SC: Judges under threat, CBI, IB & cops doing nothing

SC: Judges under threat, CBI, IB & cops doing nothing

7.8.2021 

The Supreme Court on Friday said trial court judges, especially those dealing with cases involving gangsters and high-profile people, are most vulnerable to external threats and bristled at the inaction of the CBI, Intelligence Bureau and the police in countering the threats to create a conducive atmosphere for judges to do justice without fear or favour, reports Dhananjay Mahapatra.

A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Surya Kant said, “In criminal cases involving gangsters and high-profile persons, when the accused do not get expected orders from the courts, they start maligning the judiciary. Unfortunately, this is a new trend developing in this country.”

Don’t scare judges with huge files: SC

The Supreme Court on Friday asked advocates not to file voluminous petitions to ‘terrorise’ the judges and risk getting the hearing adjourned. P 16

Ramana: CBI, IB not helping judiciary at all

A situation is created where the judges do not feel free to make a complaint. Even if the judges complain to the district judge, Chief Justice of the HC or the CJI, and a complaint is forwarded to the police or the CBI, they do not respond. They do not think it is a priority issue, the bench said.

“The IB, CBI and police are not helping the judiciary at all. I am making this statement with some sense of responsibility. It is a serious issue,” the CJI said and sought attorney general K K Venugopal’s assistance to chalk out a mechanism.

Venugopal gave an even more startling account of threats given to trial judges hearing cases involving gangsters and powerful persons. “I am told that in many cases, a magistrate or sessions judge, who is about to take up a case involving a gangster or a powerful person, gets a call saying that his daughter is going to such and such school, in a car with such and such number. Between justice and daughter’s safety, the judge adjourns the case by six months. We must look into those cases which are getting adjourned time and again. So far as states are concerned, each must form a protection group for the judiciary.”

Online classes aren’t real education: House panel

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:7.8.2021 

In a significant observation, the parliamentary standing committee on education has said that “online education is not real education”. Observing that disruption of physical school activities is likely to impair the cognitive capabilities of students, it said in its report that lack of digital facilities and adaptation either due to “inaccessibility of technology or the educational backgrounds of their parents to guide them” has contributed towards learning loss among students of all classes and regions.

“Due to continued cessation of classes, learning loss is acquiring critical dimensions,” it added. The committee submitted the report to the Parliament on Friday.

Stating that immediate remedial steps are needed, the committee noted, “The learning loss of more than one whole academic year would necessarily have weakened the foundational knowledge of the students especially in the subjects of mathematics, sciences and languages at school level. This learning loss is a big deficit and is likely to impair the cognitive capabilities of students. This might have a debilitating effect on vulnerable sections of the society like poor and rural students, marginalised sections of society and young women who might have been unable to connect to any form of digital education during the pandemic.”

The report, titled ‘Plans to Bridge the Learning Gap... and Plans for Re-opening of Schools’, recommended accentuated vaccine programmes for all students, teachers, and staff, physical classes on alternate days, and developing a blended mode of education based on the experiences of the Covid-induced disruptions.

Highlighting in its report that the studies of 32 crore children have been affected by the pandemic, the committee also observed that most rural and remote areas lack digital facilities that has led to a huge digital divide. It added that though the ministry of education claimed around 85% students were connected with online classes and the remaining students were being approached with other modes, “the ground reality is completely different”.

HC: Father can’t force child to use his surname

HC: Father can’t force child to use his surname

New Delhi:7.8.2021 

The Delhi high court on Friday said that every child has the right to use the mother’s surname and a father can’t impose his will in this regard, reports Abhinav Garg.

“A father does not own the daughter to dictate that she should use only his surname. If the minor daughter is happy with her surname, what is your problem?” the court observed. It was hearing a plea by a minor girl’s father seeking directions to authorities to have his surname, and not her mother’s, reflect in the daughter’s ID documents.

‘All kids can use mom’s surname’

Refusing any relief, justice Rekha Palli declined to pass any direction and wondered why the father moved court for such a direction.

The court said every child has a right to use his or her mother’s surname and courts can’t intervene in such matters to force the father’s will upon a child against his or her wishes. During the hearing, the man’s counsel submitted that his daughter was a minor and could not decide such issues on her own, and that the child’s surname was changed by his estranged wife.

He claimed that the change in name will make it difficult to avail insurance claims from the insurance firm as the policy was taken in the name of the girl with her father’s surname. But the court dismissed these as apprehensions and termed the plea “misconceived”. It nevertheless disposed of the petition granting liberty to the man to approach his daughter’s school to get his name recorded in the school records as the father.

Pension wiped off: Senior citizen loses ₹1.67 lakh

Pension wiped off: Senior citizen loses ₹1.67 lakh

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:  7.8.2021 

Ukabhai Solanki, a retired teacher, has lost Rs 1.67 lakh of his pension money, which has been sucked out by a criminal using a cloned ATM card. Solanki now has only Rs 471 in the account. His money was taken over a period of seven days from July 7 to 14.

Solanki, a resident of Bapunagar, maintains an account in the Saraspur branch of a nationalized bank. His pension was credited every month into this account. Solanki lodged a complaint of cheating with Bapunagar police on Thursday. “According to the FIR, Solanki went to the bank to check the account balance. He was planning a few expenses. When he saw multiple entries of withdrawal on his passbook, he was shocked. He had not used the ATM card for the transactions and claims that the card was with him at the time of the offence,” an investigator said.

The accused withdrew up to Rs 15,000 at a go and used the card almost daily for a week. “Probe is on to ascertain the identity of the person or persons who had visited the ATM for the withdrawals,” said the investigator. “The banks concerned have also been approached to get more details.”

