Modi will bring uniform civil code, says Vaidya

Senior RSS ideologue M.G. Vaidya on Sunday regretted that there had not been a single step in the direction of bringing a uniform civil code in the country even 65 years after the enactment of the Constitution but expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would do it.

Reacting to the recent religious census, the former RSS spokesperson said, “I am not worried about it. But the people, who are worried about it, have reasons to be so. People change religions for marriage. It is incorrect.”

On the concerns of the minority community that their religious rights would be hampered if the uniform civil code is applied, Mr. Vaidya asked if the Hindu Code Bill hampered the religious rights of Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs who were covered under the Bill.

“Have the places of worship of Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs closed after the Hindu Code Bill? They have their religious freedom intact. There is no need to be scared of the uniform civil code. It is there as a Directive Principle of state policy in Article 44 of our Constitution,” stated Mr. Vaidya and appealed to the Muslims to take the lead on this issue.

Mr. Vaidya also questioned the distinctions between the majority and minority communities.“What is the need of the Ministry of Minority Affairs and Minority Commission? Can the Human Rights Commission not take care of the human rights violations of minorities? India is the only country where the majority is branded communal but remember one thing. India is secular because it is a Hindu nation,” he said.

‘People change religions for marriage. It is incorrect.’

Court issues summons to firm officials on American woman’s complaint

A Magistrate of a City Court has issued summons to the chairman, managing director and three directors of a Kolkata-based infrastructure finance company on basis of the allegations of criminal defamation by a former manager of the company, an America-born woman. The complainant has alleged that the highest officials of the company had “sexually harassed” her. The solicitors of the company, SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited, has denied the complaints and claimed that the woman-complainant and her senior had “work related friction.” The officials of the company have been asked to appear before the Metropolitan Magistrate, [20th] Court, on October 6. 

 

The complainant, a 34-year-old Economics graduate, told The Hindu that she expects to get justice as she is following the due processes of law. “I have pleaded for help from the government officers in this time of critical need; I must not give up hope, doing so equates to succumbing to the violations inflicted upon me….I trust the judiciary of this country and I know that the authorities will expedite and bring me justice,” she said. She has obtained the copy of the “court documents” for her “sexual harassment case” against the top management of the company. She claimed to have “proof” against the top management to establish that they are “absconding” and “avoiding facing charges.”

The woman had earlier approached SREI’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) followed by the first information report at a city police station.

Supreme Court lifts stay on Santhara ritual of Jains

The Supreme Court on Monday restored the Jain religious practice of a ritualistic fast unto death by staying an order of the Rajasthan High Court, which compared it to an act of suicide.

A three-judge Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu, stayed the August 10 order of a Division Bench of the High Court on the basis of petitions filed by members of the Jain community.

For 'Ahimsa'

	Santhara a component of non-violence: SC
	RELIGIOUS PRACTICE:Santhara is a Jain ritual of fasting unto death.
	NOT CONSULTED:The Supreme Court said that Jain scholars were not consulted by the High Court before it criminalised the practice.

The petitions complained that the High Court, based on incorrect observations on Jainism, criminalised the philosophy and “essential” practice of Sallekhana/Santhara, a fundamental component of the Jain principle of ahimsa (non-violence). The court issued notice to the Centre and Rajasthan on the question raised in the petitions whether “essential and integral parts of a religion can be restricted by the State”.

The petitions said the High Court order infringed on secularism. It criminalised Santhara without even consulting any scholars of Jainism or findings to substantiate that the practice was against public health, morality and order, they said.

 

Panagariya for law reform by executive measures.

‘Chief Ministers from Opposition parties must also want development-friendly reforms to win their elections’.

Reforms to some important laws such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act are feasible through executive action, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya told The Hindu in an exclusive interview.

He was responding to a question on possible reforms aimed at achievinga double-digit GDP growth rate the government could undertake if continuing disruptions in Parliament impeded its legislative agenda. “A variety of avenues to reforms exist,” Dr. Panagariya said. 

One way to make land acquisition less time-consuming, forinstance, was for the States to adopt the Tamil Nadu government’s strategy. Since land was on the Concurrent List, Tamil Nadu inserted a Statespecific schedule, Fifth Schedule, into the 2013 Act. The State legislation listed in this schedule is exempt from the Act. 

