Sources: The Indian Express
Tuesday, 15 December 2015
One held in Bharuch Double murder case
Sources: The Indian Express
CJI moves to crack down: Not fair for rich to buy luxury cars, pollute Delhi
“Why don’t you people take credit of
cleaning Delhi air? You could enumerate the steps to be taken and why
you are asking the court to do it,” the Supreme Court bench hearing the
PIL said. (Source: Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey)A ban on registration of diesel SUVs and high-end vehicles with engine capacity of over 2000 cc for an initial period of three months, strict curbs on diesel vehicles which are over 10 years old, 100 per cent hike in the green cess levied on commercial vehicles entering Delhi — these are some of the measures set to be issued by the Supreme Court to tackle rising pollution in Delhi.
Underlining that “it is not fair for the rich to buy luxury cars and pollute Delhi”, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India
The bench, also comprising Justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi, is set to pronounce the detailed order on Wednesday.
Starting January 1, the bench said, registration of diesel CJI moves to crack down: Not fair for rich to buy luxury cars, pollute vehicles with engine capacity of over 2000 cc shall be banned for an initial period of three months.
People will not be allowed to bypass this injunction by getting their vehicles registered in Noida, Gurgaon or any other adjoining areas in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Last week, the National Green Tribunal, in an interim order, banned registration of diesel vehicles in Delhi till January 6, while also suggesting that the central and Delhi governments must stop buying diesel cars in the city.
Snubbing the counsel for a diesel car dealer who had opposed the ban, the apex court said: “People’s life is at stake and you are interested in selling cars and making money. Car dealers should be ready to make sacrifices now.”
According to an affidavit filed by the government in the apex court last year, diesel-driven vehicles account for over 90 per cent of SUVs in India, 34 per cent of small cars and 70 per cent of large/ medium cars.
The court said some orders would have to be passed to ensure diesel vehicles which are over 10 years old do not continue to pollute the environment. It said it may make a differentiation between private vehicles and commercial vehicles in this category.
The bench also said the environment compensatory cess levied on commercial vehicles entering Delhi would be doubled — from Rs 700 to Rs 1,400 for light commercial vehicles and from Rs 1,300 to Rs 2,600 for heavy commercial vehicles.
Agreeing with most of the suggestions mooted by amicus curiae Harish Salve, the bench said taxi aggregators like Ola and Uber must use only CNG vehicles.
During the four-hour-long hearing, the apex court also stressed the need to ensure vehicles in Delhi use at least Euro IV-ready fuel.
The court said it would completely prohibit burning of solid waste in the open by individuals as well as public authorities, and may also issue directives to check dust particles emanating from construction sites.
As Delhi government’s advocate S W A Qadri sought the court’s nod to implement the odd-even car scheme, the bench said: “Who is stopping you from implementing it? You do it on your own. You don’t need our approval for this. We will also see how it works.”
The bench also asked the counsel representing the Centre and the Delhi government to come out with comprehensive long-term and short-term plans to tackle the menace of air pollution.
“You should do it voluntarily… You could enumerate the steps to be taken but you are letting this opportunity slip off your hands,” it said.
Benchmark trial done in record 9 months, wheels of justice stall in other rape cases
A protest against the gangrape convicts. Archive
It took just nine months for a Delhi fast track court to complete the trial in the December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder of the 23-year-old paramedical student — four convicts were sentenced to death.
But while the wheels of justice moved swiftly amid widespread outrage over the incident, several similar cases are still waiting in queue in various Delhi courts.
The fast track court was one of the six set up in January 2013 to hear cases of sexual assaults on women in the wake of the December 16 case. But according to records available till September 2015, there are 162 cases pending in this court alone, including at least 37 that were referred to it in 2013.
In the national capital, at least 3,500 cases of assault on women and minors are pending in these fast track courts and others designated to hear cases under the Protection Of Child Sexual Offences Act, according to official data from the fast track courts and sources at POCSO courts. Of these, records show, 1,529 are pending in the fast track courts — there are nine such courts now.
The Indian Express focused on three such cases — including one from a fast track court formed after December 16 — to find out what is stalling the pursuit of crimes as horrifying as the one that shocked the nation exactly Dec 16 trial done in record 9 months but wheels of justice stall in other rape cases three years ago.
These include the rape of a 24-year-old woman by members of a local cricket team to the abduction and rape inside a car of a 17-year-old Delhi University student and the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl.
7 years later, accused is ‘juvenile’
In 2009, a 24-year-old student was coming back home in Delhi with a male classmate from a mall in Noida’s Sector 38, when they were assaulted by a group of 11 men from a local cricket team, according to police records. They allegedly overpowered the girl’s friend with cricket bats and stumps, and gangraped her, records show.
In 2013, the Supreme Court transferred the case to the Delhi fast track court following a petition from the girl’s friend who was the only eyewitness to the alleged gangrape. He had moved the apex court after being allegedly threatened by the accused, following his testimony in a lower court in which he identified all the 11 men.
The victim, meanwhile, cut short her studies and moved to the UK because of threats from her attackers. While all the accused are on bail, she stills waits for justice.
The reason for delay, records show, is that one of the accused has now moved a plea before the fast track court claiming he was a juvenile at the time of the incident.
On November 5, the court issued notice to the principal of a high school in Gautam Budh Nagar to appear in person with all the relevant records and depose whether the accused had studied in the school. The court is currently hearing the accused’s plea.
“In the beginning, the delay was caused by UP officials as they would not produce the case property. Now, after so many years, a plea has been moved by one of the accused claiming he was a juvenile at the time. Did the investigation agency not ascertain the age of the accused while filing the charge sheet? This has now further caused a delay in the trial,” said Advocate Shubra Mehndiratta, counsel for Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), which is representing the victim in the case.
9 months of final hearings
On August 2010, a 17-year-old student of Delhi University was allegedly abducted and raped by a 50-year-old businessman inside his car from west Delhi, according to the case file.
The accused, a resident of Ashok Vihar in North Delhi, later allegedly dumped the student in front of her college, records show. They add that the victim was later hospitalised and under medical examination for three days.
In December 2010, a special court framed charges of rape and abduction against the accused. In January 2011, the victim deposed before court. Three months later, the forensic report was filed.
However, the court then took 39 months to record the evidence of 15 prosecution witnesses — an average of two and-a-half months per witness. It took another six months to record evidence from the defence. From March this year, the court has been hearing the final arguments in the case.
“This is how system works when the media does not highlight a case. The delay in this case was caused because the court was burdened with other different cases. Second, there was a huge gap between the dates, exemptions were sought, all delaying the trial,” said a prosecutor on the condition of anonymity.
“In the December 16 case, it took nine months to complete the entire trial. Here, the same time has been taken to just hear the final arguments,” added the prosecutor.
‘We have no option but to wait’
In April 2013, the national capital was in uproar again after the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl from a slum in East Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar. Police said the minor was kidnapped, starved and brutally tortured for two days.
In over two months, a lower court paved the way for the trial of the two accused on charges of rape and under sections of the Protection of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. By June 2014, the court had almost completed recording of the 59 prosecution witnesses listed in the charge sheet.
But matters stalled as one of the accused had moved an application that April for an ossification test claiming to be a minor. A scientific report proved he was a major, and the court dismissed his application. But five months later, he moved a similar plea by his mother, this time with his school certificate and other documents.
The court is yet to decide on the plea, as the matter is still under investigation.
“Until the time media covered the trial, they was pace in the trial. The medical examination says he is a major. But his lawyers have again moved the same plea. This time it has taken more than a year to just hear the plea. We have no other option, but to wait for justice,” said the victim’s uncle.
The girl, meanwhile, has moved out Delhi. The uncle says she’s studying in first grade and “loves spending time in school”. But the family — her father, the only breadwinner, is a gardener — is still waiting for justice.
Sources: - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/benchmark-trial-done-in-record-9-months-wheels-of-justice-stall-in-other-rape-cases/#sthash.H1ZhPl7V.dpuf
It took just nine months for a Delhi fast track court to complete the trial in the December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder of the 23-year-old paramedical student — four convicts were sentenced to death.
But while the wheels of justice moved swiftly amid widespread outrage over the incident, several similar cases are still waiting in queue in various Delhi courts.
The fast track court was one of the six set up in January 2013 to hear cases of sexual assaults on women in the wake of the December 16 case. But according to records available till September 2015, there are 162 cases pending in this court alone, including at least 37 that were referred to it in 2013.
In the national capital, at least 3,500 cases of assault on women and minors are pending in these fast track courts and others designated to hear cases under the Protection Of Child Sexual Offences Act, according to official data from the fast track courts and sources at POCSO courts. Of these, records show, 1,529 are pending in the fast track courts — there are nine such courts now.
The Indian Express focused on three such cases — including one from a fast track court formed after December 16 — to find out what is stalling the pursuit of crimes as horrifying as the one that shocked the nation exactly Dec 16 trial done in record 9 months but wheels of justice stall in other rape cases three years ago.
These include the rape of a 24-year-old woman by members of a local cricket team to the abduction and rape inside a car of a 17-year-old Delhi University student and the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl.
7 years later, accused is ‘juvenile’
In 2009, a 24-year-old student was coming back home in Delhi with a male classmate from a mall in Noida’s Sector 38, when they were assaulted by a group of 11 men from a local cricket team, according to police records. They allegedly overpowered the girl’s friend with cricket bats and stumps, and gangraped her, records show.
In 2013, the Supreme Court transferred the case to the Delhi fast track court following a petition from the girl’s friend who was the only eyewitness to the alleged gangrape. He had moved the apex court after being allegedly threatened by the accused, following his testimony in a lower court in which he identified all the 11 men.
The victim, meanwhile, cut short her studies and moved to the UK because of threats from her attackers. While all the accused are on bail, she stills waits for justice.
The reason for delay, records show, is that one of the accused has now moved a plea before the fast track court claiming he was a juvenile at the time of the incident.
On November 5, the court issued notice to the principal of a high school in Gautam Budh Nagar to appear in person with all the relevant records and depose whether the accused had studied in the school. The court is currently hearing the accused’s plea.
