Women ,empowered by everything a women does.

Women once empowered primarily via the assertion of reproductive rights or workplace equality with men are now empowered by virtually everything the typical woman does. 15 years ago, a woman could only feel empowered by advancing in a male-dominated work world, asserting her own sexual wants and needs, or pushing for a stronger voice in politics. Today, a woman can empower herself through actions as seemingly inconsequential as driving her children to school or watching the saas- bahu instead of cooking for her in laws.

Ritu Beri,one of the leading indian fashion designers, remarked during the last Lakme Inidia Fashion Week that clothes-shopping, once considered a mundane act based on need , is now a bold statement, as shoes , clothes and jewellary have become a compelling way for a woman to announce that she is strong and independent, and can suceed without the help of a man. From travel , working conditions , cell phones to energy bars all are specially fortified with nutrients “for women” making it a feminist world .Proto-feminist pioneers like Elizabeth  Stanton and Susan Anthony could never have imagined that female empowerment would one day come in bar form.”

Whereas early feminists campaigned tirelessly for improved health care and safe, legal access to abortion, often against a backdrop of public indifference or hostility, today’s feminist asserts control over her biological destiny by wearing a baby-doll T-shirt with the word “Hoochie” spelled in glitter. Other acts of empowerment include gossiping about the sexual proclivities of male acquaintances, lunching with other women in small groups, taking calcium-rich antacid tablets, and reading The Cosmopoiltan.   The last decade has seen women  proclaiming themselves ‘large and in charge’ and refusing  to be bound by traditional notions of beauty and health.

Not every woman can become a doctor or campaign to bring about a huge social change. But  These incredible identities end up marginalizing the majority of women who are unable to, or just don’t particularly care to, achieve such things. Fortunately  present day feminism  championes these mundane activities as proud, bold assertions of  the female identity in the sphere of  oppressive patriarchal hegemony which has ruled for ages.

 A movie like Chak De India may make us feel that It is great to be a female sports person or actress . But we must not overlook the homemaker, the college student who chooses to abstain from sex, and the college co-ed who chooses to have a lot of sex. Every every single thing a woman does, no matter how ordinary  defines female identity and  empowers her.

 

