LEGAL NEWS 02.02.2009

Apex Court to hear case on issue of debts by banks on Feb 9
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/28011320.htm
NEW DELHI: Three private banks - ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Standard Chartered Bank - have moved the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat High Court verdict that banned trading in debts.
The apex court will hear the case on buying and selling debts by the banks on February 9. The banking industry, which has been realising its debts by assigning a value, says that the practice is being followed in the international market.
The High Court on January 12 held that assigning debts by banks was not permissible under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The High Court said the executed contracts of assigning debts were illegal and the assignee banks are not entitled to be substitut ed for original lenders (assignor bank) in proceedings related to sick companies pending before courts.
The banks alleged that the High Court order has undone the pro-active efforts of the RBI to enable the banking sector to deal with the negative fallout of increasing non-performing assets by opening a regulated secondary market for NPAs under the guideli nes issued by the apex bank in 2005. According to banks, they identify sick loans (NPAs) and assign them for realisation at a value and this form of recovery is common practice in the international market. They say they are permitted by the RBI to sell debts with underlying securities. - PTI




Vijayan issue niggles Kerala’s Left as it readies for march
http://www.sindhtoday.net/south-asia/58262.htm
Feb 1st, 2009 By Sindh Today Category: India
Kasargode (Kerala), Feb 1 (IANS) As Kerala’s ruling Marxists gear up for a massive march seen as a precursor to the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, all eyes are on the state high court which is expected to give Monday its ruling on whether the governor’s permission is needed to prosecute former Marxist minister Pinarayi Vijayan, now facing graft charges.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state and central leadership has come out in support of tainted state party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, who is to lead the nearly fortnight-long ‘Nava Kerala Yathra’ slated to begin Monday at Manjeswaram, near here.
An NGO in a petition with the Kerala High Court said that the governor’s sanction was not required to prosecute Vijayan in the 12-year-old graft case involving Canadian company SNC Lavalin.
Last week, the court had asked the Advocate General C.P. Sudhakara Prasad for his views.
The issue has sharpened the divide in the state party between rivals Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and Vijayan.
Several CPI-M ministers defended Vijayan by repeating the party line that he was framed by the Congress. Achuthanandan, who Wednesday said he is studying the issue, is yet to make his stand clear.
On Saturday, the liaison committee meeting of the ruling Left Democratic Front failed to even discuss the Vijayan issue, thereby making their support for him clear.
‘None of the allies of the LDF raised this issue and hence it was not discussed,’ said LDF convenor Vaikom Viswan.
Senior CPI-M leader K.P. Satish Chandran, organiser of the yathra, told IANS that all arrangements for the march are over and it will be flagged off by politburo member S. Ramachandran Pillai Monday.
‘The theme of the yathra is ‘prosperous Kerala and safe India’. The Lavalin issue would also be spoken about because this is a clear case of charges being framed against our leader by those against our party,’ said Chandran, also the Kasargode district secretary of the party.
The yathra ends in the state capital on Feb 25. Chandran was unable to confirm if Achuthanandan would be present on the dais at the closing ceremony.
Vijayan will be accompanied by three of his closest aides and party bigwigs E.P. Jayarajan, M.V. Govindan and Rajya Sabha member A. Vijayaraghavan besides the lone party woman leader T.N. Seema in the march.
The presence of K.T. Jaleel, the Left-supported Independent legislator, in the yathra team has come as a surprise.
Meanwhile, what has come as a dampener ahead of the march for the party are posters at many places that say ‘Corrupt leader Vijayan should resign’. Skirmishes have been reported at many places over the posters.



Reflecting on the Powers of the CJI
http://meiname.com/article/women/2009-02-01/24489.html
Post at : 2009-02-01 15:36:26
It has often been commented that the Chief Justice of India is a remarkably powerful position within the Indian judiciary, and more powerful than most executive justices in courts in other countries. My last post below discusses one way (the assignment of justices to larger constitutional benches) in which this power has expanded beyond what may have been envisioned in the Constitution. The Constitution itself clearly lays out heightened powers for the CJI. Broadly, these are:The CJI swears in the President and Governors;the President must consult with the Chief Justice before appointing Supreme Court or High Court judges;Article 127 gives the CJI power to appoint ad hoc Supreme Court judgesArticle 128 the power to sit retired Supreme Court judgesArticle 130 the power to sit the Court outside of Delhi (with the President's approval)Article 146 the power to appoint officers and servants of the CourtArticle 222 the power to move high court judges to another high courtArticles 257, 258, and 290 which gives the CJI the ability to appoint an arbitrator to resolve certain financial disputes between the centre and the statesHe or she is also paid a bit more than the rest of the justices, (presumably) for taking on these additional responsibilities.[note some of these powers are performed in conjuction with other justices, but the Chief Justice must be part of the process]Beyond this though I would argue the CJI has also gained additional powers either through judicial decisions or just judicial practice that were not explicitly given in the Constitution:1. The power to select justices for benches (as explained in the post below)2. An arguably stronger ability to appoint judges on the Supreme and High Courts than the Constitution envisioned (This being affirmed by the Supreme Court in its constitutional case law.)3. By more often sitting on a three judge bench than other justices his opinions routinely carry more weight. On a two-judge bench the junior judge usually defers to the senior, similarly on a three judge bench with the CJI, but the difference is that a three judge opinion is usually deferred to in the face of a conflicting two judge opinion - in this way the CJI's routine opinions carry more weight than other senior judges on their two-judge benches.4. The power to decide which cases get heard and when. Although this process is rather opaque, my understanding is that if a CJI doesn't want a case to come up or wants it to come up right away, it can be made to happen.5. The spokesperson for the Court, and its most public face. I am not sure if you can say this was not envisioned by the Constitution, but it is striking. For example, in the Hindu in 2008 Chief Justice Balakrishnan's name appeared in 273 articles, while Justice Katju only 24, Justice Pasayat 69, Justice Bhandari 26, Justice Kabir 28, and Justice Kapadia 16. Contrast this to a search of SCOTUS justices in the NY Times in the same time period where Chief Justice Roberts was mentioned in 66 articles, Justice Scalia in 61, Justice Stevens in 49, and Justice Kennedy (the now most important swing vote) in 158 articles.6. Most letter PILs are addressed to the CJI whose office goes through the first wave of filtering (taking out complaints against judges, etc.) before they are turned over to the Registrar's PIL office who goes through the next round of filtering (which removes the vast majority of them before they even reach an admission bench of the Supreme Court). In this process the CJI's office is the only justice's office that will come in contact with these letter petitions before they make it to the PIL office.Just because some of these powers were not explicitly given in the Constitution, doesn't make them unconstitutional, and I am not making that argument. At least in this post I'm not even arguing that the CJI has too much power - Judith Resnik in the US, for example, has questioned the wisdom of having the Chief Justice there wield as much administrative power as he does. I'm more curious about why this power arose. My hunch is that much of it has to do with the size of the Supreme Court. With 25 other justices it's a rather unwieldy organization that is difficult to control. (What percentage of law professors in India can even name all of its current members?) As the court increases in size the Chief Justice ironically gains more power as the coordinator of all these other judges (who cycle through fairly quickly because of term limits thus creating collective action problems when they try to organize). This is something to keep in mind as an increase in the size of the Court is contemplated. One thing this type of analysis does is refocus attention on the selection process of the CJI. Currently it's simply by seniority. This is not as innocuous as it sounds though since through birthday math one can determine whether someone will become a CJI depending on when they are appointed. Therefore, the CJI and the other judges involved in appointments are effectively choosing who to raise from the high courts to become a CJI at a later date (assuming they stay in good health, do not resign, etc.). This isn't necessarily a bad outcome. Arguably, this allows for the system to choose CJI's that have the proper background and temperament for the job. Other alternatives would include having the CJI picked more explicitly by the political branches (something that for now seems ruled out, but perhaps could be considered at a later date). Alternatively, there could be an election for CJI from amongst the judges on the Supreme Court. This doesn't seem desirable as it could lead to vote trading on cases or a politicking that could bring down the prestige of the Court and create unhealthy rivalries. A rotation model where each justice could be CJI for a month has coordination and consistency problems, although perhaps some tasks could be delegated in this way. Finally, you could have a system where the CJI or judges are picked by a counsel that includes both judges and members of the political branches.One could also work to simply reduce the power of the CJI. Cases could be assigned purely through lottery, cases could come before the Court on a pre-regimented schedule, the CJI could more regularly sit on a two judge bench, some administrative tasks concerning court employees could be given over to an independently appointed officer, etc.I'd be curious to hear others thoughts. Did I miss some of the CJI's powers? Did I mischaracterize them? Why did these arguably additional powers arise and do any require reform? These are just some initial observations which I hope to build on later, but in the meantime I hope others do as well.




