Expect the unexpected in my Journey: Drama Part 2

The drama

I myself considers to be very punctual n in fact i am. This morning is no exception. My flight is scheduled at half past noon. I reached the Airport by just seven past in the morning. This leaves me enough time leisure time while I wait the flight. As usual, i looked at the flight display information. I found that my flight information is no where to be seen. I went to an information desk and asked about it.
To my shock and surprise, the flight early morning at half past two. I searched for official of the airline but no one could be traceable. So the drama unfurled and I wrote this end at the end of day.

Dear Make My trip

I would like to bring to your attention on the following two broad headings.

Sub: Reschedule of the flight

I booked a round trip flight from Mumbai-Narita and Narita Mumbai bearing Booking ID: NN2301010373878 dated Fri 13 Feb 2015.  The fight details were

Fri 13 November 2015 from Mumbai to Narita departure scheduled at 12:25hrs. Accordingly, I reserved a taxi and train to travel from Pune to Mumbai to catch the fight. I arrived in Mumbai Airport at around 7:00AM early morning.

I looked at the diplay board and waited the flight information to be displayed. But it never got displayed and I inquired about the flight through one of the information desk at the Airport. To my utter shock and surprise, I was informed that the said flight departed early in the morning at around 2:30hrs.

I finally had to reschedule the flight and had to pay Rs. 12939 (Twelve Thousand Nine hundred and thirty nine only) as no show penalty and to reschedule charge.

IN this regard, I must inform you that the Rs. 12939 may be reimbursed as soon as possible as I have never been communicated on the reschedule (change in time of the departure) by your good office in any form (Telephone, SMS or Emai or otherwise) nor by the Airline. Therefore, I take no responsibility to bear the extra payment I made except I paid to just to depart at the earliest as this trip has been planned since January and I purchased the ticket by February. This message has been communicated to your staff through out the day very clearly and explicitly again and again and they also informed that if I am not at fault, the payment would be reimbursed. Therefore, your good office is kindly requested to immediately reimburse the amount and may fix the accountability as deemed fit.

Daylong harassment and mental torture

I must also bring in detail how I managed to get my flight itinerary.

As soon  as I realized that the flight has left, I called your call center (1-800-102-8747) to inform about the flight departure and seeking your office help to get me onto another flight.

First call receiver asked me to meet any Malaysian Airline staff in the Airport to discuss the matter agreeing that I was not served any notice or informed of the change and even he is unaware of the reschedule. Actually, I know that is not my responsibility to contact the Airline because I did not buy the ticket from Airline and Airline is only a third party. But as a matter of courtesy, I did try to contact the Airline but I was informed that since there was no other flight in the day, no staff of the said Airline would be available in the Airport.

I then made the second attempt to make call to your center and this time, it was picked by another male staff. He told me that, since its early morning and Airline office not yet open, I need to wait and in the mean time,  he will contact the Airline as soon as it is open and will get back to me. I waited almost till 11:00hrs. But he never contacted me.

I had to then make the third  call, I was greeted by female staff Named Neha. I had narrate everything from beginning to end, what happened. She kept me on hold for about an hour and told me that if I want to travel, I have pay little more than Rs. 20000 (Twenty Thousand) as a penalty for no  show and cancellation. To which I refused to pay first convincing her that I was not my fault as I was never informed of the change. She told me that it would be reimbursed if I am found not be liable and that is the only way she can reschedule my flight. I agreed to pay and asked her extension No. which she gave was 2484. Since, my  account did not have  that much money, asked my spouse to pay through her credit card.

Then I called your staff again to get connected to Ms. Neha. But I could never communicate to here thereafter. The call was received by staff Benjamin Ra and he tried to connect me with Neha but even after half an hour I could not get through. He then agreed to help me. I had to again tell every bit of the same  story to him. He kept me on hold for about 2 hours in total, spoke to his superior and Airline. He informed that I had pay the penalty just now as the case has not been verified. This, the amount was Rs. 12939. I tried but could complete the payment due to some technicalities. I told him to wait for some more time and he agreed.

After sometime, I managed to pay the amount Rs. 12939. By that time, I was past three in the afternoon. Since, I could pay the amount, I tried to contact him again but  the call was received by another male staff, so arrogant and disrespectful. I asked him to connect me to Mr. Benjamin since Mr. Benjamin has instructed me to pay the amount by sending me the payment link, the call receiver denied knowing anything about Benjamin and asked me to explain again. I explained everything to him and he kept me almost 20minutes on hold and demands that if I wish to travel, I must pay Rs.4501 or else go home. I pleaded with him and explained to him about the situation and payment advice I received from Mr. Benjamim. This caller made fun of me, talked to me the manner I don’t deserve as he talking as if I m his friend and we playing some game and transferred me to a new booking department and I had again explain everything from beginning, then he told that I was not in his area and refused any further conversation.

Thereafter, I tried to make to contact Mr. Benjamin but could not get through for about half and hour on waiting. By then it was almost 16hrs afternoon. I did not eat lunch not even got a chance to drink a cup of coffee was I was trying to get my issue addressed from early morning. With no further hope and continued harrasement I was searching to file a FIR with the police on this matter and also Tourism Department,  Mr. Banjamin called me and I reported to him about additional payment of Rs.4501 to which he said he has idea as I have made the full payment. If earlier caller did not laugh and joke at me, I would have paid the additional amount also.

Finally, Mr. Banjamin toward late evening informed me that the new ticket has be confirmed and upon the verification of the case, the penalty I paid would be reimbursed as early as possible.

In this regard, I would sincerely thank Mr. Benjamin Ra for his support to make my travel possible finally.

In this chain of events, I would like to inform your good office that I was literally harassed throughout the day  as each time I call, the call was  received by different person and had to explain again and again with almost no result except Mr. Benjamin’s effort. I felt emotionally black mailed by your office to demanding me to pay the penalty or else my trip will not be possible and felt cheated some of staff who tried to ask me to pay so much amount when I was in  such a desperate situation.

I thought that your good office good values and care for customer but now I completed regretted booking through your office and will never in my life time and my family’s lifetime would book any fight or transport of hotels as I have learned a lesson how bad many of your staff are in dealing with customers when we are really in need of your help.

It has been the worst kind of travel arrangement and dealing with such kind of staff in my life and I still feel hurt and mentally tortured the way your office did this to me.