free legal aid in India,

Legal Aid implies giving free legal services to the poor and needy who cannot afford the services of a lawyer for the conduct of a case or a legal proceeding in any court, tribunal or before an authority. The earliest Legal Aid movement appears to be of the year 1851 when some enactment was introduced in France for providing legal assistance to the indigent. In Britain, the history of the organized efforts on the part of the State to provide legal services to the poor and needy dates back to 1944, when Lord Chancellor, Viscount Simon appointed Rushcliffe Committee to enquire about the facilities existing in England and Wales for giving legal advice to the poor and to make recommendations as appear to be desirable for ensuring that persons in need of legal advice are provided the same by the State. The colonial hangover of the Indian legal system has prevented it from realising its true potential and extent. Much of our law was created by the British to suit their convenience and as a result of this it is mostly insensitive to the socio-economic problems of the masses it set out to govern and regulate. Article 39A of the Constitution of India provides that State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disability. Articles 14 and 22(1) also make it obligatory for the State to ensure equality before law and a legal system which promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity to all. Legal aid strives to ensure that constitutional pledge is fulfilled in its letter and spirit and equal justice is made available to the poor, downtrodden and weaker sections of the society. Sec. 304, Criminal Procedure Code: The Constitutional duty to provide legal aid arises from the time the accused is produced before the Magistrate for the first time and continues whenever he is produced for remand. Since 1952, the Govt. of India also started addressing to the question of legal aid for the poor in various conferences of Law Ministers and Law Commissions. In 1960, some guidelines were drawn by the Govt. for legal aid schemes. In different states legal aid schemes were floated through Legal Aid Boards, Societies and Law Departments. In 1980, a Committee at the national level was constituted to oversee and supervise legal aid programmer throughout the country under the Chairmanship of Hon Justice P.N. Bhagwati then a Judge of the Supreme Court of India. This Committee came to be known as CILAS (Committee for Implementing Legal Aid Schemes) and started monitoring legal aid activities throughout the country. The introduction of Lok Adalats added a new chapter to the justice dispensation system of this country and succeeded in providing a supplementary forum to the litigants for conciliatory settlement of their disputes. In 1987 Legal Services Authorities Act was enacted to give a statutory base to legal aid programmer throughout the country on a uniform pattern. This Act was finally enforced on 9th of November 1995 after certain amendments were introduced therein by the Amendment Act of 1994.9^th of November is celebrated as the” national Legal Services Day”. A special mention and recommendation is given regarding the Bail System. The bail system caused discrimination against the poor since the poor would not be able to furnish bail, while wealthier persons otherwise similarly situate would be able to furnish bail. The poor accused had often to fall back on touts and professional sureties for providing bail to suffer pre-trial detention the committee stated that the bail system was extremely unsatisfactory as and required reform so that it should be possible for the poor, as easily as for the rich, to obtain pre-trial release without jeopardizing the interests of justice. The magistrate should be given power to order payment of costs of adjournment to the accused where the prosecution has not taken reasonable steps to secure the presence of any witness and the case has to be adjourned on that account. The 1977 report first focused on the infrastructure of the legal services of the organization and clearly stated that it was not to be a department of the government but an autonomous institution headed by the Judge of the Supreme Court. The body would have representations from Bar Associations, the Government, the Parliament and the judiciary as well as voluntary associations and social workers and that there would be a multi tier set up for the legal aid organization. The 1977 report envisaged several modes of delivery of legal services. The primary mode would be the providing of legal advice through various legal aid offices having both salaried lawyers and assigned lawyers The 1977 report favored the setting up of Nagrik Salah Kendra at each legal aid office to provide counseling service and also act as a referral body for all kinds of problems for which assistance may be needed.It was suggested that the Advocated Act, 1961 be amended to recognize and permit provision of legal aid by law teachers and students According to section 2(1) (a) of the Act, legal aid can be provided to a person for a ‘case’ which includes a suit or any proceeding before a court. Section 2(1) (aaa) defines the ‘court’ as a civil, criminal or revenue court and includes any tribunal or any other authority constituted under any law for the time being in force, to exercise judicial or quasi-judicial functions. As per section 2(1)(c) ‘legal service’ includes the rendering of any service in the conduct of any case or other legal proceeding before any court or other authority or tribunal and the giving of advice on any legal matter. The linkage between Article 21 and the right to free legal aid was forged in the decision in Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar where the court was appalled at the plight of thousands of undertrials languishing in the jails in Bihar for years on end without ever being represented by a lawyer. The court declared that “there can be no doubt that speedy trial, and by speedy trial, we mean reasonably expeditious trial, is an integral and essential part of the fundamental right to life and liberty enshrined in Article 21.” The court pointed out that Article 39-A emphasised that free legal service was an inalienable element of ‘reasonable, fair and just’ procedure and that the right to free legal services was implicit in the guarantee of Article 21. In his inimitable style Justice Bhagwati declared: Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987’s Criterion for Providing Legal Aid is as per the Section 12 which states that Every person who has to file or defend a case shall be entitled to free legal services under this Act if that person is-(a) a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe;(b) a victim of trafficking in human beings or begar as referred to in Article 23 of the Constitution; (c) a woman or a child;(d) a mentally ill or otherwise disabled person;(e) a person under circumstances of undeserved want such as being a victim of a mass disaster, ethnic violence, caste atrocity, flood, drought, earthquake or industrial disaster; or(f) an industrial workman; or(g) in custody, including custody in a protective home within the meaning of clause (g) of section 2 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (104 of 1956); or in a juvenile home within the meaning of clause (h) of section 2 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 (53 of 1986) or in a psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing home within the meaning of clause (g) of section 2 of the Mental Health Act, 1987 (14 of 1987); or (i) in receipt of annual income less than rupees nine thousand or such other higher amount as may be prescribed by the State Govt., if the case is before a court other than the Supreme Court, and less than rupees twelve thousand or such other higher amount as may be prescribed by the Central Govt., if the case is before the Supreme Court.These Rules have already been amended to enhance this income ceiling so that people with economic backwardness are also included.  Further in the case of Hussainara Khatoon & Ors. (V) v. Home Secretary, State of Bihar, Patna Justice Bhagwati held that: “it’s the constitutional right of every accused person who is unable to engage a lawyer and secure legal services on account of reasons such as poverty, indigence or incommunicado situation, to have free legal services provided to him by the State and the State is under a constitutional mandate to provide a free lawyer………….. If free legal services are not provided to such an accused, the trial itself may run the risk of being vitiated…………..” In Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narain the Court said:“Rule Of Law is basic structure of constitution of India. Every individual is guaranteed the its give to him under the constitution……………..In absence of legal aid, trial is vitiated.” In, State of Haryana v. Darshana Devi, the Court said that:“the poor shall not be priced out of the justice market by insistence on court-fee and refusal to apply the exemptive provisions of order XXXIII, CPC. The state of Haryana, mindless of the mandate of equal justice to the indigent under the magna carta of republic, expressed in article 14 and stressed in article 39A of the constitution, has sought leave to appeal against the order of the high court which has rightly extended the ‘pauper’ provisions to auto-accident claims. Order XXXIII will apply to tribunals, which have the trappings of the civil court. In conclusion, it is made clear that Indian constitution has made considerable development in ensuring free legal aid for the poor and the backward, the problem lies in ensuring the implementation of these laws and sensitizing the lawyers on how such cases are to be dealt with  because free Legal aid is really nothing else but equal justice in action. Legal aid is in fact the delivery system of social justice.  

