Disabled man capable of getting job can't claim huge maintenance from estranged wife: HC





A man with a disability who does not take up a job despite being capable, is not entitled to a huge amount as maintenance from his estranged wife, the Bombay high court has ruled. Justice M S Sonak reduced the interim monthly maintenance granted to Pune resident Prakash Gijare, who is in a wheelchair, that is payable by his wife Seema, a theatre actor, to Rs 2,000.

“(Prakash) is in a position to take up suitable employment and the mere circumstance that he is not doing so, does not mean that the respondent is entitled to exorbitant maintenance from his wife,“ said the judge.

Prakash met with an accident in 2004 and has been in a wheelchair since then. His disability is certified at 51%, but the court noted that from the medical records, it can't be said that he is totally disabled from doing any work or that needs only bed rest. “He does appear to have exaggerated his position and such exaggeration might have nexus with the claim for maintenance which he has made against the wife,“ said the HC.

Seema's lawyer had brough evidence on record that he used to run computer classes from home. “Prakash is no doubt en titled to have his case evaluated with sensitivity , particularly considering his physical impa irment. But it must be noted that there is no need to encoura ge his conviction, that he is no at all obliged to make any efforts to earn any income and that it is the unconditional duty of his wife to go on providing with ma intenance,“ the HC said. Prakash and Seema got married in 2000, but started living separately from 2001. Seema sought divorce in 2002. After Prakash met with an accident in 2004, he filed a maintenance claim. In 2015, a family court, in an interim order, told Seema to pay maintenance ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 for different periods. Seema moved the HC claiming that she was unemployed and had to leave a job after Prakash and his mother created aruckus at her workplace.

(Couple's names changed to protect identity)

SOURCE::: Feb 04 2016 : The Times of India (Mumbai), p.2 

http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Disabled-man-capable-of-getting-job-cant-claim-04022016002020

Collegium system on its way out as Cong backs bill for new panel

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





The collegium system of appointing judges to the SC and HCs is set to become history with the Congress deciding to support the NDA 's Constitution amendment bill to create the National Judicial Appointments Commission.The bill, which seeks to replace the judges-appointingjudges system with a six-member commission, found backi ng from regional parties and the Left. The Congress realized that it did not have the numbers to stall the bill, and decided to record its concerns while voting in its favour. It is opposed to two provisions—giving “veto” to panel members to nix names proposed for judgeship and requiring unanimity if a name returned by the President is reiterated. With the Congress too supporting the bill to create the National Judicial Appointments Commission, the legislation is expected to get the nod without much problem. The first day of the debate in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday , after law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad sought support for the bill, removed any doubt about the outcome, with members across political parties taking potshots at the judiciary and complimenting the minister for putting in place a panel to appoint judges.
“The government has got no intentions whatsoever to intervene in the rights, jurisdiction, authority , constitutional powers of the Supreme Court and high courts of India,“ Prasad said to reassure the judiciary . The legislation is set to clear the Lok Sabha on Wednesday and the government will look to bring it to the Upper House either before the end of the Budget session on August 14 or by extending the session, as suggested by treasury benches.
Backing the bill, regional parties went a step ahead by seeking separate state-level commissions to appoint judges to high courts, as proposed by AIADMK leader M Thambidurai. It found support from the Samajwadi Party with Dharmendra Yadav making the same demand as also Shiv Sena. Thambidurai said his party would support the bill only if his amendment for state-level commissions was accepted.
The Congress's opening speaker Veerappa Moily pointed to the veto powers to argue, “The judiciary may be worried about it. This may give rise to conflict between the executive and the judiciary .“ He added that the Chief Justice of India could have been given extra influence to assure the judiciary.
For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com

Source::::: The Times of India, 13.08.2014, p.01.  http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Collegium-system-on-its-way-out-as-Cong-13082014001100

