India Legal 18 December 2017

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ShroudedinSecrecyThereisunusualstealthregardingthedraftbillwhichwillmakeinstanttripletalaqa
cognisableoffence.Meanttobetabledinthewintersession,stakeholdersarewaryof
whattheprovisionswillcontainandthemotivesbehindit

WENTY-FIVE years ago, shortly
before the Sangh Parivar-led kar sevaks
destroyed the Babri Masjid in
Ayodhya, a young BJP lawyer who now
holds a powerful government post told
me privately that he had been struggling with his
conscience over whether Lord Ram should pre-
vail over the constitution or vice versa.
As an erudite advocate, he was fully cognisant
of the tortuous legal tribulations of the Ram
Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute and
appeared convinced that any solution in defiance
of established jurisprudence could do fatal harm
to the Rule of Law on which the Indian Republic
is founded. But as a flag-waving believer in the
resurgence of political Hindutva, he was equally
convinced that saffron militancy—symbolised by
the BJP’s campaign to build the Ram temple
where it once allegedly stood before being
destroyed by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the
16th century—was the only way to restore
Hindus’ pride in their own nation.
His was an existential dilemma. Even as peo-
ple like him struggled with it, thousands of oth-
ers plagued with no such angst decided to take
the law into their own hands and destroyed the
structure on December 6, 1992. More than
2,000 Indians perished in the riots which erupt-
ed after the demolition.
But the constitution lived on. Notwithstand-
ing the ascent of BJP governments in the states
as well as at the centre, no matter how hard they
may have tried, the majesty of the law still pre-
vents any group from taking over the disputed
site. True, the Kalyan Singh government then in
power in UP was unable to keep its oath to the
Supreme Court to maintain law and order and
communal harmony. This was, indeed the
solemn pledge, given in writing in November
1992, on the basis of which the apex court
allowed a symbolic “kar seva”—the performance
of rituals by priests and worshippers.
The Supreme Court’s main intention at the
time was to ensure that the legal status quo
on the land ordered earlier by the Allahabad
High Court, pending the outcome of multifari-
ous title suits filed over the disputed plot, should
remain inviolable. The rest is history. The old
mosque razed but in the presence of BJP bigwigs
while the police forces watched the show from
the sidelines.
The outcome was not only a setback for the
Court which had in all earnestness trusted the
assurances from the state government but also
for Congress Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao
who, against the advice of his own intelligence
sources, trusted the Sangh Parivar and refused to
send central forces to maintain law and order.
But had religious identity politics edged out
the constitution? Not yet. True, a huge post-
Partition communal divide cut a swathe across
India. Hindutva became a formidable political
force to reckon with. But the law just refused to
step aside and surrender the land to those who
would try and acquire it through extra-constitu-
tional means for political gain.
The disputed 2.77 acres is still virtually no
man’s land and now the case is before a three-
judge bench of the Supreme Court. It is an
appeal against a 2010 judgment by the
Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court
outlining a land-sharing formula between
Hindus and Muslims.
L
ast week, a controversy arose when senior
advocate Kapil Sibal argued that the
hearing be postponed until after the 2019
elections because the BJP would try and make
political capital out of it. The Court did not buy
this line and has postponed hearings until
February 8 of next year. But whether or not
Sibal’s argument holds water, the point is that
the Ram Mandir issue has again become a
volatile electoral issue in the Gujarat elections—
as it did during the UP elections—with Yogi
Adityanath and Himachal Pradesh politician
Anurag Thakur. They appear to have no existen-
tial doubts on this matter—Is Lord Ram above
DHARMA MATTERS
Letter from the Editor
T
| INDIA LEGAL | December 18, 2017 3

4 December 18, 2017
the constitution? In their view he clearly is. This
is an alternative way of looking at post-
Independence India.
B
ut it is not really something new. The
question of whether India was to have a
Hindu or secular identity was intensely
debated before, during and after the Constituent
Assembly. In fact, the formidable Bhim Rao
Ambedkar whose name has been invoked during
the recent electoral rhetoric had a point of view
which would baffle the BJP, and perhaps
the Congress.
While researching the early debates, one
thing is amply clear. Hindutva forces cannot lay
any claim to him or his ideology. And nor
can the Congress assert he was a great Nehru
admirer. Here are some typical slices of
Ambedkar’s thinking:
On December 13, 1946, when Nehru drafted
and moved the resolution regarding the aims
and objectives of the constitution before the
Constituent Assembly began its session,
Ambedkar stalled him. Why? Because the
Muslim League (Pakistan had not yet been
formed) had boycotted the assembly. Ambedkar
insisted that organisations representing Muslims
in India could not be excluded from the process
of nation-building.
He said: “The destiny of the country ought to
count for everything. It is because I feel that it
would be in the interest not only of this
Constituent Assembly so that it may function as
one whole, so that it may have the reaction of the
Muslim League before it proceeds… we must
also consider what is going to happen with
regard to the future, if we act precipitately. I do
not know what plans Congress Party, which
holds this House in its possession, has in its
mind? I have no power of divination to know
what they are thinking about. What are their
tactics, what is their strategy, I do not know. But
applying my mind as an outsider to the issue
that has arisen, it seems to me there are only
three ways by which the future will be decided.
Either there shall have to be surrender by the
one party to the wishes of the other—that is one
way. The other way would be what I call a nego-
tiated peace and the third way would be open
war. Sir, I have been hearing from certain mem-
bers of the Constituent Assembly that they are
prepared to go to war. I must confess that I am
appalled at the ideal that anybody in this coun-
try should think of solving the political problems
of this country by this method.”
He intoned: “If there is anybody who has in his
mind the project of solving the Hindu-Muslim
problem by force, which is another name of solv-
ing it by war in order that the Muslims may be
subjugated and made to surrender to the consti-
tution that might be prepared without their con-
sent, this country would be involved in perpetu-
ally conquering them. The conquest would not
be once and forever. I do not wish to take more
time than I have taken and I will conclude by
again referring to (Edmund) Burke. Burke has
said somewhere that it is easy to give power, it is
difficult to give wisdom. Let us prove by our con-
duct that if this Assembly has
arrogated to itself governing
powers it is prepared to exer-
cise them with wisdom. That is
the only way by which we can
carry with us all sections of the
country. There is no other way
that can lead us to unity. Let us
have no doubt on that point.”
Again from a later debate on
pluralism: “To diehards who
have developed a kind of
fanaticism against minority
protection I would like to say
two things. One is that minori-
ties are an explosive force
which, if it erupts, can blow up
the whole fabric of the state.
The history of Europe bears
Letter from the Editor
ThousandsofHindutva
revivaliststookthelaw
intotheirownhands
anddestroyedthe
historicBabriMasjidon
December6,1992.
Morethan2,000
Indiansperishedinthe
riotswhicherupted
afterthedemolition.

ample of appalling testimony to this fact. The
other is that the minorities in India have placed
their existence in the hands of the majority. In
the history of negotiations for preventing the
partition of Ireland, Redmond said to Carson,
‘Ask for any safeguard you like for the Protestant
minority but let us have a United Ireland.’
Carson’s reply was, ‘Damn your safeguards, we
don’t want to be ruled by you.’ No minority in
India has taken this stand. They have loyally
accepted the rule of majority and not political
majority. It is for majority to realise its duty not
to discriminate against minorities. Whether the
minorities will continue or vanish must depend
upon this habit of the majority. The moment the
majority loses the habit of discriminating against
the minority, the minorities can have no ground
to exist.”
A
nother notable Founding Father, HV
Kamath, a former ICS officer who
belonged to the Forward Bloc, made this
redoubtable statement during the debates on
pluralism, that current netas would do just as
well to remember and quote from:
“I need only observe that the history of
Europe and of England during the middle ages,
the bloody history of those ages bears witness to
the pernicious effects that flowed from the union
of Church and State. It is true enough that in
India during the reign of Asoka, when the State
identified itself with a particular religion, that is,
Buddhism, there was no ‘civil’ strife, but you will
have to remember that at that time in India,
there was only one other religion and that was
Hinduism. Personally, I believe that because
Asoka adopted Buddhism as the State religion,
there developed some sort of internecine feud
between the Hindus and Buddhists, which ulti-
mately led to the overthrow and the banishment
of Buddhism from India. Therefore, it is clear to
my mind that if a State identifies itself with any
particular religion, there will be rift within the
State. After all, the State represents all the peo-
ple who live within its territories, and, therefore,
it cannot afford to identify itself with the religion
of any particular section of the population. But,
Sir, let me not be misunderstood. When I say
that a State should not identify itself with any
particular religion, I do not mean to say that a
State should be anti-religious or irreligious. We
have certainly declared that India would be a
secular State. But to my mind a secular state is
neither a God-less State nor an irreligious nor an
anti-religious State. Now, Sir, coming to the real
meaning of this word ‘religion’, I assert that
‘Dharma’ in the most comprehensive sense
should be interpreted to mean the true values of
religion or of the spirit. ‘Dharma’, which we have
adopted in the crest or the seal of our
Constituent Assembly and which you will find on
the printed proceedings of our debates. That
‘Dharma’, Sir, must be our religion. ‘Dharma’ of
which the poet has said:
“‘Yenedam dharyate jagat (that by which this
world is supported).’”
I think my lawyer friend quoted in the first
para of this essay may have solved his existential
dilemma by heeding these last words.
Twitter: @indialegalmedia
Website: www.indialegallive.com
Contact: editor@indialegallive.com
Inthehistoryof
negotiationsfor
preventingthe
partitionofIreland,
Redmondsaidto
Carson,“Askforany
safeguardyoulikefor
theProtestant
minoritybutletus
haveaUnitedIreland.”
Carson’sreplywas,
“Damnyour
safeguards,we
don’twanttobe
ruledbyyou.”
A QUESTION OF
PRIORITIES
Founding Fathers BR
Ambedkar and HV Kamath
(far right) prized pluralism
over majoritarianism,
even in the matter of
religion, in the Constituent
Assembly debates
punjabimanch.com

ContentsVOLUME XI ISSUE 5
DECEMBER18,2017
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Technical Executive Anubhav Tyagi
6 December 18, 2017
Mystery over a Bill
The obsessive secrecy over the draft bill seeking to criminalise instant triple talaq, to be
introduced in the coming parliament session, is worrying all the stakeholders
LEAD
12
Judicial Filibuster
The much-awaited hearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case saw a war of words
between the counsels of both sides, leading to unnecessary delay
16
SUPREMECOURT
Removing the
Stain
A petition has sought the intervention of the
court to declare 119 central and state laws
unconstitutional for violating the rights of
those suffering from leprosy
18

Irreversible Damage
REGULARS
Followuson
Facebook.com/indialegalmedia
Twitter:@indialegalmedia
Website:www.indialegallive.com
Contact:editor@indialegallive.com
Ringside............................8
Delhi Durbar......................9
Courts.............................10
National Briefs .........22, 33
International Briefs..........47
Media Watch ..................48
Satire ..............................50
Cover Design: ANTHONY LAWRENCE
Cover Photo: ANIL SHAKYA
Sukhbir Singh Khaira, leader of the opposition in
the state assembly, has been linked with a drug
charge, making the party go on the back foot
AAP’s Punjab
Problem
The Jury Is Still out
Abolished since 1973, this outdated system nevertheless finds
a place in the Parsi personal law. But is change on the way?
COLUMN
32
STATES
Hunted Children
Crimes against minors, including sexual offences, have only risen
over the years. Removing systemic flaws will curb that hike
CRIME
28
Trying for Parity
The government is set to hike salaries in the higher judiciary.
How do they compare with the pay of judges the world over?
24
LEGALEYE
The Maldives-China trade pact suggests
strengthening of a new friendship. New
Delhi watches mutely as Beijing expands
its footprint in the neighbourhood
44Dragon’s
Outreach
GLOBALTRENDS
Despite acid attacks being commonplace, victims continue to battle social stigma,
constant threats and medical problems. Only a stringent law can bring them relief
SOCIETY
38
No Politics, Please
The army chief’s warning against politicising of the forces is timely.
It could undermine the country’s most respected and secular entity
DEFENCE
34
42

8 December 18, 2017
“
RINGSIDE
“I would like to tell that I
am failing. I still fail. I
failed the last three fit-
ness tests but yesterday I
passed my fitness test.
After 17 years I am still
failing.... I have seen
defeat and that’s what’s
the pillar of success.”
—Cricketer Yuvraj Singh
on his lack of fitness,
which denied him a place
in the Indian squad
“Modiji, do tell Gujarat
and country about the
victims of yours and Amit
Shah’s ‘internal democra-
cy’ in BJP, namely LK
Advani, Keshubhai Patel,
Hiren Pandya, Kanshi-
ram Rana, Anandiben
Patel, Murli Manohar
Joshi, Sanjay Joshi....”
—Congress spokesman
Randeep Surjewala, ques-
tioning the internal
democracy in the BJP
“Between 2009 and 2017,
minimum wages went up
by more than 200 per-
cent and DA for govern-
ment staff by more than
100 percent... Every-
where costs have gone up.
So, I don’t understand
why people say budgets
have been hit.”
—DMRC chief Mangu
Singh, on the criticism
over the hike in Delhi
Metro fares
“I’m clear that the (UK)
government should now
apologise, especially as
we reach the centenary of
the massacre. This is
about properly acknowl-
edging what happened
here and giving the peo-
ple of Amritsar and India
the closure they need....”
—Sadiq Khan, the mayor
of London, on the Jallian-
wala Bagh massacre
“It is shameful for the
country to witness inter-
national-level cricket pla-
yers wearing masks to
play a game of cricket in
Delhi. I feel ashamed of
this and that’s why I am
saying this. It is not a
political issue but a gen-
uine concern.”
—West Bengal CM Ma-
mata Banerjee, while urg-
ing the Delhi government
to curb air pollution
“‘Shashi Kapoor!’ was
what one heard as he
extended a warm soft
hand out to you in intro-
duction; that devastating
smile complimenting the
twinkle in his eyes. He
needn’t have done so.
Everyone knew him. But
this was his infectious
humble self….”
—Amitabh Bachchan, on
Shashi Kapoor, his co-
actor in 16 films, after the
latter’s death in Mumbai
“We appreciate ancient Indian knowledge—it
brings us the real meaning of life. It’s because
you brought ahimsa to our country, that
Tibetans became more compassionate, non
violent and peaceful... Before that, Tibetans
were warriors who wielded the sword and
were fighters. Therefore, if Indians had not
brought ahimsa to Tibet, maybe we would
have fought the Chinese!....”
—The Dalai Lama, on the influence of India on Tibet

