This paper offers a critical, self-reflective interrogation of the intertwined narratives of corporate philanthropy, regressive taxation, and public disenfranchisement in contemporary India, with a particular focus on the Piramal Group. Juxtaposing India’s rising indirect tax burdens on the middle class with corporate tax minimization strategies, the essay exposes the paradox of ‘development’ that privatizes profit while socializing environmental and health costs. Using a blend of sarcasm, literary parody, and empirical data—ranging from GST fluctuations to the crumbling public healthcare system—it deconstructs how ‘philanthropic’ giants like Ajay Piramal reap tax benefits, wield influence through electoral funding, and contribute minimally to actual public welfare, while projecting moral superiority through CSR and token charity. The work situates this critique within broader discourses on crony capitalism, Gandhi’s misappropriated trusteeship, and the Summers Memo logic of “let them eat pollution.” This analysis ultimately questions the ethical legitimacy of corporate altruism in a system rigged for profiteering, illustrating how the economic policies of the last decade have systematically eroded public goods in favour of oligarchic consolidation.
Many Tongues, One Resistance: Plea to the Distressed DHFL Victims
This plurilingual public appeal by OBMA addresses the defrauded depositors of DHFL, emphasizing the systemic failure of justice under crony capitalism in India. While recognizing the limitations of domestic legal remedies, it calls for peaceful civil resistance and international intervention through the UN Human Rights system (OHCHR). The article encourages mass mobilization via petitions, specifically targeting celebrity endorsement accountability (Shah Rukh Khan) and audit-credit rating failures. It frames this as a collective struggle for visibility, justice, and institutional memory. Multiple translations amplify inclusivity and reach.
Don’t Let Justice Be Overruled: Honouring NCLT and NCLAT in the DHFL Debacle
In the long and convoluted journey of the DHFL insolvency saga, two quasi-judicial bodies—NCLT and NCLAT—stood out for their timely, bold, and procedurally sound interventions. From directing a reconsideration of the 100% offer to identifying discriminatory irregularities in the resolution process, these tribunals prioritized justice over expediency. This post is both a thanksgiving and a public appeal: NCLT and NCLAT must not allow their principled findings to be buried by later Supreme Court overruling. In an era of post-truth, let institutional memory resist judicial amnesia.
Is change.org a Reliable Petition Public Platform for Justice?
This article interrogates the structural contradictions and opaque operational logic of Change.org, a platform widely regarded as a grassroots petition engine for justice. Drawing on the author’s lived experience with unexplained signature count reductions and suspected content suppression, it situates Change.org within the broader economy of digital activism where public outrage is algorithmically packaged for visibility and monetization. Despite popular assumptions of its progressive orientation, this paper argues that the platform’s apparent ideological tilt is symptomatic not of political commitment but of profit-maximizing emotional amplification. Furthermore, the piece contextualizes these concerns within a case study of the OBMA campaign for DHFL victims, where legal intimidation and social media censorship—allegedly linked to corporate interests—highlight the fragility of digital dissent. The article challenges both the ethical legitimacy and the epistemic reliability of Change.org as a site of justice-oriented mobilization.
Demanding a Truth Commission from Indian Institutions Embedded in Untruth
In post-2014 India, the state’s strategic deployment of disinformation, judicial opacity, and media spectacle has rendered truth both criminalized and performative. This paper interrogates the paradox of demanding a Truth and Accountability Commission from institutions deeply embedded in untruth. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s critique of confession, Derrida’s concept of archive fever, Freud’s metaphor of the mystic pad, Arendt’s theorization of lying in politics, and Guattari’s notion of pseudology, we propose the “mystique pad” as an insurgent counter-archive. Anchored in the empirical landscape of electoral manipulation, SLAPP suits, RTI evasions, and media censorship in India (2014–2025), the paper posits that civil society’s imperative is no longer merely revelation—but memorialization. Truth, in this schema, is not the opposite of falsehood but its residue.