Haridwar, the banks of Ganga

Once you step in Haridwar you realize how a crowd can be both chaotic and charismatic at the same time. It’s a city of great religious significance to Hindu’s as it’s on the banks of the holy river Ganga. Haridwar marks the place where Ganga descends from the hills and enters the plains. Semi clad men and women half immersed in river water pray to the goddess, water that is cold despite the Indian summer. Pilgrims come in groups of, they pray, they tour and strengthen the bonds of immediate and associated family. Many priests find easy prey amongst the superstitious men and women who bow at the narrow windows at the temples.

The crowds pray and play at the holy steps known as “har ki paaudi” meaning the steps of god, which link the old city area to the river Ghat. The teenage boys swim the river shouting “har har Gange! “, Much to the concern of their mothers who themselves juggle the prayer thali and their sari as they make way to reach the steps. The twilight brings a new life as the frolic gives way to faith and prayers begin. The priest lights up the 4 foot lamp which has 101 smaller lamps  in it and descends to the river. The light from the lamps illuminates his saffron and sandalwood painted forehead.

With eyes shut he chants loudly shlokas in salutation of the Ganga and the crowd turns to a devoted prayer audience. People on both sides of the river clasp their hands and pray to the goddess for prosperity, their faces lit with slight shimmer of the Arti and glowing with the deep contentment.

The Arti concludes and the chaos returns to the Ghat, along with loud announcements of the names of the children that are lost and the cleanliness measures, the voice at the loudspeakers filled with both concern and disgust. Elderly occupying comfortable positions at benches placed at the bridge talk about how the city has changed over the last 50 years. As the dawn turns to night the tired pilgrims retire to the hotels and eateries mushroomed around the holy place.

Child labour: Remove with social participation

An individual with a clear vision can make a big difference in society. Anal Arasu is one such person trying to change the destiny of the villagers in Kancheepuram district.

The Project Manager for Hand in Hand, an NGO at Kancheepuram, Arasu strains to bring about a change, improve education among children, eradicate child labour and get micro financing take over the role of the money lender.

At a training centre in Chinna Kancheepuram where he addressed a seminar on, “Child Labour Elimination” he emphasised how parents and children needed to be aware of a world outside in order to aim for a better future. He explained, “A child drops out of school and starts working for a meagre amount, because staying in the school seems a waste of time. There are no guarantees, even after completing school; he will do the same job so he starts to supplement the family income. And with no one in the community to suggest otherwise, the child becomes a labourer. It is lack of social responsibility more than poverty that causes child labour.”

Amongst many projects that Arasu managed, giving ration supplies to the children in schools had yielded best results. Under the project funded by Hand in Hand, Sweden, each student’s family was granted ration worth Rs.500 every month. This rations included rice, millets, toothpaste, soap etc. Arasu said that he did not believe in forcibly keeping the children in school, he said, “There has to be incentive and motivation to go to school instead of punishment in failing to go.”