An inside track of
happenings in Lutyens’ Delhi
Delhi
Durbar
PRESIDENTIAL
EXPANSION
Senior Congress leader Mani
Shanker Aiyar, who was sus-
pended from the party for his
“neech” remark about Prime
Minister Modi, is just one
more example of political
rhetoric which has bedeviled
the Gujarat poll scenario.
The Prime Minister was also
at his sarcastic best during
an election rally when he
took a dig at Rahul Gandhi’s
election as Congress
President and quoted Aiyar,
saying that even Congress-
men were comparing it to
Aurangzeb’s ascension to
the Mughal throne. In other
words, dynastic succession.
Not many people bothered
to check the original state-
ment by Aiyar given to a TV
channel. Aiyar’s statement
did not draw any parallels
between the Congress and
the Mughals—he was in
fact pointing out the differ-
ence between dynastic rule
under the Mughals and what
happens in a democratic
set-up, referring to the
ongoing internal elections in
the party. Modi twisted the
statement out of context and
only mentioned the Mughal
comparison.
The BJP’s IT cell is also
doing some creative editing.
It had released a video of
Rahul saying: “I will make
such a machine, that from
one end you can put a pota-
to, and from the other end
you will get gold.” The video
was widely shared on social
media. It was taken from a
speech where Rahul said
this: “Modi promised the
Adivasi community `40,000
crores, but he didn’t give
them a single rupee… He
told potato farmers that he
will install such a machine,
that if you feed in potatoes
from one side, you’ll get gold
from the other side. These
are not my words, these are
the words of Narendra
Modi.” This is how fake news
gets passed off as fact.
It is diplomatically tricky for a
serving head of government
to hold talks with a former
US President who is a politi-
cal rival of the incumbent in
Washington. However, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s
working lunch for Barack
Obama, who was in Delhi for
a speaking engagement,
was a high-powered one.
Just eight people, four from
each side, were present, with
the Indian delegation consist-
ing of National Security
Adviser Ajit Doval, foreign
secretary S Jaishankar, a
senior diplomat posted as
Joint Secretary in the PMO,
Gopal Bagley, and the pri-
vate secretary to the PM,
also from the Indian Foreign
Service, SK Singla. Obama’s
main aide was also a diplo-
mat—Richard Verma, former
US ambassador to New
Delhi. So what did they talk
about? The composition of
the delegation offers a hint.
Bagley, who was till recently
spokesperson for the min-
istry of external affairs, had a
long stint as Joint Secretary
in the ministry’s PAI Division
(Pakistan, Afghanistan and
Iran), while Singla was earlier
posted in the Indian emb-
assy in Tel Aviv. Jaishankar
had a long stint as Indian
ambassador to the US while
Doval’s expertise is security
and counter-terrorism. One
can join the dots.
FAKE BUT TRUE?
Rahul Gandhi’s elevation as
party president, expected as it
is, coincides with his growth as
a leader and a discernible
advancement in political maturi-
ty. That has been visible on the
campaign trail in Gujarat and is
a reflection of the team that he
now depends on which has
expanded in recent months.
RaGa now holds consultations
with former PM Manmohan
Singh and former finance minis-
ter P Chidambaram, for their
inputs on economic issues,
which are now a regular feature
in his campaign speeches, par-
ticularly employment, inflation,
GDP and GST.
In his attempts to make
inroads into the majority com-
munity vote, he has been seek-
ing the advice of Karan Singh,
an expert on Hinduism. It was
on Singh’s advice that Rahul
started his temple rounds. On
international affairs, he is
increasingly relying on Shashi
Tharoor who has vast experi-
ence in senior positions at the
United Nations, while Sam
Pitroda is advising him on the
Gujarati electoral psyche as well
as regarding Rahul’s outreach
to NRIs and a global audience.
For outreach to Dalits and SCs,
Rahul leans on former bureau-
crat K Raju while Randeep
Surjewala is his pointsman for
any dealings with the media.
Others who have instant access
include Jyotiraditya Scindia,
Sachin Pilot, Kamal Nath and
Milind Deora who provide state-
specific imputs and are on the
same wavelength as Rahul.
THE OBAMA
EFFECT

The Supreme Court has taken serious note
of the lack of professional ethics among
lawyers in general. It cited rampant commer-
cialisation of the legal profession, with law-
yers charging mindboggling fees from cli-
ents, and violation of professional ethics by
lawyers, who, according to the Court, resort
to needless strikes, as well as their poor con-
duct in courtrooms. It showed concern that
the centre was yet to come up with a law to
stop unethical practices of lawyers despite
several Law Commission reports pointing to
the need for an effective regulatory mecha-
nism and urging parliament to determine the
floor and ceiling in fees for professional serv-
ices rendered by lawyers.
The Court felt that legal services must be
provided to needy litigants free or at nominal
cost. The centre must act now and fast, the
Court observed. It said that providing access
to justice was the leitmotif of the legal pro-
fession and lawyers must help citizens in
securing their fundamental and other rights.
“Can justice be secured with the legal profes-
sionals failing to uphold the professional
ethics?” it asked.
The Supreme Court did
not agree to an NGO’s
request that a `25 lakh pe-
nalty slapped on it for filing
frivolous petitions be modi-
fied, and dismissed the plea.
It ordered the NGO to de-
posit the amount. The Court
had in May asked Suraz
India Trust to cough up the
amount and banned it from
approaching any other court
with its useless PILs. The
ruling came after more than
60 PILs had been filed by
the NGO since 2010. All
were dismissed for being
“devoid of merit”.
The Court observed that
“Waste of judicial time of the
Supreme Court is a serious
issue.... All such endeavours
have to be dealt with sternly
to prevent such misuse of
PILs and waste of precious
judicial time.”
Courts
10 December 18, 2017
`25 lakh fine for frivolous PILs
The Supreme Court col-
legium recently recom-
mended as many as 19 law-
yers to the centre for appoint-
ment as “judges” for the high
courts of Calcutta, Madras
and Karnataka. The apex
court also cleared 25 names
of additional judges as “per-
manent judges” in several
high courts.
Of the 19 judges, the col-
legium suggested nine ad-
vocates for the Madras High
Court, while the Calcutta and
Karnataka High Courts will be
richer by five judges each.
It is now up to the centre
to clear the names for appo-
intment. The High Courts had
forwarded 25 names for the
judges’ posts, but the col-
legium team zeroed in on
only 19.
High courts get
19 more judges
—Compiled by Prabir Biswas
SC: Start trial on
Tarun Tejpal case
SC wants law to regulate lawyers
The Supreme Court has asked
Bombay High Court to de-
cide, within three months, the
plea filed by the former editor-in-
chief of Tehelka magazine, Tarun
Tejpal. He sought that all char-
ges slapped by a Goa trial court
in a sexual assault case involv-
ing a female colleague in Goa in
November 2013 be quashed by
the High Court. He was slapped
with several Sections of the
IPC relating to rape, sexual
harassment, outraging a
woman's modesty and wrongful
confinement.
The apex court also asked
the trial court to start examining
witnesses and lifted the stay on
its proceedings imposed by the
High Court. Tejpal is out on bail
in the case. His counsel argued
that the High Court had barred
the trial court from examining
the more than 150 witnesses.
The top court showed concern
that the trial was yet to end des-
pite its instructions that it be
completed within a year.

Lead/ Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill
LittleisknownaboutthisdraftBillwhichwillmakeinstanttripletalaqacognisable
offence.Meanttobetabledinthewintersession,stakeholdersarewaryofwhat
theprovisionswillcontainandthemotivesbehindit
By Puneet Nicholas Yadav
Shrouded in
Secrecy
Anil Shakya

fought a long legal and social
battle against talaq-ul-biddat,
as well as Muslim men who
have advocated reforms within
the community. Yet, the pro-
posed legislation doesn’t seem
to be making the kind of waves
that were created when the
Supreme Court was adjudicat-
ing on the matter.
It is believed that the bill
will be introduced in the
coming winter session of parlia-
ment which will be between
December 15 and January 5,
with just 14 days of legislative
business. When Union parlia-
mentary affairs minister
Ananth Kumar had declared
the schedule for the winter
session, he had neither con-
firmed nor denied the possibili-
ty of the draft bill being intro-
duced during this period and
had, instead, claimed that if the
aspiration of the country was in line
with the proposed legislation then “the
government is committed to respond to
this desire”.
COGNISABLE OFFENCE
With less than a week left before the
session commences, little is known of
the exact provisions of the draft bill.
From what is known so far, the Muslim
Women (Protection of Rights on
Marriage) Bill, 2017, will make instant
triple talaq a cognisable offence and
impose a three-year jail term and fine—
the quantum of which is not known as
yet—on the Muslim husband for divorc-
ing his wife by pronouncing “talaq”
three times. Further, the bill reportedly
provides for a “subsistence allowance”—
possibly to be awarded by a court of
law—to be paid by the husband or
lation and not a judicial verdict. While
Justices Kurien Joseph, Rohinton
Nariman and UU Lalit had, in their
August 22 verdict, imposed an immedi-
ate ban on talaq-ul-biddat, then Chief
Justice JS Khehar and Justice S Abdul
Nazeer had declared the practice uncon-
stitutional but favoured a ban on it
through an act of parliament.
The draft bill, only glimpses of which
have so far been available through
media speculation, has been welcomed
by Muslim women, especially those who
OUR months back, the
Supreme Court, in a historic
albeit split verdict, declared
the practice of instant triple
talaq or talaq-ul-biddat
among Sunni Muslims “arbi-
trary, unconstitutional and un-Islamic”.
Now, the Narendra Modi-led NDA gov-
ernment is reportedly ready with draft
legislation that would make talaq-ul-
biddat a cognisable offence. A Muslim
husband found guilty of abandoning his
wife by uttering that dreadful word
three times would, once the bill is enact-
ed, be liable for a three-year jail term
and be slapped with a fine.
The draft law seems to be a reform in
line with the minority verdict of the five-
judge bench of the Supreme Court
which had favoured a ban on instant
triple talaq through parliamentary legis-
F
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
The bill has been welcomed by
Muslim women, especially those
who have fought a long battle
against talaq-ul-biddat, as well as
Muslim men advocating reform
Thedraftseemstobeareformin
linewiththeminorityverdictof
theSupremeCourtbenchwhich
favouredabanontalaq-ul-biddat
throughparliamentarylegislation.
Anil Shakya

his family to the Muslim woman who
falls victim to talaq-ul-biddat, while also
giving her the option of custodial rights
over her minor children.
Interestingly, the bill is yet to be put
out for consultation with all stakehold-
ers. It has so far, reportedly, only been
sent to state governments for their
views, although at least six chief secre-
taries—including those of BJP-ruled
Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and
Rajasthan—have told India Legal at the
time of writing this report that they
were yet to receive a copy of the
draft legislation.
Senior officials of the Law Com-
mission, the ministries of women and
child development, minority affairs as
well as the National Commission for
Minorities claim to have garnered
knowledge about the draft legislation
only through media reports. Even Dr G
Narayan Raju, secretary for the legisla-
tive department under the Union
ministry of law and justice declined
comment on the exact provisions of the
draft bill.
The only people in the government
who are privy to the details of the draft
bill—Union ministers Rajnath Singh,
Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Ravi
Shankar Prasad and his deputy, PP
Chaudhary, who were part of the Group
of Ministers that worked on the pro-
posed legislation—were unavailable for
comment despite repeated attempts.
WHAT’S THE MOTIVE?
The secrecy shrouding the draft bill is
quite contrary to the vociferous opposi-
tion to instant triple talaq that had
come from Prime Minister Modi and his
party’s leaders when the Supreme Court
was still adjudicating on the matter.
Understandably then, the stakeholders
who will be most affected by the bill
once it is enacted are wary of its precise
content and the motive of the centre
behind it.
Zakia Soman, co-founder of the
Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, who
was one of the petitioners in the
Supreme Court demanding a ban on
instant triple talaq, told India Legal: “As
far as making talaq-ul-biddat a cognis-
able offence is concerned, we welcome
the move but I feel that upholding the
democratic norms of public consultation
on a bill before presenting it in parlia-
ment should be followed by the govern-
ment. Otherwise, doubts will be raised
on the intent of the centre, especially by
those who oppose reform within the
Muslim community.”
“This secrecy defeats the cause… the
government should have been more
open about it like the Law Commission
“Thegovernmenthasnotbotheredtoconsultusat
allonthedraftbill’sprovisions.Wehaveonlylearntabout
thisbillfrommediareportsanditappearslikeatrap
setupbythecentretoundermineandinfringeupon
mattersofpersonallaw.”
—KamalFaruqui,AllIndiaMuslimPersonalLawBoardmember
“EvenifaMuslimwomangoestothepoliceandcomplains
thatshehasbeengiveninstanttripletalaq,thepolicedoes
notknowhowtodealwiththecasebecausethereis
nolawunderwhichthemancanbebooked.Thedraftbill
willmakethepracticeacognisableoffence.”
—ArifMohammedKhan,formerUnionminister
UnionministersRajnathSingh,
ArunJaitley,SushmaSwaraj,
RaviShankarPrasadandhis
deputy,PPChaudhary,areprivyto
thedetailsofthedraftbill.
Lead/ Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill

question of evolving a consensus now
over the legality of instant triple talaq.”
MANY DOUBTS
Some sections of the Muslim communi-
ty wonder whether the draft law will
replace the Muslim Women (Protection
of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. The
1986 Act had been enacted in the after-
math of the Shah Bano verdict of 1985.
The then Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress
government had projected the legisla-
tion as a tool to overturn the Shah Bano
verdict which had riled a section of the
Islamic clergy and the AIMPLB.
However, in later years, a slew of
verdicts by the Supreme Court and vari-
ous high courts have proved that the
1986 law actually strengthened the posi-
tion of Muslim women seeking mainte-
nance from their husbands after being
given a divorce.
So, will the draft bill being brought
by the Modi government replace the
1986 Act? Khan, who had resigned from
the Rajiv Gandhi cabinet in protest
against the 1986 Act, and Soman believe
it will not. “That law dealt only with the
issue of maintenance to be granted by a
Muslim husband to his wife after the
process of divorce had been finalised,
while the draft bill deals with the issue
of instant triple talaq… the two are com-
pletely different in their scope and
intent and cannot be read together or as
one replacing the other,” said Khan.
Notwithstanding the ambit of the
draft bill or the scope of its provisions,
what looks like a distinct possibility for
now is that the proposed legislation will
once again reignite the debate over the
attempts of a government to get
involved in matters of personal law.
Whether the bill is tabled in the winter
session or not, it can be safely assumed
that voices for and against the criminali-
sation of instant triple talaq, be it in the
political, legal or social spheres, are set
to clash again.
appears like a trap set up
by the centre to under-
mine and infringe upon
matters of personal law.”
Faruqui’s comments
are interesting, for they
suggest that the govern-
ment’s bid—although in
line with the Supreme
Court’s minority verdict—
will be opposed by the
AIMPLB, though the
board had informed the
apex court that it favoured
an act of parliament on
the issue.
MUCH-NEEDED
DETERRENT
Former Union minister
Arif Mohammed Khan,
who had appeared in the
Supreme Court in the
triple talaq case and
demanded that the prac-
tice be banned, feels that
the bill is “needed to for-
malise the Supreme Court
verdict through legislation”.
“Despite the SC verdict, talaq-ul-bid-
dat is still being practised. Even if a
Muslim woman goes to the police and
complains that she has been given
instant triple talaq, the police does not
know how to deal with the case because
there is no law under which the man
can be booked. The draft bill will make
the practice a cognisable offence and act
as a much-needed deterrent,” Khan said.
He added that the process of consulta-
tion on the draft legislation “can be
completed within a short period of time
because the Supreme Court has already
laid down that talaq-ul-biddat is uncon-
stitutional and illegal. So, there is no
was when it began the process of con-
sultation of proposals for a uniform civil
code,” Soman said. She added that the
government was yet to respond to a
draft Muslim Family Bill that her organ-
isation had sent to the prime minister
and that this draft had not only dealt
with the issue of instant triple talaq but
also provided a blueprint for a codified
Muslim Family Law.
The All India Muslim Personal Law
Board (AIMPLB), which had opposed
judicial intervention in banning talaq-
ul-biddat but finally told the apex court
that it would support an act of parlia-
ment that bans the practice, is now
waiting anxiously to get its hands on the
proposed legislation.
AIMPLB member Kamal Faruqui
told India Legal: “I do not wish to com-
ment on the merits or demerits of the
bill because the government has not
bothered to consult us at all on its
provisions. We have only learnt about
this bill from media reports and it
“Upholdingthedemocraticnormsofpublicconsultation
onabillbeforepresentingitinparliamentshouldbe
followedbythegovernment.Otherwise,doubtswillbe
raisedontheintentofthecentre,especiallybythose
whoopposereformwithintheMuslimcommunity.”
—ZakiaSoman,BharatiyaMuslimMahilaAndolanco-founder
SomesectionsoftheMuslim
communitywonderwhetherthe
draftlawwillreplacetheMuslim
Women(ProtectionofRightson
Divorce)Act,1986.

