sexual harassment
A permanent office for the 11 year old IPAB (Intellectual Property Appellate Board) is now finally in the works in Kovalam, near Chennai, as the state has also invited applications to fill up its vacancies – after pressure from advocates pointing out its mounting workload [Business Standard]
Judges should introspect to keep fit, principles reduce rape in India: Karnataka HC judge AS Pachhapure said “for hours together the judges sit and also be at home, hence it is always better to have proper excise [sic], meditation and spirituality to keep themselves fit”. The HC’s judge L Narayanaswamy said that India has less than 25 per cent the number of America’s rape cases, despite a bigger population “because of our principles” [TOI]
Bench-bar tiffs shouldn’t amount to contempt of court, said UP advocate general Vinay Kumar Mishra in his felicitation address, adding that the bar and the bench are complementary to each other [TOI]
Corporate HR heads are working overtime to sensitise male employees about what is borderline behaviour causing discomfort to women colleagues and may cause the men to end up “unfairly maligned” [TOI]
‘False promise rape’ complaints on the rise: Touching and tragic portrait of family opposed to love marriage, unwanted pregnancy and a rape complaint resulting in marriage [WSJ] as part of a bigger examination of the rape complaints made by women hoping to avoid single parenthood under the ‘broken promise to marry’ doctrine [WSJ]
Nalsar reservations to split between AP / Telangana: Nalsar Hyderabad’s 16 reserved seats, out of a total of 68 LLB seats per batch, will be distributed equally between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana domiciled students post bifurcation of the state [Deccan Chronicle]
TN Lok Adalat settles Rs 1,000 crore: In Tamil Nadu’s Lok Adalat, part of the recent massive National Lok Adalat, more than 13 lakh cases were resolved and Rs 1,041 crores settled [PTI]
Delhi gang rape parents ask SC to try juvenile: The parents of the December 2012 Delhi rape victim have asked the Supreme Court for the 17-year-old accused’s fresh trial in an ordinary criminal court, challenging proceedings against him before the Juvenile Justice Board [TOI]
Madurai judges lost case documents and now have to show cause to the Madras high court. The judges include Madurai’s principal district judge and a few other judicial officers [TOI]
Pick and choose, said the Madras high court while lambasting the state government for contesting all and sundry cases that come to it instead of choosing the deserving ones [Zee News]
The revelation that former Supreme Court Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly is the judge alleged to be at the heart of the apex court’s sexual harassment inquiry, has split commentators along political and institutional lines.
The three-judge probe into allegations of sex harassment against a former apex court judge, has submitted its report to the Chief Justice of India (CJI), identifying Justice AK Ganguly as the alleged perpetrator.
Tejpal still bail less: Tehelka founding editor Tarun Tejpal’s bail hearing has been postponed till Friday – until then the Goa police could arrest him. [Bail arguments summary NDTV / Deccan Chronicle]. The Goa police was represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, as senior KTS Tulsi was on for Tejpal [The Hindu]. The alleged victim has recorded her FIR statement in the meantime [DNA], as Goa police has requested Tejpal to appear for questioning before 3pm on Thursday [Zee Liveblog]
Cash-at-judge’s door could see SC: A CBI court allowed former Punjab & Haryana HC judge Nirmal Yadav – accused in the “cash-at-judge’s-door” scam – 2 weeks to move the Supreme Court against the P&H HC’s order dismissing her application for stay on the CBI court’s trial of the scam [IBN Live]
26/11 Taj sued in London: A British paralysed victim of the 2008 terror attacks on the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, is suing the hotel in London’s high court, for failure to deploy enough security at the premises despite warnings of an imminent terror attack [Zee News]
Dainik courts sex harassment: A former employee of the Dainik Bhaskar group’s MY FM radio station with two other colleagues, has pressed on with claiming against the station’s CEO Harish Bhatia for sexual harassment and intimidation. The woman journalist has made the complaint before the National Commission for Women and the Delhi HC [The Hindu]
NOTA law: If a majority of voters exercise the recently introduced “None of the Above (NOTA)” option during polls, the election commission cannot be directed to hold fresh polls, said the Supreme Court while dismissing a PIL seeking this remedy. The SC said that it is for the legislature to suitable amend the law after seeing how voters respond to NOTA [IBN Live]