HC refers Gowda's letter to Lokayukta for probe
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200902021416.htm
Bangalore (PTI): The Karnataka High Court on Monday referred to the Lokayukta to probe allegations of corruption levelled by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda in connection with the BMIC project.
JDS chief Deve Gowda last month wrote to Judges of the High Court enclosing a book titled "Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) Project: A Case Study in Fraud and Collusion to Defeat Ends of Justice", published by his party.
The letter and book alleged that the project entrusted to the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), was riddled with irregularities and there was a "massive fraud worth more than Rs 30,000 crore".
Gowda, who has been relentlessly opposing the project, released a booklet on January 5 alleging that the NICE had committed frauds involving thousands of crores of rupees.
A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice P D Dinakaran and Justice V G Sabhahit, on January 12 decided to treat the letter as a public interest litigation and posted it for today. The bench today observed that the court cannot conduct an enquiry into the alleged fraud and collision.
It expressed the view that the Court is embarrassed to receive such a letter and the book. "We cannot go into the allegations or contents of the book", the Chief Justice, speaking for the bench, said, and then asked the State's Advocate General Uday Holla as to who he thought is the competent authority to conduct a probe.
Holla suggested that the matter may be inquired by the Lokayukta, which was agreeable to the counsel representing Deve Gowda.
"Writing to the Judges (such as the letter written by Deve Gowda) should stop", Justice Dinakaran said, adding the issues surrounding the BMIC project should not be politicised.




HC issues notices to Kerala CPI(M) secy Vijayan, 2 others
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/hc-issues-notices-to-kerala-cpim-secy-vijayan-2-others/13/36/54130/on

Press Trust of India / Kochi February 02, 2009, 13:26 IST
Kerala High Court today issued notice to CPI(M) state Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, in a PIL seeking to declare that sanction is not necessary to prosecute him and two others in the SNC-Lavalin corruption case.
CBI, which investigated the case relating to alleged irregularities and corruption in the renovation and modernisation of three hydel projects in the state in the 1990s when Vijayan was the power minister in the LDF government, had sought permission from the high court, Governor and state Chief Secretary, to arraign the former minister and two others as accused in the case.
Meanwhile, a Public Interest Litigation petition was filed seeking to declare that previous sanction was not necessary to launch prosecution proceedings against Vijayan and others.
When the PIL came up before a Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice J B Koshy and Justice V Giri this morning, the court issued notices to Vijayan, sought to be arraigned as the ninth accused, K Mohanachandran, former Principal Secretary (Power), who is the first accused, and A Francis, former Joint Secretary and 10th accused in the case.
The bench issued notices returnable by Feb 9 by special messenger before admitting the PIL saying that the accused need to be heard before passing orders. The court said they will not examine anything other than the question of sanction.




HC judges can now log on for legal info online
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/HC_judges_can_now_log_on_for_legal_info_online/articleshow/4060837.cms
2 Feb 2009, 0025 hrs IST, TNN
MUMBAI: Bombay high court judges are all set to have an e-library at their fingertips. With 1.3 lakh books and journals, the HC judges' library in the city may not boast of as many books as, say the Harvard law library which has over 17 lakh titles, but on Monday Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar will inaugurate the first e-law library high court website. The digital initiative will offer not only judges, but also lawyers, law students and litigants free access to national and international legal information on their computer screens. Almost the entire catalogue of books and journals available at the judges' library can be viewed online. But borrowing a book will continue to be according to rules and require the physical presence of the borrower. The HC library has rare legal books, including a hardbound copy of the Indian Constitution, complete with all the signatures. For a research scholar, it is a treasure trove with volumes dating back to 1860 of unrepealed laws of the Legislative Council of India, the Upanishad translated by F Max Muller and Manusmruti dating back to 1922. Justice D Y Chandrachud, who has been in charge of the project, says the effort is to eventually link the site to all other international courts to create a "legal information highway''. The high court chief librarian Uma Narayan and her team have been working for several months to put together the site that has links not only to catalogue and gazette notification index, but also to a large number of central enactments with their full text from a free website called Commonlii. The HC Judges Act is there for anyone to read and young lawyers also have help from a procedural rules page. The site will have links to various constitutions around the world, free links to international legal databases and links to national as well as foreign courts, including the US supreme court and House of Lord judgments or the International Court of Justice. It will also have the latest issues of the Harvard Law Review and other foreign legal journal links, including to the Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law. According to sources, work is on to provide the civil and criminal manual online.




