Letters To The Editor

— C.P.N. Singh, Lucknow

Petro pressure

• COMMUNISTS say that petroleum price hike can be avoided by reducing custom duty. They should know that Center reduced excise duty twice, first by the NDA and next by the UPA government. Now it is the turn of states to reduce sales tax. Why is it a minimum of 20% all over India? They should force the Center to make law that ST on any item shall not exceed 10%. Murali Deora has said states should reduce the sales tax. Thankfully, some states have already started doing this. Now, Marxists should put more pressure.

— B.V. Rao, Bangalore

Searing analysis

• AJIT Doval’s article, ‘Way to defeat ourselves’ (IE, June 2), attempts to focus the reader’s attention on the threat a divided society could pose to the integrity and security of the nation, making it a soft target for the enemy to strike at will. The analysis is soul-searching for a statesman, but it will fall on deaf ears — for here, our politicians cannot see beyond their nose.

— Devender Khanna, Gurgaon

Insured to disclose

• THE Supreme Court ordering insurance companies to cough up mediclaim compensation in spite of non-disclosure of disease(s) may sound hearty but this practice is not in keeping with the important ‘principle of utmost good faith’ on the part of the insured. And it is this principle that gives ground to the ‘principle of indemnity’ on part of the insurer — the promise to compensate in case of loss. True, insurers try hard to avoid paying compensation by finding fault with the insured, but there is a part of the deal the insured fulfills.

— Abhishek Seth, Kolkata

Shadow boxing

• EXPECTEDLY, Mulayam Singh sees the hand of Congress chief, Sonia Gandhi, in the Supreme Court’s notice to him to furnish details of the last 5 years of the assets in his and his relatives’ names. His party has demanded that Sonia Gandhi also be asked to explain how she can justify her and her family’s lavish lifestyle while her declared sources of income are meager. Singh seems to believe offense is the best defense. By attacking her, he thinks he will persuade her into using her influence to drop the inquiry against him.

— R.J. Khurana, Bhopal