Finally, I would once again reiterate that neither your office nor the airline as ever notified me of the change in departure. And for me, as a travel agent  to whom I bestowed my trust and booked my ticket, you are liable reimburse the penalty I paid today as I  am not at all defaulter and also I paid for your services and it is your duty to inform me of any such changes as it involves lot of effort and expenses for as individual.

Yours Sincerely

Expect the unexpected in my Journey: Drama Part 2

The drama

I myself considers to be very punctual n in fact i am. This morning is no exception. My flight is scheduled at half past noon. I reached the Airport by just seven past in the morning. This leaves me enough time leisure time while I wait the flight. As usual, i looked at the flight display information. I found that my flight information is no where to be seen. I went to an information desk and asked about it.

Expect the unexpected in my Journey: Drama Part 1

Good or bad, my travels are always surrounded some sort unexpected happening. Early morning today, I began yet another journey. A journey I planned months back. I unplugged the gas, tight the water taps, packed my things n put out the light. I embarked my journey, the final longest vacation. I was off to Tokyo, the nation with silence n no smiles from a chaotic n often too noisy where public privacy is negligible and chaotic is a norm of th community, the city of PUNE.

This journey is nothing different except one of the longest flight journeys I would travel. The driver who picked me n dropped me at the train station was so gentle and he lifted my mood.


After listening to fans supposedly serve as air condition I arrived my destination, Dadar. I booked a cab online to avoid the drama of regular cabs at stations who often serve more like legal robbers than cab driver. The cab was confirmed and I called the driver. He picks up the phone and replies "I am not coming' and that's it. The next option is to take local taxis. A man comes and convinced me that he will travel by meter system. I agreed and another driver negotiates with him and I was dumped in other cab. The driver looks very young and thug type, normally would describe him as bhai. He asked me to give two five hundred notes to exchange with his thousands note. I relied " sorry I don't have" but he keeps on insisting until I told him that why should I carry Indian notes when I travel abroad. He then asked me to show him some foreign notes. I denied having any. I did have but knowing how this society is, I his those notes in a different purse. I told him, I use credit card and don't carry any currency. Be then tells me that since his car is Air Conditioner and would charge me 800 which could be three or four times the norm rate. Instantly, I got out of the vehicle and travelled in another car. The driver to that cab had no respect for his customers from the way he drives and seems life is nothing to him. I was finally relieved that I reached the airport well in advance. The two drivers already disturbed my mood not realizing that I would be spending the entire day in this Airport with drama and trouble. And i would be stranded in this Airport for 19hours and another 13hours in Kuala Lumpur Airport.

Expect the unexpected in my Journey: Drama Part 1

Good or bad, my travels are always surrounded some sort unexpected happening. Early morning today, I began yet another journey. A journey I planned months back. I unplugged the gas, tight the water taps, packed my things n put out the light. I embarked my journey, the final longest vacation. I was off to Tokyo, the nation with silence n no smiles from a chaotic n often too noisy where public privacy is negligible and chaotic is a norm of th community, the city of PUNE.

This journey is nothing different except one of the longest flight journeys I would travel. The driver who picked me n dropped me at the train station was so gentle and he lifted my mood.

Language is not born with all terms and phrases but developed through use. Dzongkha is not exception

BBS news reads “The discussion lasted around four hours” and title of the news “Has Dzongkha Improved? And news ends with nothing conclusive. Didn’t BBS realize our Hon’ble MPs spent not hours but days creeping about their own entitlements. We are not having a classroom discussion but a Parliament on National Language. If anyone finds four hours discussion on our national language to be something too long, definitely its a worrying trend that is
shown even by our national public broadcaster and their perception on our national language.
The report furthers seems to convey that Dzongkha is becoming useless since we use English everywhere and its standard is enough. Are we serious? Honestly, ask ourselves, how many of our MPs can speak in the parliament raise one issue without flipping up and down through English-Dzongkha Dictionary in the Parliament searching words and phrases. Some even struggle to read basic sentences in Dzongkha which is telecast live. And how many of our Bureaucrats, corporates, even our senior officers who are considered to be elite and highly educated can conduct one simple meeting completely in Dzongkha without the help of English jargons which are often archaic words they learnt in 1980s or 70s some of which no longer live in English Dictionaries. The reality is that if we write a single phrase in English, there would be countless corrections and if we write in Dzongkha, often there will not be a single comment because no one is even bothered to read.
Now, English!! Do we really think we Bhutanese are good in English? How good is our English? Do we ever ask ourselves which English we are using, British, American, Australian, Indian or mixed? We would only realize when we actually talk with the foreigners that our English is not as good as we may presume from those who think they are perfect in English. The reality is that our English has not been recognized by anyone, no institutions, not even our neighbouring countries like India, Sri Lanka, or Bangladesh or even countries like Japan and Thailand where English is rarely used even as a basic form of communication.
Even after more than half a century of our entire education in English medium has not been able to convince single nation in the world which recognized our English without showing them one of the certificates of international English Testing Institutions (IELTS, TOFEL, GMATS etc) even for obtaining visas.
India is not only a nation with billion people but also is a nuclear power nation with one of the fastest growing economy in the world with half of Billion of them speak English, to be precise British English and their English is recognized by many countries and renowned universities where they can apply without any English Test certificates like us, the Bhutanese. But, if we look at their strength in Hindi and their Regional Languages, its exceptionally impressive. From the greatest lawyers, Judges to scientist, Doctors to Politicians, Business Tycoons to Celebrities, everyone can and prefer to communicate in their own Language and their whole education system and official correspondence are still done in Hindi or their Regional Languages. So is true for all our neighbouring countries, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan, you name it.
Unlike other countries, our only identity to show to rest of the world is our culture and identity and language is the soul of our culture and tradition. We have nothing else than this.
Therefore, unless we start to use it, Dzongkha will in few decades die a slow, painful and natural death and may remain as a mere symbolical language with monastic bodies. If we use it, there is no way that we can’t have adequate terms and phrases. We must remember that English is still evolving Language and has borrowed millions of words from various other languages to evolve to this level.
With my stay being away from Bhutan for years have convinced me even more how important is our culture and language. Any stranger we meet, the first question is, where are we from and next is often what language and ask us to teach them.
The bottom line is that, if we stop today, tomorrow will not be far where its extinction would happen before we even realize.
Note: I know many readers would have already saw, so many mistakes in what I have written, because it's written in English. But if I have written in Dzongkha, I am quite sure, there won't be any comments because, most won't bother to look at it, forget about reading.

