GOVT CURBS RTI LAW IN DRAFT BIOTECH BILL

The Department of Science and Technology has said that the proposed National Biotechnology Regulatory Authority will be the final authority in deciding whether particular information should be disclosed or not, undermin- ing the Right to Information law.
Under the RTI act, the Central Information Commis- sion is the final authority that decides on what information can or cannot be disclosed. The panel's decision can be chal- lenged in the high court.
"It (the draft bill) is several steps backwards in ensuring transparency in biotechnology science," said Kavitha Kuruganti of NGO Kheti Virasat Mission.
In the 2008 draft bill, there was no mention of the RTI law.In the 2009 draft, the RTI law is dealt with in detail.
It was only after the 2008 version came out that the com- mittee struck down the gov- ernment's objections to dis- closing Bt brinjal data, saying it should be revealed in public interest.
Information on the Genetic Engineering Approval Commi- ttee website was questioned by many scientists, including P.M. Bhargava, a GEAC mem- ber.
But the department, in the draft National Biotechnology Regulatory Bill, had said that the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005, would not be applicable to the new authority, which will have powers to describe any information as "confidential".
"Disclosure of confidential commercial information, such information shall, notwith- standing anything contained in the Right to Information Act, 2005, be retained as confiden- tial by the authority and not be disclosed to any other party," reads Section 27 (1).
The government expects to introduce the bill in the second half of the budget session.
The Department of Science and Technology has said that the proposed National Biotechnology Regulatory Authority will be the final authority in deciding whether particular information should be disclosed or not, undermin- ing the Right to Information law.
Under the RTI act, the Central Information Commis- sion is the final authority that decides on what information can or cannot be disclosed. The panel's decision can be chal- lenged in the high court.
"It (the draft bill) is several steps backwards in ensuring transparency in biotechnology science," said Kavitha Kuruganti of NGO Kheti Virasat Mission.
In the 2008 draft bill, there was no mention of the RTI law.In the 2009 draft, the RTI law is dealt with in detail.
It was only after the 2008 version came out that the com- mittee struck down the gov- ernment's objections to dis- closing Bt brinjal data, saying it should be revealed in public interest.
Information on the Genetic Engineering Approval Commi- ttee website was questioned by many scientists, including P.M. Bhargava, a GEAC mem- ber.
But the department, in the draft National Biotechnology Regulatory Bill, had said that the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005, would not be applicable to the new authority, which will have powers to describe any information as "confidential".
"Disclosure of confidential commercial information, such information shall, notwith- standing anything contained in the Right to Information Act, 2005, be retained as confiden- tial by the authority and not be disclosed to any other party," reads Section 27 (1).
The government expects to introduce the bill in the second half of the budget session.

IPO of Coal India expected by August

Coal India Ltd (CIL) is expected to come out with its Initial Public Offer (IPO) of shares by August, a company official said.

"We discussed the tentative timeline with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) Friday," Coal India Chairman Partha S. Bhattacharyya said Friday after meeting SEBI officials in Mumbai.

He said the Draft Red Herring Prospectus would be filed by June. The issue of giving shares to staff was also discussed and resolved at the meeting.

City-based CIL had earlier said SEBI has objected giving shares to staff employed in a subsidiary.

CIL is a holding company and most of its staff, including all its mining personnel, are in the payroll of eight subsidiaries, which also own the coal mines.

CIL's IPO would consist of divestment of 10 percent stake of the government, which now holds 100 percent in the coal mining major.

Sibal to seek consensus on right to education

Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal Saturday said he will try to build a consensus among all states to implement the Right to Education (RTE) Act from April 1. He also stressed that the government is and will be strictly against commercialisation of education.

"Our aim is to ensure that all children in India get quality education, but we are against commercialisation of education. Incessant hike of fee and overcharging from parents is something we do not support," Sibal told reporters here.

In order to implement the RTE Act in its true spirit, the minister said, he will hold meetings with various state governments.

"I will talk to every state government on issues regarding implementation of the RTE Act from April 1. I will be meeting Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Diskhit Monday regarding the same," he said.

Nearly 50% of Indian women get married before turning 18: Study

Child marriage continues to remain a big problem in the country, with half the women getting married before attaining the minimum legal marriageable age of 18 years, according to a study released by health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad here on Saturday.

"Marriage happens very early for most of the women in most states - one fifth were married below the age of 15 years and 49 percent were married before turning 18," said the study.

The study was conducted in six states - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu - between 2006 and 2008, involving over 58,000 youths in the age group of 15-29 years.

Findings show that the situation was worst in Bihar -- 77 percent of women were married before the age of 18.

"Not only did marriage occur at young age but it was also often arranged without the participation of young people themselves, particularly young women. Majority of them said that their parents did not seek their approval while selecting their spouse," the study added.

The study found that early marriage is followed by early pregnancy and almost 47 percent of young women had their first pregnancy before they turned 18.

"Married adolescent girls have unique healthcare needs and many of these become mothers before they are physically and mentally ready for this role. We need to set up exclusive forums for adolescent girls in villages to ensure their multi-dimensional development needs are addressed," said Azad.

The study was carried out by the Population Council, Delhi and International Institute of Population Sciences, Mumbai.

Dutch government collapses over Afghan mission

The Dutch coalition government collapsed on Saturday over whether to extend the country's military mission in Afghanistan, leaving uncertain the future of its 1,600 soldiers fighting there.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende announced that the second largest party in his three-party alliance is quitting, in a breakdown of trust in what had always been an uneasy partnership.

Balkenende made no mention of elections as he spoke to reporters after a 16-hour cabinet meeting in The Hague that ended close to dawn. However, the resignation of the Labor Party - which has demanded the country stick to a scheduled withdrawal from southern Afghanistan - would leave his government in the minority, and political analysts said early elections appeared inevitable.

Balkenende said his center-right Christian Democratic Alliance would continue in office together with the small Christian Union, and would "make available" Labor's cabinet seats. But he did not spell out his intentions.

The coalition, elected to a four-year term, marks its third year in office on Monday.

"Where there is no trust, it is difficult to work together. There is no road along which this cabinet can go further," Balkenende said.

The Dutch debate comes as opinion polls in many troop-providing European countries indicate growing public opposition to sending more soldiers to Afghanistan amid a global financial crisis and shrinking defense budgets.

