 |
|
Venkatesh dies with wish unfulfilled
Goa ex-CM Faleiro indicted
Kareena-Shahid photos not in good taste: SC
SC refuses to give verdict on 2nd marriage of Haryana couple
Getting our act together on contempt
Full faith in Speaker, says Vajpayee
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finance Commission submits report
Police ‘harming’ Kanchi mutt’s reputation: NDA
Dilip Kumar, Gill without official accommodation
Crucial CPM meeting begins
Rajya Sabha adopts motion on PGI vacancy
Ajay panel recommendations to be implemented
Hema Malini addresses a press conference on her coming TV serial ‘Kamini Damini’ in New Delhi on Wednesday.
— Tribune photo by Rajiv Tyagi
|
|
Venkatesh dies with wish unfulfilled
Hyderabad, December 17 “He died unhappy as his wish remained unfulfilled. The courts could have been more sympathetic to his cause,” Ms Sujatha, Venkatesh’s mother, who had left no stone unturned to help her son realise his wish, said. The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday rejected the writ petition pleading for advancing the death of Venkatesh for the purpose of harvesting his organs. The court said that organs could be harvested only from the brain dead and that the law did not provide for transplantation of organs from a person still alive. Doctors at Global Hospital here, who had earlier admitted him for pneumonia, could harvest only his cornea, which was handed over to the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute. The other parts of the body were infected with pneumonia and hence were not fit for harvesting, the doctors said. Venkatesh’s case brought the issue of mercy killing to the fore once again, especially in relation to organ donation. Venkatesh, a native of Vijayawada, was afflicted with the debilitating disease of muscular dystrophy since his childhood, and his condition worsened recently after he was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy. Aware of his nearing end, the B.Com graduate expressed a deep desire to donate his organs before they were too degenerated to be useful for transplantation. Neither the doctors nor the courts could help him in this regard, as the law prohibited euthanasia. “Though we understand the anguish of the mother, the Act has no such provision and hence, such a request cannot be conceded,” the court said. Venkatesh, a B.Com graduate, was a chess player and also dabbled in painting. A foodie, he liked cooking. His mother, Sujatha, had to separate from her husband to take care of her
son. PTI adds: Sujatha said she would continue her fight urging for a change in the Human Organ Transplant Act. Vowing to carry on the legal battle for a change in the law to enable persons who are not brain dead to donate organs, Sujatha told a private news channel “This is fighting. May be not this year, but in two years or three years or four years, the Act (change in law) is coming”. She said she would also fulfil Venkatesh’s last wish that she performs his last rites even if it means going against Hindu traditions. “I know only what my son said. He said: “Amma, do this. Hindu dharma, I don’t know”. Venkatesh died in a restless state, Sujatha said, claiming that “in fact his organs were getting infected since yesterday and doctors could not fetch them before the calamity, it tantamount to killing the patient”. “We could not fulfil his last wish. The courts were very cooperative and had taken up the matter very fast but the end came faster. As infection was spreading to vital organs we could do nothing but simply watch Venkatesh die,” she said. Dr K. Srikant, the neuro-physician who attended on Venkatesh, meanwhile, said: “This case can be an eye-opener and something can be done and solution can be found out”. Sujatha’s fight for amending the law to donate organs, if the patient so wishes, got support from various political circles too. |
|
Goa ex-CM Faleiro indicted
Mumbai, December 17 A judicial commission headed by retired judge M L Pendse was constituted by the BJP government in the state to probe irregularities in the state-owned Economic Development Corporation. The EDC, which grants loans to industries was under the purview of Faleiro who also held the Industries portfolios for several years. The Pendse Commission pointed out several irregularities in the disbursal and recovery of loans by the EDC during Mr Faleiro’s tenure as a minister. The report states: “There is positive evidence to indicate that these illegalities and irregularities were committed at the behest of minister Faleiro and with the connivance of M. Modassir, Managing Director of the EDC.” The commission further suggested that the EDC should be handled by financial experts rather than by politicians. |
|
Kareena-Shahid photos not in good taste: SC
New Delhi, December 17 A Bench comprising Mr Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari, which admitted petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Section 499 of the IPC, made the observation while hearing the preliminary arguments. The petitions, “by the Hindu” Editor N. Ravi and others, were filed in the wake of several defamation cases lodged by the Tamil Nadu Government against them for allegedly publishing defamatory news items and articles. On senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for The Hindu, pointing out that the media should have the right to report incidents surrounding famous personalities in public interest and taste, the court interrupted citing the recent controversy and said such acts could not be said to be for the benefit of the public. The court further hinted at the need to create a balance between public interest and defamation so that the freedom was not stretched beyond limits. Earlier, when the petition was sought to be dismissed as most of the cases had been withdrawn by the Tamil Nadu Government, Mr Salve highlighted the importance of the issue that involved important question of law especially with regard to press freedom. “We are a newspaper and we have to report several happenings for public interest. We cannot have Section 499 of the IPC always staring at us. It has a chilling effect,” Mr Salve submitted.
