News and current affairs

'Crime in India-2009' report released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals that cases of incest rape have 'increased by 30.7 per cent from 309 cases in 2008 to 404 cases in 2009', and out of total rape cases of 21,397, 94.9 per cent involved offenders who were known to the victims.

                                         Recent Incest rape cases

Mira Road Incest case..... March 2009

Father booked for raping minor daughter in Nagpur....October 2010

Man arrested for raping daughter at Rajkot.... January 2011

Incest means sexual relations between persons who, because of the nature of their kinship ties, are prohibited by law or custom from intermarrying, for instance: - Father, uncle, brother et al.

The Mira Road exposure of a father's sexual abuse of his daughter for nine years on being encouraged by a tantric has opened a Pandora's box of similar cases of incest across the country. The number of incest cases in India has been increasing profusely and in the rarest of rare cases the father has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Increasingly, this is also shedding light on the legal system's shortcomings in dealing with incest, as well as on social attitudes that hinder effective solutions.

The existing laws in India are highly inadequate in dealing with incest cases and particularly where the father is a perpetrator. Many developed countries such as Britain, the US and Germany have strong laws against incest. UK, which made incest punishable in 1908, sets a prison term of 12 years for the offence. Punishment in the US varies from one state to another; extending to 20 years in the state of Massachusetts, while in Hawaii it is five years. Some countries have, however, abolished or diluted their laws against incest - this is invariably because many of them viewed sexual partnerships between closely related persons - even adults - as incestuous, and in recent years there has been some liberalisation of their views on this. Incest involving minors, on the other hand, is uniformly frowned upon in the developed world, then why is India laid back at such instances?

Such inhumane conduct shall never be exculpated and camouflaged under whatsoever circumstances. Girls need to be secured and protected against such predators rather than coercing the victim to be silent to preserve the family reputation. People need to accept that incest is a part of the society and they need to shield their children against the same. Most of the cases go unreported because the family wants to protect both the victim and the perpetrator, especially if he is the father.  There would be a rise in the number of reported incest cases provided there is a fall in the society’s approach accepting it as a stigma and realizing the fact that even they could mirror such a situation.

However let us examine the present Laws governing ‘rape’ in India. According to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code a man is said to have committed rape if he has intercourse with a woman without her consent by fear, force or fraud, when she is under 16 years of age (amendment). Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, where the wife is over 18 years of age, is not rape. Now there are Impediments to justice in rape cases as Section 375 leaves a few questions unanswered. For instance, what about sexual intercourse by a man with his wife, and without her consent, where the wife is over 16 years of age? “A marriage license should not be viewed as a license for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with impunity.”

The victim is the accused in the eyes of law .As a whole, the process of law is biased against the victim. If the victim is a minor, the onus is on the accused to prove his innocence. But if the victim is a major, it is up to her to prove her charge. Therefore, the defense finds it worthwhile to prove that the victim is a major. Also, in rape cases, unless the woman is examined medically within 24 hours, it becomes difficult forensically to prove that rape has occurred.

The laws too are discriminatory in nature. According to Section 155 (4) of Indian Evidence Act, “When a man is prosecuted for rape or an attempt to ravish, it may be shown that the prosecutrix (victim) was of generally immoral character.” Section 54 of Indian Evidence Act says, “In criminal proceedings (including rape) the fact that the accused person has a bad character is irrelevant, unless  evidence has been given (by him) that he has a good character, in which case it becomes relevant.”

However in all fairness it must be said that there has also been a positive change in the Judiciary’s approach towards rape cases. For example, the level of corroboration needed for a victim’s testimony has really come a long way. In the 1956, Ghanshyam case, it was said that there should be complete corroboration of each and every part of the victim’s story in order for there to be a conviction. Earlier there used to be acquittals on the basis of medical opinion and medical examination of the victim, of late the Supreme Court has held in several cases that medical opinion is merely advisory in nature and rape being a legal condition and not a medical one it is not for the medical expert to decide whether there has been a rape but for the court. This shows the changing attitude of the judiciary as moving towards a more victim friendly approach and prospectively we hope to see least acquittals in such cases.

There really needs to be a legislative augmentation in laws relating to rape and incest in India or else the victims would just sit back, holding themselves accursed and anticipating denial of justice at all times. All that they would be left with throughout their lives is the physical, psychological and social trauma of being raped. With such infallible signs by the Judiciary, we await a legislation whereby the victim is no more a victim but a Survivor.........

As an outsider to Law (Engineer in US), I was pleased with yet another fantastic judgment from the Supreme Court of India's Division Bench of Honorable Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra on Prafull Goradia V. Union of India case today. Here it is in TOI: http://bit.ly/hHraVi

The Division Bench dismissed Petitioner's claim of Haj subsidies by the Government as unconstitutional.