Speedy Karnataka judiciary: The Karnataka judiciary has settled over 91,000 cases in the state in the last 90 days, through Lok Adalats conducted by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority. 83,023 of these cases were pending for adjudication in various courts across the State, 9,169 cases were at pre-litigation stage before legal services committees in various districts [The Hindu]
Nalsar student suicide committee: None of the Universities in Andhra Pradesh have implemented the Nalsar Committee’s recommendations on measures to alleviate student suicides in the state. The nine member committee hosted by Nalsar Hyderabad had recommended examination pattern and curriculum changes, suicide probe task force, student grievance cells, restorative justice centre [TOI]
The Supreme Court has constituted a workplace sexual harassment panel that is compliant with the so-called Vishaka guidelines, including a majority of female members and two members of civil society nominated by the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
A friend of the intern (“SJ”) who deposed before three Supreme Court judges on Monday about allegations of sexual harassment against a former Supreme Court judge, told Legally India that several recent news reports about the confidential inquiry were factually inaccurate.
Tarun Tejpal, the editor-in-chief and publisher of the weekly Tehelka, has “recused” himself from his position for six months, after an allegation of him repeatedly sexually assaulting a junior journalist at the magazine.
SC allows jailed candidates: The SC has approved an amendment in the Representation of People Act, which allows jailed politicians to contest elections while in police custody, unless they are held guilty and convicted by a trial court [ANI]
Lawyers challenge DHCBA election bona fides: Delhi bar council member advocate Rajiv Khosla, on behalf of the Delhi District Court Bar Association, told the Delhi HC that the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) constitution’s election-related amendments are “malafide and illegal”, and were made “unlawfully and arbitrarily” [PTI]
Sexual harassment committee demands: P&H HC lawyers are demanding setting up of a gender sensitisation and internal complaints committee in the premises of the HC and subordinate courts of Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana [TOI]
Mega Karnataka Adalat: Five Karnataka high court judges are expected to dispose of 900 miscellaneous first appeals on insurance claims in six days. The claims have been pending in the HC since 2011. Dubbed the ‘mega adalat’, the initiative is part of a series of Lok Adalats being held in the state from 1 to 23 November [Bangalore Mirror]
The Women’s Rights Initiative of the Lawyers Collective NGO has filed a petition as amicus curiae (friend of the court), requesting the Supreme Court bring its internal sexual harassment guidelines into compliance with the rules laid down in its own Vishaka judgment, to regulate court internships, invite a notice requesting other victims to come forward confidentially, and more.
I have wanted to write some of these things at different times since it happened, and always shied away, argues Mihira Sood, gathering the courage to speak out about sexual harassment in the courts.
Since the allegation early this month that a “recently-retired” Supreme Court judge sexually harassed at least one intern (“SJ”), print, online and TV media news have been reporting the story’s twists and turns avidly.
The Supreme Court registry has checked the records of interns assigned to judges, on the directions of the Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam, allowing the court to identify the alleged former judge accused of sexual harassment, according to The Calcutta Telegraph yesterday.
The paper reported that “convention demanded that an intern work with a particular judge for only a month, the accused judge seemed to have insisted that the women interns work with him for six months”.
“According to the sources,” added the paper, “the feeling among the higher judiciary is that the judge should be named, if only to end the speculation about the other judges who retired recently. So far, the accused judge has not been named.”
The allegations against the unnamed judge first surfaced on 6 November in a blog post by a former student (“SJ”) who said she had interned with him. She expanded upon her experience in an interview with Legally India on Monday (11 November), with the CJI constituting a three-judge inquiry the following day.
SJ is expected to appear before the inquiry on Monday. [Click here for more coverage of this story]