Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Aadhar And UIDAI Are Fraud On Constitution Warns Praveen Dalal

An initiative by a single person can transform into a mass action and people’s movement. The same happened in the case of Aadhar project of India or UID Project of India. Aadhar was formerly known as unique identification project of India. It is managed by Nandan Nilekani through unique identification authority of India (UIDAI).

Praveen Dalal has been the first and foremost opposer of Aadhar project and he expressed his concerns by providing the civil liberties aspects of Aadhar project. He maintains that civil liberties of Indians in cyberspace have been outlawed by converting the sole cyber law of India into an endemic e-surveillance code.

Since the Indian government is well committed to impose illegal and unconstitutional projects like Aadhar, Natgrid, CCTNS, etc, Praveen Dalal launched the exclusive civil liberties protection initiatives in cyberspace in India.

When asked about the rationale for the same, he informs that there has been a disturbing trend in India of imposing unconstitutional projects upon Indians by Executive with great disregard to the Indian Constitution.

In fact, projects like Aadhar, Natgrid, CCTNS, etc are “Fraud upon the Indian Constitution” where limited and regulated Executive powers have been transformed into absolute powers by the Executive. The role of Parliament has been completely ignored and eliminated in an Anti National manner by the Congress led government, warns Praveen Dalal.

It seems time has come to say no to the Aadhar project and UIDAI and put collective pressure upon the Congress led government to scrap anti national projects like Aadhar, Natgrid, CCTNS, etc.

Aadhar And UIDAI Are Undemocratic Says Praveen Dalal

In this Guest Column Praveen Dalal maintains that the government of India is imposing unconstitutional and undemocratic projects like Aadhar, Natgrid, CCTNS, etc without any legal framework and parliamentary approval.

The corruption ridden and shameful Commonwealth Games debacle is not yet over and the government of India has committed another blunder. Congress led government launched the bound to be failure Aadhar project/UID project. It is headed by Nandan Nilekani as the chairman of unique identification authority of India (UIDAI).

Unfortunately, the duo of Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi are trying to extend their support for another Anti National Project named as Aadhar Project of India or UID Project of India. But even their support could not save these unconstitutional and undemocratic projects as public opinion is absolutely against these projects.

Both Aadhar Project and UIDAI are unconstitutional project and unconstitutional authority. Neither the Aadhar Project nor the UIDAI are governed by any Legal Framework nor are they under Parliamentary Scrutiny, says Praveen Dalal.

As a face saving exercise, the Union Cabinet has casually granted its approval to the National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010 (NIDAI Bill 2010) with great disregard to the Civil liberties of Indians, especially Privacy Rights of Indians. Even after this approval, both Aadhar Project and UIDAI are still “Unconstitutional and Illegal”.

There should not be any action upon UID Cards and Aadhar Project till proper safeguards are at place. Indian government is encroaching upon the regime of Indian Parliament and is wasting crores of public money without “Parliamentary Approval”, says Praveen Dalal.

It is high time to scrap the Aadhar project and UIDAI till proper laws and adequate civil liberty safeguards are established by Indian government.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Emerging Trends in The International Commercial Arbitration

India can become a global hub for international commercial dispute resolution (ICDR) services. All we need is a conducive environment for the same. ICDR services can be provided for disputes arising out of contracts on sales of goods, distributorship, agency and intermediary contracts, construction, engineering and infrastructure contracts, intellectual property contracts, domain name dispute resolutions, joint venture agreements, maritime contracts, employment contracts, etc. The list is fast expanding as the world is moving away from the traditional litigation system.

The traditional litigation methods of dispute resolution are not appropriate for commercial disputes. This has necessitated the requirement for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms like Arbitration, Mediation, Conciliation, etc.

Law Minister Veerappa Moily has recently suggested that India could become arbitration hub like Singapore. However, he needs to take care of some very crucial lacuna that can prevent India from becoming a global arbitration hub.

Firstly, the ADR system of India needs reforms as it is in a really bad shape. Secondly, the arbitration infrastructure in India needs to be established. Thirdly, contemporary dispute resolution methods like online dispute resolution (ODR) and e-courts are missing in India. Even the national litigation policy of India (NLPI) failed to consider ODR and e-courts as effective methods of out of court dispute resolution.

