meghna – Page 8 – Legal Drift

Babri Mazid Demolition Still Awaits a Decision – Some Cases are Forever

meghna 1 Comment 1992 ayodhya issue, ayodhya case 1992, babri mazid case, babri mazid demolition, bjp babri mazid, hindu muslim issues, hindustan secular, liberhan commission findings, liberhan report, mosque demolition 1992, secular forces

“Justice delayed is justice denied“, is an old maxim which has still not turned into a cliche. Indian Legal System incorporates rights of both the accused as well as the victims, but unfortunately this liberal approach comes with heavy penalties. Most of the times in order to do complete justice no justice is done at all. The victims are left on the mercy of the system.

A massacre or riot gives birth to a commission which is headed by eminent judges. The commission is given directions to present a report at the earliest but since the time is not specified even a span of 17 years may not be enough for it. The Liberhan report is evident example of the same. The demolition of Babri Mazid took place in 1992 but the report was handed over in 2009. This is nothing but a mockery of the Indian Legal System.

The findings of the Liberhan Commission have indicated that senior BJP leaders like L.K. Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Murli Manohar Joshi were one of the prime promoters in the demolition of the Mazid. Any prudent person can understand that if the commission took 17 years to indicate the names of the culprits involved, it might just take another 25 years for our judiciary to hold them liable.

Since those who are being mentioned in the report belong to the opposition, the defence of fabrication is always available to them. Even the ruling party would not like to lose its Hindu votes while delivering justice to the minorities.

Babri Mazid is a forgotten past for many people. Some of them never bothered and others believe that justice to some may result in subsequent injustice of riots to others.

In India there is unity in diversity and I am convinced that most of Indians have secular ideologies. The politicians however have always infuriated the communal sentiments. Take for example if a Leader of a political party is hanged for creating communal havoc, it would not effect me in any way but if he is portrayed as a religious leader who is sacrificing his life for rest of the Hindus, I might sympathize with him.

The reason why the report took so long was because of popular public sympathy with these leaders. The controversy invoved high profile leaders and taking any stand against them could have infuriated the people easily. The people believed that they selflessly risked their careers for hinduism but I am pretty sure that everyone of us would have been more proud if they would have risked their lives for the nation.

Our nation would be purely secular only when notions of Hindustan will surpass the notion of Hinduism. We will be true Hindustani then and not just Hindus. We should look for the leaders who don’t preach rights for majority or minority but those who preach for the Rights of Indians. I’m sure it would never result in riots but harmony, peace and progress instead.

Social Issues

Can We Do Something About Child Abuse This Children’s Day?

meghna 0 Comments 14 november, child abuse, child day november 14, child laws india, child pedophiles india, child sex, children exploitation india, children's day, childrens day celebration, happy childrens day, jawahar lal nehru birth day, pedophiles india, section 376 india

14 November, the birthday of Jawahar Lal Nehru is celebrated every year as children’s day nation wide. There are programmes and events organised in various schools of the country. This year even multinationals like GOOGLE organised a doodle competition of the young artists.

This certainly doesn’t seem enough. Organizing competitions at school or national level or declaring it a holiday would only give children some happy moments. It however ignores the happiness of those who are constantly deprived of it.

Poverty in the country has lead to many things, one of them being the exploitation of children by the foreigner. The nude pictures of poor children are often uploaded on the Internet for the pleasure of the pedophiles. Not only this there have been instances when people from abroad adopt homeless Indian kids and then sale them in the markets pedophiles.

The most disheartening thing is that we cannot blame people from outside alone. In face, they represent a very small number of culprits. Most of the children are exploited by their own father, close relative , neighbour or employer. They are often attacked by those who are there to protect them. Unfortunately, the kids are both vulnerable and terrified to disclose the reality.

Sex is a taboo in India and when it is forced, the victims often resort to silence because they know they would get no support from the traditional Indian society. In most cases they are subjected to such objectionable acts continuously. It eventually destroys their state of mind. They abhor many things that remind of their childhood past. Even after becoming adults they are haunted by their disgusting childhood nightmares.