Supreme Court/ Ayodhya Hearing
HE Supreme Court has
deferred the Ayodhya lawsuit
to February 2018. The matter
came up through civil ap-
peals filed by various parties
challenging the 2010 verdict in the Bab-
ri Masjid case by the Lucknow Bench of
the Allahabad High Court. The High
Court had ruled in a majority judgment
of 2:1 that there should be three-way
division of the disputed 2.77-acre plot at
Ayodhya—one-third for the Sunni Waqf
Board, one-third for the Hindu religious
denomination, Nirmohi Akhara, and
one-third to the party for “Ram Lalla”.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appear-
ing for the Sunni Waqf Board, argued
that there were around 19,590 docu-
ments and exhibits which had to be
placed on record before the court. He
asked for postponement of the hearing
till July 2019, saying that there would be
serious social and political ramifications
due to the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
The Court rejected his plea.
Sibal was vehemently opposed by
Additional Solicitor General Tushar
Mehta, who was representing Uttar
Pradesh, and other senior counsel such
as Harish N Salve, CS Vaidyanathan and
K Parasaran, on the ground that all the
exhibits had been filed and it would not
be wise for the Court to deliberate on
the same.
Before the bench of Chief Justice
Dipak Misra, Justices Ashok Bhushan
and Abdul Nazeer could address the
regular proceeding, Rajeev Dhavan, sen-
ior counsel for the appellants, submitted
that the matter be referred to a larger
bench in view of the decision rendered
in 1994 by a five-judge Constitution
Bench in Jamiat-Ulama-E-Hind & Anr.
vs. Union of India & Ors., (1994) 6 SCC
360, which held: “A mosque is not an
essential part of the practice of the reli-
gion of Islam and namaz (prayer) by
Muslims can be offered anywhere, even
in open. Accordingly, its acquisition is
not prohibited by the provisions in the
Constitution of India. Irrespective of the
status of a mosque in an Islamic country
for the purpose of immunity from acqui-
sition by the State in exercise of the sov-
ereign power, its status and immunity
from acquisition in the secular ethos of
India under the Constitution is the same
and equal to that of the places of wor-
ship of the other religions, namely,
church, temple etc. It is neither more
nor less than that of the places of wor-
ship of the other religions.” The decision
of the five-judge bench touched on the
secular aspect of this case and there was
a need to refer this matter to at least a
seven-judge bench, said Sibal.
This was opposed by Parasaran and
Salve on the ground that the issue of
whether the matter should be referred
to a constitutional bench cannot be
adjudged at this juncture. Salve argued
against escalation of the matter to a
larger bench because the judgment of
the five-judge Constitution Bench was
binding on this Court. He said that if
the occasion arose, the matter could be
considered, but the process of hearing
this matter should not be stalled.
To facilitate smooth functioning, the
apex court has asked all senior advo-
cates, advocates-on-record (AoRs) and
advocates to work in harmony. All the
litigants are supposed to work with
mutual consensus and ensure that the
requisite documents are filed within a
stipulated timeframe, the Court said. If
any part of the pleadings is required to
be exchanged, they should do so in
order that there is no adjournment and
regular hearing can commence. It also
directed that all the AoRs should file a
common memorandum after all the do-
cuments are ready for filing. In case of
ambiguity, it has to be addressed by the
apex court’s registry and if the matter is
incomplete, it shall be placed before the
CJI. However, it seems that Ayodhya
politics will impact the legal aspect.
—The writer is an advocate
in the Supreme Court
Delaying Tactics
TheRamTemplesuitcasesawawarofwordsbetweenthe
counselsofthetwosides
By Neelesh Singh Rao
SenioradvocateKapilSibal,appearingfor
theSunniWaqfBoard,arguedthatthe
hearingbepostponedtillJuly2019.But
hispleawasdismissedbytheapexcourt.
SeniorcounselHarishSalveargued
againstescalationofthemattertoa
largerbench.Hesaidthattheprocessof
hearingthismattershouldnotbestalled.
T

Supreme Court/ Leprosy Laws
T first look, a writ peti-
tion filed by an NGO
under Article 32 of the
Constitution seemed
quite ambitious to the
Supreme Court bench of
Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices
AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud.
The petition also seemed technically
unsound to the bench because it prayed
for declaring as many as 119 central and
state laws unconstitutional.
The seminal issue highlighted in
the petition was that in the second
decade of the 21st century, there was no
justification to treat a person suffering
from leprosy as someone to be kept
away from the mainstream of life be-
cause of the age-old belief that the dis-
ease is a sin, infectious or something to
do with genetics.
The petition led the bench to say:
“With the discovery of modern medi-
cines, the disease has become absolutely
curable and, therefore, the steps are
required to be taken to cure them and
bring them in the society and not to
keep them away in the leprosy homes
where they feel different and some-
times alien.”
The petition, filed by Vidhi Centre
for Legal Policy, a think-tank, brings to
light the gross violation of the funda-
mental rights of persons affected by lep-
rosy under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the
Constitution by the continued existence
of archaic and discriminatory provisions
under 119 central and state laws. The
petition has annexed a table of the
impugned provisions in these laws.
The petition says that provisions in
these laws unfairly discriminate against
persons affected by leprosy by denying
them equal treatment under personal
laws, in matters of employment and
appointment or election to public office,
as well as access to and free movement
in public places. “This unequal treat-
ment irrationally treats persons affected
by leprosy as a separate class on the
basis of a medically inaccurate and out-
dated conception of the infectious
nature of the disease and without taking
into account the effectiveness of the pre-
vailing standard treatment for the dis-
ease,” the petition states.
It further says that the very existence
of such provisions in the statute books
violates the right to a life of dignity of
persons affected by leprosy, which is an
integral facet of Article 21. “As such, the
impugned provisions stigmatise and iso-
late persons affected by leprosy, even
though with the latest medical advance-
ments, leprosy is rendered non-infec-
tious after the first dose of Multi-Drug
Apetitionhassoughttheinterventionof
theCourttodeclare119centralandstate
lawsunconstitutionalforviolatingthe
rightsofthosesufferingfromleprosy
By Venkatasubramanian
A
RESPECT THEIR RIGHTS
Beneficiaries of an anti-leprosy
project raise awareness
about the disease on
World Leprosy Day in India
Stop the
Stigma

Therapy (MDT),” it says. MDT, inciden-
tally, is the WHO-recommended treat-
ment regime for leprosy.
The classification in the provisions is
also not founded on any intelligible dif-
ferentia and bears no rational nexus to
the objects sought to be achieved by the
impugned provisions, thereby violating
the right to equality before the law
under Article 14 of the Constitution, the
petition states.
Some of the impugned provisions
additionally violate the right to move
freely in India and to practise any pro-
fession, or to carry on any occupation,
trade or business guaranteed under
Article 19(1)(d) and Article 19(1)(g) of
the Constitution, respectively, the peti-
tion says. The restrictions imposed are
not reasonable in the interests of the
general public, the petition argues.
It echoes the recommendations of
the Law Commission’s 256th Report on
Eliminating Discrimination against
Persons Affected by Leprosy. On the
basis of the Law Commission’s research
and findings, the petition prays for
directions from the Supreme Court for
the repeal of provisions that discrimi-
nate against persons affected by leprosy.
It says that the existence of such laws
and their enforcement by courts have
contributed to the historical stigma and
discrimination faced by persons affected
by leprosy, making it all the more imp-
ortant to declare them unconstitutional
and strike them off the statute books.
J
udicial pronouncements in the past
have reinforced such stigma. Thus,
the Supreme Court had in
Swarajya Lakshmi vs GG Padma Rao
(Dr), 1974, granted divorce to the
respondent because his wife was affect-
ed by leprosy. The Court had, in this
case, described leprosy as incurable and
had recorded that the experts did not
yet consider that with all the advances
in physiotherapy, surgery or orthopaedic
surgery, it was possible either to cure the
disease completely or to correct the
deformities and mutations that were
often caused by the disease.
The petition points out that medical
advancements made in the 43 years
since the above decision was handed
down by the Supreme Court have entire-
ly altered the manner in which leprosy is
treated. Thus, the eradication of the dis-
ease does not require segregation to pre-
vent its dissemination, as held by the
Supreme Court in 1974. The first dose of
MDT, it is further claimed, renders the
disease non-infectious.
The petition reveals that the Supreme
Court had, in 2008, relied on incorrect
medical information regarding the eradi-
cation of leprosy while upholding a pro-
vision in the Orissa Gram Panchayat Act,
1964, that disqualified a person affected
by leprosy from occupying a civic post.
In Dhirendra Pandua vs State of Orissa,
2008, the Supreme Court observed: “It is
true that now with aggressive medica-
FiledbyVidhiCentreforLegal
Policy,thepetitionbringstolight
denialofthefundamentalrights
ofthoseaffectedbyleprosyunder
Articles14,19and21.
THAT’S HOW IT’S DONE
An iconic photograph of Mother Teresa, her
nuns and volunteers looking after a
leprosy-afflicted man at a Missionaries
of Charity home in Kolkata
leprosymission.org.uk
infinitefire.org

Supreme Court/ Leprosy Laws
tion, a patient may be fully cured of the
disease, yet the legislature in its wisdom
has thought it fit to retain such provi-
sions in the statute in order to eliminate
the danger of its being transmitted to
other people from the person affected by
the disease…”
Arguing that leprosy continues to be
viewed with the same revulsion and dis-
gust as it was during the Middle Ages,
the petition says that the impugned pro-
visions have contributed to this discri-
minatory mindset.
MDT was introduced in India in
1985, and has been instrumental in
eradicating leprosy as a public health
problem since 2005. The National
Leprosy Eradication Programme, a
sponsored scheme of the Union ministry
of health and family welfare, provides
free MDT treatment to persons affected
by leprosy through primary healthcare
centres under the National Health
Mission. Under MDT, a combination
of powerful drugs such as Rifampicin,
Clofazimine and Dapsone are adminis-
tered to those diagnosed with the
disease. According to WHO, the first
dose of MDT kills germs and stops the
spread of leprosy.
T
hese findings have encouraged
some high courts to declare that
measures or provisions that
exclude persons affected by leprosy from
society have no scientific or rational
basis. In Maharashtra State Road
Transport Corporation vs Uttam
Shatrughan Raserao, 2002, the Bombay
High Court, while hearing a case
regarding the eligibility of a person for
supplementary gratuity, rejected the
argument that leprosy was incurable or
that it rendered persons medically unfit
for work.
In the case of Bajal Basappa vs
Keshava, 1967, the Karnataka High
Court had struck down Section 47 of the
Madras District Municipalities Act,
1920, which disqualified persons affect-
ed by leprosy from voting in an election
to a municipal council.
Significantly, this decision, rendered
before the medical advancements in
curing leprosy were made, held that
there was no reasonable basis for dis-
qualifying a person affected by leprosy
from exercising his franchise, that the
classification of “leper” and “non-leper”
was not based on an intelligible criteri-
on, and that it had no reasonable rela-
tion to the object sought to be achieved
by the rule of adult suffrage.
In 2015, the Law Commission, in its
256th report, recognised the effective-
ness of MDT and recommended the
repeal and amendment of provisions
under eight central laws that allowed
public authorities to isolate persons
affected by leprosy from the general
population and precluded them from
accessing public services as well as ben-
efits under personal laws. The
Commission recommended the adop-
tion of a model law to repeal and amend
discriminatory provisions under eight
central laws, besides proposing several
In1967,theKarnatakaHighCourt
struckdownSection47ofthe
MadrasDistrictMunicipalities
Act,1920,whichdisqualified
leprosypatientsfromvoting.
MIRACLE CURE
A combination
of Rifampicin,
Clofazimine and
Dapsone is
administered under
MDT. The first
dose is enough
to arrest the
spread of leprosy
leprosymission.org.uk

affirmative action measures for persons
affected by leprosy.
The 119 laws that discriminate
against persons affected by leprosy are
broadly grouped into five categories,
namely, those that
i) Cause stigmatisation and indignity to
persons affected by leprosy
ii) Isolate/segregate persons affected
by leprosy
iii) Deny them access to public services
iv) Impose disqualifications on them
under personal laws
v) Bar them from occupying or standing
for public posts or office.
In 2016, the parliament repealed the
Lepers Act, 1898, but did not find it fit
to repeal or amend any of the impugned
provisions in the central laws. The state
legislatures, too, have not found it a
serious enough problem to be remedied
by repealing or amending their laws to
stop discrimination against leprosy-
affected persons. The Rights of Persons
with Disabilities Act, 2016, also does not
address the problem of discrimination
against such persons under the
impugned provisions.
I
n view of these, the petition con-
tends that there are compelling rea-
sons for the Supreme Court to
intervene and render justice in the mat-
ter. It is because the right to life, as
embodied under Article 21, includes
within its fold the right to live with dig-
nity and self-worth, even for those
with disabilities.
Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage
Act, 1955, for instance, allows a mar-
riage to be dissolved by a decree of
divorce on the ground that the other
party has been suffering from a virulent
and incurable form of leprosy. The peti-
tion states that such a provision does
not take into account the sheer indignity
and mental trauma that a person affect-
ed by leprosy will suffer on account of
being brutally separated from his family.
It deprives persons affected by leprosy of
their fundamental right to a life of dig-
nity, the petition suggests.
Other central and state legislation
with such discriminatory provisions
against the leprosy-afflicted are—
Section 2 of the Dissolution of Muslim
Marriage Act, 1939; Section 27 of the
Special Marriage Act, 1954; Section 18
of the Hindu Adoption and
Maintenance Act, 1956; Section 18 of
the Jammu and Kashmir Hindu
Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1960;
Section 13 of the Jammu and Kashmir
Hindu Marriage Act, 1980; Section 2 of
the Jammu and Kashmir Dissolution of
Muslim Marriages Act, 1999; Rule 7 of
the Family Courts (Patna High Court)
Rules, 2000, and Rule 7 (vii)(f) of the
Hindu Marriage (High Court of
Meghalaya) Rules, 2013.
The petition, by annexing a list of
such discriminatory provisions, makes it
easier for the Court to review and con-
sider the explanation of the central and
state governments for retaining them in
the statute books. The existence of such
a large number of provisions under vari-
ous laws points to the severity and scale
of discrimination and stigma suffered by
such people.
As the petition is non-adversarial in
nature, it is expected that the centre and
states will, on their own, seek to amend
or repeal these provisions, without the
intervention of the Supreme Court.
NOT SUCH A
DIFFICULT JOB
Minister Thawar
Chand Gehlot
distributes assistive
aids to disabled
leprosy patients in
New Delhi; (left) a
central government
awareness initiative
UNI