Edited Excerpts:

If the Union government dilutes the provisions of its land acquisition Bill, and with the ordinance on it having lapsed, industry is likely to feel let down. What would be your recommendation to the government and the States on the way forward?

 

The issue is not industry being let down, but setback to job creation and poverty alleviation. Rapid growth during the 2000s has given rise to an aspirational India. Many among the poor, including marginal farmers and landless agricultural workers, now seek superior economic opportunities. Job creation at decent wages for these groups requires rapid growth in not just agriculture but also industry and services. The 2013 Act undermines such growth. 

One way to make land acquisition less time-consuming is for the States to proceed with their own amendments to the 2013 Act under Section 254(2) of the Constitution. Tamil Nadu has already done this; its amended law has been in force since January 5, 2015. The amendment inserts a State-specific schedule, Fifth Schedule, into the 2013 Act as it applies to Tamil Nadu. State legislation listed in this schedule is exempt from the Act. Other States could follow the Tamil Nadu path or adopt an alternative amendment along the lines of the Central Ordinance with good prospects for Central approval. 

What should be a pro-reforms government’s strategy in the face of disruptions in Parliament? Are non-legislative decisions an option that can deliver more than incremental results, especially for achieving double-digit growth rates?

A variety of avenues to reforms exist. First, with rare exceptions, parties would ultimately come together to pass legislation critical to national interest. Politics may reinforce the good intentions since Chief Ministers from Opposition parties must also want development-friendly reforms so as to win their elections. Second, in cases such as the GST [Goods & Services Tax], perceptions and interests of States differ, making consensus more difficult. But progress can still be made through compromises. Third, there are subjects such as land leasing and marketing of agricultural produce on which State Assemblies can pass legislation on their own. Fourth, subjects such as land acquisition and labour laws are on the Concurrent List, where the States can amend the laws as long as the Central government approves them. Finally, reforms to some important laws such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act are feasible through executive action. 

How is the NITI Aayog developing as an organisation and moving away from the Planning Commission way of doing things? What changes are this bringing about on the ground?

At the outset, let me say the Planning Commission as we remember it was a 64-year-old organisation while we are barely seven months old. So we are still in our infancy and must go through our share of teething pain. This being said, within the short period of our existence, we have made considerable progress along multiple dimensions. 

We are on the last lap of completing the draft of the mid-term appraisal of the 12th Plan. This is a large-scale exercise. We are at a similar stage in completing the drafts of two task forces, one on poverty elimination and the other on agricultural development. Three sub-groups of Chief Ministers on Centrally sponsored schemes, Swachch Bharat, and skill development would soon wind up their reports. An expert committee on innovation and entrepreneurship will shortly be submitting its report to guide our work on AIM and SETU [Atal innovation Mission and Self-employment Talent Utilisation]. Work on the National Energy Policy, electronics industry and harmonisation of regulatory policies across different infrastructure sectors is moving apace. We have launched a new website as also a very exciting web utility called Indian Energy Security Scenarios (IESS) 2047 Version 2.0.

A key initiative of Prime Minister Modi is cooperative, competitive federalism. Accordingly, we are working with the States both proactively and in response to requests from them. We have suggested to the States reforms such as repeal of myriad redundant state laws; streamlining laws and associated rules and regulations; modernising land leasing laws; and updating and digitising land records. We have also kicked off a major study aimed at assessing the ease of doing business in different States as perceived by enterprises. 

We are also in the process of restructuring the institution. One aspect of this exercise has involved the movement of extra staff from the NITI Aayog to other parts of the government and is nearly complete. The other aspect, building the NITI Aayog into a think tank, is a more daunting task. It requires bringing new talent into the institution. Spotting and recruiting this talent within the existing rules and regulations of the government has its challenges. 

Remember that we still have only two Members — an economist and a scientist — compared with eight in the Planning Commission at the time the Prime Minister announced its closure. 

What is your view on the whether India should give up on insisting that rich countries should pay for climate change mitigation and instead share some of the burden? If it is ok to ask for reparations for past colonial crimes, surely paying for past carbon sins is also ok? What would be your advice for India’s stance in Paris?