“In the beginning, the delay was caused by UP officials as they would not produce the case property. Now, after so many years, a plea has been moved by one of the accused claiming he was a juvenile at the time. Did the investigation agency not ascertain the age of the accused while filing the charge sheet? This has now further caused a delay in the trial,” said Advocate Shubra Mehndiratta, counsel for Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), which is representing the victim in the case.
9 months of final hearings
On August 2010, a 17-year-old student of Delhi University was allegedly abducted and raped by a 50-year-old businessman inside his car from west Delhi, according to the case file.
The accused, a resident of Ashok Vihar in North Delhi, later allegedly dumped the student in front of her college, records show. They add that the victim was later hospitalised and under medical examination for three days.
In December 2010, a special court framed charges of rape and abduction against the accused. In January 2011, the victim deposed before court. Three months later, the forensic report was filed.
However, the court then took 39 months to record the evidence of 15 prosecution witnesses — an average of two and-a-half months per witness. It took another six months to record evidence from the defence. From March this year, the court has been hearing the final arguments in the case.
“This is how system works when the media does not highlight a case. The delay in this case was caused because the court was burdened with other different cases. Second, there was a huge gap between the dates, exemptions were sought, all delaying the trial,” said a prosecutor on the condition of anonymity.
“In the December 16 case, it took nine months to complete the entire trial. Here, the same time has been taken to just hear the final arguments,” added the prosecutor.
‘We have no option but to wait’
In April 2013, the national capital was in uproar again after the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl from a slum in East Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar. Police said the minor was kidnapped, starved and brutally tortured for two days.
In over two months, a lower court paved the way for the trial of the two accused on charges of rape and under sections of the Protection of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. By June 2014, the court had almost completed recording of the 59 prosecution witnesses listed in the charge sheet.
But matters stalled as one of the accused had moved an application that April for an ossification test claiming to be a minor. A scientific report proved he was a major, and the court dismissed his application. But five months later, he moved a similar plea by his mother, this time with his school certificate and other documents.
The court is yet to decide on the plea, as the matter is still under investigation.
“Until the time media covered the trial, they was pace in the trial. The medical examination says he is a major. But his lawyers have again moved the same plea. This time it has taken more than a year to just hear the plea. We have no other option, but to wait for justice,” said the victim’s uncle.
The girl, meanwhile, has moved out Delhi. The uncle says she’s studying in first grade and “loves spending time in school”. But the family — her father, the only breadwinner, is a gardener — is still waiting for justice.
A protest against the gangrape convicts. Archive
It took just nine months for a Delhi fast track court to complete the
trial in the December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder of the 23-year-old
paramedical student — four convicts were sentenced to death.
But while the wheels of justice moved swiftly amid widespread outrage over the incident, several similar cases are still waiting in queue in various Delhi courts.
The fast track court was one of the six set up in January 2013 to
hear cases of sexual assaults on women in the wake of the December 16
case. But according to records available till September 2015, there are
162 cases pending in this court alone, including at least 37 that were
referred to it in 2013.
In the national capital, at least 3,500 cases of assault on women and minors are pending in these fast track courts and others designated to hear cases under the Protection Of Child Sexual Offences Act, according to official data from the fast track courts and sources at POCSO courts. Of these, records show, 1,529 are pending in the fast track courts — there are nine such courts now.
The Indian Express focused on three such cases — including one from a fast track court formed after December 16 — to find out what is stalling the pursuit of crimes as horrifying as the one that shocked the nation exactly Dec 16 trial done in record 9 months but wheels of justice stall in other rape cases three years ago.
These include the rape of a 24-year-old woman by members of a local cricket team to the abduction and rape inside a car of a 17-year-old Delhi University student and the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl.
7 years later, accused is ‘juvenile’
In 2009, a 24-year-old student was coming back home in Delhi with a male classmate from a mall in Noida’s Sector 38, when they were assaulted by a group of 11 men from a local cricket team, according to police records. They allegedly overpowered the girl’s friend with cricket bats and stumps, and gangraped her, records show.
In 2013, the Supreme Court transferred the case to the Delhi fast track court following a petition from the girl’s friend who was the only eyewitness to the alleged gangrape. He had moved the apex court after being allegedly threatened by the accused, following his testimony in a lower court in which he identified all the 11 men.
The victim, meanwhile, cut short her studies and moved to the UK because of threats from her attackers. While all the accused are on bail, she stills waits for justice.
The reason for delay, records show, is that one of the accused has now moved a plea before the fast track court claiming he was a juvenile at the time of the incident.
On November 5, the court issued notice to the principal of a high school in Gautam Budh Nagar to appear in person with all the relevant records and depose whether the accused had studied in the school. The court is currently hearing the accused’s plea.
“In the beginning, the delay was caused by UP officials as they would not produce the case property. Now, after so many years, a plea has been moved by one of the accused claiming he was a juvenile at the time. Did the investigation agency not ascertain the age of the accused while filing the charge sheet? This has now further caused a delay in the trial,” said Advocate Shubra Mehndiratta, counsel for Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), which is representing the victim in the case.
9 months of final hearings
On August 2010, a 17-year-old student of Delhi University was allegedly abducted and raped by a 50-year-old businessman inside his car from west Delhi, according to the case file.
The accused, a resident of Ashok Vihar in North Delhi, later allegedly dumped the student in front of her college, records show. They add that the victim was later hospitalised and under medical examination for three days.
In December 2010, a special court framed charges of rape and abduction against the accused. In January 2011, the victim deposed before court. Three months later, the forensic report was filed.
However, the court then took 39 months to record the evidence of 15 prosecution witnesses — an average of two and-a-half months per witness. It took another six months to record evidence from the defence. From March this year, the court has been hearing the final arguments in the case.
“This is how system works when the media does not highlight a case. The delay in this case was caused because the court was burdened with other different cases. Second, there was a huge gap between the dates, exemptions were sought, all delaying the trial,” said a prosecutor on the condition of anonymity.
“In the December 16 case, it took nine months to complete the entire trial. Here, the same time has been taken to just hear the final arguments,” added the prosecutor.
‘We have no option but to wait’
In April 2013, the national capital was in uproar again after the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl from a slum in East Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar. Police said the minor was kidnapped, starved and brutally tortured for two days.
In over two months, a lower court paved the way for the trial of the two accused on charges of rape and under sections of the Protection of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. By June 2014, the court had almost completed recording of the 59 prosecution witnesses listed in the charge sheet.
But matters stalled as one of the accused had moved an application that April for an ossification test claiming to be a minor. A scientific report proved he was a major, and the court dismissed his application. But five months later, he moved a similar plea by his mother, this time with his school certificate and other documents.
The court is yet to decide on the plea, as the matter is still under investigation.
“Until the time media covered the trial, they was pace in the trial. The medical examination says he is a major. But his lawyers have again moved the same plea. This time it has taken more than a year to just hear the plea. We have no other option, but to wait for justice,” said the victim’s uncle.
The girl, meanwhile, has moved out Delhi. The uncle says she’s studying in first grade and “loves spending time in school”. But the family — her father, the only breadwinner, is a gardener — is still waiting for justice.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/benchmark-trial-done-in-record-9-months-wheels-of-justice-stall-in-other-rape-cases/#sthash.H1ZhPl7V.dpuf
But while the wheels of justice moved swiftly amid widespread outrage over the incident, several similar cases are still waiting in queue in various Delhi courts.
In the national capital, at least 3,500 cases of assault on women and minors are pending in these fast track courts and others designated to hear cases under the Protection Of Child Sexual Offences Act, according to official data from the fast track courts and sources at POCSO courts. Of these, records show, 1,529 are pending in the fast track courts — there are nine such courts now.
The Indian Express focused on three such cases — including one from a fast track court formed after December 16 — to find out what is stalling the pursuit of crimes as horrifying as the one that shocked the nation exactly Dec 16 trial done in record 9 months but wheels of justice stall in other rape cases three years ago.
These include the rape of a 24-year-old woman by members of a local cricket team to the abduction and rape inside a car of a 17-year-old Delhi University student and the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl.
7 years later, accused is ‘juvenile’
In 2009, a 24-year-old student was coming back home in Delhi with a male classmate from a mall in Noida’s Sector 38, when they were assaulted by a group of 11 men from a local cricket team, according to police records. They allegedly overpowered the girl’s friend with cricket bats and stumps, and gangraped her, records show.
In 2013, the Supreme Court transferred the case to the Delhi fast track court following a petition from the girl’s friend who was the only eyewitness to the alleged gangrape. He had moved the apex court after being allegedly threatened by the accused, following his testimony in a lower court in which he identified all the 11 men.
The victim, meanwhile, cut short her studies and moved to the UK because of threats from her attackers. While all the accused are on bail, she stills waits for justice.
The reason for delay, records show, is that one of the accused has now moved a plea before the fast track court claiming he was a juvenile at the time of the incident.
On November 5, the court issued notice to the principal of a high school in Gautam Budh Nagar to appear in person with all the relevant records and depose whether the accused had studied in the school. The court is currently hearing the accused’s plea.
“In the beginning, the delay was caused by UP officials as they would not produce the case property. Now, after so many years, a plea has been moved by one of the accused claiming he was a juvenile at the time. Did the investigation agency not ascertain the age of the accused while filing the charge sheet? This has now further caused a delay in the trial,” said Advocate Shubra Mehndiratta, counsel for Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), which is representing the victim in the case.
9 months of final hearings
On August 2010, a 17-year-old student of Delhi University was allegedly abducted and raped by a 50-year-old businessman inside his car from west Delhi, according to the case file.
The accused, a resident of Ashok Vihar in North Delhi, later allegedly dumped the student in front of her college, records show. They add that the victim was later hospitalised and under medical examination for three days.
In December 2010, a special court framed charges of rape and abduction against the accused. In January 2011, the victim deposed before court. Three months later, the forensic report was filed.
However, the court then took 39 months to record the evidence of 15 prosecution witnesses — an average of two and-a-half months per witness. It took another six months to record evidence from the defence. From March this year, the court has been hearing the final arguments in the case.
“This is how system works when the media does not highlight a case. The delay in this case was caused because the court was burdened with other different cases. Second, there was a huge gap between the dates, exemptions were sought, all delaying the trial,” said a prosecutor on the condition of anonymity.