The Rajasthan gov-
ernment’s contro-
versial media gag ordi-
nance met a sad ending.
The Criminal Laws
(Rajasthan
Amendment) Ordinance
2017, issued by the
Vasundhara Raje gov-
ernment, couldn’t be
presented to the house
on time. The Raje gov-
ernment was forced to
reconsider the proposed
ordinance after it led to
a nationwide uproar.
The ordinance promul-
gated on September 6
sought to shield serving
and former judges, mag-
istrates and public ser-
vants from being investi-
gated for any on-duty
action without prior
sanction from the
authorities. The ordi-
nance also proposed
that the media would
not report any accusa-
tion against these public
servants until the probe
sanction was granted.
Briefs
Aformer chief justice of India,
Justice Adarsh Sein Anand,
died at the age of 81, after a car-
diac arrest. Justice Anand held
the post of Chief Justice from
October 10, 1998, to October 31,
2001. After Chief Justice YV
Chandrachud, Justice Anand held
the post for the longest duration.
He was the chief justice of the
Madras High Court and the
Jammu and Kashmir High Court,
before being appointed a
Supreme Court judge in 1991.
Justice Anand was honoured with
the Padma Vibhushan, the
second highest civilian award
in India.
Former Chief Justice
of India AS Anand
passes away
—Compiled by Lilly Paul
The National Company Law
Tribunal (NCLT) has dis-
missed the board of Unitech Ltd
while hearing the central govern-
ment’s petition to take control of
the real estate company. It has
directed the ministry of corporate
affairs (MCA) to nominate 10
directors to the board.
The move, aimed at protect-
ing investor interest, comes nine
years after a similar management
takeover of Hyderabad-based
infotech major Satyam. The min-
istry filed a petition under
Section 241 of the Companies
Act, 2013, which allows the gov-
ernment to apply to the tribunal
if it feels that a company is oper-
ating in a manner prejudicial to
public interest—in this case,
homebuyers, shareholders and
depositors. Additional solicitor
general Sanjay Jain said the list
of the nominee directors would
be submitted by December 20.
Rajasthan’s “media gag”
ordinance lapses
The judges of the
four high courts in
the northeast—
Gauhati, Meghalaya,
Manipur and
Tripura—are not enti-
tled to special allow-
ances given to officers
of all-India services
posted in the north-
east. The Union law
ministry conveyed this
to the Gauhati High
Court citing the
Seventh Pay Comm-
ission recommenda-
tion to the effect which
was not accepted by
the government. The
judges of the northeast
high courts had
demanded a special
allowance at the rate
of 25 percent of their
basic salary in addi-
tion to the perks, as is
granted to officers of
the all-India services.
GovtmovestotakeoverUnitech
Bombay HC joins the list
of HCs with Acting CJs
Bombay High Court became
the ninth high court with an
acting chief justice. Out of the 24
high courts, nine do not have a
regular head. Apart from Bombay
High Court, the other high courts
that do not have chief justices are
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh,
Calcutta, Delhi, Kerala, Karna-
taka, Jharkhand, Himachal
Pradesh and Manipur. As of
December 1, 2017, nearly 392
posts were vacant in the 24 high
courts. The Allahabad High
Court has 51 vacancies, followed
by Calcutta High Court with
39 and Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh High Court with nearly
30 vacancies.
No special pay for
judges in Northeast HCs

Legal Eye/ Salary Hike for Judges
hen the parliament
meets on Decem-
ber 15, the govern-
ment will table two
bills, both of which
will lead to a sub-
stantial rise in the salaries of judges.
Once passed, the High Court and
Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and
Conditions of Service) Amendment Acts
will lead to the Chief Justice of India
(CJI) drawing `2.80 lakh per month,
and judges of the Supreme Court and
chief justices of high courts earning
`2.50 lakh per month. Judges of the
high courts will see their salary rise to
`2.25 lakh per month. This is nearly a
300 percent rise in some cases; the CJI’s
current salary is just `1 lakh.
The proposal to introduce the bills
was cleared by the Union Cabinet last
month, and will bring judges’ pay on a
par with those of bureaucrats following
the implementation of the Seventh Pay
Commission recommendations. The
cabinet secretary receives a salary of
`2.5 lakh per month.
Retired judges, too, will be entitled
to increased pension and all packages
will be effective retrospectively from
January 1, 2016.
In India, salaries and perks of judges
in the higher judiciary have been revised
four times since Independence—1954
Money Matters
Thegovernmentisallsettonearlytriplesalariesinthehigherjudiciaryaspartofaroutinepay
hike.Howdotheycomparewithpaypacketsofjudgesinotherpartsoftheworld?
By Sucheta Dasgupta
W
PRICE OF JUSTICE
Judges of the Supreme
Court (above) and 24
high courts are all set to
get a well-earned raise
Bhavana Gaur

“good people choose to enter the profes-
sion. Also, since these are two different
kinds of jobs, we should stop tagging
their salaries with bureaucrats’ salaries”.
Former acting chief justice of the
Gauhati High Court Justice K Sreedhar
Rao said: “The raise is well-deserved
and it is not a bonanza. Already, it has
been delayed by close to two years. Also,
(1958 for high court judges), 1986, 1998
and 2009. But even after such a raise,
how does the pay of Indian judges com-
pare with their counterparts in the West
and the rest of Asia? Not favourably.
ATTRACT TALENT
“If you compare the salary of our judges
with those in western countries, then it
is on the lower side. But our judges get
perks like an official car, residence and
orderlies,” retired Delhi High Court
Chief Justice AP Shah told India Legal.
He feels that though he himself did not
worry about the pay because he loved
the job, it should be hiked, not mani-
fold, but enough to attract talent, so that
SEATS OF WORTH
The 12 judges of the UK Supreme Court
(left) get handsome perks; but the US
Supreme Court justices have none
as judges are a constitutional force, our
emoluments need not be equated with
those of secretaries.” Justice Ravindra
Singh, former judge of the Allahabad
High Court, former chairman of the UP
Law Commission and currently senior
advocate in the Supreme Court, said
that the perks of being a judge are con-
siderable and “somewhat make up for
the low salaries, though the raise has
been long due”.
So, what are the exact figures when it
comes to other nations paying their
respective judiciaries?
WESTERN PACKAGES
In the US, as of 2015, federal district
judges are annually paid $201,100
(`12.9 million) and circuit judges
$213,300 (`13.7 million). Associate jus-
tices of the Supreme Court annually
draw $246,800 (`15.9 million) and the
chief justice earns a handsome package
of $258,100 per year (approximately
`16.6 million). Even though there are no
perks, they also have no fixed retirement
age, provided they exhibit good behav-
iour. Should they choose to retire at 65
or 70, they are entitled to receive their
last annual salary for their entire life-
time. All judges are additionally permit-
ted to earn a maximum of $21,000 (`1.3
million) a year for teaching.
The Lord Chief Justice for England
and Wales is Britain’s best paid judicial
figure, receiving £244,665 (`21.1 mil-
lion) per annum, while the Supreme
Court puisne judges earn over
£208,000 (`17.9 million). Federal dis-
trict judges make £169,000 (`14.6 mil-
lion) yearly and federal appeals court
judges £179,500 (`15.5 million). What is
significant is that the British prime min-
ister’s salary at £149,400 (`12.9 million)
is less than even a district judge’s salary.
But as there has been a four-year salary
freeze since 2013, justices have been
pitching for a pay rise and an exten-
ThemonthlysalaryoftheChief
JusticeofIndiaisgoingtorise
nearlythree-foldfrom`1lakhto
`2.8lakh.Otherjudgesofthe
apexcourtwillearn`2.5lakh.
rightsinfo.org
nilc.org

sion of the retirement age from 70 to 75.
Meanwhile, the public’s opinion is that
it cannot afford the “panto-lifestyle of
senior judges”.
Judges in the UK receive numerous
perks. They get a weekly allowance of
£310 (`26,785) to cover food, drink and
formal entertaining. They get to stay in
a grand official residence, use an official
car and are accompanied by a chef and a
chauffeur to historic mansions and top-
notch ritzy hotels when away from the
capital to hear cases. Circuit, High and
Supreme Court judges still enjoy the
services of tipstaffs to tend to their every
need. Judges also benefit from a sub-
stantial array of allowances ranging
from those for wigs amounting to
£1,930 (`1.7 lakh) and £655 (`56,587) a
year to buying 18th century-style “frock
coats”. They enjoy 36 days of paid holi-
days a year.
ASIAN SALARIES
In Singapore, the annual salary of the
chief justice of the Supreme Court is
S$347,400 (`16.6 million), while that of
a judge of appeal is S$253,200 (`12 mil-
lion) and of a judge of the apex court
S$234,600 (`13.2 million). That’s rather
impressive, but there has been no salary
hike since 1994, only a change in the
gratuity amount which was passed by
the Singapore parliament in 2014.
In Pakistan, with effect from July
2017, the salary of the chief justice of
Supreme Court stands at 846,549 PKR
(equivalent to `517,848), besides
370,597 PKR (`226,679) in superior
judicial allowance, 68,000 PKR
(`41,551) as house rent if an official resi-
dence is not provided, and a medical
allowance of 56,464 PKR (`34,502) a
month. Perks include two chauffeur-dri-
ven cars, a government residence with
free electricity, water and LPG, 600
litres of car fuel and free medical treat-
ment for the family. There is also a dear-
ness allowance during official tours at
5,000 PKR (`3,056) per diem, a trans-
fer grant equal to one month’s pay if a
judge has a family and equal to half
month’s pay if a judge has no family and
also reimbursement of transportation
charges for journey on duty and exemp-
tion from income tax.
The salary of a Supreme Court judge
in Pakistan is 799,699 PKR (`488,931)
and the superior judicial allowance is
370,597 PKR (`226,580). Perks are the
same as those of the chief justice. The
salary of a chief justice of any of the four
high courts is 784,608 PKR (`479,830),
besides 296,477 PKR (`181,311) as supe-
rior judicial allowance. Perks are almost
the same, except that the allowances are
marginally lower and he gets 500 litres
of fuel instead of 600. A high court
judge in Pakistan gets 754,432 PKR
(`461,427) as salary and almost all other
perks and privileges as the chief justice
of a high court.
Compare this to the Pakistani prime
minister’s salary at 140,000 PKR
(`85,647) which is far less than the
handsome pay packets of judges. But
Islamabad High Court advocate Salman
Yousaf Khan told India Legal that par-
liamentarians need not have the same
salary as judges and given their prestige
and privileges, an increment would only
be a “burden on the exchequer”. “Only
an honorarium along with travelling
allowances would be sufficient.
Parliamentarians can be elected at 25 as
members of National and Provincial
Assemblies. On the other hand, a high
court judge cannot be less than 45 years
old in Pakistan. A Supreme Court judge
retires at 65. In the higher judiciary,
most cases involve influential parties. If
a judge doesn't have a good salary and
protection for his family, he cannot pro-
vide justice to poor litigants,” Khan said.
Compared to them all, Bangladesh
judges get modest remunerations. Since
2016, the Supreme Court chief justice
“Ifyoucompare
thesalaryofour
judgeswiththose
inwesterncoun-
tries,itisonthe
lowerside.Butour
judgesgetperks.”
—JusticeAPShah,
formerchiefjustice
ofDelhiHighCourt
“Theraiseis
well-deservedandit
iscertainlynota
bonanza.Already,
ithasbeen
delayedbyclose
totwoyears.”
—JusticeKSreedhar
Rao,formeractingCJ
ofGauhatiHC
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Salman Yousaf Khan
(above) feels a good
package buffers Pakistan
Supreme Court judges
against coercive forces
Legal Eye/ Salary Hike for Judges
UsmanGhani/facebook

and free power up to 10,000 units.
Medical treatment for the judge’s family
is fully reimbursed. He is entitled to two
leave travel allowances per year, plus, in
case he is not from Delhi, another for
travel to his home state. Other Supreme
Court judges and the high court chief
justice get a sumptuary allowance of
`15,000 while high court judges get
`12,000 under this category. Other
perks are roughly the same, and leaves
may include foreign travel. A high court
judge gets 200 litres of car fuel and also
the services of five staffers.
Even so, a range of new perks is on
the cards. While the sumptuary allo-
wance may be discontinued, dearness
has been receiving Tk 110,000
(`85,600), a nearly two-fold raise from
his earlier pay of Tk 56,000 (`43,578).
According to their Eighth Nation Pay
Scale, the salary for appellate division
judges stands at Tk 105,000 (`81,695)
while high court judges get Tk 95,000
(`73,914). However, the benefits and
perks compensate for difficulties. The
chief justice draws an expense sumptu-
ary allowance of Tk 12,000 (`9,337), a
domestic aide allowance of Tk 5,000
(`3,889) and a car allowance of Tk
25,000 (`19,445). Appellate division
judges get an expense sumptuary
allowance of Tk 8,000 (`6,280), domes-
tic aide allowance of Tk 4,500 (`3,503),
housing allowance of Tk 50,000
(`38,921) and car allowance of Tk
25,000 (`19,445). A high court judge
gets an expense sumptuary allowance of
Tk 5,000 (`3,889), domestic aide
allowance of Tk 4,000 (`3,115), housing
allowance of Tk 25,000 (`19,445) and
a car allowance of another Tk
25,000 (`19,445).
HANDSOME PERKS
If one were to compare only monthly
wages, a quick calculation shows that
the seniormost judge in the US and
Singapore earns approximately 14 times
the Indian CJI, while this difference is
exactly 17.6-fold in the case of the UK.
But factor in the currency exchange rate
and one comes to the conclusion that,
money-wise, judges are better off only in
Pakistan where the chief justice draws
1.8 times our CJI’s salary. The standard
of living being much higher in Singa-
pore as well as in western countries,
salaries there tend to be high. If one
removes this item from the equation,
the pay is on a par. Also, as Justice Rao
said, while an Indian judge retires at 70,
in the US judges continue to work until
they, themselves, opt for retirement.
Speaking of perks, India’s CJI enjoys
a monthly sumptuary allowance of
`20,000, a free official residence in
Lutyens’ Delhi, a chauffeur-driven car,
the services of five staffers, 1,500 free
phone calls, water up to 36 kilolitres
allowance for the higher judiciary is set
to rise. Once the parliament passes the
amendments, judges will get a steep
hike in funds for furnishing their hous-
es, ranging from `10 lakh for the CJI to
`6 lakh for judges of high courts, pay-
able biennially. The CJI will receive a
`16.8 lakh-plus dearness allowance, Su-
preme Court judges a `15 lakh-plus DA
and high court judges `13.5 lakh-plus.
Their gratuity will double to `20 lakh.
With perks such as these, who needs
salaries?
WHERE’S THE
MONEY?
There is a huge
difference
between the pay
of judges in the
top courts of
Bangladesh (left)
and Singapore
HowSupremeCourtChiefJusticesArePaidtheWorldOver(PerMonth)
India Pakistan Bangladesh Singapore UK US
1 lakh 5 lakh 85,600 14.1 lakh 17.6 lakh 13.8 lakh
All figures are in INR
static.panoramio.com
commons.wikimedia.org