Why should a Muslim have to wear his nationalism on his sleeve?

We owe the young Muslim our trust, due process and the benefit of the doubt — so that when the horror of something like Pune happens, he can spontaneously share the revulsion of his fellow citizens without the insidious taint of guilt by association, writes Najeeb Jung.

Sixty-three years ago as Nehru spoke of India's tryst with destiny, millions of Muslims rejected the Two-Nation theory and made their choice to stay in the motherland. India was their "madare watan" and India it was where they would live and die. When people questioned their integrity and commitment to the nation and suggested they were fifth columnists, they bore the calumny patiently.

The '50s and '60s were difficult years marred by a sequence of riots where often enough Muslims were at the receiving end. Even the pluralist Nehru's commitment to a secular politics wasn't enough to curb the police's tendency to visit retribution disproportionately on Muslims in the wake of a riot. Misled by the platitudes and promises of the political elite, Muslims remained a community bereft of leaders. But a quarter of a century after partition, attitudes changed. Young Muslim boys and girls left behind the sense of alienation and exclusion that had beleaguered their parents. The partition of Pakistan in 1971 and the foundation of Bangladesh was a landmark event that gave this new generation of Muslims the strength to speak in a more modern, secular voice and to stand up for their rights, their place in the Indian republic.

Today, despite sectarian tragedies like the razing of the Babri Masjid or the Gujarat pogrom, the young Muslim is very much part of the system. He has a confident sense of shared citizenship and wants to exercise his rights. What upsets him is the tired rhetoric of "Muslim alienation", the condescending op-eds encouraging him to merge himself into "mainstream" society, to contribute to Indian's burgeoning economy which seem to assume that he has spent his life in a backwater or another planet. He is tired of being stereotyped. He is a regular guy, who works for a living, thinks the same thoughts and nurses the same ambitions as the great Indian middle class that the world is justly celebrating. And so like Faiz he wonders: "Iss raah pe jo sab pe guzarti hai who guzri Tanhan pase zindaan kabhi ruswa sare bazaar Garje hain bahut sheikh sar-egosha-e-mimbar Kadke hain bahut ahle hakam bar sare darbar" (I go through all that one goes through while on this path At times alone in jail, sometime defamed in the bazaar The sheikh denounces me from the pulpit And the ruler lashes out at me in his durbar).

I work at a remarkable university where young boys and girls and grown men and women who truly represent India's diversity, give the lie to these divisive stereotypes. They hang out together, eat and drink together, see movies together and party together. Their thought processes, their aspirations are shared. They dress alike, they want similar jobs, they look for love and laughter, new friends, wider horizons. Like young people everywhere,they want to move on.

So when the horrors of Mumbai and Pune occur, and he hears the same cliches - Muslim alienation, local Muslims supporting Pakistani terrorists, the disgruntlement in Muslim youth after 9/11 and so on - he's gripped by that depressing deja vu. Once again Muslim men and women will be asked to wear their nationalism on their sleeves, be more vehement in their criticism of Pakistan than their non-Muslim fellows, to demonstrate their credentials as citizens.

If this patriotic Muslim citizen were to point out that in the aftermath of the Mecca Masjid blasts in Hyderabad, scores of young Muslim boys were yanked out of their homes, then either to be released after weeks of torture when there was no evidence to hold them or to disappear without trace, some columnist or pundit would comment on the defensiveness of the Muslim middle-class, or muse that educated Muslims were in denial. A single' encounter' in Batla House, New Delhi, located in a Muslim majority area is enough to put 'Muslim society' on notice and a sophisticated modern central university, with an unmatched nationalist lineage under a cloud. The alleged complicity of a serving army officer in a terrorist plot didn't lead people to conclude that the army or 'Hindu society' was violent or disaffected; it would be useful if the same benefit of the doubt were extended to those of this republic's citizens who happen to be Muslim.

But here's the thing: young Muslims understand the piquant situation they are in. After all, there is truth to the charge that an earlier generation of Muslims asked for a separate homeland and got it. They know they belong to a proselytising religion; they are aware of the flourishing myth that Islam gives no quarter to 'kafirs'. They know that Islam is misunderstood by non-Muslims and often misinterpreted by their co-religionists. They're self-conscious about the controversy regarding Muslim polygamy, the stereotypes about jihad, the promised hooris in heaven, the hideous penal practices of certain 'Muslim' states, the barbaric instances of inhuman behaviour by the likes of Mullah Omar in Afghanistan, the blasphemous justification of such behaviour by invoking the Nizam-i-Mustafa.

He knows that the violence practised by extremists makes the task of explaining Muslim belief and practice hard. With suicide bombers in the headlines, who cares to know that suicide is forbidden in Islam? Verse 195, The Cow, and verses 29-30,the Women, clearly state: "And spend of your substance in the cause of Allah, and make not your own hands contribute to your destruction; But do good." Every Muslim theologian will tell you that suicides are haram. Who wants to know that in practice having more than one wife is impossible because the conditions laid down for marrying again are so exacting, when people see manifestly imperfect Muslim men marrying again. Which non-Muslim will feel the resonance of Islam's assertion that all men are equal, when he or she can see Muslim states where Muslims are more equal than others, and Muslim men more equal than women?

The young Muslim in India is aware of all this. He struggles with regressive interpretations of his faith in his own life and he is completely integrated into the socio-economic fabric of India. Years ago, a friend in the IPS, Rashid Khan produced a film called the Seventh Man. His hypothesis was that every seventh man in Calcutta was a Muslim. But he was so integrated into Calcutta that his efforts and energy moved the economic wheels of the great city.While he was not rich, he worked at jobs without which the city would be dysfunctional : as a baker, a weaver, a barber, a butcher. Today's young Muslim has greater ambitions than that. He wants to start a business, be an engineer, do an MBA. He anxiously awaits campus recruitment, he crams for the UPSC exams and dreams of the civil services. Others want to be judges, lawyers, dentists and doctors, some want to be active politicians.

Each one of them is aware of the numerous handicaps he faces, the hurdles, the prejudices he is likely to encounter, the shortcomings in his own community, its inherent backwardness, poverty, lack of modern education, lack of a youthful leadership. And yet he wants to overcome all this and be part of this great nation that his parents chose to stay behind in, to be share in the promise Nehru held out on the midnight of 15 August 1947: he wants to be part of this nation's tryst with destiny. What we owe him is trust, due process and the benefit of the doubt: so that when the horror of something like Pune happens, he can spontaneously share the revulsion of his fellow citizens without the insidious taint of guilt by association.

