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Showing posts from January, 2019

Section 497

Section 497 The Supreme Court recently unanimously nullified Section 497 of Indian Penal Code which made adultery punishable offence for men. The law itself a British era patriarchy which labelled women as property of her husband. The law was challenged by a Keralite NRI Joseph Shine and the court felt the law as an impediment to women empowerment and progressive approach. What is Adultery? Adultery is a punishable offence set by erstwhile British rulers, in 1860 section 497 was added to IPC which termed sexual intercourse with a married woman without the consent of her husband, not amount to rape but adultery itself and the offence was punishable to five years imprisonment or fine or both in case. Patriarchy involved Since this law heavily relied on male domination over his spouse and made women almost like a chattel of his husband. The law made was clear in its version that no woman can file a complaint under this law against her adulterous husband and husband himself can file

IPC 377

IPC 377 Context On September 6, 2018, Honorable Supreme Court partially repealed section 377 of Indian Penal Code, waving a new ray of hope for the LGBT community. The law for longed deemed to be a violation of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution. History The law dates back to 1860 when Lord Macaulay proclaimed a law which criminalises "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" and anyone who violates it to be imprisoned for ten years and fined. The law was in resonance with Biblical reference and mostly religious orthodoxy than rational inference. Legal Battle For decades civil rights activists in India termed this law an inhuman unconstitutional and demanded its repulsion and the breakthrough came from Indian judiciary. In 2001, Naaz Foundation filed a petition before Delhi High Court against section 377. However, HC dismissed the case, terming it as a mere academic challenge to the constitutionality of a legislative provision but afte

Doklam & Politics Afterwards

Doklam & Politics Afterwards The two biggest south Asian giants namely India and China have been in loggerhead since their inception, but none were as tense as Doklam Standoff of 2017 after 1962 war ended. The 71-day Doklam standoff started on June 16, 2017, near trijunction of India, Bhutan and China ended without single bloodshed after both sides decided to step back. Background Doklam or Doko La, or Donglang in Chinese, is an area spread over less than a 100 sq km comprising a plateau and a valley at the trijunction between India, Bhutan and China. It is surrounded by the Chumbi Valley of Tibet, Bhutan’s Ha Valley and Sikkim. Which makes it an important strategic position in terms of India's security scenario. On June 16 last year China crossed the status quo in an attempt to build roads, which were initially contended by the Royal Bhutanese Army but they were outnumbered and pushed back, which made the call for Indian forces to step in. Indian Stand India has histor

Rohingya Plight

Rohingya Plight Context Rohingya’s are considered to be one of the most persecuted ethnic communities of the world. Estimated to be around 1.1 to 1.3 million, is resident of the state of Rakhine (also known as Arakan) from pre-colonial era. Mostly descendants of former Arab merchants and people from repatriation of Burmese independence and Bangladesh liberation war. The situation of these people was always at the mercy of the majority Burmese speaking Buddhist majorities. The current situation, however, took a drastic turn back on 10 June 2012 when a Rakhine woman was gang-raped and in return ten Rohingya Muslims were burnt. Rohingyas Identity Even before Myanmar's independence, Rohingyas were considered as intruders and with independence, the narrative took constitutional form. Although back in 1990 they were issued a certificate(white paper) which gave the right to vote, were recalled in 2015. Which led the Bengali dialect speaking ethnic people completely 'stateles

Aadhaar Judgement

Aadhaar Judgement The most awaited Aadhaar Judgement by the Supreme Court cleared all the confusions that have been there for years since Parliament passed the Aadhaar Act, 2016. The judgement itself upheld the act, although nullifying some key features and ruling that Aadhaar doesn't violate Right to Privacy as it ruled in a previous judgement as a fundamental right. Aadhaar Legacy Originally it was Kargil Review Committee that recommended National ID for multipurpose use later UPA government renamed it as 'Aadhaar'. It was initially formed by executive order, but later the NDA government passed Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, benefits and services) Act, 2016. The passage of the bill and the ways that were followed by the government cast a shadow over the legitimacy of the act. The government later made it mandatory for almost all government services including PDS, PAN, SIM Card purchase, Banking etc., that irked a large part of the soci