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Lawyer Practising at Supreme Court of India. Court Experience: Criminal, Civil & PIL (related to Property, Tax, Custom & Duties, MVAC, insurance, I.P.R., Copyrights & Trademarks, Partnerships, Labour Disputes, etc.) Socio-Legal: Child Rights, Mid Day Meal Programme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, Women Rights, Against Female Foeticide, P.R.Is, Bonded Labour, Child labour, Child marriage, Domestic violence, Legal Literacy, HIV/AIDS, etc. Worked for Legal Aid/Advise/Awareness/Training/Empowerment/Interventions/Training & Sensitisation.

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Sunday, August 10, 2008

DAILY LEGAL NEWS 10.08.2008

India mulls federal agency to counter terror
http://www.khabrein.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15801&Itemid=88
NEW DELHI, Aug 8 (KUNA) -- In the backdrop of mindless terror attacks, the Indian government Friday held a meeting of its top civil and police officials to review the security situation in the country and consider creating a federal agency to counter terror.
The day-long meeting discussed the nature of recent terror attacks and the pattern emerging out of the blasts, which killed more than 55, a source in the Indian Home Ministry told reporters after the meet here. The meeting was chaired by Secretary of the Indian Home Ministry Madhukar Gupta. Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil had earlier suggested measures to strengthen intelligence- gathering apparatus at the grassroot level. The government is keen for a federal agency to deal with crimes having inter-state and cross-border implications. The issue was discussed in today's meeting, the source said.The meeting also discussed probable security measures by the Indian states for combating terror.
http://www.khabrein.info/

Police probe draws High Court flak in dacoity case
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Goa/Police_probe_draws_High_Court_flak_in_dacoity_case/articleshow/3344390.cms
PANAJI: Expressing doubts over the investigations carried out by the police in a dacoity case the high court of Bombay at Goa dismissed an appeal filed by state government against acquittal of the accused, including history sheeters, by a trial court. Anil Jacob, Mohamad Ali Nadaf, Henric Kadam, Abdul Rehiman and Murgesh had allegedly committed dacoity at Dharbandora in 1999. Armed with knives they barged into the house of Pandurang Upadhey and walked away with valuables and cash of Rs 1.5 lakh. After arresting the accused the police seized items, including idols, from the accused. During the hearing, the public prosecutor contended that the evidence of recovery of idols from the accused need not be discarded. A division bench comprising Justice S C Dharmadhikari and Justice R C Chavan called for the case diary maintained by the police and observed, "Far from dispelling doubts about the recovery of idols, the case diaries reinforce the possibility that these recoveries could be a part of attempt to create, and not collect, evidence. "Every authority whose actions have a potential of jeopardising liberty of a citizen must ensure transparency in its actions by scrupulously following requirement to keep a record of such activities. The chronology of despatch of diaries creates a doubt about objectivity in investigation," the court held. The court also dismissed the argument of the prosecution that one of the accused, Abdul Rahiman, had purchased a car from the booty received as the vendor (not the owner) stated that he had received the money about 15-20 days prior to the dacoity. The court further noted, "The owner of this car, one Deelip Naik, has not been examined. These recoveries cast a shadow of doubt on the integrity of the investigation itself, creating a possibility that for whatever reasons, when investigations did not make headway, an easy option of roping in history sheeters to solve the crime was chosen, recoveries were shown and witnesses were made to identify the history sheeters so held."
9 Aug 2008, 0442 hrs IST,TNN
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