“In the December 16 case, it took nine months to complete the entire trial. Here, the same time has been taken to just hear the final arguments,” added the prosecutor.
‘We have no option but to wait’
In April 2013, the national capital was in uproar again after the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl from a slum in East Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar. Police said the minor was kidnapped, starved and brutally tortured for two days.
In over two months, a lower court paved the way for the trial of the two accused on charges of rape and under sections of the Protection of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. By June 2014, the court had almost completed recording of the 59 prosecution witnesses listed in the charge sheet.
But matters stalled as one of the accused had moved an application that April for an ossification test claiming to be a minor. A scientific report proved he was a major, and the court dismissed his application. But five months later, he moved a similar plea by his mother, this time with his school certificate and other documents.
The court is yet to decide on the plea, as the matter is still under investigation.
“Until the time media covered the trial, they was pace in the trial. The medical examination says he is a major. But his lawyers have again moved the same plea. This time it has taken more than a year to just hear the plea. We have no other option, but to wait for justice,” said the victim’s uncle.
The girl, meanwhile, has moved out Delhi. The uncle says she’s studying in first grade and “loves spending time in school”. But the family — her father, the only breadwinner, is a gardener — is still waiting for justice.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/benchmark-trial-done-in-record-9-months-wheels-of-justice-stall-in-other-rape-cases/#sthash.H1ZhPl7V.dpuf
A protest against the gangrape convicts. Archive
It took just nine months for a Delhi fast track court to complete the
trial in the December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder of the 23-year-old
paramedical student — four convicts were sentenced to death.
But while the wheels of justice moved swiftly amid widespread outrage over the incident, several similar cases are still waiting in queue in various Delhi courts.
The fast track court was one of the six set up in January 2013 to
hear cases of sexual assaults on women in the wake of the December 16
case. But according to records available till September 2015, there are
162 cases pending in this court alone, including at least 37 that were
referred to it in 2013.
In the national capital, at least 3,500 cases of assault on women and minors are pending in these fast track courts and others designated to hear cases under the Protection Of Child Sexual Offences Act, according to official data from the fast track courts and sources at POCSO courts. Of these, records show, 1,529 are pending in the fast track courts — there are nine such courts now.
The Indian Express focused on three such cases — including one from a fast track court formed after December 16 — to find out what is stalling the pursuit of crimes as horrifying as the one that shocked the nation exactly Dec 16 trial done in record 9 months but wheels of justice stall in other rape cases three years ago.
These include the rape of a 24-year-old woman by members of a local cricket team to the abduction and rape inside a car of a 17-year-old Delhi University student and the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl.
7 years later, accused is ‘juvenile’
In 2009, a 24-year-old student was coming back home in Delhi with a male classmate from a mall in Noida’s Sector 38, when they were assaulted by a group of 11 men from a local cricket team, according to police records. They allegedly overpowered the girl’s friend with cricket bats and stumps, and gangraped her, records show.
In 2013, the Supreme Court transferred the case to the Delhi fast track court following a petition from the girl’s friend who was the only eyewitness to the alleged gangrape. He had moved the apex court after being allegedly threatened by the accused, following his testimony in a lower court in which he identified all the 11 men.
The victim, meanwhile, cut short her studies and moved to the UK because of threats from her attackers. While all the accused are on bail, she stills waits for justice.
The reason for delay, records show, is that one of the accused has now moved a plea before the fast track court claiming he was a juvenile at the time of the incident.
On November 5, the court issued notice to the principal of a high school in Gautam Budh Nagar to appear in person with all the relevant records and depose whether the accused had studied in the school. The court is currently hearing the accused’s plea.
“In the beginning, the delay was caused by UP officials as they would not produce the case property. Now, after so many years, a plea has been moved by one of the accused claiming he was a juvenile at the time. Did the investigation agency not ascertain the age of the accused while filing the charge sheet? This has now further caused a delay in the trial,” said Advocate Shubra Mehndiratta, counsel for Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), which is representing the victim in the case.
9 months of final hearings
On August 2010, a 17-year-old student of Delhi University was allegedly abducted and raped by a 50-year-old businessman inside his car from west Delhi, according to the case file.
The accused, a resident of Ashok Vihar in North Delhi, later allegedly dumped the student in front of her college, records show. They add that the victim was later hospitalised and under medical examination for three days.
In December 2010, a special court framed charges of rape and abduction against the accused. In January 2011, the victim deposed before court. Three months later, the forensic report was filed.
However, the court then took 39 months to record the evidence of 15 prosecution witnesses — an average of two and-a-half months per witness. It took another six months to record evidence from the defence. From March this year, the court has been hearing the final arguments in the case.
“This is how system works when the media does not highlight a case. The delay in this case was caused because the court was burdened with other different cases. Second, there was a huge gap between the dates, exemptions were sought, all delaying the trial,” said a prosecutor on the condition of anonymity.
“In the December 16 case, it took nine months to complete the entire trial. Here, the same time has been taken to just hear the final arguments,” added the prosecutor.
‘We have no option but to wait’
In April 2013, the national capital was in uproar again after the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl from a slum in East Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar. Police said the minor was kidnapped, starved and brutally tortured for two days.
In over two months, a lower court paved the way for the trial of the two accused on charges of rape and under sections of the Protection of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. By June 2014, the court had almost completed recording of the 59 prosecution witnesses listed in the charge sheet.
But matters stalled as one of the accused had moved an application that April for an ossification test claiming to be a minor. A scientific report proved he was a major, and the court dismissed his application. But five months later, he moved a similar plea by his mother, this time with his school certificate and other documents.
The court is yet to decide on the plea, as the matter is still under investigation.
“Until the time media covered the trial, they was pace in the trial. The medical examination says he is a major. But his lawyers have again moved the same plea. This time it has taken more than a year to just hear the plea. We have no other option, but to wait for justice,” said the victim’s uncle.
The girl, meanwhile, has moved out Delhi. The uncle says she’s studying in first grade and “loves spending time in school”. But the family — her father, the only breadwinner, is a gardener — is still waiting for justice.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/benchmark-trial-done-in-record-9-months-wheels-of-justice-stall-in-other-rape-cases/#sthash.H1ZhPl7V.dpuf
But while the wheels of justice moved swiftly amid widespread outrage over the incident, several similar cases are still waiting in queue in various Delhi courts.
In the national capital, at least 3,500 cases of assault on women and minors are pending in these fast track courts and others designated to hear cases under the Protection Of Child Sexual Offences Act, according to official data from the fast track courts and sources at POCSO courts. Of these, records show, 1,529 are pending in the fast track courts — there are nine such courts now.
The Indian Express focused on three such cases — including one from a fast track court formed after December 16 — to find out what is stalling the pursuit of crimes as horrifying as the one that shocked the nation exactly Dec 16 trial done in record 9 months but wheels of justice stall in other rape cases three years ago.
These include the rape of a 24-year-old woman by members of a local cricket team to the abduction and rape inside a car of a 17-year-old Delhi University student and the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl.
7 years later, accused is ‘juvenile’
In 2009, a 24-year-old student was coming back home in Delhi with a male classmate from a mall in Noida’s Sector 38, when they were assaulted by a group of 11 men from a local cricket team, according to police records. They allegedly overpowered the girl’s friend with cricket bats and stumps, and gangraped her, records show.
In 2013, the Supreme Court transferred the case to the Delhi fast track court following a petition from the girl’s friend who was the only eyewitness to the alleged gangrape. He had moved the apex court after being allegedly threatened by the accused, following his testimony in a lower court in which he identified all the 11 men.
The victim, meanwhile, cut short her studies and moved to the UK because of threats from her attackers. While all the accused are on bail, she stills waits for justice.
The reason for delay, records show, is that one of the accused has now moved a plea before the fast track court claiming he was a juvenile at the time of the incident.
On November 5, the court issued notice to the principal of a high school in Gautam Budh Nagar to appear in person with all the relevant records and depose whether the accused had studied in the school. The court is currently hearing the accused’s plea.
“In the beginning, the delay was caused by UP officials as they would not produce the case property. Now, after so many years, a plea has been moved by one of the accused claiming he was a juvenile at the time. Did the investigation agency not ascertain the age of the accused while filing the charge sheet? This has now further caused a delay in the trial,” said Advocate Shubra Mehndiratta, counsel for Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), which is representing the victim in the case.
9 months of final hearings
On August 2010, a 17-year-old student of Delhi University was allegedly abducted and raped by a 50-year-old businessman inside his car from west Delhi, according to the case file.
The accused, a resident of Ashok Vihar in North Delhi, later allegedly dumped the student in front of her college, records show. They add that the victim was later hospitalised and under medical examination for three days.
In December 2010, a special court framed charges of rape and abduction against the accused. In January 2011, the victim deposed before court. Three months later, the forensic report was filed.
However, the court then took 39 months to record the evidence of 15 prosecution witnesses — an average of two and-a-half months per witness. It took another six months to record evidence from the defence. From March this year, the court has been hearing the final arguments in the case.
“This is how system works when the media does not highlight a case. The delay in this case was caused because the court was burdened with other different cases. Second, there was a huge gap between the dates, exemptions were sought, all delaying the trial,” said a prosecutor on the condition of anonymity.
“In the December 16 case, it took nine months to complete the entire trial. Here, the same time has been taken to just hear the final arguments,” added the prosecutor.
‘We have no option but to wait’
In April 2013, the national capital was in uproar again after the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl from a slum in East Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar. Police said the minor was kidnapped, starved and brutally tortured for two days.
In over two months, a lower court paved the way for the trial of the two accused on charges of rape and under sections of the Protection of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. By June 2014, the court had almost completed recording of the 59 prosecution witnesses listed in the charge sheet.
But matters stalled as one of the accused had moved an application that April for an ossification test claiming to be a minor. A scientific report proved he was a major, and the court dismissed his application. But five months later, he moved a similar plea by his mother, this time with his school certificate and other documents.
The court is yet to decide on the plea, as the matter is still under investigation.
