Trial of Saheed Bhagat Singh (a case that you should know )

Bhagat Singh At the age of 23, Bhagat Singh was hanged on 23 March 1931 along with revolutionaries Rajguru and Sukhdev.

Now, it has surfaced that his sentence was pronounced by the court, which did not have the approval of the legislature for its constitution. The death warrant issued for Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru was invalid. And, the trial violated the principle of natural justice.

WHY BHAGAT SINGH FACED TRAIL ?

Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929 in protest against the  Public Safety Bill. He also threw out some handwritten sheets to illustrate his demands.

It was a low-intensity bomb that was not intended to kill or injure any member of the Legislative Assembly. As soon as the explosion occurred, Bhagat Singh and BK Dutt stood there and later surrendered themselves to the police.

The trial began on 7 May before the British Magistrate BP Pool. Bhagat Singh and BK Dutt were represented by Advocate  Asif Ali, a member of the Indian National Congress, while public prosecutor Rai Bahadur was Suryanarayana. Stating that Bhagat Singh and BK Dutt "hurled bombs with the intent to kill or injure King Majesty's subjects", the judge framed the charges and presented the two revolutionaries to the Sessions Court under British Judge Leonard Middleton.

Some of the questions asked in court were:

Judge: ‘Were you present in the Assembly on the 8th of April, 1929?”

Bhagat Singh: ‘As far as this case is concerned, I feel no necessity to make a statement at this stage. When I do, I will make the statement.”

Judge: ‘When you arrived in the court, you shouted, “Long Live Revolution!”. What do you mean by it?’
then asif ali lawyer  of bhagat singh objected the question  and objection was sustained 



The two revolutionaries refused to cooperate in the trial, sparked by a false allegation by the police that Bhagat Singh opened fire in the Legislative Assembly. Bhagat Singh carried the pistol to the Central Hall but at the time of his arrest he handed it over to the police. Despite this, the court convicted him and sentenced him to life (14 years).

ANOTHER TRAIL FACED BY BHAGAT SINGH( LAHORE CONSPIRACY CASE)

But the British government was not satisfied with this alone. Bhagat Singh was linked to another case - the murder of British police officer John P. Saunders and head constable Chanan Singh. The police found their case based on similarities in the handwriting of leaflets thrown by Bhagat Singh in the Assembly Chamber and those found after the killing of Saunders at various places in Lahore.

This case is known as Lahore Conspiracy Case. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were prosecuted for the murder of Sanders and Chanan Singh. The trial in the Lahore Conspiracy Case started in Borstal Jail and was heard by first class Magistrate Pandit Shri Kishan, who was later conferred the title of Rai Sahab by the British Government.

HUNGER STRIKE IN JAIL BY BHAGAT SINGH, 

Kureh Khak hai Gardash main Tapash si Meri , Main Voh majnu huan Jo Jindan main Bhee Azad Raha sher written by -Saheed Baghat Singh in jailgh in jail

Meanwhile, Bhagat Singh and his colleagues started a hunger strike to protest the prisoners' living conditions in the jail. He and other revolutionaries refused to cooperate with the trial, which did not progress much after the framing of charges against him, despite the fabricated witnesses, the accused-confessors and the evidence leveled.

The British government was losing patience as Bhagat Singh's popularity was increasing despite being in prison. On May 1, 1930, Viceroy Lord Irwin promised an ordinance to set up a special tribunal to conduct the hearing of the Lahore Conspiracy Case.

On 7 October, three weeks before its term ended, the tribunal convicted Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru for the murder of Saunders and Chanan Singh.

WHY CONVICTION WAS ILLEGAL 

The entire case against Bhagat Singh was flawed. The FIR lodged in the murder of Saunders did not name the "two unknown" accused. Bhagat Singh was not named as an accused or suspect in the FIR. Even later his name was not added. It was only after the trial in the bomb case started that the British police linked him to the Lahore conspiracy case.

The ordinance that was brought to set up a tribunal to hear the Lahore Conspiracy Case never got the legislature's approval. Its period expired after the tribunal convicted Bhagat Singh. Under the provisions of the 1935 Act, an ordinance was required to procure the approval of the legislature.

The death warrant issued by the tribunal expired before being executed by Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru. The death warrant on which they were executed was not issued by the trial court, as the ordinance ended in its existence and did not receive legislative approval. Under the law, only the trial court was empowered to issue a death warrant. The death warrant thus issued and executed was invalid.