King Khan’s kingdom in trouble
http://www.picshik.com/blog/2008/08/09/king-khan-s-kingdom-in-trouble/
King Khan’s bunglow Mannat has always been a talk of the town. For its beautiful palatial sea-facing looks or for its tight security, guarded by a huge iron gates. A PIL alleging 32 violations of law in the construction of his heritage bungalow named as ‘MANNAT’ in Bandra was filed in the Bombay High Court on Thursday.
The PIL was filed by social activist Simpreet Singh. The PIL stated that the construction behind Mannat had been carried out by merging 12 flats and 12 kitchens which were originally meant to house the poor. In this context Khan owed a specific liability under the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976. He also violated the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 1991, by wrongly considering the land to be in the relatively liberal CRZ-II area. But actually the land is in highly restrictive CRZ-I area where no construction activity is allowed.
The PIL also alleged that the construction on the open space inside the premises was not permissible under the law.
Further the PIL alleged that the said construction also violated the statutory Heritage Regulations, which specified that the new building has to be of the same height as that of the old building and that it should have architectural attributes in harmony with the old structure.
However, in contrast, the new building had an ultra-modern architecture and was a glass house and that its height was more than three times the height of the old Heritage Building.
The impugned building was also constructed after committing a series of violations of DC Regulations. It was alleged that Khan was bringing up the structure in a space originally reserved for an art gallery. Further, to facilitate this illegal construction, a public road, constituting the lane going to the historical Mount Mary Church was deleted so that a palatial apartment could be constructed.
The facts brought before the statutory authorities were through a legal notice sent by the petitioners advocate Y P Singh in April, 2008. The PIL sought the disconnection of water and electric supply to Mannat, which is a landmark in Bandra Bandstand under section 5 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
According to the PIL, the bungalow, which is situated on a leased Collector’s Land, was purchased by Shahrukh Khan somewhere around the year 1999 from its erstwhile owners Shri Nariman Dubash. The entire land on which the bungalow stood was reserved at the time of the sale transaction for a public purpose i.e. Art Gallery. This reservation was so done because the said place was in a thick heritage area near the historical Bandstand and facing the promenade along the sea where a large number of tourists visit.
The PIL also contended that Khan wrote a letter to the Chief Minister in 2003, seeking dereservation of the land allotted for an art gallery within the premises of Mannat.
According to the PIL, Khan wrote in his letter, “Art galleries are not required in suburbs, and the same should be in the city.” He had also mentioned in his letter that a ‘Public Art Gallery’ on his bungalow compound would “disturb his privacy and affect his security.”
The PIL added that in September 2003, the government accepted Khan’s letter and directed BMC to start the process of deletion of the reservation.
In 2004, Khan sought permission from the heritage committee to construct a ground plus six-storey structure on the land behind his existing bungalow, which was marked heritage property. The PIL alleged that the actor never told the panel that he had illegally demolished two heritage structures, which stood there.
The PIL clearly states that fraud and cheating has been done to heritage Committee, MCGM and ULC. There were two more buildings in same compound which were silently demolished to show that in the land where proposed construction had to be done was vacant. But actually there were two more buildings and an extension of the arm of the old building, added the PIL.
The illegal change of name from the notified ‘VILLA VIENNA’ to ‘MANNAT’ is itself an infringement of the prescribed rules and regulations, states the PIL.
The PIL further alleged that party respondents, including the ministry of environment and forests, state government, BMC, have all failed to exercise their powers and allowed the violation of Development Control Regulation, CRZ notifications, Environment Protection Act, 1986, and other laws.
Out of the 32 points raised by the social activist Simpreet Singh and advocate Y P Singh, following are the significant:
12 small flats having 12 separate kitchens meant for mass housing under the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976, were merged and made into a single palatial house.
Public road deleted illegally so as to facilitate construction and to regularise the lack of statutorily required open spaces.
Land classified as liberal CRZ-II but actually it is in highly restrictive CRZ-I where such constructions are banned.
Even though heritage regulations prescribe new building to be in harmony with old one with reference to height and architectural style yet, new building was allowed to assume a height 3 times the old one and to bear a radically different architectural style.
Old heritage bungalow deprived of its mandatory rear open spaces and sprawling compound.
Illegal conferment of FSI on account of not deducting the area for “means of access” and Air Handling Units.
Office use permitted illegally on 2nd floor since land is not in the liberal R-2 area but in the restrictive R-1 area.
The entire land was under statutory reservation for public purpose i.e. Art Gallery – reservation deleted in an illegal manner.
Sat 9 Aug 2008
Posted by admin under Bollywood News , Shah Rukh Khan
http://www.picshik.com/