Crime/ POCSO Cases
N a shocking incident on Dec-
ember 2, two teachers of GD Birla
Education Centre in Kolkata were
arrested under the Protection of
Children from Sexual Offences
(POCSO) Act for allegedly sexually
assaulting a four-year-old student.
There are numerous such cases of chil-
dren being sexually assaulted across
the country.
Yet, the Union law ministry says that
pending child sexual abuses cases num-
ber only 27,558 till July this year. This is
just the tip of the iceberg, as National
Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures
show that such spine-chilling cases are
on the rise.
According to the NCRB’s latest fig-
ures for 2016, released by the home
ministry on November 30, crimes
against children have shown an increas-
ing trend over the last three years. There
was an increase of 13.6 percent in 2016
from 94,172 cases (in 2015) to 1,06,958.
Kidnapping and abduction of children
accounted for 52.3 percent of the cases,
followed by cases under the POCSO Act
at 34.4 percent, the number of which
stood at 36,022.
The maximum number of cases of
crime against children was reported
from Uttar Pradesh with 4,954 cases,
followed by Maharashtra at 4,815 cases
and Madhya Pradesh at 4,717. In fact,
the MP assembly recently passed a bill
which allowed courts to award the death
penalty to anyone found guilty of raping
a girl aged 12 years or younger.
As for child sexual abuse cases, there
are 12,990 of these pending in Maha-
rashtra, followed by Kerala with 3,991
cases and then Rajasthan with 3,828
cases. While Uttar Pradesh has 890
pending cases, West Bengal has 283 and
Uttarakhand is the last on the list with
just four cases.
UNREPORTED CASES
Tara Narula, a pro bono lawyer who rep-
resents victims in child abuse cases, told
India Legal: “The number of pending
cases is certainly low compared to the
actual rise in such cases. That’s because
Lost
ChildhoodCrimeagainstchildrenhasgoneupovertheyears
withone-thirdofthecasesbeingsexualoffences.
Unlesssystemicflawsareremoved,theseheinous
crimeswillcontinuetomakenews
By Chandrani Banerjee
I
Anthony Lawrence

many cases go unreported. Child sexual
abuse cases are different from regular
rape cases. The duration of a case is vital
in a matter where a child is a victim. If
the crime is committed when the child
is four years old and the case goes on for
another two years, her thought process
changes. It affects the case in a big way.
The scenario here is such that even if
someone is convicted in a lower court,
he eventually gets an acquittal from a
higher court.”
Seeing the growing sexual exploita-
tion of children, the POCSO Act was
introduced in 2012. Special courts were
set up to deal with such cases. And the
National Commission for Protection of
Child Rights (NCPCR) was asked to
monitor and co-ordinate with the cen-
tral and state governments as well as
various ministries.
However, the recent spurt in child
sexual abuse cases makes us wonder if
the figures released by the home min-
istry are indeed correct. Child rights
activist Sanjay Singh told India Legal:
“These figures are very low. The reason
is that sometimes the cases are regis-
tered under regular sections of the
Indian Penal Code in small towns. In
many cases, the accused is known to the
victim, so due to family pressure, the
cases are withdrawn after a couple of
months. Most of the cases remain unre-
ported. The social stigma is huge. For a
mother to report that a father was sexu-
ally abusing her daughter would be an
uphill task. And even if she reports it,
she will often succumb to family and
social pressures later.”
As senior advocate Kirti Singh, who
has been instrumental in pushing for a
change in laws pertaining to sexual
harassment and assault, tells India
Legal: “Apart from government agen-
cies, there are many child rights
activists who monitor and point out
systemic flaws. But in small towns,
this may not happen, so they remain
unaccounted for and outside of the sys-
tem. But more and more such crimes
are happening and at a fast pace, and
NCRB figures are proof of that. Source: National Crime Records Bureau
Crime 2013 2014 2015
% variation
in 2015
over 2014
Murder 1657 1817 1758 -3.2
Attempt to Commit Murder - 840 276 -67.1
Infanticide 82 121 91 -24.8
Rape 12,363 13,766 10,854 -21.2
Assault on Girls with Intent to Outrage
their Modesty
- 11,335 8,390 -26.0
Insult to the Modesty of Girls - 444 348 -0.3
Kidnapping and Abduction 28,167 37,854 41,893 10.7
Foeticide 221 107 97 -9.3
Abetment of Suicide 215 56 51 -8.9
Exposure and Abandonment 930 983 885 -10.0
Procuration of Female Minors 1,224 2,020 3,087 52.8
Import of Girls from Foreign
Countries Aged below 18 Years
- 2 2 0.0
Buying of Girls for Prostitution 6 14 11 -21.4
Selling of Girls for Prostitution 100 82 111 35.4
Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 222 280 293 4.6
Transplantation of Human Organs Act - 1 0 -100.0
Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act
- 147 251 70.7
Immoral Trafficking Act - 86 58 -32.6
Juvenile Justice Act - 1,315 1457 10.8
Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences Act
- 8,904 14,913 67.5
Unnatural Offences - 765 814 6.4
Human Trafficking (Sections 370
and 370A, IPC)
- - 221 -
Other Crimes 13,037 8,484 8,311 -2.0
Total 58,224 89,423 94,172 5.3
CrimesagainstChildrenandPercentageChangein
2015over2014

Crime/ POCSO Cases
December 2, 2017: Two teachers of GD Birla Educa-
tion Centre in south Kolkata arrested under the
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act for
sexually assaulting a four-year-old student.
November 3, 2017: A one-year-old girl is raped by her
33-year-old neighbour in outer Delhi.
May 13, 2017: A 10-year-old girl was found pregnant
after being repeatedly raped by her stepfather in
Chandigarh.
May 12, 2017: A five-year-old deaf and dumb girl was
raped by a 24-year-old man in Varanasi.
May 10, 2017: A 21-month-old baby was raped by a
40-year-old friend of her father’s in Delhi’s Gandhi
Nagar area.
HorrorStories
Reporting a case is not enough, it needs
to be taken to its final stage.”
SPECIAL COURTS
The government, however, claims that
every possible step is being taken to
strengthen the special courts. There are
special public prosecutors and special
juvenile police units being set up. The
law ministry works in tandem with
NCPCR in such matters.
Speaking to India Legal, Stuti
Kacker, chairperson, NCPCR, said: “To
deal with sensitive cases of crimes
against children, we have appointed 459
special public prosecutors, 727 special
juvenile police units and 591 special or
children courts in 694 districts. The
effort is constant and we are trying to
work towards creating a safe world
for children.”
Narula said that there were other
issues that were slowing down the
process of accessing justice for such
juvenile victims. “In November-end, the
Delhi High Court noticed a pattern in
acquittals by a POCSO court. All these
stages are crucial when someone is
fighting for justice.”
It may be recalled that in this case,
the Delhi High Court noticed a string of
acquittals by a POCSO judge in Saket
district court, ASJ Sunil Choudhary, and
decided to examine all verdicts delivered
by him.
Justices Vipin Sanghi and PS Teji of
the Delhi High Court, while hearing an
appeal against one such acquittal,
noticed a “fundamental error” in the
verdicts. The bench said it would exam-
ine each judgment minutely.
It is obvious that the road to justice
for child victims is long and tortuous.
“Childsexualabusecasesaredifferent
fromregularrapecases.Thedurationofa
caseisvital...[Ifit]goesonforanother
twoyears,herthoughtprocesschanges.”
—TaraNarula,aprobono lawyer
INHUMAN AND SHOCKING: Actor Shah
Rukh Khan’s driver Pintu Mishra is arrested
for raping a minor; (left) Lucknow children
make a stand against the Badaun rapes
UNI
UNI

ONSTITUTIONAL democracy
in India cannot conceive a leg-
islation which is arbitrary.”
This was the unanimous view
of the constitution bench of
the Supreme Court while declaring the
practice of triple talaq unconstitutional.
India being a vibrant democracy and
Indian society being dynamic, the prac-
tices and laws governing personal rela-
tionships need to keep pace with this
dynamism. Codified personal law relat-
ing to each religion has its own nuances.
In the absence of a uniform civil code,
the courts are besieged with petitions
challenging the provisions of various
personal laws as unconstitutional.
Recently, Naomi Irani, a Parsi woman,
had urged the apex court to declare as
unconstitutional various provisions of
the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act of
1936. She pleaded as a victim of pro-
longed agony on account of the delayed
marital litigation in court.
This Act, which is a pre-constitution-
al enactment, provides for the appoint-
ment of delegates from the Parsi com-
munity to act as a “jury” and participate
in the legal matrimonial proceedings
between sparring spouses. The jury sys-
tem in India was abolished after repeat-
ed calls by the Law Commission for its
removal as the said system had outlived
its relevance. Finally, while overhauling
the criminal justice system in the coun-
try, the Code of Criminal Procedure,
1973, did away with the jury system.
Surprisingly, the jury system contin-
ues to find a place in the codified law of
the Parsi community. Sections 19 and 20
of the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act
provide for the constitution of special
courts known as the Parsi Chief Matri-
monial Court and the Parsi District
Matrimonial Court to deal with such
matters. If the matrimonial cause of
action falls within the presidency towns
of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta, it is
the high court of that state which exer-
cises jurisdiction over the said matter. If
the matrimonial cause of action falls
outside the presidency towns, the dis-
trict court of that district will exercise
jurisdiction over the matter. The Act
further provides for assistance to be ren-
dered by five members of the Parsi com-
munity who will participate in the adju-
dication of the matter.
The Act does not provide for any
qualification to be a member of the jury.
The consensus of the jury is often biased
and based on societal norms, morality
and ethics which may not be in conso-
nance with the principles of natural jus-
tice in a dynamic society. The parties in
dispute may not be comfortable making
allegations, counter-allegations, or
adducing evidence in the presence of
members of their community. This is
a violation of the rights of privacy of
the parties.
The establishment of family courts
also cannot be overlooked. The Family
Courts Act, 1984, has been enacted to
provide a speedy and cost-effective
alternative mechanism to resolve dis-
putes. Matrimonial matters of all per-
sons, except those subject to the Parsi
Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936, are
entertained by the family courts. The
same course of action is denied to those
subject to the Parsi Marriage and
Divorce Act. There is no rationale nor
any nexus to the objective to be achieved
by the continuance of such discrimina-
tion. The advantages of family courts in
the form of judicial officers having
expertise in family laws, assistance by
family counsellors, in-camera hearings,
child welfare centres, and so on, are
denied to those subject to this Act.
Another provision of the Act, also
challenged in the SC, is one which per-
mits the matrimonial court to settle half
the property of a wife against whom a
decree of divorce has been passed on
grounds of adultery, on her children. No
similar provision is found in case the
husband is found to be adulterous. Such
provisions are not only retrograde but
also gender discriminatory.
The task is now before the Supreme
Court, which has issued a notice to the
Government of India, calling for its
views on the matter. The government is
upbeat about passing the Prohibition of
Triple Talaq Bill in the coming winter
session. Irani and others suffering the
same fate can only look expectantly to
Parliament, but in any case pin their
hopes on receiving unfailing justice
from the Supreme Court.
—The writer is an advocate
in the Supreme Court
Jury System Must Go
ThisprocesswasabolishedbutyetfindsaplaceinParsipersonal
lawdespitegoingagainsttheprinciplesofnaturaljustice
Column Neela Gokhale/ Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act
C“
A COMMUNITY APART
Parsis want the 1936 Act to be updated

HaryanagovtindictsFortishospital
The Haryana government
has decided to register a
criminal case against Fortis
Memorial Research Institute,
Gurugram, on charges of death
by negligence and is also plan-
ning to suspend the hospital’s
blood bank licence. The state
government’s probe into the
death of a seven-year-old
dengue patient, with her par-
ents being charged an exorbi-
tant amount, held the hospital
guilty for “unethical and unlaw-
ful act”.
The probe found that the
hospital had made a 105 per-
cent profit in medicines and a
1,737 percent profit in other
consumables. The state govern-
ment also has plans to write to
the Haryana Urban Develop-
ment Authority to cancel the
hospital’s land lease.
Briefs
After informing the Supreme
Court that it is willing to
extend the deadline for linking
Aadhaar for availing various
services and welfare schemes,
the government has extended
the deadline for linking PAN with
Aadhaar to March 31, 2018. The
finance ministry informed that
the extension is being given
because many taxpayers have
not yet linked their PAN with
Aadhaar. Out of the 33 crore
PAN card holders, 13.28 crore
have linked their Aadhaar with
PAN. This is the third extension
granted to link PAN with
Aadhaar, the previous deadline
being July 31 which was extend-
ed to August 31 and then to
December 31.
Aadhaar-PAN linking
extended till March
—Compiled by Lilly Paul
The Punjab and Haryana High Court
stayed the trial court proceedings of the
case related to the lynching of 16-year-old
Junaid Khan on a Mathura-bound train.
The trial was going on at a Faridabad dis-
trict court.
While hearing the appeal filed by
Junaid’s father Jalaluddin, the bench deal-
ing with the case also issued notice to the
State and listed the case for hearing on
January 11. Jalaluddin’s appeal was against
the trial court order, which had dismissed
his plea for a CBI probe into Junaid’s death.
Junaid was stabbed to death in June by
a mob.
Junaid lynching: HC stays trial
court proceedings
Aspecial court in Delhi has fixed
December 21 as the final judgment day
in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case
in which former telecom minister A Raja,
DMK Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi and
others are accused. Special Judge OP
Saini is exclusively dealing with the 2G spec-
trum cases. The court had framed charges
against the accused in October 2011 under
the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and
the Prevention of Corruption Act. The CBI in
April 2011 had filed a chargesheet against
Raja and others, based on which the charges
were framed.
The National Green
Tribunal has held the
Art of Living Foundation
responsible for the damage
that the World Culture
Festival, organised by Sri Sri
Ravi-shankar’s foundation,
had caused to the Yamuna
floodplains. The bench head-
ed by Justice Swatanter
Kumar did not impose any
additional penalty on the
foundation, but has ordered
the Delhi Development
Authority to carry out the
floodplain restoration work
with the `5 crore that was
paid by the foundation
last year.
However, the Tribunal
has directed the DDA to
compute the cost and in case
it exceeds `5 crore, it will be
recovered from AoL. If the
cost is less than the fine
paid, the remainder will be
returned to the foundation.
NGT holds AoL responsible for Yamuna floodplains damage
2G case: Delhi court to deliver
judgment on December 21

