he protection enjoyed by a woman under Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) is not available in proceedings related to Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) as per Delhi high Court

Source: Times of India

The protection enjoyed by a woman under Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) is not available in proceedings related to Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema), which is governed by civil law, Delhi high court has ruled. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna dismissed a writ petition filed by a 53-year-old Canadian citizen challenging ED summons issued under Fema Section 37 for recording of her statement, rejecting the contention that safeguards guaranteed to women under CrPC applied to such summons.

To read more please go to the following link:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/crpc-cover-for-women-cant-be-invoked-in-fema-case-delhi-hc/articleshow/125730860.cms

‘Worrying trend’: Supreme Court flags criminalising long-term consensual relationships upon turning sour

Source: Indian Express

The Supreme Court on Tuesday flagged a “worrying trend” of criminalising long-term consensual relationships after they turn sour. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh said while quashing an FIR against a man accused of rape by a woman who was  in a relationship with him for over 9 years. To read more please go to the following link:

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/worrying-trend-supreme-court-flags-criminalising-long-term-consensual-relationships-upon-turning-sour-9692335/

From Equal Pay To No Arrest At Night: Key Legal Rights For Women In India

Source: Times Now - MSN

In today’s world, knowing your legal rights is crucial for empowerment and protection. For women in India, these rights provide vital safeguards against discrimination, harassment, and violence. From equal pay to protection from domestic abuse, understanding these legal provisions ensures women can effectively assert their rights and seek justice. To read more please go to the following link:

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/India/from-equal-pay-to-no-arrest-at-night-key-legal-rights-for-women-in-india/ar-AA1qvBOM?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=a4f522c753704949ad5abde7d71f5184&ei=57

Widowed Daughter-in-law Not Required to Live in Matrimonial Home for Maintenance: Allahabad HC

 Source: News 18 - MSN

In a significant ruling, the Allahabad High Court held that under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, it is not mandatory for a widowed daughter-in-law to reside in her matrimonial home to claim maintenance from her father-in-law. To read more please go to the following link:

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/India/widowed-daughter-in-law-not-required-to-live-in-matrimonial-home-for-maintenance-allahabad-hc/ar-AA1q24XU?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=7d270901782e45ada96d6ac3317ce833&ei=9

State-wise changes in rape law: Similarities & differences between Bengal, Andhra, and Maharashtra Bills

 Source: Deccan Herald

Before Bengal's Aparajita Bill, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra had passed similar bills for women's safety that prescribed death penalties for rapists. Here are the key features, similarities, and differences in the three state bills. To read more please go to the following link:

https://www.deccanherald.com/india/state-wise-changes-in-rape-lawilarities-differences-between-bengal-andhra-and-maharashtra-bills-3178137

Position of law vis-a-vis woman being the sole owner of ‘Stridhan’ is consistent and unequivocal: Supreme Court

 Source: SCC Online Times

While considering the instant appeal challenging the order passed by Telangana High Court, refusing to quash proceedings under Section 406 of Penal Code, 1860 and Section 6 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961; the Division Bench of J.K Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol*, JJ., pointed out that the position of law has remained consistent throughout since 1985, till date, regarding the sole authority of the woman in respect of her ‘stridhan’ as has also been held recently in Mala Kar v. State of Uttarakhand, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 1049. The jurisprudence as has been developed by the Supreme Court, is unequivocal with respect to the singular right of the female (wife or former wife), being the sole owner of ‘stridhan’ with husband having no right over it. To read more please go to the following link:

https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2024/08/30/stridhan-position-of-law-consistent-justice-sanjay-karol-supreme-court-legal-news/

Reflections on Supreme Court Ruling on Maintenance for Divorced Muslim Women

 Soource: News 18

Arshia Malik writes that - By ensuring that Muslim women receive their entitlements and have access to social and economic security, the Supreme Court judgement represents significant progress in India’s journey toward gender justice. To read more, please go to the following link:

https://www.news18.com/opinion/opinion-reflections-on-supreme-court-ruling-on-maintenance-for-divorced-muslim-women-8970290.html

Woman attaining motherhood through surrogacy entitled to maternity leave-Orissa High Court

 Woman attaining motherhood through surrogacy entitled to maternity leave-Orissa High Court

To read more please go yo the following link:

https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/orissa-high-court/orissa-high-court-surrogate-mother-maternity-leave-right-to-life-article-21-constitution-262388

Medical termination of Pregnancy: Bombay high court allows medical termination of the over 25-week pregnancy for a cancer patient.