Language row: Kannada group threatens to block trains to TN
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=461197&sid=REG
Bangalore, Aug 09: Members of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) on Saturday blocked all the trains passing through the state to Tamil Nadu, alleging that some Tamil groups are resisting the efforts to accord classical language status to Kannada. The Linguistic Experts Committee, constituted by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to examine the issue of granting classical language status to Kannada and Telugu, on Friday had recommended that the two languages be given classical language status. It said that both the languages deserve classical status as they meet all the criteria for the same. Now a decision in this regard will be taken by the Centre, which might wait for a decision of Madras High Court, which would hear a PIL questioning the expertise of the committee members on the status issue. The PIL was filed by a Chennai based advocate - R Gandhi who in his petition requested that the committee be quashed and a new committee be set up with a retired high court or Supreme Court judge as chairman. The United Progressive Alliance government granted classical status to Tamil in 2004. Ever since, both Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh governments have been pressing for the same status to their regional languages. After dilly-dallying for months, the UPA govt finally constituted an expert committee to determine the eligibility of the two languages for classical status. Karnatka ready for legal battle: CM As the Karnataka Rakashana Vedike (KRV) activists today resorted to rail roko agitation to press for early decision by the Centre to grant classical language status for Kannada, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said that his government was ready for legal battle on the issue. The Government will mount pressure on the Centre to fulfil the state's long pending demand and was even prepared for a legal battle approaching the Supreme Court, he told reporters here today. Yeddyurappa who was on a day's visit to the city appealed to KRV men to maintain peace and said he was confident that Kannada would get its legitimate classical language status. He said he has learnt that a committee set up by the Centre on the matter has favourably recommended for according classical language status for Kannada. He asked Tamil Nadu not to make attempts to stall the state's efforts, warning such steps would only strain the relations between the two states. Earlier, KRV activists blocked the Chennai-bound Lalbagh Express at Bangalore for about 20 minutes and shouted slogans against the Tamil Nadu government. Responding to a query, Yeddyurappa said the government has already released funds for strengthening police force and anti-naxal force in the state, besides modernising them. The Chief Minister inspected the work on the district court complex and addressed BJP workers. Zeenews Bureau
http://www.zeenews.com/

Rule of law for healthy democracy in India
http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=139150
Though India has celebrated 60 years of Independence, obstacles lie in its way of development. Corrupt governance and law system prove to be the bottlenecks. The urgency is to implement a rule of law without which democratic ethos will be undermined.

ON AUGUST 15, 2007, India celebrated its 60th year of Independence — a momentous journey in realising its constitutional goals and democratic aspirations. The main challenge for the Indian democracy and its governance has been social, economic and political developments. And, with this the rule of law is still not sufficiently protected in the Indian society.

Though we have achieved social and economic progress, not much efforts have been put to successfully protect the rule of law. Therefore, it’s a challenge for the Indian democracy and poses grave threat to governance.

The first reason why the rule of law in the Indian society has not achieved the intended results is that the deeply embedded values of constitutionalism or abiding by the Constitution of India have not taken roots in the society. There has been a lot of abuse of power by various institutions protecting the rule of law and they have also failed to fulfill their promise.

The Indian judiciary has always moved hand-in-hand with our Constitution with a view to promote social justice. If we go to interpret the deeper meaning of fundamental rights creating new avenues for seeking remedies for human rights violations through Public Interest Litigation (PIL) pleas and promoting genuine judicial interventions in the areas of child labour, bonded labour, clean and healthy environment, the women’s rights are a few examples how our judicial system has upheld the rule of law and ensured justice.

The enforcement of the rule of law and its protection can be done by shaping a number of factors, which will improve the capacity of the legal system to respond to injustices. There is a need to critically examine the effectiveness of the Indian democracy, given the fact that corruption is institutionalised in all spheres of governance.

The laws that are constantly violated for creating a vicious cycle of bribery have resulted in a cynical attitude towards law enforcement. Even anti-corruption laws that are occasionally enforced have settled scores with the opposition. This has given rise to a twin problem of criminalisation of politics and politicisation of crime.

Firstly, the role of law schools and legal education should be promoted given the ability to promote the new and innovative ideas in shaping the minds of lawyers in preparing to solve the problems of the country and the legal system at large.

Secondly, the lawyers of our country have a responsibility to recognise the problems of the legal system and conquer the gap between the law in books and the law that is practiced. They are to fulfill the role of law as an instrument of social change.