The trial against Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru declined the natural principle of justice. The accused were never presented before the tribunal. His defense was not heard. The defense counsel was not allowed to cross-examine approximately 450 prosecution witnesses. Only those witnesses who were allowed to cross-examine by defense counsel

जब एक मृत व्यक्ति ने राजीव गांधी विरुद्ध चुनाव लड़ा WHEN A DEAD MAN STOOD IN ELECTION AGAINST RAJIV GANDHI (FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA) LAL BIHARI CASE

 Lal Bihari has spent a significant part of his adult life being dead on paper. In fact he grew so used to his expired identity that he became known as Lal Bihari “Mritak” – “dead man.” In his village of Amilo, Uttar Pradesh, people on the streets simply call him “Mritak.”(dead man)

Bihari is not the only mritak. He is among the thousands who have been unlawfully registered as dead in government records by their relatives in order to capture their land and property. This often happens with the connivance of local officials.

Bihari fought for 18 years and managed to reclaim his identity in 1994. His fight hasn’t stopped. He became a full time activist to help those who face the same plight that he did – being stripped of an identity and land rights.

when Lal Bihari was 22 years old  went to a bank for loan against his ancestral property that initially belong to his father, is been told that is dead according to records and the land belongs to his uncle. This may sound odd to many but this had happened in one of villages of Azamgarh district, Uttar Pradesh. In 1977, when Lal Bihari (born in 1955) went approached the bank for loan, he has been declared dead over a year by the official sitting there. To regain his identity, Lal Bihari had to fight many odds and finally after 18years of struggle the court gave him his life back on paper. According to the government’s RTI responses to petitions filed by Bihari – the other was in 2008 and indicated that 335 dead people had been declared “alive” – over 500 people have been recognised as living individuals.

Acrimony and greed led members of same family declaring the other person dead so as to acquire the land and unscrupulous work by the lekpal (low-level bureaucrat) in maintaining the record books devoid a living person of Right to Life. This case brought into five major citation, those are, The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993;The Indian Penal Code; Article 21 in The Constitution Of India 1949;Section 36 in The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993;Section 14 in The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.

The chronology of events in Lal bihari case

Lal Bihari took 18 years to get his identity back.

Phase 1

Lal Bihari approaches his birthplace Khalilabad for residence, income and caste certificates as He needed them to get a bank loan for his handloom business. On his arrival at the tehsildar’s office, he came to know that he has been dead since 30th July, 1976. His relatives had bribed the khatuni (record keeper) to declare him dead on the official papers and transfer one-fifths of the land to them. Shocked and shattered with the news, he started a new phase of life, which was regaining his identity.

Phase 2

Lal Bihari kidnapped his nephew and sent his shirt drenched with animals blood available at butcher’s shop. But he let the child go to his parents when didn’t register any case against him. If nephew’s parents would have registered a case against him then he would had a proof of his identity. After his nephew returned home, an article appeared in a regional newspaper called Swatantra Bharat and after hearing upon the news an MLA raised a question in the UP Assembly.

Phase 3

Lal Bihari got married at a young age, and applied for a widow pension for his wife hoping the government would rectify the mistake upon seeing him alive, but this also went in vain.

Phase 4

At this point Lal Bihari started to give when a politician named Shyam Lal appeared as a Guru to him and advised him to openly call him “Mritak”, as the passerby made fun of his identity and cracked joke on his situation. This idea appealed him so much so that he started the Mritak Sangh, an association of the living dead. But there was one problem: it had no members except him.

Phase 5

As the drama spurred at the Assembly, Lal Bihari sat on dharnas outside the Assemby in Lucknow. And finally got a visitor pass to enter the assembly, and heroically stood up from his place and sang the slogan of “Mujhe zinda karo” while the assembly was in session. He had to be thrown out of the assembly. He even bribed a police officer with 500 Rupees to register a case against him but it went into vain.

Phase 6

 Lal Bihari sold his property to contest the 1988 Lok Sabha election from Allahabad against former Prime Minister VP Singh.Surprising even himself, he got about 1,600 votes. In 1989, he filed nomination papers against Rajiv Gandhi in Amethi and then promptly filed an application for countermanding the election, as he was dead. It was not countermanded, of course, but he got written about. In 1994, finally he was declared alive and got his identity back.

Now Mritak Sangh is a popular community, which helps other people like Lal Bihari to earn justice who have been declared dead by the family members in lure of property.

