TODAY'S LEGAL TABLET.

15 OCTOBER 2018

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VOCABULARY OF THE DAY

1. VITUPERATE: criticize harshly
Synonyms: accuse, blame
Antonyms: exonerate, exculpate

2. TURPITUDE: depravity
Synonyms: corruption, criminality
Antonyms: decency, morality

3. PEPSINATE: ferment
Synonyms: lighten, raise
Antonyms: darken, depress

4. UNCTUOUS: ingratiating
Synonyms: buttery, smarmy
Antonyms: blunt, genuine

5. HOOK: catch
Synonyms: clasp, lock
Antonyms: release, unhitch
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 THE CAREER EMPIRE-RAJOURI GARDEN

Graded Response Action Plan comes

into force in Delhi from today to combat
air pollution
An emergency action plan will be implemented in the national capital
from today to combat air pollution that has begun to show a trend
towards poor category. 
Central Pollution Control Board has predicted further fall in the air quality
index in the coming days. Under the emergency plan called Graded
Response Action Plan, stringent actions will be implemented based on
the air quality of the city. 
The authority said, if the air quality lies between moderate to poor
category- measures like, banning garbage burning and enforcing all
pollution control regulations in brick making factories and industries
would be implemented. 
Meanwhile, if the air quality deteriorates and falls in the very poor
category, additional measures including banning the use of diesel
generator sets and enhancing parking fees would be implemented.
Burning of paddy straw every year during October and November and
wheat straw during April in Punjab and Haryana are the major
contributors of air pollution in Delhi-NCR, as the smoke travels towards
the national capital.
 In Delhi, it mixes with fog and creates a toxic smoggy winter every year.

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HEADLINES TODAY
1.Victim of crime should have a say in
punishment: SC
2.SC upholds State’s VAT provision
3.SC has been wanting in its duties in
Ram Temple case’
4,HC upholds life term for man who
killed wife’s lover
5.2013 report wanted changes to sexual
harassment law
6.Pandian seeks release of Rajiv case
convicts
7.India,China launch their first joint
programme for Afghanistan to train its
diplomats

Today's legal Tablet

1.Victim of crime should have a say in

punishment: SC
The victim of a crime should have a say in the punishment of the
criminal, the Supreme Court has said in a judgment.

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A Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur. S. Abdul Nazeer and Deepak
Gupta held that punishment should be “meaningful” to the victim
also.
For this, “it is necessary to seriously consider giving a hearing to
the victim while awarding the sentence to a convict”, the Bench
said.
In criminal prosecution, the State takes the front seat while the
victim becomes a prosecution witness. The crime is primarily
considered a wrong against society and the punishment, a
deterrent for prospective offenders.
With its order, the Supreme Court has made it clear that the victim
or her family — who has suffered the crime — should have an
equal say in the punishment of the perpetrator.
“A victim impact statement or a victim impact assessment must be
given due recognition so that an appropriate punishment is
awarded to the convict,” Justice Lokur observed.

What may be ‘justice’ in the rule book may not serve the victim.
Taking another step further, Justice Lokur said even taking a
statement from the victim on the sentence of the convict may not
mean relief to the victim.

2.SC upholds State’s VAT provision

The Supreme Court has upheld Section 19(11) of the Tamil Nadu
Value Added Tax Act, 2006, saying it does not violate the
fundamental right to practise any profession or carry on any trade
or occupation under Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution. In a
judgment, a Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan
dismissed an appeal filed by Chennai-based ALD Automotive Pvt
Ltd against the Commercial Tax Officer.

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3.SC has been wanting in its duties in
Ram Temple case’
The pendency of appeals in the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid case
has created uncertainty and kindled animosity between Hindus and
Muslims, says the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s working president,
Alok Kumar , underlining the need for a law to enable the
construction of a temple.
The Supreme Court seems to be heading towards a judgment
in the issue. Doesn’t this demand for a new law for the
construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya seem somewhat
pre-emptive?