CJI in cash-in-bag storm

K.G. Balakrishnan, the Chief Justice of India is in the eye of yet another storm. The Bar Association of the Punjab & Haryana High Court passed a resolution yesterday, condemning him and former Attorney General, Milon Banerjee for having given a clean chit to Justice Nirmal Yadav, in the ‘cash-in-bag’ scam. The scam broke out in August 2008, when a bag containing Rs. 15 lakh ($32,500) to the then Additional Attorney General, Justice Nirmaljit Kaur. It was discovered later that the money was meant for Justice Nirmal Yadav. Soon after the scam came to light, the CJI appointed a three-judge committee to inquire into the matter. The Central Bureau of Investigation had registered a case under the Indian Penal Code and obtained permission from the CJI to examine Justices Kaur and Yadav and sent the preliminary report to former Attorney General, Milon Banerjee for his opinion. Mr. Banerjee concluded that there was insufficient evidence to initiate prosecution against Justice Yadav and the Ministry for Law, concurring with the opinion, dropped the prosecution for lack of evidence. The three-member collegium headed by the CJI accepted the Ministry’s report. The Bar Association that met yesterday rejected the report of the CBI, as a ‘grave and flagrant miscarriage of justice’. Anupam Gupta, has been appointed to lead the counsels to represent the Bar Association before the Special Judge of the CBI. The Association is expected to nominate a committee to lobby with the concerned. President of the Punjab & Haryana Bar Association and Anupam Gupta were not available for comment.

PC invites CMs of Bihar, J'khand, WB to discuss anti-Naxal plan

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram
has asked the Chief Ministers of Bihar, Jharkhand and West
Bengal to come to Delhi for a meeting to discuss a
''tentative'' anti-Naxal plan drawn by the Centre before
the commencement of the inter-state operations.

Bill cleared to curb malpractices in professional education

The Group of Ministers (GoM) on Wednesday cleared ‘The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill’ drafted by the Human Resource Development Ministry to provide for a Central law to curb malpractices.

The draft legislation had been referred to the GoM by the Cabinet after concerns were expressed at certain provisions. In particular, some Cabinet members were apprehensive of the Bill being challenged, especially as the Supreme Court, in the T.M.A. Pai case, held that establishment of private unaided educational institutions was in the exercise of the Fundamental Right to Occupation under Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution.

While pointing out that the Bill was not aimed at dissuading private participation, the Ministry said that so far there was no Central law to curb a range of malpractices that crept into the professional education system. These include capitation fee, donations, overcharging for sale of prospectus, opacity in admission procedures, misleading advertisements, recruitment of unqualified persons and underpayment of teachers.

The Bill provides for a punishment of up to three years in jail and Rs. 50 lakh as fine. According to the Ministry, the draft legislation has built-in safeguards against any misuse of authority or interference with the autonomy of institutions.

Court directs Chhattisgarh to appoint SPOs as per law

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Chhattisgarh Government to appoint Special Police Officers (SPOs), who are supporting the State Police in tackling the naxal problem, in accordance with the law.

A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan Justices S.H. Kapadia and Aftab Alam gave this direction on a petition filed by Nandini Sundar, Ramachandra Guha and E.A.S. Sarma against the activities of Salwa judum in the State.

Senior counsel Ashok Desai, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that apart from the regular police, private citizens including minors were given arms and appointed as SPOs. He said the National Human Rights Commission had filed a report giving out the state of affairs prevailing in Chhattisgarh. Its recommendations and suggestions, he added, were not fully implemented.

He said tribals had become aliens in their own villages as their houses, hospitals and anganwadis were occupied by the police. He said compensation should be paid to those who lost their houses in the violent incidents.

On behalf of the State, senior counsel K.K. Venugopal submitted that about 3,000 SPOs had been appointed in addition to the regular police force to take care of the law and order situation. He denied that private citizens (Salwa judum) were being given arms to deal with the naxal problem.

Divorced woman can't use ex's name, rules HC

``What's in a name...'' The famous Shakespearean line from Romeo and Juliet popped up during an acrimonious divorce case on Wednesday. ``A lot,'' said an aggrieved man, ``especially when my ex-wife is misusing it''. The Bombay high court concurred and in a rare order that might make divorced men smile, directed the divorced woman to stop using her former husband's name and surname.

The HC further clarified: ``ex-wife cannot use the husband's name anywhere, including in her bank account''. The landmark judgment was passed by Justice Roshan Dalvi as she dismissed a petition filed by a woman challenging an interim order of the family court in Bandra...

Law Minister cautions police against short circuiting law

Citing omissions in developing ‘a new police system’ for an independent India, Law and Justice Minister M Veerappa Moily stressed reforms that he said ‘are still continuing.’ ‘At the dawn of independence there was no demand for a new police system for the country,’ Dr Moily told a conference on quality in governance. ‘The reason for not insisting on a new police for a new society are not yet known.’ ‘No serious search has been made as to why the police and their functions are usually relegated,’ the Law Minister acknowledged at the 5th National Conclave on Leveraging Quality for Good Governance.

Its significance was clear, he pointed out, ‘when it is widely accepted that no development is possible without order and the fruits of development would not reach the intended beneficiaries in the absence of order.’ ‘It would appear the founding fathers laid emphasis on continuity and change rather than on any violent departure from the past and demolishing the existing administrative structure... When the five year plans were introduced the police was not made a plan subject.’ The conference sponsored by Quality Council of India is to discuss issues and ideas aimed at improving ‘the quality of life of the average Indian.’ Experts say sooner or later it all boils down to the quality of governance at work. The event attended among others by former Chief Justice of India J S Verma centred on Effective Governance - Judiciary and Policing.

But as Dr Moily put it, India in its long history saw governance of all kinds, proportions and dimensions and survived through them.

‘It saw the worst and the best in its 2500 years of recorded history. The governance in India now is based on this long experience. It is the collective will for good governance that is lacking in India.’ The Law Minister renewed pledges to bring in reforms in electoral laws as well as in judiciary, which he called the ‘best in the world.’ ‘In addition to the judiciary, another institution which plays an equally or perhaps an even more important role in implementation of good governance standards is the police,’ Dr Moily remarked.