NOBEL PRIZE IN Peace – Presented to Lal Bihari, of Uttar Pradesh, India, for a triple accomplishment: First, for leading an active life even though he has been declared ,Legally dead; Second, to carry out a lively posthumous campaign against bureaucratic inertia and greedy relatives; And third, to form the Association of Dead People. Lal Bihari overcame the barrier of being dead, and managed to obtain a passport from the Government of India so that he could travel to Harvard and accept his award. However, the US government refused to allow them into the country. His friend Madhu Kapoor therefore came to the IG Nobel function and accepted the award on behalf of Lal Bihari. Several weeks later, Lal Bihari was presented the award at a special ceremony in India.

you can learn so many lessons from Lal Bihari's struggle but one thing you should learn that you cannot get everything in your life easily but you can get for sure what you deserves  if you are strong enough to fight with odd's in you life   

you can learn so many lessons from Lal Bihari's struggle but one thing you should learn that you cannot get everything in your life easily but you can get for sure what you deserves  if you are strong enough to fight with odd's in you life   

KNOW THE SYSTEM WHICH RUNS INDIA ( PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM OF INDIA)

PARLIAMENTARY  SYSTEM IN INDIA

PARLIAMENTARY FORM OF GOVT HAS BEEN THE KEY FEATURE OF INDIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM. ITS INCEPTION HAVING TAKEN PLACE UNDER THE BRITISH RULE ITSELF. IT BECAME AN ANNOUNCED POLICY UNDER THE GOVT OF INDIA ACT 1919 AND SUBSEQUENT ENACTMENTS. WHEN INDIA EMERGED AS INDEPENDENT NATION IN 1947 ,IT ALREADY HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF OPERATING PARLIAMENTARY INSTITUTION. BY PLANTING INSTITUTION AND PROCESS OF PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY IN INDIA, BRITISH RULERS HAD TRAINED THE INDIANS IN PARLIAMENTARIAN SYSTEM. WHEN INDIAN LEADERS WERE CALLED TO CHOOSE, A FORM OF GOVT THEY NATURALLY CHOOSE THIS FORM OF GOVT WITH WHOM THEY WERE FAMILIAR.THE POLITICAL REALITY APPEARS TO BE THAT INDIAN PSYCHE HAS FOUND ITSELF IN HARMONY WITH PARLIAMENTARY FORM OF GOVT. 

Parliamentary system having  two houses, a prime minister, and a President. .

Indian Parliament Structure

The Indian Parliament is broken down into three parts: president, Lower House, and Upper House. There's also a prime minister, who oversees the Upper House, that plays an important role in lawmaking.

The federal Parliament of India is based on the current British parliamentary system and thus is divided into three parts:

1. The President

The Indian president essentially signs bills into law or sends them back for reworking. The president is also chosen through an election by the members of parliament. The members of parliament are made up of both the Upper and Lower House. In the Lower House, the president appoints two out of the 552 members, while he appoints 12 of the Upper House's 250 members. The president must choose members that have shown honors or skill from a variety of backgrounds, such as science, literature, and the arts. It's normal for the president to be elected from one of the individuals in either the Upper or Lower House.

2. Lok Sabha/Lower House

The Lower House, Lok Sabha, is also known as the House of the People, and it - works for the people. The Lower House currently contains 545 members; however, it can have up to 552 members. 530 members to represent the States, 20 members to represent the Union Territories, and 2 members to be nominated by the President from the Anglo-Indian Community. The members are elected for terms of 5 years at a time, and they can be re-elected, but they don't have to be. Additionally, the age of each member has to be over 25 years old. The people voted into the Lower House must be broken down this way:

• 84 seats for ''scheduled castes''
• 47 seats for individual tribes of India
• 131 reserved seats

Additionally, the whole Lower House can be dissolved if the president and people believe it's necessary.

3. Rajya Sabha/Upper House

The Upper House essentially works for the Member States and has 250 allowed members, though currently they only have 245. Also called the Council of States, the Upper House is considered the less powerful house. This house can't be dissolved for any reason; however, a third of the members are required to retire every two years. This means there is a constant movement of people into the Upper House. Individuals that are elected can only stay within the Upper House for up to 6 years. The minimum age requirement for this house is 30 years old.

 Purpose ,Power and Functions of Indian Parliament

Each section of parliament is set up to take on different responsibilities, and yet they have to work together to make sure a law passes. Parliament makes law with the help of its both the houses. Laws passed by the parliament and approved by the president are enforced in the whole country.

Its powers and functions can be classified in to following heads:

(1). Legislative powers

(2). Executive powers

(3). Financial powers

(4). Constituent powers

(5). Judicial powers

(6). Electoral powers

(7). Other powers

1) Legislative Powers- All the subjects in our constitution are divided among state, union and concurrent lists. In concurrent list Parliamentary law is over riding than state legislative law. Constitution also have powers to make law with respect to state legislature in following circumstances:

(i).  When Rajya Sabha passes a resolution to that effect

(ii). When national emergency is under operation

(iii).When two or more states request parliament to do so

(iv). When necessary to give effect to international agreements, treaties and conventions

(v).  When President’s rule is in operation.

2) Executive Powers- According to parliamentary form of government executive is responsible to the parliament for its acts and policies. Hence parliament exercises control by various measures like committees, question hour, zero hour etc. ministers are collectively responsible to the Parliament.