Kissing in public by married couple not obscene: HC
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kissing_in_public_by_married_couple_not_obscene_HC/articleshow/4066941.cms
2 Feb 2009, 2226 hrs IST, Abhinav Garg, TNN
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has stayed criminal proceedings against a couple wondering how and why an "expression of love by a young married couple" in this case allegedly by stealing kisses in public should attract the charge of obscenity. Justice S Muralidhar stayed an FIR lodged against one Ajit (name changed) and his wife who were booked by the Dwarka police station cops for allegedly kissing each other under the local Metro station even as they awaited word from their lawyer in connection with registration of their marriage. "The FIR doesn't make a case for offence under Section 294 (obscenity) read with 34 IPC. It is inconceivable how, even if one were to take what is stated in the FIR to be true, an expression of love by a young married couple would attract offence of obscenity and trigger the coercive process of law," observed Justice Muralidhar. The case has been posted for February 25 when the prosecution will have to report about the action taken on the complaint of police harassment lodged by the couple with the police commissioner. The newly married duo was picked up by ASI Vidhyadhar Singh of Dwarka police station on September 4 last year after he claimed to have found them "sitting in an objectionable position near a Metro pillar and kissing each other due to which passersby were feeling bad." Even though Ajit told them they were married, the cop hauled them to the police station and arrested them. Later, both were granted bail from the police station itself. HC was surprised how Singh disregarded the fact that the two were married and registered an FIR for obscenity. Moreover, neither in the FIR nor in the subsequent chargesheet did the police attest any statement of witnesses or 'passersby', leaving no doubt in the mind of the court that charges were cooked up. Ajit alleged both to the police and the bar council that the lawyer who promised to get the marriage registered connived with Singh to extort money from him and his wife as they were unaware of the intricacies of law. In his petition before HC seeking quashing of the FIR, Ajit mentioned how, while the couple was being 'interrogated' by the cops, his ATM card was misused to polish off Rs 20,000 from his bank account. He said the couple got married in first week of September last year at an Arya Samaj temple without the knowledge of their respective parents. Therefore, both continued to stay separately as they tried to get the marriage registered and sought services of a lawyer who, as it turns out, cheated them. The petition in fact denies that they were kissing each other and says they were just clicking self portraits on the mobile phone camera. Arguing their case before HC, the lawyer brought out finer distinctions in the law on what constitutes obscenity. Speaking to Times City, the advocate explained, "Obscenity charges get attracted when the act is so obscene that it encourages depravity or annoys the public. In this case both these contents are missing because the chargesheet is silent on any passersby as originally claimed," he added.




HC to issue notice against Pinarayi
http://keralaonline.com/news/hc-issue-notice-pinarayi_19824.html
Cochi, Monday 02 Feb 2009: After hearing the prosecution plea in the SNC Lavalin case, Kerala High Court has directed today issued notice three accused in the SNC Lavalin scam. The three accused include CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan who is 9th accused, 1st accused K. Mohanachandran and 10th accused A. Francis.
The notice will be issued through a special envoy. The direction from the Kerala High Court comes in the wake of Pinarayi all sets to begins the Navakerala yathra.




SEBI moves SC to interrogate Raju
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Satyam_scam_SEBI_moves_SC_to_quiz_Raju/articleshow/4062331.cms
2 Feb 2009, 1110 hrs IST, TIMESOFINDIA.COM

NEW DELHI: Marker regulator SEBI on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking permission to interrogate Satyam’s disgraced founder and former CEO B Ramalinga Raju.
PTI reports that Solicitor General G E Vahanvati submitted the request before a bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan on behalf of SEBI. The bench has posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday. SEBI had earlier moved the high court challenging a lower court order, which denied it permission to interrogate the Raju brothers, who are in judicial custody. The Andhra Pradesh High Court on January 30, however, declined to hear SEBI’s petition, seeking custody of Satyam scam accused Raju and brother B Rama Raju, without hearing the two brothers, and posted the matter for hearing on February 9. Appearing for SEBI, Vahanvati said the high court should allow the market regulator to interrogate the accused and record their statements because it is the relevant agency to look into this technical scam and that it is empowered to do so under Section 11(c) of the SEBI Act. However, justice Reddy said that he would not hear SEBI’s petition in the absence of the accused being represented in the matter. Vahanvati had on Thursday found fault with the lower court which has rejected its plea to question the accused on technical grounds. The magistrate's reasoning that SEBI is not an investigating agency is also not correct, the solicitor general had said. Raju was arrested in Hyderabad on January 9 and since then has been inaccessible to the separate investigation teams of SEBI and SFIO, which reached the city as early as January 8 — a day after Ramalinga disclosed a Rs 7,800 crore accounting fraud in his company. The application seeking permission to record Raju's statement was filed by SEBI on January 12, on the same day when his bail application was filed by his lawyer and the police sought his judicial custody. Since, then the court has not granted permission to SEBI to interrogate Raju. Analysts say SEBI officials, with their financial expertise, are in a better position to unravel the scam than the police.




CEC should not act like a 'political boss': Law minister
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/CEC_should_not_act_like_a_political_boss_Law_minister/articleshow/4062161.cms
2 Feb 2009, 1049 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: Government on Monday virtually rejected the recommendation of Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami for removal of his colleague Navin Chawla and hinted at making the election commissioner (Chawla) the next CEC. ( Watch ) Law minister H R Bhardwaj said the government had a policy to have the senior-most election commissioner as the CEC and "our policy continues to be the same." Describing the present controversy as "unfortunate", Bhardwaj said it should not affect Chawla's career as appointments in the Election Commission are based on merit. "We will begin the process to put in place a new CEC well in time" so that the name of Gopalaswami's successor is clear before he retires on April 20, Bhardwaj said. "Gopalaswami should do his work in EC and not become a political boss," he said on the sidelines of a conference here. "It is rather unfortunate that when the country is preparing for general elections, such a controversy has been sparked off by him (CEC)," Bhardwaj said, clarifying that a suo moto recommendation by the CEC to the president for removal of a commissioner cannot be done. The CEC has caused "embarrassment" with his comment on his colleague because they (all election commissioners) are equals, he said. The Election Commission should be preparing the election rolls, not setline scores, but it's unfortunate that he (CEC) has sparked off the controversy, he said. The CEC has no Constitutional authority to embarrass or comment upon his own colleague because they are all equals, he is only the administrative head of the Election Commission and he is not the boss," the minister said. They are paid equal salaries, their status is equal and they are complementary to each other, he said. "It is a surprising way of saying that I (CEC) am the authority to recommend. His authority flows from the President and his opinion is sought on matters related to removal of an Election Commissioner. If the President asks for his opinion he can give. If he (President) does not ask how can he (CEC) say?" questioned the law minister. "It is unfortunate that a person of such high rank and at the end of his office has made such a reaction and, thus, troubled the good name of the Election Commission," he said. Noting that the country was moving towards the general election, he said the main work of the EC was to prepare voters' list. "It is unfortunate that the controversy has been started at such a time," he said. The law minister said the President is the appointing and the removing authority for election commissioner members under the Constitution. "The role of CEC is as a measure of protection, if the government wants to remove an election commissioner, then CEC's opinion is sought," he said. He said the file on the matter reached his office two days back and law secretary T K Viswanathan is studying it. He indicated that he himself would also analyse the matter and the government's stand on the issue is likely to be firmed up very soon. "There is a (CEC's) letter with some papers and it will be disposed off," he said. The internal tussle within the Election Commission has been going on ever since Chawla was appointed, "the EC's role is to prepare electoral rolls and not to settle scores".