Weddings in party offices invalid: HC

Kochi: Kerala high court has held as invalid marriages conducted at the offices of CPM and other political parties. The ruling in this regard was passed on Monday by a division bench comprising justices Antony Dominic and Anil K Narendran on apetition filed by the father of a young woman seeking custody of his daughter, who went missing on February 10. 
    The police produced the woman and informed the court that she had got married on February 19 at the CPM local committee office at Nedumudi in Kuttanad. The bench then held that the marriage was not legally valid as it should either be solemnized before a marriage officer appointed under statutory provisions or as per religious rites. AGENCIES


Source::: The Times of India, 26-02-2014, p.9,   http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2014/02/26&PageLabel=9&EntityId=Ar00905&ViewMode=HTML

Woman can be booked for domestic violence: HC

Shibu Thomas TNN 

Mumbai: Woman relatives can be charged under the anti-domestic violence legislation,the Bombay high court has ruled. 
    Hearing the plea of a 28-year-old Nanded resident who had charged her inlaws, including her sistersin-law, for harassment, Justice A M Thipsay struck down the order of a sessions court judge who had dropped the charges against the female relatives. 
    “The view taken by the sessions judge that women will not be covered by the definition of the term ‘respondent’, as given in the Domestic Violence Act, is clearly contrary to law,” said Justice Thipsay. 
    The court cited a Supreme Court judgment, which stated that the 2005 law brought in to protect women from violence in the house was maintainable against female relatives too. 
    Sadhna Mhatre, a homemaker, had lodged a complaint of harassment against her husband’s relatives. A magistrate court refused to delete the names of Sadhna’s female relatives. However, a sessions judge quashed the proceedings against the female relatives and also said that there were not enough grounds to proceed against them. 
    Sadhna challenged the order before the HC. Justice Thipsay said the provisions of the anti-domestic violence law could not be equated with a criminal trial and were akin to civil proceedings. “The considerations, whether or not there were sufficient grounds for proceedings in a given case, ought not arise in such proceedings,” said the judge. “The sessions judge has misdirected himself in applying the principles.” The court added that, “Even otherwise, whether the allegations levelled by the petitioner would ultimately be proved, could have been decided only after the evidence would be recorded.”

Source:::: The Times of India, 04-10-2013, p.07,  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW&AW=1380876857660

HC raps Centre over use of foreign servers for secret info

Abhinav Garg TNN 

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Thursday frowned at the high level of dependence of the government and its agencies on foreign internet servers. 
    “It’s an important issue. You must act fast,” a division bench comprising justices B D Ahmed and Vibhu Bakhru told the government after seeing that the National Investigating Agency (NIA), while issuing a public notice, gave a gmail ID to solicit secret information on terror suspects. 
    “The government of India and the NIA are using private email IDs on foreign networks that store data outside India. This violates Section-4 of the Public Records Act 1993,” advocate Parag Gupta argued, prompting the bench to express its displeasure with the Centre for such a lapse. 
    Gupta, appearing for petitioner K N Govindacharya, submitted a contact directory of the ministry of communication and IT, in which gmail and Yahoo! IDs of minister of state Milind Deora and other senior officials were listed. Gupta argued this was against the government policy wherein ‘nic’ network of emails must be used to ensure information remains on Indian servers. 
    Appearing for the Centre, additional solicitor general Rajeev Mehra and standing counsel Sumeet Pushkarna assured the HC that an email policy will be formed in four weeks for official communication by government officers so that the data wouldn’t be transferred to foreign servers. 
    The Centre’s stand in the HC on bringing a policy on securing its official communication is important as it comes in the backdrop of claims that India is among the top five countries extensively monitored by the National Security Agency (NSA), a US agency tasked with foreign surveillance. Reports say NSA recorded 6.3 billion pieces of intelligence from computer networks in India, placing it fifth on the list of most extensively monitored countries.


Source:::: The Times of India, 27-09-2013, p.10,  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW&AW=1380269603906