NCW, FRRO ordered to pay compensation

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/article546088.ece

The Delhi High Court has directed the National Commission for Women (NCW) and the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to pay Rs.20,000 each to a man for illegally offloading him from a Dubai-bound plane and keeping him in illegal detention at Indira Gandhi International Airport here.

Justice S. Muralidhar passed the order on a petition by the aggrieved person, Vikram Sharma, who had challenged an NCW order asking the DCP, FRRO, to issue a Look-out Circular (LoC), his illegal offloading from a plane and detention consequent to that by the FRRO.

The NCW had asked the FRRO for issuance of the LoC on a complaint by the petitioner’s wife, who had accused him of subjecting her to cruelty for dowry, arguing that it had the apprehension that the petitioner might flee the country to frustrate the mediation process started by it.

The NCW had further stated that the petitioner was asked over telephone to appear before it in connection with the complaint.

Holding the issuance of the LoC illegal and without authority of law, Justice Muralidhar said that commissions and tribunals enjoy the powers of a civil court which are not authorised to pass an order for issuance of an LoC.

“Being granted the powers of a civil court for a limited purpose does not vest the NCW with the powers of a criminal court and it has no authority as of today to make a request for the issuance of an LoC,” Justice Muralidhar said.

“This Court is, therefore, of the view that the action of the NCW in writing to the DCP, FRRO, for issuance of an LOC against the petitioner was without the authority of law. The consequent action of the FRRO in issuing such LoC which resulted in the petitioner being detained at the IGI airport was also, therefore, illegal,” Justice Muralidhar said.

The Court asked the Union Home Ministry to issue circulars clearly stating that the request for issuance of LoCs cannot emanate from statutory bodies like the NCW.

The Court asked the Delhi Police Commissioner to order an inquiry into how the complaint of the petitioner’s wife was transferred from the Crime Against Women Cell to the Anti-Extortion Cell, conclude it within two days and inform about it to the petitioner as well as the complainant within a week thereafter.

Woman advocate gets misbehaving cops booked

http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2010081920100819024544672ba336c7a/Woman-advocate-gets-misbehaving-cops-booked.html

Two policemen and two accused in a crime misbehaved with her at Shaherkotda police station

 

 By Ahmedabad Mirror Bureau

Posted On Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 02:45:44 AM

Bhavna Makwana met senior officers, but not satisfied, she went to police control room and forced the Shaherkotda police to file complaint against the policemen A woman advocate forced Shaherkotda police to file a complaint against its own cops after they misbehaved with her and pushed her out of the station. She approached senior officers and the Police Control Room to force registration of the complaint. According to the complaint filed by Bhavna Makwana, four persons, including two policemen, misbehaved with her at the police station. On Monday evening, Shaherkotda police had nabbed a person identified as Yagnik in a crime case, but he was later released by the court. Makwana handled Yagnik’s case. The next day, when Makwana visited Shaherkotda Police Station, she was threatened by Yagnik’s opponents in the case — Amit Kanubhai and Kanu Jeenabhai — who were standing there. The duo caught her by her hand, used abusive language and threatened her with dire consequences if she did not withdraw from the case. Two inspectors of the Saherkotda police station — B J Patel and K G Sardawa — who were present there, saw the incident. But when she went to them to complain, instead of taking any actions they started making fun of her. They even abused her and pushed her out of the police station, Makwana said.  Makwana went to narrate the case to DCP (zone III) S M Katara, who assured her of looking into the matter. Not convinced by Katara’s response, she went to JCP (sector I) Satish Sharma. Sharma too assured her that he would take necessary actions and asked her to give a written application in this matter. Thinking that he too might take the matter lightly, Makwana called the Police Control Room which, in turn, called the Saherkotda Police Station and ordered the officer there to file a complaint against the four persons, the two policemen and the two accused, on Tuesday evening.

Establishment of men’s ministry is our ultimate aim: SIFF

Monday, 16 August 2010

YERKAUD(Tamil Nadu): As many as 22 national NGOs participated in the 3rd Men’s Rights Conference held at Yercaud in Tamil Nadu on the 14th and the 15th of August, 2010.

 

The organizations marked a “sugarless” Independence Day this year as a symbol of the bitter life they have been handed out by women who harass them and even deny them parenting rights.

 

“SIFF and its allied NGOs, under the aegis of the Save Indian Family movement, called for a “Sugarless Independence Day”, this year. Men’s rights activists who attended the conference decided to have sugarless tea/coffee on the 15th of August, 2010 and also did not had any other sweets. This was an epitome of the bitterness in the lives of men who are living in a society where there are only expectations from them and no acceptance for them”, said Mandeep Puri, coordinator of the Chandigarh Chapter.  

 

“This men’s rights conference was conducted to discuss and intensify the awareness campaign of the various problems being faced by men in India as sons, brothers, husbands and fathers including skyrocketing suicide rates by men, especially married men. As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)”, said Gaurav Saini, coordinator, Chandigarh Chapter.