Assets of ministers, kin exempt from RTI: PMO
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Assets_of_ministers_kin_out_of_RTI_ambit_PMO/articleshow/4060646.cms
2 Feb 2009, 0100 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI: At a time when pressure is mounting on the judiciary to disclose its assets, the executive wing of the government has come into the limelight for its attitude towards transparency. In a decision that could have a far-reaching impact on administrative accountability, the PMO, widely seen as leading the government towards transparency has decided to withhold information related to assets of ministers and their relatives. Responding to a query by applicant Subhash Chandra Agrawal, the PMO termed the information as exempt under clauses 8(1)(e) and 8(1)(j) which relate to immunity granted to "documents fiduciary relationship" and "Cabinet documents" under the RTI Act. Agrawal has now filed an appeal with the Central Information Commission. Significantly, the PMO had initially agreed to part with the information. But in a curious U-turn on December 17, 2008, the PMO held that details sought by the applicant were exempt from disclosure. The `no' was repeated on January 27, 2009, when Agrawal persisted with his effort. It was last year that Agrawal had filed the RTI application seeking details of assets of Union ministers and their relatives for the last two years from cabinet secretariat. The letter was forwarded to Prime Minister's Office for necessary action. In his appeal, Agrawal points to the PMO's reversal of stance. "The PMO was ready to divulge the information but there has been a change in decision," Agrawal said.




CEC defends 'partisanship' charges against Chawla
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/CEC_defends_partisanship_charges_against_Chawla/articleshow/4060455.cms
2 Feb 2009, 0024 hrs IST, Manoj Mitta, TNN
NEW DELHI: Chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami has strongly rebutted the barrage of criticism on the timing of his recommendation for the removal of election commissioner Navin Chawla for "partisanship", just ahead of Lok Sabha elections.
Talking to TOI, the CEC asserted that if the recommendation for Chawla's removal came so close to the forthcoming general elections, it was because the latter had given his reply to the charges only on December 10. "The timing was determined by circumstances beyond my control," Gopalaswami said, adding that he gave his report to the President on January 16, little over a month after he had received Chawla's response. The criticism from legal experts, in most cases, focused on the sheer timing of his recommendation, and was shared even by those who felt that he had the competence to recommend Chawla's removal. Detailing the sequence of events leading to the recommendation and the political battle it has triggered, Gopalaswami explained why it took him six months to seek Chawla's comments on BJP's petition against the latter. Though BJP had filed its petition to him on January 30, 2008, he wrote to Chawla only on July 21. According to the CEC, he delayed writing to Chawla because of the differences he had developed with the latter over the timing of the Karnataka elections, which ended in May. "I put the petition on hold till the Karnataka election was over, lest it be misunderstood," Gopalaswami said. There was further delay as Chawla proceeded on leave for a month. The CEC further said that rather than responding to the charges framed by him on the basis of BJP's petition and other information in his knowledge, Chawla raised preliminary objections on September 12, saying that he was seeking the law ministry's opinion on whether the CEC had the power to make a suo motu inquiry against an election commissioner. Gopalaswami replied on September 17, saying he had the power to take cognizance of BJP's petition even without a reference from the government, but the assertion did not settle the matter. On November 7, the law ministry took the view that Gopalaswami could not proceed with the inquiry as any recommendation for the removal of an election commissioner under Article 324(5), in its opinion, could be given only on a reference from the government. Still, it took, according to the CEC, several reminders for Chawla to finally give his reply on December 10. Having complied with the requirement of due process, Gopalaswami sent his report, an event without precedent, to the President on January 12. On the controversy over whether he had the power to make a suo motu recommendation against an EC, Gopalaswami pointed out that at least Chawla, in his written arguments before the Supreme Court on a petition filed by BJP leader Jaswant Singh, had conceded that a CEC indeed had the competence. According to Gopalaswami, Chawla's written arguments, settled by his senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, said, "The CEC, knowing from his personal knowledge that an EC is unfit to hold that office, must be thoroughly incompetent or corrupt himself if he takes no action at all." That was not all. Reacting to the previous CEC's stand that he could not take action on BJP's earlier petition as it had not been forwarded to him by the President, Chawla's written arguments before SC said, "The assertion of the CEC that he could not have taken action unless his comments were called for by the President is wholly untenable."




Delhi 'hijack drama': One in judicial custody till Feb 18
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi/Delhi_hijack_drama_One_in_judicial_custody_till_Feb_18/articleshow/4062349.cms
2 Feb 2009, 1113 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: A man, arrested in connection with hijack scare onboard an Indigo aircraft, was on Monday remanded to 14-days judicial custody by a Delhi court. Jitendra Kumar, arrested in this connection, was produced before the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Kumar Goel who sent him to 14-day judicial custody. Three passengers -- Jitendra Kumar, Samir Uppal and Harpreet -- were taken into custody for questioning after their behaviour aroused suspicions inside a Indigo aircraft yesterday. The accused has been booked under section 336 (Act endangering life and personal safety of others) and section 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code and Suppression of Unlawful Act Against Safety Of Civil Aviation Act, 1982. However, two persons including a woman were today released by police after questioning. An Airbus A 320 aircraft (Flight 6E 334) of air carrier Indigo was carrying 163 passengers flight from Goa to Delhi when it made an emergency landing at the IGI airport here yesterday after the pilot reported to the Air Traffic Control that a "couple" of passengers were behaving aggressively and had made a hijack threat. Emergency drill was in place immediately and the aircraft was taken to the isolation bay at the airport. The threat was made about 15 minutes before the aircraft was due to land.