Certainly not. I would be happy if what you said had been

happening. In my understanding, all that has happened is that [then
Chief Justice Dipak Misra] Misra fixed a date for the next hearing. I
read in some papers that there might be a day-to-day hearing, but
that is not so in the order of the SC.
We do not know who would be the third judge, we don’t know at
what periodicity they would hear the case. We have been in the
court for 68 years; we have been in the SC for seven years.
Matters that came up later, and in my understanding, not as
significant in terms of public impact as this one, have been decided,
even by the benches headed by Justice Misra. But this matter has
been languishing. The pendency of the appeals creates an
uncertainty and therefore, keeps kindling the fires between the two
communities.
In my view this is one of the most significant appeals that the SC
should have taken up.
I have said that the SC has been wanting in the performance of
duties in the hearings of this case.
It is being said that the timing of the demand [for a new law] is
designed to help the BJP in the 2019 polls.

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It may or may not affect the electoral outcome. We haven’t done it
with an eye on the electoral battle.
How do you see recent judgments by the Supreme Court
striking down Section 377 of the IPC on gay sex and 497 on
adultery and the Sabarimala temple entry issue?
I feel that equally there were many issues, for instance polygamy,
also pending before the courts that could have been decided. It’s a
feeling I have, that whenever any government or a court wants to
go down in history for its judgments, then it chooses the Hindu
causes to beat. Sabarimala is one such cause.
But the courts have allowed women pilgrims to enter Haji Ali
Dargah as well?
Yes, that may be so. We are not casting blame on the Supreme
Court, we have faith in it. But, let’s leave this — now things just
deteriorate into allegations and counter-allegations, when I raise
this point.
What is your considered opinion then on the Sabarimala
judgment?
The Supreme Court has interfered in things that were in the domain
of saints, seers and society. Therefore, the agitation in Kerala is
being led by women in whose favour this judgment was supposedly
in.
What about the petitioners who went to court?
I read in [Justice] Indu Malhotra’s judgment that the petitioners had
no locus because they did not allege that they had faith in the
temple; they were outsiders. There was, and still is, no demand
from a sizeable number of people who say that they are the
devotees of the lord [Ayyappa] and would seek this right.
What about the striking down of Sections 377 and 497?
I feel laws are not static, times are not static. The morality of
Victorian times is not relevant; therefore, I have no issues with the
striking down of 377.
The judgment on 497, when you strike it down, then a vacuum is
created and the Supreme Court has, in the past, after striking down

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a particular statute, said that Parliament should legislate. And till it
does so, it mandates a certain course. They did not strike down this
law, in my understanding, because they approved of such
behaviour [adultery]. Their reasons had to do with equality of the
sexes. Then they could have — till Parliament enacted a framework
that bestowed equality and did not validate illegitimate relationships
— said something to fill this vacuum.
How can law punish intimate relationships unless there is a
pecuniary exchange?
You have to balance the two sides — the sanctity of marriage and
the freedom to have relationships. As of today, any consenting
relationship between two people was not a crime, unless one
partner was somebody’s wife. But there is a sanctity to marriage,
there is a family involved. Do we have some fear of the law, of
repercussion, to prevent people from breaching these bounds?
Isn’t that the domain of social sanction rather than statute
books?
When a social issue becomes a churning issue in society and there
is a demand for reforms that is when, if the law intervenes, it helps.
There should be a law that discourages adultery by any party.
The VHP has had an eventful year that saw the exit of Pravin
Togadia; how did that come about?
Since I have been a part of the RSS from 1962, I have seen it from
the inside. The RSS has had regular elections since its inception,
but in none of these elections there had been a contest — we have
learnt to do elections via unanimity. At some point of time, the VHP
was the first case — there was a contest at the top. Do you hush it
up? Do you put pressure on them to withdraw, do you fake an
election? There is a constitution, it provides for elections. So we
went through the electoral process; Mr Togadia had a candidate
and he himself was the counting agent. He lost, signed the election
result. He went straight to the pressmen waiting and resigned.

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I would imagine if he hadn’t quit, what would have happened? He
would have continued as one of our top leader, but he made a
choice, and he does his own thing, we do ours.

4,HC upholds life term for man who

killed wife’s lover
The Delhi High Court has upheld the conviction of a man accused
of killing his wife’s lover and sent him to life imprisonment.
A Bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice I.S. Mehta relied on
the corroborated testimonies of two witnesses — co-workers of the
deceased — who said that the victim had an illicit relationship with
the convict’s wife.