International organisations like United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), etc are working in the direction of upgrading ADR related mechanisms. India must also keep in mind these developments and make good efforts to harmonise its laws and practices as per the contemporary international ADR standards.

Law Minister Veerappa Moily must immediately act to remove various hurdles that are impeding India from becoming a global ADR and ODR hub. Till now the pace of judicial and legal reforms is very slow and highly unproductive.

Friday, September 17, 2010

ADR In India Needs Urgent Reforms

Law Minister Veerappa Moily has recently suggested that India has world class arbitration facilities like Singapore. The statement though ambitious is far from truth.

Firstly, the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) system of India needs reforms as it is in a really bad shape.

Secondly, the arbitration infrastructure in India needs to be established.

Thirdly, contemporary dispute resolution methods like online dispute resolution (ODR) and e-courts are missing in India. Even the national litigation policy of India (NLPI) failed to consider ODR and e-courts as effective methods of out of court dispute resolution.

International organisations like United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), World Bank, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), etc are working in the direction of upgrading ADR related mechanisms. India must also keep in mind these developments and make good efforts to harmonise its laws as per the contemporary international ADR standards.

Recently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has suggested use of arbitration for resolving security related disputes. Further, Veerappa Moily is also stressing hard to amend the arbitration and conciliation act 1996 to make it more effective.

Although, efforts for streamlining the ADR mechanism in India are laudable yet they are far from being sufficient to make India a global hub of arbitration. This is why Moily’s statement seems to be a dream but not reality.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

E-Courts In India Are Required

After spending crores of public money and wasting many crucial years, we are still waiting for the establishment of first e-court in India. The truth is that India does not have even a single e-court. This is because the very planning and coordination of the e-court project was faulty and was bound to be a failure.

There was neither any techno legal e-court expertise nor any transparency and accountability. Further, even the performance appraisal system was missing and there was none to ask for the progress of e-court project.

The results were inevitable and like all other e-governance projects of national e-governance plan (NEGP), e-court project also failed.

The good news is that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has today approved an amount of Rs. 935 crore as the revised cost estimate for implementing the E-Courts project in the country.

Keeping the previous failures in mind, it would be a good idea to take the professional services of techno legal experts who can actually implement the e-court project of India.

Law Minister Veerappa Moily has already promised many ambitious projects but till now not even a single has been accomplished. This is the most crucial project for him and Law Ministry of India must take e-courts project very seriously.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Cyber Security In India Is Needed To Defeat E-Surveillance

As more and more public services are attached to information and communication (ICT) technology, their security becomes of paramount importance. In India there is very little research, training and education in the field of cyber security. Further, even lesser is research and training regarding techno legal issues.

So much so that India has just a single techno legal cyber security research, training and education centre (CSRCI). The same is managed by Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) and it is providing research, training, education, policy making etc in the crucial field of cyber security in India.

It is also maintaining a world class cyber security software repository that is unique in the world. The repository carries both technical as well as legal resources and software.

India has been facing cyber threats from cyber criminals, cyber espionage groups, cyber war groups, cyber terrorists, etc. Even the homeland security of India needs rejuvenation. Indian departments and strategic computer systems have been under constant threats from adjacent countries. Many sensitive documents have also been stolen through hacking the crucial computer systems in India.

Even the cyber law of India is a very weak piece of legislation with no deterrent effect. When cyber crimes like hacking have been made bailable nothing can make such a law a deterrent for committed cyber criminals.

In the name of national security and cyber security, the Home Ministry is taking absurd decisions like banning Blackberry, Gmail, Skype, etc. Further, illegal and unconstitutional projects like CCTNS, Natgrid, Aadhar project, etc have been also pushed for the sole purpose of enhancing the illegal and unaccountable e-surveillance powers of Indian government and its agencies.

The truth is that authorities like unique identification authority of India (UIDAI) and projects like CCTNS, Natgrid, Aadhar, etc are violative of civil liberties and fundamental rights of Indians. The worst affected are the privacy rights in India that have simply been compromised for the façade of security. It is high time for Indians to reclaim their human rights before it is too late.