Legal Updates - August 2019

1. Himachal Pradesh Legislature Passes Bill To Prohibit Forced Religious Conversion

The Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh has passed a Bill prohibiting forced and induced conversion. The Bill titled as Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill, 2019 is meant to re-enact the law to provide freedom of religion by prohibiting conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, inducement, or by any fraudulent means or by .

2. Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 To Come Into Force

The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 is set to come into force from September 1. The Amendment Act will amend the , 1988. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed by the Parliament on August 5 and it received Presidential assent on August 9 to take the form of an Act. The Amendment Act is aimed at enhancing road safety, improving process of issuing licenses and permits, weeding out corruption in RTO offices and ushering use of technology for regulating road traffic.

3. Parliament Passes Code On Wages For Workers

The August 2, 2019 passed the Code on Wages Bill, 2019 which allows the centre to set a minimum statutory wage, a move expected to benefit 500 million workers across the country.

4. Rajya Sabha Passes J&K Reorganization Bill To Bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into Two Union Territories

The Rajya Sabha has passed the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganization) Bill, 2019, which is set to bifurcate the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, which will have a legislature, and Ladakh, which will be without a legislature. The Bill was introduced by Home Minister Amit Shah, August 5, 2019, which led to a massive uproar in the house. The bill was tabled before the on August 6, 2019.

5. LS Passes The (Regulation) Bill, 2019

The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019, introduced by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. The bill essentially seeks to regulate surrogacy in while imposing an

Legal Updates - August 2019

absolute prohibition on commercial surrogacy. The Bill allows altruistic surrogacy, a selfless arrangement where only medical expenses and insurance cover are provided to the surrogate mother, and there's no room for any other monetary reward. The bill also, by virtue of Section 4, allows surrogacy in cases of proven . The provision also prohibits surrogacy for producing children for sale, prostitution or other forms of exploitation.

6. Kevin Murder : Kerala Court Awards Double Life Term To All Convicts In The Case Of Honour Killing

A Kerala Court on Tuesday awarded double life term (consecutive life sentences) to ten persons found guilty for the 'honour killing' of Dalit Christian Kevin Joseph. The Principal Sessions Judge, Kottayam, C Jayachandran had on August 22 found that Kevin was killed at the instance of Shanu Chancko, the brother of Kevin's fiancée Neenu Chacko. Neenu's family's disapproval of her marriage with a man from Dalit background was stated to be motive for the murder. Shanu and his nine aides- Niays Mon, Ishan Ismail, Riyas Ibrahimkutty, Manu Muraleedharan, Shifin Sijad, N Nishad, Tittu Jerome, Fasil Sherif and Shanu Shajahan- were found guilty of murder, abduction and house-breaking. While pronouncing the sentence, the Court said that the case belonged to 'rarest of rarest' category.

7. INX Media Scandal

P. Chidambaram, who is presently a member of the Rajya Sabha, has been accused as the mastermind behind the entire scandal wherein he granted clearances to the media group during his tenure as the finance minister in 2007, for receiving overseas funds of Rs. 305 crore despite irregularities in Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance. The media group was allegedly controlled by his son. The Delhi High Court, while adjudicating upon the bail application moved by former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in the INX Media Scam urged the Parliament to amend the law so as to "restrict provisions of pre-arrest bail and make it inapplicable to economic offenders of high profile cases".

 The Delhi High Court refused anticipatory bail to Chidambaram  The Supreme Court extended Chidmbaran’s CBI custody till September 5.

Legal Updates - August 2019

8. Unnao Rape Case

A Delhi court on 9th August framed charges against expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar for allegedly raping a minor in Unnao in 2017. The court has framed charges under Sections 120 b (criminal conspiracy), 363 (kidnapping), 366 (kidnapping or inducing a woman to compel for marriage), 376 (rape) and other relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.