COMMUNALISM, COMMUNAL VIOLENCE
Supreme Court on Communal Propaganda in Election
D.R. Deshmukh, Appellant v. K.K.N. Kadam and others, Respondents
G.N. RAY AND FAIZAN UDDIN, JJ.
Representation of the People Act (43 of 1951), Section 123(3)(3A) Corrupt practice - Display of posters, with permission of returned candidate, containing appeal to vote for him for purpose of "teaching a lesson to Muslims" - Amounts to corrupt practice under Section 123(3)(3A)- As such appeal is potentially offensive and is likely to rouse passion in minds of voters on communal basis- It is also likely to bring disharmony between two communities and offend the secular structure of the country.
Representation of the People Act (43 of 1951), Section 123(3)(3A) - Corrupt practice - Deciding question as to-Speeches delivered in election meetings by leaders of political parties - The real thrust of the speech would be considered by Court without laboring to dissect one or two sentences of the speech.
While deciding the question of corrupt practice speeches delivered in the election meeting by leaders of political parties should be appreciated dispassionately by keeping in mind the context in which such speeches were made. This Court has indicated a note of caution that in election speeches appeals are made by candidates of opposing political parties often in an atmosphere surcharged with partisan feelings and emotions. Use of hyperboles or exaggerated language or adoption of metaphors and extravagance of expression in attacking one party or a candidate are very common and Court should consider the real thrust of the speech without labouring to dissect one or two sentences of the speech, to decide whether the speech was really intended to generate improper passions on the score of religion, caste, community etc. In deciding whether a party or his collaborators had indulged in corrupt practice regard must be had to be substance of the matter rather than mere form or phraseology.
(Source: AIR 1996 Supreme Court 391)
(S.B.) Chavan pops off like that once a month or so on his own. He's an embarrassment to his colleagues in the Indian Government.
-State Department Spokesman
The presence of your majesty at this cathedral is a further confirmation of the role that we Catholics can play in this nation.
-Cardinal Basil Hume, Head of the Catholic Church in England on Queen's visit, first in 400 years
Government Statement on Strength of R.A.F.
The sanctioned strength of Rapid Action Force is 13,180. The Force now consists of 10 Bins. located at Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Bombay, Delhi, Aligarh, Thiruvanthapuram, Jamshedpur, Bhopal and Meerut.
There is no direct recruitment for RAF, which is a part of CRPF. CRPF personnel are suitably screened and posted to RAF, which is a composite Force. The present representation of religious minorities and Scheduled Caste/Schedule Tribe in the RAF is as under:-
Religious minorities 17.21%
Scheduled Caste 13.64%
Scheduled Tribe 4.76%
RAF has been successful in achieving its basic objective, which is to deal with communal riots and riot- like situations in a non-partisan and objective manner, to instill confidence amongst all sections of the society and render succor in innocent victims ravaged by riots.
(Source: LSUQ No. 982 dated 7 March, 1996 by 8. Gautam and R. Patidar)
Kuldip Nayar on Winding-up of Sri Krishna Commission of Inquiry
It is sad that the winding up of the Commission has come at a time when the country is enjoying a relatively good climate of communal harmony. Even the fundamentalists among Hindus and Muslims have been attracting less and less attention. Secularism looks like taking root in India. If the perpetrators of the Bombay killings were to go scot-free, the secular ethos of our country would come to be questioned all over again. The Sikhs are far from mollified. The Congress defended the carnage in Delhi with the remark that when a big tree fell, the earth trembled. The Shiv Sena-BJP Government has throttled the commission, which had finished four-fifths of its work, on the pretext that it had exhausted its tenure.
This will add to the unhappiness of Muslims as the lack of action has irritated the Sikhs. These two communities together constitute roughly 16 per cent of the population.
New Delhi will do well to appreciate the delicacy of the situation and constitute a central commission, requesting the Bombay High Court to reappoint Justice Sri Krishna to head it. This will give it a sense of continuity.
(Source: The Statesman, 28 February, 1996)
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will oppose any move by the Centre to concede the pre-1953 position in Jammu and Kashmir.
-K.L. Sharma, BJP Leader