A firm believer in participatory learning, Arasu said that education needed to be associated with happiness instead of boredom. Keeping track of attendance and lecturing on the evils of child labour was not effective in solving the problem because it was just a link in the vicious circle of poverty, he explained. He added that because child labour was only a link, one had to pay attention to all the other links like occupation, poverty, health, micro credit etc. Arasu is also heading projects involving Women self help groups (SHGs), Citizen Centres, Health and hygiene and Solid waste management.

Although the government considered children to be child labourers if they belonged to the age group nine-14 yrs, in reality, he said, the age group involved all those upto-20 years. Child labour is prevalent in poverty stricken households where each member of the family added to the family income.

According to Arasu, “We lose sight of our goal if we segregate it from the larger picture, if you aim to eradicate only child labour in a community you will never succeed unless you improve the finances of the community by micro credit, assist them in setting up institutions like citizen centres and schools and provide them with basic health and hygiene facilities.”

Arasu was all for creating awareness because awareness generated action. He believed that instead of having inspectors to check child labour it was more effective to create Child Right Protection Communities. Because when the community felt responsible for the future of the children it would take affirmative action. It is only when an entire community feels responsible that an issue, as complex as child labour, can be tackled.

‘caste’ deciding the course of your life

There is no monster as cruel as caste. It can tear the life and destiny of people into bits of degraded and subhuman entities.

The village of Parmeshvaramandalam is known for its activism (HOW) against illegal sand mining but its wide caste divide is unknown to the world. While the Brahmins and the upper castes enjoy absolute authority and freedom, the Vedhars, a sub tribe of the Irulas live life in deplorable conditions.

In thee village Dharmakarta, Parthivan Arangovale, was a tall man with an even taller stature. As he walked down the dusty streets of the village he proudly showed the areas where farming was still carried out despite failure of agriculture in due to sand mining. He was the head of the village temple, for which a huge water tank was being built. Boasting about the grandeur of the temple he said, “When this tank is complete there will be no better village in entire area.”

He passed a settlement which looked distinctly different from the rest of the village. While the houses in the village were painted in many colours, had beautifully carved doors and windows, this area had 15 shacks, made out of dry palm fronds. Not a single house in the settlement had a door, a window or a boundary wall, as if they had nothing to wall in or wall out.

When asked about the settlement, he said dismissively, “They are Vedhars; they kill snakes and eat mice.” He led us to a shack where a frail old lady sat under a dry tree. As Ponniyamma saw the priest, she rose to greet him. She prostrated at his feet. With tears in her eyes she addressed him as ‘Swami’, meaning My Lord.

Ponniyamma, a Vedhar, a widow considered herself a curse since her two sons died due to snake bites and none of her three girls could bear children. Her only son who was alive had abandoned her and now works in Kancheepuram, 40 kms away. Ponniyamma’s husband, a snake catcher had died too of a snake bite. She was left to the mercy of the villagers; she had no land, no property, no family and no hope.

The Priest explained why Ponniyamma’s community was kept away from the village, “They eat mice and kill snakes so it is better that they stay far from us. They do come to the village but only when there is a snake. What will they do in the village otherwise?”

The Vedhar community, living on the margins of the village had no source of income except collecting charcoal for the villagers, earning a mere Rs.25 a day. The only other profession was snake catching which did not fetch cash. They were paid only in kind. Snake bites and snake catching are doubly hazardous here with the nearest hospital 25 kms away from the village in Chengalpettu. Vedhars have no bullock cart to reach the medical centre in time. Almost each family has witnessed a death due to snake bite; still the community is onto catching snakes because they have no choice to do anything otherwise.

When asked about the deplorable conditions of the tribe, the village councillor, Jayanthi Sumatra said, “They get the two free sarees according to the government scheme. Also every villager who has a ration card gets rice. These people just create a scene unnecessarily.”

As the Vedhar women, in tattered sarees, walked towards the river to occupy the downstream bathing Ghat Arangovale explained, “There is no constraint on how much water they use. They bathe downstream because the bore well is above it.” The bore well supplied water to the entire village, except the settlement of Vedhars who walked to the village for water.

As the priest walked back from the village, nobody overtook him, either they couldn’t or may be they chose not to. The village accepted the community as a part of the village but marginalised them depriving them of a life of dignity.

