Madras HC laughs at ‘absurd’ case

Madras HC laughs at ‘absurd’ case

Kaushik.Kannan@timesgroup.com

Madurai:22.12.2021

A joke is a joke, a Madras high court judge said while quashing an FIR against CPI(ML) functionary Mathivanan for writing in jest on Facebook that he’s “Going for Shooting Practice” when announcing his recent trip to hill station Sirumalai.

“Jug Suraiya, Bachi Karkaria, EP Unny and G Sampath ... if any one of them, or for that matter any satirist or cartoonist, had authored this judgment, the hypothetical author would have added one more fundamental duty—duty to laugh—to the list of fundamental duties mentioned in…Constitution,” wrote Justice GR Swaminathan in his judgment that has now gone viral.

HC says cops failed to see humour in post

He wrote that “Laugh at what? is a serious question. This is because we have holy cows grazing all over from Varanasi to Vadipatti. One dare not poke fun at them…In West Bengal, Tagore is such an iconic figure that Khushwant Singh learnt the lesson at some cost. Coming to my own Tamil Desh, the all-time iconoclast ‘Periyar’ Shri EV Ramasamy is a superholy cow. In today's Kerala, Marx and Lenin are beyond the bounds of criticism or satire. Chhatrapati Shivaji and Veer Savarkar enjoy a similar immunity in Maharashtra. But all over India, there is one ultimate holy cow and that is ‘national security’.” The FIR against Mathivanan was filed after cops mistook his post for an armed training plan. Justice Swaminathan said the police failed to read the fun. He said a case can be made of such posts if the person conceals his identity.

80-yr-old dead man booked for accident that claimed his life

HELMETLESS MAN WAS DRIVING ON WRONG SIDE

80-yr-old dead man booked for accident that claimed his life

Soumitra.Bose@timesgroup.com

Nagpur: 22.12.2021

Police here have booked a dead man for causing the scooter accident that killed him. Jagdish Dewulkar (80), riding without a helmet with his 70-year-old wife Sewantabai as pillion on their scooter, met with an accident and succumbed to his injuries on August 7. Four months later, on December 20, the police have registered an offence against him.

The Dewulkar couple were driving on the road between Kanji House Chowk and Rani Durgawati Chowk while returning from a birthday party at Ramai Nagar, in Jaripatka, on August 3. The accident occurred around 10pm. Jagdish, who was driving on the wrong side, failed to maintain the balance of his scooter while taking a turn and it crashed.

Though Sewantabai escaped unhurt, Jagdish suffered substantial injuries. He was rushed to a private hospital but later shifted to Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital. Doctors declared him dead on August 7. The police booth at the hospital then alerted Yashodhara Nagar police about Jagdish’s death.

The Yashodhara Nagar police then registered a case of accidental death under CrPC Sec

174. The post-mortem was conducted at IGGMCH. After prolonged investigations, the cops wanted to file a summary of the death case before ACP Roshan Pandit (Jaripatka division). However, the ACP decided that as per norms a case needed to be registered against the senior citizen holding him responsible for negligent driving leading to the accident.

Senior inspector Sanjay Jadhav of Yashodhara Nagar police station said the senior citizen was technically held responsible because he had driven the two-wheeler on the wrong side and taken a turn that caused him to lose balance and sustain an injury from the fall. “We will now send an abated summary of the case to the court informing it about the death of the accused in the case,” he said.

J’khand to issue caste certs from all schools

J’khand to issue caste certs from all schools

Dhritiman.Ray@timesgroup.com

Ranchi:22.12.2021

Jharkhand is set to become the first state to issue caste certificates from the campus of every governmentrun and private school to ensure each child has one within the next six months, CM Hemant Soren announced in the assembly on Tuesday.

“We will conduct a special drive in all government and private schools after December 29. Every student will be issued a caste certificate,” Soren said. Odisha started the practice of schools issuing SC, ST and OBC certificates to children in November 2017, but restricted it to government-run institutions. The process was suspended during the pandemic and has yet to resume, although many schools have reopened. In all other states, caste certificates are issued by the offices of district magistrates, block development offficers, tehsildars, mamlatdars and other revenue officials.

Soren revealed the JMMled government’s plan to take issuance of caste certificates to all schools in response to a notice brought by BJP MLA Neelkanth Singh Munda.

J’khand third state to pass anti-lynching bill

Ranchi:

Jharkhand became on Tuesday the third state, after West Bengal and Rajasthan, to pass a bill to prevent mob lynchings.

The state assembly passed the Jharkhand (Prevention of Violence and Mob Lynching) Bill of 2021, introduced on the penultimate day of the ongoing winter session.

It was passed within an hour and without any major amendment or debate, reports Dhritiman Ray.

‘Marriage law won’t make child marriage ab initio void’

‘Marriage law won’t make child marriage ab initio void’

Ambika.Pandit@timesgroup.com

New Delhi  22.12.2021

Soon after the government introduced a bill in Parliament to amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, some of those who were at the forefront of supporting the decision, however, lamented that the proposed legislation does not bring amendments to make child marriage void.

They pointed out that the proposed law will not make child marriage, in its present form, void at the outset and it will continue to remain voidable at the option of the contracting party who was a child at the time of the marriage.

