Monday, September 7, 1998
Retrograde and worse
The Supreme Court order regarding the Central Vigilance Commission in the midst of the hearing of the hawala case was historic. The bench headed by then Chief Justice J.S. Verma directed that the CVC would have statutory status, and that the government would take steps to ensure that the CBI functioned effectively and was viewed as a non-partisan agency.
Humanitarian laws? Not for Pakistan
Since Independence, in the wars fought between India and Pakistan, the armed forces of the two countries have adhered to the principles of the Humanitarian Laws of War. There were no attacks on each other's population centres, places of worship, cultural or historical monuments and installations containing dangerous forces such as dams and nuclear reactors.
Dropsy alert
There is nothing like a good conspiracy theory to help the authorities evade their responsibilities. Right now, shamed by the fact that 46 people have died of dropsy and thousands are suffering from the disease, the chief minister of Delhi and his minister of health are understandably anxious to shrug off blame for the outbreak.
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