KERALA 'S SUNDay lockdown affects life

 

Demands of Government Doctors remain unfulfilled

 

Education

 

SC: Original PoA not needed to sell property

 SC: Original PoA not needed to sell property

---

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

31.01.2022

New Delhi: In a big warning to property owners who intend to sell their assets through a power of attorney (PoA) holder, the Supreme Court has ruled that the PoA holder can sell the property and register the sale by merely producing a copy of the PoA and that the original was not mandatory for registration of the sale.

This means, if the proper ty owner orally cancels the PoA and takes back the original document without entering into a written agreement on cancellation of the PoA, it would still allow the PoA holder to sell the property or land with the help of a copy of the original PoA document.

A bench of Justices K M Joseph and P S Narasima said, “On an analysis of the provisions (of the RegistrationAct), we have no hesitation in r ejecting the argument of the plaintiff that the non-production of the original power of attorney by the second defendant was fatal to a valid registration being effected. ”

In the case in hand, the owner of the property (p laintiff) had entered into an agreement with a person for sale of his land for Rs 55,000 in 1987. As he was transferred out of the place, he executed a PoA for concluding the sale. The sale, however, didn’t materialise. So, he took back the original PoA and told the person that the PoA stood terminated. But the erstwhile PoA holder applied for a copy of the registered PoA and went ahead with the sale for Rs 30,000 to the same defendant, who had earlier agreed to buy it for Rs 55,000. 

He went to the Registrar’s office and got the sale registered with a copy of the PoA. The Himachal Pradesh high court cancelled the registration of the sale saying nonproduction of original PoA document was fatal to the sale and restored the property to the owner.

The SC set aside the HC order and said the registration was valid as oral cancellation of PoA has no validity before the law and that for registration of sale of land, the PoA holder merely is required to produce a copy of the document and that original was not necessary.

Justi ce Joseph said, “Section 35 of the Registration Act gives authority to the registering authority to satisfyh imself that the persons appearing before him are the persons they represent to be. . . the aforesaid provision deals w ith situations in which the registering authority refuses the registration. If the registering authority is satisfied about the identity of the person. . . , it may not be part of the Registrar’s duty to enquire further. ”

90% parents want to send kids to school in Hry, finds survey

 90% parents want to send kids to school in Hry, finds survey

---

Tiwari@timesgroup.com

31.01.2022

Siddharth

Gurgaon: Around 90% of parents in the state want to send their children to school and physical classes to resume, an online survey conducted by an association of private institutions has found.

As part of their Siksha Bachao, School Kholo campaign, a group of private schools had last week rolled out the survey to assess the mood of parents regarding offline classes. Although the survey will be carried out for two more days, the association said they had so far rece- ived responses from nearly 14,000 parents and 87% of them wanted to send their kids to school.

Conducted by the Federation of Private Schools’ Welfare Association, the survey had four questions for the parents — do they agree with the closure of schools, is shutting down schools logical when all other activities are operational, has the closure led to learning gaps, and whether they want to send their children back to school.

The association hopes to receive responses from 20,000 parents by Tuesday. Once the survey is complete, representatives of some of the private schools will meet education minister Kanwar Pal and push for physical classes to resume.

“We have launched this survey as part of the Siksha Bachao, School Kholo campaign. Not just schools, pa- rents, too, want offline classes to resume. That is why we are conducting this survey. When both parents and schools are on the same page, we don’t see why the government is not listening to our demands?” asked Kulbhushan Sharma, president of the association.

No moral policing if willingly converted: HC

 No moral policing if willingly converted: HC

---

Ashutosh.Shukla@timesgroup.com

31.01.2022

Bhopal/Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh high court has ruled that no “moral policing” can be allowed when two adults decide to live together by way of marriage or a live-in relationship of their own will.

With this, the bench of Justice Nandita Dubey rejected the argument of the counsel for the MP government that under the provisions of Freedom of Religion Act, 2021, conversion for the sake of marriage is not legal; and marriage so performed is le-gally null and void and the girl should be sent to Nari Niketan for 'rehabilitation'.