Thirdly, the judiciary and the justice delivery system also has to be taken in account. There is a lack of access to justice, therefore, providing justice to the victims of various forms of injustice has to be made profoundly significant and should be taken care of that the innocent is given justice.

Also, the working of the lower courts in India has to be significant improved. There should be establishment of various judicial institutions to identify the problems of justice delivery system and how far judiciary can help in establishing a rule of law society.

As a conclusion, we can say that democracy and the rule of law cannot be separated from each other, they are connected with each other. Urgent steps are needed to establish a rule of law society in India without which our fundamental credentials as a democracy will be seriously undermined.
CJ: Amy Mookerji
http://www.merinews.com/

Gujarat HC seeks info on undertrials from govt
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/Gujarat_HC_seeks_info_on_undertrials_from_govt_/articleshow/3340298.cms
Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court on Thursday sought a detailed report from the state government on all those undertrials who are lodged in jails across the state for three years or more. The court has sought details regarding the nature of crimes of these undertrials, and whether there is a provision of punishment of three-year jail term in any of the cases. These details are being sought from all prisons by the division bench of acting Chief Justice MS Shah and Justice DH Waghela in connection with a public interest litigation aiming at jail reforms and curbing human rights violation by way of conducting speedy trials with a view to inhuman living conditions in state's over crowded jails. The high court is acting on a petition by an undertrial prisoner in Sabarmati Central Jail, Shailesh Raval, who urged the court to intervene in the issue to protect human rights of undertrials who are lodged in jail for two to three years on charge of crimes that are punishable for not even more than three years. In his long application before the court last year, Raval requested the court to direct the government to stop unnecessary delay in criminal proceedings of those undertrials who are in jail, and particularly those who are not getting bail till the time of provision of maximum punishment under law. Raval had claimed that the courts should grant bail in cases where there are no strong charges against undertrial prisoners, for in many cases the undertrials serve jail for quite some time and ultimately courts acquit them. He also demanded framing of rules in connection with granting bail, so as to reduce burden of the country's overcrowded jails. When Raval wrote this application , then Chief Justice decided to treat it as PIL because the letter was in larger interest. The court has also appointed advocate Bhushan Oza as amicus curie in the case, who believes, "The petition aims at protecting human rights of undertrial prisoners and making rules regarding bail in consonance with people's right to liberty."
8 Aug 2008, 0755 hrs IST, Saeed Khan,TNN
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Marry or go to jail : HC
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=9&theme=&usrsess=1&id=217584
CUTTACK, Aug 8: A man accused of raping a pregnant woman has agreed to tie the knot with her after the Orissa High Court told him to either remain in jail or “marry the victim and enjoy the freedom.”Justice Laxmi Kant Mohapatra while granting interim bail to Maheswar Naik for two months on August five had set a pre-condition of marriage with the victim for him to step out of jail.The victim had alleged that he had established a sexual relationship with her on the promise of marriage but later went back on his word.The court told 30-year-old Naik of Jaripada village in Tangi area of Cuttack district to either “languish in jail without bail or marry the victim and enjoy the freedom.”Naik got the interim bail after he accepted the court's terms and was released from jail yesterday. He was in jail for the past few months on charges of raping a woman of his own village nine months ago.The woman, now in an advanced stage of pregnancy, alleged that Maheswar had established sexual relationship with her under the pretext of marriage.However, when she became pregnant Maheswar backed out on his promise. She later lodged a complaint against him and he was booked on charges of rape. n pti
Sunday, 10 August 2008
http://www.thestatesman.net/