Language is not born with all terms and phrases but developed through use. Dzongkha is not exception

BBS news reads “The discussion lasted around four hours” and title of the news “Has Dzongkha Improved? And news ends with nothing conclusive. Didn’t BBS realize our Hon’ble MPs spent not hours but days creeping about their own entitlements. We are not having a classroom discussion but a Parliament on National Language. If anyone finds four hours discussion on our national language to be something too long, definitely its a worrying trend that is

My time pass

My time pass

Lost of trust

Teachers are considered our second parent n worshipped through our life as those who open our eyes to the world. Education Ministry banned even corporeal punishment, and  now a teacher murders an innocent soul. Very unfortunate. We can neither bring her back to life nor share the life long emotional sorrows n torture her parents would undergo. But we hope that, rest of teachers in the country wud support in condemning this brutal n ruthless murder n bring justice to her n not shield the murderer. No amount of explanation would validate such action even if she was the worst student. May her rest in peace n our condolences to her family.

Lost of trust

Teachers are considered our second parent n worshipped through our life as those who open our eyes to the world. Education Ministry banned even corporeal punishment, and  now a teacher murders an innocent soul. Very unfortunate. We can neither bring her back to life nor share the life long emotional sorrows n torture her parents would undergo. But we hope that, rest of teachers in the country wud support in condemning this brutal n ruthless murder n bring justice to her n not shield the murderer. No amount of explanation would validate such action even if she was the worst student. May her rest in peace n our condolences to her family.

My College

I m learning law here 

My College

I m learning law here 

Rule of Law

 Introduction

Politicians, lawyers, economists and policy-makers often use the term “rule of law” to characterize a certain type of legal-political regime. As the pace of globalization has increased in the past two decades, many developing countries have prioritized their policy agendas to promote the rule of law. 

2   Meaning of Rule of Law

The rule of law does not
have a precise definition, and its meaning can vary between different nations and legal traditions. Generally, however, it can be understood as a legal-political regime under which the law restrains the government by promoting certain liberties and creating order and predictability regarding how a country functions. In the most basic sense, the rule of law is a system that attempts to protect the rights of citizens from arbitrary and abusive use of government power.

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3.       Dicey’s Concept of Rule of Law

Dicey said in 1885, Rule of Law means “the absolute supremacy or predominance of regular law as opposed to the influence of arbitrary power and excludes the existence of arbitrariness of prerogative or even wide discretionary authority on the part of the government. According to Dicey,  Englishmen were ruled by law and law alone and he denied that in Britain the Government was based on exercise by persons in authority of wide discretionary power.

4.       Features of Dicey’s Rule of Law
Dicey’s Rule of Law is one of the most widely accepted concept on Rule of Law. He has put forth three concepts.

a. Doctrine of Supremacy of Law: 

According to Dicey, law is the supreme  and no one can be punished if he has not breached any regular law as opposed to arbitrary use of power. Supremacy of Law' is the central and most characteristic feature of Common Law. Law is the absolute supreme and predominant as opposed to influence of arbitrary power or discretionary power.English men are ruled by the Rule of Law and law alone. A man can be punished by rule of law, and by nothing else. According to Professor Wade" Government is a subject of the Rule of Law, rather than the law being a subject of the Government"

b. Doctrine of Equality: 
 Equality  before law or the equal subjection of all classes to the ordinary law of the land administered by the ordinary law court. In Britain, he maintained, every person was subject to one and same body of law. He criticized the system of Droit Administratif prevailing in France where there were separate administrative tribunals for deciding cases between  the government and the citizens. He went on to assert that in Britain there was no administrative law. The idea of having separate bodies to deal with disputes in which Government is concerned and keeping such matters out of the purview of the common courts and was unknown to the law of Britain, and indeed was fundamentally inconsistent with the English traditions and customs.
c. Predominance of of Legal spirit
Rights (such as right to personal liberty, freedom from arrest etc.) are the result of judicial decisions in England.The rights are a result of court judgements rather than from being enshrined in the Constitution. The Constitution is a consequence (and not the source) of the rights of the individuals. Thus, Courts are the guarantors of the liberty. Rights would be secured more adequately if they were enforceable in courts rather than just being written in the Constitutional document. Mere incorporation in a written constitution is of no use in the absence of effective remedies of protection and enforcement.

b.       Impact of Dicey’s Rule of Law on Administrative Law in Britain-He is Rule of Law has tremendous impact on the administrative law emergence in Britain.

c.        Advantages of his Rule of Law-

i.                     It has given the those countries following common law system, a philosophy to curb the government’s power and to keep it within its bounds ie. It has provided a sort of touchstone or standard to judge and test administrative law prevailing in the country at a given time.

ii.                   Since, traditionally, it denotes absence of arbitrary powers and therefore, one can denounce  the increase of arbitrary or discretionary powers of the administration and advocate controlling it through procedures and other means,

iii.                 Since it is relate with supremacy of courts, judicial control of administrative action is the pivot of administrative law in Britain even today.

iv.                 The principle implicit in the rule of law that the executive must act under the law, and not by its own decree or fiat, is still a cardinal principle of the common law system. Executive is regarded as not having any inherent powers of its own but all its powers flow and emanate from the law, a principle which plays such a vital role in all democratic countries of today.

v.                   It also serves as the basis of judicial review within the limits of law and does not overstep the same. In reality, it is viewed as a system of control of administrative power, it can be asserted that administrative law does not infringe but on the other hand promotes rule of law.

d.       Disadvantages of Dicey’s Rule of Law

i.                     For long time, his Rule of Law generated a sense of complacency in the British people so that they failed to see the emergence of administrative law as such till they were rudely as subject of study came on the scene quite late in the day.

ii.                   A grave defect in his Rule of Law was his inconsistence on the absence not only of arbitrary but even of discretionary power inescapable.

iii.                 One of the greatest defects  has been its misplaced trust in the efficacy of judicial control as a panacea for all evils, and somewhat irrational attitude generate towards the French System.

iv.                  It is widely believed that mere court review cannot supply an effective control-mechanism over the activities of administration and that some principles of droit administratif  should be incorporated within the common law system to have an effective control-mechanism over administration.

