Of renaming High Courts: Letters to The EDITOR

Of renaming High Courts

The Allahabad High Court in the newly christened city of Prayag (formerly Allahabad) has joined the High Courts of Bombay and Madras which are still to be renamed after the change in the names of the cities where these are situated.

It is significant that except for some High Courts, all other High Courts are named after the States of their jurisdiction. An RTI response has revealed that while all the High Courts constituted after Independence were named after the respective States of jurisdiction, the High Courts constituted by the British regime in the pre-Independence era continue to be named as per the British legacy on the basis of the cities of their existence even after 70 long years of Independence.

The Union government should end the British legacy by naming all High Courts after the names of States rather than on particular cities. Proposed legislation should incorporate feature that names of High Courts may be automatically changed with the change in the name of the States or cities without needing any separate legislation.

Madhu Agrawal,

Delhi

Checking credibility of political parties

The modus operandi of all the political parties in India leave much to be desired as far as their credibility is concerned. If we cast a glance at the chronicle of India's political parties adorning the seats of the ruling dispensation at the Centre since Independence, we find that no party is free from corruption. The spectacular increasing trend of the assets of the people's representatives (MPs and MLAs) corroborate our contention. The conspicuous gap between the poor and the rich is widening day by day. Certain politicians become so much rich that they deposit their fabulous money in foreign banks. Incidentally, the three South-Indian personalities who had been decorated with the Bharat Ratna in the very first year 1954 that the civilian awards were instituted, namely Chakravarti Raja Gopalchari, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Nobel laureate CV Raman cautioned at the time of Independence or earlier about the national faults of character, our domestic despotism, obscurantism, narrow-mindedness, and superstitious bigotry.

On the midnight of August 14, 1947 Radhakrishnan Said, "Our opportunities are great but let me warn you that when power strips ability, we will fall on evil days. From tomorrow morning from midnight to-day, we can no longer throw the blame on the British. We have to assume the responsibility ourselves for what to do. A free India will be judged by the way in which it will save the interests of the common-man in the matter of food, clothing, shelter and social services. Unless we destroy corruption in high places, root out every trace of nepotism, love of power, profiteering and black-marketing which have spoiled the good name of this great country in recent times, we will not be able to raise the standards of efficiency in administration." Now, it is for the people to judge. If the present ruing dispensation has done fairly or unfairly during their tenure, it is for the people of the country to decide. All we know is: All the political parties that resorted to corruption during their tenures should be discarded once and for all. The nepotism referred to by Dr. Radhakrishnan covers dynastic rule of the country also.

Ashok Bordoloi,

Dibrugarh.