Murali's Writeups...

  ADMINISTRATION OF TEMPLES IN KERALA UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA (PART-2 OF THE LORD PADMANABHSWAMY TEMPLE) 1) The Coming Into Force of the Constitution of India a) The Government of India Act, 1919 and 1935, were not applicable to the State of Travancore.   At the time of Independence, the then king (acting on the advice of a hugely unpopular Diwan) contemplated an independent kingdom. However, such plans were abandoned in view of the prevailing nationalistic public sentiments. The king acceded to the Union of India on the condition that he will remain the custodian of Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The Travancore Devaswom Board Act, passed by the Legislature of Kerala, had distinct provisions to govern the temples which were under the administration of the King of Travancore. The provisions relating to the Padmanabha Swamy Temple were not amended at any time in the past, even though there were substantial changes to other provisions. Today, Kerala is a highly tolerant liberal soc

  A BRIEF HISTORY OF LORD PADMANABHASWAMY’S WEALTH- PART 1 PROLOGUE 1) Recently, the Supreme Court of India held that, after the death of the erstwhile ruler of the Travancore State, his most eligible descendant  will continue to remain the Shebait of Lord Padmanabhaswamy. The death of the erstwhile ruler deposited his “Instrument of Accession” with the Union of India, on the condition that he will remain the custodian of Lord Padmanabhaswamy’s properties, and the properties will accrue to the Legal Heirs even after the ruler’s death. But, I felt that the Supreme Court of India had not decided the most important issue which was presented before it for adjudication, viz., whether, notwithstanding the beliefs of the custodian and his spiritual advisors, the Temple can proceed with recording the inventory of the articles which are stored in the “ Stone Room ” (kallarai), as ordered by the Kerala High Court.  This question should be considered bearing in mind the following: a) Conside

THE NEVER-ENDING TURMOILS OF THE TAMILS IN INDIA-THE CUSTODIAL DEATH OF A. MUTHU   1) In my earlier blogs on Criminal Law, viz., Nirmala Devi [1] and Sathankulam [2] , I had pointed out the problems that plague the Criminal Justice Administration in the state of Tamil Nadu. Unfortunately, in the last 4 or 5 years, the state of Tamil Nadu is perpetually in agitation mode. For example, we had the agitations against the Koodankulam nuclear power plant, the neutrino project, the NEET examination, Anitha’s suicide, hydro-carbon exploitation in the Cauvery Delta, Sterlite’s closure, police firing in Thootukudi etc., an endless list. It is possible I have missed out a few. As we are recovering from the Sathankulam Tragedy, the news of Anai Karai Muthu’s custodial death, this time at the hands of the Forest Department, has come to light. It is a consolation to know that the Judicial Magistrate in question, exercised better care and diligence than the remanding Magistrate in Sathankulam. T

SHOULD WE FIGHT CHINA’S INDIA WAR OR FIGHT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PAKISTAN OCCUPIED KASHMIR? AS ON 04/07/2020 1) During the 1970s, Neville Maxwell’s India’s China War  informed the rest of the world that China had legitimate grievances against the McMahon Line and Tibet’s boundary with India. Actually, before the 1962 War, China gave a fair offer to India to redraw the boundaries on the footing of equality rather than on the footing of superiority that the United Kingdom enjoyed while fixing the boundaries of its colonies and their neighbours.   It is widely speculated now that Mr. V.K. Krishna Menon never believed that China would resort to the use of force and declare a war to redraw its frontiers. Furthermore, Mr. V.K. Krishna Menon was suspicious of a powerful Indian Armed Forces, who might be inclined to draw inspiration from their Pakistani counterparts. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru also felt that diplomatically India enjoyed more international clout than the People’s Republic

SATHANKULAM TYRANNY- WHAT NEXT?  THE IRONY OF MAIN STORY AND SIDE STORIES IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION  BLOG AS ON 05/07/2020 1) Due to the timely intervention of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, the report of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kovilpatti, and the deposition of the woman head constable in the Magisterial Inquiry, four of the main accused have been arrested by the Tamil Nadu Police. Arresting the accused within fifteen days of the occurrence of the crime may not be considered as immediate in the circumstances. But the Government should not be accused of unreasonable delay as the Administrative and the Executive process of the Tamil Nadu Government was in operation. Now we understand that the State Government has decided to hand over the matter to the CBI, for investigation. As per the direction of the Madras High Court, the CBCID will continue the investigation until the case is handed over to the CBI. The post-mortems of the victims were concluded

Prologue 1. In my earlier blog , I dealt with the trivia surrounding the ICJ judgement on Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case. Even after the judgement, expectedly, India and Pakistan are continuing to wrangle on the conditions under which ICJ recognized right of Mr. Kulbhushan Jadhav to have Consular Access and his right to have a counsel of his choice. In some ways it is good because so long as the wrangling continues, Mr. Kulbhushan Jadhav’s right to have a natural death will continue except that he will be enjoying that right in a foreign prison. Surely, in due course, Pakistan will review the conviction and sentence, this time, hopefully in a Civilian Court. But even the Civilian Courts of most liberal nations are looking at the issue of terrorism on a different footing. If and when the Review takes place under Pakistani laws, surely the type of evidence that Pakistan has against Mr. Jadhav will definitely come under Global Scrutiny. One of the pieces of evidence that Pakistan will

1. The recent judgement of the International Court of Justice in the case between the arch-rivals of South Asia has brought a lot of cheers to the family of Mr Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian  Ministry of External Affairs and the migrants who were compelled to make a living in foreign lands. The object of this blog is not to analyse the legal niceties and the global implications of this Judgement. Instead, this will focus more on the trivia and other incidental issues that surround the judgement. The International Court of Justice, is an Adjudicatory Court modelled after the ‘Continental or Civil Law System Courts’. To begin with, the Statute of the International Court of Justice itself makes it clear that the judgement of ICJ and the Principles of Law decided by ICJ are binding only on parties to the dispute. It will not bind the third parties. Yet, the ICJ as a court has not been averse to citing passages from earlier judgments made by ICJ and PCIJ. Secondly, since ICJ is a civil