Katara gets clean chit from HC
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/Katara_gets_clean_chit_from_HC_/articleshow/3344412.cms
AHMEDABAD: Four years after parliamentary election, Dahod BJP MP Babu Katara, who was suspended from the party after his involvement in illegal immigration racket was revealed last year, has emerged clean from charges of booth capturing. Gujarat HC on Friday ruled that the allegations laid down by Congress candidate Dr Prabha Taviad hold no water, since she could not provide satisfactory evidence. Taviad, who lost the Dahod seat to Katara by a thin margin on 361 votes, had filed a petition immediately after the election challenging constitutional validity of the election. She had alleged malpractice and booth capturing at nine places during the election and produced election staff as witnesses along with voluminous reports and documents. However, Justice AL Dave who was hearing the case for past four years, has after about 150 hearings decided that the evidence Taviad has put across are not satisfactory to prove her version. The court observed that Taviad had no personal knowledge of booth capturing, but she relied upon witnesses only. Justice Dave also observed that though Taviad has complained of booth capturing at nine places, and produced the appointed returning officials as witnesses , none of them had filed any complaint of booth capturing to the competent authority on the day of election or afterwards . The court also noticed that the officials' diaries don't carry even a single note of booth capturing , or of any untoward incident during polling. "Katara has won the dispute on all counts," said his advocate Yogesh Mehta after the court pronounced its order holding that no irregularities had taken place during election in Dahod. Earlier, Taviad's advocate Jitendra Malkan claimed that Katara had cast his votes twice in Chitrodia and Jhalod.
9 Aug 2008, 0443 hrs IST,TNN
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Pvt pharma colleges defy HC order, start admissions
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Pvt_pharma_colleges_defy_HC_order_start_admissions_/articleshow/3344513.cms
Mumbai: Private pharmacy colleges in the state have started their admission process in violation of a Bombay high court ruling. Last week, the HC had ordered unaided pharmacy institutions offering Master's studies to prepare an admission schedule with the state government and student representatives. Despite that, the colleges have gone ahead with their plans and asked students to submit their admission forms on Monday. The Association of Unaided Private Pharmacy Colleges (AUPPC) conducted its common entrance test even before the state universities declared the final BPharm results. Now, from Monday, it will start the admission process for the MPharm course. There are 34 institutions that offer the course with a total intake of 883. The state also conducts an entrance exam for admissions to its three institutions at Aurangabad, Amravati and Karad, as well as for entry to some governmentaided institutions. However, the state has not conducted its common entrance exam for admission to MPharm. An NGO, Forum Against Commercialisation of Education (FACE), had filed a petition in the HC. Last week, the court ordered that the state, FACE and the AUPPC meet and decide on an admission schedule that the private colleges must follow. Despite the ruling, private colleges have not bothered to discuss their admission schedule with the state. Private college admissions came under the scanner last year after at least three students were not granted admission despite being allotted seats during the centralised admission process. The AUPPC only conducted one round of centralised admissions, followed by those at individual institutes. But several students complained that the admission process was not transparent. The state then appointed a panel headed by the joint director of technical education . His report substantiated what the students had claimed. Also, the intake in a college, where there was substantial proof of malpractice, was reduced. FACE president Vivek Korde said, "As soon as the government admission starts, a number of students who get into state or aided institutions drop out of private colleges. As these seats fall vacant, the colleges will fill them up at the individual institute level.'' Students are up in arms against private colleges for holding early admissions . FACE's petition also demands that admissions to all colleges be conducted on the basis of the government common entrance test scores or the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) scores for last year or this year. toireporter@timesgroup .com
9 Aug 2008, 0544 hrs IST,TNN
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Apart for 46 yrs, couple gets HC nod for divorce
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Apart_for_46_yrs_couple_gets_HC_nod_for_divorce_/articleshow/3344502.cms
MUMBAI: Proving that not all marriages are held to be 'sacred unions of two souls' , the Bombay high court helped dissolve by mutual consent the marriage of a couple who lived separately for the last 46 years without filing for divorce. The judgment was passed on Wednesday by a bench of Justices B H Marlapalle and Dilip Bhosale, two days after it had directed a divorced couple to reunite despite both living separately for the last 10 years. The couple had married in February 1960 and began living separately two years later. Exactly 46 years after they separated, Pohumal and Sita Gangwani-both senior citizens now- could finally say they were divorced. In 1964, the wife sought maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code which provided for a token support. Two years later, the Bandra metropolitan magistrate ordered the husband to pay her Rs 55 per month as maintenance . She did not file for divorce, neither