It was an interesting asseveration by the Bench that Article 27 can be interpreted in basically two ways: Either the statute states that the taxes are expressly being collected to serve the purposes of a particular religion OR a generic statute that levies taxes for general purposes diverts substantive portions of those taxes to serve the purposes of a particular religion.

In this case, as the Division Bench pointed out, no such violation was made out in order to substantiate the claim of Unconstitutionality. At a time when partisanship rules high in Washington with potential gridlocks in the form of litigious suits, the learned Bench's quote of former US Justice Holmes, "The interpretation of constitutional principles must not be too literal. We must remember that the machinery of the government would not work if it were not allowed a little play in its joints”, was not only thought-provoking, but, very respectful of non-interference into the affairs of the Government.

Having been a long-time resident of the US, Division Bench of Justices Katju and GS Misra's argument that the "Principles of interpreting the Constitution are to some extent different from those of interpreting an ordinary statute", to me, struck very familiar the ideological divide of two main Judicial philosophies right here in Washington DC. While Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia believes in textualism of laws and originalism of Constitution wherein interpretation as per modern Zeitgeist isn't cool, Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer believes just the opposite. Besides, the current Judgment has a liberal citation of foreign Jurisprudence, which echoes more of Justice Stephen Breyer's school of thought. Further, the Division Bench owed some of its leanings on the matter by liberally citing former US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall (1755-1835)

By highlighting the fact that the Petitioner did not quantify the level of proceeds being diverted towards subsidization of Haj, the Division Bench was able to easily pulverize the Petitioner's claims. It even mildly admonished Petitioner by saying his allegations were "vague". For the record, barely a paltry 0.13% of the levied taxes were used for this purpose. As the Calcutta Telegraph reports, "In Parliament last year, foreign minister S.M. Krishna had put the Haj subsidy at Rs 611 crore for 2009-10. The figure is just 0.13 per cent of the Rs 4.65 lakh crore (revised estimates) the Centre collected in taxes in the same year."

The Bench's punctilio was evident when it put bluntly: The object of Article 27 is to maintain secularism, and hence we must construe it from that angle.

As is emblematic of Honorable Justice Markandey Katju to make edifying observations, the parting comments of the Judgment are given wide coverage by the Press today. Here, both the Justices solidly avow their faith in Secularism and how it has made India for what it is by citing the moral dilemma that existed during Partition.

Their implied notion that, for India to subsist and exist as a nation of variegated diversity, secularism is not just an ideological and expedient choice, but essentially a sine qua non. 

That, I think, has made this a secular judgment to savor.

When we look back at 2010, beyond a few startling events, do we know what the main issues that affected India were? India Analyser - Annual Review is an effort to highlight the key issues that concerned the state and society in 2010. The ten topics highlighted in the review deal with matters that pre-eminently affect the Indian polity and the Indian people at large. 

The review is divided into two parts- Perspectives and Analysis. The entries under Perspectives are short (700-900 words) and addresses a topic from a particular perspective while the entries under Analysis are longer (1200-1500 words) and analyses a topic more comprehensively. The underlying theme behind most entries, especially those under the Analysis section, is that of identifying the various governance trends emerging in India.  

Perspectives include specific chapters on- 

• The judgment on the Bhopal gas tragedy
• The adoption of a new Rupee symbol
• The judgment on the Ayodhya land dispute
• The crisis in the Microfinance industry  
• The revelations of the Radia tapes 

Analysis include specific chapters on-

•  The announcement of the annual union Budget
• The reinstitution of the National Advisory Council
• The rise of Maoist violence
• The enactment of the Nuclear Liability Bill
• The rejection of Vedanta’s mining project in Niyamgiri

Most of the entries in India Analyser are based on my writings in various magazines and websites over the last year. These include two of my blog entries in Legally India- one on the Naxal issue and another on the Bhopal verdict. The entry on the Naxal issue subsequently won the most socially just post in Legally India’s blogging competition last year.

So after months of being anonymous and refraining from posting anything after the competition, I posted this entry as I truly believe that India Analyser would be interesting to the readers of Legally India. Hope all of you enjoy reading the review. I would greatly value any feedback on the same.

From the Project Cloud Desk

26 January 2010

As you walk to class and you take a minute to reflect, you've just realised there is so much to be done. There is the project in subject A that you have to submit next week. And it doesn't look good. You have a feeling Professor A does not like your new hair-cut or just doesn't like you cause you couldn't care any less about his monotonous lectures at 3 in the afternoon.