3) Financial Powers- It includes enactment of budget, scrutinizing the performance of government with respect of financial spending through financial committees (post budgetary control)

4) Constituent Powers- Example - To amend the constitution, to pass any laws required

5) Judicial Powers- Includes;

(i).  Impeachment of President for violation of constitution

(ii). Removal of judges of Supreme Court and High court

(iii). Removal of Vice- President

(iv). Punish members for breach of privileges like sitting in the house when the member knows he is not an eligible member, serving as member before taking oath etc.

6). Electoral Powers- It has its participation in the election of President and Vice-President. The members of Lok Sabha elects speaker and deputy speaker from among its members. Similarly members of Rajya Sabha elects deputy chairman.

7). Other Powers-

(i).  To discuss various issues of national and international importance

(ii). Imposing emergency

(iii). Increase or decrease area, change names, alter the boundary of the states

(iv). Create or abolish state legislature    etc any powers can be added from time to time

Article 245 of the constitution declares that parliament may make laws for the whole or any part of the territory of India and a state legislature can make laws for the whole or any part of the state. Seventh Schedule of the constitution distributes the legislative powers between the centre and the state by putting subjects into Union List, State List and Concurrent List. The centre can make law on any of the subjects in the union list or in the concurrent list. The parliament can override the law of a state on a subject listed in concurrent list. In addition to these powers, the residuary powers are also vested with the parliament.

The constitution also empowers the Parliament to make law on a state subject in the following circumstances:

(i) When Rajya Sabha passes a resolution supported by two-thirds of the members present and voting

(ii) When a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation

(iii) When two or more states make a joint request to the parliament

(iv) When it is necessary for parliament to implement any international treaty, agreement or convention

(v) When President’s rule is in operation in the state

Executive Powers and Functions

In India, political executive is a part of the parliament. Parliament exerts control over the executive through procedural devices such as question hour, zero hour, calling attention motion, adjournment motion, half-an-hour discussion, etc. Members of different political parties are elected/nominated to the parliamentary committees. Through these committees, the parliament controls the government. Committee on ministerial assurances constituted by parliament seeks to ensure that the assurances made by the ministries to parliament are fulfilled.

Article 75 of the constitution mentions that the council of ministers remains in office as long as it enjoys the confidence of the Lok Sabha. The ministers are responsible to the Lok Sabha individually and collectively. Lok Sabha can remove the council of ministers by passing a no confidence motion in the Lok Sabha.

Apart from that, the Lok Sabha can also express lack of confidence in the government in the following ways:

(i) By not passing a motion of thanks on the President’s inaugural address.

(ii) By rejecting a money bill

(iii) By passing a censure motion or an adjournment motion

(iv) By passing a cut motion

(v) By defeating the government on a vital issue

These powers of parliament help in making government responsive and responsible.

Financial Powers and Functions

Parliament enjoys the supreme authority in financial matters. Executive cannot spend any money without parliament’s approval. No tax can be imposed without the authority of law. The government places the budget before the parliament for approval. The passage of the budget means that the parliament has legalised the receipts and expenditure of the government. The public accounts committee and the Estimates committee keep a watch on the spending of the government. These committees scrutinize the account and bring out the cases of irregular, unauthorised or improper usage in public expenditure.

In this way, parliament exerts budgetary as well as post-budgetary control on the government. If the government fails to spend the granted money in a financial year, the remaining balance is sent back to the Consolidated Fund of India. This is known as ‘rule of lapse’. This also leads to increase in expenditure by the end of the financial year.

Judicial Powers and Functions

judicial powers and functions of the Parliament are mentioned below;

(i) It has the power to impeach the President, the Vice-President, the judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court.

(ii) It can also punish its members or outsiders for the breach of privilege or its contempt.

Electoral Powers and Functions

The electoral powers and functions of the parliament are mentioned below;

(i) The elected members of the parliament (along with state assemblies) participate in the election of the President

(ii) All the members of the parliament participate in the election of the Vice-President.

(iii) The Lok Sabha elects its Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

(iv) The Rajya Sabha elects its Deputy Chairman.

(v) Members of various parliamentary committees are also elected.

Constituent Powers and Functions

Only parliament is empowered to initiate any proposal for amendment of the constitution. A bill for amendment can be initiated in either House of Parliament.  However, the state legislature can pass a resolution requesting the parliament for the creation or abolition of the legislative council in the state. Based on the resolution, the parliament can make an act for amending the constitution for that purpose.

There are three types of bills for constitution amendment which requires:

(i) Simple Majority: These bills need to be passed by simple majority, that is, a majority of members present and voting in each of the House.

(ii) Special Majority: These bills need to be passed by the majority of the House and two-third of the members present and voting in each of the House.

(iii) Special majority and consent of half of all the state legislatures: These bills are to be passed by the special majority in each house. Along with this, atleast half of the state legislatures should give consent to the bill.