5.       Rule of Law India

The concept of Rule of Law is invoked often to convey the sense that the administration cannot exercise arbitrary powers and that it should function according to law.

Rule of Law permeates the entire fabric of the Constitution and indeed forms one of its basic features. The necessary element of rule of law is that the law must not be arbitrary or irrational and it must satisfy the test of reason.

Justice Khanna stated “Rule of Law is the antithesis of arbitrariness. Rule of law is now the accepted norm of all civilized societies. Indian constitution provides the rule of law in India. Rule of law serves the needs of people without undoubtedly infringing their rights. It recognizes the social reality and tries to adjust itself from to time avoiding authoritarian path. Rule of law under the Constitution has the glorious content. It embodies the concept of the law under the Constitution has the glorious content.

It embodies the concept of law involved over concept of Rule of Law accepted by our Constitution.  One of the aspects of Rule of Law is that every executive action if it operates to the prejudice of any person, must be supported by some legislative authority.

Principles of Rule of Law and due process are closely linked with human rights protection. Such rights ca be protected effectively when  a citizen has recourse to the courts of law. Failure to accord fair hearing either to the accused or prosecution violates even minimum standards of due process of law (Zahira Habibulla H. Sheikh v. State of Gujrat AIR 2004 SC 3114)

Obligation to act fairly on the part of administrative authorities was evolved to ensure Rule of Law and to prevent failure of justice. This is a doctrine which the  quasi-judicial authorities are also bound to observe. (Haryana Finance Corporation v. Jagdamba Oil Mills AIR 2002 SC 834)

The High Court is required to enforce Rule of Law, it is  therefore cannot pass order or direction contrary to what has been injuncted by law  (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation v. Ashrafulla Khan AIR 2002 SC 629)

Constitution envisages a rule of law and not a rule of men. It recognizes that howsoever high one may be, he is under the law and constitution. All the constitutional functionaries must therefore, function within the constitutional limits. (Pancham Chand v. State of H.P. (2008) 7 SCC 117)

Thus, the concept of Rule of Law in India is dully recognized by the Constitution and is firmly established by judicial pronouncements.

6.       Conclusion

As evidenced by the failure to arrive at a precise definition, the rule of law is a complicated theory. As much as it embodies politics and the ideals of democracy, an in-depth understanding of the theory must include the law’s interaction with language, history, social structure, and culture. Importantly, the rule of law is more than just a set of rules and their judicial application. As a much-advocated theory in development studies, the rule of law is also a matter of policymaking, institutional development, and international politics.

 DISCLAIMER

The  above  publication is an academic note prepared for my Semester exam on Administrative Law. Most of the parts in this are either direct reproduction from various books or online sources and sources are not cited here. The major source for this article is from Principle of Administrative Law by M.P. Jain (Jain and Jain). Therefore, the author here bears no responsibility for any suits against  plagiarism or not citing references. Further, readers may only use this article to understand the concepts given here for their  self purpose and not for any commercial purpose. The author takes no responsibility on matters arising out of any use except for personal reading and understanding of the concepts provided here. 

Rule of Law

 Introduction

Politicians, lawyers, economists and policy-makers often use the term “rule of law” to characterize a certain type of legal-political regime. As the pace of globalization has increased in the past two decades, many developing countries have prioritized their policy agendas to promote the rule of law. 

2   Meaning of Rule of Law

The rule of law does not

Balancing the two: The Freedom of Press and Person's Right to Honour and Reputation

The latest unfurling of the news of Penden Cement Authority Limited suing Kuensel  for defamation is unfortunate considering Kuensel as not only  the oldest national print media  but also most read, reputed and with fairly trained reporters. But it is worth dwelling on this issue of defamation as it encompasses, the Freedom of Press, the Right to Information versus the  Protection of Privacy and Reputation of a person All these rights and protections are enforced against the state and enshrined in the constitution. They look  inseparable
yet there does exist a thin line between them.  These rights must co-exist in a balanced way for any democratic values to thrive and promote democratic culture of Freedom of Speech and Expression to achieve the visions and gifts from the throne, the model democracy.

It is therefore, that the media  to be positive of such steps from public so long as they have published the true and correct statements. It is because, the main role of media is not to be a mouth piece of government  or selected parties but an ear and eyes of people where people are  informed of state's polices and use of public funds by any public agencies, government owned, semi-government or private if they use tax payer's money. At the same time, media must remind themselves through not only government regulations but through self censure to avoid publishing any facts or issues which might lower someone's honour or reputation. It is the responsibility of the media houses to verify and re-verify the facts and figures before it is published because with a single publication can cause irreparable loss to the reputation of a person.

Defamation is a ground on which a constitutional limitation on right to freedom of expression can be curtailed under Article 7(22) of the Constitution through a legislative process or even by the judiciary thought judicial activism by expanding the scopes  or interpreting the provisions of of fundamental rights and their limitation. There is not a single fundamental right which is absolute .

According to Black's Law Dictionary, Defamation is defined as "The offense of injuring a person's character, fame, or reputation by false and malicious statements". Defamation is both a crime as well as a civil wrong or tortious act. Therefore, an aggrieved party may sue either way. If the aggrieved party wants to sue the  accused through criminal procedure, it will come under Penal Code of Bhutan where the prosecutor must prove all the elements beyond reasonable doubt  where as accused has right to take defense of any exceptions in the law. By applying the rule of interpretation, the laws must be interpreted most restrictively to benefit the accused and where intention is important element to be proven for conviction, though intention can also be direct or implied intention.

However, if the aggrieved party chooses to sue it through the law of tort, defamation refers to false statements about a person, communicated as a fact to one or more other persons by an individual or newspaper, magazine or any person causing damage  or harm to another person's reputation in anyway. The defence of malice intent or malafide intention is immaterial so long as there is lowering of the reputation, thereby suffers any injury. The decision of the case is not based on law but on  ratio decidendi or Legal precedence as there are no civil laws on this in Bhutan.  Since, the case is already filed, I would not dwell on this further. No body knows, who is right and wrong in this instant case untill we have entire facts and circumstances in front of us.