Medical termination of Pregnancy: Bombay high court allows medical termination of the over 25-week pregnancy for a cancer patient.

To read more, please click on the following link:

https://timesofindia-indiatimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/bombay-high-court-allows-termination-of-25-week-pregnancy-for-cancer-patient/amp_articleshow/111497996.cms

First woman CJI is need of the hour, writes Olav Albuquerque

 Source: Free Press Journal (https://www.freepressjournal.in)

The learned CJI ignored that crimes like rape attract severe penalties under the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013. The Justice J S Verma Committee laid down that the law ought to specify that even a marital relationship could not be a defence against forced sexual intercourse.

India badly needs its first woman Chief Justice of India (CJI) and this post could be filled by Justice B V Nagarathna of the Karnataka high court in 2027, if she is promptly elevated .........

To read this article by Ms. Geeta, go to the following link:

https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/first-woman-cji-is-need-of-the-hour-writes-olav-albuquerque

Law News and Updates - 16.12.2020

 Indian Content

- Compiled by M&J Services - The Eclectic Law Bookstore. 

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Senior Citizens Act can’t be used to evict daughter-in-law from shared household: SC

https://tinyurl.com/y7f7oeun

Source: Siasar Daily

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Homeopathy Practitioners Can Give Medicines To Mitigate Covid: Top Court

https://tinyurl.com/y9vmxvcf

Source: NDTV

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Maharashtra government sends new death law for review

https://tinyurl.com/yaadtxqw

Source: Times of India

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What is the legal sanctity of Advocate stickers? Madras High Court asks

https://tinyurl.com/yakcoanl

Source: Bar and Bench

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Supreme Court asks AG to consider if Wildlife Act can be added to NGT jurisdiction

https://tinyurl.com/ydc2area

Source: Indian legal Live

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Provide facilities for online classes to children in care homes, Supreme Court directs states

https://tinyurl.com/ya6ebpf7

Source: The Economic Times

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Justice Muralidhar elevated as CJ of Orissa High Court

https://tinyurl.com/yca5evtj

Source: The Tribune

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Lawyer cites US Supreme Court ruling in plea to quash FIR over 'offensive' post on Uddhav Thackeray

https://tinyurl.com/ybm7xkvt

Source: The Times of India

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Subscribe to our Free e-Paper https://goo.gl/J7rhGN - The Law News and Updates

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Disclaimer: Law News and Updates sources material from the public domain. Readers are advised to exercise their discretion and cross-check on the authenticity of the same. Law News and Updates will not be responsible for any consequences arising out of the use of the said material.

Maharashtra Bill Proposes Death Penalty for Heinous Crimes Against Women, Children

 Source: The Wire

To read the article, visit the following link:

https://thewire.in/women/maharashtra-bill-proposes-death-penalty-for-heinous-crimes-against-women-children 

Trafficking of women more heinous than drug peddling but law lenient: HC

Source: Times of India dated 02.07.2020

-- Dhananjay Mahapatra
Link to the article: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/trafficking-of-women-more-heinous-than-drug-peddling-but-law-lenient-hc/articleshow/76740991.cms

Cruelty To Wife For Dark Complexion Amounts To An Offence Of Cruelty Under Section 498A: Cal HC

Source: www.indialegallive.com

Link to the article: https://www.indialegallive.com/constitutional-law-news/courts-news/cruelty-to-wife-for-dark-complexion-amounts-to-an-offence-of-cruelty-under-section-498a-cal-hc

Refusal To Wear 'Sakha & Sindoor' Signify A Woman's Refusal To Accept Her Marriage: Gauhati HC Allows Divorce Petition

Source: www.livelaw.in

Link to the article by Akshita Saxena: https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/refusal-to-wear-sakha-sindoor-signify-a-womans-refusal-to-accept-her-marriage-gauhati-hc-allows-divorce-petition-read-order-159081

Amendments to abortion law are welcome: For the amendments in abortion law to be effective, medical facilities need to be expanded and women have to be made aware of their rights.