“Until the time media covered the trial, they was pace in the trial. The medical examination says he is a major. But his lawyers have again moved the same plea. This time it has taken more than a year to just hear the plea. We have no other option, but to wait for justice,” said the victim’s uncle.
The girl, meanwhile, has moved out Delhi. The uncle says she’s studying in first grade and “loves spending time in school”. But the family — her father, the only breadwinner, is a gardener — is still waiting for justice.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/benchmark-trial-done-in-record-9-months-wheels-of-justice-stall-in-other-rape-cases/#sthash.H1ZhPl7V.dpuf
A protest against the gangrape convicts. Archive
It took just nine months for a Delhi fast track court to complete the
trial in the December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder of the 23-year-old
paramedical student — four convicts were sentenced to death.
But while the wheels of justice moved swiftly amid widespread outrage over the incident, several similar cases are still waiting in queue in various Delhi courts.
The fast track court was one of the six set up in January 2013 to
hear cases of sexual assaults on women in the wake of the December 16
case. But according to records available till September 2015, there are
162 cases pending in this court alone, including at least 37 that were
referred to it in 2013.
In the national capital, at least 3,500 cases of assault on women and minors are pending in these fast track courts and others designated to hear cases under the Protection Of Child Sexual Offences Act, according to official data from the fast track courts and sources at POCSO courts. Of these, records show, 1,529 are pending in the fast track courts — there are nine such courts now.
The Indian Express focused on three such cases — including one from a fast track court formed after December 16 — to find out what is stalling the pursuit of crimes as horrifying as the one that shocked the nation exactly Dec 16 trial done in record 9 months but wheels of justice stall in other rape cases three years ago.
These include the rape of a 24-year-old woman by members of a local cricket team to the abduction and rape inside a car of a 17-year-old Delhi University student and the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl.
7 years later, accused is ‘juvenile’
In 2009, a 24-year-old student was coming back home in Delhi with a male classmate from a mall in Noida’s Sector 38, when they were assaulted by a group of 11 men from a local cricket team, according to police records. They allegedly overpowered the girl’s friend with cricket bats and stumps, and gangraped her, records show.
In 2013, the Supreme Court transferred the case to the Delhi fast track court following a petition from the girl’s friend who was the only eyewitness to the alleged gangrape. He had moved the apex court after being allegedly threatened by the accused, following his testimony in a lower court in which he identified all the 11 men.
The victim, meanwhile, cut short her studies and moved to the UK because of threats from her attackers. While all the accused are on bail, she stills waits for justice.
The reason for delay, records show, is that one of the accused has now moved a plea before the fast track court claiming he was a juvenile at the time of the incident.
On November 5, the court issued notice to the principal of a high school in Gautam Budh Nagar to appear in person with all the relevant records and depose whether the accused had studied in the school. The court is currently hearing the accused’s plea.
“In the beginning, the delay was caused by UP officials as they would not produce the case property. Now, after so many years, a plea has been moved by one of the accused claiming he was a juvenile at the time. Did the investigation agency not ascertain the age of the accused while filing the charge sheet? This has now further caused a delay in the trial,” said Advocate Shubra Mehndiratta, counsel for Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), which is representing the victim in the case.
9 months of final hearings
On August 2010, a 17-year-old student of Delhi University was allegedly abducted and raped by a 50-year-old businessman inside his car from west Delhi, according to the case file.
The accused, a resident of Ashok Vihar in North Delhi, later allegedly dumped the student in front of her college, records show. They add that the victim was later hospitalised and under medical examination for three days.
In December 2010, a special court framed charges of rape and abduction against the accused. In January 2011, the victim deposed before court. Three months later, the forensic report was filed.
However, the court then took 39 months to record the evidence of 15 prosecution witnesses — an average of two and-a-half months per witness. It took another six months to record evidence from the defence. From March this year, the court has been hearing the final arguments in the case.
“This is how system works when the media does not highlight a case. The delay in this case was caused because the court was burdened with other different cases. Second, there was a huge gap between the dates, exemptions were sought, all delaying the trial,” said a prosecutor on the condition of anonymity.
“In the December 16 case, it took nine months to complete the entire trial. Here, the same time has been taken to just hear the final arguments,” added the prosecutor.
‘We have no option but to wait’
In April 2013, the national capital was in uproar again after the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl from a slum in East Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar. Police said the minor was kidnapped, starved and brutally tortured for two days.
In over two months, a lower court paved the way for the trial of the two accused on charges of rape and under sections of the Protection of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. By June 2014, the court had almost completed recording of the 59 prosecution witnesses listed in the charge sheet.
But matters stalled as one of the accused had moved an application that April for an ossification test claiming to be a minor. A scientific report proved he was a major, and the court dismissed his application. But five months later, he moved a similar plea by his mother, this time with his school certificate and other documents.
The court is yet to decide on the plea, as the matter is still under investigation.
“Until the time media covered the trial, they was pace in the trial. The medical examination says he is a major. But his lawyers have again moved the same plea. This time it has taken more than a year to just hear the plea. We have no other option, but to wait for justice,” said the victim’s uncle.
The girl, meanwhile, has moved out Delhi. The uncle says she’s studying in first grade and “loves spending time in school”. But the family — her father, the only breadwinner, is a gardener — is still waiting for justice.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/benchmark-trial-done-in-record-9-months-wheels-of-justice-stall-in-other-rape-cases/#sthash.H1ZhPl7V.dpuf
But while the wheels of justice moved swiftly amid widespread outrage over the incident, several similar cases are still waiting in queue in various Delhi courts.
In the national capital, at least 3,500 cases of assault on women and minors are pending in these fast track courts and others designated to hear cases under the Protection Of Child Sexual Offences Act, according to official data from the fast track courts and sources at POCSO courts. Of these, records show, 1,529 are pending in the fast track courts — there are nine such courts now.
The Indian Express focused on three such cases — including one from a fast track court formed after December 16 — to find out what is stalling the pursuit of crimes as horrifying as the one that shocked the nation exactly Dec 16 trial done in record 9 months but wheels of justice stall in other rape cases three years ago.
These include the rape of a 24-year-old woman by members of a local cricket team to the abduction and rape inside a car of a 17-year-old Delhi University student and the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl.
7 years later, accused is ‘juvenile’
In 2009, a 24-year-old student was coming back home in Delhi with a male classmate from a mall in Noida’s Sector 38, when they were assaulted by a group of 11 men from a local cricket team, according to police records. They allegedly overpowered the girl’s friend with cricket bats and stumps, and gangraped her, records show.
In 2013, the Supreme Court transferred the case to the Delhi fast track court following a petition from the girl’s friend who was the only eyewitness to the alleged gangrape. He had moved the apex court after being allegedly threatened by the accused, following his testimony in a lower court in which he identified all the 11 men.
The victim, meanwhile, cut short her studies and moved to the UK because of threats from her attackers. While all the accused are on bail, she stills waits for justice.
The reason for delay, records show, is that one of the accused has now moved a plea before the fast track court claiming he was a juvenile at the time of the incident.
On November 5, the court issued notice to the principal of a high school in Gautam Budh Nagar to appear in person with all the relevant records and depose whether the accused had studied in the school. The court is currently hearing the accused’s plea.
“In the beginning, the delay was caused by UP officials as they would not produce the case property. Now, after so many years, a plea has been moved by one of the accused claiming he was a juvenile at the time. Did the investigation agency not ascertain the age of the accused while filing the charge sheet? This has now further caused a delay in the trial,” said Advocate Shubra Mehndiratta, counsel for Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), which is representing the victim in the case.
9 months of final hearings
On August 2010, a 17-year-old student of Delhi University was allegedly abducted and raped by a 50-year-old businessman inside his car from west Delhi, according to the case file.
The accused, a resident of Ashok Vihar in North Delhi, later allegedly dumped the student in front of her college, records show. They add that the victim was later hospitalised and under medical examination for three days.
In December 2010, a special court framed charges of rape and abduction against the accused. In January 2011, the victim deposed before court. Three months later, the forensic report was filed.
However, the court then took 39 months to record the evidence of 15 prosecution witnesses — an average of two and-a-half months per witness. It took another six months to record evidence from the defence. From March this year, the court has been hearing the final arguments in the case.
“This is how system works when the media does not highlight a case. The delay in this case was caused because the court was burdened with other different cases. Second, there was a huge gap between the dates, exemptions were sought, all delaying the trial,” said a prosecutor on the condition of anonymity.
“In the December 16 case, it took nine months to complete the entire trial. Here, the same time has been taken to just hear the final arguments,” added the prosecutor.
‘We have no option but to wait’
In April 2013, the national capital was in uproar again after the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl from a slum in East Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar. Police said the minor was kidnapped, starved and brutally tortured for two days.
In over two months, a lower court paved the way for the trial of the two accused on charges of rape and under sections of the Protection of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. By June 2014, the court had almost completed recording of the 59 prosecution witnesses listed in the charge sheet.
But matters stalled as one of the accused had moved an application that April for an ossification test claiming to be a minor. A scientific report proved he was a major, and the court dismissed his application. But five months later, he moved a similar plea by his mother, this time with his school certificate and other documents.
The court is yet to decide on the plea, as the matter is still under investigation.
“Until the time media covered the trial, they was pace in the trial. The medical examination says he is a major. But his lawyers have again moved the same plea. This time it has taken more than a year to just hear the plea. We have no other option, but to wait for justice,” said the victim’s uncle.
The girl, meanwhile, has moved out Delhi. The uncle says she’s studying in first grade and “loves spending time in school”. But the family — her father, the only breadwinner, is a gardener — is still waiting for justice.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/benchmark-trial-done-in-record-9-months-wheels-of-justice-stall-in-other-rape-cases/#sthash.H1ZhPl7V.dpuf
A protest against the gangrape convicts. Archive
It took just nine months for a Delhi fast track court to complete the
trial in the December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder of the 23-year-old
paramedical student — four convicts were sentenced to death.
But while the wheels of justice moved swiftly amid widespread outrage over the incident, several similar cases are still waiting in queue in various Delhi courts.
The fast track court was one of the six set up in January 2013 to
hear cases of sexual assaults on women in the wake of the December 16
case. But according to records available till September 2015, there are
162 cases pending in this court alone, including at least 37 that were
referred to it in 2013.