The issue here is not who is right or wrong but how media should conduct in such a fast flowing information era. Media will be bombarded with enormous information on the one hand but on the other hand, how much of that information is credible and true must be the duty of the media to filter and disseminate to the public. Bhutanese media being fairly young,  the reporters are often dictated by hectic datelines, limited sources of news in such a small peaceful nation, does build up enough pressure on the journalist in the fields  and some mistakes  are bound to happen unintentionally or otherwise. The editors are therefore,  there to filter those news and if required ask the reporters to do some more research and interviews than to publish with the limited information fed in by the reporter to meet the datelines.  Even a large and democratic countries like India, journalist and media organization are often the  ones sued for defamation by individuals or corporates  amounting to loss of millions and even billions of Rupees as fines and penalty for a single mistake. For instance, Times Now, a TV News Channel in  India ended up paying over Rs.500 million  for mistakenly showing a photo of renowned Retired Justice of Indian Supreme Court  on a bribery case who sued them for Rs.1000 million as damages.

Media must have right to information and freedom of press as provided under the Constitution but also must exercise these rights and freedoms more cautiously as there exist a very small line between violation of some one's privacy or reputation which are equally important as freedom of press. Publishing a true statement is never a defamation and media should never take that as an excuse to refrain from reporting whom they may be affiliated or afraid because they are powerful.  It is therefore, imperative that media must perform with caution to avoid any false or untrue facts and  figures which could affect someone's reputation otherwise, we would expect more and more allegations of defamation from both natural and legal persons.

Balancing the two: The Freedom of Press and Person's Right to Honour and Reputation

The latest unfurling of the news of Penden Cement Authority Limited suing Kuensel  for defamation is unfortunate considering Kuensel as not only  the oldest national print media  but also most read, reputed and with fairly trained reporters. But it is worth dwelling on this issue of defamation as it encompasses, the Freedom of Press, the Right to Information versus the  Protection of Privacy and Reputation of a person All these rights and protections are enforced against the state and enshrined in the constitution. They look  inseparable

Too Many for Too Few: People vs People's Representatives

This week, a news came that the Local Government has proposed for reduction of number of gewogs in the country. It is definitely a good news for small country like Bhutan where public resources could be saved for developmental activities than feeding few local leaders. The sacrifice is worth taking and we would appreciate that such moves should be taken by
the citizens as it is in the best interest of the country.

NOW, the next question is, SHOULDN'T THE NUMBER OF MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT IS NOT TOO MANY? SHOULD WE REDUCE THE NUMBER OF PARLIAMENT TOO?
These are basic questions we should ask as each MP cost the public exchequer to a great extent considering the huge expenditure for their election from campaign funds to training our election officials, their expenditure and people's wastage of time and resource.  A brief analysis of cost of each MP and comparative analysis of MP to citizen is given below:

MP ratio to Citizens with population

Bhutan: Total population in 2015 is just over 0.76 million as per National Statistical Bureau.
For every sixteen thousand (16000) Bhutanese, there is one Member of Parliament.

India: Total Population in 2014 is 1296 million.
For Every 2.3 million Indians have one Member of Parliament (Total electted MPs is 550)

USA: Total Population in 2014 is 318 Million
For every 0.7 Million American, there is one Representative in the House of Representative (Total Representative is 435)

Bangladesh : Population in 2014 is 158 million
For every 0.5 million Bangladeshi, there is one Member of Parliament (Total MPs is 300)

Japan: Population in 2014 is 127 Million
For every 0.3Million  Japanese , there is one Representative (Total Representatives is 475)

Expenditure for each MP in Bhutan
The unaudited report by the Election Commission of Bhutan revealed that, total expenditure incurred for Second Parliamentary Election was Nu.382 which is about 5.7 Million for each Member of Parliament including the National Council.

A national newspaper, The Bhutanese revealed that each Member of Parliament receives approximately Nu. 123000 per month (Annually Nu.1.4 Million) and total of Nu.7 million in five years excluding their retirement benefits and tax free vehicle quota where normally they buy expensive Prado Land Cruisers). This also exclude all other expenditures like travelling entitlements within and outside travels, staff and office expenses while in office including office rents and utility bills etc.

Considering all these huge expenditure on the public money and country's population, it may be more necessary to review the requirement of such a huge number of members in the Parliament. For example, Delhi is one of the smallest Union Territories with a population of 18.2 million population  has only 70 Members of the Legislative Assembly which means for MP to Population ratio is 1:0.2million population.

Bhutan as a small nation with very small economy, strong community vitality and oneness in the country, maintaining a small parliament which may be about 30 nos would do more than enough  as we would still have for every thirty thousand  of population would have at least one Member of the Parliament to represent them. Such move also ensure more credible candidates as competition in the political becomes more difficult and people will  have better choices which would ultimately benefit the citizens and the country. 

Too Many for Too Few: People vs People's Representatives

This week, a news came that the Local Government has proposed for reduction of number of gewogs in the country. It is definitely a good news for small country like Bhutan where public resources could be saved for developmental activities than feeding few local leaders. The sacrifice is worth taking and we would appreciate that such moves should be taken by

First Judicial Activism in Bhutan: Public Interest Litigation

 With the adoption of the Constitution, the separation of power among the legislature, the executive and judiciary clearly defined and thus, these three branches of the government are independent of each other.  The role of judiciary is interpreting the laws enacted by the legislature.  However, judiciary is also one of the sources of laws in the country in the form of judicial precedents, writs or guidelines. This is often described as the judicial activisim. The scope of judicial activism has

TREAT THEM EQUALLY, NO NEED OF PROTECTION

Today is the International Day of Woman. It is observed every year on 8^th March. First let’s, agree that without woman, there can be no man and without man, there can be no woman as well. Thus, now, who is more important, who is more superior?  The answer is simple, no one. This means, we should accept the both as equal and same and deserves same treatment and equality. If we as man want respect from woman, love from
woman, care from woman and so let’s reciprocate them in the same manner. If we do as men, they would do as women.

Personally, I have never supported any form of manly superior mindset towards woman and certainly not any form of violence towards any woman.  I will never tolerate any form of violence against any woman what may the reasons be more so in my own family. Let’s make it happen from our own houses.