Let me first mention our contribution to cutting carbon emissions: we heavily tax petrol, diesel and coal; we have successfully expanded our forest cover and continue to do so despite land shortage; we have invested heavily in public transportation; and we are committed to an ambitious renewable energy programme. Add to this the fact that our lifestyle is far less energy-intensive than most other countries.

The next point is that we have made these efforts notwithstanding the fact that we are a low fourth emitter in terms of total emissions. On the basis of 2012 data, our carbon emissions are just one-fifth of the largest emitter, China, and one-third of the second-largest emitter, the United States. In per-capita terms, our emissions are tiny and we do not even appear on the top one hundred list. 

Coming to your main question, morally and intellectually, there is something very wrong with the argument that developed countries, which have been historically the largest emitters, should not only be exempt from having to pay for the past damage but also be rewarded for it by being allowed a larger share of the carbon space instead of having to share it equally with the rest of the humanity. 

Quite apart from the moral case, there is ample legal precedence within the United States domestic laws for compensation for the damage caused by past actions even when the connection between the actions and the damage was not known at the time the actions were taken, as illustrated by the United States Superfund Act of 1980. So, in my personal view, while we must make every possible contribution to the greening of the planet, especially when these contributions are also consistent with our national objectives, there is no reason to shy away from seeking greater carbon space to facilitate our growth and development or from seeking redress for the past damage in the form of finance for, say, adaptation, mitigation and access to patented green technologies.

Somnath’s wife says ‘no’ to mediation.

A “positive no” from his estranged wife, to the Supreme Court’s question whether she is willing to settle out of court, has put paid to former Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti’s hope of getting out of jail anytime soon.

Ms. Lipika Mitra, who filed a complaint of domestic abuse and attempt to murder against the ruling AAP MLA, told an open court on Monday that she was “absolutely” against settling the case through mediation. Her statement before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu gives the lie to Mr. Bharti’s repeated claim that this was only a small domestic dispute blown out of proportion.

Interrupting Mr. Bharti’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal at the outset, Chief Justice Dattu said the hearing was meant for “the lady” to clear the air on the mediation proposal. “You are expected to say whether you want to go in for mediation or not... say yes or no, nothing more. He says this is a small dispute ripe for mediation. You both can settle this?” asked Chief Justice Dattu.

“Absolutely not,” Ms. Mitra replied.

“Fine, there is nothing more here,” said the CJI, disposing of the petition by Mr. Bharti. “We cannot force the lady to go in for an amicable settlement.”

He asked Mr. Bharti to approach the trial court for regular bail.

We cannot force her to opt for an amicable settlement, says CJI

Reservation policy

The reservation policy has resulted in the horizontal proliferation of benefits to only the better-off among eligible sections, thus perpetuating inequalities (“A new edifice for reservations”, Sept.3). There needs to be synergy between those in the government willing to act rationally on reservation and those among the elites in marginalised sections, who out of a sense of renunciation, would be willing to give up many of the benefits for the overall good of those less privileged in their own communities.

Abhinav Sharma,

Ludhiana, Punjab

 

Even after decades, primary education and health care are still inaccessible to many. To bridge the widening gap, reservation is essential. Therefore, the benchmark for entry into the “reserved” class should be based on economic grounds. I have come across people in dire conditions even when they are from the so-called “upper caste”. The idea of reservation based on per-capita income has to come in vogue so that the privilege is not extended to the children of those who are financially stable after reaping the benefits of reservation. 

L.S. Kumar,

Hyderabad

 

The writer’s point about caste as a criteria for affirmative action contradicts the very need to end caste-based discrimination in our country. The foremost step is to abolish the very notion of “caste” prevalent in society. The writer’s proposed solution of excluding the privileged among the backward classes simply boils down to reservation solely on the basis of economic criteria rather than caste-based reservation. Moreover, the idea of giving weightage to marks within OC amounts to reservation within OC as well. There is a need for reservations but there must be a more rationalised approach towards it based on economic backwardness. Affirmative action which was sought to be a temporary process seems to have cemented its position in Indian society, and no politician wishes to raise this issue simply because it impacts his vote bank. 