Defence/ Armed Forces/ Politicisation
place. I think we operate in a very secu-
lar environment. We have a very vibrant
democracy where the military should
stay far away from the polity,” he said.
That is a tradition that harks back to
the British days. When the Indian army
took its modern form under the British,
the main aim was to make sure it
remained as insulated from political
activities and all its manifestations as
possible. This was primarily to ensure
Handle with Care
Changingtheapoliticalnatureoftheforcesisadangeroustrendandcanhaveserious
repercussionsfordemocracy,themoraleofsoldiersandthesecurityofthecountry
By Praful Bakshi
IN FULL FORM
Army parade at Rajpath,
New Delhi
RMY Chief Bipin Rawat
raised quite a few eye-
brows when he said that
there was politicisation of
the armed forces. He said
the norm in the “good old
days” was never to discuss women and
politics in the forces. “The military
should be somehow kept out of politics.
Of late, we have been seeing that politi-
cisation of the military has been taking
A

mostly from the rural agricultural back-
ground, and his entire family is involved
in local politics from village panchayat
onwards. Most of these soldiers and
even officers, on retirement at a fairly
young age between 35 to 38 years,
become part of these political activities.
RESPONSIBLE POSITIONS
Being from a disciplined cadre and
enjoying better health and mental
awareness, these ex-military personnel
find themselves in fairly responsible
positions in local political cadres, even
rising to commanding positions. Prime
examples of this in the recent times are
those of Col Kirori Singh Bhainsala, who
spearheaded the Gujjar agitation many
times in Haryana, Capt Amarinder
Singh from the erstwhile royal family of
Punjab and who is now chief minister
there and Maj Gen Khanduri, once CM
of Uttarakhand.
Even in the case of senior officers,
the call of politics is a fresh challenge to
overcome. This can be seen in the case
of Col Rajyavardhan Rathore, former
Army Chief Gen VK Singh, late Sqn Ldr
Rajesh Pilot, Sqn Ldr Kamal
Chowdhury and Sqn Ldr Suresh
that it did not get affected by the free-
dom movement. This trend was to con-
tinue right through the first and second
world war till 1947 when India gained
Independence. The army continued with
the same thinking and ethos. It was—
and still is—a serious offence for any
officer to make contact with any politi-
cal person or group, and till recently, he
was supposed to report to his superiors
if such a contact was established.
However, with modern trends in
media, communication, education and
training, this sort of insulation became
quite ineffective as every soldier and
officer was exposed to all the manifesta-
tions of politics. This was not only
because he was expected to cast his vote
during elections, but modern technolo-
gy, television and online activities
exposed him to the full spectrum of
political activities and ideology.
Moreover, as a part of his education and
training, an officer was supposed to
study and understand political develop-
ments in the nation. At some stage, he
will be expected to be involved in gover-
nance when the official machinery is
unable to administer proper control.
A modern soldier in India comes
Kalmadi, all of whom held either minis-
terial posts or were MPs. These are
some examples of the popularity which
the political thought process enjoys
among service personnel, making poli-
tics an attractive second career for them.
These are also examples where politics
has not negatively impacted the army.
POLITICAL INTERFERENCE
Matters can take a serious turn when
interested political parties and leaders
harm the basic apolitical ethos of the
armed forces due to vested interests. A
major manifestation of this is the politi-
co-bureaucratic involvement in higher
level promotions and strategic place-
ment within the Services.
After 1947, the armed forces found
themselves high up in the official order
of government protocol. This was
unpalatable to bureaucratic cadres who
wanted more vacancies in higher posi-
tions. The politicisation began when
senior bureaucrats convinced then PM
Jawaharlal Nehru that as armies in
neighbouring countries—Pakistan,
Burma, Thailand—were facing military
coups, it would be prudent to keep a
check on the activities of the Indian
armed forces like promotions, postings,
weapon procurement, and so on. They
also pressed for seniority of the forces to
be downgraded in comparison to those
of the bureaucracy.
Alongside, it was decided that higher
promotions of armed forces officers
would be a ministerial issue, which
meant that it would be a panel of
bureaucrats under the guidance of a
politician who would decide promo-
“Themilitaryshouldbesomehowkept
outofpolitics.Oflate,wehavebeen
seeingthatpoliticisationofthe
militaryhasbeentakingplace.Ithink
weoperateinaverysecular
environment.Wehaveaveryvibrant
democracywherethemilitaryshould
stayfarawayfromthepolity.”
—GeneralBipinRawat

tions, and not the army chief.
Consequently, political parties started
taking a direct interest in these promo-
tions. An important aspect was to have
officers from their own caste or state in
higher posts of the army in order to
curry favour with the home constituency
during elections and also subsequent
recruitment from their own constituen-
cies to please their constituents.
LARGEST IMPORTER
There is another sensitive reason which
requires understanding of the defence
indigenisation programme of the coun-
try. India is perhaps the largest defence
weapons system importer and spends a
vast amount of its foreign exchange in
these imports. With a large number of
countries competing for sales, a phe-
nomenal amount is offered as bribes
and kickbacks. This has led to many
scandals, be it the 1948 Jeep Scandal or
the current Agusta helicopter deal.
Many politicians, bureaucrats and
defence personnel have benefited mone-
tarily from these. This is most undesir-
able and dangerous as we saw in the
removal of Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat
from the post of naval chief in a secre-
tive manner in 1998. He was dismissed
for defying the government’s appoint-
ment of a three star admiral over his
choice. No other Service chief has ever
been dismissed in such fashion. The
incident left a deep scar on the psyche of
the navy.
Of late, it has become a regular prac-
tice for leading political parties to have a
separate military or ex-servicemen cell.
Here, political leaders invite retiring
senior officers to be a part of future
planning for the party and to brief them
on national security issues. This body
becomes a guide for cadres in rural
areas where other retired officers and
senior JCOs wield considerable influ-
ence from a voting point of view. They
also occupy a large number of top posts
in the party set-up.
The negative outcome of this system
is that with the retired personnel
becoming part of various political bod-
ies, there are opposing and conflicting
forces in the military machine. Serving
personnel, through their contacts with
ex-servicemen, are exposed to different
ideologies. This trend of politicising the
armed forces is fast catching up.
CONTAMINATION BT RELIGION
Politicisation by itself may not be nega-
tive unless it gets contaminated by a
strong weapon—religion. Religion-based
politics is the first and sure step towards
radicalisation. This brings us to the crux
of the problem. Throughout history,
armies have fought to protect the reli-
gion of the state, be it in Asia, Europe or
the Middle East. In Europe, Christian
kings, as political heads and command-
ers of their armies, were also protectors
of the state religion. They got into con-
flict with Islamic monarchs, leading to
the famous Crusades.
This was equally true in India, as
from ancient times, the monarch as a
political-military head was also the
main protector of his country’s religion.
Thus, we see that religion became an
integral part of the military culture of
any country.
Moreover, the rank and file of any
army is formed by simple peasants who
are deeply religious as compared to their
urban comrades. They require a con-
stant source of religious guidance dur-
ing their tenure. Thus, right from
ancient times, there has been a provi-
sion for the post of a religious preacher
in the armed forces all over the world.
In the Indian army, the religious
preacher is a serving JCO, fully trained
in religious matters to meet the
demands of the serving personnel, from
LURED INTO POLITICS
(Clockwise from top left) General
(retd) Vijay Kumar Singh; former
Squadron Leader Suresh Kalmadi;
Ace shooter Col Rajyavardhan
Singh Rathore
Politicisationbyitselfmaynotbe
negativeunlessitgetscontaminated
byastrongweapon—religion.Infact,
religion-basedpoliticsisthefirstand
suresteptowardsradicalisation.
Defence/ Armed Forces/ Politicisation

This brings us to political activity at
the state or central level that directly
effects the mind and morale of the sol-
dier. Here, the Malegaon incident brings
into focus the role of local politicians,
who, as it is alleged, played the religion
card to get retired and serving officers to
prepare and train political cadres to
assemble bombs, and perhaps even blow
these at public places. This allegation, if
proven, will demand a very serious
investigation and action on the part of
army authorities. According to army
rules, treason against the state is a seri-
ous crime, which during war, is punish-
able by death.
What is new, though fully within the
norms of the democratic process, is
retired personnel being forced to take to
the streets to draw attention to various
issues like the alleged disparity shown to
them by the Pay Commission. The day is
not far when a political party of retired
service personnel could be contesting
the national elections.
the barracks to the battlefield. He not
only provides guidance to the soldiers,
but is also a source of influence for the
families and children of the personnel.
Problems can easily develop here if the
preacher decides to propagate the think-
ing of a political party through the mode
of religion. This was seen during the
first war of Independence in 1857 when
Sepoy Mangal Pandey led an armed
uprising against the wilful mischief cre-
ated by British officers.
In spite of all these issues, the reli-
gious atmosphere in any Indian army
battalion or regiment is exemplary for
the tolerance and respect for all reli-
gions. Every battalion has preachers for
all religious denominations. At times,
this could mean three to four different
preachers for the troops. But the most
interesting aspect of this is that the
place of worship of all the religions is a
spot called the Sarva Dharma Sthal (a
place for all religions). The officers and
the commanding officer visit each place
separately, irrespective of their own
beliefs. In spite of this, at times the
troops can be influenced adversely by a
clever preacher.
GUIDED BY RELIGION
In 1984, there was a mutiny at the Sikh
regimental centre at Ramgarh on politi-
co-religious grounds after the assassina-
tion of PM Indira Gandhi, where a for-
mation of the army was disbanded and
sent home. Nor can one forget the assas-
sination of Mrs Gandhi by her security
guards driven by their religious beliefs.
At times, the reason for a revolt may not
be purely religious but can be directly
related to the national cause as was the
case of the famous uprising by the
Indian Navy in 1946, followed by a
number of air force and army units
revolting against the crown. When
Clement Atlee, England’s PM in 1947,
was asked as to what were the reasons
for the British to leave India earlier than
planned, he stated that the naval upris-
ing and the INA movement of Subash
Bose were the main reasons and not the
Quit India Movement.
This could lead to anti-national
groups taking advantage of the situa-
tion. It is high time the government
views politicisation of the forces very
seriously as the armed forces are the
finest symbol of a democratic India and
the best representation of the masses.
The armed forces have extraordinary
demands made on them, which may not
be understood and appreciated by an
ordinary citizen. Hence, they should be
dealt with care, along with a deep study
by military sociologists and experts.
Handling and keeping up the morale of
the armed forces is an integral part of
the national security doctrine and
deserves the immediate attention of the
country. At the same time, they should
be insulated from the effects of religion
and politics.
The adage that if you treat a soldier
like a gladiator, he behaves like one can
also hold true if you treat him as a
manipulating politician wherein he
surely will be one.
—The writer is a leading
defence analyst
Whatisnew,thoughwithinthedem-
ocraticprocess,isretiredpersonnel
beingforcedtoprotestoverissues
liketheallegeddisparityshownto
thembythePayCommission.

Society/ Acid Attacks
NDIA is one of the leading coun-
tries where acid attacks take place.
According to 2016 data of the
National Crime Records Bureau,
there were 307 acid attack victims
that year with West Bengal topping
the list (83 victims), followed by UP (61)
and then Delhi (23).
However, this crime is also prevalent
in progressive societies such as the UK
and in developing countries like
Bangladesh. But the difference is that
both these countries have successfully
tackled the crime. According to reports,
London witnessed 454 cases of acid
attack in 2016, a 173 percent increase
from 2015. In the first two months of
2017 alone, there were 49 acid attacks.
London is attempting to take meas-
ures to curb the incidents and shop-
keepers and the general public are sup-
porting the police in the fight against
this crime. In Bangladesh, there are
strict laws to keep a check on the
increasing incidents.
However, India has not been able to
effectively tackle the issue nor has it
Scarred for Life
Despitethisheinouscrime
beingcommoninIndia,there
islittlesuccourforthe
victimsastheybattlesocial
stigma,threatsandmedical
problems.Whenwillstringent
lawsaffordthemrelief?
By Lilly Paul
I
WITHIN THE FOLD
Actor Diya Mirza with acid attack victim
Laxmi at a youth conclave in Lucknow
Alifelesslived
Victims of acid attacks who came for
APN’s India Legal Show:
Anu Mukherjee:
Incident December 19, 2004
Thirteen years ago, Anu Mukherjee was
attacked with acid by one of her friends.
She lost her eyesight and has had 22
surgeries for which she spent `35 lakh.
She is struggling with a debt of `6 lakh.
Farah from Farooqabad (UP):
Incident February 2011
Farah was attacked by her husband
because she had decided to break free
from the daily torture of domestic vio-
lence. She filed for divorce in 2009 and
was granted separation in 2010. But her
husband attacked her with acid the
next year.
He was jailed for three-and-a-half years.
Farah said it was a mockery of her pain.
Chandrahaas Mishra:
Incident 2011
In a country where sensitisation towards
cases of acid attack on women is very
low, Mishra faced even more insensitivity.
He was attacked by the son of his land-
lord in Meerut because he stopped him
UNI

judgment where the apex court mandat-
ed that “a minimum of `3 lakh” be made
available to every acid attack victim,
DLSAs would disburse meagre amounts
between `25,000 and `1 lakh to the vic-
tims. This was because states were earli-
er following the Victim Compensation
Scheme of 2011. For Delhi, the mini-
mum compensation for disfigurement of
the face was `2 lakh and the maximum
was `3 lakh, whereas the compensation
for any other form of injury related to
an acid attack was `50,000.
However, after the Laxmi judgment
been able to provide any relief to the
victims. It was only in 2013 that the
Indian Penal Code was modified to add
Sections 326 (a) and 326 (b) for dealing
with cases of acid attacks.
VICTIM COMPENSATION SCHEME
The District Legal Services Authority
(DLSA) is entitled to disburse compen-
sation to acid attack victims. Every state
has a Victim Compensation Scheme of
its own from which it has to pay a sum
of `3 lakh to the victims.
Before the Laxmi vs Union of India
FOCUSSING ATTENTION
A TV grab of APN’s India Legal Show
on acid attack victims
of 2013, there was a mandate on states
to revise their schemes so as to fit in a
minimum compensation of `3 lakh.
According to the revised rates, the maxi-
mum compensation for disfigurement of
the face and injury of more than 50 per-
cent is `7 lakh in Delhi.
While `3 lakh is the minimum com-
pensation for acid attack victims, in the
Parivartan Kendra vs Union of India
judgment of the Supreme Court, it said
that “the mandate… nowhere restricts
the Court from giving more compensa-
tion to the victim of acid attack”.
As the rules are not uniform in the
country, there is confusion among the
DLSAs about how much compensation
to award in such cases. The rules are dif-
ferent for the three states and one
Union territory that top the list of acid
attack cases. In Delhi, the compensation
differs according to the severity of attack
(see box). In Uttar Pradesh, `3 lakh is
the maximum limit of compensation. In
West Bengal, `3 lakh is the minimum
limit of compensation.
Sadly, the increase in compensation
has not brought any real relief to the
victims. This is because as per the State
Legal Services Authority, while getting
the compensation, every victim
from harassing women. His attacker
was jailed for six months and was then
granted bail. He threatened Mishra to
withdraw the case or else he would do
him more damage. Mishra, along with
Acid Survivors and Women Welfare
Foundation, now works for other acid
attack survivors.
When Mishra approached the DLSA
for compensation, he was handed `1
lakh. The authorities said they had no
instructions regarding a male acid sur-
vivor and this was the amount he could
be given. For a person who spent `12
lakh on surgeries, this compensation
was a slight. TREATED UNFAIRLY: (From left) Anu Mukherjee; Farah; Chandrahaas Mishra
Anil Shakya

