India Assesment Report On Trafficking Released by US State Department

The Government of India has made some progress in combating its significant problem of trafficking in persons since the release of the 2006 Report. In September 2006, the central government responded to the need for a central anti-trafficking law enforcement effort by creating a two-person federal "nodal cell," responsible for collecting and analyzing data of state-level law enforcement efforts, identifying problem areas and analyzing the circumstances creating these areas, monitoring action taken by State governments for combating trafficking in these areas, and organizing coordination meetings with the nodal police officers of the states responsible for trafficking in persons crimes. However, the government still needs to go further in designating and empowering a national agency or office specifically tasked with carrying out an effective law enforcement response to trafficking crimes committed throughout India. The Government has provided significant in-kind contributions to a USG-funded United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) two-year program in Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh, focused on raising the awareness of police and prosecutors on the problem of trafficking and to build the capacity of these police and prosecutors to investigate and prosecute persons involved with trafficking. Law enforcement activity to combat trafficking in persons remains confined to the state-level and continues to be relatively low in comparison to the estimated extent of the situation. However, in June, two former state ministers in Jammu and Kashmir were arrested for trafficking in minor girls for commercial sexual exploitation, along with other senior government officials. Two traffickers in Delhi were also convicted and sentenced to three and seven years in prison, and another was arrested in August.

In November 2006, the Parliamentary Committee returned the amendments to the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act to the Ministry of Women and Child Development for revision. The Committee asked the Ministry to clarify language, provide a clearer delineation between criminals and victims, prioritize programs and resources for expanded rehabilitation and reintegration efforts, and recommended passage of the bill with those changes.

Despite estimates of a significant debt bondage situation in the country, the Government of India reports no arrests, prosecutions, or convictions of employers using bonded labor. India similarly did not provide evidence of any rescues of victims of bonded labor. India did, however, make moderate progress on addressing child labor; between September and November, Delhi police rescued 140 children working in "zari" factories and rice mills, but it is unclear how these children have been rehabilitated. In October, the government also enacted a ban on the employment of children in domestic work or the hospitality industry with penalties including 3 months to 2 years incarceration and the possibility of fines.

CJI for judicial accountability

CJI for judicial accountabilityRavi Dayal
[ 10 Dec, 2006 0222hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

PATNA: Chief Justice of India Y K Sabharwal on Saturday favoured detailed deliberations on the proposed Judicial Accountability Bill in Parliament. He, however, skirted concerns expressed by MPs about judicial activism that impinged on the sovereignty of the legislature. Inaugurating a national seminar on "Erosion of values in judicial system and its refurbishment" here, Justice Sabharwal said he does not find anything wrong in introduction of the Bill as it is within the ambit of judiciary. However, "if you cannot trust the President, Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India, I can only say sorry", he added. The seminar was organised jointly by the Bar Council of India and Bihar State Bar Council. Justice Sabharwal said he wants corruption level in judiciary to be zero. "Rampant corruption among the staff in the subordinate judiciary shatters the confidence of litigants in the judicial system," he said, stressing the need for transparency and accountability. He said the implementation of court orders by the governments remains a grey area. The Central and state governments are the first respondents in 17,000 of the 35,000 petitions pending in the Supreme Court, he said, adding the governments are the biggest litigants. He was critical of the mushroom growth of law colleges which, he felt, has been affecting the quality of lawyers. The Bar Council of India, which grants affiliation to these colleges, should do some introspection in this regard. He also said the Indian courts have a huge workload but few facilities to cope up with the pressure compared to many developed and developing countries. Justice B P Singh of the Supreme Court said unnecessary criticism of an institution harms it. He attributed much of the criticism of judiciary to misunderstanding. Another Supreme Court judge, Justice S B Sinha, said, "We must try to refurbish the image of justice delivery system." He also gave a feel-good kind of certificate to Bihar judges when he said the performance of judicial officers of the state is good compared to their counterparts in other parts of the country. Former Chief Justice of Kolkata High Court and Andhra Pradesh High Court, Justice P S Mishra also said the fall in standards of judicial system is not as much in Bihar as in other states. Former CJI Jagannath Pattnaik underlined the importance of judiciary saying if the judicial system fails, the democracy will fail. "If I say there is no erosion of the values in judicial system, it will be sheer hypocrisy," he said, adding accountability and transparency must be ensured. He was equally critical of lawyers. "In the past, lawyers commanded respect but now they are demanding it," he said exhorting lawyers to restore the old glory to judicial system.