There are two ways to get through this. There is the "idiot's guide to writing a project" and our way. We recommend you read both. [ Thank you lawd99 for pointing this out ]

The good news is Prof A doesn't have to get away with giving you below average marks. Take a step back and think about this. Every project you write is an opportunity is write a paper. Let us assume that you have five subjects every semester. If you thought of every project as a paper, you could write 10 papers every year and 50 by the time you graduate out of law school. Most of us graduate with one, two, three or five. A few exceptions graduate with ten or more. We're asking you to work for the one percent of the 50 paper you can write. You most certainly can resist our advice and go for 50. We promise not to stop you. 

Once you decide that out of the ten subjects you have, you will write two papers seriously, you still graduate with eight. Even if you leave with four to your credit, you're still doing better than the rest. What stopped many of us from reaching the magic 5 - at least 1 a year - honestly, was a lack of vision.

Many of us never saw projects this way. It was the same story every semester. Fill in about ten pages from ten different articles on the internet with at least 5 footnotes on each page - there we were, guaranteed at least average marks. If one got lucky,one  would get at least 70-75%.  

Journals actually want ideas and appreciate creativity. They like having a lot of footnotes. And most of them dislike being sent a paper exceeding 9-10 pages. [ The story is a little different for international journals, we will come to that later ]. The good things about Indian journals (see a list of journals here)  is that they are still evolving and willing to experiment. There are Journals coming up on all sorts of subjects. We've even managed to track one down on maritime law [ It's not Indian though and feel free to suggest any you know ]. My point here is even if you have a "boring" subject like Family Law. Don't let that opportunity go away. There are so many issues going on the subject [ a few here ]. 

So if you really want to start getting ahead of the competition, start writing. Take out your old projects, spend a week on them and in a few months from now, you'll have  a paper in something as weird as Family Law. And ten years down the line when you're a divorce lawyer, you'll thank yourself for writing that one paper on Should taking care of one’s parents be a legal duty? . 

Getting back to the Professor. It's really never too late. If he/she awarded you average marks, march up to him and let him know he/she really needs to take a lesson on evaluating projects. 

Good Luck!

The Project Cloud Team

Website: http://projectcloud.info

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/projectcloud

With my eyes half open, I checked the time on my cell phone, it was 12:45 PM of Sunday morning. Sorry afternoon (we really need to amend the whole morning, noon and evening thing). What’s the first thing you do after waking up? Most people do some Ramdev yoga or drink water or have a cig. While I wear my specs, open my laptop and check facebook, Gmail and Yahoo mail, my three precious accounts for fun, gossip and work respectively. I noticed that my yahoo account was showing “1 unread message”. It was from “WTF Law Associates” (i.e. We’re The First). “Another rejection”, mumbling to myself, I opened the mail and for 2 nano-seconds it felt as if I have got that happyness which Will Smith is pursuing with his pea-sized kid. I can’t express in words what I felt that time. It was confirmation of internship for 6 weeks. I was not able to believe on my eyes, 6 WEEKS!!! and that too with best law firm of country. I kissed my laptop. I danced like a chimp. I gave my favorite Hindi slangs to the other law firms who rejected me. It was not just an internship, it was a holy grail, the ring from LOR series, it was Helen of Troy. So many a*s-kissing-nerds fight for it every semester, but I got it. Now, “I have the power” (not just the song but in real). 

My mind started dreaming of life-changing things which this tiny little e-mail has attached to it. The chicks of my class will no longer see me as a loser. I will be the flower for honey bees (junior gals). Nerds will write “I QUIT” and hang themselves, Dudes will finally feel inferior. Teachers won’t dare to wake me up during classes and VC won’t fine me for smoking. The registrar will shift his cabin’s A/C to my room; the College band will compose a special soundtrack for my entrance in class and a different one for exit. I won’t have to beg for the notes anymore; they will be gifted to me. No one will ever ask me why I’m late for exams. People will Tweet about me and the facebook account will be flooded by friendship requests. Girls will have cat-fight for my entertainment and there will be bidding for a date with me. Firms will poison their HR’s for rejecting me. Cos now, I have the power (man, I can’t get this song out of my head).

To save the poor HRs, first thing I did was to mail every single firm my “regretful” email, with a tone conveying “suck it, B**ch”.

I had to tell this news to someone and why just someone, to everyone. My chest felt 10 inch broader and I realized that may be this is the last time I’m walking cos from now on people will carry me on my ‘sedan chair’. I went straight away to Einstein’s (the nerdiest of nerds) room. Like always, he was making out (not literally) with books. He gave me a “wtf-this-loser-is-doing-in-my-room” look. I interpreted it and before he could say anything, asked “yaar, do you know if anyone in our college got internship in WTF?” He looked at me as if I have asked him if he is still an M-virgin (cos both questions are obvious). “Why?” he fired back another question.  “yaar, just like that”. “Dude, don’t even dream about applying there, they rejected ME, you don’t even have a chance unless you are planning to finish this degree in 10 years”.  I wished if I can summon a band before saying “Oh! so no one from our college; damn it! and I was thinking I will have someone to go for cig-breaks”.  Einstein’s face now took a transition from “wtf-this-loser-is-doing-in-my-room” to “wtf-im-doing-in-this-world” look.  I left him alone to arrange for a rope and a marker (to write “I QUIT”).