MEMO SUBMITTED: Demand for a Judicial Truth Commission on the DHFL Verdict
This article announces the submission of a people’s memorandum to India’s highest constitutional and judicial offices, demanding a Judicial Truth and Accountability Commission to probe the DHFL Supreme Court verdict—a decision that legitimized the corporate expropriation of thousands of depositors’ life savings. The memo exposes judicial silence, regulatory complicity, and the erasure of dissent. Backed by a rapidly growing online mass petition, this is a collective cry for justice, transparency, and the restoration of democratic integrity in the face of systemic betrayal.
Justice for DHFL Victims: Demand a Judicial Truth Commission Now! (An Online Mass Petition)
The article calls for a Judicial Truth and Accountability Commission to investigate the DHFL insolvency verdict, which allegedly enabled corporate expropriation of small investors’ savings. It poses questions to the Supreme Court for upholding a reportedly flawed resolution plan, questions regulators, the CoC, and corporate actors like Ajay Piramal of collusion, and highlights systemic failures, including cronyism, auditor lapses, and possible political links. Framing the crisis as a human rights issue involving financial abuse, the petition seeks justice, reparations, and institutional accountability.
Justice via Intimidation? A Financially Abused Citizen vs. the Corporate-State Nexus
The author of this open communication to the Hon’ble Bombay High is a victim of the DHFL financial scandal. He reports receiving a Bombay High Court suit (No. 42 of March 17, 2025) unusually via the Mumbai Sheriff, which contained identity errors, redundant or blank pages, and a mere five‑day response window, compared to the 90 days apparently allotted to corporate plaintiff Mr. Ajay Piramal. He argues that this situation appears to constitute legal intimidation by a powerful corporate‑state nexus that has left him impoverished and unable to secure counsel within such a short temporal window. He highlights his right to self‑representation and demands clarity on the apparently vague allegations, framing the situation as Kafkaesque. Additionally, he draws attention to alleged corporate malfeasance linked to Ajay Piramal—insider‑trading fines, environmental violations, political donations, and controversial acquisitions such as DHFL, along with real‑estate deals—and contends that the political executives enforce the law selectively, favoring elites and infringing upon constitutional rights and international human rights norms. This open communication is intended to defend the fundamental freedom of speech and expression, which constitutes an exception to defamation as guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution.
Mr. Ajay Piramal: A Snapshot of ALLEGED Controversies
The article presents a brief portrayal of Ajay Piramal, juxtaposing his typically lauded “philanthropic” (CSR) efforts through the Piramal Foundation’s initiatives with a myriad of serious allegations suggesting misuse of influence and finances. Critics sometimes assert/allege that he orchestrated a questionable purchase of DHFL through a dubious IBC resolution process, which has led to potential court contempt issues. SEBI investigations into insider trading (2016, 2019) and irregularities in stake sales (2024) are also present with regard to Mr. Piramal’s business career. He is also reportedly connected to the Flashnet scandal and alleged environmental damage in Digwal, Telangana, where he purportedly sought and lost a stay order at the National Green Tribunal. Additional controversy arises from ₹85 crore in BJP donations through electoral bonds, purportedly exploitative real estate clauses, and a loan to Omkar Developers that prompted ED scrutiny—yet Mr. Piramal is said to have obtained legal protection. The narrative suggests that his political connections, particularly with the BJP, may have enabled him to repeatedly evade regulatory accountability, casting doubt on whether his philanthropic initiatives are intended to deflect criticism from these alleged financial improprieties. The article does not intend to defame or target the individual Ajay Piramal; rather, it seeks to highlight the potential implications of a corporate tycoon operating within a BJP-led crony framework in contemporary India.
DHFL Victims Under Legal Siege by Crony Piramal: What’s Next?
India’s low ranking in the 2024 Rule of Law Index (79th out of 142) highlights systemic issues that frame the legal conflict between OBMA activists and Mr. Piramal’s firm, DSK Legal. Despite OBMA’s careful and transparent communication, legal threats like defamation suits and contempt notices appear aimed at silencing dissent and protecting corporate impunity. With Article 19 protecting free speech and Section 66A of the IT Act already struck down, such actions lack constitutional footing. The burden lies on the plaintiff to prove malice—something OBMA’s peaceful and public-facing activism clearly defies. This case signals a broader fight for democratic accountability in an increasingly corporatized legal system.
Once in a Blue Moon Academia 