Times View

Over the past two years, there has been a steep rise in senior citizens becoming easy targets of cybercrooks. These criminals approach the elderly while pretending to offer tech support, or governmental assistance and services or even bait them with online friendship requests which turn in to blackmail. The cybercrime department, like in Delhi, Bangalore, and Hyderabad, should initiate targeted campaigns to raise awareness among senior citizens and arm them with simple strategies to avoid falling into such traps and losing their hard-earned money.

Return to colleges, higher edu dept directs faculty members

Return to colleges, higher edu dept directs faculty members

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:7.8.2021

With online classes for arts and science and engineering colleges scheduled to begin from August 9, the Tamil Nadu higher education department has directed all faculty members to attend colleges on all working days without fail.

The higher education department announced that online classes for the 2021-22 academic year for all students, except first year students, will commence on August 9.

"The Covid protocol and standard operating procedures (SOPs) prescribed by the government from time to time should be followed in the campus and it is also instructed that the faculty members of government, governmentaided arts and science colleges, engineering colleges shall attend the college on all working days without fail," a letter from higher education department said.

In government arts and science colleges, the college level admissions would begin after August 10. The applications to 143 colleges are being received online till August 10. So far, more than two lakh applications have been received against one lakh seats available in government colleges..

"Government colleges will need all faculty members to conduct admissions for undergraduate programmes. The Tamil Nadu Government Arts and Science Admissions (TNGASA) committee would send the course wise rank list to individual colleges. The faculty members need to call each and every student to confirm the admissions," said T Veeramani, president of Tamil Nadu Government Collegiate Teachers Association (TNGCTA).

He further said the reopening of physical classes should be based on the possibility for Covid-19 third wave.

However, M S Balamurugan, general secretary of Association of University Teachers said, the teachers need not be called to colleges for conducting online classes. "The faculty members are already attending the admission related works. Faculty members should be asked to come to colleges only if colleges reopened physical classes," he said.

HC blocks govt move on varsity named after Jaya

HC blocks govt move on varsity named after Jaya

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:7.8.2021

In a setback to Tamil Nadu government’s bid to scrap the previous AIADMK government’s law forming and naming a new university after Jayalalithaa, Madras high court quashed a student admission notification issued by Thiruvalluvar University.

The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesavalu quashed the notification on a petition moved by former law minister C Ve Shanmugam.

The impugned notification issued by Thiruvalluvar University invited applications for admission to post-graduate courses for the colleges that were now falling under the jurisdiction of newly established Dr J Jayalalithaa University.

On August 3 itself, when the plea was taken up for admission, the court had made it clear that the state could not go ahead with the admissions when the law for establishment of Jayalalithaa University was still in existence. On Friday, when the plea came up for hearing again, advocate-general R Shunmugasundaram informed the court that the state had now passed a GO amending the jurisdiction of the Annamalai University enabling it to affiliate colleges in Villupuram, Cuddalore, Kallakurichi and Mayiladuthurai districts.

A proposal had also been made in the GO to repeal the Dr J Jayalalithaa University Act, he added.

Recording the same, the court said, “There is no doubt that the state legislature has equal authority to repeal a statute as it has to enact a statute in respect of matters falling within its legislation domain.”

There is, equally, no doubt that the present government may intend to repeal the Act and has issued a notification indicating such intention. However, till such time that a law is in place and its operation has not been stayed in accordance with law, the provisions of such law need to be followed, the court said. “Seen in such light, the admission notification issued by the university inviting applications to post-graduate courses at its extension centre in Villupuram could not have been issued...,” the court added.

The bench then quashed the notification dated June 25 and disposed of the plea.

Do not terrorise judges with voluminous petitions: SC

Do not terrorise judges with voluminous petitions: SC

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:7.8.2021

The Supreme Court on Friday sent out a loud message to all client-impressing advocates: “Do not file voluminous petitions to terrorise the judges and risk getting the hearing adjourned”.

Finding it difficult to go through a 51-volume appeals, each running to over 100 pages, filed by the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation against a Bombay high court judgment rejecting its petition challenging the Telecom Regulatory Authority’s New Tariff Order (NTO 2.0), a bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Surya Kant said, “The Supreme Court engaged trucks to carry these volumes of appeals to judges’ residences to enable them read it and get prepared with the matter.”

“You cannot terrorise us by filing volumes and volumes of appeals. In this case, there are 51 volumes in one petition. You sit together and file a single short convenient volume giving a synopsis of the issue to be adjudicated,” the bench told senior advocates Darius Khambatta, Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Gopal Jain and Amit Sibal, who appeared for the appellants.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta and senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, with advocate Sanjay Kapur for TRAI, said that it is a short issue and TRAI will file a two-page synopsis for the judges’ convenience. But, the CJI-led bench said, “You wait. Let them satisfy us with the merits of their appeal.”

The bench ordered, “We direct senior counsel appearing for the petitioners in all the matters to make a convenience volume of all the documents, in consultation with senior counsel for the respondents well in advance and circulate the same.” The bench adjourned the hearing to August 18.

IBF, an umbrella organisation for TV broadcasters, has challenged a Bombay HC judgment upholding TRAI’s NTO 2.0, which set a cap of ₹12 from the existing ₹19 on pay channel prices.

It was to ensure that an effective a-la-carte choice was available to distributors without being handicapped by perverse pricing of bouquets by broadcasters at wholesale level, it said.

TRAI justified its move as one in “public interest”.

It had raised concerns over broadcasters creating bouquets with one or two leading channels and filling it with other less popular channels or even free-to-air channels, making it difficult for consumers to choose channels.

Full report on www.toi.in