Source: Indian Express dated 10.02.2020

-- Shailaja Chandra (Former Secretary, Department of AYUSH, Government of India, and Former Chief Secretary, Government of Delhi)

The proposed Bill seeking to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP, 1971) after nearly half a century is to be welcomed. Once enacted, the upper limit for terminating special kinds of pregnancies will go up from 20 weeks to 24 weeks — this is a recognition that certain physical and mental conditions can only be identified after the fifth and sixth month of pregnancy. This approach is in line with what seven other countries — Canada, China, the Netherlands, North Korea, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam — follow. It is based on the yardstick of “foetal viability” — the capability of the foetus to live outside the mother’s womb. The 1971 law had forced vulnerable and traumatised women in an advanced stage of pregnancy to give birth to a compromised child or seek legal redress, an avoidable process that was fraught with delays and uncertainty.

The much bigger reason to commend the proposed amendment is its recognition that even unmarried women are entitled to seek legal abortion — as a right. But this brings to the fore several ground-level issues. First, the annual number of abortions in the country is massive — over 15 million, constituting 33 per cent of the total annual pregnancies in the country. Both in urban and rural areas, there is overwhelming reliance on medical termination (as opposed to surgical methods) by ingesting pills from a kit over one to three days.

In 2015, Lancet Global Health published a study, jointly conducted by researchers at the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, the Population Council, New Delhi and the New York-based Guttmacher Institute, which showed that a whopping 81 per cent of women relied on medical termination.

The 24-week modification will help a niche group of women who discover foetal abnormalities after 20 weeks or belong to defined vulnerable groups. Such women have access to doctors. But there are concerns about those who have no access to doctors — millions of rural women who have never had access to a safe and transparent route to abortion. Victims of incest and rape have to resort to unsafe abortions to maintain secrecy and even married women become desperate to end an unwanted pregnancy for economic reasons.

Given the social and cultural milieu in the country, it is natural for women to rely on informal providers to access abortion pills. If these pills don’t work, the woman goes to or is taken to an unqualified practitioner who usually administers an oxytocin injection, performs a D&C (dilation and curettage) and advises consulting a doctor if bleeding persists. The doctor uses a suction apparatus to evacuate the uterus. But in rural areas, where are the doctors? The procedure costs anything between Rs 2,000 in peri-urban areas to around Rs 10,000 in cities. The distress of a woman from a rural area, who requires an abortion, can only be imagined.

Failure of contraception is a valid reason to seek termination of a pregnancy. But more than the failure of contraception, the major reason for unwanted pregnancies is inadequate information about the routes of dependable contraception and care. Most families in rural areas believe that sterilisation is the only solution to avoid pregnancy because in India, people do not have adequate knowledge and lack access to reversible methods like IUDs and injectables. Rural Indian women are far behind their counterparts in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Indonesia when it comes to awareness of these methods. State family planning departments place too much reliance on the village level workers, ASHAs, who provide condoms and pills to village homes. But there is documentary evidence that these condoms and pills are used only intermittently. After pregnancy, an unsafe abortion is often the way out — the third most important cause of maternal mortality. Availability of improved contraceptives and easy access to friendly and competent staff is a big gap which needs to be filled.

In urban areas, medical termination kits are available over the counter on prescription. In unorganised markets, it can be bought without a prescription much like several other Schedule H drugs. Are such over-the-counter sales permissible? Are prescriptions needed to purchase such drugs? There are conflicting responses to such questions from consumers — even those in Delhi. For consumers to understand their rights, an advisory in simple language must be displayed outside chemists’ shops.