If children are the future of the country then we have a responsibility to protect them. And if we can’t protect, we even have no right to celebrate Children’s Day.

Distributing sweets in schools will give children pleasure but framing a law would protect them.

The only laws that remotely address to these problems are sections 376, 377 of Indian Penal Code and some sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000. But there is no specific law that can punish pedophiles or can compensate the victims of such events.

Legal Mirror

Governing The Governors – Judges Declare Assets, Causes Stir

meghna 0 Comments assets with judges in india, bribery judges, indian judges, judges assets india, judges credibility india, judiciary india, legal system india, right to information legal system

After the declaration of assets by the Supreme Court Judges there is a lot of hue and cry everywhere. Some people are delighted by the transparency of the system others are scared by the consequences of the same.

Disproportionate property has always been a major concern for public officials. They have been haunted by the idea of public scrutiny and Right to Information Act and now the clutches of law have even tried to catch hold of judiciary.

Supreme Court Judges have declared their assets voluntarily few days ago. However it is startling that the assets of some senior most judges were very less in comparison to other judges. Some of them had no fixed deposits, property, investment in shares and other worthy possessions. Their declaration was voluntary and was not verified by an official inquiry.

However this declaration created a state of havoc in the legal fraternity. Everyone related to the field was either glad or terrified to hear about the event. Then there came series of comments from dignitaries of the field.

‘We cannot expose our judges to public scrutiny or inquiry because it would hamper their functioning and independence,” Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati, appearing for apex court registry, contended before the Delhi High Court.

The AG contended other agencies should not be allowed to interfere in the judiciary. “Judges cannot be judged by public perception. The Judiciary cannot be exposed to third party. There is no problem in having better transparency and accountability in the system but it should come from within the system,”

The assumption that it would hamper the functioning and independence of judges is a flawed statement. If public scrutiny is imposed on judges then the ugly truth of bribery that exists in judiciary can be curtailed to a large extend.

JUDGES CANNOT BE JUDGED BY PUBLIC PERCEPTION ? None is judging the judges, the Right to Information Act would only ensure that people who are judging don’t assume divinity just because they are privileged by law. Rather judges are more accountable to people than any other public official because they are ones who have to protect both the rich and the poor, who have to look in for the rights of the victims as well as accused and who have to stand for and against the legislature and the judiciary. They are the one’s who have responsibility to declare a flawed law as unconstitutional.

I think no office protects public interest than judiciary as judiciary does. It is something that people look up to and if they demand transparency in return, it must not be a problem. Our judges have always protected people and if people demand to know their assets it should not offend them.

Social Issues

Should Abortion be Legalized in India?

meghna 0 Comments abortion in india, abortions, india pregnancy, india pregnancy issues, indian women torture, issues women india, physical issues woman, pregnancy act 1971, pregnancy laws india

Right to Abortion: is it a right to choice or a right to legal murder? The issue is litigious as well as complicated to answer. The pro-choice arguments which favour the rights of mother are contrary to the religious and spiritual pro-life arguments which consider the rights of the child.

The main concern posed in the debate of legalizing abortion is definitely that who’s right to life must be taken into account. A woman’s right to life definitely comprises her right to choice whether she wants the foetus or not. On the other hand, rights of a father and that of the child cannot be ignored completely.

In India, the Medical termination of Pregnancy Act 1971, states under what conditions legal abortions may be performed:

The continuance of pregnancy involves a risk to the life of the pregnant woman or grave injury to her physical or mental health. There is substantial risk that if the child were born, it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously challenged. Pregnancy occurs as a result of failure of any contraceptive device or method used by any married woman or her spouse. Pregnancy occurs due to rape. If the pregnant woman is suffering from any kind of mental disorder or mental illness.

Abortion is a right that is exercised by a woman and not by a mother. It is not akin to a legal murder as the foetus is not a person merely due to impulse of a heartbeat. If abortion is “killing” a child then killing an animal must be equally or rather more severely punished.