Agam Singh Bedi,

Mohali, Punjab

 

Having economic backwardness as the sole criteria for reservations is not a viable option in the Indian context as there is no specified formula for its calculation. Also, economic backwardness is a dynamic concept per se. The best possible way forward is to dis-reserve the creamy layer and strengthen options to extend economic help to the underprivileged from all categories. 

Rahul Balhara,

Rohtak, Haryana

Rethinking reservations and ‘development’

Across the country, unless adequate jobs are created for the large labour force, the frustration of the youth is not likely to be contained.

In Gujarat, the Patels or Patidars, who constitute about 15 per cent of the State’s population, are an economically and politically dominant upper caste. As successful farmers, as small and big industrialists, as traders as well as non-resident Gujaratis, spread practically all over the world, they should be the last to demand reservation. The Patel agitation at present, however, seems to be demanding precisely this. Or, if read carefully, the protesters are demanding the removal of caste-based reservation and its replacement with income-based reservation.

The Patel rallies for reservation have been widespread across the State and significantly large in many towns and cities. Though it appears to be an urban movement, rural areas are not totally excluded. The rallies have also spurred other caste rallies and resulted in inter-caste conflicts and tensions. Though there seem to be many weaknesses in the leadership of the agitation and lack of clarity in its objectives, the agitation needs to be taken seriously because it is a warning of the shape of things to come — not only in Gujarat but also other parts of the country. 

The agitation has emerged out of the frustrations of the youth on two major counts. First, the existing reservation policy that has failed to assimilate lowest castes/tribes within the mainstream economy and society, has created a sense of dissatisfaction and injustice among those who are denied the benefits of reservation. And second, the much-discussed Gujarat model of development has failed miserably in creating adequate employment opportunities for the growing labour force in the State. This lacuna has particularly affected the educated youth who are unable to find suitable work in spite of the rapid growth of the economy. 

The reservation policy which was initiated as a temporary provision (for 10 years) for Scheduled Castes(SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in our Constitution in 1950, has expanded its coverage and contents multifold over the past six to seven decades. It has now become an almost a permanent feature of the national policies. The reservation policy however, has been used in the State (as elsewhere) mainly in vote bank politics played around the castes and has failed in including the people at the bottom in the mainstream economy and society. 

As the creamy layer of the lowest castes and tribes have cornered these benefits to a considerable extent, the policy has ended up as a tool that discriminates against the high caste youths in favour of the low caste youths, sometimes coming from the same economic background. Not only Hardik Patel, the leader of the movement, but large number of participants in the rallies complained of this unfair discrimination. Placards like “I could not get into an engineering college because of low marks though many OBC [other backward classes] students with lower marks got in” or “why should SC/ST/OBC get a job when with better marks and qualifications I cannot?” or “Do away with caste-based reservations” seen in the rallies reflect this frustration. This frustration of the youth, even if the statements in the placards are not accurate, is understandable because it is not the poorest but frequently the non-poor, middle income groups of SC/ST/OBC who are seen to be the beneficiaries of reservations. The tool of reservation has failed miserably in removing caste differences and has promoted the caste divide and caste conflicts. 

Clearly, the time has come to rethink our reservation policies, that have ended up giving preference to more or less the same class of SC/ST/OBC in school/college admission, in jobs and in promotions as well as subsidies in innumerable programmes and schemes, leaving out the poorer sections among them at the bottom. Our recent study in Gujarat has shown that the SC, OBC and ST households at the bottom are still left out of the benefits of the rapid growth of the State. 

Radical rethink

The radical rethinking on reservation should aim at (i) excluding the entire creamy layer from reservation; (ii) developing the capabilities of the deprived and excluded beyond offering them admission to higher education or jobs on a platter. The underlying principle should be that all the poorest at the bottom get support and all the poorest — excluded socially and economically — get a preference. 