Let’s as man, first learn to appreciate the wisdom and non-violent element in every woman which are inherent and embedded in their blood. All men love our own mothers and female in our own family and exceptions are rare. If we can change our mind to do the same to rest of woman in the society, we don’t have to talk about woman’s protection. This year’s theme is “MAKE IT HAPPEN”. Thus, everyman,  join our hands to love every woman and treat them equally, it does not cost anything, just a little more emotion and love in our hearts “we can make it happen.”

In Bhutan, thanks to every Bhutanese parents though they are also old  and traditional. Our old parents have not seen cars till 1960s and  heard of mobile phones till early 2000,  and internet and television till late 1990s. Yet, Bhutanese parents have such open hearts and liberal thinking that they have accepted the sea change in life style of our young people both men and women from way of thinking to styles of wearing modern dresses. I feel proud of our nation and our people though we still have some inequality between men and women which is negligible compared any of our neighbouring countries. We are fortunate in Bhutan where cast, race, colour etc have become story of the past. However, we still have some discrimination against woman including people's perception on woman's ability to lead nation and many such platforms. We must as a society must learn to make this happen. Palden Drukpa Gyalo.

To my loving gentle wife and woman in my family, I have respected every one of you and loved you all with not a pinch of violence in my life because you all treated me the same. 

TREAT THEM EQUALLY, NO NEED OF PROTECTION

Today is the International Day of Woman. It is observed every year on 8^th March. First let’s, agree that without woman, there can be no man and without man, there can be no woman as well. Thus, now, who is more important, who is more superior?  The answer is simple, no one. This means, we should accept the both as equal and same and deserves same treatment and equality. If we as man want respect from woman, love from

The review on the banned documentary in India dedicated to Woman

The 8^th March is every year is observed as the International Women’s Day. This year, India made the international headline after the ban on a documentary produced by BBC “India’s Daughter” a dramatization documentary on the 2012 Delhi gang Rape known as Nirbhaya case or India’s daughter. This case has led to one of the biggest public demonstration seeking justice and protection all women in India. It also led to the amendment of the Indian Penal Code on definition of rape.  BBC previously scheduled to telecast the documentary in India on 8^th March which later
rescheduled and was telecast in UK on 4^th March.

I had the opportunity to watch this film on internet and was moved by the documentary. The story was such that, it gives every man to reflect on our instinct and conscience as a physically strong animal as opposed to woman who are physically weak. The documentary pinches heart of the man how we treat our woman in the society. When the accused said, “I didn’t know what was coming out of her body, may her intestines” I was shattered there and felt so ashamed of this barbarous and heinous act as a man. Oh my god!!! Are we really human being? In this case, man has turned into a monster that is worse than any animal. The unimaginable barbaric instinct overtook the human insight and conscience.

I was even more ashamed of the accused and the defending counsels description on the woman. The accused seems to still stand by his heinous instinct with not repentance and defense counsels with no consciousness in their mind.  Being a lawyer and having studied about what is justice and what is equality, this is definitely an outrageous comment from such a foul mouth. These are people who are custodians of equity and justice, moral and protection in the society seems lack the basic human values of right to life and right to liberty.  The Article 14 of Indian Constitution guarantees the fundamental right of equality irrespective of cast, sex, race or colour. These lawyers are supposed to uphold those values and principles and help the society to attain this very principles.

The views expressed by many others including formers justices, advocates etc however, did overshadowed the unimaginable standings of the accused and defending lawyer. The scene of huge protest over a month across India and very prompt action by police and amendment to the existing legislation were not only positive change but also embraces the importance and equality of woman in India.

Despite of losing the only child in their life, it is praise worthy that the victim’s parents are able to stay strong and voice their opinion on uplifting the morals of woman in India and remind the men on basic values of women and their existence.  However, going by some other reports, though the case was fast tracked and accused were all held guilty and sentenced to death, they are yet to have the first hearing in the Supreme Court of India. The father in NDTV said that they have been waiting for over one year since its appeal and Supreme Court has not conducted a single hearing on the case. If this report is true,  it’s a blow to Highest Court in the world’s largest democracy about its credibility and respect for woman and their response on such a murderous and heinous crime.

The documentary also provides a lot of insights into the delay of justice in India, failure on the judges to decide even the heinous crimes with much less time. It also hints, various reasons why rape is still very prevalent in Indian society and reports that every 20 minutes, there occurs a rape in India. A few days, back NDTV reported that there are 31000 rapes cases pending before the court even though they are supposed to be fast tracked. It reminds the any country with such cases and similar situations to rethink and reflect and introspection on what can be done.

The documentary also provides the scene of paradigm shift of Indian society from more traditional and conservative approach to modern and liberal society where Indian woman no longer need their husbands to feed them daily. Instead they could independently work and earn like any other man given the opportunity offered to man. It also shows, the confusion and pendulum of various societal thinking on where this pendulum should stop to the traditional patriarchal system or move towards modern India, the society of equality as provided under Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. It gives the insights into mind set of Indian man on woman. 

I am more amazed that, compared to our country, Indian society is much developed and exposed to modernity since 18th Century as opposed to Bhutan. Yet, the existence of child marriage, devadasy system (Where woman is supposed to offer sex to any person without resistance) and patriarchal system, honour killing still continues. 

After watching this documentary that I was born in such a nation where woman is treated far better compared to here and enjoy far more liberty and independence  and such heinous crimes are rare to be heard.Thanks to every Bhutanese parents though they are also old  and traditional where they have not seen cars till 1960s and  heard of mobile phones in 2003 and internet and television in only late 1990s. Yet, Bhutanese parents have such open hearts and liberal thinking that they have accepted the sea change in life style of our young people both men and women from way of thinking to styles of wearing modern dresses. I feel proud of our nation and our people though we still have some inequality between men and women which is negligible compared any of our neighbouring countries. We are fortunate in Bhutan where cast, race, colour etc have become story of the past. Palden Drukpa Gyalo. 

In short, the documentary is worth watching and should have been permitted in India and every man and woman must watch and reflect on such issues to build a society that is equal and safe for everyone.  

The review on the banned documentary in India dedicated to Woman

The 8^th March is every year is observed as the International Women’s Day. This year, India made the international headline after the ban on a documentary produced by BBC “India’s Daughter” a dramatization documentary on the 2012 Delhi gang Rape known as Nirbhaya case or India’s daughter. This case has led to one of the biggest public demonstration seeking justice and protection all women in India. It also led to the amendment of the Indian Penal Code on definition of rape.  BBC previously scheduled to telecast the documentary in India on 8^th March which later

She is made of numbers and I am made of words.