By the time I reached mess for lunch, the news was everywhere (Oh, I forgot to mention, Einstein is not just the editor of our college journal but also handles the widest possible broadcast of gossips). Everywhere, I could see the small talks going on. I went for an empty table and sat alone. Within a minute, I wasn’t alone and I can hear “Dude, they pay 20 grands as stipend”, “who cares about stipend idiot, they have sexiest associates”, “someone told me that they have booze-parties every weekend”, “man I knew that this guy is born to do something great”, “yaar, bond hai tu toh”. A chick sitting next to me said “You don’t know but I always had huuuugggeee crush on you, I even get dreams of you whenever I read M&B books” (she didn’t remember now but since first semester she tells everyone that she gets dream of her dog whenever she looks at me cos the name of her dog was “LOSER”).  But I don’t care about the past, now it’s all changed. I’m not Peter Parker anymore, I’m Spiderman. 

When I returned, I saw a group of 15-20 students waiting outside my room. I was told that they want to see how a confirmation email looks like cos they never received any in their entire law school life. Another medal for this brave warrior and why did “Homer” died so early, he should been here to write about me. Everyone surrounded me when I opened the mail and mouths dropped as if they got a glimpse of, you know, of [………] (everyone has their own fav., I can’t generalize this). And the round of praises started again.

Someone pointed out that there is one more unread mail. It was from WTF only. “Must be a plane-ticket or a pre-internship shopping voucher or both” I said.

The email read “Dear blah blah, the earlier email was intended for a student of same name, of your own college, but of junior batch. Please ignore our earlier e-mail and “boo-hooo in your face loser, now get the f**k out of here and don’t even send your shameless CV again” (I don’t remember clear words but the intention was this only). 

I rushed to Einstein’s room to borrow rope and the marker (to write “WTF”)

In Rural Litigation V State of UP, AIR 1987 SC 359, the Supreme Court highlighted the importance of fundamental duties enumerated in Article 51A, with a special reference to its clause (g). Rajasthan High Court in Surya Narain v. Union of India, AIR 1982 Raj.1, held that fundamental duties are not enforceable.  

In Article 51A (h) it is mandated that it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.  The recent incidents in Sabarimala in Kerala, a Hindu pilgrim center, necessitated this inquiry.  During the month of makara, there are heavy rush in the Temple to see the Makara Vilakku or Makara Jyothi, which majority of the pilgrims hope that a divine one.  However, the local people as well as the educated people in the State, for the last several years, complained that this is not a divine light but a man made one.  Due to the heavy rush to see this Makara Jyothi, nearly 102 human beings lost their life. There are petitions pending before this High Court of Kerala to order a probe on this issue.  Now Mr. Sanal Edamaruku filed a petition in the Supreme Court and sought for a prohibition of Makara Vilakku.  

The question, which is a debatable one, in view of the mandate of Art. 51A (h), remains unanswered. Do you think that such kind of misrepresentations are permissible in view of Article 51A (h)

A special CBI court in Ghaziabad directed the investigating agency to provide a copy of closure report to Dr Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, the parents of Aarushi Talwar. Then why does CBI deny to do so? In this unsolved case the special court observed that no one can be called an accused on the basis of the agency's report. “No one can be accounted as accused," observed Central Bureau of Investigation Special Magistrate Preeti Singh while passing an order to provide a copy of the closure report to the Talwars. Though Dr.Talwar is the main suspect in the case this is not a valid reason given by the CBI for not providing him with the closure reports. The Indian constitution establishes our view of criminal justice in a manner that we express an accused or suspect as “innocent until proven guilty.”  An individual who is found “not guilty” is, in fact, innocent in the eyes of the law and the constitution. Besides, as per law, an accused is supposed to get the copy of the police report with annexures filed under Sec 173 CrPC. Dr. Talwar should be granted a copy of the closure report by the CBI.  The Government has given us Constitution to protect our rights and provide confidence to the court system, then why don’t we respect the rights of the accused. Dr. Talwar may or may not be guilty for his daughter’s murder, but just for the fact that we hand him a copy of the closure reports does not acquit him from the crime if he has so committed. Under the Indian law the final decision in a case is of the court of law and even here the court would be the appropriate authority to decide the case but nonetheless let us not deprive Dr. Talwar of his rights to get a copy of the closure reports and understand why the investigation has come to an end.