In the national capital, at least 3,500 cases of assault on women and minors are pending in these fast track courts and others designated to hear cases under the Protection Of Child Sexual Offences Act, according to official data from the fast track courts and sources at POCSO courts. Of these, records show, 1,529 are pending in the fast track courts — there are nine such courts now.
The Indian Express focused on three such cases — including one from a fast track court formed after December 16 — to find out what is stalling the pursuit of crimes as horrifying as the one that shocked the nation exactly Dec 16 trial done in record 9 months but wheels of justice stall in other rape cases three years ago.
These include the rape of a 24-year-old woman by members of a local cricket team to the abduction and rape inside a car of a 17-year-old Delhi University student and the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl.
7 years later, accused is ‘juvenile’
In 2009, a 24-year-old student was coming back home in Delhi with a male classmate from a mall in Noida’s Sector 38, when they were assaulted by a group of 11 men from a local cricket team, according to police records. They allegedly overpowered the girl’s friend with cricket bats and stumps, and gangraped her, records show.
In 2013, the Supreme Court transferred the case to the Delhi fast track court following a petition from the girl’s friend who was the only eyewitness to the alleged gangrape. He had moved the apex court after being allegedly threatened by the accused, following his testimony in a lower court in which he identified all the 11 men.
The victim, meanwhile, cut short her studies and moved to the UK because of threats from her attackers. While all the accused are on bail, she stills waits for justice.
The reason for delay, records show, is that one of the accused has now moved a plea before the fast track court claiming he was a juvenile at the time of the incident.
On November 5, the court issued notice to the principal of a high school in Gautam Budh Nagar to appear in person with all the relevant records and depose whether the accused had studied in the school. The court is currently hearing the accused’s plea.
“In the beginning, the delay was caused by UP officials as they would not produce the case property. Now, after so many years, a plea has been moved by one of the accused claiming he was a juvenile at the time. Did the investigation agency not ascertain the age of the accused while filing the charge sheet? This has now further caused a delay in the trial,” said Advocate Shubra Mehndiratta, counsel for Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), which is representing the victim in the case.
9 months of final hearings
On August 2010, a 17-year-old student of Delhi University was allegedly abducted and raped by a 50-year-old businessman inside his car from west Delhi, according to the case file.
The accused, a resident of Ashok Vihar in North Delhi, later allegedly dumped the student in front of her college, records show. They add that the victim was later hospitalised and under medical examination for three days.
In December 2010, a special court framed charges of rape and abduction against the accused. In January 2011, the victim deposed before court. Three months later, the forensic report was filed.
However, the court then took 39 months to record the evidence of 15 prosecution witnesses — an average of two and-a-half months per witness. It took another six months to record evidence from the defence. From March this year, the court has been hearing the final arguments in the case.
“This is how system works when the media does not highlight a case. The delay in this case was caused because the court was burdened with other different cases. Second, there was a huge gap between the dates, exemptions were sought, all delaying the trial,” said a prosecutor on the condition of anonymity.
“In the December 16 case, it took nine months to complete the entire trial. Here, the same time has been taken to just hear the final arguments,” added the prosecutor.
‘We have no option but to wait’
In April 2013, the national capital was in uproar again after the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl from a slum in East Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar. Police said the minor was kidnapped, starved and brutally tortured for two days.
In over two months, a lower court paved the way for the trial of the two accused on charges of rape and under sections of the Protection of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. By June 2014, the court had almost completed recording of the 59 prosecution witnesses listed in the charge sheet.
But matters stalled as one of the accused had moved an application that April for an ossification test claiming to be a minor. A scientific report proved he was a major, and the court dismissed his application. But five months later, he moved a similar plea by his mother, this time with his school certificate and other documents.
The court is yet to decide on the plea, as the matter is still under investigation.
“Until the time media covered the trial, they was pace in the trial. The medical examination says he is a major. But his lawyers have again moved the same plea. This time it has taken more than a year to just hear the plea. We have no other option, but to wait for justice,” said the victim’s uncle.
The girl, meanwhile, has moved out Delhi. The uncle says she’s studying in first grade and “loves spending time in school”. But the family — her father, the only breadwinner, is a gardener — is still waiting for justice.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/benchmark-trial-done-in-record-9-months-wheels-of-justice-stall-in-other-rape-cases/#sthash.H1ZhPl7V.dpuf
But while the wheels of justice moved swiftly amid widespread outrage over the incident, several similar cases are still waiting in queue in various Delhi courts.
In the national capital, at least 3,500 cases of assault on women and minors are pending in these fast track courts and others designated to hear cases under the Protection Of Child Sexual Offences Act, according to official data from the fast track courts and sources at POCSO courts. Of these, records show, 1,529 are pending in the fast track courts — there are nine such courts now.
The Indian Express focused on three such cases — including one from a fast track court formed after December 16 — to find out what is stalling the pursuit of crimes as horrifying as the one that shocked the nation exactly Dec 16 trial done in record 9 months but wheels of justice stall in other rape cases three years ago.
These include the rape of a 24-year-old woman by members of a local cricket team to the abduction and rape inside a car of a 17-year-old Delhi University student and the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl.
7 years later, accused is ‘juvenile’
In 2009, a 24-year-old student was coming back home in Delhi with a male classmate from a mall in Noida’s Sector 38, when they were assaulted by a group of 11 men from a local cricket team, according to police records. They allegedly overpowered the girl’s friend with cricket bats and stumps, and gangraped her, records show.
In 2013, the Supreme Court transferred the case to the Delhi fast track court following a petition from the girl’s friend who was the only eyewitness to the alleged gangrape. He had moved the apex court after being allegedly threatened by the accused, following his testimony in a lower court in which he identified all the 11 men.
The victim, meanwhile, cut short her studies and moved to the UK because of threats from her attackers. While all the accused are on bail, she stills waits for justice.
The reason for delay, records show, is that one of the accused has now moved a plea before the fast track court claiming he was a juvenile at the time of the incident.
On November 5, the court issued notice to the principal of a high school in Gautam Budh Nagar to appear in person with all the relevant records and depose whether the accused had studied in the school. The court is currently hearing the accused’s plea.
“In the beginning, the delay was caused by UP officials as they would not produce the case property. Now, after so many years, a plea has been moved by one of the accused claiming he was a juvenile at the time. Did the investigation agency not ascertain the age of the accused while filing the charge sheet? This has now further caused a delay in the trial,” said Advocate Shubra Mehndiratta, counsel for Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), which is representing the victim in the case.
9 months of final hearings
On August 2010, a 17-year-old student of Delhi University was allegedly abducted and raped by a 50-year-old businessman inside his car from west Delhi, according to the case file.
The accused, a resident of Ashok Vihar in North Delhi, later allegedly dumped the student in front of her college, records show. They add that the victim was later hospitalised and under medical examination for three days.
In December 2010, a special court framed charges of rape and abduction against the accused. In January 2011, the victim deposed before court. Three months later, the forensic report was filed.
However, the court then took 39 months to record the evidence of 15 prosecution witnesses — an average of two and-a-half months per witness. It took another six months to record evidence from the defence. From March this year, the court has been hearing the final arguments in the case.
“This is how system works when the media does not highlight a case. The delay in this case was caused because the court was burdened with other different cases. Second, there was a huge gap between the dates, exemptions were sought, all delaying the trial,” said a prosecutor on the condition of anonymity.
“In the December 16 case, it took nine months to complete the entire trial. Here, the same time has been taken to just hear the final arguments,” added the prosecutor.
‘We have no option but to wait’
In April 2013, the national capital was in uproar again after the brutal rape of a five-year-old girl from a slum in East Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar. Police said the minor was kidnapped, starved and brutally tortured for two days.
In over two months, a lower court paved the way for the trial of the two accused on charges of rape and under sections of the Protection of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. By June 2014, the court had almost completed recording of the 59 prosecution witnesses listed in the charge sheet.
But matters stalled as one of the accused had moved an application that April for an ossification test claiming to be a minor. A scientific report proved he was a major, and the court dismissed his application. But five months later, he moved a similar plea by his mother, this time with his school certificate and other documents.
The court is yet to decide on the plea, as the matter is still under investigation.
“Until the time media covered the trial, they was pace in the trial. The medical examination says he is a major. But his lawyers have again moved the same plea. This time it has taken more than a year to just hear the plea. We have no other option, but to wait for justice,” said the victim’s uncle.
The girl, meanwhile, has moved out Delhi. The uncle says she’s studying in first grade and “loves spending time in school”. But the family — her father, the only breadwinner, is a gardener — is still waiting for justice.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/benchmark-trial-done-in-record-9-months-wheels-of-justice-stall-in-other-rape-cases/#sthash.H1ZhPl7V.dpuf
Sources: - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/benchmark-trial-done-in-record-9-months-wheels-of-justice-stall-in-other-rape-cases/#sthash.H1ZhPl7V.dpuf
Gujarat HC asks CS to facilitate Porbandar collector in curbing illegal limestone mining
AHMEDABAD: In
what could tighten grip over the mining mafia in Porbandar, Gujarat high
court on Thursday directed the chief secretary to see that the district
collector's initiative to curb illegal mining of limestone are
facilitated with additional manpower.
The HC has intervened in this issue in response to a PIL filed by Dilip Modhwadia through advocate Sandhya Natani. In the past, the Porbandar collector had asked 224 lease holders of limestone mining across the district to put up a fence around their lease land in order to identify and curb illegal mining of limestone. In absence of any demarcation of lease lands, the leaseholders start mining in adjacent land without permission.
When the leaseholders failed to fence off their tracts, the administration snapped electricity connections and other facilities. This led to 15 leaseholders to put up fencing around their plots. The electricity connection was restored in their case.
After the PIL was filed raising the issue of illegal mining, the HC asked the district collector about precautionary steps taken by the administration. The authorities got into action suddenly, the collector ordered measurement of lease tracts and to put up fence around them.
As the proceedings went on before the HC, the court also asked the petitioner to make some of the leaseholders party into proceeding. On Thursday, 114 members of the association of limestone leaseholders moved the HC and requested to become part of the litigation. The HC has allowed them to be joined in the proceedings. Further hearing is kept on December 16.