Some SC verdicts are remarks, not court's decision

Some SC verdicts are remarks, not court's decisionDhananjay Mahapatra
[ 27 Nov, 2006 0026hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

NEW DELHI: The UPA government will be thankful to attorney general Milon Banerjee for taking the steam off the controversy arising from the Supreme Court's recent judgment on application of creamy-layer exclusion policy to all backward classes, including SCs and STs. In the erudite opinion of the A-G, government need not burn the midnight oil in finding a way out of the caste triggered maze presented by the court while giving its judgment on the reservation within reservation issue pertaining to promotions in government jobs. The verdict was meant for OBCs and the ancillary observations need not be taken seriously as a direction, A-G appeared to have said by terming the creamy layer reference in the judgment as obiter dicta. An obiter dictum, Latin for a statement made "by the way", is a remark or observation made by a judge that, while included in the body of court's opinion, does not necessarily form part of the court's decision, even if they happen to be correct statements of law. Whoever had invented the coinage obiter dicta must have been in a situation similar to the one thrust upon the A-G, who knows the coalition nature of the government he represents before the courts and the importance of caste-based politics. He did well by terming the most sensitive and strong remarks in the judgment as obiter dicta. His approach to the problem was reflective of the traditional approach of governments, irrespective of the political party at the helm of affairs, that is to term the apex court's inconvenient observations as obiter dicta. From Bommai to Bihar, the SC in the last 10 years has given several judgments laying down guidelines and standards for imposition of President's rule in a state. Did the sanctity of the law laid down by the apex court under Article 142 prevent the Centre from dismissing inconvenient state governments bowing to pressures of its allies? Why should it be, for there were equally erudite law ministers and law officers who must have termed these judgments as obiter dicta. The Bommai case may be old enough to be forgotten. But take the judgment of the five-judge Bench on the action of Bihar governor Buta Singh to recommend dissolution of the assembly last year to prevent the NDA from coming to power by stitching together a rag-tag coalition. The judgment was an academic exercise to test the purity of the governor's action and Buta Singh failed miserably. A furious court singled him out for some special treatment terming his apprehension as "fanciful assumptions" and holding him and the council of ministers, which advised imposition of President's rule in Bihar, to have acted in tandem to "subvert the Constitution". Sample these: "Governor is not an autocratic political ombudsman"; "Buta Singh's action was a mere pretence. The real objective was to prevent Nitish from staking claim to form government"; "Clearly the governor has misled the council of ministers"; and "Report recommending dissolution of assembly was a mere ipse dixit, suspicion, whims and fancies of the governor". Had these been aimed at the holder of a constitutional post in any other country, he was sure to have resigned but Buta Singh continued.

Thousands protest for rights over India's forests

By Nita Bhalla
NEW DELHI, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Thousands of India's poorest and most marginalised people gathered in the heart of New Delhi and other cities on Wednesday demanding rights over the remote forest land where they have lived for centuries.
Women in brightly coloured saris and men in turbans from far-flung rural areas waved banners and punched their fists in the air calling on the government to quickly pass a law recognising their rights.
"Who will look after the forests? We will. We will," they chanted. "Who do the forests belong to? They belong to us."
More than 40 million people live in India's resource-rich forest areas including protected wildlife reserves and dense woodland, eking out a meagre living from simple farming, picking fruit and collecting honey.
For generations they have had no legal right to the land or the use of forest resources.
They say they have been treated as "encroachers" and "criminals" on their own land and forced to leave it by forestry officials, mining and logging companies.
"Millions of impoverished people ironically live in the richest lands in India, but they have not been able to benefit from the land," said Shankar Gopalakrishnan from the Campaign for Dignity and Survival, a union of forest community groups.
"EVICTED, BEATEN, TORTURED"
"Every year, hundreds of thousands are forcefully evicted, beaten, tortured and their homes are demolished by officials and businessmen who want to use the land for their own purposes."
Similar protests took place in the eastern cities of Bhubaneswar and Ranchi, where thousands of forest dwellers gathered, beating drums and chanting slogans. Fifty-four-year-old Rambati Bai said despite spending more than 60 years living in Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary in the eastern state of Orissa, she and her family were not allowed to call the forest home.
"Last year, the forest officials came to my village and told us to leave the forest. Is it that easy? How can we live in another place?" said the woman, clad in a shabby, crumpled white sari.
Others said they had been jailed for months for refusing to leave the land that they and their forefathers had cultivated for generations.
The government is expected to pass a new law -- the Recognition of Forest Rights Bill 2005 -- before the end of the year which would, for the first time, give forest dwellers the right to own the land they have been using.
But some wildlife groups have voiced concern about the bill, saying it would give too much protection to forest people and would threaten efforts to save endangered tigers.
Activists for the forest dwellers say the bill has already been watered down to give people little power after pressure by green groups and powerful logging and mining companies.
"The government is using conservation as an excuse not to give us rights," said S.R. Hiremath of Samaj Parivartana Samudaya, a local charity working with forest communities in the southern state of Karnataka.
"We are not a threat to the environment and not a threat to animals. For centuries, we have lived in co-existence with the environment and its destruction is because of the mining and paper companies."

