Uniform Civil Code

The Law Commission has extended the time to seek submissions to its questionnaire and consultation on possible reform of the Uniform Civil Code by 30 days to 21 December 2016:

NYT's beautiful smackdown of Donald Trump defamation notice: Reputation already shot, so nothing left to lower (Ps: Bring it on): The New York Times has responded rather cleverly to the legal notice of US presidential hopeful Donald Trump, which was fired off by one of New York’s most feared litigators, Marc E Kasowitz.

The Times’ general counsel, David McCraw wrote: “The essence of a libel claim, of course, is the protection of one's reputation. Mr. Trump has bragged about his non-consensual sexual touching of women. He has bragged about intruding on beauty pageant contestants in their dressing rooms. He acquiesced to a radio host's request to discuss Mr. Trump's own daughter as a 'piece of ass.' Multiple women not mentioned in our article have publicly come forward to report on Mr. Trump's unwanted advances. Nothing in our article has had the slightest effect on the reputation that Mr. Trump, through his own words and actions, has already created for himself.”

McCraw also said the paper stood by the story and that it “welcome[d] the opportunity to have a court set [Trump] straight” - New York Times response to Trump / Trump’s legal notice / Original NYT article alleging Trump sexually harassed them

UP lawyers strike for 100 days per year: “As per the data obtained from the National Judicial Grid, Uttar Pradesh has over 53 lakh cases pending till date, which accounts for nearly a quarter of total pendency in all states taken together. Trial courts generally work for an average of 250 days a year after discounting weekly and religious holidays. With another 100 days disrupted due to strikes, the staggering number of pending cases comes as no surprise.” – Newslaundry

…and in some district courts, strikes go on for 140 days per year: “The five-year data is an eye-opener. In Muzaffarnagar, a total of 753 days was lost due to lawyers' strike, which means an average of 150 days a year. In Aligarh, it was 697 days (140 days a year), Agra 696 days (140 days every year), Faizabad 693 days, Sultanpur 603 days, Moradabad 596 days, Mathura 591 days, Ghaziabad 573 days, Balrampur 560 days and Chandauli 524 days. - Economic Times

Muslim law board unhappy with Law Commission looking into Uniform Civil Code: “The Law Commission is not functioning like an independent body, it is engaging in illegal activities and acting like the government’s agent. Therefore, we have decided to boycott the questionnaire sent by the Law Commission,” says the The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) - The Quint / Law Commission questionnaire

BCI’s revived age limit restriction puts Kerala in a fix: “Meanwhile, the commissioner of entrance exams (CEE) that conducts the qualifying exam for admission to law colleges in the state is in a fix. ‘We have already conducted the entrance exam and the merit list is out. As per the prospectus, there is no age limit fixed. If we suddenly bring in an upper age limit, then it can be challenged in court,’ said a CEE official. - Times of India

Lower courts may lack ‘expertise’ to judge in colourful language, says SC Justice AK Sikri: “Make it (evocative language) a tool, but don’t be swallowed by it. Judges at the lower level should avoid it as they may not have the expertise. A judgement should be said in a perfect manner,” he said. - India Today

Denying sex to husband is mental cruelty and grounds for divorce, says HC again: “In view [of] the foregoing discussion, we are of the considered view that the husband has fully established that he was subjected to mental cruelty by the wife by denying sex to him for a long period despite living under the same roof, without any justification and though she was not suffering from any physical disability,” the Delhi high court bench of Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Pratibha Rani, said. – PTI

Despite SC (and Marathi movie Court), still no compensation for manual scavengers: “Two-and-a-half years after the Supreme Court directed the State governments to provide compensation to the families of all manual scavengers who have died clearing sewers since 1993, the Tamil Nadu government has yet to compensate 119 such deaths.” – The Hindu

The new Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Wednesday that "comprehensive consultations" were required before taking steps towards a Uniform Civil Code (UCC).

Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur declined to entertain a public interest litigation demanding bringing of a uniform civil code in the country on Monday telling the petitioner that the power to do so remains with parliament and not the judiciary, reported The Times of India.

The petitioner Ashwini Upadhayay was represented by four senior advocates including Gopal Subramanium and Mohan Parasaran who relied on Directive Principles in the Constitution as well as case laws where the Supreme Court has insisted on introduction of the Uniform Civil Code.

The bench of TS Thakur and Justices AK Sikri and R Banumathi were unmoved by petitioner and said that heavy costs would be imposed on him if he continued with the petition. The bench said: “Sarla Mudgal case is the best that you can refer to in support of the PIL Article 44 is a constitutional goal. Are courts equipped and empowered to enforce constitutional goals? It reflects the hopes of Constitution makers. But hopes will remain in the realm of hope unless Parliament decides to convert them into enforceable rights.”

“The Supreme Court has consistently declined to go into it. The moot question is can Supreme Court convert a Directive Principle into fundamental right? It is for Parliament to take a call on it. What cannot be done directly, cannot be done indirectly through the courts.”

The bench however provided hope to Muslim women and observed that if and when a Muslim woman comes to the court and challenges triple talaq, it would be examined by the court and also said that no woman from a Muslim community has questioned the practice of triple talaq till now.

The petition was withdrawn by the petitioner’s advocate.