Secondly, the failure of development model in Gujarat (and for that matter India as a whole) to create massive, productive employment for the youth is another reason for frustration of the youth. The labour market in Gujarat has behaved in a peculiar manner in the recent decades. On the one hand, large-scale in-migration of unskilled and low-skilled workers is observed in a wide range of sectors such as agriculture, construction, brick kilns, power looms, small engineering, garments etc. At the other end, the posts of highly-skilled professionals in the fast-growing, technology sector have also been largely filled by professionals and high-skilled workers from outside the State. A significant number of the educated youth in the State does not find suitable employment in the State because i. the growth of the modern sector has been highly capital intensive, where jobs generated are relatively few and local youth frequently do not qualify and ii. other employment opportunities for the educated youth are fewer and not remunerative. As per the official data, the number of educated unemployed i.e. the number of educated job seekers above the Senior Secondary Certificate (SSC) level has increased from 6.7 lakhs in 1995 to about seven lakhs in 2014 while the number of graduate job seekers has increased from 12,184 to 40,781 in the same period— an increase of 3.6 times. Clearly the educated youth is left high and dry, and excluded from the benefits of the rapid growth of the State. The reservation policy in government jobs has added to this frustration. 

The danger of the demographic dividend turning into a demographic disaster is looming over the State. And similarly across the country, unless adequate jobs are created for the large labour force , the frustration of the youth is not likely to be contained. 

In short, the Gujarat protests should be treated as a warning against the reservation policy and the State’s growth model. It is also a warning to other States. 

The best that the Gujarat government can do immediately is to hold meaningful discussions with the Patels to understand their concerns. For the medium and long term however, the State has no choice but to redesign its development model to create large scale productive employment for the youth with what the International Labour Organisation (ILO) calls “decent work conditions” and to radically revise the reservation policy.

The draconian ban on prisoner voting.

The Supreme Court needs to reconsider its approach to electoral reform and the right to vote. Rejecting labels of ‘purity’ and ‘pollution’ would be a start

On October 1, the Supreme Court passed judgment in an election petition filed by an unsuccessful candidate in the Manipur Legislative Assembly elections of 2012. The Representation of the People Act, 1951 requires these petitions to be decided by the relevant High Court within six months. Quite understandably perturbed by the High Court’s delay in deciding the case, the Supreme Court directed it to do so by February 2016. In its judgment, the Supreme Court held that the fundamental purpose underpinning the expeditious disposal rule was to ‘sustain the purity of parliamentary democracy’.

The Court has, even in its most progressive judgments, increasingly relied on the disquieting notion of the purity of parliamentary democracy. This notion has, for instance, been cited in judgments directing the Election Commission to require candidates to furnish information about their criminal record (Union of India v Association for Democratic Reforms), and setting aside the election of a candidate that failed to disclose material information (Kisan Shankar v Arun Dattatraya Sawant). But a disturbing outgrowth of the Court’s conception is the fact that the franchise can be denied to those who dilute its purity. Remarkably, then, the Court — otherwise extolled as a champion of unenumerated fundamental rights such as the right to shelter, the right to livelihood, and right to a clean environment — has not only refused to recognise the right to vote as a fundamental right, but gone further by accepting that it is a ‘privilege’ that ‘may be taken away’. 

Chintan Chandrachud

In this context, it is not hard to understand the Supreme Court’s judgment in 2013 legitimising the long-standing statutory ban on prisoner voting rights. In its judgment, the Court held that since prisoners were deprived of voting rights, they would also be automatically disqualified from standing for elections during periods of incarceration. The implications of this judgment are clear. Prisoners are second class citizens and it is not only proper, but also necessary, to exclude their ‘polluting’ influence from the democratic process. Consider this extract from the judgment of the Patna High Court, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court in appeal: ‘the issue of crime as attached to candidates or voters pollutes the entire election process. It effects the sanctity of elections as a whole. It taints democracy.’ 

Over the last few years, there has been an acrimonious debate in the U.K., which also bans prisoners from voting, on whether at least some prisoners should be enfranchised. The debate was prompted by a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in 2005, finding that the ban violates European Convention rights. India’s ban on prisoner voting is draconian in two respects. First, it makes no offence-based or sentence-based classification — prisoners are debarred from voting irrespective of the gravity of the offence that they have committed or the length of their sentence. Second, the Indian statute (unlike its British counterpart) makes no distinction between convicted prisoners, undertrials, and those in lawful police custody. This means that those whom we presume innocent until proven guilty — and comprise more than 65 per cent of the prison population — are denied the right to vote. 

