To Mr. Mukul Rohatgi Former Attorney General of India
Dear Mr. Rohatgi,
First of all, I must doff my hat to you for your excellent eloquent speech at the United Nations Human Rights Council on the 4th of May, 2017, as an attorney general of India. On that occasion, you had cited “वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्” from The Upaniṣads. Following the spirit of that mantra, we, the earthians, wish to submit a humble plea before you. What we have observed in your above-mentioned speech, an epistemological break (or otherwise “aporia”) as you had boldly and simultaneously spoken about the Indian government’s ostensible commitment towards the “promotion and protection of human rights in all parts of the world” and the cases of human right violations in India. Remembering such courage of a man, who could resign from the prestigious designation of the Attorney General following the path of MC Setalvad (1950–1963; the longest-serving attorney general of the country standing up to PM Jawaharlal Nehru over corrupt ministers, threatening to resign from office), we are humbly requesting you to point out three pillars of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in the context of the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL)’s resolution plan. We are especially emphasizing on the third pillar in this context, “Access to remedy for victims of business-related abuses”. Though, we know the sad truism that “international law is the vanishing point of jurisprudence”, still we, the DHFL FD holders, who are going to be “extinguished”, are appealing to your kind self for pleading for our human rights in accordance with law. You have said in the NDTV interview (12/11/2020) by citing Hon. Justice Krishna Iyer, “Jurisprudence has gone astray, seem jail is rule, bail exception.” In the context of the DHFL, we are going to be jailed and would get a different kind of “capital” punishment, whereas Rs. 68K Crore loans of 50+ willful super-rich defaulters had been written off by the Indian banks. We are not debtors like them; we are not even people with legal conflict (“criminals”), we are investors—why should we then suffer or bear such great pain? The Reserve Bank of India needs to take human rights more seriously and it should meet their human rights responsibilities without compromising the independence. It should meet their monetary and financial responsibilities for greening the financial ecosystem (as decided by the 36 central banks and banking supervisors in the “Central Bank and Supervisors Network”, July 2019). Though we know that we are carrying coal to Newcastle as all these are known facts to you, a senior advocate with versatile knowledge in the field of international law. However, we are praying to you for “Protect, Respect and Remedy” (31 principles implemented by the United Nations) for us on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises. You are the deus ex machina in this particular case of the DHFL. You can, if you kindly wish, turn the whole table for us, the wretched of the earth. Though we cannot afford your fees in terms of money-signifier, we hope that you will be blessed by the individual FD holders of DHFL and prominent institutes that include the Air Force, UPPCL, Sri Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Missionaries of Charity and so many other organizations.
Yours Faithfully,
Dr. Debaprasad Bandyopadhyay
Mrs. Rupa Bandyopadhyay
Mr. Akhar Bandyopadhyay
ON BEHALF OF ALL ANGUISHED, AILING DHFL FD HOLDERS [USUAL DISCLAIMERS APPLY]
बहुजनहिताय बहुजनसुखाय च॥
(“For the happiness of the many, for the welfare of the many”)
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