Shortage of judges acute in U.P.

Shortage of judges acute in U.P.
748 posts to be filled against a sanctioned strength of 2,172
New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh ranks highest in terms of shortage of judges with 748 posts still to be filled against a sanctioned strength of 2,172 for district courts in the State.
This accounts for more than 28 per cent of nationwide shortage of 2,655 judges against the total sanctioned strength of 14,305 across the country, according to official figures.
In terms of judges shortage, Uttar Pradesh was followed by Bihar with a figure of 472 against the sanctioned strength 1163 for the state.
Yet further down are Maharashtra with (216), Karnataka (138), West Bengal (110), Rajasthan (106) and Madhya Pradesh (106). The remaining States have two-digit shortage. In States like Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland and union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli judges worked in full strength.
The judges to population ratio still stood at 13 per ten lakh people against the required 50 judges per ten lakh people in the country.
The onus of filling posts of judges at district level courts lies with State governments and respective High Courts and the Centre has written to them that all vacant positions should be filled.
As for the High Courts, the shortage figure stood at 71 against the sanctioned strength of 686 judges and a review of shortage, which is carried out every three years, is pending this year.
In Supreme Court, there is a shortage of four judges against the total sanctioned strength of 26 judges.
Apart from shortage of judges, the pendency of cases can be ascribed to factors such as increase in number of cases, new laws, rise in population, heightened awareness among citizens of their legal rights, adjournments, lawyers strikes, increase in socio-economic matters, legal and administrative aspects touching the lives of the citizens. -- PTI

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/06/stories/2006120611880300.htm

Delhi HC tells Centre to file reply in Sanskriti School case

New Delhi, Dec 05: The Delhi High Court today asked the Centre to file a detailed reply on a government proposal to grant Rs 10-crore to the capital's elite Sanskriti School and if it was a one-time grant or paid on a regular basis. A division bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar has sought clarification from the government if there was any specific policy for the release of such a one-time grant by the different arms of the government.The court also wanted to know if the government was planning to release any other grants soon while giving the latter four weeks' time to file its reply.The court had taken suo moto cognisance of news reports that the government was planning a Rs 10-crore grant for Sanskriti School set up by wives of top bureaucrats.It had taken up the matter as a PIL in which the question was debated as to why the government was routing large public resources to a school not accessible to children belonging to the weaker sections of the society.Arguing on behalf of the school, its counsel Arun Jaitley challenged the court's powers to examine a budgetary provision by Parliament."Any grant made under the budgetary provision was beyond the scope of the judiciary," he contended.Claiming that the school provided 20 per cent reservation to children from weaker sections of society, he questioned the illegality of receipt of government grants by it.Meanwhile, the court has issued a notice to the journalist based on whose report a PIL was filed.

Bureau Report
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=340180&sid=REG