In March 2015, the Law Commission published a 268-page report on electoral reforms. The report makes important recommendations including strengthening the office of the Election Commission, establishing an electoral offence against ‘paid news’, and setting up ‘election benches’ in High Courts to curb delays of the kind condemned by the Supreme Court. Remarkably, although the report makes significant recommendations about how the electoral process can be reformed, it fails to consider the more fundamental issue of who the participants in that electoral process are. The report is silent about whether Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, which marginalises more than 4,00,000 people from the political process, is consistent with a mature, inclusive democracy.

The Supreme Court needs to reconsider its approach to electoral reform and the right to vote. Disavowing the taxonomy of ‘purity’ and ‘pollution’ — terms that represent a dark history of entrenched social prejudices — would be a good beginning.

Forbidden love in the time of the Internet.

The logic under which AM operated seems to be that it is quite acceptable to cheat on your partner so long as you do not disturb society’s collective conscience.

Technology can be disruptive, but it cuts both ways — bicycles in Victorian England led to the emancipation of women; they are also known to have scandalised folks of that time by enabling love affairs… In the 21st century, the Internet is a lead exemplar of disruptive technology.

Sporting a tagline, “Life is short. Have an affair!” Ashley Madison (AM), a dating portal set up in 2001 for married/attached people has enabled extramarital affairs, in huge numbers. Now, with the portal being hacked by a group calling itself “The Impact Team,” its Canadian parent, Avid Life Media (ALM), faces lawsuits even as it attracts flocks of new members. The hacking culminated in the Impact Team stealing over 30 million members’ names, addresses and details of bank transactions and emails. The hackers then anonymously dumped this data in the “dark web”, accessible through the anonymity network Tor —for anyone to see. The issue itself though lurks within nested arguments about technology, morality and privacy.

The AM saga is a call to learn about cyber safety and not blindly accept promises of concealment of data. While in AM’s case, the passwords of the portal’s clients had at least been encrypted, there have been other hacking victims whose passwords were not encrypted by websites and which were revealed. AM had promised its clients that for a fee of $19, it would erase all related user data. However, the hacking job showed up addresses of several people who had, in fact, paid the erasure fee. Incidentally, the hackers did issue several warnings before dumping the data in public, and therefore AM did have ample time to delete the information that was revealed. The deeper question is — how ethical is it to charge for deletion of data, once you have attracted users with free guest accounts and minor credits for full use? This amounts to saying: once you have exposed yourself, you have to pay to get out!

Apropos morality, positions on extramarital affairs could vary, depending on the local culture and social norms, but there is no doubt that the business model followed by AM is questionable and dicey. Even more so, considering that a sizeable number of the users are/were government officials, begging the question whether any thought was given to cyber-security by these users of the portal.

At first glance, that there was technology available which enabled “cheating” at this scale and with such ease, could come under scrutiny. But the larger question is about the lack of public discussion about the website, even when it gained a huge following of about 39 million users in 53 countries (including India) as mentioned in Wikipedia. Until of course, the hacking scandal turned the spotlight on it. Ashley Madison has had a pretty successful run for 14 years since its inception. The logic under which it operated seems to be that it is quite acceptable to cheat on your partner so long so you do not disturb society’s collective conscience. This may have always been a prized social commandment even earlier, but lifting infidelity out of the physical world and embedding it in cyberspace also has its own manifestations. In society, there are various checks that streamline our social actions. Social norms, the existence of caring individuals, common friends, all of these add important regulations on such acts, which may go missing when these are consummated in cyberspace. The ease of this process has enabled membership in sites like AM to burgeon to mindboggling numbers.

In terms of privacy, it has to be asked, whose prerogative is it, anyway, to reveal this data. Also, the dumped data has to be analysed and read carefully, because it included even those who merely checked in and out. It included people who had decided to close longstanding accounts because they wished to be true to their partners and, not the least, people working on stolen or fake identities. An analysis by technology blog Gizmodo’s editor-in-chief Annalee Newitz shows that many of the women who used the site – they were small enough in number to start with, compared to the male users – abandoned it soon afterwards. Perhaps they were just checking on their partners!