Once the law permits abortion on demand, the service must be provided free in government-run facilities. Currently, there is a shortage of trained staff and inadequate supplies of both medical kits and suction apparatus in most PHCs. This must improve for the law to be effective. A directory of practitioners authorised to give prescriptions and undertake abortions at specified locations must also be freely available.

Next is the question of differentiating between two abortion-related laws. Entitlements under the existing MTP Act 1971 are much less known than the provisions of the sex selection law (PCPNDT). The two are often confused unnecessarily, exposing women to suspicion, questioning and patronisation. Once the law is amended, it will have to be explained in regional languages, and in a simple manner, to obviate the present state of ignorance, and hubris.

The Constitution guarantees equal protection under law. Universal access to sexual and reproductive health is embedded in the charters of the International Conference on Population and Development,1994 and the SDGs. India is a signatory to both. Unless every woman in the reproductive age group has the ability to access what the proposed law intends it will remain only a good intention. Governments have enabled patients from remote villages to benefit from cataract operations and use institutional facilities for deliveries. Medical and surgical abortions must be handled in a similar way for women to be truly empowered.

Deserted, can woman claim right to reside at in-laws’?

Source: Times of India dated 29.08.2019

By Amit Anand Choudhary. New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine whether a woman deserted by her husband could claim residential right in her in-laws’ house where she had been living after marriage?

A bench of Justices N V Ramana, M M Shantanagoudar and Ajay Rastogi issued notice to the Centre asking whether residential right could be given to a woman under Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act on a plea filed by a Muslim woman who alleged that her husband her deserted her in 2004 and her in-laws threw her out of her matrimonial house.

Petitioner Shabnam Ahmed, a mother of three, claimed that her husband went to the UK 15 years ago and did not come back. She claimed that her husband divorced her illegally by pronouncing triple talaq in 2007 on phone and her in-laws threw her out along with her daughter. Her two other children are still living with her in-laws.

Shabnam, 40, had first approached the trial court seeking residential right in the house but her plea was dismissed in 2018 and she approached the apex court directly against the trial court order.

Justifying filing the petition in the SC instead of moving an appeal in the high court, senior advocate R B

Singhal and lawyer Nilofar Khan told the bench that Shabnam’s plea for residential right was rejected by the trial court by relying on an SC judgment of 2007.

They urged the court to reexamine the verdict as the provision pertaining to residential right was narrowly interpreted and was affecting the rights of women in matrimonial disputes. In 2007, the SC had said the wife was not entitled to seek residential right if the house in which she lived with her husband belonged to the in-laws.

Singhal told the court that there was difference of opinion among HCs on residential right claimed by the wife in a shared household belonging to the in-laws and requested the bench to adjudicate the issue to end contradictions. He said the 2007 verdict was against the spirit and objective of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

The petitioner claimed that she was forced to live hand-to-mouth after being thrown out of her matrimonial house and was surviving on the support of her friends, including her lawyer, as her parents were no more. She said her husband had remarried and her in-laws cut off ties with her and refused to provide any help on the ground that they had disowned their son. She said she was forced to take legal recourse in 2013 after her parents died as she had no place to live.

Law and injustice: instead of a separate law on triple talaq, Centre should have framed a just law for all

Article in the Indian Express dated August 14, 2019 regarding Triple Talaq by Razia Patel (Chairperson, Muslim Mahila Sanvidhan Hakka Parishad). Link to this article:

http://epaper.indianexpress.com/c/42474431

Our notions of motherhood: Bill to promote altruistic surrogacy gives short shrift to women's legacy

Article in the Indian Express dated August 9, 2019 regarding the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 by Gargi Mishra (Gender Rights Lawyer, Delhi). Link to this article:

http://epaper.indianexpress.com/c/42309752

Adult victims of trafficking can't be compelled to abide by anyone or family's wishes, observes court

Article in the Indian Express dated August 7, 2019 regarding Immoral Trafficking by Sadaf Modak. Link to this article:

http://epaper.indianexpress.com/c/42237278