CJ takes tough line on female foeticide

5 Dec, 2006 1111hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK

CHANDIGARH: Expressing concern over the continuously declining sex ratio in Punjab and Haryana and also the plight of child labourers, the newly-appointed chief justice of Punjab and Haryana high court, Justice Vijender Jain on Monday said that the State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) would be dedicating year 2007 to child labourers. He is also the patron-in-chief of SLSA. Justice Jain has also directed SLSA in Punjab to create a mass awareness programme to combat the rising trend of female infanticides in the state. Talking to TOI, the Chief Justice informed that year 2007 would be celebrated as a year of awakening. Mass awareness programmes to rehabilitate child labourers would be launched under the auspices of the State Legal Services Authority. The Chief Justice also expressed concern over the rising cases of female infanticide in Punjab. ‘‘My effort is to make the State Legal Services Authority of Punjab to take the rising cases of female infanticide as a challenge so that sex ratio in the state could be stabilised. Apart from that, efforts should also be made to highlight other social evils in the state,’’ informed Justice Jain. In order to channelise SLSAs in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, the Chief Justice has appointed Justice S S Nijjar as the chairman of Punjab State Legal Services Authority, Justice J S Khehar as chairman of Chandigarh Legal Services Authority and Justice Mehtab Singh Gill as chairman of the High Court legal Services Committee. The Chief Justice of India, Justice Y K Sabharwal is also expected to join in this endeavour. He would be visiting Sangrur and Patiala on December 17 to participate in a seminar to spread awareness against female foeticide. Crude facts If facts are to be believed, between the time you read today’s and yesterday’s papers 275 female foetuses would have been aborted in various parts of Punjab alone. According to latest reports, one lakh female foetuses are aborted every year in Punjab. India has not signed a large number of international statues and therefore gets away with its responsibility towards the international community on this front. Female foeticide alone satisfies four of the five conditions set out in the Genocide Convention. The crime already matches, even surpasses, the worst episodes of genocide as 50 lakh female foetuses a year are aborted after sex determination tests. Lancetm, a British journal, estimated that over 10 million girls were lost in India over the last 20 years. The national average sex ratio has gone down from 972 in 1901 to just 933 in 2001. Punjab’s sex ratio of 793 in the age group of zero to six years is the lowest among all 28 Indian states and six union territories. In Haryana, there are about 861 females for over 1,000 men as opposed to the national average of 927 women.

Crying wolf ground for divorce

Dhananjay Mahapatra [ 26 Nov, 2006 0003hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has cautioned women facing harassment in their matrimonial homes to be truthful in their complaints before the anti-dowry cell of police, because if their complaints are repeatedly found to be false, the courts could grant divorce on this ground alone. This ruling came in a case pertaining to a couple, Rishi-kesh Sharma and Saroj, who were married in 1972, had a daughter in 1975 but developed differences which lead the wife to start living separately since 1981. While she filed several criminal complaints against him, the husband moved the trial court in 1989, for divorce on grounds of mental cruelty and desertion by wife. First, the trial court at Gwalior and then the Madhya Pradesh HC dismissed his plea. Hearing his appeal, an apex court Bench comprising Justices A R Lakshmanan and Tarun Chatterjee noted that the couple was living separately since 1981 and that their marriage had broken down irretrievably. The wife had repeatedly filed criminal cases against the husband which could not be substantiated in court, the Bench said and felt that there was no point in keeping the marriage alive as both were nearing 50 years of age and their only daughter was married. Faulting the HC order not granting divorce as sought by the husband, the Bench said, "The HC has not considered the allegations made by the wife which have been repeatedly made and repeatedly found baseless by courts. Therefore, the best course in our opinion is to dissolve the marriage by passing a decree of divorce so that the parties, who are litigating since 1981 and have lost a valuable part of their life, can live peacefully in the remaining part of their life." During the hearing, the husband offered to pay a lumpsum amount as permanent alimony to the wife, who refused the money and expressed willingness to live with him. "We are of the opinion that her desire to live with her husband at this stage and at this distance of time is not genuine. Therefore, we are not accepting this suggestion made by the wife and reject the same,"the Bench said while granting divorce to the husband who had first sought it 17 years ago.

HC won't decide policy on HIV testing

16 November 2006

The Bombay High Court has held that it is not a technical expert to decide on issues related to HIV so as to make it compulsory for couples to go for the test before marriage.A division bench comprising Chief Justice H S Bedi and Justice V M Kanade was hearing a public interest litigation filed by the Maharashtra Law Graduates' Association seeking HIV tests to be made compulsory before marriage. They also sought a special committee to be appointed by the court that would check the viability of making the test mandatory.The petitioner's counsel contended that just a few months ago, India was the second largest HIV positive country next to South Africa. Therefore, dealing with this issue is necessary, he said.However, the court said that while the matter was of 'vital importance', the state and central governments that deal with these issues must be the forum to consider the prayers of the petitioner while conceptualising any policy regarding HIV in India. (UNI)

Role reversal: CJI answers children's queries

A Vaidyanathan/Aradhana SharmaTuesday, November 14, 2006 (New Delhi):