CEC irked by concrete belt from Surajkund to Badkal
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi/CEC_irked_by_concrete_belt_from_Surajkund_to_Badkal/articleshow/4060654.cms
2 Feb 2009, 0214 hrs IST, Dipak Kumar Dash, TNN
NEW DELHI/ FARIDABAD: The array of schools, engineering colleges, residential colonies and farmhouses on the road connecting Surajkund and Badkal belie the fact that the area is actually a green belt. The Supreme Court appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has termed the hectic construction activity as a violation of forest rules even as owners and promoters of the myriad buildings claim no rules have been violated. A list of violations was submitted to the apex court years ago by the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA). The report - mentioned in the SC judgment on May 14, 2008 - said, "We saw large scale construction on this road (between Suraj Kund and Badkal) from schools to management colleges, and housing colonies.'' Now when the CEC has recommended the demolition of all these structures - some of the institutions were set up as recently as 2002 - as "procedures'' were not followed, owners have started asking why permissions were given by the Haryana government in violation of the law and why should individuals and companies pay the price of the government's oversight. "No objection was ever raised. At all levels we got relevant clearances and sanctions. Why should we be punished for an internal problem of coordination between government departments? A decision needs to be taken based on what is required more, a club or an educational institution,'' said Harshvardhan Bhadana, director of Aravali International School. "We own the land, have all the documents, how then can we be branded encroachers?'' he asked. Promoters also pointed out the blatant disregard for rules that made the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad issue completion certificates for buildings that should never have been there in the first place. Prashant Bhalla, vice-president of Manav Rachna Educational Institutions (MERI) said, "We have followed all procedures and then have got all NOCs and completion certificates. We are seeking legal opinion on the CEC recommendations.'' Sandeep Gosain, advocate for MERI and Modern Vidya Niketan said, "Their buildings are legal and are on land owned by the institutions. It's not government land. We have got all permissions including that for the change of land use from different statutory government departments. Only after that did the construction happen. We have received no notice from the CEC and hence there is no question of filing any reply. We are not party to the SC litigation.'' Responding to charges that these educational institutions have come up in prohibited areas, Gosain said, "The Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) notifications are not applicable to us. These areas come under the urban development plan of Faridabad.'' Going a step ahead Satish Sood, promoter of Lakewood City, which is also located on this stretch, alleged that the CEC report `erroneously' mentioned the name of their project in the list of violators. "None of our Khasras falls under the PLPA notified area. We have asked for the mistake to be rectified. Satellite images can't be relied on. Only inspection on the ground will prove that we have not violated any law,'' he said. Forest department officials however said that the violations have been identified after proper research and using scientific methods. "We are starting the ground surveys which will make things clearer,'' they added.
dipak.dash@timesgroup.com




Delhi serial blasts case: Six remanded to police custody
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi/Delhi_serial_blasts_case_Six_remanded_to_police_custody/articleshow/4066577.cms
2 Feb 2009, 1935 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: Six suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists were today remanded to two days police custody by a Delhi Court in connection with the September 13 serial blasts case here. Mohammed Saif, Zeeshan Ahmed, Saquib Nissar, Zia-ur -Rehman, Mohd Shakeel and Mohd Hakhim were produced before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate who sent them to police custody till February four. All the six accused, who were in judicial custody after conclusion of their interrogation in connection with the Karol Bagh and Greater Kailash blasts, were today produced in the court after being formally arrested by the special cell in the Connaught Place blasts case. The special cell submitted that they wanted to quiz them to unravel their role in the case, registered with Connaught Place police station here. Seeking five days custodial interrogation of the accused, the police submitted that they were required to be interrogated for the alleged planning and execution of the blast in the Connaught Place on September 13 which left with three people dead and 34 others injured. According to the police, Saif along with Zia and Sajid, already killed in Batla House encounter, had planted the bomb in dustbins near Regal Cinema and at children park under the Connaught Place police station while others were involved in the conspiracy. The contention of the police was on the other hand strongly opposed by the counsel of the accused who submitted that they had already been in police custody in connection with the blast cases and had been interrogated at length by the investigating agency.




4-year RI for bank manager
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hyderabad/4-year_RI_for_bank_manager/articleshow/4060869.cms
2 Feb 2009, 0312 hrs IST, TNN
VISAKHAPATNAM: The CBI court here sentenced a bank manager to four years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 for accepting bribe from a farmer for sanctioning crop loan to him. After trial, special judge S Bajrang Babu found K V Phani Kumar, Kunchepalli branch manager of Union Bank of India in Podili mandal of Prakasam district, guilty of taking Rs 10,000 from the ryot P Nagaiah of Ramapuram village on April 30, 2004.




Lawyers to protest amendments in CrPC
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Patna/Lawyers_to_protest_amendments_in_CrPC/articleshow/4060907.cms
2 Feb 2009, 0213 hrs IST, TNN
PATNA: Lawyers organized under the banner of Bihar State Lawyers' Association, at a meeting held here on Sunday, decided to observe statewide token strike on February 12 and 13 and phase wise strike between February 16 to 26 to protest the amendments in CrPC. As far as phase wise strike is concerned, district units would decide the dates. The meet also decided to extend its support to token strike call given by Tees Hajari (New Delhi) Court Advocates on February 3 to lodge their protest against the amendments in CrPC. The meet noted that amendments made in the CrPC would prove disastrous as it would encourage anti-social elements to take advantage of these amendments. With these amendments, the police would not be able to arrest those who are accused under these sections of CrPC which attract a sentence of up to seven years imprisonment. The police have been empowered to grant them bail at police station level against such charges.