— UNI |
|
SC refuses to give verdict on 2nd marriage of Haryana couple
New Delhi, December 17 A Bench of Mr Justice N Santosh Hegde and Mr Justice S B Sinha also refused to pass any order to send the girl to a woman home, and said the issue of matrimonial dispute was not before it. “We have not said anything on the validity of their marriage, that is not the issue before us. There is a petition for their protection before us,” the Bench said, rejecting the plea of girl’s parents in this regard. Senior advocate Shobha
Dixhit, appearing for girl’s parents, pleaded the court that some direction be issued about the marital status of the girl and she be sent to some women home like “Nirmal Chaya for counselling so that she could take a right decision about her life.” Ms Dixhit admitted that the girl was “major” and she was entitled to take a decision about her marriage under the law. “But the parents will always be concerned about their children and that is the reason as to why an opportunity be given to them to counsel the girl.” But the court said that it would not like to pass any order on how two adults should live. “The issue is of two persons living together on their free will,” the court observed, while adjourning hearing for four weeks. The court made it clear the Haryana Government would continue to provide protection, while adjourning the hearing on a petition by Manju and Hari Om seeking adequate protection to them, fearing threat to their life. |
|
Getting our act together on contempt
Even as a Bill to amend the Contempt of Court Act awaits parliamentary passage, civil society initiatives on the issue are gathering momentum. The day after the Contempt of Court (Amendment) Bill was introduced in Parliament, retired judges, lawyers, scholars, activists and journalists from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India converged at
Manesar, near Delhi, for a seminar on ‘Media and Judicial Independence in South Asia’. The objectives of the seminar were to discuss ways and means through which contempt power can be exercised consistent with the requirements of free speech.
The three-day seminar, organised by
AMIC-India with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and UNESCO as partners, concluded with a set of recommendations to guide and shape judicial and legislative approaches in relation to Contempt of Court. The Manesar Declaration recommends that governments and judges should at all times have regard to the importance of the right to freedom of speech and expression while making and implementing the law on contempt of court. Judges should bear in mind that their powers of contempt are not used indiscriminately, but only in circumstances of extreme necessity where the integrity of the justice administration process is seriously threatened. Judges should adopt the well-recognized principle that no action is initiated for contempt in trivial cases. In particular, judges should ensure that the powers of contempt are never used vindictively or to wreak private vengeance. A distinction needs to be made at all times between protecting the integrity of the justice administration process and the personal dignity or reputation of an individual judge. The seminar wants the judiciary to ensure that cases involving contempt are never heard by any judge in relation to whom the alleged contempt was committed. Judges should exercise extreme caution in the grant of restraint orders where this would have a chilling effect on the right to freedom of expression. In all cases involving contempt, a judge should give the alleged contemnor an opportunity to purge the contempt and tender a suitable apology before proceeding with the action. All alleged contemnors should be treated with due dignity throughout the proceedings, which should be transparent. the general public. Of particular significance to the media is the resolution seeking respect for the confidentiality of a journalist’s sources: that any departure from this rule shall only be made where required by the interests of justice, the investigation and prevention of crime, or national security. In terms of reform, it has been suggested that government and judiciary should move towards abolishing the offence of “scandalising the court”; and allow defences of truth; and fair comment, coupled with the public interest. The Declaration also makes out a case for affording protection to whistle-blowers acting in good faith to safeguard the public interest. It suggests a hard look at the issue of the severity and appropriateness of punishments under existing contempt law, and that punishment awarded should not be unduly harsh or disproportionate. These recommendations have provoked a stir in Sri Lanka, including in Parliament, with the imprisonment of a former minister and a leading opposition figure for contempt of court. In the context of the Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha, the resolutions of the seminar are expected to widen the debate in India as the issue concerns not only the government and judiciary but also influential sections such as lawyers and the media. |
|
Full faith in Speaker, says Vajpayee
