Criminalising marital rape will destabilise marriage: govt

Agencies
August 29, 2017

New Delhi, Aug 29: Marital rape cannot be made a criminal offence as it could become a phenomenon which may destabilise the institution of marriage and an easy tool for harassing the husbands, government today submitted before the Delhi High Court.

The Centre, in an affidavit filed in response to pleas seeking criminalising marital rape, said the Supreme Court and various High Courts have already observed the growing misuse of section 498A (harassment caused to a married woman by her husband and in-laws) of IPC.

The reply, filed before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar, also sought to implead state governments in the matter to know their opinion to avoid any complication at a later stage.

"It has to be ensured adequately that marital rape does not become a phenomenon which may destabilise the institution of marriage apart from being an easy tool for harassing the husbands," the affidavit, filed through central government standing counsel Monika Arora, said.

The government was responding to various petitions seeking declaration of Section 375 (offence of rape) of the IPC as unconstitutional on the ground that it discriminated against married women being sexually assaulted by their husbands.

During the day's hearing, senior advocate advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for one of the petitioners, argued that marriage cannot be viewed as giving a husband the right to coerced intercourse on demand.

He said a marriage licence cannot be viewed as licence for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with impunity and a married woman has the same right of full control over her body as an unmarried woman. He also referred to various judgments of foreign countries.
The hearing in the matter would continue tomorrow.

Marital rape (or spousal rape) is an act in which one of the spouses indulges in sexual intercourse without the consent of the other.

The Centre said in the affidavit that marital rape has not been defined in a statute or law, while the offence of rape is defined under section 375 IPC. Hence, defining marital rape would call for a broad based consensus of the society.

"What may appear to be marital rape to an individual wife, it may not appear so to others. As to what constitutes marital rape and what would constitute marital non-rape needs to be defined precisely before a view on its criminalisation is taken," it said.

It said merely deleting the exception which provides protection to husbands from prosecution for the offence of rape, may not stop marital rape. "Moral and social awareness" plays a vital role in stopping such an act, it added.

"If all sexual acts by a man with his own wife will qualify to be marital rape, then the judgment as to whether it is a marital rape or not will singularly rest with the wife.

"The question is what evidences the courts will rely upon in such circumstances, as there can be no lasting evidence in case of sexual acts between a man and his own wife," the affidavit read.

It also referred to the reports of Law Commission and Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, saying they have examined the matter and did not recommend criminalisation of marital rape.

Citing the Justice J S Verma Committee Report on "Amendments to Criminal Law", it said it was recommended that the exception to marital rape be removed, but it also pointed out that it is also important that legal prohibition on marital rape is accompanied by changes in the attitude of the prosecutors, police officers and those in society generally.

Regarding the petitioners' submission that other countries, mostly western, have criminalised marital rape, the Centre said it does not necessarily mean India should also follow them blindly.

"This country has its own unique problems due to various factors like literacy, lack of financial empowerment of the majority of females, mindset of the society, vast diversity, poverty, etc. and these should be considered carefully before criminalising marital rape," it said.

The affidavit said that criminal law is in the Concurrent List and implemented by the states and there is a vast diversity in the cultures of these states.

The high court had earlier asked the Centre to spell out its stand on petitions seeking to make marital rape a criminal offence.

It has agreed to examine the issue raised in PILs by NGOs RIT Foundation, All India Democratic Women's Association, represented through advocate Karuna Nandy, and a man and a woman, who have sought striking down of the exception in the Indian penal law that did not consider sexual intercourse with a minor wife, above 15 years of age, as rape.

The court has also agreed to hear a plea by NGO Men Welfare Trust, representing men victimised by alleged misuse of gender laws, opposing the petitions to make marital rape a criminal offence.

Earlier, the Centre had defended its legislation, saying child marriages were taking place in India and the decision to retain a girl's minimum age as 15 years to marry was taken under the amended rape law to protect a couple against criminalisation of their sexual activity.

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News Network
February 14,2020

Mysuru, Feb 14: Citing the coronavirus scare prevalent in the city, hotel owners have urged the civic corporation to shut down roadside food vends, calling them a risk to public health.