‘However, it has been seen that when discussing the inputs for good governance in any society, the police is not generally prominent or even important.’ In contrast, Dr Moily cited the handling in Britain where police ‘are the instrument for enforcing the rule of law. They are the means by which civilised society maintains order that people may live safely in their homes and go freely about their lawful business.’ Quoting from the 1962 Royal Commission on the Police, Dr Moily said ‘policemen, like everybody else, are accountable to the law.

They are also the laws agents. And the uniformed policemen have for many years been recognised and accepted as the embodiment of the laws authority.’ Dr Moily quoted Anglo-Saxon police historian Charles Reith to assert that the ‘British love for order and respect for law is the result of model behaviour on the part of the British police.’ ‘The point,’ he said, ‘is that good policing plays as equally an important role as the judiciary for the attainment of the objectives of good governance.’ In India, it was not until January 1959 that the States began police reform.

As the Kerala Police Reorganisation Committee observed, the people of independent India ‘expect a different approach by the police towards the maintenance of law and order and want them to play a new role in a progressive and enlightened democracy.’ Dr Moily counted an honest and efficient judicial and police service-- not one that ‘short circuits’ law-- among the imperatives of good governance.

‘It is quite obvious and self-evident that the foundations of good governance can be laid only on a well disciplined, accountable, efficient, honest judicial and police service.

He said ‘it is futile to expect’ good governance with a police or judicial system that does not respect human rights, violates and short circuits the law, is not accountable, lacks professionalism, is high handed, corrupt and poorly trained.

‘It is thus essential that all the institutions of the government-- and the judiciary and police most prominent among them-- must pool their energies to force a good governance for the country. Only such a collective will can devolve truly good governance for the country.’

IOC, ONGC, SAIL, NTPC to be country’s first Maharatna companies

Four public sector behemoths--Indian Oil Corporation, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Steel Authority of India Limited and National Thermal Power Corporation-- are likely to become the country’s first Maharatna companies by April-May this year.

‘My department is in possession of applications from IOL, ONGC, SAIL and NTPC for Maharatna status. The papers are being scrutinised at present. The status is expected to be conferred on them in the next 60 to 90 days,’ Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Secretary Bhaskar Chatterjee today said.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme here, Mr Chatterjee said the four PSEs who had so far been in the category of Navaratna were the only eligible companies right now to be in the exclusive club of elites.

Coal India, another public sector leader going neck to neck with the four others, would become the fifth Maharatna only after getting listed in the stock exchange, he said.

The Government had earlier decided to award the status to top state-owned companies to give them more freedom to negotiate joint ventures, investments and grow capacity.

The eligibility criteria set for Maharatna status call for a turnover of at least Rs 25,000 crore, net worth of Rs 15,000 crore and net profit of Rs. 5,000 crore for consecutive three years. A Maharatna aspirant must also be listed on the stock exchange.

Allahabad HC raps CBI in Ayodhya title suit case

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, hearing the Ayodhya title suit, today rapped the CBI over its probe into the missing files of the Ayodhya case and disposed of the application on the matter.

A special full bench expressed its annoyance on the CBI being unable to locate all the missing files in the Ayodhya case and pointed out that it proved their inefficiency.

The court, however, maintained that the evidence, which had come up till now was enough in the case.

The bench comprising Justices S U Khan, Sudhir Agarwal and D V Sharma gave the observation on an application filed by Sunni Central Waqf Board.

The petition demanded that seven documents of the year 1949, which were in the government custody, be produced in the court for the hearing into the title suit of Ayodhya.

The court, earlier, had ordered the CBI to find the missing files after the state government said the files concerned were missing.

Later, during the investigation the agency had found some missing files.

The bench had reserved its judgement way back and today it disposed of the plea by saying that there was enough evidence in the case.

Special court likely to fix date for argument in 26/11 case

Special Court Judge M L Tahaliyani is likely to fix the date tomorrow for argument on the evidence recorded during the trial against lone Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab and two other co-accused in 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

The court would resume tomorrow, nearly a month after it concluded recording of evidence.

Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam and Kasab's lawyer K P Pawar have stated that they were ready to put forth their arguments.

However, co-accused Faheem Ansari is likely to seek time to engage another lawyer following the gunning down of his counsel Shahid Azmi recently.

During the trial proceeding 610 witnesses deposed before the court and at least 40 eyewitnesses, including the injured, had identified Kasab in the court.

In the blast, more than 160 people were killed and over 250 injured on November 26, 2008 by 10 terrorists.

Telgi sentenced to 10 years RI

The Special Court hearing the multi-crore stamp paper racket cases on Wednesday ordered Abdul Kareem Telgi to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and pay a fine of Rs. 2 lakh. The remaining 19 persons have been ordered to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years and pay fine of Rs. 40,000.


The court on February 10 convicted Telgi and 19 others for printing and selling fake stamp papers. They were found to have indulged in counterfeiting government stamps by designing, printing, possessing, and selling such stamps as genuine stamps in Bangalore and other parts of the State.


Bangalore’s Upparpet police arrested Badruddin and Vittal Maruthi in August 2000 and recovered Rs. 53.12 lakh worth fake stamp papers from them.

23 prisoners escape from Chittorgarh jail

As many as 23 prisoners escaped from the district jail after snatching the service rifles of two jailers here this morning, police sources said.
The inmates fled from the jail after over powering the two jailers, who had gone in the prisoners barrack to distribute breakfast.

The prisoners beat up the two jailers and ran away after snatching their service rifles.

HC declines interim relief to Sajjan Kumar in 1984 riot cases

The Delhi High Court today refused to give interim relief to former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar who is facing threat of arrest by the CBI in 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases.

It deferred the anticipatory bail application of Sajjan Kumar till Monday.

Justice A K Pathak, hearing Kumar's anticipatory bail plea, refused to restrain the CBI from arresting him till Monday.s The former MP's lawyer Amrender Sharan said Kumar was accused of the same offence earlier but was never arrested for the last 25 years.

He has faced trial in the case and was acquitted. Filing an FIR of the same offence is bad in law and should be quashed, he said.

''My client's right to life cannot be taken away by a procedure which is not sanctioned by law,'' Mr Sharan argued.