A minor digression may be warranted here to look at how women handle knowledge of the husband’s infidelity. The knowledge does not always translate into action of any kind. While some may not mind, those who do are often trapped between wanting out but not having the means to get out of the relationship, and feeling tortured and frustrated at the knowledge.

Although there appears to be no differential in the number of women who cheat as compared to men, when the Internet is not involved, the same is not true in cyber-assisted infidelity. The release of data is a way to urge women to be more self-reliant, not to depend on alimony and never to take it for granted that her relationship is on stable ground and that her husband, or boyfriend, is faithful. This then is the liberating face of the scandal — a wake-up call to women who prefer to stay in comfort zones. This has also called into question, the idea of institutionalised relationships.

Following the hacking incident, two suicides were reported in Toronto, though the spouse of the victim in one case came forward to say that there was no direct link. The repercussions in India, which also had a sizeable number of members, are not known. There could be other impacts. The leaked data could be used by intelligence agencies for extracting “useful” information. The Impact Team may also face a long list of charges such as theft, extortion, mischief to property, criminal harassment and intimidation.

The complex range of issues involved in the hacking and in the aftermath makes it difficult therefore, even for the thoughtful among us to take sides.

HC allows transgender to go back to U.S.

Coming to the rescue of a 19-year-old NRI transgender, the Delhi High Court on Monday passed directions for her safe return to the U.S., while observing that she would travel unaccompanied after restoration of her green card and passport and would not be subjected to any harassment upon arrival in San Francisco.

The transgender, Shivani Bhat, had approached the Court while alleging that her parents had forcibly brought her to India and got her enrolled in an educational institution in Agra so that she could be reformed and taught to be a “normal girl”. The Court had earlier granted her police protection.

Disposing of Shivani's writ petition, Justice Siddharth Mridul of the High Court recorded the assurance of her parents that they would continue to finance her education for the next three years as long as she pursues bachelor's degree in neurobiology from University of California.

In addition to tuition fees, Shivani's parents also agreed to provide 500 U.S. dollars per month to her for personal expenses and gave her 300 U.S. dollars and Rs.10,000 during the proceedings in the Court.

The Delhi Police also assured the Court that it had already provided adequate protection to Shivani and would continue to do so till she leaves India. The police do not intend to take any coercive steps against Shivani or the LGBT activists who extended support to her.

The Court directed the Uttar Pradesh Police, with whom a complaint was lodged by Shivani's mother when she went missing, not to harass or illegally confine anybody from the territorial jurisdiction of the High Court except as per the procedure established by law.

Shivani's mother told the Court that she was not interested in pursuing the complaint, on the basis of which an FIR had been registered, in view of the rapprochement between her and her daughter.

In some stinging observations, the Court said the transgenders had long lived “on the fringes of society, often in poverty, ostracised severely, because of their gender identity.”

“They have for too long had to endure public ridicule and humiliation; have been socially marginalised and excluded from society, their basic human rights have been severely denuded,” said the Judge in his 10-page verdict.

Citing the Supreme Court's landmark judgment in National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India delivered last year recognising transgenders as third gender, the Court said the trauma, agony and pain of the members of the transgender community continues unabated despite the apex court verdict.

A case for decorum.

The confrontation between the Bench and a section of advocates in the Madras High Court is adversely affecting the image of the legal fraternity in Tamil Nadu. It is not the first time that unsavoury events are eroding the dignity and prestige associated with the black robe. There is a growing public perception that a belligerent section of the lawyer community is responsible for this. Another view is that lawyers want to raise accountability issues against judges through such protests. More than the occasional issues involved — not all of them related to the legal profession — these perceptions have created the current atmosphere of mistrust between the Bench and the Bar. Disruption of work, protests and slogan-shouting within High Court compounds constitute one form of indecorous behaviour. Other forms that have been on display include organising advocates on caste lines and forming support groups for individual judges, making grave allegations of misconduct and corruption against the judiciary, and creating an atmosphere of fear. The latest standoff arose from an unusual cause that advocates in Madurai took up: against an order directing the Tamil Nadu government to strictly enforce the rule that makes the wearing of helmets mandatory for two-wheeler riders. Other matters of discord too arose: allegations against some judges, followed by initiation of suo motu contempt proceedings against two office-bearers of the Madurai Bar Association. 