Rather than crying over spilt milk and upbraiding each other for the mishap, it’s time now for Government to realize that they really need to maneuver to secure the devotees at places of pilgrimage. “Right to Life”, is guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India which seems highly endangered in situations of mass gatherings. The Government needs to enforce measures to avoid such unforeseeable incidents. History tells us that religious pilgrimage and festivals have proved to be more fatal than other incidents, then why is our government laid back when it comes to saving the lives of hundreds of people at diversified times. In India stampedes occur regularly, nonetheless there have always been minimal measures by the government to prevent the same. It is true that there has always been heavy rush of devotees and tussle to reach the temple at pilgrimage, yet lack of crowd management strategies add to such mishap. How can one forget the October 2008 stampede at a temple in the city of Jodhpur, which killed around 168 devotees and also the stampede at the Naina Devi temple on 3^rd August 2008 in Himachal Pradesh which was another dreadful incident of a similar type. The reason for both the incidents being the same including poor infrastructure, ill maintained roads at the shrine and poor crowd management strategies. All we can hope is that at least this incident proves an eye opener to the government, resulting in better infrastructure and basic safety precautions being provided to the pilgrims at all times. We really await the day when Government starts shrugging of its responsibilities at the cost of several innocent pilgrims who lose their lives in such a mishap. Can we foresee a day where in people confide in the Government and avert any such scenario in future?

“Dude!! can you really do THIS in courts?? Man, this must be freaking adventurous” jumping on couch with excitement, my friend, an engineering student, asked me this question when we were watching a Govinda movie wherein he puts himself on fire, just to prove his point. “Not just this dude, in another movie, Anil Kapoor gulped whole bottle of poison to save his client!!!” another friend, a CA student this time, clarified. [I swear, for 5 minutes it felt as if I’m both Fardeen Khan and Tushar Kapoor- expression less face with no voice]. I was amazed. It felt as if I belong to a profession of super-heroes who wear black suits instead of tight-fitting costumes (I’m always curious how does Spiderman manages in his is one piece costume when he has to take a leak).  Not been able to bear all this anymore, I intervened “Shut up guys, there is nothing like that. Court proceedings are held in very proper manner. They have procedures, laws, and nobody argues like this and it is the…..” I realized my friends are back to being amazed by Govinda and his gimmicks.

I’m very sure that if there is a Bollywood Constitution of 19_ _, its preamble says “We, the people of Bollywood, solemnly resolve to always portray Court-rooms as per our whims and fancies; show advocates as a WWE wrestlers; and use as spicy dialogues as possible”. What else could be the reason for showing Sunny Deol yelling at court, just for a “date” and searching another hand-pump to show his 2.5 kg hands.

I belong to a family in which no one is even remotely related to courts (not even as parties to a matter) that’s why when I told my dad that I want to do Law, he threw his hands in air and said “and all these years I was happy that no one in our family has mental problems.” I took me months to convince him. My Dad’s friends used to tell him “Sharmaji, how can you agree to let him do law? Look at my son, he is in IIT. So what it took him 3 years to clear the entrance and now has 13 backlogs, atleast he is pursuing a good course, not something useless”. Yes, useless was the word. If anyone asks me, I would say that Law is the only profession which is highly mistaken and misunderstood in our country. For a real layman, lawyers mean people who wear black-coats even in summers, ride scooters and earn peanuts. Law firms, corporate, placements are still out of their dictionary. I don’t know if it’s because of Hindi movies or lack of G.K. or misconceptions, but sometimes it ruins the efforts we put in to get into law schools.

Once I was enjoying hot moong halwa while checking out hotter chicks in a big-fat Indian wedding when a bigger and fatter relative came to me with a girl and said “Beta, this is my son. He is playing role of Balthazar (Portia's disguise as a lawyer) in Merchant of Venice tomorrow. Your mom told me that you went to some imaginary court (moots). Can you please suggest him some damdaar dialogues which he can use in play”. I looked at that girl-boy combo and told him “look, its very easy, just be normal and talk as if you are talking to your friends”. Later I came to know that the combo was expelled from School for using F-word and Hindi slangs in a play.

A lot of times I’ve been told “good yaar, you are becoming a lawyer. Please save me if I murder someone”, and I replied, “yeah, why not. Infact, murderer is like a pizza. If you get caught in 30 mins its fine, otherwise you are free”.  Someone else once asked “why do lawyers have so many copies of one book? (AIR journals). Jokingly, I said “They are not books. They are blank note-books and a lawyer is supposed to fill them in his entire life”, he shook his head as if he understood and said “Oh, like my dadi has that Ram-Ram notebook?” “Yes, like that only”.  At this, I demonstrated what ROFL means…with only difference that I was not laughing but banging my head (ROFBMH).

