Take corrective steps to check misinterpretation of Constitution: Retd. HC Judge

Mysore/Mysuru: Retired High Court Judge H.N. Nagamohan Das has given a clarion call for the journalists to be alert and take corrective measures with unabated attempts being made to misinterpret the Constitution of India.

Nagamohan Das addressed a gathering of journalists during the endowment awards distribution ceremony organised by Karnataka Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) in association with Mysuru District Journalists Association (MDJA) at Rajendra Kalamandira in the city this morning.

 Saying that the award increases the responsibilities of recipients, Nagamohan Das said ‘A society where elders are not respected cannot be called as civilised society. Similarly when the talents are not recognised, there cannot be a progress.’

Recalling ‘Samvidhana Odu’ (Read Constitution) campaign launched by himself in the year 2018, Nagamohan Das who thanked media for the constant support across the State, referred to  some of the vested interests who claimed to have ascended power only to change the Constitution of India four years ago. As a continuation, even the copies of the Constitution were burnt at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.  However, to an extent, such disparaging voices have stopped for now.

There is no provision to make any changes to the fundamentals of the Constitution, especially those related to Democracy, Welfare State and Decentralisation of Power. However, recently, the Vice-President of India had claimed that the ‘Parliament is Supreme’, questioning the authority of Supreme Court. Even the Union Law Minister had advocated for bringing changes in reframing the structure of Judiciary, which are nothing but the repeated attacks on Judiciary, lamented Nagamohan Das.

The debates in Parliament are restricted to emotional issues, wasting tax-payer’s money. Besides, attempts are also being made to weaken Executive and Judiciary. In the recent years, raids are conducted by Income Tax (IT) Department and Enforcement Directorate (IT) targeting the leaders of Opposition Parties in 95 percent of the cases, he said.  On 10 percent reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), Nagamohan Das said ‘It is agreeable that the poor exist in all the communities, but reservation is not the only solution. Like this, attempts are being made to snatch fundamental rights too, he added.

 If anybody criticises the Government, they will be incarcerated without any enquiry under Sedition Act. In such a situation, media should work to bring in enormous changes. But, with the foray of political leaders and MNCs into media, the fraternity is ruled by monopoly, with the talent of  journalists used to augment the profits of the owners of their media firms. Hence, Yellow Journalism and Fake News are on the rise, with a need for the journalists to formulate their own code of conduct. The journalists should work towards retaining journalism as a service sector,  hand holding the innocents and responding to grievances of the people, said Nagamohan Das.

Mayor Shivakumar, KUWJ President Shivanand Tagadur, General Secretary G.C. Lokesh, MDJA President S.T. Ravikumar,  General Secretary M. Subramanya, former editor of Outlook Magazine Krishna Prasad, senior journalist G.N. Mohan, Mysuru Hotel Owners Association President C. Narayanagowda and others were present.