The Supreme Court threw open its doors to schoolchildren from around the country on the occasion of Children's Day. The Chief Justice of India (CJI) and several other supreme court judges answered questions posed to them by the children at a special session.The CJI said that like every institution, the apex court is fallible and that its decisions may not always be right. But the court is Supreme as its decisions are final.Not only did these judges come face to face with children, the CJI also decided to answer some questions they had. The first one: why is the Supreme Court called Supreme?"SC is supreme because its final. Not necessarily right; no institution is infallible," said Y K Sabharwal, CJI.The session organised by the National Legal Services Authority was aimed at creating awareness on child rights.Wide ranging questionsThe CJI answered questions ranging from child labour to violence against children and their access to justice. He was satisfied with the event."It was a good session and will help in educating the children and increasing their awareness level," said Y K Sabharwal, CJI.But there were others who would have liked more contemporary and controversial issues answered."In the role of the judiciary versus the executive, when do we say that the line is being crossed?" said Harkeerat, student.It was a once in a lifetime experience for these children and though all their questions may not have been answered, this short session was definitely a good beginning towards spreading judicial awareness.

President of India administered a pledge to the legal fraternity

President of India administered a pledge to the legal fraternity for free legal aid to victims of child labour On its Silver Jubilee celebrations on the 10th Nov 2006, The Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA) stood up for the cause of children, literally. For the first time in its history, the President of the country administered a pledge to the legal fraternity that none of them would employ a child under the age of 14 years and s/he would provide immediate assistance to any child engaged in child labour. The DLSA has pledged to provide free legal assistance to take up the cases of victims of child labour, also the first time that any legal body has taken up the issue of child labour so closely. This idea was the brain child of Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) with whom DLSA would jointly organize legal training to law enforcement agencies. The event was jointly organized by DLSA and BBA. While the Honourable President, Shri A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was the chief guest of the function, also present were the Chief Justice of India, Shri Y.K.Sabharwal, who was the Guest of Honour, Dr. H.R. Bhardwaj, Union Minister for Law & Justice, Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Judge, Supreme Court of India, Justice Vijender Jain, Chief Justice, Justice M.K.Sharma, Delhi High Court and Executive Chairman, DLSA presided over the function. Justice M.K.Sharma and Justice Virender Jain, in their welcome speech stated that for their auspicious silver jubilee celebrations, no theme could be more pertinent than children, the future citizens of India and the aid that DLSA could give to the victims of exploited child labourers. It was this idea that appealed to DLSA to work jointly with BBA in victim's legal assistance and in the training of law enforcement agencies. The Chief Justice of India appealed to the Judges, lawyers and students to take care of the millions of poor backward people of the country, so that the God will take care of the Nation. He said the purpose of organizing such functions is to motivate, sensitise and inspire all stake holders. The Minister for law and Justice, Dr. H. R. Bhardwaj said translating the mandate of Article 14 of the Constitution is a Herculean task as there is huge disparity in the country. Legal Aid to the poor taken up by Delhi Legal Services Authority is a commendable step as it can help achieve equality of status and opportunities. Speaking of the role of the civil society and NGOs in particular, he commended DLSA's move to work with the civil society on the issue of child labour. Former child labourers rescued by BBA and school children formed a human chain under the leadership of Chief Justice of India, Y.K.Sabharwal at India Gate.

Delhi HC directs hospitals to compensate rape victim

New Delhi, Nov 12: Zee News

The Delhi High Court has directed Shanti Mukund Hospital in East Delhi to pay a compensation of Rs 5.5 lakh to a nurse who lost her right eye due to rape and assault by a staffer within the hospital premises in 2003. The court also directed Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital to compensate the victim with Rs two lakh for neglect in providing adequate treatment to her soon after the incident. Justice Manmohan Sarin in his order on Friday said, "in the present case, where a heinous crime like rape was committed on a helpless girl, the high court must not restrict itself to rigid stand like locus standi." The order came on a petition filed by the victim seeking compensation towards the irreparable loss caused to her. Her counsel Aman Lekhi submitted "in a case of this kind where a magnitude of loss is irreparable, procedural technicalities should not be harped upon." Accepting his submission, the court directed the hospital to immediately release Rs 1.5 lakh to her while the remaining amount would be put in fixed deposit for four years. The interest accruing on the deposit will be released quarterly, the court directed. Justice Sarin has given liberty to the victim that she can approach the court for release of the money in case she wants to pursue higher studies. Lekhi claimed a writ petition could be filed against the state as well as a private organisation performing a public service. The judge in his order also blamed GTB Hospital for neglecting the victim's case saying "the hospital (GTB) also absolved itself of negligence when the victim sought medical attention soon after the incident." The nurse was raped by an attendant in September 2003 inside Shanti Mukund Hospital. The accused had pierced her eyes with a motive that she would not be able to identify him. Bureau Report

http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=335196&sid=REG