Yor mi re! Week Page March 29th-April 4th, 2021 Law, Policy and Governance Daily snippets 1. SC to study if POCSO Act can be used against minors - The Supreme Court has decided to examine whether the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act can be employed to punish teenagers for “consensual” physical relationships which later turn “sour.” Teens in ‘consensual relation’ have been later accused of rape. 2. Plea in SC to save academic freedom - The Supreme Court has asked the government to respond to a plea by five teachers to protect “academic freedom” from raids and seizures of police and investigative agencies. - A group of educationists have asked the court to frame guidelines so that the police treat the academic work and research, usually stored in computers they seize during raids, in a “civilised manner”. A Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul issued notice to the Centre and sought a reply in four weeks. Teachers say data in devices taken during police raids contain a lifetime of work. 3. Plea in SC against uniform civil law on divorce and alimony - A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against the “blatant attempt” to take away the fundamental right of Muslim women to practise their religion, in the guise of providing a “uniform law” across all faiths. Amina Sherwani has asked the Supreme Court to hear her before deciding whether a uniform civil law for divorce, maintenance and alimony will leave Muslim women like her better-off. 4. Explain how contraband reaches prisoners: SC - The Supreme Court directed the Tihar Jail authorities to explain how contraband reaches prisoners, including death row convicts, and sought detailed information on the CCTV coverage both inside and outside the prison walls. The order concerns an incident on March 14 when three condemned men were found in an intoxicated condition inside their cells. The officials said the authorities had to use force to bring them to their senses. The court responded by ordering Raj Kumar, the Jail Superintendent, to file an affidavit by April “disclosing all the steps undertaken by him in connection with the incident that occurred on March 14”. 5. SC warns against mechanically granting bail in heinous offences - The Supreme Court has cautioned courts against mechanically granting bail in heinous offences, saying the seriousness of the charge is a basic consideration before releasing an accused on bail. A recent judgment by a Bench led by Justice Indira Banerjee set aside a Kerala High Court order bailing out a man accused of stabbing to death a 30 year old dentist in front of her father in September 2020. Though the trial court denied him bail, the High Court set him at liberty. - Justice Banerjee said, “while granting bail the court has to keep in mind not only the nature of the accusations, but the severity of the punishment”. 6. Maternal deaths rose during pandemic: study - The failure of the health system to cope with COVID- 19 pandemic resulted in an increase in maternal deaths and stillbirths, according to a study published in The Lancet Global Health journal. There was also a rise in maternal depression. - The study attributes the worsening trend to the failure of the “inefficiency of the healthcare system and their inability to cope with the pandemic” instead of strict lockdown measures. This resulted in reduced access to care. In India, there was a 27% drop in pregnant women receiving four or more ante natal check-ups, a 28% decline in institutional deliveries and 22% decline in prenatal services. 7. Disquiet over policy for rare diseases - Caregivers to patients with ‘rare diseases’ and affiliated organisations are dissatisfied with the National Policy for Rare Diseases, 2021. Though the document specifies increasing the government support for treating patients with a ‘rare disease’ - from ₹15 lakh to ₹20 lakh - caregivers say this doesn’t reflect actual costs of treatment. 8. Panel submits report to SC on ISRO espionage case - A high level probe panel appointed by the Supreme Court to take erring cops to task for causing “tremendous harassment” and “immeasurable anguish” to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist Nambi Narayanan in the 1994 espionage case has submitted its report to the Supreme Court. 9. PFI men got funds to stoke riots in Hathras: chargesheet - The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UPSTF) filed a chargesheet against eight members of the Popular Front of India in a Mathura Court. They have been accused of receiving funds from abroad to foment riots in Hathras in the wake of the alleged gang rape and murder of a Dalit girl in September 2020. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- National News/ Interventions Daily snippets 1. Centre mulls unique ID for all plots of land by March 2022 - The Centre plans to issue a 14 digit identification number to every plot of land in the country within a year. It will subsequently integrate its land records database with revenue court records and bank records, as well as Aadhaar numbers on a voluntary basis, according to a parliamentary standing committee report. The Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) scheme has been launched in 10 States this year and will be rolled out across the country by March 2022, the Department of Land Resources told the Standing Committee on Rural Development. - An official, who did not wish to be named, described it as “the Aadhaar for land” — a number that would uniquely identify every surveyed parcel of land and prevent land fraud, especially in rural India, where land records are outdated and disputed. The identification will be based on the longitude and latitude of the land parcel, and is dependent on detailed surveys and geo referenced cadastral maps. This is the next step in the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP), which began in 2008. It’s due to come to an end next week, but the Department has proposed a further extension to 2023- 24, to complete its original targets as well as expand its ambit with a slew of new schemes 2. NRC-excluded to get rejection slips - The Centre has told the Assam government that “rejection slips'' to those excluded from the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) published in 2019 should be issued immediately. More than 19 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants in Assam were left out of the final register that took five years to be compiled and cost ₹1,220 crore. Assam is the only State where an NRC was compiled under the supervision of the top court. - The Assam government has rejected the NRC in its current form and demanded reverification of 30% of names included in the NRC in areas bordering Bangladesh and 10% in the remaining State. The Assembly election is under way in Assam and the results are to be announced on May 2. According to Article 6 of the Constitution, the cuto ff date for migration to India from Pakistan is July 19, 1948 whereas according to the 1985 accord, in Assam, which borders Bangladesh, it is March 24, 1971. 3. India attends Myanmar parade - Amid the crackdown by the military on protesters in Myanmar following the February 1 coup, India is one of the countries that attended the Armed Forces Day parade on March 27. - According to Nikkei Asia, eight countries - Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand - sent representatives for the annual parade. On Sunday, the defence chiefs of 12 countries, including Australia, the U.K. and the U.S., condemned the “use of lethal force against unarmed people'' in what was reported as the bloodiest day since the coup. 4. U.S. report flags curbs on Indian media - In its 2020 Human Rights Report, the U.S. State Department said the harassment and detention of journalists critical of the (Indian) government in their reporting and on social media, has continued, although the government generally respects freedom of expression. It also said the government's requests for user data from Internet companies had increased “dramatically.” - It also details cases against individual journalists and NGO activists, including Siddharth Varadarajan of The Wire (case by U.P. government) and Anirban Chattopadhyay of Anandabazar Patrika (summoned by Kolkata police). The government made 49,382 user data requests in 2019 from Facebook, a 32% increase from 2018. Over the same period, Google requests increased by 69%, while Twitter requests saw a 68% increase. - In a section on the arbitrary deprivation of life, the report highlights the case of the Sattankulam (Tamil Nadu) custodial deaths of P. Jayaraj and his son J. Benicks, who were arrested for allegedly keeping their shop’s shutters open past permitted hours during the pandemic. The report takes note of the April 2020 detention of pregnant Jamia Millia student Safoora Zargar, who was protesting the citizenship laws. It also mentions the arrest of JNU student Umar Khalid, who like Ms. Zargar, was detained under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. On the protracted detention of politicians in J&K, the report notes that former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, arrested under the Public Safety Act, was released after a three month extension of her detention. 5. Jaishankar says India backs Afghan-Taliban dialogue - Calling for a “double peace” both inside Afghanistan and in the region, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said India supports the Intra-Afghan Negotiations (IAN), in a rare direct reference to the Taliban at the 9th Heart of Asia conference in Tajikistan. Mr. Jaishankar attended the meet along with Foreign Ministers of 15 countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Central Asian states. - Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, who spoke to both foreign ministers in separate meetings, thanked neighbouring countries for their support.