LAWgistics

10/04/2022

Lecture on mediation at M S Ramaiah College of Law

10/04/2022

30/07/2021

Brothers in Arms.

04/10/2018

The import of Supreme Court Judgement on Section 497 0f the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

What was Section 497 before its interpretation by the Supreme Court;
“497. Adultery- Whoever has s*xual in*******se with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such s*xual in*******se not amounting to the offence of r**e, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor”.

Ever since the Supreme Court scrapped IPC Section 497, which made adultery a criminal offence, on September 27, some people are worried that this will give adulterers a free reign and ‘ruin the sanctity of marriage’. In fact, as the Sabarimala verdict allowing the entry of women of all ages into the temple followed shortly after, jokes such as how a man can now walk into the temple with his neighbour’s wife with no fear have been doing the rounds.

Recently it was reported that, a woman committed su***de as her husband, who was allegedly having an affair, told her that having an extramarital affair was no longer a crime, as per the Supreme Court order.

The common man or layman has not understood the import of the Supreme Court order. The Supreme Court has not given a licence to commit adultery. The Supreme Court has scrapped the British-era regressive law, it has not said that adultery is right, or legal. The judgment has only ensured that two consenting adults having s*xual relations outside of marriage cannot be deemed criminal.

A reading of the Section 497 is axiomatic that it could only be used by a man against another man who has s*xual relations with his wife without his consent or connivance.

Section 497 did not have any remedy for the wife, and would not have punished the woman her husband was having an affair with.

The Supreme Court has not passed views on the sanctity of a marriage. The arbitrariness of the law, as it existed did not preserve the sanctity of marriage – for if a husband consented to his wife’s s*xual relationship with another man, it would not be adultery. The judgment contended that it only preserved the ‘propriety rights’ of a man over the woman he was married to. In other words, wife was treated like chattel and the husband was deemed to own her and could do whatsoever with her, including giving consent to another man to have s*xual in*******se with her without considering the feelings of the wife.

This obnoxious law was scrapped by the Supreme Court.
Morality vis-à-vis criminality
What is moral and immoral is different from what is criminal. If some view consumption of alcohol is not moral it would be their view point. But, as long as there is no legislative prohibition, it cannot be construed as illegal or criminal.

Furthermore, extramarital relations are not a new phenomenon. Further, adultery was a non-cognizable offence and had very few prosecutions in particular cases, People did not even realise it was criminal. The judgment has not commented on the morality of it.

More support for women
While the Supreme Court judgment says that if adultery leads to a person’s su***de, the spouse can be booked for abetting su***de. However, abetment for su***de can be slapped if one of the partner’s acts are geared towards driving the other person to take their life.

Instead of focusing on the argument that striking down section 497 has destroyed the sanctity of marriage, giving room for adulterous relations, the concern should be about how to help ladies who are faced with the trauma of either a victim or a sufferer.

Compiled by
Prasad Subbanna,
Advocate & Mediator

23/07/2018

Mediation Training program at Chitradurga.

04/12/2016

LAWS APPLICABLE FOR FILMS

The list of legislations applicable for films -
i. The Cinematograph Act, 1952
ii. The Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 1983

The following guidelines and policies are applicable for Films –
1. Guidelines for import of films
2. Policy for import of Cinematograph films and other films.
3. Revised guidelines for shooting feature films in India by foreign nationals/coproduction.
4. Guidelines to certify Films (CBFC)
5. Policy for certification of films for Film festivals

Cinematograph Act, 1952
The Cinematograph Act of 1952 has been passed to make provisions for certification of cinematographed films for exhibition by means of Cinematograph. Under this Act, the Board of Film Censor (i.e. Central Board of Film Certification) with advisory panels at regional centre is empowered to examine every film and sanction it whether for unrestricted exhibition or for exhibition restricted to adults. The Board is also empowered to refuse to sanction a film for public exhibition.

The Certification process is in accordance with The Cinematograph Act, 1952, The
Cinematograph (certification) Rules, 1983, and the guidelines issued by the Central
government u/s 5 (B). At present films are certified under 4 categories –

• U - Unrestricted Public Exhibition
• UA - Unrestricted Public Exhibition - but with a word of caution that Parental discretion required for children below 12 years
• A - Restricted to adults
• S - Restricted to any special class of persons
The Cinematograph Act lays down that a film should not be certified if any part of it is against the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the
State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or involves defamation or contempt of court or is likely to incite commission of any offence.

Under section 5B (2) the Central Government has issued the following guidelines.
A film is judged in its entirety from the point of view of its overall impact and is examined in the light of the period depicted in the film and the contemporary standards of the country and the people to whom the film relates, provided that the
film does not deprave the morality of the audience. Guidelines are applied to the
titles of the films also.

27/11/2016

Media laws of India- an overview

There are many laws that regulate the performance of media in India. Laws related to the mass media have been there since the very beginning. In the time of the British Raj, many laws related to the Press were enacted. In the post-Independence time, the various Governments have enacted many more media related laws. Media being a very powerful influence on the society is regulated and controlled by various legislations enacted from time to time.

Constitutional Provisions
The Indian Constitution does not provide freedom for media separately. But there is an indirect provision for media freedom. It gets derived from Article 19(1) (a). This Article guarantees freedom of speech and expression. The freedom of mass media is derived indirectly from this Article. Article 19 of our Constitution deals with the right to freedom and it enumerates certain rights regarding individual freedom of speech and expression etc. These provisions are important and vital, which lie at the very root of liberty.