 

“The organization plans to intensify the movement and aim to establish a Men’s Welfare Ministry. Further, the movement plans to expand to another 50 cities with Help line and create Massive Awareness Campaign among the people to reject in political arena (MLA, MP) who neglect ‘men welfare/interest’ by creating a SIF vote bank”, said Arun Kumar.  

 

“Intensify the need of ‘Men’s Welfare Ministry’ through awareness and advocacy with executives and stop Multiple Maintenance litigation were some other demanded which were discussed during the national conference at Yerkaurt”, added Mandeep Puri

 

“The Chandigarh chapter will soon be announcing the launch of the Chandigarh Chapter of All India Mother-in-Law Protection Forum and Child Rights in Shared Parenting”, said the organization.

 

The NGOs which were a part of the conference were Save Family Foundation, New Delhi, Gender Human Rights Society, New Delhi, Save Indian Family, Nagpur, Maharastra, Hridya, Kolkata, West Bengal, Save Indian Family, Guwahati, Assam, Pati Pariwar Kalyan Samathi, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, All India Mother-in-Law Protection Forum, Bangalore, Karnataka, Save Indian Family,Chandigarh, Save Indian Family, Bangalore , Karnataka, Save Indian Family Movement, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Save Family Harmony, Visakapatinam, A.P , Save Indian Family, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, National Litigant Bench, Bangalore, Karnataka, AIMWA ( All India Men’s Welfare Association), Hyderabad, Andra Pradesh, National Family Harmony Society, Bangalore, Karnataka, Save Indian Family, Pune, Maharastra, Save Indian Family, Jabalpur, Madhra Pradesh, PURE ( People’s Urge for Rights & Equity), Mysore, Karantaka, Child Rights in Shared Parenting, Bangalore, Karnataka, SAMSEVA, Bangalore, Karnataka, Men’s Seek Justice, USA/Delhi and Save Indian Family, Raipur, Chastigarh.  

Woman PSI on probation solves dowry case within a fortnight

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=CITY – Briefs&sectid=35&contentid=201007172010071916334717337260b84

George Mendonca

 

Posted On Saturday, July 17, 2010 at 04:33:47 PM

Rabale: A 25-year-old woman police sub-inspector (WPSI) Vanita Kadam who is on a probationary period with the Rabale police station is in the  news as her  superiors and colleagues are all praise about her meticulously solving a dowry case entrusted to her in two weeks.  // // // She succeeded in arresting six accused, in-laws of a housewife, from their residence in Pune and has even recovered soe of the gold ornaments and furniture given to the housewife by her parents as her marriage gifts. The victim has been identified as Sunita Dalvi (25), who is currently staying  at her father’s residence in sector-3, Airoli after she left her in-laws’ house in Pune, unable to bear their alleged torture. tough cop:  PSI Vanita Kadam recovered a large part of the wedding gifts The arrested accused are her husband Devidas Dalvi (26), her father-in-law Abhimanyu Dalvi (54), mother-in-law Anjanabai Dalvi (50), sisters-in-law Sarika Dalvi (24) and Manjari Phadke (28) and brother-in-law Nitin Dalvi. SPI Nasir Pathan of Rabale police station informed, “Sunita Dalvi lodged a complaint with the Rabale police on July 2 alleging that her husband and in-laws tortured her physically and mentally after she turned down their persistent demand for dowry of Rs 3 lakh. Accordingly, a case was registered against the accused under sections 498A-4, 406, 323, 504, 506 and 34 of the IPC. PSI Vanita Kadam was appointed as the investigating officer and she solved the case and even recovered the valuables grabbed by the complainant’s in-laws.” SPI Pathan added that despite telling her in-laws repeatedly that her father could not afford to pay the huge amount, they persistently demanded dowry from the victim. “They used to beat her, pull her hair and abuse her, as she has alleged in her complaint which also states that she wanted in return, the marriage gifts given to her by her parents, which she claimed was taken awayby her in-laws. At the time of her marriage with Devidas Dalvi, her parents had given her gifts comprising  5 gms gold ring, 3 tolas gold chain, 10 gms bracelet and 3 tolas necklace apart from a TV set, fridge and washing machine worth Rs 90,000.” WPSI Kadam has recovered from the accused a bracelet worth Rs 12,000, a gold ring worth Rs 4,000  and the TV, fridge and washing machine, informed SPI Pathan. timesnm@indiatimes.com

Wife files domestic violence plaint against gay husband

http://punemirror.in/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=2&contentid=2010081820100818221614764cc99033a&sectxslt=

By Chaitraly Deshmukh

Posted On Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at 10:16:14 PM

 