It should be the woman and the woman alone who should decide whether she wants to continue with her pregnancy or not. Her right to choice cannot be superseded by religious, moral, societal or ethical norms because ultimately the unwanted child would be brought up by her. But in a country like India where gross female foeticide occurs out of social pressure it must be taken in into account that such mal practices are not legalized under the umbrella of right to choice.

Apart from the MTP Act 1971, Abortion must also be allowed under following conditions:

If it is not purposefully for female foeticide. If the woman is single (unmarried, divorcee, separated or widow) and does not want to continue with her pregnancy. The period of abortion is only limited up to 20 weeks. In a leading case Niketa Mehta and Haresh Mehta, a couple who filed a petition in the court for seeking to abort their first issue who was destined to be born with acute medical anomalies were denied of this right because she was pregnant for 24 weeks. The couple does not have enough means for upbringing of the child. The couple already has a child and does not want another.

Bollywood

Madhur Bhandarkar – The Director Who Showed Us Reality May Now See The Reality Himself

meghna 0 Comments bhandarkar rape case, bollywood director rape case, madhur bhandarkar rape case, preeti jain rape case, rape cases, sex scandal madhur bhandarkar, sexual scandal bollywood director, shiny ahuja sex scandal

Bollywood Scandals On 11 November 2009, came a shocking decision for Mr Madhur Bhandarkar when a Mumbai Court convicted him for rape of Miss Preeti Jain. She alleged that she had sexual relations with the director. She was subjected to forced sex whenever she refused to do it consensually.

The credentials of the model turned actor Preet Jain are also doubtful. She had put similar allegations on composer. Moreover she was sent to jail for conspiring murder of Mr Bhandarkar.

This sexual scandal is connected with power and position rather than love and lust. The actress was denied the privilege of a leading role and she revenged the director with the case of rape. She took the defence that the relations were made by force and deceit and therefore she was protected by the Indian Penal Code under section 376 .

The decision may be woman friendly but the credentials of the case has to be looked into. If there was consensual sex it cannot be categorized as rape just because the aspirations of the actress were not fulfilled.

This is not the only case that involves bollywood and sexual harassment. The recent Shiny Ahuja case is even worse. In Bhandarkar’s case the model did have continuous consensual sexual relations with the director but in the other case, the maid was subjected to rape by her master. Fortunately the evidence was not destroyed as she did not cleanse her body before going to the police.

Time and again such incidents have occured in Bollywood. Mamta Kulkarni’s sister had alleged Anupam Kher for molesting her. Rajesh Khana, Aditya Pancholi and Jackie Shroff were framed in similar cases. Shakti Kapur who was shunned by bollywood after his sting operation is again into the showbiz.

People are concerned about rape victims till the case is discussed in media. When the media forgets an issue so do the people. The sufferers are the only ones who have to go through the legal system. The actors can easily escape through resources, influence and power but the victim is forced to live a life of destitute who is belittled by the paternal society for standing up against for herself. Societal norms are still against working woman.

Their harassment is always questioned and the answer often lies in her character. May be Preeti Jain was actually raped. It doesn’t make a difference whether she has or hasn’t acted in obscene videos. Why the character of women is taken into consideration when we form opinion about rape cases? Or the silver screen of image of Shiny makes us helpless to believe that he was guilty?

Celebrity should not be punished to set an example for efficiency of the Indian Legal System rather he must be punished if he has committed a crime. Just forming opinions about the accused and the victim would lead us no where.

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meghna 1 Comment about legaldrift, introduction, legal thinking, legaldrift, press release

India Emblem A drift is a movement or force that makes something move along. Law itself signifies change , movement and evolution. It is a force that can compel people to sacrifice their beliefs and dogmas. Law shapes the opinion of masses in due course of time. Law has the capability to alter the notions of people and this legal force is the inspiration of our site “Legal Drift”.

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