A prayer for issue of writ of habeas corpus to Government of India in public interest not to deny level playing field in availing justice in India
Honourable Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India,
Your Honour,
Sub: A prayer for issue of writ of habeas corpus to Government of India in public interest not to deny level playing field in availing justice in India to aggrieved by orders of Government of India or any public authority in India
Whenever Government or any competent authority decides and issues a public order concerning public assets or infrastructure or a project, while one party gets advantage of such an order, there is always other stakeholders who feel aggrieved because of losing own assets or adversely impacting their life style or business, and would like to avail their basic right of seeking a judicial review.
But in the current practice of government , the files are kept secret, while government orders are public. For secret matters, not open for public to know, it is fine to keep secret files, in the larger national interest. In such secret matters, the orders there of also remain secret.
However in all other cases, government has to follow public policy and any activity has to be in public interest and knowledge. There can be no secret agenda for issue of any public order. By keeping the file secret, while making the order public a serious lacunae is dispensation of justice is occurring.
The aggrieved stakeholder, be it a party who lost an opportunity, or the public themselves whose life and assets could be adversely influenced, stand to be denied any relief in time, before damage happens, from a court of law, because the basic documents needed to assess the fairness or otherwise are all locked away in government secret file. By not allowing ready and easy access to these documents along with the order, government has created an undue advantage to the party getting benefited by the order, while, denying a level playing field to the aggrieved to have judicial relief.
Thus in our country, the basic fundamental right that every citizen is entitled to protection from arbitrary actions of any authority public or private in our nation. through availing justice through courts, in time, not wantonly delayed by the authority, is violated.
Today the authority is vitiating the right of an aggrieved citizen, by causing delay in getting the access to approach courts, abusing their power arbitrarily to keep the concerned file secret.
While it is not a matter of national security nor sensitive information useful for enemies of the country but only public interest is the basis, and government expected to act fairly , the file also should be published along with order as a matter of assuring citizens' fundamental right to seek judicial review of any unfair order, in time and not many years later post suffering damage and then long drawn out investigations to prove the guilt.Once time passes, the evidence trail also gets cold or vanishes.
I believe & hence pray that a very serious matter of public interest is involved to deserve the use of the rarely used constitutional provision empowering the Supreme Court to issue a writ habeas corpus under Art 184(3) , to government of India and all public authorities in the Nation, to ensure that every order which is public or has an impact on life or assets of any citizen or groups of citizens, shall be published along with file, and keeping a secret file denying the same to the aggrieved, be considered a criminal cognisable offence , as violation of fundamental rights granted to citizens of India.
I pray Your Honour to grant justice to the common man of India, who is today placed at a disadvantage & denied justice in time, whenever government issues orders from secret files.
--
सत्यं परम् धीमही
बी. राजाराम
Rajaram Bojji M.Tech. IRSE (Retd.), FIE, FNAE, AMASCE
Currently@Hyderabad Facebook Blog:: Reflections
Your Honour,
Sub: A prayer for issue of writ of habeas corpus to Government of India in public interest not to deny level playing field in availing justice in India to aggrieved by orders of Government of India or any public authority in India
Whenever Government or any competent authority decides and issues a public order concerning public assets or infrastructure or a project, while one party gets advantage of such an order, there is always other stakeholders who feel aggrieved because of losing own assets or adversely impacting their life style or business, and would like to avail their basic right of seeking a judicial review.
But in the current practice of government , the files are kept secret, while government orders are public. For secret matters, not open for public to know, it is fine to keep secret files, in the larger national interest. In such secret matters, the orders there of also remain secret.
However in all other cases, government has to follow public policy and any activity has to be in public interest and knowledge. There can be no secret agenda for issue of any public order. By keeping the file secret, while making the order public a serious lacunae is dispensation of justice is occurring.
The aggrieved stakeholder, be it a party who lost an opportunity, or the public themselves whose life and assets could be adversely influenced, stand to be denied any relief in time, before damage happens, from a court of law, because the basic documents needed to assess the fairness or otherwise are all locked away in government secret file. By not allowing ready and easy access to these documents along with the order, government has created an undue advantage to the party getting benefited by the order, while, denying a level playing field to the aggrieved to have judicial relief.
Thus in our country, the basic fundamental right that every citizen is entitled to protection from arbitrary actions of any authority public or private in our nation. through availing justice through courts, in time, not wantonly delayed by the authority, is violated.
Today the authority is vitiating the right of an aggrieved citizen, by causing delay in getting the access to approach courts, abusing their power arbitrarily to keep the concerned file secret.
While it is not a matter of national security nor sensitive information useful for enemies of the country but only public interest is the basis, and government expected to act fairly , the file also should be published along with order as a matter of assuring citizens' fundamental right to seek judicial review of any unfair order, in time and not many years later post suffering damage and then long drawn out investigations to prove the guilt.Once time passes, the evidence trail also gets cold or vanishes.
I believe & hence pray that a very serious matter of public interest is involved to deserve the use of the rarely used constitutional provision empowering the Supreme Court to issue a writ habeas corpus under Art 184(3) , to government of India and all public authorities in the Nation, to ensure that every order which is public or has an impact on life or assets of any citizen or groups of citizens, shall be published along with file, and keeping a secret file denying the same to the aggrieved, be considered a criminal cognisable offence , as violation of fundamental rights granted to citizens of India.
I pray Your Honour to grant justice to the common man of India, who is today placed at a disadvantage & denied justice in time, whenever government issues orders from secret files.
--
सत्यं परम् धीमही
बी. राजाराम
Rajaram Bojji M.Tech. IRSE (Retd.), FIE, FNAE, AMASCE
Currently@Hyderabad Facebook Blog:: Reflections
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