Sand mining affecting agriculture

Illegal sand mining in the Palar basin has drastically affected the fertility of the soil in the village of Parmeshavaramandalam. The village that traditionally grows vegetables and groundnuts had one failed crop last year and is experiencing low yields. Since the village is located on the coast, even half a foot of sand mining allows the sea water into the farms thereby leading to the salination of the soil. The sea water that enters the soil affects the crop permanently.

“More than 150 hectares of our land have become too saline for farming and the remaining 350 hectares will also become useless if the sand mining doesn’t stop,” said a farmer from Parmeshavaramandalam, Niyan Sundaram. A farmer in the village, K. Arjun said, “Earlier we used to get 25 bags of ground nuts from one acre but last year we got only 10 bags.” He said, “Each bag sells for close to Rs.1000. With losses of Rs.15, 000 each harvest how long will we survive?”

Two years back the farmers and the village councillor, Sumatra took the issue to the high court where the court ordered a stay on the illegal activity..Despite stay orders the mining continued and the land kept getting saline. According to the councillor more than 10,000 lorries reach the Palar basin a day and mine sand illegally.
One of the village elders, J. Shekar said, “What does a farmer do when the soil goes salty? The farmer abandons it but even manual labour does not put food in his belly.” According to the Sumatra, it was only a matter of time till the entire 500 hectares of the village farming area became too saline to be cultivated.

The village councillor, explained, “Agriculture is not enough to support the family so the men have started to move to the towns. They work for Rs.100 a day but they spend more than Rs 20 reaching the town and there is no guarantee that they find work every time they go.”.
Suggesting a solution, Sumatra said that they needed check dams at every 25 kms of the river basin to ensure that the river did not join the sea. She added that a check dam would cost Rs.250 crore, but the District Collector when asked about it explained that there weren’t enough funds to build the check dams.

In absence of options the men of the village went to towns and worked on construction sites where sand from Palar was used. Ironically, the villagers are employed by the same illegal companies that had driven them out of their fields.

 

Life of a Gajara vendor: Not a rosy picture

“At 22 I had a husband, steady income and a home today I have nothing.” Nagamma, 41, is a Gajara vendor. As she makes colourful strings of flowers she speaks of the days when she wore Gajara instead of selling them.
Nagamma is one of the many ladies who sell Gajaras outside the temples of Kanjeepuram. Her day starts at three in the morning with a four kilometre walk to the flower market. She lives in the slums of Chiina Kanjeepuram, where she has rented a shack. She said she can not afford to buy back her house which her late husband made because of the menial income. Her only son left her after completing his schooling, for which Nagamma took loans from her brothers.
   

In the flower market she picks through flowers, “these are most expensive. Rs25 for 100 roses” she says and picks a Kg of Arali for Rs 20. She said she could not afford roses because Arali can bear heat better also rose Gajaras sell for the same cost as Arali ones. She earns Rs.90 to 120 a day out of which Rs.60 are kept asidefor buying flowers the next day. With an earning of thirty Rupees, Nagamma barely sustains herself.

