Merge anti-graft functions of CVC, CBI with Lokpal'

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK TNN





The anti-corruption functions of the central vigilance commission (CVC) and CBI should be integrated with anti-graft ombudsman Lokpal and any disagreement between the CBI director and the agency's prosecution wing should be settled by the attorney general (A-G), a parliamentary committee has said.The recommendation to give the A-G the final say in a difference of opinion over whether to pursue prosecution is significant as the CBI director's powers in this regard have led to allegations of influential accused being let off the hook.
The standing committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice in its report on the Lokpal has specified the director of prosecution will be a joint secretary-level officer from the legal services or an advocate with at least 15 years of experience in cases of economic offenses and corruption.
The committee has said the selection panel for Lokpal includes the leader of the largest opposition party in the House.It also noted a proliferation of agencies investigating graft cases that include the chief vigilance officers, CVC and CBI.
Though it has not sought any provisions to limit the powers of the judiciary to order and supervise a CBI probe, the committee has noted that this can amount to a colorable exercise of power by the superior court as it might deny legal remedies of individuals subject to the criminal justice system.The panel has adversely commented on the setting up of special CBI courts, saying this amounts to US-type federal courts and is leading to the introduction of a dual judicial system.
There was no immediate indication from the government as to how many of the panel's recommendations it finds acceptable, with sources saying the report needs to be studied in detail. The panel has suggested that the headquarters of the Lokpal should be established within the CVC headquarters.
For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com
Parliament passes Bill on cheque bounce case
bill providing for filing of A cheque bounce cases at the place where a cheque is presented for clearance and not the place of issue was passed by Parliament. The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, passed by Lok Sabha in August, seeks to replace an ordinance re-promulgated earlier. Rajya Sabha cleared the bill without debate on Monday. TNN
Prevention of corruption bill sent to select panel
bill on checking corruption A was referred to a committee after Rajya Sabha members raised objections over certain clauses. Several MPs said certain provisions of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013, overlapped with those of the Lokpal Act.

Source: TNN

SC leaves uniform civil code to Parl

Dhananjay Mahapatra

New Delhi:





The Supreme Court on Monday declined to wade into the community sensitive debate over the desirability of bringing in a uniform civil code as envisaged in Article 44 of the Constitution, informing a PIL petitioner that the initiative rested with Parliament and not the judiciary. Yet, the court kept the judicial window ajar for Muslim women who find themselves at the wrong end of triple talaq. “If a Muslim woman victim of triple talaq comes to the court and questions the validity of the divorce procedure, we can surely examine the legality of triple talaq and find out whether it violated her fundamental rights,“ a bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi said.
While an individual's right to judicial remedy is clear enough, the court said no woman from the Muslim community had as yet challenged triple talaq on the ground that it was discriminatory while observing that the issue was not germane to the petition. Petitioner advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, a BJP activist, employed four senior advocates. They included two former solicitors general -Gopal Subramaniam and Mohan Parasaran -to drive home the necessity of the uniform civil code in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country like India to ensure Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs were treated equally under civil law.
Subramaniam referred to the SC's 1995 judgment in Sarla Mudgal case, in which the apex court had said, “Where more than 80% of citizens have already been brought under codified personal law, there is no justification whatsoever to keep in abeyance, any more, the introduction of uniform civil code for all citizens in India.“
Article 44 of the Constitution, under Directive Principles chapter, says, “The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code (UCC) throughout the territory of India.“
The clamour for uniform civil code had picked up after a two-judge bench of the SC issued notices to the attorney general and the legal services authority asking whether Muslim women suffered gender discrimination because of the personal law governing the community .
But the three-judge bench headed by the CJI refused to be swayed beyond what had been said by the SC in its earlier judgments, be it Shah Bano, Daniel Latifi, Sarla Mudgal or John Vallamattom.

Source: TNN

Thakur backs Delhi govt's odd-even plan

New Delhi:





Chief Justice of India T S Thakur has backed the Delhi government's formula of allowing odd and even-numbered private vehicles to ply on alternate days, saying Supreme Court judges would follow it if it helped control the deteriorating air quality in the national capital. Welcoming the government's decision, Justice Thakur said all steps should be taken to make the air of the city clean and pollution free. 

