Summer holiday

Of the many legacies of the British Raj, the summer vacations for Courts must be the most irrational. In June every year, Civil Courts, High...

Of the many legacies of the British Raj, the summer vacations for Courts must be the most irrational. In June every year, Civil Courts, High Courts and Supreme Court come to a grinding halt for over a month, and then again for a week in as winter break in December.

The judges and lawyers leave all work and take a holiday, a practice more familiar to students. But the lives and properties of lakhs of people don’t depend on students enjoying a welcome break after a year’s studies. These lives hang in balance while judges and lawyers across the country vacation for a month. And even if the legal fraternity don’t want to take the break, they have no choice as the practice has been institutionalised over the years?

A waste of time considering that our judiciary remains the most overloaded. Look at the hundreds of thousands of pending cases in all Courts. Yet, the judiciary is the only body that enjoys summer and winter breaks. No other government department, PSU, or even judicial commission enjoys this benefit, which translates into a mere 200 days of work in a year for an average High Court judge or lawyer.

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I urge Law Minister H R Bhardwaj and Chief Justice of India R C Lahoti to put an end to this waste of time and ensure that all courts function around the year. Even holidays on Saturdays should be scrapped if we are to ever overcome the huge number of pending cases. Other proposals to reduce the number of laws in force, and allow plea bargaining ought to be considered as well.

Pakistan’s temples

Renovation work on the Katasraj Temple in Pakistan is pointed out as a highlight of L K Advani’s recent trip to Pakistan. Advani has sought to take credit for starting work on the renovation.

But the true credit should go to Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain, former Prime Minister and president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, who got the renovation work started. Chaudhary Hussain has time and again asserted his commitment to better relations between the two countries.

The process began last year when a group of Indian MPs visiting Lahore expressed a desire to visit some of the famous temples. Chaudhary Hussain promptly ordered officers to finalise the tour itinerary. But he was told that not a single temple was in a condition worthy of a visit by Indian dignitaries, apart from a Jain temple and a Samadhi of Luv (son of Lord Rama) in Lahore fort.

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Chaudhary Hussain immediately undertook renovation work of 50 temples and gurudwaras. And to restore their sanctity, he got priests to perform daily paaths/ pujas.

Most temples in Pakistan are either shut down or have been converted into banks or schools, sometimes even government offices. For instance, a famous gurudwara at Anarkali has been converted into a police station, while another famous Shiv temple is now a bank.

Hanging in air

On a Delhi-Mumbai or Mumbai-Delhi flight these notices, half-an-hour is wasted in taxiing on the tarmac before take-off, and another half-an-hour is wasted in hovering above the airport before landing. The delay is caused by the queue of aircraft at these airports. So a two-hour flight stretches into a three-hour affair. If this is the situation now, what will happen when all those 200-odd aircraft ordered at the Paris Air Show descend on Indian skies? Not to mention the criminal waste of aviation turbine fuel which we import for millions of dollars.

The government ought to have a clear focus on reorganisation of all metro airports, along with increasing the number of air strips. Also, the Airport Authority of India needs to re-schedule the flight timings in consultation with different airlines, so that airports don’t get clogged at peak hours.

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The duties on aviation turbine fuel were lowered recently, but ATF prices in India still remains one of the highest in the world. Non-metro airports are poorly maintained, many of them being forced to handle international traffic although they are not up to the mark. While the government is aware of the problem, the piecemeal steps taken so far are barely sufficient.

The writer is a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha. Send him your feedback at shuklarajeevgmail.com