She is made of numbers and I am made of words.

Her nature of number, every time, she converses with him, behind her mind, she uses her ability of numbers, tries to reduce her complex thinking with equations that systematically arranges her thoughts, concisely describes her method and finally reduces her thought to most  accurate with elimination of all flaws except minor instrumental error of her electrolysis in her
cerebrum. She does this to convince him in the shortest time yet with the greatest outcome. Poor fellow he is, this makes him to get short of his word to the extent of bringing numbness in him being unable to even utter a word at times as he is totally lost in comprehending. His inability to respond to this rapid fire question make her to provide more confusing formula to the existing unresolved question.

Contrary to this, not realizing she is woman of number, his nature being a man of words, in his every conversation with her, he uses too lengthy  and complex sentences. These sentences are further loaded with too many grammatical twists, decorated by adjectives, nouns, pronouns, adverbs etc.With an intention to make it more simple and comprehensible to her, he lands up adding as much as antonyms and synonyms, phrases and frenzy jargon making like an essay with no punctuations and paragraphs or full stops to convince her in best possible way. This actually makes her utterly  and thoroughly confused with his side of conversation. It would been better if he possessed little poetic expression, he would be able  to lure here emotions and  roll back her confusion, make her understand what he actually meant considering her feminism. But this very essential elements, supposed to be possessing in a man of words is not only inadequate in him but completely absent in his genes. 

So,  the scenario here is, she wants to hear few words dipped in poetic ocean, yet he lands up using too plain and complex sentences without a drop of flowering words. His inability to listen to her soft and melodious words though too few, makes him the man of no listening. When this happens, it  raises her mercury higher and his confusion deeper. In such a situation, it is inevitable that, he gets lost in numbness and she boils like hot water.  

One might wonder, then how does these two people, one running clockwise and other running anti-clockwise co-exist ever in a life?. There is no secret to this co-existence. They use the basic principle of Electromagnetism, the principle of  "Like Poles Repel and Unlike Poles Attract". Even the Earth itself is held strongly by these two giant magnets located on opposite ends  of the globe with complete opposite properties. Yet they still hold the Earth because of their strong magnetic affinities. These two people though seems to possess two completely different complex nature, antagonistic and opposite thinking and behaviour, in actual sense, they have more magnetic force than the North and South Pole which binds them together. Their affinity of love and trust, care and respect, honesty and openess to each other, shadows all other evil elements, the differences lying between them, no matter what may come.  In the end, in their deep heart, there is a heavy magnet of unconditional love and dream of fairytale life like, the "Beauty and the Beast", together searching for a moment of joy, the moment  to hold eachother's hand,  embrace eachother for  every second of their life. Thus, its not their characters that binds them, it is their intimacy and soul that binds them against all odds of life. 

She is made of numbers and I am made of words.

She is made of numbers and I am made of words.

Her nature of number, every time, she converses with him, behind her mind, she uses her ability of numbers, tries to reduce her complex thinking with equations that systematically arranges her thoughts, concisely describes her method and finally reduces her thought to most  accurate with elimination of all flaws except minor instrumental error of her electrolysis in her

"Precedent"

The word 'Precedence" comes from the word "Precedent" which is often used by the courts called Judicial Precedent. However, at times, even in a small country like Bhutan where judiciary is still in the infant stage and so is democracy, the use of precedence seemed to be hijacking even some of the important decisions of the government and politicians.

Recently, RCSC used the term "Authorized Absence"
when the Cabinet Surrendered three Government Secretaries to the RCSC and when RCSC felt that cabinet did not complete the due process of law in surrendering the secretaries. RCSC used the authorized absence to secretaries which means they would not be in office till the investigation is completed but they would still receive their entitlements as usual. The rationale behind this was to prevent the possible interference by those secretaries while carrying out the investigation.
      Few weeks later, Office of the Attorney General, charged the Foreign Minister for alleged misuse of authority in the Lhakhang Karpo case while he was then Dzongdag. The Hon'ble Prime Minister borrowed the term "Authorized Absence" and send the Foreign Minister on Authorized Absence till the prosecution completes or the case is disposed citing that it was done to prevent possible conflict of interest as OAG is prosecuting the case.
    Few days after that, Anti-Corruption Commission issued a notice to the office of the Prime Minister and Haa Dzongkhag Administration to suspend the officials involved in the alleged corruption. Subsequently, Haa Dzongkhag suspended the officers where by they would now receive only 50% of the entitlements while FM continues to be on authorized absence with full entitlements.

   This has raised the eye brows of the public, outraged some and spark a huge debate both on mainstream media and social media. The PM's office argued that they are following the precedent set by RCSC, RCSC defended and argued that authorized absence was used because  the investigation of these officials are still going on unlike the Lhakhang Karpo case where investigation has already been completed. Whatever said and done, in the name of precedent, the people involved in the same crime are now seemed to have treated differently.

Thus, it brings the us to understand what really is "Precedent".  The Oxford Dictionary defines Precedent as "an earlier event or action that is regarded as an example or guide to be considered. in subsequent similar circumstance". Black's Law Dictionary defines as "A decided case that furnishes a basis for determining later cases involving similar facts or issues"  Thus, in short, precedent may be defined as judicial decision that is binding on the other equal or lower courts in the same jurisdiction on the point of law in the subsequent cases where the facts are sufficiently similar. 

The principle of precedent is supposed to be derived from doctrine of Stare Decisis which is based on the legal maxim "Stare decisis et non quieta movere" which means to stand by things decided and not to disturb settled point.Therefore, for a decision to be called precedent, the previous decision must have been settled law or principle. Second, the facts or the circumstance must be sufficiently similar to follow as precedent. A law or principle to be called settled law or principle, a case must have been decided by the court and that is why precedent is often described as the law made by the judges when there are no laws on such matters enacted by the legislature, in modern terms used as judicial activism. Therefore, it may be important to determine whether these  basic criteria for these doctrines are fulfilled or not. 