 

Source: TNN

Intolerance has a political angle: CJI

New Delhi

TIMES NEWS NETWORK





CJI T S Thakur on Sunday said the debate on growing intoler ance in society had a “political dimension“ and assured citizens the judiciary was there to protect them from any victimization or discrimination. He said there was nAo intolerance towards any community in the country and judiciary would never allow it to happen. He said the judiciary was committed to protect the country's heritage of religious diversity . He, however, refused to elaborate on the “political dimension“ to the intolerance debate. Justice Thakur said there was some “politics“ involved in the debate on intolerance and added he did not want to get involved in it. However, he emphatically stated that no person be longing to any community should be afraid of living in the country as the judiciary would take care of every citi zen's rights and freedom.
“Our existence is based on philosophy of tolerance and I don't think it (intolerance) is there. No one should have any reason to fear that they would be thrown out of the country or would be victimized,“ Justice Thakur said while interacting with legal reporters at his residence.
“I am heading an institution which protects constitutional rights of all citizens and also, sometimes, non-citizens. So long as rule of law is there and judiciary is functioning, no one should feel threatened. We are capable of protecting the rights of all citizens,“ he said.
Justice Thakur said India has always welcomed people from different religions with open arms and they have been living in the country peacefully for centuries. He said all religions teach brotherhood and harmony .
Quoting Persian poet Khawaja Dil Mohammed who translated Bhagwat Gita into Urdu, Justice Thakur, well known for his love of Hindi and Urdu literature, said paths followed by people of different religions were different but all ways eventually led to one god.
`No appointment till SC passes order on collegium reform'
New Delhi: The Supreme Court may have given the green signal to the collegium to appoint judges but the selection process will take some time as Chief Justice of India T S Thakur said it was improper to start the process till a constitution bench passed its verdict on reforming the collegium system. “When the matter is sub-judice, then we should wait for the judgment. I have not discussed the issue with brother judges but this is my view. Although the judgment said that the collegium can start the appointment process, there is a difference between can and should,“ he said on Sunday.

Source: TNN

Western Times Coverage of National Law Day

Director Ma'am Dr. Jyotsana Yagnik and Justice D. P. Buch on National Law Day

Cabotage law to be relaxed for Vizhinjam

Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari on Saturday announced relaxation of cabotage law under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 for transhipment of export-import containers at the Vizhinjam International Deepwater Multipurpose seaport.

“The order will be issued within 15 days after I reach Delhi. It will help the Indian flagship industry,” Mr. Gadkari, who was the chief guest at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Mission 676 project, said conceding the request made by the State and concessionaire. Stating that the Centre was ready to support the upcoming seaport at Vizhinjam, the Union Minister said the country needed world class ports for development.

The economy was growing and investors were coming to India and it was the appropriate time to develop ports in the country, he said.

Compared to the 150 million TEUs container transhipment business handled by China, Mr. Gadkari said the country handled only 10 million TEUs. The relaxation of the cabotage law, which protects domestic shipping lines by reserving coastal cargo for Indian ships, was aimed at attracting more cargo to Vizhinjam, he said.

The Union Minister also assured Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who laid the foundation stone for the seaport, that the Centre would stand by the State for its development. “Don’t be hesitant. We will fight the elections. We want to develop Kerala. We will not discriminate between States. Our development policy is to ensure justice for all,” Mr. Gadkari added. Mr. Chandy, in his address, said the success of the seaport would not be confined to Vizhinjam and the capital. It would trigger development of the entire State and turn out to be an example to show that Kerala can achieve anything, he said.

The Chief Minister hoped that the Adani Group would complete the PPP project’s Phase I as promised within 1,000 days, on September 1, 2018. “There is no politics in development. We cannot wait anymore as we have lost 24 years. All should stand united for the completion of the project and should not forget the sacrifices made by the local people. We want development, economic growth and use of human potential for growth of home soil”.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/cabotage-law-to-be-relaxed-for-vizhinjam/article7954017.ece

What the law says and what the courts ruled

The English version of the national anthem on display at the National Archives of India. Photo: Kamal Narang

It is the constitutional duty of every citizen, under Article51A(a) of the Constitution, to respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem. Standing during the national anthem does not necessarily mean respect for the national anthem. Nor does sitting during the anthem mean disrespect or qualify as a crime. What qualifies as crime is a “willful act” committed to insult the National Anthem.

Section 3 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 (as amended in 2005) does not dictate whether a person should sit or stand when the anthem is playing or sung.

Section 2 of the Insults Act leaves nothing to imagination when it specifies what constitutes an “insult” to the national flag and the Constitution. These include public acts of burning, mutilating, defacing, defiling, disfiguring, destroying, trampling upon the National Flag or the Constitution.

Commercial purposes

The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act takes care that national symbols are not taken undue advantage of and used for crass commercial purposes. In May 2010, luxury giant Montblanc had to give an assurance to the Supreme Court that it will not sell its limited edition pens sporting the name and image of Mahatma Gandhi.