A team of the city Hotel Owners Association, led by president C Narayanagowda and honorary secretary Ravindra Bhat, met mayor Tasneem Bano and MCC commissioner Gurudatta Hegde on Tuesday and urged them to implement the high court’s ban on street food vending.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the association said it had raised the poor hygiene at such joints amid the coronavirus threat and increasing incidence of chikungunya and malaria in the city. There is no check on the ingredients or water used and the cleanliness of the kitchens and cooking staff, they pointed out. Many of the joints operate near drains and public urinals and don’t have running water for washing or cleaning utensils, they said. Besides, the vends dump unsegregated garbage and compromise pedestrian safety by blocking pavements, they alleged.

“As this involves the livelihood of the vendors, I will take a decision after discussions with the commissioner and elected representatives,” the mayor said while pointing out that MCC had issued identity cards to the vendors after collecting details about them and their stalls. She said the health and education standing committees would also be consulted.

Commissioner Hegde said MCC was planning to move the vendors to designated hawking zones to ensure their livelihood was not affected. He explained that any drive to remove the vends was fraught with law and order problems. “False cases have been filed against MCC officers whenever they conducted drives against footpath food vendors in non-hawking zones. We will consult with the city police commissioner before taking any steps,” he said.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Students and teachers from various colleges in Bengaluru gathered at the Town Hall in the city to protest against the violence which broke out at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in New Delhi on January 5.

The students raised slogans against Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Police.

Placards that read 'The more you attack, the stronger we become', 'Take off your masks terrorist', 'With JNU' were seen during the protest.

"We are here to protest against the incident that took place at JNU with our brothers and sisters. What Delhi Police did was shameful and they should have taken charge of the situation long before and not waited for three hours. We stand with JNU," Nisha, a protestor told ANI.

Professors present at the protest expressed regret over the incident and said attacks on the universities is a sick situation in the country.

"This is sick, where have we come to -- violence in the universities? I was so safe when I was studying in college; what we are giving to our students is horrible," said Sangeeta, a professor present at the protest.

Politicians, cutting across party lines, have condemned the attack on students in JNU and demanded strict action against those found guilty.

More than 18 students were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre after a masked mob entered the JNU campus and attacked them and some professors with sticks and rods.

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coastaldigest.com news network
June 16,2020

New Delhi, Jun 16: The class 10 and 12 students of the CICSE board can choose not to appear for pending board exams and be marked as per their performance in pre-board exams or internal assessment, according to top officials.

The board had also submitted the proposal before the Bombay High Court on Monday in response to a petition filed by a parent seeking directions to the authorities to cancel exams in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases.

According to Gerry Arathoon, Chief Executive and Secretary, Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), the students will have to communicate their option to their respective schools by June 22.

For latest updates on coronavirus outbreak, click here

The exams which were postponed due to the lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus, are now scheduled to be conducted from July 1 to 14. However, several parents have been demanding the exams be scrapped.

"The students will be given two options---they either appear for the rescheduled exams or choose to have their results based on their performance in the pre-board exams or internal assessment. The option will be available only for the pending exams, the result of the subjects for which exams were already conducted, will be calculated as per performance in the exam only," Arathoon said.

The board also clarified that the students will not be entitled to make a subject-wise choice between the two options for pending exams.

Unlike the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), which will only be conducting exams in 29 subjects crucial for promotion and admission to higher educational institutions, the CISCE will be conducting all pending exams.

The pending CBSE exams are scheduled from July 1 to 15. The schedule for the board exams has been decided in order to ensure that they are completed before competitive examinations. While the engineering entrance exam JEE-Mains is scheduled to be held from July 18 to 23, the medical entrance exam NEET is scheduled for July 26.

While the CBSE has given the option to not appear for pending board exams for differently-abled students, it has canceled the examinations for its around 250 schools situated abroad and has adopted the criteria of awarding marks on the basis of either practical exams conducted or the internal assessment marks.

Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths on June 16

A group of parents has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the CBSE to declare results on the basis of tests already conducted, and calculate the total on an average basis with internal assessment marks of the remaining subjects.

Universities and schools across the country have been shut since March 16, when the Centre announced a countrywide classroom shut down as part of measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. A nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24, which came into effect the next day.

While the government has eased several restrictions, schools and colleges continue to remain closed.

According to Home Ministry guidelines, there will be no exam centres in containment zones.

"Wearing of face masks by teachers, staff and students will be mandatory. There shall be provisions of thermal screening and sanitiser at the centres and social distancing rules will have to be followed at exam centres. Special buses may be arranged by states and UTs for transportation of students to exam centres," the Home Ministry has said.

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