The HC has intervened in this issue in response to a PIL filed by Dilip Modhwadia through advocate Sandhya Natani. In the past, the Porbandar collector had asked 224 lease holders of limestone mining across the district to put up a fence around their lease land in order to identify and curb illegal mining of limestone. In absence of any demarcation of lease lands, the leaseholders start mining in adjacent land without permission.
When the leaseholders failed to fence off their tracts, the administration snapped electricity connections and other facilities. This led to 15 leaseholders to put up fencing around their plots. The electricity connection was restored in their case.
After the PIL was filed raising the issue of illegal mining, the HC asked the district collector about precautionary steps taken by the administration. The authorities got into action suddenly, the collector ordered measurement of lease tracts and to put up fence around them.
As the proceedings went on before the HC, the court also asked the petitioner to make some of the leaseholders party into proceeding. On Thursday, 114 members of the association of limestone leaseholders moved the HC and requested to become part of the litigation. The HC has allowed them to be joined in the proceedings. Further hearing is kept on December 16.
Sources: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gujarat-HC-asks-CS-to-facilitate-Porbandar-collector-in-curbing-illegal-limestone-mining/articleshow/45381703.cms
Sunday, 13 December 2015
NIA to go to SC to check sharing of proof with LeT accused
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is preparing to go to the Supreme Court against a Karnataka High Court order which asked the agency to furnish all evidence it had collected on the alleged espionage activity of a Lashkar-e-Toiba terror module, busted in 2012 in Bengaluru, to the 11 accused. It has sought the permission of the Union Home Ministry for the same.
The agency says the evidence includes sensitive information on and pictures of the Kaiga nuclear power plant, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), some defence establishments and other vital installations. These, it says, cannot be shared with the accused as these could get leaked.
As per the NIA case, the LeT module busted in 2012 was planning to assassinate prominent right-wing Hindu leaders, journalists and police personnel apart from carrying out terror strikes, on instructions of ISI-linked operatives in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
One of the “key planners”, Abu Sufiyan, who allegedly helped arrange finances and facilitated travel of two of the accused to Pakistan for training, was deported to India from Saudi Arabia last week.
A Bangalore sessions court had first ordered on May 15 that the evidence collected under the OSA be provided to 11 of the accused. The HC had reiterated the same in its order on November 9. The court said the prosecution must “furnish copy of mirror image of three internal hard disks, six laptops, seven pen drives and two hard disks… to the accused persons”.
The HC relied on Section 207 of the CrPC that asks all the statements and evidence to be provided to accused to help them defend themselves against charges.
The NIA had argued in court that only one of the accused, Mohammed Sadiq Lashkar (of Hubli in Karnataka), was accused of espionage under the OSA and thus the sensitive evidence could not be shared with all.
Preparing to go to the Supreme Court, a senior NIA official said, “It’s a matter of national security. How can information about sensitive nuclear and defence establishments be shared with accused in jail? What is the guarantee it will not find its way to other inmates in jail or some other people through his lawyer? The accused can come to court and inspect the evidence for as many days as he likes.”
The NIA will argue that Section 207 of the CrPC also provides for perusal of evidence within the court. The section says that in case any document is voluminous, the magistrate “shall, instead of furnishing the accused with a copy thereof, direct that he will only be allowed to inspect it either personally or through pleader in Court”.
It will also argue that Section 482 of the CrPC (which deals with the inherent powers of the HC) gives the HC powers to use discretion irrespective of what is inherent in the CrPC. The section allows the HC to make such orders that “may be necessary to give effect to any order under this Code, or to prevent abuse of the process of any Court or otherwise, to secure the ends of justice”.
Sources:http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/nia-to-go-to-sc-to-check-sharing-of-proof-with-let-accused/
I-T litigation tracking goes online
Ahmedabad:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
To reduce time taken in
litigation, the income tax (I-T) department has activated a PAN-based
online system which enables the taxman to access cases on a click. For
this, a database of over 5 lakh appeals and 1.50 lakh judgements has
been created. The move will cut time in appeal and litigation
management in the department. Recently , the department had launched a
business application software which uses PAN to track all the
transactions and financial records of an individual and entity across
the country .
This portal will enable I-T officials to monitor appeal dates, check cause lists and undertake research and analysis for strengthening their cases..
Sources: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31805&articlexml=I-T-litigation-tracking-goes-online-14122015002047
This portal will enable I-T officials to monitor appeal dates, check cause lists and undertake research and analysis for strengthening their cases..
Sources: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31805&articlexml=I-T-litigation-tracking-goes-online-14122015002047
Arun Jaitley rules out including GST rate in Constitution Bill
Finance minister Arun Jaitley today ruled out including the GST rate in
the Constitution Amendment Bill saying tariffs can't be cast in stone.
He said the Congress, which has opposed the GST Bill over three main demands, should accept the UPA Finance Minister P Chidambaram's proposal for a GST Council or its appointed forum for resolving tax disputes, instead of its demand for a Supreme Court judge being the adjudicating authority.
Speaking at the Aaj Tak Agenda programme, Jaitley said the Congress was changing stance everyday as it believes none other than persons from one family have the right to rule the country.
"Why don't you say directly that we want to stall country's progress. For the Congress, except one family, no one else can rule. This is the basic point," he said. "Daily they change their stance."
Sources: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Arun-Jaitley-rules-out-including-GST-rate-in-Constitution-Bill/articleshow/50153934.cms
He said the Congress, which has opposed the GST Bill over three main demands, should accept the UPA Finance Minister P Chidambaram's proposal for a GST Council or its appointed forum for resolving tax disputes, instead of its demand for a Supreme Court judge being the adjudicating authority.
Speaking at the Aaj Tak Agenda programme, Jaitley said the Congress was changing stance everyday as it believes none other than persons from one family have the right to rule the country.
"Why don't you say directly that we want to stall country's progress. For the Congress, except one family, no one else can rule. This is the basic point," he said. "Daily they change their stance."
Sources: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Arun-Jaitley-rules-out-including-GST-rate-in-Constitution-Bill/articleshow/50153934.cms
Dalit leaders denounce HC judge’s anti-quota remarks
Dalit leaders on Saturday demanded action against Justice J B Pardiwala
while an MP vowed to bring an impeachment motion in the Parliament
against the high court judge for his remarks against the reservation
system.
They had gathered at Ahmedabad Medical Association hall under the aegis of `Mooknayak Samata Sanghthan', for "evaluation'' of Pardiwala's "unconstitutional remarks''.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Praveen Rashtrapal, who convened the meeting along with ex-minister Yogendra Makwana, said he had obtained legal opinion and experts told him that an FIR can be registered.
He called upon those, who wanted to file an FIR in the matter, to register their names with the head of the organization.
"The judge equated reservations with corruption... What can we do on our (MPs') part? Impeachment," Rashtrapal said.
He said he had support of MPs from other states and from various political parties. He said that MPs would initiate action for impeachment.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Shambhu Prashad Tundiya supported every non-political resolution passed at the meeting.
"A person sitting in a high constitutional position cannot act on his whims,'' said Tundiya, who was present at the meeting along with BJP MP Kirit Solanki.
Congress leader Dinesh Parmar termed the comments deliberate and part of a conspiracy.
They had gathered at Ahmedabad Medical Association hall under the aegis of `Mooknayak Samata Sanghthan', for "evaluation'' of Pardiwala's "unconstitutional remarks''.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Praveen Rashtrapal, who convened the meeting along with ex-minister Yogendra Makwana, said he had obtained legal opinion and experts told him that an FIR can be registered.
He called upon those, who wanted to file an FIR in the matter, to register their names with the head of the organization.
"The judge equated reservations with corruption... What can we do on our (MPs') part? Impeachment," Rashtrapal said.
He said he had support of MPs from other states and from various political parties. He said that MPs would initiate action for impeachment.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Shambhu Prashad Tundiya supported every non-political resolution passed at the meeting.
"A person sitting in a high constitutional position cannot act on his whims,'' said Tundiya, who was present at the meeting along with BJP MP Kirit Solanki.
Congress leader Dinesh Parmar termed the comments deliberate and part of a conspiracy.
The leaders decided to submit a memorandum to chief justices of Gujarat
high court and Supreme Court, Lok Sabha speaker, and the President
seeking action against the judge.
"Reservation and corruption have destroyed this country or rather not allowed it to progress in the right direction....,'' Pardiwala had said in his December 2 order quashing Patidar reservation leader Hardik Patel's petition.
He called corruption the biggest threat to the country. "The countrymen
should rise and fight against corruption at all levels, rather than
shedding blood and indulging in violence for reservation,'' he said
"Reservation has only played the role of an amoeboid monster sowing seeds of discord amongst people."
Thanks to Haryana law and SC order, these women and their village will fall off the map
Dressed in a white salwar-kameez, her dupatta wrapped as a headscarf,
an upset Ashubi Khan (55) thumped her right palm with her fist as she
spoke in Mewati.
“My illiteracy is not my fault, but a reflection of the state’s failure to fulfil its responsibilities. Did our village even have a school five decades ago? So why are we being punished?”
The residents of Nimkheda, a small settlement of 1,674 people in
Haryana’s Mewat district, are visibly unsettled and worried. Their quiet
hamlet, which created history 10 years ago by electing the country’s
first all-women gram panchayat (village council), risks falling off the
map as Haryana gets ready to announce dates for the next panchayat
polls.
None of the 10 members of the panchayat, which continues to remain predominantly female (seven women and three men), is eligible to contest for another term because the Supreme Court, earlier this week, upheld the Haryana law barring the illiterate from fighting panchayat polls. Ashubi, the elected sarpanch (village head) since 2005, is among them.
Residents claim the three seats (or wards) reserved for women in the gram panchayat this time may go unrepresented as the new criterion has virtually disqualified Nimkheda’s entire adult female population, except a handful, from contesting in the upcoming elections.
The state law requires that general candidates should have passed the Class X examination while women and Dalit candidates need to have cleared Class VIII. Dalit women candidates must clear Class V.
The few women who meet the educational requirements — “there aren’t more than three or four,” claims Ashubi — are employed with the local anganwadi (government-sponsored child-care and mother-care centre) and do not wish to quit their jobs to fight elections.