Farmers' rights convention on Feb 7
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mangalore/Farmers_rights_convention_on_Feb_7/articleshow/4060261.cms
1 Feb 2009, 2053 hrs IST, TNN
MANGALORE: A state-level farmers' rights assertion convention organized by Nagarika Seva Trust (NST) in association with Prajadhikara Vedike will be held at Nehru Maidan here on February 7. In a press release, NST president K Somanath Nayak said the convention would urge the Central and state governments for steps to fulfill 16 demands of the farmers. The demands include designing scheme to ensure minimum Rs 10,000 monthly income for the farmers, passing law to protect the agriculture lands under the food security policy and ban on industrial units using agro lands to install their units. Further, the state cabinet should pass a resolution against the hazardous PCPIR chemical hub project proposed to be installed at the cost of 75,000 agrarian lands in the coastal region, he said. Referring to the pathetic conduction of agriculture sector in the country, he said though 60 per cent of the country's human resource was engaged in this sector, the number of farmers' suicide cases were increasing. In the absence of political will and effective planning to strengthen the agro sector, people were loosing hope in agriculture activities. This tendency may pose serious threat to the country's economy in the near future, he said. Ministers, legislators, MPs and representatives of political parties have been invited to the convention and requested to respond to farmers' demands. Bharatiya Kirshik Samaj president Kishan Bir Chaowdhri will deliver the key-note address, he said.




NHRC interveneshttp://www.e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=Snipp7..310109.jan09
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, January 30 2009: Law Department of National Human Rights Commission wrote to Chief Secretary of Manipur to act upon the customary rules and regulations of Chingmeirong Rongmei Village Council.According to a press release of All India Christian Council, the directive from NHRC to State Government came after a memorandum submitted to the Commission by the council on December 17 .




Bansal Comm on Gujjar agitation urged to consider NHRC report

http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/491128/National/1/20/1
Published: January 30,2009

Jaipur , Jan 30 Two lawyers of Delhi today asked a judicial commission set up to probe the violence during Gujjar agitation last year to consider the report of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) which had conducted a seperate investigation into the incidents in parts of Rajasthan.
Sunil Kumar Bainsal and Anurag Kasana, the lawyers, appeared before Justice Fatechand Bansal Commission apprising it of NHRC&aposs action and survey in the aftermath of the Gujjar agitation in which innocent people were killed in police firing on May 23 and 24 last year at Pilukapura, Sikandra and other places.
The Gujjars were demanding ST status for its community members.
The advocates were the first to file a complaint with the NHRC that immediately carried out spot inquiry into the incidents of violence in villages of Gujjar Community people, according to a press statement here.
Since the NHRC team had visited the affected areas in June last and collected the evidences including the statements of victims, their relatives and other witnesses, the Bansal Commission should consider the NHRC report, they contended.
Though the NHRC stopped its further proceedings following the setting up of the Bansal Commission but its report would be valuable, they said, adding the Bansal commission before arriving at any conclusion should call up the NHRC report.
Source: PTI




Why not
http://aristotlethegeek.wordpress.com/
February 2, 2009
Ajmal Kasab for MP, that is. When the media can go gaga over Abu Salem and his love life, and he can think of fighting elections; when Munnabhai can stand for MP; when a thousand politicians with a million criminal cases filed against them sit in legislatures across the country framing laws and voting on matters of national interest, then why not imagine a scenario where Ajmal Kasab will stand for MP. Let’s hope he doesn’t sue the media channels for calling him a terrorist without actual proof. And how dare Jethmalani say that Dutt won’t be “a useful addition to India’s Parliament.”
This is a commentary on the phenomenon of criminalization of politics; the politicization of crime is nothing but the other side of the same coin. Swami did write an article about this in mid-2006 - “Terrorists as vote banks”. And this is what he suggested-
First, we need an independent Police Commission, along the lines of the Election Commission, with all-India staff to investigate and prosecute crime. This function must be taken out of the hands of politicians. State governments can have separate forces for maintaining public order, but criminal investigation should be the job of a separate, autonomous police force. That will help move criminals (and possibly terrorists) out of legislatures and into jails.
Second, we need many more judges, and judicial procedures that ensure quick decisions. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Third, we need a law mandating the immediate hearing and disposal of all criminal cases against elected legislators. Today, criminals join politics to delay cases they face. But if these cases have to be disposed of before all others, criminals will avoid rather than join politics. We might even see some Cabinet Ministers resigning in panic and going back to crime.
While police reforms are being stalled by the politicians, the idea of fast tracking of court cases against “influential persons” has been dismissed by the Indian Supreme Court very recently-
The Supreme Court on Friday said no distinction can be made among accused persons for the purpose of putting the trial in criminal cases involving influential persons on the fast track.
“We cannot define who is an influential person. We cannot say that a person belongs to a particular class,” a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said during the hearing of a petition seeking laying down of guidelines for speedy probe and trial in cases involving important public functionaries.
I remember a line from Satya where the lawyer - Mule - talks to Kallu. Both are heavily drunk, but Mule makes a very interesting observation. The times have changed, he says, things are not like they were before. Politician sabse bada bhai hai - the politician is the biggest criminal of them all.
He surely is.
Posted by Aristotle The Geek




Tihar inmates get more care, death rate at lowest
http://www.dailytimesindia.com/2009/02/34727.htm
New Delhi, Feb 1 (IANS) Tihar Jail, one of Asia’s largest prisons, has become more caring about the health of its thousands of inmates.
The sprawling prison in the western part of the capital that has often come under the scanner of rights bodies after the mysterious deaths of inmates recorded its lowest death rate in a decade in 2008, and no suicidal death.
‘Only 13 people died in 2008 against 33 in 2007. It is the lowest mortality rate of prisoners in the past decade. It is mainly because of the utmost care shown to sick and old prisoners,’ Tihar’s law officer Sunil Gupta told IANS.
‘The deaths decreased sharply due to the efforts of our motivated medical and paramedical staff and the improved medical infrastructure,’ he added.
Tihar has nine prisons - eight in the Tihar complex and one in Rohini. At present over 11,500 prisoners are lodged inside the jails - against a sanctioned capacity of 6,250.
The prison has a 150-bed hospital and dispensaries in each of the jails to provide round-the-clock healthcare to prisoners. It has 107 doctors and 150 paramedic staff deputed for prison healthcare.
Gupta said a majority of the inmates belonged to the lower strata of society.
‘Prisoners who require specialised medical treatment, which facility is not available in the jail hospital, are referred to outside hospitals,’ he said.
Over 23,000 prisoners were taken to hospitals like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU), Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in 2008, compared to 18,594 in 2007.
The law officer claimed there had been no case of suicidal death in 2008. Two prisoners had committed suicide in 2007.
The jail administration had come under flak in 2007 when the Delhi government and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) launched separate investigations after seven inmates died, in quick succession, inside the premises.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Prison C.R. Garg said the low death rate in 2008 was the result of various healthcare measures taken by the jail authorities.
‘We have constituted a board of doctors to decide on the admission of inmates to the jail hospital. The board allows admission to only the very critically ill patients,’ Garg told IANS.
‘The board was constituted by the director general of the jail. With this, it has also become very difficult for the VIP or high profile prisoners to feign illness and get themselves admitted to the jail hospital by colluding with jail doctors.’
‘There have been instances in the past where doctors were found hand in glove with the prisoners. But now it has become very difficult. The hospital administration has been asked to prepare and send reports of patients who are housed in the jail hospital for more than a week,’ Garg said.
The prison has also launched yoga classes and spiritual discourses for inmates. They are kept busy in different activities like gardening, bakery and tailoring.
(Sahil Makkar can be contacted at sahil.m@ians.in and Richa Sharma can be contacted at richa.s@ians.in)
This entry was posted on Sunday, February 1st, 2009 at 3:54 am




