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INDIA - PARTNERS FOR LAW IN DEVELOPMENT

Advancing Social Justice & Women's Rights Through Law

http://www.pld-india.org/

LEGAL NEWSLETTER - GENDER - ATTACHED

Sample Articles:

Steps to integrate rather than add gender to the new 5 Year Plan: Towards Inclusive Growth

In the context of the formulation of Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012), a Committee of Feminist Economists (CFE), was constituted by the Planning Commission on 29th March 2007 to include the analysis of women’s location in each chapter, so that women’s perspective is explicitly recognized and integrated in to sectoral programmes and policies. This mechanism of professional interaction for engendering public policy has been initiated for the first time in the history of planning in India by Dr. Syeda Hameed. The practice of clubbing women with children in a separate chapter of Plan document ignores the relevance of gender perspective in all sectors of the economy and treats women as subjects of welfare rather than economic agents in development.

Source: http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrp11/wg11_fec.pdf

LANDMARK JUDGEMENTS

First ever conviction for rape in a communal violence: Bilkis Bano’s case

In a historic judgement on 18th January, 2008, the Mumbai Sessions Court convicted 11 accused in the Bilkis Bano’s rape case to life imprisonment for murder, gang rape and rape of a pregnant woman in the Gujarat riots in 2002. One Constable was also sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for framing false records and refusing to lodge Bilkis’ first complaint with the police, the FIR. On 3 March 2002, Bilkis Bano and her family were attacked by two dozens of men who gang raped her and killed four women and four children of her family including her daughter of three and a half years old. Though the Court acquitted 7 people, mainly police personnel and Bilkis has asked the independent central investigating agency, the CBI to appeal against the same. The widespread occurrence of rape and sexual violence during mass violence/ communal riots go unrecognized and un-redressed for several reasons – the collapse of law enforcement machinery, complicity of state agencies resulting in refusal to record or investigate, and destruction of evidence [as in the case of Bilkis], as well as lack of victim and witness protection. It took Bilkis Bano 6 years of courage and tenacity, to pursue her case in spite of constant threats to her and her family. With the active intervention of the National Human Rights Commission, the Supreme Court’s proactive decision transferring her trial outside Gujarat and support from the women’s movement, Bilkis sustained her fight for justice. Her victory is landmark for gender justice in India and for the women’s movement for it finally recognizes widespread use of sexual violence as a weapon in communal conflicts and impunity attached to such crimes.

Source: The Hindu, 22 January, 2008

Supreme Court grants succession right to live-in partner in an insurance claim

The Supreme Court has granted succession certificate to a woman after the death of the man she was living with despite the fact that his legally-wedded wife was alive. The court based this decision on the fact that the live-in partner was mentioned as the nominee in the man’s provident fund and life insurance policies. Both the wife and the deceased’s partner filed petitions before a Madhya Pradesh trial court seeking right of succession to his properties. The trial court rejected the wife’s claim, but the high court reversed the decision saying there was no evidence to substantiate the partner’s claim that there was a customary divorce between the deceased and his legally-wedded wife. The Supreme Court upheld the partner’s claim and observed that although the High Court was right in deciding about subsisting marriage between the deceased and his wife, it was wrong in denying succession certificate to his partner for the purpose of collecting provident fund and life insurance amounts. Whatever be the status of the live-in partner, there was no doubt about the legitimacy of the four children born out of her relationship with the deceased.

Source: The Times of India, 24th January, 2008

Supreme Court holds that long term cohabitation leads to a presumption of marriage

In Tulsa & others vs. Durghatiya & others (15th Jan, 2008), Supreme Court observed that the act of marriage can be presumed from the common course of natural events and the conduct of parties as they are borne out by the facts of a particular case and where the partners lived together for long spell as husband and wife, there would be presumption in favour of wedlock. The presumption was rebuttable, but a heavy burden lies on the person who seeks to deprive the relationship of legal origin to prove that no marriage took place.

Source: http://www.supremecourtcaselaw.com/latest.asp

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