 A small example of our active Legal System

                         
Here 2 diffrent-2 stories, one of them a common man
and 1 of them a Politician.
A common man get strict punishment for the little crime,while another side a politician get nothing for his big theft(2G Scam) of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
Let's see 2G Scam in Brief
                                                                 

From the time allegations of misappropriation during the bidding for allocation of 2G spectrum surfaced, till Telecom Minister A Raja's ouster, high drama charged both politics in Delhi and Tamil Nadu. So what exactly is the Spectrum Scam that led to all this?
WHAT IS SPECTRUM SCAM?

• 2G licenses issued to private telecom players at throwaway prices in 2008
• CAG: Spectrum scam has cost the government Rs 1.76 lakh crore
• CAG: Rules and procedures flouted while issuing licenses
  
  
  WHAT ARE THE CHARGES ON FORMER TELECOM MINISTER A RAJA?
   
  CHEAP TELECOM LICENSES
   
•  Entry fee for spectrum licenses in 2008 pegged at 2001 prices
•  Mobile subscriber base had shot up to 350 million in 2008 from 4 million in 2001

 
NO PROCEDURES FOLLOWED

• Rules changed after the game had begun
• Cut-off date for applications advanced by a week
• Licenses issued on a first-come-first-served basis
• No proper auction process followed, no bids invited
• Raja ignored advice of TRAI, Law Ministry, Finance Ministry
• TRAI had recommended auctioning of spectrum at market rates

 

FAVOURITISM, CORPORATES ENCASH PREMIUM
 

• Unitech, Swan Telecom got licenses without any prior telecom experience
• Swan Telecom given license even though it did not meet eligibility criteria
• Swan got license for Rs 1537 crore, sold 45% stake to Etisalat for Rs 4200 crore
• Unitech Wireless got license for Rs 1661 crore, sold 60% stake for Rs 6200 crore

All nine companies paid DoT only Rs 10,772 crore for 2G licences



Now you can judge!






Courtesy- Dainik Bhaskar

     More than six decades has passed of our Independence but we the Indians are still following the British made Laws one such example is Police Act 1861. During the colonioal period the motive of the Police was to suppress the common man and in order to obey the Government orders exploiting the common people BUT  in the post- independence era the role of Police has changed. Now We live in a welfare state and in this welfare State the role of Police is to Safeguard the right of every common people of the society and not to exploit the common people. Now police are the public servants and police should serve the common masses and society.

    That, till today we are following the century old Colonial made police Act and due to this reason the attitude of police towards has not yet changed though their role and nature of duty has changed. Police always has the tendency to exploit the common downtrodden masses. Police are in most cases non-co-operative with the common people. Police still works under the influence of their political masters.

  Moreover, due to the joinder of duties of both investigation and Law and Order Administration maintenace the police are overbardened and because of this the investigation of crimes are hmpering tremendously and as the Cr.P.C. has given ample power to the Police during invstigation stage so the Police taking advantage of their over burdened duties either makes delay or tries to take illegal gratification to perform any investigation which in turn affecting badly the  justice delivery system.

    Hon'ble Suprememe Court of India, in a historical judgement in the Year 2006 in a PIL filed by the Prakash Singh, given order to reform existing criminal justice system to establish better rule of law in the country. The Supreme Court has Ordered to do some revolutionary changes in the Indian Police administration. The Indian Police should be more accountable and should not entertain any kind of political interference.  The Supreme Court has issued seven directives to the centres as well as states to immediately implement the 7-point directives.

    The bench of Chief Justice Y.K Sabarwal, Justice C.K. Thakkar and justice P.K.Balasubramanyam ordered to implement the order on the recommendations of the National Police Commission (1977) recommendations.

The directives too, includes the directives to separate crime investigation and prosecution process from the maintenance of normal law and order.

    That, even after the passing of 4 (Four) years of the said historic order by the Supreme Court, neither the Central Government nor any State Government has taken any major steps to implement police reforms.

   In the year 2008, the Justice Thomas Committee was set up to monitor the implementation of police reforms. Justice Thomas in his report submitted to the Apex court said that none of the States have implemented the Apex court's direction on police reforms.

   On 8th November, 2010 Supreme Court issues notices to the four States Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal for total non-compliance of the Order.

   On 06th December, 2010 the Supreme Court said that it would see to it  that its judgement on police reform was implemented in its entirety and it was not left in limbo. " we don't wantour judgement to lie in the courtroom," the  Apex Court said. There should be uniformity in the implementation of its direction on police reforms, said the Apex court special bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice Aftab Alam and Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan.