has to state in writing to the Authority
that she shall refund the amount if
courts later order the accused to pay any
amount by way of compensation. This
means that if the victim gets a compen-
sation of `3 lakh from the DLSA and at
a later stage, the courts order the
wrongdoer to pay a fine, this amount
will be adjusted against what the DLSA
has disbursed. If there is any amount
left (after returning money to the
DLSA), the victim can keep it.
As per the rules, the DLSA has to pay
`1 lakh to the victim within 15 days of
the matter being brought to its notice
and the remaining `2 lakh within two
months. “This practically never hap-
pens,” said Sija Nair Pal, an advocate
with Human Rights Law Network.
Victims who do not have any legal sup-
port to approach the court or are
not aware enough to approach the
DLSA suffer.
FREE MEDICAL TREATMENT?
Medical treatment is another hurdle.
Victims from the poorer strata of society
usually approach a government hospital
for treatment but their condition leaves
much to be desired. Also, while these
hospitals do not refuse to treat the
patients, they lack the infrastructure
and expertise to do so.
Chandrahaas Mishra, an acid attack
survivor and an area coordinator with
the Acid Survivors and Women Welfare
Foundation, told India Legal about the
difference in treatment in private and
government hospitals. He said he was
attacked with acid which damaged his
eyes. In an acid attack, the eyes fuse
together, making the person partially or
completely blind. But he was fortunate
enough to be financially sound and got
himself treated in private hospitals, after
which he recovered well. “You can see
the difference between my recovery and
other patients’. At government hospitals,
they do not take the extra challenge of
correcting deformities, whereas in pri-
vate ones, they do as you are paying a
huge amount for the treatment.” With
every surgery costing around `2.5 to `3
lakh, it is no wonder that many acid
attack victims struggle to recover.
In Laxmi vs Union of India, the apex
court had clearly mentioned that “full
medical assistance should be provided
to the victims of acid attack and that
private hospitals should also provide
free medical treatment to such victims”.
But do private hospitals do so? Divya-
loke Rai Chaudhari, coordinator of the
Kolkata-based Acid Survivors and Wo-
men Welfare Foundation, laughed. “Not
a single one of the renowned hospitals
we approached in Kolkata agreed to
treat the patients free,” said Chaudhari.
The Court had further ordered that
these private hospitals should provide
full treatment which includes “medi-
cines, food, bedding and reconstructive
surgeries”. The refusal to treat acid
attack victims could lead to action being
taken against the hospital.
Justice AK Tripathi, former judge of
the Allahabad High Court, told India
Legal: “If acid attack victims are admit-
ted in any hospital, irrespective of
whether it is a central, state or private
hospital, it has to arrange for their treat-
ment. How much they abide by it is an
altogether different matter.”
The hospitals excuse themselves say-
ing they don’t have the requisite infra-
structure. This despite the Court saying
that “no hospital/clinic should refuse
treatment citing lack of specialised facil-
ities”. Even if these hospitals take up a
victim’s case, only basic treatment is
given. “Many a time, they seem unaware
of such a rule. Even if they come to
know of it, they refuse, citing various
reasons such as they don’t have a vacant
bed or a specialised unit to treat the vic-
tim,” said Mishra.
Hospitals which take up free treat-
ment for acid attack victims do it under
their corporate social responsibility.
However, it is not a CSR activity. The
onus of getting such a patient treated
lies on the hospital administration. “It is
mandatory for the hospital to inform the
police about an acid attack and when
the police registers a case, it is the job of
the police officer to inform the DLSA. It
is an interconnected system, wherein if
anyone fails in his duty, the victim suf-
fers,” said Pal.
RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY
Every aspect of the recovery depends on
the concentration of the acid that was
used and the extent of penetration of
the skin. The victim has to undergo
numerous surgeries. But how much of
the reconstruction is actually possible?
“Very superficial damage only can be
reversed,” said Dr Manoj Kumar Johar,
Director and head of department, plas-
tic surgery, Max Super Specialty
Hospital.
Recovery is difficult in second-degree
or deep second-degree burns. Johar said
there are three stages of recovery—form,
function and looks. Priorities differ in
every case. If it is the eye that has been
damaged, then the focus would be to
recover the function of the eye, whereas
in the case of an ear, it would be recov-
ering the form of the organ.
Disposing of the writ petition in the
JusticeAKTripathi,formerjudgeof
theAllahabadHighCourt,says:
“Ifacidattackvictimsareadmittedin
anyhospital...ithastoarrangefor
theirtreatment.”
Society/ Acid Attacks

succour,” said Chaudhari. “The accused
joins with the police and is shown as
absconding in police reports, whereas
the victim keeps getting threats from
him to withdraw the case.”
It is high time India learns from
Bangladesh (see box) and frames more
elaborate laws for acid attacks. Bangla-
desh also has provisions for capital pun-
ishment in such cases. In India, the only
known case where the accused was
Parivartan case, the Supreme Court had
ruled that an amount of at least `3 lakh
be given to the victims. The apex court
had also directed all states and Union
territories to consider the plight of such
victims and take appropriate steps with
regard to inclusion of their names under
the disability list. The amended Rights
of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2016,
increased the types of listed disabilities
from seven to 21 and acid attack victims
were included in it.
The bill classifies acid attack victims
as people with “physical disability” and
disfigurement due to violent assaults by
throwing of acid or similar corrosive
substance. The bill says nothing about
the degree of burns or the minimum
damage that the victim should go
through to avail of benefits.
However, when Mishra approached
the authorities to get his disability cer-
tificate, he was informed that a person
should have suffered at least 45 percent
burns to be able to avail of benefits. Any
person with less than that is not consid-
ered for award of the certificate. “Forty
to 45 percent disability is the bench-
mark, so a victim below those levels of
burns will not be issued a disability cer-
tificate,” said Pal.
ACCUSED IS FREE
In many cases, while the victims are
scarred for life and struggle with their
medical bills and social trauma, the
accused goes scot-free and issues new
threats to the victim. In the Mishra case,
the accused got bail within six months
whereas in Farah’s case (see box), the
accused was put behind bars for just
three-and-a-half years. This is traumatic
for the victims as they live a life of rejec-
tion and seclusion, whereas the accused
is given all the opportunity to lead a
normal life and even threaten the
victim again.
“The accused try to mislead the case,
sometimes with the help of the cops.
People are more aware now but the con-
ditions are the same in the suburbs.
They do not know that there are two
sections under IPC which can give them
awarded the death penalty was that of
Preeti Rathi, a 23-year-old nurse who
was attacked by Ankur Panwar, 25, at
Bandra Terminus in May 2013. Rathi
succumbed to her injuries a month later.
The accused had attacked her because
she had rejected his marriage proposal.
In a landmark judgment, the trial court
sentenced him to death. However, as it
was a trial court judgment, it can be
challenged in a higher court.
Even after enacting a law, justice
continues to evade acid attack victims
in India.
DelhiVictimCompensationScheme
Victims of Minimum Maximum
Acid Attack Compensation Compensation
In case of disfigurement of face `3 lakh `7 lakh
In case of injury more than 50% `5 lakh `7 lakh
In case of injury less than 50% `3 lakh `5 lakh
LessonsfromBangladesh
I
ndia could learn from Bangladesh
when it comes to tackling acid attack
cases. Between 1999 and 2002, acid
attacks in Bangladesh increased by 50
percent. The government then passed
two new laws in 2002—the Acid
Offences Prevention Act, 2002, and
Acid Control Act—to tackle the growing
problem. Soon after the enactment of
the two laws, there was a 15 percent
decrease in cases of acid attack
in 2003.
The government also took care of
male victims while framing the law when
it realised that they too were victims of
this vicious crime. In fact, 30 percent of
victims were men and the main reason
was land disputes.
Bangladesh has strict and elaborate
laws in place to deal with acid attacks
and some of the provisions are:
The total time given for investigation is
90 days.
After 90 days, the trial and conviction
have to be completed within 90 days.
Acid Offences Prevention Tribunals
which were set up solely to try cases of
acid attacks were headed by district or
session judges.
The accused can be sentenced to
death or be given rigorous imprison-
ment along with a fine in case the victim
has vision or hearing damage.
An attempt to throw acid on a person,
irrespective of whether the act causes
any physical, mental or other damage to
the victim is punishable with imprison-
ment which may extend to seven years
but not be less than three years along
with a fine.
The law also provides for action to be
taken against a negligent doctor.
SijaNairPal,anadvocatewithHuman
RightsLawNetwork,says:“It(the
hospital,policeandDLSA)isan
interconnectedsystem,whereinif
anyonefails,thevictimsuffers.”

States/ Punjab/ Sukhpal Singh Khaira
UKHPAL Singh Khaira
was the most strident
critic of the Shiromani
Akali Dal-BJP coalition
government in Punjab
from 2007 to 2017. He
was then an official spokesman of the
Punjab unit of the Congress. A few
months before the Punjab assembly
elections earlier this year, he ditched the
Congress to join the Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) and turned out to be the most
vocal critic of the Congress during the
the judiciary relating to Khaira’s case.
Before breaking down in the full
glare of the media, Khaira spewed the
choicest of abuses against his former
colleague and now chief minister (CM),
Capt Amarinder Singh. He attacked the
personal life of the CM despite saner
counsel from his party leaders present at
the press conference. He said that even
the SAD-BJP combine was out to take
“revenge” on him for his criticism of the
coalition government in the past.
Subsequently, he withdrew the abusive
language on the condition that he was
not apologising for his comments on
Singh’s personal life but was only with-
drawing the words uttered by him.
KHAIRA’S TROUBLES
The trouble for Khaira, who now holds
the status of a cabinet minister by way
of his position as leader of the
Opposition, began when the Fazilka
additional sessions judge summoned
him last month to face trial as an addi-
tional accused in a drugs case. The
police chargesheet had not mentioned
his name but one of the accused arrest-
ed by the police had alleged that he was
in touch with Khaira. The court had also
issued a non-bailable arrest warrant
against him due to his failure to attend
the court proceedings.
The Fazilka court had on October 31
this year sentenced nine to imprison-
ment in the trans-border heroin smug-
gling racket which surfaced in 2015.
AAP’s Tainted Leader
Theleaderoftheoppositioninthestateassemblyhasbeenlinkedwithadrugcharge,making
hispartygoonthebackfoot
By Vipin Pubby in Chandigarh
S
OUT WITH THE TAINT
Punjab’s leader of opposition
Sukhpal Khaira addressing a
press conference in Chandigarh
run-up to the elections. A few months
later, however, as leader of the Oppo-
sition, he was reduced to tears at a press
conference where he asserted that he
was being wrongly involved in a
drug-related case which could lead to
his political exile. He alleged that his
political rivals had “conspired” to corner
him by resorting to false charges against
him. The immediate provocation was a
resolution passed in the assembly cen-
suring an ally of AAP which had re-
leased an audio to allege corruption in
Photos: UNI

against the trial court’s order, alleging
“political vendetta”. However, the High
Court dismissed his petition challenging
the order. Justice AB Chaudhari, who
heard the plea, quashed the non-bail-
able warrants issued against Khaira, but
asked the trial court to decide the mat-
ter on merit.
He then moved the Supreme Court,
which stayed the proceedings in the trial
court after his counsel argued that he
could not be summoned as an addition-
al accused after completion of the trial.
The division bench, comprising Justices
NV Ramana and S Abdul, issued notices
to the state of Punjab and adjourned
the case.
AAP, which had made the drug men-
ace one of its major poll issues in
Punjab, is obviously in a quandary. The
central leadership of the party has been
maintaining a stoic silence on the alle-
gations against Khaira. Even some party
MLAs in Punjab are reluctant to side
with Khaira. Only a couple of MLAs
were present at the press conference
They were convicted under the Narcotic
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
One of those sentenced to 20 years
imprisonment, Gurdev Singh, a former
chairman of Market Committee Dhil-
wan, was allegedly found to be associat-
ed with Khaira.
Additional public prosecutors, at that
stage, stated in court that Khaira was
the “kingpin” of the drug racket. The
court then directed the prosecution to
file a supplementary challan in the mat-
ter. It also issued non-bailable summons
to Khaira for November 30 under Sec-
tion 319 of the CrPC (power to proceed
against other persons appearing to be
guilty of offence) following an applica-
tion by the prosecution.
DRUG CASE
However, this is not the first time that
Khaira’s name had cropped up in the
case. Back in 2015, when the trial in the
case had begun, a reference was made to
him, although the police did not name
him in the chargesheet. He had then
moved an application before the High
Court seeking a CBI investigation into
the drug case. For some inexplicable
reason, he withdrew the petition in
March this year. He has now moved an
application for restoration of his prayer.
Khaira moved the Punjab and
Haryana High Court on November 3
NABBING THE CULPRITS
Officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau,
Amritsar, with three kg hashish seized from
four inter-state drug smugglers in the city
addressed by him on the issue.
Earlier, the party had been demand-
ing action against former Punjab minis-
ter Bikram Singh Majithia for his alle-
ged involvement with the drug mafia.
Majithia, brother-in-law of former de-
puty chief minister Sukhbir Singh Ba-
dal, had been facing an Enforcement
Directorate investigation.
The Congress too had made the drug
menace a major issue during the run-up
to the assembly elections earlier this
year. Capt Singh had declared that he
would “finish” the menace four weeks
after taking over as chief minister. He
now claims that the problem has been
checked but this is taken with a pinch
of salt.
MAJITHIA CASE
Several party MLAs, led by cabinet min-
ister Navjot Singh Sidhu, had been
demanding action against Majithia for
his alleged involvement in the drug
menace. No less than 40 MLAs had sub-
mitted a representation to the chief
minister seeking prosecution of Maji-
thia. However, Capt Singh has been
stonewalling their demand on the
ground that there is no evidence of his
involvement and that he will not indulge
in “political vendetta”.
Majithia, on his part, has filed sever-
al defamation cases against different
media houses and has been denying all
charges. Recently, a prominent English
daily of the region published an apology
on its front page and gave a “clean chit”
to Majithia.
Although the charges against Khaira
may be difficult to prove, and appear
far-fetched, AAP has been pushed on
the back foot with this taint of its legis-
lature party leader.
AAPhadmadethedrugmenacea
majorpollissueinPunjab.The
centralleadershipoftheparty
hasbeenmaintainingastoic
silenceonthedrugallegations.

Global Trends/ Maldives-China Trade Pact
HINA has been steadily
ramping up its presence in
India’s neighbourhood. The
latest is the Free Trade
Agreement between it and
the Maldives. This comes
even as concern grows in Delhi over
China’s predatory moves in the Indian
Ocean region. However, this should not
have come as a surprise as the negotia-
tions have been on for at least two years
or more. It was rushed through in a
brief session of parliament ahead of
Maldivian President Abdullah Yameen’s
visit to China. The unseemly haste in
getting the deal endorsed, with no oppo-
sition members present, has naturally
angered the opposition.
“A Free Trade Agreement between
Maldives and China will be detrimental
to our economy as the balance of trade
is greatly in favour of China. The agree-
TheislandnationiscosyinguptoBeijingwhichhaspumpedinmoneyforinfrastructure
projects.UnlessIndiahassomethingbettertooffer,Chinaistheretostay
By Seema Guha
Has India
Missed the Bus?
COMMON CAUSE
Maldivian minister
Mohammed Saeed (left)
and his Chinese
counterpart Zhong Shan
finalise the Free Trade
Agreement in Beijing
C
zhongshan2.mofcom.gov.cn

ment must be in the best interests of the
people of the Maldives,” said former
president Mohammed Nasheed and
leader of the Maldivian Democratic
Party (MDP) in a statement. The oppo-
sition claims that the agreement was
approved by just 30 votes in the 85-
member house and was not legal. “The
MDP notes that the attorney general of
the Maldives had advised corresponding
legislation for the Agreement to be
legally binding. The constitution
requires 43 attending to pass legislation
on this and the government does not
have the required votes. The FTA can-
not be implemented until the legislation
is passed,” the MDP said. The party
noted that according to the constitution
“voting on any matter requiring compli-
ance by citizens shall only be undertak-
en when more than half of the total
membership of the People’s Majlis is
present at the sitting at which the mat-
ter is voted upon.”
CHINA VISIT
But Yameen, who is scheduled to be in
China later this month, possibly wished
to arm himself with this big-ticket item
before meeting President Xi Jinping in
Beijing. Xi was the first Chinese presi-
dent to visit Maldives in 2014. It was
during his visit that the Maldives decid-
ed to join China’s Maritime Silk Route.
Former Indian foreign secretary Lalit
Mansingh said that the Maldivian oppo-
sition had every right to question the
FTA. “A trade agreement which is trans-
parent and benefits both countries is
naturally acceptable to all. But one that
is imposed on the country in a clandes-
tine manner cannot be pushed through
in a democracy.” He went on to add that
President Yameen’s authoritarian streak
was distorting democracy in the island
state. He added: “India has always
defended democracy in the Maldives.
We sent in our forces when President
Gayoom was nearly overthrown in a
coup in 1988 and have sided with demo-
cratic forces in the island nation.”
Yameen has been riding roughshod
over the opposition, jailing leaders and
putting scores of activists in jail on flim-
sy charges. President Nasheed is in exile.
With Commonwealth countries and the
rest of the international community crit-
icising Yameen for his undemocratic
practices, the Maldivian leader is turn-
ing more and more to China for sup-
port. Beijing can provide not just politi-
cal support but pour in funds for infra-
structure projects badly needed in the
island state. Beijing, as a rule, stays
away from the domestic politics of a
country, concentrating instead on the
leader and cheque book diplomacy.
As the Maldives gets cosy with
China, India, which in the past had a
large toehold in the Indian Ocean state
ruled by President Abdul Gayoom, is
gradually being sidelined. The moderni-
sation of Male airport which was earlier
allotted to GMR, an Indian infrastruc-
ture conglomerate, by Nasheed was
handed over to a Chinese company by
Yameen. GMR Male International
Airport Limited (GMIAL) took the case
to an international arbitral tribunal,
which ordered that GMIAL be paid
$270 million in compensation. This was
paid possibly by the Chinese. Also of
concern to India is China’s presence on
the Maldives’ northern atoll which sits
on the busy transit route between
Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
According to Nasheed, 70 percent of his
country’s foreign debt is owed to China,
on which the loan interest alone “is
more than 20 percent of Maldives”,
according to The Diplomat.
In March 2015, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi called off a scheduled
visit to the island state following the
arrest and detention of Nasheed on
charges of terrorism. Protests erupted
on the streets of Male and the visit was
cancelled. The larger message was
Delhi’s unhappiness over the strong-arm
tactics of the government. Modi visited
Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka to
strengthen ties with island nations with
an eye on China’s growing presence in
the Indian Ocean region, long consid-
ered Delhi’s periphery.
In July 2015, soon after Modi’s snub
to Yameen, the Maldives brought in new
legislation by which foreigners investing
more a billion dollars in the island
MaldivianPresident
AbdullahYameen (left)
hasbeenriding
roughshodoverthe
opposition,jailing
leadersonflimsy
charges.Mohammed
Nasheed,leaderofthe
MaldivianDemocratic
Party(right),is
inexile.
“China’swooingoftheMaldives
canbeseenasanattemptto
getanotherpearlinthe
stringagainstIndia.”
—FormerIndianforeignsecretary
LalitMansingh

