Quotes from Prashant Bhushan

We must learn the correct lessons from the U.S. war on terror, which, far from making the U.S., its citizens and interests safe across the world has only increased insecurity worldwide and has led to many more terror attacks on U.S. interests and citizens across the world.

The judiciary is the only institution in the country which remains totally unaccountable. There is no institution with disciplinary powers over the judiciary.

The court's reputation is affected by what people say only if it seems to have a ring of fairness and authenticity.

Our courts must send a clear signal that India is not a banana republic where foreign companies can be invited to loot our resources and even avoid paying taxes on their windfall gains from the sale of those resources.

Stiglitz is not a Left economist. Indeed, it would be difficult to find a more authentic insider and establishment figure than Stiglitz.

It has always been accepted, even in pronouncements by the Supreme Court that the Court and its judgements can be subjected to strong, even trenchant criticism. Is the same yardstick not available for comments on the use or abuse of the Court's powers of contempt?

Having enjoyed enormous powers, including the power of contempt, without any accountability, the higher judiciary has over the years, trampled the toes of many persons and institutions, particularly the media.

Normally, the secrecy and lack of transparency surrounding the appointment of judges of the higher judiciary ensures that citizens come to know of these appointments only after the Presidential notification, announcing the appointments, is issued.

The Supreme Court's non-transparent attitude on the disclosure of assets is in line with the judiciary's steadfast refusal to allow any transparency in the matter of appointment of judges, or for that matter, in the judiciary as a whole.

The problem of illegal migrants into India, particularly from Bangladesh has been a longstanding and vexed political and legal problem, particularly since 1971 when there was a large scale influx of Bangladeshi refugees into India.

Since environmental and health damage is not factored into reducing GDP - and in fact the resulting health costs and the costs of cleaning up the environment would also inflate GDP, a GDP obsessed government would try and dismantle environmental and health regulations.

In no civilised country is the head of the government immune from corruption investigation.

Though the Income Tax Act obliges even non-residents to pay tax on incomes earned in India, many foreign institutional investors avoided paying taxes citing the Double Taxation Treaty with Mauritius.

The lack of judicial accountability exemplified by the lack of a system of selecting judges and of dealing with complaints against them, has indeed led to the system gradually losing its integrity.

A Judicial Bureau of Investigation under an independent Judicial Complaints Commission, should be set up to investigate complaints against judges.

It is true that there have been excesses of judicial activism.

A corrupt judiciary is hardly likely to hold a corrupt executive to account.

Independence of Judiciary means independence from Executive and Legislature, but not independence from accountability.

Indeed, public scrutiny is desirable for healthy functioning of judiciary itself.

Every institution, including the judiciary has its share of black sheep and corrupt judges.

I had said impunity of APSPA should be removed in order to win the hearts of the people of Kashmir.

Gujarat, which Modi has made the laboratory of Hindutva, is the leading edge of the onslaught of communal fascism in this country.

It is this obsession with GDP and FDI growth and a facile belief that this growth in the GDP would trickle down to the poor as well, that has led to the neglect of the genuine concerns of the poor in the country.

It is argued by our GDP obsessed policy planners that eventually the money being made by the stock market operators or the IT industry would trickle down to the poor farmers in terms of ancillary jobs that would be created. But the fact is, that this has not happened, despite the boom in the stock market and the IT industry.