It is the violation of Article 21 of the constitution as his fundamental rights are being infringed and his liberty to life is being taken away by a procedure which is not sanctioned by law, Mr Sharan stated.

He was not arrested for the last 25 years as there was nothing against him, he added.

A battery of lawyers appearing for Kumar have filed a writ petition in the court to quash the FIR filed against him as he has already faced trial in the cases for 25 long years. A person cannot be charged twice for the same offence, Advocate I U Khan, appearing for Kumar said.

Mr Khan pleaded that the court should restrain the CBI from arresting Kumar as he has never violated any legal condition laid down in the earlier bail applications and had participated in the trial without influencing any witnesses or tampering with any evidence whatsoever, Mr Khan said.

The court, however , refused to grant any interim relief and posted the matter, of hearing the anticipatory bail application, till Monday.

Defence Ministry expects 15-20% rise in budget allocation

Defence Ministry is expecting a 15 to 20 per cent increase in its budget allocation for the next fiscal due to rise in expenditure on its modernisation drive and commitments following pay review.

Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju said he expects an increase in the budgetary allocation this fiscal from 2009-10 figure of Rs Rs 1,41,703 crore.

"Certainly we are expecting an increase because of the increase in revenue expenditure, implementation of 6th Pay Commission Report. Apart from that, there is an emphasis on modernisation and new acquisitions," he said.

Keeping this in mind, Raju said, the Ministry expects an increase in the budget, which "might be 10-15 per cent or 15-20 per cent".

No extra time in jail for teens who attacked Indians: Oz court

Two teenage brothers, who spent less than a year in youth detention for a brutal racial attack on a group of Indians which left one of the victims with permanent brain injuries, will not spend any further time in custody, an Australian court ruled on Wednesday.

Victorian county court judge Christine Thornton said the 12-month detention order for the brothers, now aged 17 and 18 respectively, by the Children's Court last year over the 2008 incident, was lenient but should stand because of the delay in bringing an appeal against the sentence, AAP reported.

IMF to start sales of 191.3 tonnes of gold soon

The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said it will shortly begin selling 191.3 tonnes of gold in the open market under a program approved last year to boost its resources for lending.

To avoid disruptions of the gold market, the IMF said the sales "will be conducted in a phased manner over time." The fund left the door open for central banks to keep buying the gold directly from the IMF.

The IMF announced last year it would sell a total of 403.3 tonnes of gold, about one-eighth of its total stock, to diversify its sources of income and increase low-cost lending to poor countries.

New Blog for Indian Legal Research

I would like to highlight the Legal Research India blog recently started by Arjun Sheoran, student at the National Law School of India University. Essentially, the blog allows readers/users to search the web for relevant legal materials. The search is a Google custom search; with the advantage that it is restricted to some selected websites, listed here – so the results are likely to be more relevant for those engaged in Indian legal research than a general Google search. According to the homepage of the blog, “Legal Research India provides customized search engines for legal research for Indian and foreign law as it searches relevant websites only. It can be used searching for judgments, legislations, articles, journals, reports or any other legal information/material from India, UK, USA or any other jurisdiction…” I have not used it too much yet; but in the couple of instances when I did use it, I found it extremely helpful. I hope the readers of this blog find it useful too.

Court-martial Proceedings and Article 33 of the Constitution

With reports that Lt.-Gen. Avadesh Prakash will be court-martialled; it might be an appropriate time to visit some of the legal provisions in this connection. The allegations against the officer are (going by a recent NDTV report) that “Lieutenant General Avadesh Prakash was indicted by an army inquiry of using his position to help a businessman in Siliguri in West Bengal. The internal investigation found that Prakash influenced officers to permit a real estate developer to acquire 71 acres next to the Army's 33 Corps Headquarters in Siliguri in West Bengal. The Army, which had earlier told the government that this land could not be sold to any commercial developer for security reasons, okayed the transfer of the land to Agarwal.”The law in this regard is to be found in the Army Act, 1950. Possibly, a case could be made out under Section 45 of the Act.

”45. Unbecoming conduct. Any officer, junior commissioned officer or warrant officer who behaves in a manner unbecoming his position and the character expected of him shall, on conviction by court-martial, if he is an officer, be liable to be cashiered or to suffer such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; and, if he is a junior commissioned officer or a warrant officer, be liable to be dismissed or to suffer such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned.”

This Section was recently considered by the Supreme Court in M.M. Malhotra v. Union of India, AIR 2006 SC 80; and the words “manner unbecoming his position and the character expected of him” appear to be of very wide import. The scheme of the Act and the procedure to be followed in a court-martial has been explained in Lt.-Col. P.P.S. Bedi v. Union of India,AIR 1982 SC 1413. Other Sections which might have a possible application include Sections 52, 53 etc. The procedure in relation to a court-martial is found in Chapter X of the Army Act. The power to convene a general court-martial may be exercised by the chief of army staff under Section 109. The question of to what extent these (and other) provisions of the Act are consistent with Part III of the Constitution of India, 1950 has also been considered by the Courts. A challenge to provisions of the Act will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, due to Article 33 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court explained the position thus in Lt.-Col. P.P.S. Bedi v. Union of India, AIR 1982 SC 1413:

“… Article 33 confers power on the Parliament to determine to what extent any of the rights conferred by Part III shall, in their application to the members of the Armed Forces, be restricted or abrogated so as to ensure the proper discharge of duties and maintenance of discipline amongst them. Article 33 does not obligate that Parliament must specifically adumbrate each fundamental right enshrined in Part III and to specify in the law enacted in exercise of the power conferred by Article 33 the degree of restriction or total abrogation of each right. That would be reading into Article 33 a requirement which it does not enjoin. In fact, after the Constitution came into force, the power to legislate in respect of any item must be referrable to an entry in the relevant list. Entry 2 in list I: Naval, Military and Air Force and any other Armed Forces of the Union, would enable Parliament to enact the Army Act and armed with this power the Act was enacted in July, 1950. It has to be enacted by the Parliament subject to the requirements of Part III of the Constitution read with Article 33 which itself forms part of Part III. Therefore, every provision of the Army Act enacted by the Parliament, if in conflict with the fundamental rights conferred by Part III, shall have to be read subject to Article 33 as being enacted with a view to either restricting or abrogating other fundamental rights to the extent of inconsistency or repugnancy between Part III of the Constitution and the Army Act…”

All 13 chargesheeted in Shopian case granted bail in Kashmir

All the 13 people, including doctors and lawyers, who were chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation in Shopian double rape and murder case, were granted bail by a local court here today.