    The court was reviewing the implementation of police reforms by the West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. "We only want the time table for the separation opf investigation from law and order duties of the police, " the Apex Court said, giving the states Four weeks' time to indicate the approximate time they would require to implement the reform in a phased manner.

   Inspite of their reluctance to implement the police reform the States must have to obey the Apex Court Direction and shall have to implement the Police Reforms within no time.

Pronoy Kumar Ghose

A lot is being said and written about the movie "No One Killed Jessica". No doubt, it is a good movie, though not one of those path-breaking classics, but indeed a relief from usual Bollywood types. 

Please don't think I'm writing a review on this movie because for that there are a lot better sites then this one.  What motivated me to write is a thought that crossed my mind when I was watching it. Towards the end, it shows the “public activism” towards the whole Jessica Lall murder case issue, the different protests and how all this led to justice. What makes all this better is that it was a real story and this movie might create a new wave, just like the one created some 5-6 years back by another great movie Rang de Basanti. That movie sort of brought an “awakening” and led to formation of some new NGO’s; chain mails and texts; youth talking about change in India, which is all good, but it lasted only till the movie was there. Soon it was all forgotten. And I’m sure, the same will happen now.

Have you ever thought how and why we are like this? We all know problems in our country. In fact, if there is a competition, an Indian citizen can win it by citing hundreds of them. But the solution, just one: “It will go on till we get good government and to get good government we need to be smart and to be smart we need education and to get education we need money and if not money, at least a good government” Simple. Right? We all are like this. We complain that India is not clean and very next moment, throw the empty lays packet roadside even if there is a litter-box just 5 steps away. And same goes with every other thing. It all goes on till some inspired film-maker makes a movie, enlighten us and after a month that same light fades away and we are back to be as we are (and “we” includes even me).

I’m no saint. I’m not going to open some NGO, wear khadi and keep doing random stuff. I’m a corporate guy. I want to get into a corporate law firm and mint money and I don’t think there is anything wrong with it as long as I’m aware and I’m doing my part towards society. My question is: are you?   

But yes, I have to agree on one thing that we are very good at discussions, especially law students and legal fraternity. We can talk about random topics for hours.  I have seen that happening many times on this very site. But when it comes to solutions or its implementation, nothing at all. There are laws, books, cases about “Corporate Social Responsibility” but have you ever came across anything like “Society’s Social Responsibility (SSR)”. I remember reading a speech or an article by our ex-President of India, Mr. Abdul Kalam and he had rightly said that there are many problems which if the society decides, can solve on itself. We won’t even need a Government to do that for us.

I take two of such problems and tell you how we can tackle them provided we are ready to do our part.

Problem A: Backlog of cases

We have lakhs or may be crores of cases pending before courts which is not only hampering the justice system but also leading to wastage of resources, money, time that cannot be valued. When asked BCI gives a one line answer: “We need more courts, more judges and more people joining litigation rather then corporate”. Yeah right, classic example of “how to shed your responsibility.” Tell me one thing, why should I join judiciary or litigation for this reason only when I know that despite having one of the largest judicial systems it is only because of the poor functioning that we are in this condition.

Solution: Simple math. Around 60 years back, the British said bye-bye to us and left us on our own. But since then we are following the same court system, holidays schedule and “judges are lords” scheme while our population is in race for top position. No offence to anyone, but I don’t understand the need of having summer and winter breaks in courts. They are not schools. And if it is indeed because of climate, then thanks to global warming, June is not the hottest month anymore and January is much colder than December. And even then, when the whole country- right from labourers to MNC people- can work in scorching heat and air conditioned board rooms, why can’t the Courts and Advocates and that too when most of the Courts have cooling system. In fact, realizing their responsibility Courts should also work 2 Sundays a month (corporate guys work all 4 Sundays because client needs reports on Mondays). Secondly, even though Government and Judiciary are different, Courts are something like government bodies and when Government employees get salary, reach office on time (seldom) and complete their work (rarely), why shouldn’t the Courts. The question is: are the advocates and the policy makers who follow this site (and who might read this somewhere else) ready to realize their SSR and take this step? I don’t think so (but I would love to be proved wrong).

Problem B: Litter and poor sanitation.

Solution:

1.   Use dust-bins to throw your waste and not as a wicket for gully-cricket.

2.  (only for guys) its high time we stop pissing around (in literal sense) cos I read somewhere that we are losing some Billions of Dollars just because we treat every other wall, outside the vicinity of our house, as a Toilet.

The question is same: are we ready to change and do this much? I tell you what, do this first and then we will talk about India’s nuke deal, scams, environment and our favorite- Corruption.

[Like a piper waits for money after his show, I’m looking forward to your comments, curses and “golden words”. It would be awe-some if you can mention a problem and a solution to it, lets try to stay Awakened].