New Delhi, December 17 “We did not say anything against the Speaker. We were only discussing dictatorship of the government. We have full faith in the Speaker,” Mr Vajpayee said outside Parliament after attending the morning session. Asked if he did not feel bad that the Speaker offered to resign because of what the Opposition leaders had said, the senior BJP leader said “I don’t want to get into it. The Speaker has said a lot of things about us but did not say anything about Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav.” He said whatever had happened in the House was a sequel to what Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav had promised but did not come and make a statement in Parliament on the rail accident (in Mukerian). |
|
Finance Commission submits report
New Delhi, December 17 “We have linked some part of recommendations to the fiscal performance”, Chairman of the commission C. Rangarajan told newspersons here after submitting the report to the President. He said to enable the adoption of the equalisation principle, the commission had diluted the balance between tax devolution and grants in favour of grants”. Mr Rangarajan, however, did not divulge the specific recommendations made by the commission. “It is not for me to divulge the recommendations at this stage. The report will be considered by the government”, he said. The share of grants in the total transfer of funds is expected to be higher than on previous occasions. The commission has, also for the first time, addressed the issue of devolution of service tax revenue. The service tax revenue is now part of the divisible pool. |
|
Police ‘harming’ Kanchi mutt’s reputation: NDA
New Delhi, December 17 “The Tamil Nadu police is evidently less interested in solving the murder case and more in “murdering the reputation” of this historic institution of Sanatan Dharma,” NDA delegation leader and Rajya Sabha member Balbir K. Punj told newspersons here. Mr Punj alleged “the state police is resorting to draconian measures against the Mutt inmates, its employees, sympathisers, and associates to terrorise them into manufacturing evidence against the Shankaracharya.” He charged that the investigations into Kanchi seer’s cases are being supervised by the Police Superintendent of Kancheepuram K Premkumar, who has a notorious service record. |
|
Dilip Kumar, Gill without official accommodation
New Delhi, December 17 So much so that tragedy king of yesteryears has not been attending the Rajya Sabha and others like the former Chief Election Commissioner are staying in a private or rented accommodation. Dr Gill has been staying in
Nizammuddin. The Upper House’s housing pool has a shortage of 32 houses, convener of the Rajya Sabha committee Rajiv Shukla told the Tribune. A meeting to address the problem has been convened by the Minister of Urban Development Ghulam Nabi Azad for December 24 in which the House (accommodation) committees of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, along with officials of the ministry, would participate, Mr Shukla said. There is a shortage of 32 houses. |
|
Crucial CPM meeting begins
New Delhi, December 17 |
|
Rajya Sabha adopts motion on PGI vacancy
New Delhi, December 17 The motion was moved by the Health Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss. |
|
Ajay panel recommendations to be implemented
New Delhi, December 17 He said the recommendations, which encompassed all thee services, would be implemented as soon as formal notification was issued by the ministry.
— PTI |
|
PIL- a tool to make money?
New Delhi, December 17 Dismissing an appeal against the Bombay High Court, which had imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 while dismissing a PIL by the advocate, who was caught while taking ‘black mailing’ money, the apex court said courts had to act ruthlessly while dealing with imposters and busybodies or meddlesome interlopers impersonating as public-spirited holy men. Noting that the concept of PIL was devised to help the judiciary in extending its long arm of sympathy to the poor, ignorant, oppressed and the needy, a Bench comprising Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat and Mr Justice S. H. Kapadia cautioned that its abuse and unregulated use would make it a tool for seeking vendetta. Calling upon the courts to be careful while entertaining PILs, the Bench pointed out that some persons were meddling with the judicial process either by or from improper motives, and tried to bargain for a good deal, including ‘enriching’ themselves.
— UNI |
|
Hema launches new serial
The issue of malnutrition among women and children is dream girl Hema Malini’s one of the major concerns these days. In fact, the plight of women and children in India will find a more resounding echo in the Rajya Sabha, with the ageless actress planning to push her plea for special package for tribal areas of those 15 districts in Maharashtra, where children reportedly died due to malnutrition.
“In future, I will also take up women and children-specific issues from other parts of the country,” Hema told The Tribune following the launch of her new serial on Sahara One, “Kamini Damini”, here on Wednesday.
— TNS |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
In
video (
