Do they think we sit on our brains?

"In 1996, Michael Jackson played to a packed audience in Mumbai in what was to be his only performance in India," reports BBC. The then Shiv Sena government waived entertainment tax on the concert because $1 million was to be donated to a youth employment project run by the Shiv Sena. A consumer group challenged the waiver in court which froze the waiver and asked the government to "examine its merits". After 24 years, the present government led by Shiv Sena has reinstated the waiver and asked for the money to be deposited with the government because the youth project no longer exists. $1 million equals about Rs 73 million at today's exchange rate. This mocking story by BBC reflects our justice system. Why can't judges pronounce a judgement in 24 years? Recently the Supreme Court (SC) temporarily suspended the new farm laws and appointed a committee consisting of 4 experts to resolve the impasse between the government and farmers. Strangely, all 4 members appointed by the Court are strong supporters of the laws and the Court did not ask farmers to nominate their members to the committee. The day after it was set up Bhupinder Singh Mann resigned from the committee saying that he wanted to remain neutral.  The farmers promptly rejected the committee and refused to appear before it. Speaking in an unrelated case Chief Justice SA Bobde said, "There is lack of comprehension about the composition of a committee. This is not a situation where somebody alleges bias towards a person whose relative is a beneficiary." Indeed. And we sit on our brains. This was clearly to provide an escape for the government. "Although the court's move is a bit embarrassing for the Government because of its aggressive position during the deadlock, this is perhaps the best way to get out of the crisis," said a senior BJP leader. "Two key BJP leaders expressed hope that public sentiment would shift if the protesters did not accept the court's order." "India is the most centralised large economy in the world," wrote Prof Neelanjan Sircar. Wealth has concentrated in the hands of a few corporates during this government's tenure and has "weakened the political financing environment for opposition". The farmers are steadfast because they "understand that they have little opportunity to raise grievances through bargaining within the parliamentary or electoral system". "On the ground in Punjab, Reliance Jio telecom towers have been vandalised while Adani products are being boycotted," wrote Rajdeep Sardesai. "The SC simply refuses to hear constitutional challenges to far-reaching State actions, sometimes for years," wrote Gautam Bhatia. "By virtue of the electoral bonds scheme, thousands of crores of anonymous corporate donations have been funnelled to political parties (for structural reasons, a vast bulk of these donations go to the ruling party), setting up an entire system of opaque electoral funding." It is a sad state of affairs that citizens do not trust the government, the political system or the Supreme Court. How long before anarchy sets in.