The Karnataka High Court, in a 2007 judgment in N.R. Narayana Murthy vs. Kannada Rakshana Vakeelara, describes the national flag, national anthem and the Constitution of India as the “symbols of sovereignty and the integrity of the Nation”.

However, various judgments show that the courts have always taken into consideration the diverse faiths and beliefs practised by citizens.

The 1986 Supreme Court judgment in Bijoe Emmanuel vs. State of Kerala dealing with the expulsion of three children who belonged to the Jehovah’s Witnesses sect, for refusing to sing the national anthem in school, said this was contrary to fundamental rights of free speech and freedom to practise their religion.

In the 2004 Naveen Jindal judgment, a three-judge Supreme Court Bench led by then Chief Justice of India V.N. Khare upheld the citizen’s fundamental right to fly the national flag freely with respect and dignity. krishnadas.rajagopal@thehindu.co.in

 

Source http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/standing-for-the-national-anthem-what-the-law-says-and-what-the-courts-ruled/article7949583.ece?css=print

Minister reiterates demand for Central law governing professional course admissions

Draft of proposed law has not been circulated among State governments: Patil

Minister of State for Medical Education Sharanprakash Patil has reiterated the demand for a Central law for bringing in a system of uniformity in admission and fee structure and introducing a single common entrance examination for professional courses throughout the country.

Talking to The Hindu here on Friday, Dr. Patil said that after the State government made a formal request to the Union government for enacting a Central law, the Union government has put on the public domain a draft of the proposed law to regulate admission to professional colleges.

“But this draft has not been officially circulated to the State governments seeking their views and comments on the draft. Once the draft is made available officially to the State government, we will suggest the required changes and refinement of the draft law,” he said.

Dr. Patil said that during the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to NIMHANS, a memorandum was submitted by him (Dr. Patil) seeking Central legislation for admission to professional colleges to end all ambiguities in the existing pattern of admissions followed by the professional colleges in different States.

He had also followed up the matter with the Union Health Minister and Health Secretary and was told by them that the Union government was considering introducing a Bill to regulate admission, and also fixing a common fee structure for professional courses.

Hospital ready

To a question, he said that the tender process for the purchase of furniture and equipment for the 500-bed new government hospital here has been completed and the hospital would start functioning with all the required equipment by the end of February next year. Similarly, the work of installing equipment and infrastructure in one floor reserved for the establishment of a full-fledged unit of the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology in the Government Hospital was going on in full swing and it should also be ready by the end of February.

Dr. Patil said that the work of remodelling the existing Peripheral Cancer Centre here to upgrade it into a full-fledged cancer hospital has been completed and the work of constructing the bunker for installing a high-energy linear accelerator for providing radiotherapy treatment to cancer patients would also be ready by February-end.

‘Draft is in public domain but not officially sent to State govts. yet’

Sources: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/standing-for-the-national-anthem-what-the-law-says-and-what-the-courts-ruled/article7949583.ece?css=print

No need for separate law for Muslim women: AIMPLB

‘Existing personal law enough to handle most situations’

Speakers at a seminar organised by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Thursday unanimously conveyed their feeling that there was no need for a separate law for Muslim women as was being proposed by the government in recent times.

The day-long event drew the participation of several persons of eminence and students from across the country. Maulana Khalid Nadvi of the Nadwadul-Ulema and Khalid Saifullah Rehmani, both members of the Board spoke extensively, explaining how the existing personal law was enough to handle most situations that arose in the community.

The Nadwadul-Ulema, Lucknow was till a few years ago, the first and only Arabic university, before two more, including the Al Mahad Al Diniya Al Arabiya and another such educational institution where the medium of instruction is Arabic, were established here in Hyderabad.

GOs resented

Over a dozen speakers expressed their resentment against Government Orders in some States seeking the imposition of ‘Surya Namaskar and Vandemataram’ on school children and said it had hurt the community as a whole.

Further, they regretted that the current syllabus in schools was coloured in ‘saffron’.

The faith of Muslims they said, was badly affected by the concepts that were imposed on them, like ‘yoga, Surya Namaskar and Saraswati Vandanam’.

Prohibited in Islam

According to the teachings of Islam, they said the sun, moon and the universe were made subservient to man by God. The aim of their creation was to benefit man and in turn, man was instructed to bow before God and express his gratefulness.

Treating the sun as god and conveying man’s wishes and bowing before it was prohibited in Islam, they said.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/no-need-for-separate-law-for-muslim-women-aimplb/article7947362.ece