Hearing the case, the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Srinagar, granted bail to all the accused on a surety of Rs 10,000 each.

The next date of hearing has been fixed for April 17.

The CBI in its chargesheet has alleged that the accused, including former public prosecutor in the Shopian case, had threatened and forced the witnesses to make false statement against the police.

It said doctors were accused of having fudged the reports in the case.

People of the area alleged that both the women Neelofar and Asiya were murdered after their rape.

However, the CBI in its report has said that the women had died due to drowning in the river.

The recovery of bodies had evoked massive protests in the Kashmir valley for about a week. However, Shopian observed about 45 day-strike which was called off following assurance by Justice Gosh that culprits would not be spared.

Life sentence to 1993 blast convicts means 60 yrs in jail: Maharashtra govt

The 1993 serial bomb blasts convicts, who have been awarded life imprisonment by the designated TADA court, will have to serve at least 60 years in jail and they cannot get the same concession as the other TADA convicts undergoing life sentence, the Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court recently.

Four convicts in the 1993 blasts case - Niyaz Mohammad, Moin Qureshi, Ali Shaikh Umar and Salim Mira Shaikh alias Salim Kutta - had moved the High Court, seeking release. All of them have served the mandatory 14 years of their life sentence.

Advocate N N Gawankar, their lawyer, argued that according to the 1992 prison guidelines, they should be released after serving 30 years. But the government recently issued a notification saying that they would have to serve at least 60 years in jail.

Jharkhand HC directs ED to file affidavit against Madu Koda and associates

The Jharkhand High Court directed the Enforcement Director (ED) to file an affidavit by February 23 mentioning the action taken against former chief minister Madhu Koda and three other former ministers’ chargesheeted in connection with the Disproportionate Assets case.

A division bench of Chief Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra and Justice R R Prasad passed the order while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by one Durga Oraon.

During the course of argument the court also directed the vigilance department to file an affidavit stating the grounds on which the former ministers and Koda were chargesheeted.

Koda and the former ministers Kamlesh Singh, Anosh Ekka and Harinarayan Rai, facing charges in the DA case, are at present lodged in the Birsa Munda jail.

SC Directs to file amended petition in Bofors gun case

The Supreme Court directed the petitioner in Bofors Guns scandal case to file within two weeks the amended petition.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan adjourned the hearing of the case till March 23.

The petitioner, Ajay Kumar Agarwal had sought directions to the Union Government not to permit the release of Ottavio Quattrocchi, a family friend of Gandhi family who is the main suspect in Rs 64 crore Bofors Gun scandal.

The apex court directed the petitioner to amend the prayer as Quattrocchi has already been released.

The Union Government has already decide to close the case against Quattrocchi, and the CBI has filed an application for closure of the case in the court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Delhi as there was no evidence against Quattrocchi.

Delhi HC granted one day anticipatory bail to Sajjan Kumar

The Delhi High Court granted one day anticipatory bail to Congress leader and former MP Sajjan Kumar in two 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases.

Justice SL Bhayana granted the bail till tomorrow when the case will come up for hearing before the regular bench.

The Congress leader, who was facing arrest following the lower court denying him bail, had moved the High Court yesterday for the anticipatory bail.

His petition mentioned him pleading how the lower court had wrongly rejected his plea on the ground that only the court, which had issued summons, can grant him bail.

The CBI had chargesheeted 13 people, including Kumar, on January 13 in two separate 84 riots cases for allegedly making provocative speeches, leading to the killing of 12 people in the riots in the aftermath of assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

SC adjourns disproportionate assets case against Lalu, Rabri

The Supreme Court adjourned till February 25 the hearing of the disproportionate assets case against former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi, a former Chief Minister of Bihar.

Mr Yadav, his wife and the CBI have challenged the decision of the Patna High Court to entertain the petition filed by the Bihar government against the order of the trial court discharging both RJD leaders in the case. According to the petitioner, since the cbi was a prosecuting agency, the state government had no locus standi to challenge the order of the trial court. Only the CBI could challenge it.

The State government went in appeal to the High Court when the CBI decided not to challenge the acquittal orders. Mr Yadav was Railway Minister in the UPA government at that time.

SC, HC’s can order CBI probe without centre’s consent

The Supreme Court held that it and the High Courts can order CBI investigation even without prior consent of the Centre or the concerned state governments.

A constitution bench comprising Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan , Justices R V Raveendran, D K Jain, P Sathasivam and J M Panchal delivered the judgement.

The main contention of the petition was that court cannot order CBI investigation in a case unless and until the concerned state government agreed to hand over the probe to the agency.

The apex court, rejecting the contention, noted that the High Courts and the Supreme Court are custodians and protectors of fundamental rights of the citizens. As every citizen is entitled to free and fair investigation, the State cannot be permitted to deprive the victims of a crime or malicious prosecution of their rights to get justice through such a probe.

The operative portion of the judgement was read out by Justice Jain.

Cabinet Secretary for benchmarking of public services in SAARC region

Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar called for benchmarking of public services in the SAARC region and to make them user-friendly by adopting e-governance.

Inaugurating the SAARC Workshop on e-Governance here, Mr Chandrashekhar said because of commonality of culture, administrative experience and other features, joint efforts should be made to identify the services to be delivered and third party evaluating mechanism should be adopted.

The Cabinet Secretary stressed on pooling of experiences in the field of ICT enabled service delivery. He said this would definitely bring about sea changes in the administration and service delivery mechanism.

He said that there is a vast area of cooperation among the countries in the region.

‘Attempts should, therefore, be made to maximise success in government programmes and to overcome areas of weakness,’ the Cabinet Secretary said.

Recent appointments of judges of High Courts of various states

Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court appointed [ clause(1)Art 217. of the Constitution of India] -
The President is pleased to appoint Shri Justice Nisar Ahmad Kakru, Judge of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court, to be the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.