Women and Child Development Ministry sends fresh team to Mangalore
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20090082102&ch=2/1/2009%201:39:00%20PM
Press Trust of India
Sunday, February 01, 2009, (New Delhi)
Apparently unhappy over the conduct of a three-member NCW team that went to Mangalore on a fact-finding mission in the wake of attack on a pub, the Women and Child Development Ministry sent a fresh team on Sunday to have an on-the-spot assessment of the incident.The ministry sent a two-member team led by Joint Secretary Kiran Chada to Mangalore on a fact-finding mission, sources said.A deputy secretary in the ministry is the another member of the team that will visit the pub where women and men were attacked allegedly by activists of Sriram Sene last week.The sources also said the NCW team which went to Mangalore had not submitted its report and the decision to send a new team was taken in view of the urgency of the matter.On Saturday, the National Commission for Women had distanced itself from one of its members' take on the attacks, and said that she had spoken in her personal capacity.Blaming security lapses for the incident, NCW member Nirmala Venkatesh had on Friday said it will recommend cancellation of licence of the restaurant as it was supposed to serve only food to guests.However, NCW Chairperson, Girija Vyas said that Venkatesh had expressed the views in her personal capacity and the commission had not yet received any report from the team.Venkatesh was leading a three-member team which visited Mangalore on a fact-finding mission. The other members of the team comprised of a lawyer and a local NGO representative.




Input credits on transportation costs
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/input-creditstransportation-costs/00/01/347722/

S Madhavan / New Delhi February 2, 2009, 0:51 IST
The issue of whether or not input tax credits are available under the relevant provisions on service taxes paid on outward transportation has long been a contentious one under service tax law. The underlying provisions themselves have undergone changes over time, in order to limit the benefit to specific situations. However, a recent decision of the Tribunal appears to have the effect of allowing the benefit even to situations other than those covered above. It must be however noted that this decision is beneficial to the assessee in that it upholds the benefit of input tax credits in such other situations as well.
To fully appreciate the issue, it is important to understand the underlying provisions both before and after the changes referred to above. The definition of ‘input service’ in the provisions, prior to the amendment, insofar as they relate to transportation read as follows:- ‘input service means any service……………used by the manufacturer, whether directly or indirectly, in relation to the manufacture of final products and clearance of final products from the place of removal and…………………….. includes services used in relation to outward transportation up to the place of removal. With effect from April 1, 2008, the expression ‘clearance of final products from the place of removal’, as occurring above, was changed to ‘clearance of final products up to the place of removal’.
The other relevant provision is the definition of ‘place of removal’ which occurs in Section 4 of the Central Excise Act and which reads as follows: — “place of removal” means —
(i) a factory or any other place or premises of production or manufacture of the excisable goods;
(ii) a warehouse or any other place or premises wherein the excisable goods have been permitted to be stored without payment of duty a depot, premises of a consignment agent or any other place or premises from where the excisable goods are to be sold after their clearance from the factory; from where such goods are removed.”
Before coming to the recent decision of the Tribunal, it will be useful to note certain earlier decisions on the subject. In Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd Vs CCEX (2007-TIOL-539), the Tribunal had importantly held that the post sale transportation of manufactured goods could not be an input service for the manufacturer. It held that the definition of ‘input service’ was so worded that credit was only available on transport services up to the place of removal and not beyond.
The Tribunal held that the two clauses of the definition which had application to transportation were to be read together and not disjunctively and therefore only transportation costs up to the place of removal would be eligible for credits. Similarly, the Tribunal in Ultratech Cements Ltd. Vs. C.C.EX. (2007-TIOL-429) held that input tax credits would only be admissible on outward transportation of goods up to the place of removal and not beyond.
The ratio of these decisions has since been explicitly incorporated in the amended provisions by replacing the expression ‘clearance of final products from the place of removal’ with the expression ‘clearance of final products up to the place of removal’, thereby removing any doubt as to what is allowed as credit.
However, the interesting point is that the aspect of sale of goods appears to have been brought in and read into the definition of place of removal in the case of Ambuja Cements when in fact this condition is not present in the definition of place of removal as extracted above. In other words, in Gujarat Ambuja, the Tribunal did hold that post sale transport of manufactured goods is not an input in manufacture, although its final conclusion did not turn on this aspect.
Following this decision, the Central Board of Excise and Customs, vide its Circular No. 97/6/2007-ST, dated 23/08/2007, in regard to certain procedural issues in service tax, held that in an ex-factory removal situation where the manufacturer claimed that the sale of goods had taken place at the destination point, in terms of the sales contract or agreement, and hence ownership and property in the manufactured goods remained with the seller during the transportation of goods until delivery to the purchaser at destination, credits were admissible on the transportation costs up to the place of sale i.e. the destination of the purchaser.
Coming to the recent decision, in Datafield India Pvt Ltd. Vs C.C.EX. (2009-TIOL-33), the Tribunal has held that in a situation where goods were removed from the factory to the customer but no sale had taken place since the commercial terms were ‘FOR Destination’, it followed that the transportation charges incurred by the manufacturer for transportation of goods from the factory to the premises of the purchaser would be admissible for input tax credits.
The Tribunal took note of the above Circular and held that in the light of the Circular, there was no ambiguity with regard to the eligibility to input tax credits on the aforesaid transportation costs and thus upheld the claim of the appellants. The interesting point to be noted is that the aforesaid definition of ‘place of removal’, insofar as it relates to the factory of manufacture, does not incorporate any provisions predicating the sale of goods therefrom.
It is only that part of the definition which refers to depots or premises of the consignment agent etc. that the reference to sale is incorporated. Consequently, the reading of the definition of ‘place of removal’ as to require a sale to happen with regard to ex factory removals appears to be without basis in law. It is true that the Tribunal in Gujarat Ambuja did, in passing, state that post sale expenses would not be admissible for input tax credits.
The Board appears to have placed reliance on this part of the decision in order to hold that input tax credits would be admissible if the manufacturer/assessee were to demonstrate that no sale took place with regard to such ex factory removals to customers and that such sales took place only at the destination of such customers.
It appears that the ratio of this decision in Datafield would have application even with regard to the present provisions since the definition of ‘place of removal’ remains as before. Consequently, even though the benefit of input tax credit is restricted on transportation costs incurred up to the ‘place of removal’, nevertheless if the customer’s premises were to be construed as the place of removal in terms of the aforesaid decision, the benefit of input credit tax would continue to be applicable in situations where sales took place on ex factory removals on a ‘FOR Destination’ basis.
It will be very useful if the Board were to clarify that this is indeed the case and hence the benefit would accrue to the assessee in such situations.
The author is Leader, Indirect Tax Practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers pwctls.nd@in.pwc.com




