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Claustropolis: 1984

“Claustropolis: 1984” is excerpted from a forthcoming novel. In Bhopal, I could lie low. In Bhopal, there would be instructions for me. Because I had been told not to take the express, I traveled on a local, in an unreserved bogie. The whiskey was Director’s Special, a parting gift from Gupta’s people. I didn’t even…
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Ambedkar Was Right, Jinnah Had a Point, and Nobody Wants to Hear Either
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War failed, talks failed—Washington’s blockade will fail too
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Socialism and the Indian Constitution (part of a series of short volumes that Neera Chandoke and I are editing for the Centre for Equity Studies
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Harsh Mander: The incomplete dream of constitutional socialism in free India

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Speech

February 15, 2024

by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Heritage Foundation followed by audience Q&A (As delivered) Thank you Dr. Roberts,dear Kevin,Good morning all.It is great to be back in Washington.And a pleasure to speak at the Heritage Foundation. You seek to advance the interests of American citizens.And stand up for ideas that strengthen America,and the…

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The subversive truth: The incomplete feminist revolution

February 15, 2024

Originally published: Venezuelananlysis on February 7, 2024 by Andreína Chávez Alava (more by Venezuelananlysis) | (Posted Feb 10, 2024) Culture, Feminism, Ideology, MovementsAmericas, Latin America, United StatesNewswire Growing up, I used to love listening to my mom recalling the day I was born because it resembled an absurd 90s comedy, with weird plot twists and everything. Years later, I realized that despite the…