The decision came in response to a habeas corpus petition filed by Guljar Ahmed, who had married a Hindu girl, Arti Sahu, who converted to Islam but was then taken away by her parents to her hometown, Varanasi. Justice Dubey directed police to hand the woman back to the petitioner, as she wished, and see to it that they reach home safely and are not threatened thereafter by her parents.

‘Ensure that corpus & petitioner are not threatened’

Guljar Khan had filed a habeas corpus petition, saying he and Arti had married in Maharashtra and she had willingly converted to Islam, but her parents had taken her away by force and have illegally detained her. On the orders of the judge, the 19-year-old woman was produced in court through video conferencing. In her statement, she told the court that she had willingly married Khan and converted to Islam. She said her parents and grandparents had forcibly taken her away to Banaras, where she was beaten up and threatened constantly to give a statement against her husband. The court pointed out that she has categorically stated she was not forced into conversion and whatever she has done was as per her own wishes. The judge noted that the government counsel had vehemently argued that any marriage performed in contravention to section 3 of the Freedom of Religion Act, 2021, shall be deemed null and void. The government counsel said that the Act provides that no person shall convert for the purpose of marriage and any conversion in contravention of this shall be deemed null and void.

The court, however, pointed out that the petitioner and his wife are adults. “Be that as it may, the petitioner and the corpus (woman) are major. No moral policing can be allowed in such matters where two major persons are willing to stay together whether by way of marriage or in a live-in relationship, when the party to that arrangement is doing it willingly and not forced into it,” Justice Dubey said.

“The corpus before this court has clearly stated that she has married the petitioner and wants to stay with him. She is a major and her age is not disputed by any of the parties. The Constitution gives the right to every major citizen of this country to live her or his life as per her or his own wishes. Under the circumstances, the objection raised by the counsel for the state and her prayer to send the corpus to Nari Niketan is rejected,” the judge ordered.

“The police authorities are also directed to see that in future, the corpus and petitioner are not threatened by the parents of the corpus,” the court said.TNN

Many colleges defer opening, wait for outstation students to return

 Many colleges defer opening, wait for outstation students to return

Some To Resume Offline Mode Today

---

SruthySusan.Ullas@timesgroup.com

31.01.2022

Bengaluru: While the government announced reopening of schools and colleges from Monday, many institutions in the city are planning to defer resuming offline classes by a week to allow time to outstation students to return.

On Saturday, the government announced resumption of offline classes from Monday. Many colleges immediately informed students about the development and asked them to plan their journey while giving them a week’s time to get back on campus. “We have already told them to be prepared to come. We will give only a week’s buffer time after the government declaration,” said Fr Abraham V, vice-chancellor, Christ (deemed to be university).

Until then, many colleges plan to continue with the blended mode. “While local students can come to campuses for clarifications or other academic activities, outstation students can report back by next Monday. Until then, the blended mode will continue,” said Raghu R, spokesperson of Mount Carmel College. In an intimation to its students, Maharani Cluster University too said it will reopen on Friday to give sufficient time to outstation students to book return tickets to Bengaluru.

However, some other institutions like Sheshadripuram Degree College, where locals comprise a majority of the students, will start offline classes from Monday itself. “We’ll decide on a blended approach depending on how it progresses,” said HN Meera, principal.

Some other colleges plan to resume on-campus classes gradually. “Our end-semester exams will start on Tuesday and we will reopen for second and third years then. First-year students will continue with online classes as we don’t want a huge rush on campus,” said Paul Newman, principal of St Joseph’s Evening College. “Offline classes in the day college are likely by April as we wait for Covid cases to drop substantially,” he added.

Jyoti Nivas College too plans to continue with online classes. While the government order on reopening of classes has still not been issued, Bengaluru City University said it will issue an order on Monday morning.

Bangalore University said while on-campus classes for second-year students will start from Monday, first-year classes are likely to begin by next week, by when admissions will be complete.