Article 19 of the Indian constitution lays down - "All citizens shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, to assemble peaceably, and without arms, to form associations or unions, to move freely throughout the territory of India, to reside in any part of the territory of India, to acquire hold and dispose of property and to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.

However the right to freedom of speech and expression shall not affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the state from making any law insofar as such law imposes reasonable restrictions on the exercise of that right in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states, public decency or morality or In relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to offence”.

20/11/2016

Media Laws in India

“One of the objects of a newspaper is to understand the popular feeling and give expression to it, another is to arouse among the people certain desirable sentiments, and the third is the fearlessness to expose popular defects.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Communication is the procedure, which we use to exchange information by various methods and media is the medium or instrument of storing or communicating information. ‘Media’ the popular term inter-alia used as ‘Press’ denotes the print & electronic information carriers –the News Papers & Magazines, Radio, Television and currently includes Internet as new Media. Hailed as the ‘Fourth Estate’, media is the watchdog of the public affairs, informing the society and vice versa, acts as the forum to advocate the views of the society at large to those at the helm of public affairs.

The word medium comes from the Latin word medius (middle). The word communication is derived from the Latin root communicate.

Media law covers an area of law which involves media of all types (TV, film, music, publishing, advertising, internet & new media, etc.), and stretches over various legalfields, including but not limited to corporate, finance,intellectual property, publicity and privacy.

Media law is a legal field that refers to the following:

• Advertising
• Broadcasting
• Censorship
Confidentiality
Contempt
Corporate law
Entertainment
Defamation
Internet
Information technology
Privacy
Telecommunications

To be continued....

13/11/2016

In 2005, the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) had framed guidelines for ART (Assisted Reproductive Technologies) Clinics. However, there is no legal mechanism to enforce them or monitor compliance by clinics. The ART Bill was first drafted in 2010 by the previous UPA regime. The draft prepared in 2012 has banned only those foreigners from hiring Indian surrogates whose own countries of origin didn’t recognise commercial surrogacy as Indian practices. Now, the present government has prepared a new draft the Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill, 2014 and this bill is set to be tabled in the Parliament during the winter session. The new draft bill is presently in consulting stage for public comments.
Salient features Commercial surrogacy is not allowed in India. It bars foreign nationals from hiring surrogates in India. However, the draft Bill proposed to allow surrogacy to overseas citizens of India (OCIs), people of Indian Origin (PIOs), non resident Indians (NRIs) and even to foreigners married to an Indian citizen. A foreigner married to an Indian citizen shall produce ‘Medical Visa for surrogacy’.
Surrogacy is allowed only for Indian couples. By defining a couple as a married man and woman, the proposed Bill shuts the door on homos*xuals and people in live-in relationships. The draft Bill, however, states such couples will have to comply with certain conditions for commissioning surrogacy. For instance, such couples will have to be married and the marriage should have sustained for a considerable period of time. They also have to produce a certificate saying ‘the woman is unable to conceive her own child.’ The Bill also proposed to make it mandatory for all couples commissioning surrogacy to accept the custody of the child or children irrespective of any abnormality that the child or children may have. Commissioning couple shall submit a certificate indicating that the child/children born in India through surrogacy is/are genetically linked to them and they will not involve the child/children in any kind of po*******hy or paedophilia. Married women and Single women – divorced or widowed are allowed to act as surrogates. Surrogate mother shall have minimum twenty three years of age and maximum thirty five years of age and shall have at least one live child of her own with minimum age of three years. No woman shall act as a surrogate for more than one successful live birth in her life and with not less than two years interval between two deliveries
The child born to a foreigner married to an Indian citizen by s***m or egg donation, or surrogacy in India, then the child will not be an Indian citizen, despite being born in India, and will be entitled to Overseas Citizenship of India under Section 7A of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The draft bill also included various provisions to regulate the reproductive technology clinics in India. No assisted reproductive technology clinic shall offer to provide a couple with a child of a pre-determined s*x. No assisted reproductive technology clinic and assisted reproductive technology bank shall provide information on or about surrogate or potential surrogate to any person. Recently, the union home ministry has instructed Indian missions and foreigners regional registration offices (FRRO) not to grant visa to couples intending to visit India for surrogacy.

08/11/2016

National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (NGT)[2] is an Act of the Parliament of India which enables creation of a special tribunal to handle the expeditious disposal of the cases pertaining to environmental issues.It draws inspiration from the India's constitutional provision of Article 21, which assures the citizens of India the right to a healthy environment.

An Act to provide for the establishment of a National Green Tribunal for the effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

The Tribunal's dedicated jurisdiction in environmental matters shall provide speedy environmental justice and help reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts. The Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but shall be guided by principles of natural justice. The tribunal is mandated to make and endeavour for disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing of the same.Initially, the NGT is proposed to be set up at five places of sittings and will follow circuit procedure for making itself more accessible; New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai shall be the other 4 place of sitting of the Tribunal.

During the Rio de Janeiro summit of United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in June 1992, India vowed the participating states to provide judicial and administrative remedies for the victims of the pollutants and other environmental damage.

There lie many reasons behind the setting up of this tribunal. After India's move with Carbon credits, such tribunal may play a vital role in ensuring the control of emissions and maintaining the desired levels. This is the first body of its kind that is required by its parent statute to apply the "polluter pays" principle and the principle of sustainable development.

This court can rightly be called ‘special’ because India is the third country following Australia and New Zealand to have such a system.