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FAREWELL SPEECH ON THE RETIREMENT OF HON’BLEMR. JUSTICE J. R. MIDHA, THE JUDGE OF DELHI HIGHCOURT ON 07.07.2021 AT 3:00 P.M.HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE D. N. PATELCHIEF JUSTICEJustice J. R. MIDHA,My esteemed brother and sister Judges,Shri Chetan Sharma, Additional Solicitor General of India,Shri Ramesh Gupta, Chairman, Bar Council of Delhi,Shri Mohit Mathur, President, Delhi High Court Bar Association,Shri Jatan Singh, Vice-President, Delhi High Court BarAssociation,Shri Abhijat, Secretary, Delhi High Court Bar Association,Shri Sanjay Lao, Standing Counsel (Criminal), Govt. of NCT ofDelhi,Shri Santosh Tripathi, Standing Counsel (Civil), Govt. of NCT ofDelhi,Standing Counsels of the Central and State Government,Executive Members of the Delhi High Court Bar Association,Office Bearers of Bar Council of Delhi and other District BarAssociations,Senior Advocates,Members of the Bar,Family members of Justice J. R. Midha,Members of Print and Electronic Media,Ladies and Gentlemen,We have virtually assembled here today to bid farewell toour esteemed colleague Justice J. R. Midha, who is demittingoffice, on superannuation, after a distinguished and fulfillingcareer.I consider it a great privilege to of speak about theimmense contribution made by Justice Midha in the myriadroles he has played both at the Bar and on the Bench.Justice Midha was Born on 8th July, 1959 at Shimla andcompleted his early education from Delhi. After graduating inBachelor of Science in Zoology from the prestigious HansrajCollege, Delhi University in 1979, he studied law at CampusLaw Centre, Delhi University and was enrolled as an Advocatewith the Bar Council of Delhi on August 5, 1982.Justice Midha started his legal practice, under theguidance of Late Sh.Ishwar Das Garg, a well-known civil lawyeron civil side at District Court, Tis Hazari and thereafter workedin Bhasin & Company, a law firm in Delhi. Having established inthe field, he started his independent practice at District Court,Tis Hazari.Deep attachment of Justice Midha, to the field ofacademics, made him take an extra responsibility, of a parttime Lecturer in Campus Law Centre, from 1989-1992 alonghis growing professional career. He was one of the mostadmired teachers and it’s a matter of pride that some numberof his students, who now adorn the Bench and are in the Bar.Justice Midha shifted his practice to Delhi High Court andwas practising mainly on the civil side and was twice elected asMember Executive of the prestigious Delhi High Court BarAssociation.Justice Midha appointed as the Standing Counsel (Civil),Government of NCT of Delhi in May, 2006, and representedGovernment of Delhi in several important matters.Before elevation, Justice Midha was practising before DelhiHigh Court, Supreme Court and other Courts/Forums includingMRTP Commission, National Consumer Disputes RedressalCommission etc.Justice Midha elevated as an Additional Judge of this courton 11th April, 2008 and became Permanent Judge on 6th July,2011.Justice Midha has written a book titled as “Amendments toCode of Civil Procedure in 2002”. He has been often invited tocontribute to National and International conferences, debatesand discussons. He has also written First edition and secondedition of a book titled as “Motor Accident Claims Referencer”in 2011 and 2012.Justice Midha has always been acknowledged for being apleasant yet forthright and upfront person. He is also anoutstanding and hard-working judge known for giving a patienthearing to everyone, which reflects in his landmarkjudgements. This has also resulted in deep admiration andrespect, from the members of the Bar.For the growth of this institution, Justice Midha has alwaysbeen willing to take responsibilities beyond judicial work. Onthe administrative sideof this Court, Justice Midha served as aMember and Chairperson of various committees. He served asa Member of the Administrative and General SupervisionCommittee and Building, Maintenance, Construction andmatters relating to the working of Family Courts Committeeand also served as a Member of Medical Committee. He servedas a Chairperson of Judicial Education and Training ProgrammeCommittee, (JETPC), and Chairperson of Committee ToExamine the matter regarding position of all contractualemployees including outsourced employees from all sources asalso Committee to monitor the functioning of Motor AccidentClaims Tribunal (MACT) and to ensure the compliance of thevarious directions issued in this respect by the Hon’bleSupreme Court of India and High Courts. Justice Midha servedas a chairperson of the Delhi International Arbitration Centreand also served as Chairman of the Committee to considermatters relating to welfare of Judicial Officers etc.Throughout his distinguished career as a Judge, JusticeMidha has delivered many landmark judgements, few of whichdeserve special mention. In the case of, ‘Karan and Ors. v.NCT of Delhi’, Justice Midha secured the right to restitution forvictims of crime, in a batch of appeals concerning a convictionunder Section 302/34 IPC. Justice Midha laid down the detailedsteps to be taken in furtherance of the same. He held thatafter conviction, convicts shall file an affidavit disclosing theirassets, income, and expenditure to enable the trial courts toarrive at the compensation payable to victims. Following theaffidavit, a Victim Impact Report (VIR) shall be filed byDelhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) in every criminalcase after a summary inquiry. Thereafter, the trial courtconcerned shall consider the Victim Impact Report, the payingcapacity of the accused, expenditure incurred on theprosecution and the submissions of the parties to award thecompensation to the victims. The Court has clarified thatDSLSA shall award compensation under Section 357A CrPC,from the Victim Compensation Fund under the Delhi VictimsCompensation Scheme, 2018.In the case of, “Hajara & Ors. v. Government