The situation looks grim for the men of the village, too. Noor Mohammed (60), presently one of the three male panchayat members in Nimkheda, is worried that everyone in his ward is illiterate.
“So where do we find candidates? Does the government expect us to import them from other states to contest polls this time?” asks Sajauddin (39), a government servant, who is among the few educated residents of Nimkheda. “And we aren’t the only ones facing this problem. This story is playing out across villages in Mewat.”
Mewat is one of 21 districts of Haryana, but is better known as the region with the worst literacy rate in the state and is, perhaps, the worst affected by the Supreme Court verdict. With the reality of poor education now haunting this district more than ever, Meos fear the recent development will breed corruption as political aspirants will be forced to produce fake educational certificates.
In fact many of the 431 villages in Mewat only have a primary school (up to Class V) even as the new state law expects panchayat candidates to have passed their matriculation examination.
According to a study sponsored by the NITI Ayog this year, the average number of middle schools (Class V to X) in the district is just 0.62 per village. Similarly, the average number of senior secondary schools (Class XI to XII) stands at 0.16 per village.
Nimkheda’s story, however, has been different since 2005 when Ashubi was elected as its first female head. An illiterate herself, she has promoted women’s education and got the village primary school extended up to Class X. Consequently, the literacy rate in the age group of 12 to 18 years, villagers claim, has gone up.
Water scarcity, which forced women to fetch water twice a day from a pond 2 km away, is no longer a problem as the village is now connected to the inter-state Ujina canal that flows from Delhi to Rajasthan.
For the sarpanch, however, her biggest feat during the two consecutive terms is discouraging the practice of female foeticide and infanticide in her village.
“I went knocking on doors to spread awareness against the evils of this practice. I invoked the fear of God in people as I told them that in Islam killing a child is a sin. It worked,” she said. “I also counselled villagers on dowry and rallied women together with the help of my female panchayat members to fight the problem of alcoholism prevalent among men.”
Achieving all this wasn’t easy as the female members acknowledge that the local administration and bureaucrats initially were indifferent to their demands because of their illiteracy. In 2008, in a moment of despair, the then all-female panchayat led by its sarpanch decided to resign, but eventually didn’t when Meenakshi Datta Ghosh, former secretary, panchayati raj, intervened at the behest of former panchayati raj minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Things have only looked up since then.
With a great track record behind them, Ashubi, along with many of her colleagues in the village council, were confident of winning a third term. Until they discovered the state government’s plan to introduce educational qualification in panchayat polls. The apex court on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of the law ruling that “it is only education which gives a human being the power to discriminate between right and wrong, good and bad”.
“If that’s the case then are the educated not corrupt? How you prove they are more honest than uneducated people like us,” Ashubi asked.
“Also, if leadership is about encouraging education, laying pucca roads, reducing social evils, then haven’t I proved myself and my leadership skills? If the government and courts think we are not fit to fight elections then let them also take away our right to vote,” she added.
Being elected to the panchayat, has been a learning experience for the illiterate women of Nimkheda. Rampyari (60), who won in 2010, feels her confidence has grown tremendously. “I can go to the DM’s office alone and get the work done,” she said.
Ten years of being the village sarpanch has changed Ashubi’s personality, too. “She would tremble every time she faced journalists and bureaucrats but she is a changed person. People listen to her. We now have our meals together. She even has an ego,” her husband Israil Khan (58) said with a chuckle.
The apex court’s decision, for now, has robbed Ashubi and of the only education she has ever known.
Mewat Deputy Commissioner Ashok Sangwan defends the new state law: “This Act has been upheld by the highest court. It’s a progressive law which will promote only those who can make informed decisions. There have been instances when illiterate sarpanches and panches were misled by people. Some basic education will help the elected representative handle accounts and discharge duties more effectively.”
Asked how the law will impact Mewat in light of poor literacy rates, he said, “Yes, literacy rate is low in Mewat, but the law will encourage the uneducated to go back to school. I’m optimistic that there will be candidates who meet the new education criterion. The pool of candidates might be smaller.”
On the specific example of Nimkheda and the fact that there are hardly any candidates there, Sangwan said, “This issue has been argued at length in the Supreme Court. We have to take a position on this matter and that’s done. Let’s wait and watch and see how this works out.”
Sources: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/thanks-to-haryana-law-and-sc-order-these-women-and-their-village-will-fall-off-the-map/#sthash.55zCL1pj.dpuf
“My illiteracy is not my fault, but a reflection of the state’s failure to fulfil its responsibilities. Did our village even have a school five decades ago? So why are we being punished?”
None of the 10 members of the panchayat, which continues to remain predominantly female (seven women and three men), is eligible to contest for another term because the Supreme Court, earlier this week, upheld the Haryana law barring the illiterate from fighting panchayat polls. Ashubi, the elected sarpanch (village head) since 2005, is among them.
Residents claim the three seats (or wards) reserved for women in the gram panchayat this time may go unrepresented as the new criterion has virtually disqualified Nimkheda’s entire adult female population, except a handful, from contesting in the upcoming elections.
The state law requires that general candidates should have passed the Class X examination while women and Dalit candidates need to have cleared Class VIII. Dalit women candidates must clear Class V.
The few women who meet the educational requirements — “there aren’t more than three or four,” claims Ashubi — are employed with the local anganwadi (government-sponsored child-care and mother-care centre) and do not wish to quit their jobs to fight elections.
The situation looks grim for the men of the village, too. Noor Mohammed (60), presently one of the three male panchayat members in Nimkheda, is worried that everyone in his ward is illiterate.
“So where do we find candidates? Does the government expect us to import them from other states to contest polls this time?” asks Sajauddin (39), a government servant, who is among the few educated residents of Nimkheda. “And we aren’t the only ones facing this problem. This story is playing out across villages in Mewat.”
Mewat is one of 21 districts of Haryana, but is better known as the region with the worst literacy rate in the state and is, perhaps, the worst affected by the Supreme Court verdict. With the reality of poor education now haunting this district more than ever, Meos fear the recent development will breed corruption as political aspirants will be forced to produce fake educational certificates.
In fact many of the 431 villages in Mewat only have a primary school (up to Class V) even as the new state law expects panchayat candidates to have passed their matriculation examination.
According to a study sponsored by the NITI Ayog this year, the average number of middle schools (Class V to X) in the district is just 0.62 per village. Similarly, the average number of senior secondary schools (Class XI to XII) stands at 0.16 per village.
Nimkheda’s story, however, has been different since 2005 when Ashubi was elected as its first female head. An illiterate herself, she has promoted women’s education and got the village primary school extended up to Class X. Consequently, the literacy rate in the age group of 12 to 18 years, villagers claim, has gone up.
Water scarcity, which forced women to fetch water twice a day from a pond 2 km away, is no longer a problem as the village is now connected to the inter-state Ujina canal that flows from Delhi to Rajasthan.
For the sarpanch, however, her biggest feat during the two consecutive terms is discouraging the practice of female foeticide and infanticide in her village.
“I went knocking on doors to spread awareness against the evils of this practice. I invoked the fear of God in people as I told them that in Islam killing a child is a sin. It worked,” she said. “I also counselled villagers on dowry and rallied women together with the help of my female panchayat members to fight the problem of alcoholism prevalent among men.”
Achieving all this wasn’t easy as the female members acknowledge that the local administration and bureaucrats initially were indifferent to their demands because of their illiteracy. In 2008, in a moment of despair, the then all-female panchayat led by its sarpanch decided to resign, but eventually didn’t when Meenakshi Datta Ghosh, former secretary, panchayati raj, intervened at the behest of former panchayati raj minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Things have only looked up since then.
With a great track record behind them, Ashubi, along with many of her colleagues in the village council, were confident of winning a third term. Until they discovered the state government’s plan to introduce educational qualification in panchayat polls. The apex court on Thursday upheld the constitutional validity of the law ruling that “it is only education which gives a human being the power to discriminate between right and wrong, good and bad”.
“If that’s the case then are the educated not corrupt? How you prove they are more honest than uneducated people like us,” Ashubi asked.
“Also, if leadership is about encouraging education, laying pucca roads, reducing social evils, then haven’t I proved myself and my leadership skills? If the government and courts think we are not fit to fight elections then let them also take away our right to vote,” she added.
Being elected to the panchayat, has been a learning experience for the illiterate women of Nimkheda. Rampyari (60), who won in 2010, feels her confidence has grown tremendously. “I can go to the DM’s office alone and get the work done,” she said.
Ten years of being the village sarpanch has changed Ashubi’s personality, too. “She would tremble every time she faced journalists and bureaucrats but she is a changed person. People listen to her. We now have our meals together. She even has an ego,” her husband Israil Khan (58) said with a chuckle.
The apex court’s decision, for now, has robbed Ashubi and of the only education she has ever known.
Mewat Deputy Commissioner Ashok Sangwan defends the new state law: “This Act has been upheld by the highest court. It’s a progressive law which will promote only those who can make informed decisions. There have been instances when illiterate sarpanches and panches were misled by people. Some basic education will help the elected representative handle accounts and discharge duties more effectively.”
Asked how the law will impact Mewat in light of poor literacy rates, he said, “Yes, literacy rate is low in Mewat, but the law will encourage the uneducated to go back to school. I’m optimistic that there will be candidates who meet the new education criterion. The pool of candidates might be smaller.”
On the specific example of Nimkheda and the fact that there are hardly any candidates there, Sangwan said, “This issue has been argued at length in the Supreme Court. We have to take a position on this matter and that’s done. Let’s wait and watch and see how this works out.”
Sources: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/thanks-to-haryana-law-and-sc-order-these-women-and-their-village-will-fall-off-the-map/#sthash.55zCL1pj.dpuf
Friday, 11 December 2015
Anti-rape law to get more teeth
The GoM is also looking into the possibilities of instituting more fast-track courts to try cases of sexual assault.— File Photo
There are possibilities of trying perpetrators of heinous crimes as adults if they are above 15
The Delhi government's attempt at toughening its stance
and treatment of perpetrators of heinous crimes, especially of a sexual
nature and perpetrated by minors, through amendments to the existing
anti-rape law is expected to see the light of day by the end of this
month, it has been reliably learnt.
