How I loathe the fact that I sometimes must mention politics
on my blog. I have to then sit down and
write a few other blogs that act as an as antibiotic and as an antiseptic for
my blog.
The Government of India lost the taxation case to
Vodafone. The government then went all
sourpusses and redrafted the law with retrospective amendments with effect from
1961. The International community was
wondering if the Government of India has lost its marbles. Sure enough, the Government said that the law
will remain and as such provided the International community a certificate that
it had indeed lost its marbles.
The
International community decided to stop investing in India and the Indian rupee
proudly changed from Rs 44 / USD to Rs 68/USD.
Great. Good work. We Indians did to ourselves what Hitler did
to Poland.
Let us shift gears. Rapes
are rampant in India and we may soon have the dubious distinctions of being the
rape capital of the world. Today, A Civil
and Sessions Court in Bengaluru (Banglore) sentenced six persons to life term
for gang raping an undergraduate student of the National Law School of India
University (NLSIU) on October 13 2012. However,
The Government of India amended the rape laws only in early 2013. The prosecution wanted a tougher punishment
for these criminals but they could not invoke the amended laws on rape, as they
did not come with retrospective effect.
Let us talk common sense now. What will be more beneficial for this
country? Amending tax laws with
retrospective effect while earning the ire of the world business community and
bringing financial ruin on the country OR amending rape laws with retrospective
effect and assuring the people of this country that the Government is serious
about safety of its people?
The amendment of laws with retrospective effect exposes the
ethical code and value system that governs such actions. With the above actions, the Government of
India has given a message to the people of this country – “We will draft
retrospective laws to punish all those who are proven to be innocent and we
will draft tough prospective laws only for future criminals.”
This brings me to another issue. What is the basis of retrospective effect of
Laws? Under what circumstances must a
law be applied with retrospective effect?
I am not a lawyer, but here is my view –
A law must be applied with retrospective effect only if it
is moral to do so.
Is it moral to change the tax law because your Supreme Court
found them to be not liable for any tax?
Is it immoral to amend rape laws with retrospective effect so that all
the existing accused criminals get a more cracking whip?
Where is the “National Will” of this nation? I am reminded of a song by Bob Dylan. Below are a few lines:
Don't know how it all
got started
I don't what they're doing with their lives
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point of view
Tangled up in Blue
I don't what they're doing with their lives
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point of view
Tangled up in Blue
© Nitesh Kotecha
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