“In the light of the aforesaid, we are of the considered view that the
prosecution was able to establish the existence of motive for the
commission of the crime by [convict] Virender” the Bench said.
A trial court had sentenced the man and another accused to life
imprisonment for the crime.
The High Court upheld the verdict and sent Virender and the co-
accused to life imprisonment.
“The deceased, who was himself a young man, would have
resisted the attempt to throttle him. However, it is evident that he
was overpowered by the two accused and they continued to throttle
him till he died,” the Bench remarked.

2010 case

Deceased Yogesh worked at an iron welding factory in Naresh Park

Extension and used to sleep in a room in the plot. Around 11:00 pm
on November 18, 2010, when the owner came to park his vehicle in
an adjacent plot, he found that the small gate of his factory was
open. He got suspicious and went inside.

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When he peeped through the gap between the doors he saw
Yogesh lying on the takht . He also noticed an orange welding wire
tied around his neck.
A boy, who also worked in the factory, told the owner that Yogesh
had an altercation with his uncle’s son around a week before.
When he had asked Yogesh, he had told him that his cousin
Virender had seen him with his wife in a compromising position,
and had beaten him up.

Without a liver transplant, an aggressive

Yogesh told the boy that he was caught with Virender’s wife, and
that he used to go to her and that the two were having an illicit
affair.
The court also relied on the testimony of a co-worker of the
deceased, who claimed to have seen the two accused with the
deceased between 8.45 p.m. and 9.00 p.m. on the day of the
murder.

5.2013 report wanted changes to sexual

harassment law
The Centre recently announced its plan to set up a panel of judges
to look into the legal and institutional framework to curb sexual
harassment at workplaces following the #MeToo campaign on
social media.
However, as early as 2013, the Justice J.S. Verma Committee, in
its landmark report on gender laws, had recommended setting up
of an employment tribunal instead of an internal complaints
committee (ICC) in sweeping changes to the Sexual Harassment at
the Workplace Bill.

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The panel was formed in the aftermath of the December 16
Nirbhaya gangrape in 2012 and the ensuing nationwide protests,
and submitted its report on January 23, 2013.
At that time of the submission of the report, the Sexual Harassment
at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill had
already been passed by the Lok Sabha and was awaiting the Rajya
Sabha's nod. The Bill was passed unchanged by the Upper House
a month later.

The Committee, chaired by Justice Verma and including Justice

Leila Seth and senior lawyer Gopal Subramanium, termed the
Sexual Harassment Bill “unsatisfactory” and said it did not reflect
the spirit of the Vishakha guidelines — framed by the Supreme
Court in 1997 to curb sexual harassment at the workplace.
The report noted that an internal complaints committee as laid
down under the then proposed law would be “counter-productive”
as dealing with such complaints in-house could discourage women
from filing complaints. Instead, the committee proposed forming an
employment tribunal to receive and adjudicate all complaints.
To ensure speedy disposal of complaints, the Justice Verma
Commitee proposed that the tribunal should not function as a civil
court but may choose its own procedure to deal with each
complaint.

Onus on employer

The Committee said any “unwelcome behaviour” should be seen

from the subjective perception of the complainant, thus broadening
the scope of the definition of sexual harassment.
The Verma panel said an employer could be held liable if he or she
facilitated sexual harassment, permitted an environment where
sexual misconduct becomes widespread and systemic, where the
employer fails to disclose the company’s policy on sexual
harassment and ways in which workers can file a complaint as well

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as fails to forward a complaint to the tribunal. The company would
also be liable to pay compensation to the complainant

The panel also made several suggestions to encourage women to

come forward and file complaints. For instance, it opposed
penalising women for false complaints and called it an “abusive
provision intended to nullify the objective of the law”.
The Verman panel also said that the time-limit of three months to
file a complaint should be done away with and a complainant
should not be transferred without her consent.

6.Pandian seeks release of Rajiv case

convicts
Veteran CPI leader D. Pandian, who was one of those seriously
injured in the bomb blast that killed former Prime Minister Rajiv
Gandhi and others at Sriperumbudur in 1991, has written to the
Governor to release the seven convicts on humanitarian grounds.
Mr. Pandian, who was then in UCPI, was with Rajiv Gandhi in the
election campaign as an political ally and interpreter when the
explosion took place.

