and fake science.
admissibility of documents on in the region becoming staging- DenniS FitzGeralD

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