After the bill was introduced in Lok Sabha, Vikram Srivastava, founder “Independent Thought” and Convenor, Campaign against Child Marriage, said, “The special and secular character of PCMA having an overriding application is a welcome step. The consequential amendments to other laws will end the otherwise ambiguity and provide the much needed protection to girls through a uniform law.”

“The 2021 amendment to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, however leaves the most controversial and complicating gap of ‘void ab-initio’ clause unresolved. It is unclear how this increase in age would resolve or restrict solemnisation of marriage, if it remains to be valid,” Srivastava said. In the ‘Independent Thought’ case judgment of 2017, the Supreme Court had declared sex with minor wife as rape.

Dr Renu Singh Country Director, Young Lives India, said that bill sets forth the rationale for increasing the age of marriage for girls to 21 years based on the principle of equality (same age for men and women) and the need to increase the age so as to ensure that the “physical, mental and reproductive health” of women is protected.

Meanwhile, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board came out to reject the bill and said they would request the government to not go ahead with it. In a statement, the board argued that “Islam doesn’t prescribe any age for marriage. This is left to the persons who have attained the age of adolescence or to their guardians”.

Move to raise girl’s marriage age causing pain to some: PM

Move to raise girl’s marriage age causing pain to some: PM

‘UP Women Were Biggest Sufferers Of Lawlessness Under SP’

Rajeev.Mani@timesgroup.com

Prayagraj:  22.12.2021

“Everybody is seeing who is having problem with the move to raise the marriage age of girls from 18 to 21,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, taking a swipe at the opposition parties at an event at Prayagraj for women empowerment on Tuesday.

“We are trying to increase the age of marriage of girls to 21 years, so that they can have time to study and progress. The country is taking this decision for its daughters. Everyone is seeing who is having problems with this,” he said, adding that “women are happy with the government’s decision”.

Samajwadi Party MPs Shafiqur Rehman Barq and ST Hasan have recently made adverse comments on the Centre’s move to increase the legal age of girls’ marriage though party president Akhilesh Yadav distanced himself from their statements.

“Prayagraj has been an iconic city to show the strength of women empowerment. Now, it is witness to a Kumbh of empowered women who have turned up at this event,” he said at the well-attended event.

Lauding the state government on the law and order front, especially the steps taken for women’s security, Modi said that five years back, roads of UP had mafiaraj and criminals held sway in the government.

“The women of UP were the biggest sufferers of this state of affairs. However, the government of Yogi Adityanath has sent these criminals to their rightful place (jails),” the PM said.

“Out of the 30 lakh houses constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) in the state, 25 lakh have been registered in the name of women beneficiaries,” he said.

“In families where there was no property in the name of women for generations, they now have a house in their name. This is true women empowerment. In the village ‘swamitva scheme’ is underway in which property papers were given to house owners and women are being given priority,” he said.

“This is our bid to provide equal rights to women just the way we did through schemes like Ujjwala and Swachh Bharat to construct toilets,” the PM said, highlighting the measures of the Centre and UP governments like triple talaq law, Kanya Sumangla Yojana and crackdown on criminals to help women. The PM transferred ₹Rs 1,000 crore to bank accounts of self-help groups (SHGs) to benefit around 16 lakh women.

Court dismisses plea challenging PM photo on vaccine certificates

IMPOSES ₹1L FINE ON PETITIONER

Court dismisses plea challenging PM photo on vaccine certificates

Kochi: 22.12.2021

Kerala high court on Tuesday dismissed a petition challenging the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi affixed on the Covid-19 vaccination certificates. The court also imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh on the petitioner which is to be paid to the Kerala Legal Services Authority within six weeks.

“The petition seems to be filed with political motives and a publicity motivated petition. Therefore, it deserves to be dismissed with a heavy cost,” the high court observed.

The court further observed that while thousands of convicted persons are in Indian jails for criminal cases and are waiting for their appeal hearings, thousands for matrimonial disputes...so this court must consider this petition quickly. “In such a situation, such frivolous petitions must be dismissed with a heavy cost,” the court said. The court criticised the petitioner for wasting judicial time, and asked: “Why are you ashamed of our Prime Minister?”

Single Bench of Justice PV Kunhikrishnan further remarked: “There is a general trend to a section of the citizens of our country that the political leaders are all corrupt people and they cannot be believed. I think, from this concept, these types of arguments are coming into the mind of the petitioner. But can anyone generalise like that? Since there is a small percentage of politicians are having a bad history, the entire politicians need not be ignored.”

He further said, “The people elect the eligible persons among them and send them to the Parliament and the majority party will select their leader and he will be our Prime Minister for five years. Till the next general election, he will be the Prime Minister of India. Therefore, according to me, it is the duty of the citizens to respect the Prime Minister of India, and of course, they can differ on the policies of the government and even the political stand of the Prime Minister.”

“The Prime Minister of India is not a person who entered the parliament house by breaking the roof of the parliament building. He came to power because of the mandate of the people,” he added. ANI

Merit list for paramedical courses released

Merit list for paramedical courses released

Madurai:  22.12.2021

Health minister Ma Subramanian on Tuesday released the merit list for 19 paramedical degree courses for the academic year 2021-2022 for filling the seats under government quota. Addressing mediapersons at Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH), he said that a total of 64,900 candidates had applied. “There are 2,276 seats to be filled in government medical colleges whereas 13,832 seats are under government quota in self-financed colleges. The counselling will begin on Wednesday for special category, including differently-abled and army quota,” said Subramanian. TNN