Some lawyers took up a new cause: the use of Tamil as the language of the Madras High Court. There was a day-long sit-in inside a court hall, something that drew a vehement rebuke from the Chief Justice of India. The police also found themselves at the receiving end of adverse comments by judges for inadequate action to prevent such protests. The court now wants the Central Industrial Security Force to be in charge of security on the premises. The State government has declared the High Court premises in Chennai and Madurai as high-security zones but does not favour any Central agency handling the security tasks. The situation bodes ill for the litigants’ interests: they may not only lose court time because of various protests, but their access to the premises may also be curtailed. It is time for the State government to work out a foolproof security arrangement that does not affect public access to the courts, but at the same time ensures smooth judicial functioning. The Bar should close ranks and seek to address the judges’ concerns. Contempt proceedings and suspension of some protagonists from their Bar Council membership do constitute a legitimate response, but what is more important is the restoration of an atmosphere of amity. The dignity and reputation of the legal profession are at stake.

District courts will take 10 years to clear it's pending cases.

 

Of the two crore pending cases, two-thirds are criminal

At the rate at which cases were disposed by India’s district courts last month, India could get rid of all pending cases in ten years, an analysis of new official data shows. Six states, however – Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Jammu & Kashmir – disposed fewer cases than were filed during the month, indicating that at this rate, they would never be able to clear all pending cases.

Last week, the Supreme Court launched the public access portal of the National Judicial Data Grid with daily updated information on civil and criminal cases filed and disposed every day in India’s district courts. At the moment, the portal has data for 15,340 judges in 459 district courts across the country and information on the performance of these courts for the last month.

As of 5 pm on Friday, there were 2 crore cases before district courts, two-thirds of them criminal cases. Ten per cent of these cases had been pending for more than ten years – in Gujarat, nearly 25 per cent of cases were pending for over ten years, while in Sikkim and Punjab fewer than 1 per cent were pending for over ten years. 18 per cent of cases nationally were pending for five to ten years and 30 per cent were pending for two to five years. The largest share – 42 per cent of all cases in the system – had been pending for less than two years. 

“I would classify any case pending for more than 5 years as delayed - a total of 56 lakh cases across all 15,000 courts across the country [based on the NJDG data],” Alok Prasanna Kumar, Senior Resident Fellow at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, told The Hindu. “Whereas the number "3 crore cases" is trotted out repeatedly as the total number of cases pending, there's little discussion on how many are actually delayed. Now we get a precise figure and break up,” Mr. Kumar said.

Of the 5.33 lakh cases filed across India last month, over 1 lakh were filed in Maharashtra alone, and it was not able to dispose as many. Uttar Pradesh saw the next highest number of cases filed, but disposed over 1.12 lakh cases during the month. In all, India’s district courts disposed over 6.9 lakh cases last month, 21,000 of which had been pending for over ten years. 

The data also shows the wide variation between states and districts in the rate of disposal of cases, according to an analysis done by Open data campaigner Rakesh Reddy Dubbudu and his team at the public data website ‘Factly’ calculated the ratio of cases disposed last month to those filed for each state and applied it to that state’s pending cases. They found that that at last month’s rate, it would take India around 10 years to clear all pending cases in its district courts. Nine states including Kerala, Karnataka and Assam could clear their backlogs in fewer than five years given the rate of disposal last month and the size of their backlogs. Six states including Gujarat and Bihar would never be able to clear the backlog given last month’s performance.  

“One month is of course not representative, but given that it was in many ways a normal month, it is useful to analyse the performance of district courts,” Mr. Dubbudu said. The NJDG portal in its current form does not help litigants but is useful for analysis and decision-making, he said; “We appreciate that this data has been made available, but a lot more needs to be done. It is currently in a closed format which defeats the purpose of transparency and is only available for a one month period,” he added.

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