Thus, in cases that are criminal in nature, it may be of a grave concern for the  general public for the executives or politicians to come up with such principles and terms which are not explicitly given in any laws enacted by the parliament. With such emergence, people's faith in government vanishes and role of judiciary undermined. Public feel that there are two parallel laws operating on the same crime but for different people, the lower ranks and higher ranks. 

Further, precedent evolved and used mainly in common law system as they did not have written constitution and settling of law was found more suitable through the doctrine of precedent in United Kingdom. Other legal systems including United States of America and India has also adopted this principle in many cases where there was absence of laws governing such cases. However, with more laws enacted, many precedents got repealed. 

Article 7(15) of the Constitution states that "All persons are equal before the law and are entitled to protection of the law and shall not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, sex, language, religion, politics or other status". Thus, everyone should be treated equally before the law under the similar circumstances, Eg. a murder by Minister or Police officer or layman, they are to be treated equally before law because all of them have murdered a person.

In view of this, the Constitution also provides us the remedies to challenge any law or a decision of any entity including the laws enacted by the Parliament under Article 1(11) of Constitution where one can petition the Supreme Court for their interpretation and Supreme Court or High Court has vested with power to even issue various writs under the Article 21(10) of the Constitution.

It is therefore, now in the hands of the aggrieved parties to decide whether such precedents are valid or not. It can only be tested through the Supreme Court as it involves the question of law and validity of such decisions or laws.

"Precedent"

The word 'Precedence" comes from the word "Precedent" which is often used by the courts called Judicial Precedent. However, at times, even in a small country like Bhutan where judiciary is still in the infant stage and so is democracy, the use of precedence seemed to be hijacking even some of the important decisions of the government and politicians.

Recently, RCSC used the term "Authorized Absence"

A little more hardworking media is desired.

The recent news of surrender of Secretaries by the cabinet has generated lot of debate in the Bhutanese society, both online and in the mainstream media, questioning the powers of the Cabinet to independence of the constitutional bodies in the country. While, many including most media seemed  to have assumed that the Secretaries were ripped of their post, the Cabinet decision did not explicitly in anyway indicated that the Secretaries were ripped of their post as they have used only the word “Surrender” and not any other terms
mentioned in the laws and by laws related to bureaucrats such as "Dismissed, suspend, terminated" etc.  Further, Cabinet clearly stated that they were surrendered to the RCSC for action. Thus, it seems to indicate that, the onus for action was actually given to RCSC for taking action against  the alleged persons.And the Commission has not shied away from it, it has already looked into the case and came up with a decision. 

The RCSC has accordingly looked at the alleged failures on the part of these officials to take actions. RCSC being now one of the Constitutional Bodies is ought to follow the procedures laid down by the Constitution itself as well as laws enacted thereunder. The Commission has no authority is take any decisions without fulfilling the provisions of the laws of the country. Therefore, after looking at the case and laws in place, the Commission indicated that, there are few steps which the cabinet might have missed in their first instance which are essential for the Commission to take further action.

It does in no way seem that, RCSC is trying to act contrary to orders of the Cabinet nor seem to show its independence, instead it seems to show that every institution is respecting the Rule of Law, the cabinet as well the commission. The Commission has not throw the ball in Cabinet's court as speculated by the Kuensel Editorial, rather Commission has asked the Cabinet to provide some information to help the commission to take the next decision. Cabinet has not taken any decision that would let these senior officers to leave the service nor has the RCSC taken decisions that undermines the decision of the cabinet. There can be no perfect step in every decision. That seems to have happened between the cabinet and the RCSC which is quite well indicated by the cabinet as they assured willingness to work as per the decision of the Commission. This, rules out any indication of any tussle or negative perceptions on the power and functions of both the cabinet and the commission.  

Unfortunately, our media and many Bhutanese seemed to indicate and assume that these senior officers were terminated from the service by the cabinet and now  RCSC is protecting them by re-instating them into the service which is wrong. The issue seems to get politicized. There seems to be lack of adequate effort from media in understanding the Rule of Law in the country.Media must remember that by constitution, any allegation must have prima facie and decisions must in accordance with the due process of law. 

Bhutan is guided by the Constitution and every citizen has  a right of equal protection under the law. Thus, Rule of Law is the most fundamental element for any democracy to succeed. It is therefore, paramount that, every institution must function within the framework of the law. There may be instances where laws are interpreted differently by different individuals or groups of people. For that reason, the Supreme Court is instituted as the final interpreter of the laws in the country. Therefore, any person, legal or natural person has the right to approach the Supreme Court or also have the option of reconciling the differences in the best interest of the nation.

Civil servants are governed by two laws, the Civil Service Act which is enacted by the Parliament under the Article 26 of the Constitution and Bhutan Civil Service Act Rules passed by the Commission under various provisions of the Act. The termination of civil servant is an administrative decision and hence, there are administrative steps to be followed first and if any civil servant is not satisfied by the administrative decision, he or she also has the right to seek the justice through the court of law. There are steps to initiate any disciplinary action against any civil servant. By Constitution, every person is innocent until proven guilty. 

The administrative decisions are supposed to be taken on basis of principle of natural justice.  The principle of Audi alteram partem (Opportunity to be heard) being most important. Bhutan Civil Service Rule is based on this principle.  This principle is not mere about of hearing the other party, it is also about due process of law. Due process of law is defined as “the conduct of legal proceedings according to established rules and principles for the protection and enforcement of private rights, including notice and the right to a fair hearing before a tribunal with the power to decide the case” (Black Law Dictionary). It is therefore, nothing wrong with the Commission to ask the Cabinet to fulfill any procedure as Cabinet may not be aware of all the provisions of Civil Service Rules and also RCSC is the final interpreter of their Rules, so they can always ask parties to provide additional inputs.

However, the recent speculations and reports of media are not encouraging. Such reports could instil the sense among the general populations specially those ignorant of law that there is a chaos in the country between the politicians and the executive which is not the case. General population may think that, these institutions are working to oppose and undermine each other’s independency. Such reports, if continued over period of time, could set a bad precedence and wrong perception among the general population which could ultimately instil distrust  in the minds of the people about the institutions we have and above all, the special gift from the throne. We expect the media to be little more broad and liberal in such cases and handle with little more sensitively in the interest of the nation than grabbing onto creating headlines. The interest of the nation must override any individual benefits and interests.