RAJINDAR SACHAR A-19, New Friends Colony, Chief Justice (Retd.) New Delhi 110065(India)
High Court of Delhi, New Delhi Tel:091-11-26847786,26830194 Chairperson Prime Minister’s High Level Committee E – Mail: rsachar1@vsnl.net
On Status of Muslims (Ex.) Mobile : 9810009644
UN Special Rapporteur on Housing
Member, U.N. Sub-Commission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities (Ex.)
President, Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) India (Ex.) Dated : 09/01/2018
Modi Government Action – a Disgrace
There can be no more disgusting, disgraceful and illegal act in (U.I.D.A.I) filing on F.I.R. against Rachna Khaira and the Tribune for cheating and forgery. A strange case of perverted working.
Ms. Khaira had given the name of the person from whom she had for Rs. 500 obtained accesses to Aadhaar numbers; so as to lead credibility to her story. It is on the basis of her story that (U.I.D.A.I) was able to trace the names who were playing this fraud. An FIR could and should have been filed against these. FIR did not have be name Khaira as co-accused. Of course she could have been called as a witness in a case filed by the (U.I.D.A.I.) against its agents. By namely her in FIR, Ms. Khaira becomes accused and obviously evidence against a co-accused will be ruled out, as it is not admissible.
U.I.D.A.I is clearly making an effort by Government of India to try to deflect the press and public which has been continuously pointing out the dangers of U.I.D.A.I for years and an attack on the freedom of the speech and press and right to privacy being a fundamental right.
But then Modi Government does not believe in the freedom of press unless it is in its favour. Let me enlighten them as to what Nehru said, which portion was quoted by a former congressman who had been a Chief Minister and a governor to protest against curbing the press during Emergency. Of course he paid the price willingly by being arrested at the age of 83. He quoted what Nehru said. He said in his letter to Indira Gandhi. We regard Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru as one of the principal architects of Indian democracy. He used to say; “No one, however great he may be, should be able criticism.” It was he who had said about the freedom of the press:
“To my mind, the freedom of the press is not just a slogan from the larger point of view but it is an essential attribute of the democratic process. I have no doubt that even if the Government dislikes the liberties taken by the Press and considers them dangerous it is wrong to interfere with the freedom of the Press. By imposing restriction you do not change anything; you merely suppress the public manifestation of certain things, thereby causing the idea and thought underlying them to spread further. Therefore, I would rather have a completely free Press with all the dangers involved in the wrong use of that freedom than a suppressed or regulated Press.”
Rajindar Sachar
New Delhi
Dated:09/01/2018