did he. Around 15 years passed with the small amount sustaining her till in 1981 the court raised the maintenance amount to Rs 200 per month, effective retrospectively from 1974. In 2003, the wife decided the amount was still measly and moved the family court for a maintenance of Rs 5,000 per month. But she did not file for divorce. Her petition was allowed partly with the family court directing the husband to pay Rs 3,000 per month from May 2006. The family court also restrained him permanently from selling their matrimonial home at Khar (west). The husband was also directed to pick up the tab of Rs 25,000 towards the cost of her petition . Stung by this order, the husband - now in his 70s -appealed to the HC. Then the couple prodded on by their counsel Manjula Rao and S S Kulkarni and the court, explored the possibilities of settling their dispute under the Hindu Marriage Act. Though the wife's petition was only for claiming maintenance, the couple agreed to treat it as a petition for divorce by mutual consent. Their decision was also prompted since the husband allegedly by now "had his own family'' . The wife, on the other hand, had been staying with her brother. All three-the husband , wife and her brother-were present in court on August 6 when the HC decided the matter. The husband agreed to end his marriage officially by paying her a permanent alimony of Rs 8 lakh in deferred payments. His wife agreed. In court, his lawyer Rao handed demand drafts worth Rs 5 lakh to her lawyer. The additional Rs 3 lakh would be paid in the next three months. The HC said the amount may be placed as a fixed deposit so that the woman earns an interest for her maintenance. Their divorce would be effective the day the remaining amount of Rs 3 lakh is paid to the wife.
9 Aug 2008, 0551 hrs IST,TNN
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Law to regulate surrogacy a long way from delivery
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/346203.html
New Delhi, August 7: Even as a debate on the need to have a law to regulate surrogate motherhood rages on, the Central Government, despite making the right noises, is still to come up with a final draft for such a law.
A few of months ago, Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury had said that the Centre was working on having a law to regulate surrogacy. The law, she had said, would contain provisions to protect the rights of surrogate mothers and the children.
This came after the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) made a presentation to her on the legislation. But, sources say, there has been little headway in the matter.
“Indian lawmakers take unusually long to make laws, even if the subject is of utmost importance. Even if a Bill is tabled in the Lok Sabha, it will be a while before it is debated upon, leave alone passed. So, the possibility of the law being in place during the term of the present government seems unlikely,” said a ministry official.
As it stands now, India has become a den of surrogate mothers. “It is a common knowledge that rent-a-womb has assumed mammoth proportions in the country, almost becoming an industry. But, there is no law to protect the right of the surrogate mother or the unborn child. This is something that needs to be dealt with. But, considering how things move in our country, I am not sure when this would actually happen,” observed Supreme Court lawyer Ajay Pal.
Incidentally, sometime back, officials of the Women and Child Development Ministry had also circulated a note on surrogacy, which talked of the need to regulate the same. Soon, at a conference where Chowdhury was present, a curtain raiser on the proposed law was presented.
According to sources, while the draft of the proposed law does talk of making it mandatory for the parents opting for surrogate motherhood to bear all medical expenses of the mother while she is carrying the baby, and also making monetary offers to her, it is silent on the rights of the unborn child.
“What happens if, once the child is born, the parents opting for surrogacy refuse to take responsibility or accept the child? This can happen in case the child is born with some serious ailment. How will the government ensure that such a thing does not happen?” asked Ajay Pal.
Sources and experts say till the government actually gets the proposed law passed, the national guidelines issued by the ICMR in 2005 to regulate surrogacy, which everybody feels are inadequate, will remain in place.
ICMR guidelines for surrogacy
• A surrogate mother can be procured through law firms or semen banks. All semen banks or law firms require accreditation. However, negotiations between the couple and the surrogate mother must be conducted independently.
• Payments of surrogate mothers should cover all genuine expenses associated with pregnancy. Documentary evidence of financial arrangement for surrogacy must be available.
• Advertisement regarding surrogacy should not be made through the Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART) clinic. The responsibility of finding a surrogate mother, through advertisements or otherwise, should rest with the couple, or a semen bank.
• A surrogate mother should not be over 45 years of age. Before accepting a woman as a possible surrogate for a particular couple’s child, the ART clinic must ensure (and put on record) that the woman satisfies all treatable criteria to go through a successful full-term pregnancy.
• In Indian context, a known person as well as a person unknown to the couple may act as a surrogate mother. In case of a relative acting as a surrogate mother, she should belong to the same generation as the woman desiring the surrogate.
• No woman may act as a surrogate more than thrice in her lifetime.
Maneesh Chhibber
Friday, August 08, 2008 at 0121 hrs
http://www.indianexpress.com/

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