Appointment of judges of Karnataka High Court [ clause(1)Art 217. of the Constitution of India] -
1) Shri Justice Ravi Vijaykumar Malimath
2) Smt Justice Venkataramiah Nagarathna

Appointment of Additional Judges of Patna High Court [ clause(1)Art 224. of the Constitution of India] -
1) Shri Birendra Prasad Verma
2) Shri Dinesh Kumar Singh

Appointment of Additional Judges of Madras High Court [ clause(1)Art 224. of the Constitution of India] -
1) Shri T.Mathivanan
2) Shri Ardhanariswamy Arumughaswamy
3) Miss K.B.K.Vasuki

Transfer of Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge [ clause(1)Art 222. of the Constitution of India] -
1) Smt. Justice Nirmal Yadav now Judge of the Uttarakhand High Court

SC to consider MoD plea to construct roads along China border

The Supreme Court will consider on February 19 the application of Ministery of Defence (MoD) blaming red tapism and Supreme Court-appointed Centrally empowered committee (CEC) for delay in construction of roads within the radius of 50 kms along the China border.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) in its application which is pending since March 2009 has said China is in a state of full preparedness while on Indian side 33 road projects which are vital for national security have got stuck due to lack of coordination among government agencies as well as CEC.

MoD has appealed to the apex court to grant exemption for these road projects along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) along the China border.

A special bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices S H Kapadia and Aftab Alam has been monitoring all construction in reserved forest areas and national parks.

The MoD in its application has said legal system of the country would have never thought of interfering with the matters of national security.

CEC has, however, blamed MoD and Union Ministry of Home Affairs for delaying the clearance of such important projects and CEC has always accorded top priority to these projects and sometimes clarification have been taken on telephone to clear these projects expediteously and 17 out of 33 road projects along the China border have already been cleared.

SC directs states to prevent encroachment in the name of religion

The Supreme Court today directed the states to prepare a comprehensive policy within eight weeks to prevent the encroachment of public land in the name of religion through construction of religious structures.

A bench headed by Justice Dalveer Bhandari also directed the states to tell the Supreme Court, what can be done to the existing encroachement, whether these religious structures can be regularised or not.

All the state governments had filed status report in the apex court giving details of encroachment in the name of religion.

During the hearing of the appeal by the Union government against the order of Gujarat High Court, which had stayed the demolition of religious structures in Ahmedabad on public land, the apex court had directed the Centre and all the states not to permit the construction of religious structures by criminals and anti-social elements on government land.

Lok Adalat settles 223 cases in Srinagar

Srinagar, Feb 16 (UNI) As many as 223 cases of different nature were settled amicably among the parties by a Lok Adalat here while another such adalat is being held in Baramulla on February 25.

An official spokesman said today that a Lok Adalat was held in Sadder Court premises here under the supervision of Ms Ghous-un -Nisa Jeelani, Chairman District Legal Services authority and Principal District and Sessions Judge in which 514 cases were taken up.

He said as many as 223 cases were settled amicably on the spot and an amount of Rs 60,000 was awarded as compensation in motor accident claims and a fine of Rs. 50,000 was recovered in various petty criminal offences.

SC concerned over plight of naxal-affected tribals

The Supreme Court today expressed concern over the plight of over two lakh tribals uprooted from their homes due to naxalite violence in Chhattisgarh.

Solicitor General of India Gopal Subramaniam, responding to the query of the Supreme Court, told a bench headed by Justice B Sudershan Reddy that the government was making all-out effort to rehabilitate the tribals who had to flee from their homes due to the fear of naxals, particularly in Dantewada district.

Dantewada is a naxal-dominated district of Chhattisgarh and is the worst affected in the state.

The apex court adjourned the hearing of the case till next week.

Tamil Nadu lawyers to abstain from courts on February 19

Lawyers in Tamil Nadu will boycott court proceedings on February 19 to protest "failure" of the state government in taking action against police officers held responsible for the violence in the Madras high court premises a year ago.

The CBI had last month filed a chargesheet against four police personnel and 32 advocates in a city court and recommended departmental action against 22 policemen in the case regarding the lawyers-police clash in the Madras high court complex on February 19 last year.

GUIDELINES ON NEW IPC SECTIONS Absconders, proclaimed offenders to be dealt with sternly by police

Those who fail to appear in the Court as required without a sufficient reason after being charged with an offence and released on bail or on bond without sureties will be punished with imprisonment of up to a year or fine or both.

Section 229A AND Section 174A has been added to the IPC. The former penalizes those who fail to appear in court as and when required without sufficient reason while the latter deals with an absconding person against whom a written proclamation is published by the Court under Section 82 of the Cr.P.C.

Centre to bring bill on standard & accountability of judges: Law Minister

The Union Government will come out with a Bill to prevent tainted lawyers by becoming judges, Law and Justice M Veerappa Moily said.

He said a Bill on Standard and Accountability for judges, to replace the Judges Act of 1968, would be introduced in the Budget Session of Parliament.

Mr Moily was speaking after inaugurating a three-day Global Consultative Meeting on The Right of Health: A Fundamental Human Right for Health and Medical Care initiated by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences.

He said the Bill was prepared after extensive consultation and aimed at removing the perception that judiciary was corrupt.

A Bill on HIV, ensuring Human Rights for HIV positive people, their rehabilitation and preventing harassment would also be introduced in the budget session of Parliament. However, Mr Moily declined to divulge the highlights of the Bill.

The bill was long pending and after much effort it has come before a Committee which is expected to submit its report to the Cabinet within 10 days. Once the bill was cleared by the Cabinet it would introduced in the Parliament, he added.

Can retired SC Judges holding constitutional posts take up private work?

Delhi High Court is to decide whether retired Judges holding constitutional posts on various Commissions can take up private work like Arbitration, opine on matters etc.

In the PIL, Prashant Bhushan appearing for Common Cause, argued yesterday before the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice A.P. Shah and Justice R.S. Endlaw that,"Giving opinions in writing on a point in issue to be produced in a court of law is a violation of Article 124(7) of the Constitution which prohibits a retired judge of the Supreme Court from acting or pleading before any court or tribunal,”

Pakistan Judicial crisis looms with row over judges

A judicial crisis loomed in Pakistan today after the Supreme Court blocked an order from unpopular President Asif Ali Zardari appointing two judges.

The dispute between the Supreme Court and the president is likely to become a distraction for a government struggling to fight Islamist militants and to get a sluggish economy on track.

A confrontation between the Supreme Court and former president Pervez Musharraf blew up in 2007 and undermined the authority of Musharraf, who stepped down months after his allies were defeated in a February 2008 general election.