Going ‘Meritocratic’: the Autocratic way

     What expectations would one have from a Member of Parliament whose mother is the president of one of the most influential parties in the country, whose father was a Prime minister, whose grand father was the first Prime Minster of the country and whose great grand father was a distinguished leader of the country’s independence movement?      Expecting that he would weigh his words before making public statements is not too much to ask. His lineage predisposed him to a career of active politics but it is his communication skills that make him a favorite among the news writers. Each word he says creates ripples not only because of his lineage but also because he meticulously saws the branch on which he is sits.    Rahul Gandhi, the general secretary of the party, member the Congress Working Committee, head of Youth Congress, National Students Union of India and member of the Congress party’s campaign committee gave his debut speech at the last AICC session. In his speech he made an appeal to the youth to join the Congress to realize their dreams and capabilities. He also added a word which describes the political history of Congress: Meritocratic.     The 37-year-old politician while Addressing 3,000 All India Congress Committee delegates, said that the Congress party should be relevant to ‘a broad range of young Indians’ and become ‘meritocratic’ where progress is linked to performance and accountability. For someone who got to his position within the party on account of his lineage it perhaps was strident for his party men to hear him speak of “merit”, “performance” and “accountability”. While Rahul’s ‘merit and performance’ or the lack of them has been made clear many times since 2004 when he joined the politics but it is his emphasis on ”accountability” that directly questions  Rahul’s party.      Applying the “Rahul Gandhi” maxim of progress linked to performance and accountability what would be the verdict Congress President Sonia Gandhi who oversaw the party lose every assembly election since 2004 and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who’s Executive Delinquency for the last many months saw governance come to a standstill.       The Sonia Gandhi spin machine always had the advantage of taking the moral high ground and painting her as the victim. From Sonia Gandhi’s act of abdicating responsibility and thrusting Manmohan Singh to the PMO everything she does gets projected as Sacrifice to the Office of Profit Issue the blame was always on the Government with the Congress shying away from taking responsibility.       Rahul Gandhi’s Meritocratic position gives him the advantage of the same machinery which works in order to project him as the future leader but it is his habit of invoking the past to gain sympathy which makes his statements so quotable. During the Uttar Pradesh election campaign in 2007 he said that “if anyone from the Gandhi-Nehru family had been active in politics then, the Babri Masjid would not have fallen”.  He was a prominent figure in a high profile Congress campaign for the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections; Congress, however, won only 22 seats with 8.53% of votes Rahul was never held accountable.        Rahul is known for making catalytic statements on all issues from the Babari Masjid demolition to the partition of the country. By counting the 1971 break-up of Pakistan among his family’s “achievements” and boosting on the determination of his family he had once said” You know that when my family decides to do anything, it does it. Be it the freedom struggle, the division of Pakistan or taking India to the 21st century.”    Well-known historian Irfan Habib remarked that the comments were “An insult to the Bangladesh movement. Rahul is free to say whatever he wants to, but in a democratic country playing up family is certainly not in good taste.” It is this bad taste that would perhaps compel Rahul to consult before he makes another statement because the Meritocratic manner in which he has made it to the top would slip out of his hand if he continues to be the Don Quixote of Indian Politics.

Contempt of What ?

On 21^st of September The New Delhi High Court sentenced 4 journalists from the Mid-Day daily, to 4 months jail term, for apparent ‘contempt of court’. The contempt was established on the basis of a May 19 cartoon in Mid-day that brought up a conflict of interest discussion about the Chief Justice of India passing judgments in a land sealing case, the judgments that might have benefited his sons.The resident editor Vitusha Oberoi, city editor MK Tayal, publisher AK Akhtar and cartoonist Irfan Khan were the four journalists who, by the way of a cartoon, showed that the x-chief justice had vested interests in ordering the Dehli sealing.A bench comprising Justice Sodhi and Justice B N Chaturvadi said, “As they neither seek an apology nor do they opt to argue and reiterate their stand which has tarnished the image of the highest court, a four month imprisonment would serve the ends of justice”. The Bench said that the publications actually attacked the very institution which is nothing short of contempt. The bench also rejected the argument that after retirement the judge ceased to be a part of the judicial system and writing against him does not tantamount to the contempt of court and held that the nature of the disclosures though quoting the former CJI hurts the image of the Highest Court of the land.But allegations made against an individual, whatever his official position are generally not interpreted as an act of defamation against an entire fraternity of vocation under the law. No case has ever been recorded against the publication of charges against politicians, IAS, IFS and the IPS etc amounted to defaming an entire profession or cadre. And in this case also the court acted on suo-motu cognizance i.e it acted on its own. Arguing the journalists’ case, senior advocate Shanti Bhushan said the high court’s order is “unjustified and unreasonable” because “truth is an explicit defense under the Contempt of Court Act”.The journalists said they had ample evidence to prove their charges but the high court judges felt “the publications, in the garb of scandalizing a retired Chief Justice of India, have in fact, attacked the very institution” and “is nothing short of contempt”. The court did not allow the four to try and prove the allegations in the story, effectively saying that whether the allegations were true did not matter; by writing about the case the paper had “lowered the dignity of the Supreme Court in the eyes of the public”. But in 2006, The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice had accepted the Centre’s move to make `truth’ as defence in the Contempt of Court law in public interest. Parliament amended the Contempt of Courts Act (CCA) to introduce Section 13(b), which states: “The courts may permit, in any proceedings for contempt of court, justification by truth as a valid defence if it is satisfied that it is in public interest and the request for invoking the said defence is bona fide.”  Stating that the object of this amendment was to introduce fairness in procedure and meet the requirements of Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. According to this law, the journalists had the right to present their truth as evidence, but the court did not allow the four to try and prove the allegations in the story. The court said that whether the allegations were true did not matter; by writing about the case the paper had “lowered the dignity of the Supreme Court in the eyes of the public”.But in contempt of court the judges are the ones who undertake the trail , who accuse a person of contempt and the ones who give the verdict. In other words it is like a case of deformation in which a group of people stand against an institution, knowing that the final verdict will be given by the institution only. In such a case truth as evidence, if not accepted, will make the judiciary unapproachable.Although Contempt of court is a court ruling which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, deems an individual as holding contempt for the court, its process, and its invested powers, which may result from a failure to obey a lawful order of a court, showing disrespect for the judge, disruption of the proceedings through poor behavior, or publication of material deemed likely to jeopardize a fair trial. Without the protection of truth as evidence against contempt, the press will never be in a position to expose the ill doings of the judiciary.