A wedding picture of the couple A 30-year-old woman’s married life took an unexpected turn when she learned that her husband, with whom she had two children, was gay. Karishma married Salman (39) (names changed to protect their identities) on February 27, 1997 and settled in Ramtekdi. Salman was a rickshaw driver and Karishma a housewife. But after a decade of marriage, when her husband asked her for custody of their children, she approached lawyer Supriya Kothari and filed a plaint under the relevant sections of The Protection of Women for Domestic Violence Act, 2005 before the Judicial Magistrate (First Class) A M Pathankar on August 6 and on August 23. Salman has been directed to approach the court. Karishma has alleged in her plaint, that Salman changed his sexual preference after having two children with her. Karishma’s father spent Rs 80,000 towards the wedding expenses, cash of Rs 5,000 and one-and-half tolas of gold. After the wedding, they had a normal married life. In 1998, she had a son name Razak (name changed to protect identity) and then in 2000 another son was born to them. Karishma recalls, “Salman used to trouble me after marriage. He constantly demanded money and abused me many times. But I tolerated it. He was earning a decent amount by driving a rickshaw and had a part-time fish business. Salman demanded money from my parents as he wanted to establish another business. During my second pregnancy, he insisted that I go to my parents’ house.” She further alleged, “After three months, I returned to our house as Salman did not even see our son’s face when I was in the hospital. I came home and found Salman with a man called Danni. Salman told me that he was a friend and was homeless. He then insisted that I go back to my parents’ house. One day, when I returned to our house, I found photos of Salman on the wall. He was wearing a saree and salwar suit. My older son asked me whether Salman was dating someone and who the woman in the photograph was. I told him he was his father.” “When I asked Salman about this transformation, he told me he wanted to earn fast and easy money. He also said that he would divorce me and asked me to marry another man. I then left the house as I could not digest the fact that my husband was having sex with another man.” Karishma continued, “I am helpless and homeless. I have studied till Class VIII and work as a domestic help. My children are grown up and I have to see to their education. Recently, I approached him and asked him to take responsibility of being a father, by providing me with money. He then asked for custody of the children and said that he, along with his sons, would earn a good income. I want my sons to be educated and want to keep him far away from them. When my sons are asked by their school friends what Salman does, my older son tells them he is dead as they feel ashamed of him.” Karishma has filed a complaint before JMFC Pathankar on the grounds that she receive a share of Salman’s household, a monthly monetary maintenance of Rs 10,000 to her and her children. In addition, she wants  a compensation of Rs one lakh for injury, mental torture and emotional distress.

Criminal justice system is crumbling: SC

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Criminal-justice-system-is-crumbling-SC/articleshow/6326450.cms

NEW DELHI: A startling revelation that hundreds of criminal trials in murder, rape, dacoity and kidnapping cases were pending for more than 20 years made the Supreme Court on Tuesday say in exasperation — “the criminal justice system is either crumbling or has crumbled”.

What added to the anguish of a Bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly was the fact that High Courts had stayed trials and, later, forgot all about the cases.

Taking Uttar Pradesh as a test case, solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam reeled out rather sad statistics reflecting poorly on the Allahabad High Court, which is administratively in charge of the subordinate judiciary.

Subramaniam said 10,541 criminal trials were stayed by Allahabad HC. Of these, 9% were pending for more than 20 years and 21% for over a decade. This means, stay of trial in 30% of heinous offences continued for more than 10 years.

The apex court has repeatedly ruled about the fundamental right of an accused to speedy trial and balanced it with judgments which coaxed trial courts to hear the loud cry of society to bring offenders to book.

In this backdrop, the Bench observed, “It’s sad that administration of justice has come to such a pass. The HCs stay the trial and forget all about it. This means, we are choking the administration of justice. No one should be denied a fair and speedy trial. But what about the victims? What about society which feels that a wrongdoer should be punished at the earliest. Through these stays, that is being denied.”

When the SG said that chief justices of HCs should play an active role in clearing the mess arising out decade-old stay orders on criminal trials, the Bench said, “The CJs are helpless. They have a tenure ranging from one year to even two months. What can a CJ do in such a brief tenure? They cannot deal with this problem as their brief tenures do not allow them to even understand the dynamics of a particular HC.”

Taking a dig at the government and law officers, the Bench said, “Six months back, you (SG) and your colleagues had pioneered a programme for expeditious justice in the face of crores of cases pending in trial courts. But the entire system seems to have either crumbled or is crumbling. What we are witnessing through this case is that criminal justice system does not exist. What else can be said when 9% of cases have been stayed for more than 20 years. There has to be a debate and concrete solution.”

The SG agreed and said there had been unexpected hindrances from hidden quarters that was slowing the programme. “The opaqueness and the power enjoyed by hidden actors is hindering it and we will not succeed unless we have loads of optimism. But we cannot just throw in the towel. Please use this case as a starting point for bringing about immediate reparatory measures. It has to be a joint operation by government and judiciary,” he said.

The Bench also said there were thousands of cases filed in HCs which were never called for hearing. It asked the Allahabad HC to furnish details of such cases for passing of appropriate orders. The proceedings took place in a petition filed by Imtiaz Ahmed.

Read more: Criminal justice system is crumbling: SC – India – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Criminal-justice-system-is-crumbling-SC/articleshow/6326450.cms#ixzz0x1oZ6jZC