Global Trends/ Maldives-China Trade Pact
economy could own land in perpetuity
in the Maldives. The only rider—provid-
ed 70 percent of the land was reclaimed
from the sea. China, which has mastered
the art of churning ocean beds to fortify
craggy islands in the South China Sea,
can turn this into a huge advantage. The
move triggered concern over land grab
by China and was particularly worri-
some for India. There are fears of
Beijing establishing a permanent naval
presence in the Indian Ocean island
in future.
CHINESE AMBITION
The Maldives is part of President Xi’s
ambitious plan to revive the ancient
Maritime Silk Route. This connected
China to Southeast Asia, the Indonesian
archipelago, the Indian subcontinent
and the Arabian peninsula to Egypt and
Europe in ancient times. On the ground,
this means that China needs to have
excellent political and economic rela-
tions with India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
the Maldives and Bangladesh. Barring
India, China has been able to forge
ahead in bolstering relations with the
rest of the sub-continental nations.
India is concerned about Chinese
military expansionism in the guise of
maritime trade and connectivity in the
Indian Ocean region. New Delhi was the
only major nation to have boycotted Xi’s
jamboree on the One Road One Belt ini-
tiative in May 2017. India is concerned
at the prospect of being surrounded by
Chinese naval presence across the lit-
toral island states in its neighbourhood.
Mansingh describes China’s wooing of
the Maldives as an “attempt to get
another pearl in the string against
India”. He is referring to China’s alleged
attempts to encircle India with foot-
prints in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
The problem with the Chinese mar-
itime and land initiative is that most
countries, whether Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
the Maldives or even Bangladesh, find it
hard to resist the hard cash that China
puts on the table. In befriending
Yameen, China has again let money do
the talking. Apart from modernising
and running Male international airport
for 25 years, it is also building a
friendship bridge to connect the airport
with Male.
The Maldives, which relies heavily on
tourism, is now getting planeloads of
high-spending Chinese tourists. In the
first nine months of this year, nearly 2.4
lakh Chinese visitors holidayed in the
island state. The FTA with China would
further boost economic ties and bring
tangible benefits to the Maldives. But
there are concerns about the strings that
China attaches to the loans that it
extends to countries vying for its infra-
structure funds.
This brings into question Prime
Minister Modi’s policy of neighbour-
hood first, something he vowed to do
when he first came to power. But
whether it is the Maldives, Nepal or Sri
Lanka, not to talk of Pakistan, it is the
Chinese who have made tremendous
progress in the last three years.
India may be fretting about China’s
inroads and its attempts to chip away at
Indian influence in the region, but
unless New Delhi has something better
to offer, China is here to stay.
So far, Modi has no big alternative
idea to match either the One Road One
Belt initiative or the Maritime Silk
Route project of President Xi.
SIGNIFICANT TIES
(Left) Chinese President Xi Jinping;
(below) China-Maldives Friendship Bridge
between Male and “Youth City” Hulhumalé
UNI
pbs.twimg.com

Briefs
Yemen’s ex-president
Ali Abdullah Saleh
was killed amid clashes
with his former allies—
the Shi’ite Houthi
rebels—soon after he
reached out to the Saudi
coalition forces fighting
them, putting an end to
their three-year-old
friendship. The Houthis'
political office had
accused Saleh of staging
a coup against “an
alliance he never believ-
ed in” and warned Saudi
Arabia it “would pay a
heavy price”. Saleh’s
death will set off a bitter
struggle for control of
capital Sana’a between
the Houthis and Saleh
supporters led by neph-
ew Tareq Saleh. Son Ah-
med Ali Saleh has also
vowed to lead the anti-
Houthi movement in the
civil war-torn country.
The US Supreme
Court on December
4 allowed the third ver-
sion of the Trump
administration’s travel
ban, ordered in
September, to go into
effect, under which most
citizens of Iran, Libya,
Syria, Yemen, Somalia,
Chad and North Korea
will be barred from
entering the US. In
October, a federal judge
had blocked the executive
order installing the ban.
However, there are still
legal challenges awaiting
it as the 9th US Circuit
Court of Appeals and the
4th Circuit Court of
Appeals are hearing
arguments on its legality.
—Compiled by Sucheta Dasgupta
Pak activist goes missing
Trump travel ban
3.0 effective
Death of a
strongman
Known for his grassroots activism
around the issue of India-Pakistan
friendship, member of the Aghaz-e-Dosti
(Initiation of Friendship) organisation
Raza Mahmood Khan (40) has gone miss-
ing in Lahore, sparking fears for his safety.
Khan went missing after attending an open
discussion event on the topic of extremism.
Fellow social activist Saeeda Diep has said
the group will file a habeus corpus writ in
the Lahore High Court as well as hold a
protest as “those lucky few who get
released after abductions such as these
usually come through the action of the
courts”. Pakistan's Supreme Court, too,
rapped the government earlier in the week
over the hundreds of missing person cases
that have remained unresolved till date.
The United Nations has rejected the
United States’ recognition of Jeru-
salem as Israel’s capital. The Security
Council met on December 8 to discuss
US President Donald Trump’s decision
made just two days prior wherein he
directed the state department to start
moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv
to the city. Eight countries of the 15-
member council had requested the
meeting. Israel’s annexation of Jeru-
salem in the 1967 six-day war is not
recognised internationally. Protests
have begun in East Jerusalem post the
declaration. “The status of Jerusalem
must be determined through negotia-
tions between Israelis and Palestinians
leading to a final status agreement,”
the five European nations said in a
statement after the meeting.
Discord over status of Jerusalem
Austria, Australia legalise
LGBT marriages
Two countries with similar names have
joined the growing list of nations to
have legalised same-sex marriages. While
earlier in the week, the Constitutional Court
of Austria nullified the legal regulation that
until now prevented such couples from
marrying, the Australian parliament has
also voted in favour of LGBT unions with
only four dissents in the House of Repre-
sentatives. In the case of Austria, however,
the current rules will remain in place until
December 31, 2018, unless the parliament
changes the law before then. So, in practice,
Australia will end up beating Austria to its
goal of achieving a more equal world.

B
ehind the VIPs, inspiring speeches
and glamorous faces at media con-
claves are stories of extreme stress
and unreasonable demands. The recent
Hindustan Times Leadership Summit was
a prime example. The newspaper’s chair-
person, Shobhana Bhartia, and her team
had to cope with bloated egos and bloated
entourages which involved hectic last-
minute challenges. One bloated ego was
that of actor Salman Khan. Many in the
high-powered summit audience were sur-
prised to see Khan being interviewed by
senior journalist Shekhar Gupta, who is
generally seen interrogating heads of state,
politicians, strategic affairs experts and vis-
iting VIPs. The reason for the Odd Couple
was that Khan, when invited, had told the
organisers, I am such a big star and I need
a big-name journalist interviewing me, not
some “chhota mota” film critic. The biggest
challenge for Bhartia and her
team was the unexpected size
of President Obama’s team. It
was nearly 40-person strong,
including 10 Secret Service
agents. Obama’s people
demanded an entire floor for
reasons of security and the cho-
sen hotel could not comply. A
frantic search later, the Maurya
Sheraton obliged, managing to
adjust guest bookings and
making an entire floor of the
property available.
H
er bio describes her as
an artist, and for all
intents and purposes
Trishla Jain, daughter of The
Times of India’s big boss, Samir
Jain, remains one, but, of late,
her expanding presence in
TOI’s pages has started to indi-
cate that she is preparing for a
bigger role in the family-owned
media behemoth. Trishla started
with an innocuous blog which
was reproduced in the newspa-
per’s multiple weekend editions
under the title “Begin Within”. It
usually focuses on lifestyle
issues and her personal inter-
ests and travels with a larger
message. Of late, the column
has expanded in length and
gained prominence—a piece
called “Write a Blank Cheque to
the Now” in The Sunday Times
was almost four columns and
was placed on the Nation page
where lead news items appear.
Officially she is executive direc-
tor at TOI, as is her husband,
Satyan Gajwani, who is also
CEO of Times Internet. Now,
judging by the increase in her
column length, the daughter is
also set to rise.
H
ere’s a message for those TV
channels who believe that the
quickest way to TRP heaven is by
screaming and shouting and blowing up
minor issues into a national crisis. The
fastest growing channel does none of
these things, conducts its debates with
gravitas and dignity and focuses
on issues that affect the com-
mon man. The channel is
Mirror Now, part of the
Times Network, which is
the exact opposite of its
big brother Times Now in
terms of issues covered and
decibel levels of
anchors and guests.
It is less than a
year old—it was
formerly
MagicBricks-
—but is
racking up
impressive
growth numbers
in terms of viewership according to the lat-
est BARC data which shows an almost 100
percent increase in just seven months,
even entering the top five in the English
news genre for a brief period.
Much of that is to do with the channel’s
Executive Editor Faye D’Souza’s calm
demeanour while anchoring prime-time
shows that deal with issues like the con-
cerns of homebuyers, how GST and
Aadhaar affect ordinary people, while not
pulling punches when it comes to holding
the government accountable for its inability
to deal with natural disasters and poor
civic amenities. On the day that every
channel was going hysterical over the
Padmavati row, Mirror Now’s prime-time
show—Urban Debate—highlighted the
farmers’ protest on prices by juxtaposing
Padmavati visuals with those of farmers,
showing why the latter was a more critical
issue. There may be a contradiction here
but anchors who keep their cool and
address everyday issues seem to work
better than those who scream and
shout and attack their guests for being
anti-national.
Media Watch
Daughter
Also Rises
Summit Stress
Catching Up

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Aadhaar Linkage: Legal
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Tushar Gandhi: Why I oppose a new
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Asdeadlycarcinogenic
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LIVING
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December11, 2017
Kerala conversions:
Love and religion
Tihar Jail: Exclusive
details on recent violence
HIGHCOST
OFJUSTICEWithlawyerschargingexorbitantfees
andfrivolousappealsleadingtodelays
incases,amajorityoflitigantsfindthat
theirsearchforjusticecanbeavery
expensiveone.Isthereawayout?

T
he entire country is in a panic
following orders from the GOI—
government of India or Mai Baap
as some call it—that you need to link
your Aadhaar number to all the servic-
es you enjoy and pay for, private and
public, otherwise they will be cancelled.
In other words, you will cease to exist.
In fact, if the threat is carried out, you
may as well be dead since you will have
no means of support. An exchange of
messages between a citizen and service
providers explains the crisis.
Citizen: Hello, is that Idea, I have given
my thumbprint at your office…
ServiceProvider(SP): What an idea Sirji…
Citizen:I meant I have responded
to your repeated messages and
calls asking me to link my
Aadhaar number to my mobile
phone. I did this a week ago, so
why am I still getting those mes-
sages warning that my mobile
service will be switched off?
SP: For language, press 1, for
pre-paid connection, press 2, for
post-paid connection, press 3,
for new connection, press 4, for
bill inquiries, press 5, for add-
on services, press 6, to make a
payment, press 7….
Citizen: What do I press to speak to a
human being?
SP:This is a recording.
Citizen: Not a good idea, Sirji. I lie awake
at night sweating and having night-
mares about life without a mobile
phone. Your customer helpline is con-
stantly busy because everyone must be
calling with the same question. Will my
life as I know it end on December 31?
SP: This is a customer call. The govern-
ment of India...
Citizen: Mai Baap.
SP:Sir, please do not interrupt, this is an
urgent call to inform you that the dead-
line to link your mobile phone with
Aadhaar and Aadhaar with Pan has
been extended but we advise you to do
this as soon as possible, failing which we
will have no option but to delete you
from our records.
Citizen: I have already done the linking,
don’t you people keep records? Wait,
there’s another call from my bank. Yes.
Bank official: Sir, as a VIP customer, we
need you to link your Aadhaar to your
bank account urgently, failing which you
will have no access to your own money.
Citizen: I did this two weeks ago why am
I getting these calls now?
Bankofficial:I’m just following orders. Do
it again, better to be safe than sorry. Or
broke.
Citizen:Is that the UIDAI office? I have a
question. If I fail to link my marriage
certificate to my Aadhaar card, will my
marriage of 35 years be declared null
and void? In other words, will my wife
and I be living in sin?
UIDAI: I’ll have to check, there are so
many services to be linked, wedding
services may well be one. Plus, there are
other ministries involved with their own
instructions. For instance, if you want to
link your toilet with Aadhaar card, you
need to approach the Ministry of
Drinking Water and Sanitation.
Similarly, to link your application for
compensation under the Bhopal Gas
Leak Disaster Act with your Aadhaar
card, the Ministry of Chemicals and
Fertilisers is to be contacted…
Citizen: It looks like my life will be going
down the toilet if this carries on. My
head is spinning trying to figure out all
the things that need to be linked
to Aadhaar.
Chartered Accountant: Sir, you need to link
your Aadhaar number to all your mutu-
al fund investments, otherwise they will
be deleted from all records. In other
words, you will be disinvested from
whatever you have invested.
Citizen:Do you realise how much time all
this is going to take? I’ve spent 50 years
making enough money to invest for the
future and it will all disappear
because it’s not linked to
Aadhaar? How about if
I want to immigrate to another
country?
Accountant: You will need to link
your application to…
Citizen: Never mind, this is sup-
posed to be a cashless society
anyway, all payments to be made
by credit cards.
Credit Card Company: Sir, have you
linked your credit and debit
cards to Aadhar? The cards will
be cancelled if you fail to do so.
Citizen: At least I have my pension to see
me through my old age.
Caller:Sir, I am calling from the Ministry
of Labour and Employment. If you do
not link your pension scheme to your
Aadhaar card, it will lapse.
Second Caller: Sir, this is about your life
and health insurance policies. No link
with Aadhaar and they will expire.
Citizen: I may expire as well, without
seeing 2018. All because of one
thumbprint.
Satire/Dilip Bobb
Anthony Lawrence
Finding the Link!

RNI No. UPENG/2007/25763
Postal Regd. No. UP/GBD-197/2017-19

India Legal 18 December 2017

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India Legal 18 December 2017