NHRC asks Haryana govt to pay Rs one lakh to rape victim

http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/492871/National/1/20/1
Published: February 2,2009

New Delhi, Feb 2 National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Haryana government to pay a compensation of Rs one lakh as an interim relief to a girl who had been allegedly sexually abused by the head master of her school.
The NHRC refused to accept the plea of Haryana government that the accused head master was facing trial in the court and it"might create an awkward situation"if the victim was given interim relief before completion of the trial.
According to the complaint received by the NHRC, the head master of a government middle school at Anandpur in Rewari district allegedly sexually abused a girl student of his school on February 11, 2007. The victim was then a student of class VIII.
Following the incident, police registered a case against Samay Singh under Sections 294 (obscene act in public place) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It later filed a chargesheet against the accused under Sections 354 (assualt or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 506 of the IPC.
Before the chargesheet was filed by police, NHRC on receiving a complaint from the victim&aposs grandfather had directed the SP, Rewari district, to get the case"closely"monitored by an officer of not below the rank of DSP.
In his complaint, the victim&aposs grandfather had alleged that Singh had sexually abused his grand daughter and also attempted to rape her but police neither registered the case under appropriate sections of the IPC nor were taking suitable action against the accused.
Source: PTI





Ansari supports invoking principles of international laws

http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/492893/National/1/20/1
Published: February 2,2009

New Delhi, Feb 2 Vice President Hamid Ansari today supported invoking principles of international laws for"fuller realisation"of Fundamental Rights in the country.
" Despite considerable progress, a fuller realisation of Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles incorporated in the Constitution is hampered by the enormity and diversity of the challenges in a country of over a billion people. It is therefore relevant to ask how and where the norms and principles of international law can be invoked to address these questions," Ansari said.
He said after the 2002 Gujarat violence, NHRC"held the state responsible for human rights violations in its jurisdiction, whether committed by state or non-state actors.
"It demanded access by victims of rights violations to prompt and effective legal systems and to reparations proportionate to the gravity of violations, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition,"he said.
According to Ansari, the NHRC made the beginning despite the fact that India has not subscribed to the two protocols additional to the Geneva Convention, the Rome Statute and the 1951 Refugee Convention.
Ansari was pointing at a number of instances in which the Indian judiciary has relied upon international conventions and covenants in interpreting constitutional provisions.
The Vice- President was addressing the International Conference on International Law in the Contemporary World organised by the the Indian Society of International Law here.
"In the 60th year of the Republic it is relevant to recall that Article 51 of the Constitution exhorts the state to foster respect for international law and treaty obligations,"he said.
Source: PTI




SC notice to WB govt in rape case involving trial court judge http://www.zeenews.com/states/2009-02-02/504029news.html
New Delhi, Feb 02: In a rare development, NHRC on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking exepeditious probe into the four-year-old rape case in Nadia district of West Bengal in which a sitting trial court judge was named as an accused. Though the Apex court issued notice to the state government on the petition filed by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), it also questioned the conduct of the victim, who not only had refused to undergo medical examination at the government hospital but had also delayed in lodging complaint with the police. A Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan termed the entire development in the case as "disturbing" in which the accused is the fast track court judge of Nadia district. "She repeatedly declined to go to government hospital for medical examination. Instead she went to the local Bar Association and 5-6 days after the incident makes the complaint. That is more disturbing," the Bench, also comprising Justice P Sathasivam said. The Bench took objection to the victim refusing to go to the government hospital and procuring the certificate from a private hospital to establish that she was sexually assaulted. Expressing surprise over the victim approaching lawyers' body, the Bench said, "Why should victim go to Bar Association. Somebody is behind it." The complaint was lodged in 2004 against Shyamlal Sengupta, judge fast track court, Ranaghat in Nadia District under section 376 (rape) of IPC. Senior advocate U U Lalit and Anitha Shenoy, appearing for NHRC, agreed with the Bench that delay in lodging the complaint may go against the victim but wanted the court to expedite the probe. Lalit said though it has been four years, the victim's clothes are in safe custody which could be examined by the experts. "The stains and body fluid on the clothes of the victim could help in the probe. Nowadays, science and technology has developed which will help in fixing the identity of the accused," he said, adding that the accused should also be subjected to medical test to ascertain whether the body fluids found on the clothes of the victim matches with those of the accused or not. The senior advocate said it was slightly unusual for NHRC to file such petition but it was necessary as authorities in West Bengal has not acted in transparent manner and the matter has been pending for four years. On the plea to expedite the probe, the Bench said since the investigation into the case was still pending, it would wait for the response of the state government before passing any order. Bureau Report




Rights body takes up case of sexually abused school girl
http://www.sindhtoday.net/south-asia/58708.htm
Feb 2nd, 2009 By Sindh Today
New Delhi, Feb 2 (IANS) Two years after she was allegedly sexually abused by her headmaster in school, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken up the case of a class 8 student in Haryana by ordering an enquiry and recommending compensation to the victim.
The commission received a complaint by Sube Singh, the victim’s grandfather, alleging that three days after the incident happened, the police lodged an FIR Feb 14 2007 against the headmaster of the school, Samay Singh, for sexually abusing the victim.
However, Sube Singh alleged, that the FIR was not registered under the appropriate sections of the law because of which no action was taken against the culprit.
‘Taking this into consideration, the commission has directed the director general of investigations, NHRC, for an on the spot enquiry and has asked for a report within two weeks,’ an NHRC official said.
The commission also recommended a sum of Rs.100,000 to be paid as interim compensation to the victim. It asked the chief secretary of Haryana to submit a compliance report and proof of payment of the same which the commission received Jan 19 this year.