I wrote this on Lawctopus yesterday. I argue that the ToI report is inaccurate and cursory. Moreover, according to a student the timing of the report has a link to the demands of a domicile quota at NLSIU.

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The Times of India Report, referring findings of a CJI’ appointed committee on how NLSIU is falling down from its exalted position has raised eyebrows and commenters on social media have gone berserk over the issue.

The report talks about “rising instances of drug abuse, sex and drinking among students, indifference to plagiarism in student project reports and decline in serious research pursuit and academic rigour”. It also mentions how students have an abysmally low 4-6 hours of class room lectures per week.

Inaccurate and Cursory

Though the report raises some pertinent issues; most of them are either inaccurate or cursory or both. Take for example, plagiarism; a malaise which embraces the academic industry as a whole and is not endemic to NLSIU. It’s a systemic problem and not an institutional one.

“Rising instances of sex”, is either a bad city correspondent at work or an 80 year old idealist Committee member trying to impinge upon the private lives of adult students.

Moreover, the report’s assertion of “4-6 hours of class room lectures per week” is inaccurate. Add to that 4-6 hours of class room lectures per week “per faculty member” and you find yourself on the right track; safe in the hallowed classrooms of the Harvard of the East, in the stimulating peer discussions it always engenders.

Any reference point ?

We are yet to find any statistic which can serve as a vantage point to pitch ‘NLSIU of the past’ and the ‘NLSIU of now’. NLSIU remains the favourite abode of recruiters, gives India an annual Rhodes Scholar and continues to enthral institutions, both foreign and Indian which are eager to engage with the law school.

The absence of any past metrix and the recent empirical findings suggesting anything but ‘falling standards’ should constitute enough evidence to caution most reasonable men and women against arriving at any decision based on this report.

Nexus with demand for State Reservation

According to a law student at NLS the timing of the publishing of the report by TOI has a nexus with the increasingly vociferous demands for “State Reservation/Domicile Quota” at NLSIU. By pointing out the “falling academic standards” some interested parties want to unsettle the current officials who are against reservations.

Interestingly the Executive Committee meeting which is likely to discuss this issue happens tomorrow. Do read the Times of India report with a pinch of salt.

Pertinent Issues

However, the report does highlight very pertinent issues. An established institution might sometimes put forward the façade of past achievements, resting on its past laurels while its present slackens. The result in most cases is an inertia which discourages innovation. The institution piggy-backs the legend; ending its story.

Encouragingly, the authorities at NLSIU seem to have backed an expected introspection with concrete actions. Another report in the Times of India which seems to have missed the attention of most people does talk about a substantial action plan which has been put in place.

For CLAT Aspirants 

We are worried about reactions shown by many CLAT aspirants. Our advice to them will be: Keep NLSIU as the first preference. Keep it your dream law school.  Every law school has its problems, big and small. In the end it is your ‘choice’ which counts. You choose to be an academic laggard or not. You choose to do drugs or not. No one forces you into these things.

Everything said and done; NLSIU will give you the best peer group to work with, to help you evolve and change you for good.

Bangalore: Just 4-6 hours of classroom teaching a week, rising instances of drug abuse, sex and drinking among students, indifference to plagiarism in student project reports and decline in serious research pursuit and academic rigour. This is the dismal state of affairs at Bangalore's National Law School of India University, one of India's premier institutes, as painted by the School Review Commission that assessed the 24-year-old school. Observing that NLSIU has moved away from the phase of "exploration and accomplishment'' to a "phase of diminution and dissatisfaction'', the commission says there is a drastic dilution of academic standards. "The rigorous work culture and singular commitment, the hallmark of NLSIU inthe first decade of its existence, is on the wane. The level of functioning is now far from expectations." The commission, appointed by the Chief Justice of India, was headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice K T Thomas and had professors Virendra Kumar and MP Singh as members. The CJI's office forwarded the report to the law school in May 2009. The recommendations, along with the action taken report by the law school, have been exclusively accessed by TOI. The faculty is clearly in the commission's crosshairs for its inequitable distribution of teaching work and mismatch in allocation of teaching subjects. "Some teachers, especially the young, have been assigned courses in which they hardly had any in-depth exposure. Cancellation of the scheduled class owing to non-availability of the teacher concerned at the last moment, has become a rather common practice," observes the report. The report states that law school teachers are "often ignorant (of) and mostly indifferent" to plagiarism in project reports submitted by students. Appointment of non-academic persons (retired district judge with no teaching experience) to handle academic tasks (adjunct faculty) and absence of a formal control mechanism to evaluate teachers and their working has drawn flak.


Courtesy - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Law-School-has-lowered-quality-says-CJI-committee/articleshow/7289201.cms