The new President

Madam Pratibha Patil became the 13^th person to reside in the Rashtra pati Bhavan, like all presidents she too heads the country and mascots the democracy of the nation but her presidential tenure is historical in many other ways.  Not only is she is the first women president but more than that this is the first time that the presidential elections were brought down to the level of a street fight with mud slinging comments and strategic unfolding of controversies. The last part of monarchy that we still linger on to justifies the post of the president, the president is considered to be a philosopher king but after 60 years of democracy the country seemed to be without many options to fill in the shoes of “the president”. The nomination of Pratibha Patil raised a significant question especially amongst the non Maharastrians, Who is she? And in the effort to answer the same BJP spilt the beans of her career and her associates elaborating every single flaw. Media  too created an entire campaign to  try and chase away the inevitable victory of Pratibha Patil, they diged into her career and brought out cases that were pending from the  loans that her banks did not pay to the brother who was in a murder case. BJP spent more time and energy trying to make UPA’s candidate look bad than to strengthen its own candidate. Jayalalithaa went on to feel sad at the manner in which the presidential election was being held, the media played the tape of Patil’s comments on the veil and the reporters repetitively covered the bank sites which were once run by her, but despite all that Patil won the presidential election by a margin of 300,000 votes from the next candidate, who was the vice president few days back.So is it that UPA’s choice has become the order for all or is that we as a nation faced shortage of  candidates for the president’s post  or is it that  Patil received what she deserved we simply made no efforts to understand her? Today the largest democracy in the world is headed by a woman and this fact does illuminate the empowerment of females in the country, she may or may not prove to be a rubber stamp but she will defiantly be an icon for those who devalued being a female in the country isn’t it then fair to give her a chance to prove herself. Her career graph shows a life well spent in promoting education and employment amongst females .She along with her husband opened many schools like Vidya Bharati Shikshan Prasarak Mandal , which runs a chain of schools and colleges in Jalgaon and Mumbai , she also set up Shram Sadhana trust that runs hostels for working women in new Dehli , Mumbai and Pune, and an engineering college in Jalgaon . She also founded and was the chairwomen of a cooperative sugar factory known as Sant Muktabai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana and a cooperative bank named after her self as Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank. She also helped setting up an industrial training school for the visually challenged in Jalgaon and running a school for the visually impaired children of Vimukta Jatis and Normadic tribes. The philanthropic foundations and her political career both grew together, she was working for females, visually impaired and poor but at the same time she was firm in her foot holds of power and position , at the age of 27 she started her political career , by winning the assembly election from Edlabad constituency on national congress ticket and after her re-election , in 1967 she became a deputy minister for education . a trained lawyer from Government college of Law , Mumbai.  Patil represented Edlabad constituency in Jalgaon district as a member of the Maharastra legislative assembly (1962-1985) and was deputy chairwomen of the Rajya Sabha (1986-1988), Member of Parliament from Amravati in the Lok Sabha (1991-1996) and the 24^th and the first women governor of Rajasthan Although its not that it is fair to paint a picture Patil without adding the recently probed investigations but why Were all these scams not realized when she was the Governor or Member of Parliament or member of Rajya Sabha? It seems obvious that like most politicians today she too has streaks of corruption and kin first ness but her winning the election is a testimony of how the real men and women of the nation are away from the political spectrum and how prestigious posts are held only on the basis of Indira Loyality.