of India”,the Court discussed about the number of false claims/defencesraised by the government in various cases. Justice Midha whilereferring a plea seeking implementation of the NationalLitigation Policy to the PIL Bench, stated that such an act of theGovernment officers is done with impunity since there is noaccountability of any government officer raising such claims.He further noted that Courts seldom act against such officersraising false claims. He further emphasized that the core issueinvolved in the Court cases needs to be focused and the samehas to be managed and conducted in a cohesive, coordinatedand time bound manner with the aim to reduce governmentlitigation in Courts.In the case of, “SUNIL TYAGI v. GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI& ANR”, the Court was dealing with Petitions wherein thePetitioners were declared as “Proclaimed Offenders” withoutfollowing the due process of law. Justice Midha, while settingout detailed guidelines with regard to the procedure ofdeclaring persons absconding from the law as a ProclaimedOffender under Section 82, CrPC, also observed that declaringa person as a Proclaimed Offender leads to a serious offenceunder Section 174A IPC which is punishable for a period upto 3or 7 years. It affects the life and liberty of a person underArticle 21 of the Constitution of India, and it is necessary toensure that the process under Section 82 and 83 CrPC is notissued in a routine manner and due process of law should befollowed. He further observed that once a person has beendeclared as a Proclaimed offender, it is the duty of the State tomake all reasonable efforts to arrest him and attach hisproperties as well as to launch prosecution under Section174AIPC.In the case of ‘RAJESH TYAGI and Ors. vs JAIBIRSINGH and Ors.’, Justice Midha formulated a New Schemefor Motor Accident Claims for speedy resolution of motoraccidents claims. The scheme entailed that the InvestigatingOfficer shall intimate the accident to the Claims Tribunal andinsurance company by submitting First Accident Report (FAR)in Form-1 within 48 hours of the intimation of the accident. TheClaims Tribunal Agreed Procedure formulated with the consentof all the Insurance Companies and Delhi Police provides thatthe police shall complete the investigation of a criminal case,collect the entire evidence relating to computation ofcompensation and file a Detailed Accident Report (DAR) withthe Claims Tribunal within 30 days with a copy to the InsuranceCompany whereupon the Insurance Company shall computethe compensation and offer the same to the claimant within 30days thereafter. If the amount offered by the InsuranceCompany is fair and reasonable, the Claims Tribunal shall passa consent award and the compensation is paid within 30 days.However, if the amount offered by the Insurance Company isnot fair, the Tribunal shall pass an award within 30 daysthereafter meaning thereby that the claimants get thecompensation within 90 to 120 days. The Judgment was agreat step in expediting the payment of proper compensationto Moter accident victims.Justice Midha has rendered all possible assistance that theinstitution expects from a Judge in discharging hisconstitutional obligations and he shall be remembered for hispositive support in all our court related activities as well as thediscipline he mentioned on and off the Bench.Under his leadership, the Delhi Judicial Academy and DelhiInternational Arbitration Centre Academy has conductedprogrammes unabated and somewhat with even more energyin these pandemic times. Justice Midha has also pursuedcompletion of the new DIAC website, and DIAC has publishedits journal and revamped its empanelment rules.The virtues of self-discipline, self-restraint and selfdevelopment, which are the quintessence of Indian dharma andculture, are as fully relevant today as they were at their firstteaching three thousand years ago and Justice Midha hasadopted all these qualities.It is said that a Judge must have the grace to hearpatiently, to consider diligently, to understand rightly and todecide justly with a sense of humility. Justice Midha more thanmeets these test.Justice Midha is a spiritual person and he has proved that”faith” is the soul of “success”. As he prepares to depart fromthis court, I have to say that we will miss him deeply.I extend my best wishes and congratulate his belovedfamily members, Wife: Smt. Kiran Midha, Daughter: Ms.Meenakashi Midha, and Son: Mr. Kapil Midha, both arepracticing Advocate.I, on my behalf and on behalf of all my colleagues wishhim good health and good luck in his future pursuits.Thank You!

February 15, 2024

Short of sleep for last 13 years: Justice Midha, who passed several key judgments, retires from Delhi High Court Justice Midha said he was helped by many people when he was young, and started practice in the district courts. He said he had a passion for teaching also and joined the Campus Law Centre from…

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A Dalit-Queer critique of Lihaf recovers a world of meaning lost in its translation, reminding us that desirability is shaped by caste.

February 15, 2024

CRITIQUE FEB 14, 2024 Caste under the quilt Written By Dhiren Borisa and Akhil Katyal Illustrations By Siddhesh Gautam Ismat Chughtai’s Urdu short story Lihaf (1942) is firmly part of the queer canon. Considered a seminal 20th century text about same-sex desire in South Asia, it is widely anthologised and makes a regular appearance in the English…

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The real threat to Europe is not Trump — but NATO

February 15, 2024

All the transatlantic “alliance” has to offer Europe is a future of economic decline, geopolitical irrelevance and permanent war Thomas Fazi Feb 15 Where we too quick to celebrate the end of the pandemic? Over the past few days, a worrying spike in cases was reported across Europe and the United States. I’m not talking…

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