Monday, July 19, 2010

A good legal system is inevitable for good living

One more of my blog, though a comparison between India and US, the intention is not to curse my country because I am sitting in US right now. It is out of observation, as to what differently we could have done

In India, the 1st thing we do upon buying a plot of land is to build a compound wall so that others don't encroach upon the land. Still that wall is not a guarantee! In US, I have not seen a single home yet, which has a compound wall. At max, they will have some plantations as their compound wall.

In India, we often come across cases where the tenant stops paying the rent and occupies the property. And the defaulter always wishes that a case be filed in court. Because once it is filed, no one can force them out till the time the judgement comes out.

Many ride without helmets, jump signals and the traffic ticket comes to our address months after we have broken the rule.

Many willfully default the payment to credit card companies and then they come begging for a 50% settlement and the defaulter takes a pride in it.

Why is this so? In a place where the legal system should create a fear about doing wrong and set an example for others to follow, ours is like an encouragement to do wrong.

The statistics show we have more than 2 crore cases pending in our courts. Can this figure ever meet a logical end? Is this something we have been gifted by the British regime or some thing which we have gifted to ourselves after independence?

One small step, may be a drop in the ocean, taken recently is a modification in Hindu Marriage Act whereby the spouse who earlier used to intentionally skip the hearings to delay the case, will now wont enjoy such privilege. Another is the introduction of the UID.

What is the solution to this issue?

One, may be to take many such steps where possible.

Two is wide spread application of UID, which should track even smallest thing like whether one has made a credit card payment on time to bigger things like traffic violations made to biggest things like criminal cases pending in courts. And then doing a proper arm twisting in such cases like charging a higher rate of interest or higher insurance premium to them

Three , reduce the no of transfers of the judges.

Four, encourage people to have out of court settlements. And may be

Five, to give special powers to lower courts and make them the final authority instead of approaching other higher courts.

But the most important thing is the change should come from with in. Respect the law and have a clean conscience!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

East & West - together make a better world

In India flouting norms is very easy, especially the ones related to traffic ,for we all know it is either easy to run away or bribe the policeman by paying a few bucks. The poor/rich police guy takes the money and puts in his own pocket.

In USA, where I am at present, I did not find much of a difference except that this corruption is legalized. In India, when two people meet with an accident, the policeman won't listen whose fault it was. He will just take his share from both the parties and the matter gets over there. Here, the policeman will equally pay you a deaf ear, and issue a traffic ticket to both the parties and ask you to plead in the court as guilty/not-guilty.

If you plead guilty, you will be charged a fine of course, whereas if you plead not-guilty, you have to hire a lawyer who will charge you a hefty $ 500 per court appearance. You may not pay if you win, but you will be squeezed out of your money in case you don't. So, people are cornered enough to plead as guilty.

Probably, one of the reasons why the state treasury is so rich. But yes, the honesty of the policeman needs to be appreciated that you can't bribe him, except when you have guts to face the dire consequences.

In country like India, you increase the fine and the policeman gets more and more rich as he gets more room to negotiate. Here, its the state treasury that gets rich. But condition of the common man remains the same every where.

However, It would be partial on my part if I don't say that the services provided are also at par with the fines. In a country like India where pizza delivery reaches in 30 mins, but ambulance reaches in hours, here you dial 911 even for a flat tire and within minutes you will find assistance around you. But yes, ends do not justify the means.

I do agree every nation and every system has its own greatness & flaws.

Take an illiterate farmer in India, he knows out of ages of farming experience how to treat his land after each crop to make it ready for the next one. You ask him the reason, he won't be able to tell except that it helps him to yield more. People in India know in every 15 days there is a cycle of full moon day and on a full moon day there is high tide in the sea. People in India believe that passing urine immediately after food keeps joint pains at bay. You ask them the reason, they wont be able to tell except that Ayurveda says so.

But the west has taught us out of extensive scientific research- why the land yields more crop when treated in a specific way; full moon day happens because of the changing position of Sun, Earth and the moon; On a full moon day moon comes closer to earth and due to its gravitational pull there is a high tide in the sea.

To prove a theory in science, you start with a belief/assumption and when you derive a certain result , you say "Hence Proved". Its the East which has provided large no of such beliefs (the starting points) and the West has done the research to prove them scientifically. So, my respect goes to both of them equally

But one thing, which even the West ponders upon till now is how does the ancient Ayurveda knows so much about human body. In West where the deceased are buried, it made the bodies available for research. In East where the bodies were always burnt after death, left no such scope. Still the ancient sages of India were able to discover many secrets looking within their bodies through extensive practice of meditation which the science is still proving one-by-one.

Just a couple of years ago, it was scientifically proved why urination immediately after eating helps avoid joint pains is that some chemicals that are generated in the body after eating are also a reason for a joint pains and hence taking them out immediately helps in avoiding joint pains.

When I ponder upon this, I feel proud to be born in the East, which also has taught me to respect the West for what it is!!