A Group of
Ministers (GoM), constituted at the orders of Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal and tasked with evolving recommendations aimed at adding more
teeth to the existing anti-rape law and the possibility of trying the
perpetrators of heinous crimes such as rape and murder among others as
adults if they were above the age of 15, is, according to a senior
government official, is ready with a report. The recommendations are
expected to be submitted by latest by next week.
Headed
by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the GoM had originally been
given a fortnight from October 19 to submit its report but was,
according to a senior Delhi government official, allowed an extension
after it began consultations with a team of legal experts formerly
associated with the Justice JS Verma Committee which was constituted in
the wake of the December 16 gang-rape incident and had recommended
several tough amendments to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) afterwards.
A
source close to Mr. Kejriwal said the Chief Minister had already
presided over two preliminary and unofficial presentations related to
the recommendations with its official version currently in the process
of being finalised.
Apart from a 'young team of Delhi-based lawyers who had worked on the JS Verma Committee Report',
The Hindu
has learnt that several legal luminaries including KK Venugopal, TK
Viswanathan, Gopal Subramaniam, Dayan Krishnan and senior functionaries
associated with the National Law University (NLU) and the Delhi
Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) are in the process of
vetting the final report.
In addition to examining
amendments to the existing anti-rape law so that the State could try the
perpetrators of heinous crimes over 15, among the GoM's most
significant deliberations is the recommendation of life imprisonment and
death penalty against those accused of such cases and the setting up of
a special police force which could be approached by survivors of sexual
crime if they 'felt dissatisfied with the action taken by the local
police'.
The GoM is also looking into the
possibilities of instituting more fast-track courts to try cases of
sexual assault, the appointment of special public prosecutors in all
rape cases and the institution, within a week, of a Commission of
Inquiry aimed at recommending amendments to laws against crime
perpetrated against women and children a resolution in favour of which
was passed by the Delhi Assembly this August.
Law beyond the classroom
The Hindu
A Moot Court competition in progress.Photo: M.A. Sriram
Students can understand the profession better by participating in mock courts.
It is not exactly a stunning discovery to say that
education is not only about books, classrooms and lectures. Many have
stressed the importance of active learning in the classroom, as opposed
to passively listening to the teacher’s explanations.
But
the need of the hour is to go one step further and make the world
itself your classroom: in other words, to learn through extracurricular
activities.
Nowhere is this more relevant that in
studying to be a lawyer. Law is a discipline that really requires
multiple skills. A successful lawyer has to be able to see the many
sides to an argument; be knowledgeable about what precedents have been
set; think laterally and be able to voice a strong case. Obviously,
these are skills that develop only through application of the mind in
activities other than what you get in a classroom. The student also has
to invest extra time on these activities.
Students
can spend their holidays doing internships. Short internships can give
valuable insights into what practising law is like in the real world.
From learning the workings of law firms to understanding the unwritten
rules of the game, internships can teach a lot of things that are not
discussed in class. As Ranjit Abraham, faculty member of School of
Excellence in Law, Chennai, says, “Most national law schools have made
internships during vacations compulsory and some others urge their
final-year students to go for it.”
He also draws
students’ attention to Summer Schools, which last from two to three
weeks, offered by famous institutions like the London School of
Economics and other U.S. schools.
MOOT COURT
The
moot court is a common practice with law schools. It is a mock setup of
a court — complete with a stand-in judge. The organisers pose a
problematic situation and the student has to argue the case out in front
of the person who poses as a judge. Sometimes, they even bring in
actual judges to listen to the case. “There are now over 500 such
competitions across India,” says Mr Abraham.
Working
with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can add to the students’
insight into various issues. For instance, if a student is interested in
women’s rights or child rights, he or she can volunteer with an NGO
working in that area and learn the realities and the complexities of the
problem. Giving legal aid is another way to join the fray of legal
practice even as a student. “Guided by social workers and faculty, a
student can do pro-bono legal work even starting from the first year of
study. There are guest faculty who practise in the court and they can
really help the student in this,” says Mr Abraham.
INTERDISCIPLINARY WORK
Students
can interact with people from other disciplines to hone their ability
to adapt. For example, working with (interning with) organisations
specialising in medical negligence cases bring the law student in
contact with medicos and social workers, and the student can grow to
understand the nuances of the medical profession as well. Similarly,
working in areas like freedom of speech, brings the student in touch
with journalists and activists and their way of working.
Lastly, there is no real substitute for reading, when it comes to enhancing your knowledge. Many journals like the All India Reports, Lawyers Update and State-specific publications, for example, the Madras Law Journal or Current Tamil Nadu Cases, are tremendously important.
Websites such as Bar and the Bench or Live Law now line up with the list of must-read books and journals.
Sources: http://www.thehindu.com/features/education/careers/law-beyond-the-classroom/article7855199.ece
HC notices to Defence Ministry, Territorial Army
The
Delhi High Court on Monday issued notices to the Defence Ministry and
the Territorial Army on a public interest litigation petition
challenging a provision in the law governing the Territorial Army that
prohibits recruitment of gainfully employed women.
In
his writ petition, lawyer Kush Kalra has contended that not allowing
women to join the Territorial Army amounts to “institutional
discrimination,” which violates fundamental freedoms and human rights.
The petitioner affirmed that the discrimination on grounds of gender
went against the spirit of the Constitution.
A
Division Bench comprising Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant
Nath has now asked the Defence Ministry and the Territorial Army to
submit their replies by February 1 next year, when the case will come up
for further hearing.
The Territorial Army is the
country’s second line of defence, after the regular army. It comprises
volunteers who receive military training for mobilisation in emergency
situations.
Mr. Kalra said he wrote to the
Territorial Army after he saw its recruitment advertisement inviting
gainfully employed men in August this year and received a reply that
women were not eligible to join the organisation under the provisions of
the Territorial Army Act.
The lawyer contended that
unlike the Armed Forces, the Territorial Army was not an occupation or a
source of employment. Gainful employment or self-employment in a civil
profession was a pre-requisite for joining the Territorial Army.
A petition filed before the Delhi High Court challenged a provision
in the law governing the Territorial Army that prohibits recruitment
of women
Sources: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/hc-notices-to-defence-ministry-territorial-army/article7890006.ece
Thursday, 10 December 2015
Evidence by probe officer holds weight: SC
Evidence
given by a police officer should not be discarded outright as
untrustworthy merely under the presumption that his version may be
coloured or biased, the Supreme Court observed.
“There
is no legal proposition that evidence of police officials unless
supported by independent evidence is unworthy of acceptance. Evidence of
police witnesses cannot be discarded merely on the ground that they
belong to police force and interested in the investigation and their
desire to see the success of the case,” a Bench of Justices J.S. Khehar
and R. Banumathi said in a recent judgment.
On the other hand, the judgment said the evidence given by a police officer should be carefully scrutinised by the trial court.
“Prudence
however requires that the evidence of police officials who are
interested in the outcome of the result of the case needs to be
carefully scrutinised and independently appreciated. Mere fact that they
are police officials does not by itself give rise to any doubt about
their creditworthiness,” the apex court said.
Contraband case
The
Bench passed the observations while awarding 10-year prison sentence to
an accused caught with 13 quintals of contraband and 20 kg of poppy
husk in a vehicle 26 years ago. The court was answering a plea by the
accused, Baldev Singh, that his conviction cannot be based on the
evidence given by a police officer, who was part of the probe team in
the case. He said the officer was apparently an interested party and not
impartial witness who favoured his conviction.
Explained: Meaning of Section 25 company
NOTE: A Section 8 Company under the new Companies Act, 2013 is the same as Section 25 under the old Companies Act, 1956
A “Section 25” company is registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. This section provides an alternative to those who want to promote charity without creating a Trust or a Society for the purpose. It allows the formation of a company, which will exist as a legal entity in its own right, separate from the person promoting it. The crucial bit, however, is that any company under this section must necessarily re-invest any and all income towards promoting the said object or charity. In essence, unlike a regular company, where owners and shareholders can make profits or receive dividends, no money gets out of a Section 25 company.
A Section 25 company is often preferred because it is easier to start — being exempt from statutory requirements of minimum paid-up capital. They are much easier to run than Trusts and Societies, as board meetings require a smaller quorum and requirements for calling such meetings are less rigid. It is easier to increase the number of directors, it is easier for people donating money to join or leave or transfer shares to others, and such a company is obliged to fulfill far less stringent book-keeping and auditing requirements as against a regular company. Lastly, a Section 25 company enjoys significant tax benefits. Depending on how it is registered under the Income-Tax Act, companies could benefit from income-tax exemptions, or from the provision wherein people donating money to these companies receive income deductions in their income-tax liability. Such companies are also exempt from stamp duty payments. Section 25 is preferred by several businessmen because they are conversant with the company structure, while benefits from several exemptions make it easy for philanthropy.
A “Section 25” company is registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. This section provides an alternative to those who want to promote charity without creating a Trust or a Society for the purpose. It allows the formation of a company, which will exist as a legal entity in its own right, separate from the person promoting it. The crucial bit, however, is that any company under this section must necessarily re-invest any and all income towards promoting the said object or charity. In essence, unlike a regular company, where owners and shareholders can make profits or receive dividends, no money gets out of a Section 25 company.
A Section 25 company is often preferred because it is easier to start — being exempt from statutory requirements of minimum paid-up capital. They are much easier to run than Trusts and Societies, as board meetings require a smaller quorum and requirements for calling such meetings are less rigid. It is easier to increase the number of directors, it is easier for people donating money to join or leave or transfer shares to others, and such a company is obliged to fulfill far less stringent book-keeping and auditing requirements as against a regular company. Lastly, a Section 25 company enjoys significant tax benefits. Depending on how it is registered under the Income-Tax Act, companies could benefit from income-tax exemptions, or from the provision wherein people donating money to these companies receive income deductions in their income-tax liability. Such companies are also exempt from stamp duty payments. Section 25 is preferred by several businessmen because they are conversant with the company structure, while benefits from several exemptions make it easy for philanthropy.
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