Mr. Pandian pointed to convict Perarivalan’s good conduct in jail

and that he had already served 28 years behind bars.

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INTERNATIONAL RELATION
1.India,China launch their first joint
programme for Afghanistan to train its
diplomats
India and China have launched their first joint programme for
Afghanistan to train its diplomats. According to a tweet put out by
the Indian Embassy in Beijing yesterday, Indian Ambassador to
Afghanistan, Vinay Kumar hosted 10 Afghan Diplomats who will be
travelling to India for the 1st India-China joint training programme
for Afghan diplomats under the aegis of the Trilateral Cooperation
between India, China and Afghanistan.

An understanding to launch a joint programme was reached during

an informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
Chinese President Xi Jinping held in April at China's Wuhan city.

CURRENT AFFAIRS OF THE DAY

1.6th RCEP Inter-sessional Ministerial

Meeting in Singapore
• C. R. Chaudhary, attended the 6th RCEP Inter-sessional
Ministerial Meeting (IMM) in Singapore on 12-13 October, 2018.
• The Ministers from 16 RCEP countries met in Singapore to
discuss a modern, comprehensive and mutually beneficial
economic partnership agreement among ASEAN and ASEAN's FTA
partners.
• The Ministers reviewed developments since the 6th  RCEP
Ministerial Meeting held on 30-31stAugust, 2018 in Singapore,

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which was attended by Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and
Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu. They welcomed the intensification of
market negotiations. While appreciating some narrowing of gaps,
the Ministers urged all RECP Participating Countries to continue to
exert all efforts towards meeting the targets set in the Package of
Year End Deliverables.
 
2.Inaugurates 46th edition of IHGF-Delhi
Fair Autumn-2018
• Union Minister of State for Textiles, Ajay Tamta, inaugurated the
46th edition of world’s largest IHGF-Delhi Fair at India Expo Centre
& Mart at Greater Noida today.  Speaking on the occasion, he said
that this   Fair   has played a vital role in increasing exports of
handicrafts from the country and has acquired a special
• effective sourcing medium for their requirements and that the
Indian exporting community considers this  as the most effective
marketing medium for their merchandise. 
• Participation by over 3200  exhibitors in this fair and visit of
overseas buyers from over 110 countries shows its popularity
amongst Indian handicrafts exporters and importers. 
• Ajay Tamta urged the handicrafts exporters to take care of the
artisans and craftsmen  who  are the backbone of this sector. 

3.The language used in the courts

should be understood by the petitioners
who are seeking justice: Vice President

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• The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that
the language used in the courts should be understood by the
petitioners who are seeking justice.
• He has addressed the gathering after inaugurating the new
building for Allahabad High Court, in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
today.
• The Vice President told the judges and members of the Bar
Association that while our Constitution envisages independence
of judiciary from the executive, the Legislature and Judiciary
should share healthy mutual respect and should complement
each other.

4. International conference on the future

of the Indian Ocean held in Colombo
 “The Indian Ocean: Defining our Future” Conference was held On
October 11, 2018 at Temple Trees, in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
• It is aimed to explore strongest challenges in the  Indian Ocean
region.
• The inaugural address of the Conference was delivered
by  President Maithripala Sirisena  while  Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe delivered the keynote address.

5. India International Silk Fair -2018

begins in New Delhi on 16th October
Union Minister of Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani, will inaugurate the
6th edition of India International Silk Fair (IISF) in New Delhi on
October 16, 2018. Minister of State for Textiles, Ajay Tamta will also
be present on the occasion.
• India is the 2nd largest producer of silk in the world.

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• T h e s i l k i n d u s t r y i s a g r i c u l t u r e b a s e d a n d  l a b o u r
intensive  and  provides gainful employment to around 8 million
artisans and weavers in
rural areas.
• Over 108 exhibitors of
silk and blended silk
products manufactured
in different parts of the
country will display their
produce during the
three-day event,
organised by the Indian
Silk Export Promotion
Council (ISEPC) at
Pragati Maidan.
• Over 218 buyers from
various countries will
participate in the fair.

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