The latest confrontation has been brewing for some weeks over appointments to the Supreme Court and provincial high courts. Zardari yesterday issued an order appointing two judges, Khawaja Sharif and Saqib Nisar, as judges of the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of the High Court in the city of Lahore respectively. But hours later the Supreme Court blocked the appointments.

A Supreme Court panel said the president’s appointment order had been suspended because Zardari had apparently violated the constitution by not consulting Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

Appointment system of judges should be changed: Justice Shah

The outgoing Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Justice A P Shah has said the 17-year-old system of appointment of judges through a collegium should be changed and not left to a single body, but to be transparent and broad based.

The selection of judges should be through a broad based body and not left to a collegium, Justice Shah said.

‘I feel if the change is brought about in the appointment of judges, lot of transparency will automatically come in the system,’ he added.

‘Unlike the UK, South Africa and the US, where appointment of judges is done in a far more open manner, our present collegium is a close door system and no reasons are assigned for the selection or refusal of appointment of a judge,’ Justice Shah said.

Speaking in a TV interview, Justice Shah said, ‘The Indian judiciary is very strong and vibrant. My perception of corruption in judiciary is different. I don’t think there is corruption at the higher level. The media is out playing the cases of corruption in the judiciary which are very remote.’ ‘I think the image of the judiciary should not be tarnished by creating a hype as it is the last hope for the underprivileged and deprived,’ Justice Shah stated.

Eventually the judiciary is the saviour of the public at large, he added.

Retired Supreme Court Judge P V Reddy to be new Law Commission chairman

Retired Supreme Court Judge P V Reddy is going to be the new chairman of the Law Commission of India.

According to reliable sources, the Law Ministry has cleared his name to head the Law Commission, which is without chairman since July 2009, when the term of Justice A R Lakshmanan expired. Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily had earlier tried to persuade Justice B N Srikrishna to take charge of the Law Commission. Justice Srikrishna, a retired Supreme Court Judge, however, declined the offer. Justice Srikrishna is presently heading the five-member Telangana Commission. Justice Reddy, who had delivered the verdict in Parliament Attack case, retired in 2005.

Socio-eco background mitigating factor in death sentence: SC

he Supreme Court has ruled that social and economic backwardness is one of the mitigating circumstances while commuting the death sentence of two convicts to life imprisonment.

The convicts Mulla and Guddu along with others had abducted five villagers and murdered them in cold blood on December 21, 1995 when they failed to meet their demands ransom of Rs 10,000 each. The victims were Hari Kumar Tripathi, Nanhakey, Ram Kishore, Chhotakkey and a woman Gangadai.

Ajay Chautala granted bail in DA case

District and Sessions judge P S Teji today granted bail to Haryana MLA Ajay Chautala in a Disproportionate Asset (DA) case.

The court, however, issued bailable warrant against his brother Abhay Chautala after CBI submitted before the court that summons could not be served upon him.The case was registered by CBI in 2006 after raid was conducted on the properties of Mr Chautala across the country.The CBI in a chargesheet has stated that Ajay Chautala has property valued more than Rs 27 crore and Abhay of more than Rs 22 crore.The CBI could not get the mandatory sanctions to prosecute Omprakash Chautala, who was also named in the FIR.

The court has fixed February 22 as the next date of hearing.

HC adjourns Rathore's bail plea hearing till April 5

While allowing the CBI prayer for more time
for investigation into the case of alleged molestation of teenaged
tennis player Ruchika and her subsequent suicide, the
Punjab and Haryana High Court today adjourned till April 5 the
further hearing on the bail plea of the accused former Haryana
police chief SPS Rathore in two cases registered against him in this
connection.
Justice Sabina, before whom the CBI was to submit the status
report on the investigation, also extended the interim bail
previously granted to Rathore to the same date.

Court rejects bail of Sajjan Kumar and six others

A Delhi court today rejectd the bail application of former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar and six others against whom chargesheet had been filed in connection with the 1984 riot case.The CBI had on January 13 filed two chargesheets against Mr Kumar and six others for murder, rioting and criminal conspiracy that followed after the assasination of former PM Indra Gandhi.

The chargesheet had been filed for the rioting in Delhi Cantt and Sultanpuri area.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Lokesh Kumar Sharma had taken cognisance of the chargesheet and directed Mr Kumar and others to appear before the court on February 18.Sajjan Kumar and others fearing that they might be arrested as the magistrate hearing the case does not have power to release them on bail, pleaded before the court that they had neither tried to influence any witness nor tempered the evidence.

District and Sessions judge(East) considering the allegation to be serious, rejected the anticipatory bail plea.

Deviation from normal practice no evidence of medical negligence: court

As long as doctors have performed their duties and exercised an ordinary degree of professional skill and competence they cannot be held guilty of negligence, the Supreme Court held.

Laying down a set of principles, a Bench said, “Mere deviation from normal professional practice is not necessarily evidence of negligence.”

The Bench, which consisted of Justices of Dalveer Bhandari and H.S. Bedi, said: “A doctor faced with an emergency ordinarily tries his best to redeem the patient out of his suffering. He does not gain anything by acting with negligence or by omitting to do an act. Obviously, therefore, it will be for the complainant to clearly make out a case of negligence before a medical practitioner is charged with or proceeded against criminally.”

India to play role of effective partner of Colombo plan: Finance Minister

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India would play the role of an effective partner of the Colombo Plan, a group of nations established for cooperative economic and social development in the Asia and the Pacific.

In his inaugural address at 42nd Consultative Committee Meeting (CCM), Mr Mukherjee said, ‘as a founder member, India has always been a strong supporter of the Colombo Plan initiative and an active participant’.

The current member countries are Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the US and Vietnam.

Madras HC orders on Nalini [the life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case] release likely on Feb 19

Madras High court is likely to pass orders on February 19 on the telegram sent by Nalini, the life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case, seeking to appear in person and argue her case for premature release.

A Division Bench comprising Justice E Dharmarao and Paul Vasanthakumar adjourned the case after Advocate General told the court the government was yet to receive the report of the Advisory Board constituted to hear Nalini’s plea for premature release.

Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had said a week ago that the report of the Advisory Board might be on the way, but the Advocate General told the court the government was yet to receive the report and pleaded the case be adjourned.