This article has been written by Shivani Kumari, a student of Lloyd law college, Greater Noida. This article will impress upon all the aspects of capital punishment which is interchangeably used with the word death penalty.

INTRODUCTION

Capital punishment is one of the integral parts of the Indian criminal judicial system. The practice of executing a criminal to death for a heinous crime after conviction by a court of law for a criminal offence is known as capital punishment. It is the most severe legal form of punishment in India. It is awarded in the cases of most heinous and grievous crimes against humanity. Capital punishment is a return of violence for violence which is also known as “an eye for an eye”. For centuries it is believed in India that a person who has done wrong should suffer for it and inflicting capital punishment on wrongdoers discourages others or creates deterrence in the society and abides others from doing the same wrong. The term death penalty is most of the time used interchangeably with capital punishment, however, a penalty is not always followed by execution (even when it is upheld on appeal), because of the possibility of commutation to life imprisonment.”

Capital punishment is regarded as one of the most sensitive subjects of debate in India. The concept of the abolition of capital punishment has now been spread globally however India continues to cling such harsh punishment.

Evolution of Capital Punishment in India

From ancient times the capital punishment was imposed for multiple numbers of offences in India. It was prevailing from the times of Manu, who mentioned in his Manusmriti, “ To refrain people from sinful murders, the death penalty was necessary, otherwise anarchy will prevail”. All the invaders of India whether Aryans or Mughals, everyone some or on other ways had prevailed capital punishment in their administrative systems. Even Britishers believed that hanging to death is the only legalized form of inflicting punishment to the offenders.

From the pre-independence era till now, our legal system has come a long way forward and has undergone various changes in it. After Independence, till 1955, capital punishment was very common as the punishment for murder. If anyone commits the offence of murder, he will be simply awarded the death penalty, but in the year 1955 sessions judge were given a discretionary power to either give capital punishment or life imprisonment for an offence. This was continued till 1973 when the code of criminal procedure (CrPC) was an amendment, Parliament made it mandatory for the sessions judge to provide specific reason while imposing capital punishment or life imprisonment for the offence of murder. Further, in 1980, a landmark judgment was passed by the Hon’ble Supreme court of India in the case of Bachan Singh v. the State of Punjab. In this case, the court held that capital punishment can only be imposed on a ‘rarest of the rare case’. This means that the alternative sentence of life is unquestionably foreclosed. In Machhi Singh v. the State of Punjab, the court provided some exceptions to the earlier judgment of Bachan Singh’s case. These exceptions are:

If the murder is committed in an extremely brutal manner to eros extreme initiation of the community
If the murder is committed by a motive which evinces total depravity and meanness
If the crime is enormous in proportion

Objective of Punishment in India

The Indian judicial system mainly has three objectives to provide punishment to a person who has been involved in an offence.

Retribution: It means punishment given for the action or the offence committed by a person. It can be any form of punishment including penalties for the wrongs. This is applicable for any wrong in the eye of law.
Reformation: This is a type of punishment in which the judiciary tries to change the criminal nature of the accused and retransform him as a better person so that the person would not repeat any crime or offence in the future. The theory of reformation is based on the obligation of a society to reform a convicted person and after his reformation accept him as a normal citizen of the society. It is done to provide another opportunity for the person to live a better life. The concept of reformation is not followed under capital punishment because in capital punishment a person is completely denied his right to life, the offender does not continue to leave so he does not get any another opportunity to change himself
Deterrence: It is the action taken by the judiciary to discourage an act or crime by imposing harsh punishments. It is done by creating a fear of the consequences and the punishment imposed under this is mainly the death penalty. This theory was adopted so that the people living in a society, other than the accused also learn that particular misconduct in the society can even lead to the death penalty and hence, this will fulfil the objective to create fear in the minds of people. But as if now there is not sufficient proof to show that the death penalty operates as a greater deterrence then life imprisonment.

Protection Guaranteed under Constitution

These protection provisions point out the fact that the death of prisoners has been humanized under the constitution itself. These are the following protection provisions:

Article 21: No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law.

In Maneka Gandhi’s case, it was held that Article21 efforts protection not only against executive actions but also against legislations. It means that a person can be deprived of his life even under capital punishment only if there is a law which is just, fair and reasonable.

Article 72: Power of President to grant pardons, etc., and to suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases

It states that the president of the country can pardon even the death sentence while the governor in a state cannot. It empowers the President with the power of pardoning. It is also called the pardoning power of the President.

Article 134: Appellate jurisdiction of Supreme Court in regard to criminal matters

It provides that there is a right of appeal from the High Court to the Supreme Court. This is applicable is any case where capital punishment was imposed on an accused in the reversal of an acquittal order.

Scope of Judicial Review

This is the last scope available to an accused. It is applicable when the president denied the grant for pardon and if the presidential decision not to grant pardon is arbitrary irrational and discriminatory.

CONCLUSION

Capital punishment is the last resort available for punishing an accused. Many countries are against capital punishment because of the possibility of a mistaken conclusion by the judiciary. If on a subsequent occasion it is discovered that the judgment which was passed is a mistaken conclusion in that case the death penalty is un-rectifiable, the person is no more and judiciary will fail for hanging an innocent to death. Capital punishments are sometimes even passed by the arbitrary nature of the judges. It means sometimes without having concrete evidence and reason, on the personal choice or discretion of the judge death penalties are imposed. The same has been backed by law commission in the year 2015. There are constitutional remedies available but sometimes they are not able to protect the offenders from the imposition of capital punishment. Capital punishments even do not satisfy its objective of reformation and creating deterrence in society.

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This article is written by Akshat Mehta, a student of the Institute of Law, Nirma University, Ahmedabad. In this research article, he has tried to analyze the issue of ‘Right to Food’ with constitutional lenses. He also reported the universal recognition of ‘Global Hunger’ as a problem and mechanism to overcome it.

INTRODUCTI

The government often seems to frame legislation and subsidy programs to serve the needy. The advocates of Human rights use to link the issue of ‘Right to Food’ with fundamental rights of Humans. In the global scenario, almost 54 Lakh people die every year across the world due to hunger or any disease caused due to hunger as per the World Count report. A universal criticism of ‘Global Hunger’ is poverty. Poverty raises a scepticism approach towards the functioning and serving of the government. There is a worldwide criticism that several governments are facing due to its malfunctioning and bad performance in the ‘Global Hunger Index’.

International Approach

For the first time, the United Nations realized the need for laws and statutes to regulate the matter related to ‘Right to Food’ and ‘Standard of Living’ through Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR) in 1948. Several articles were added in the declaration of Human Rights which addresses the basic, crucial, and fundamental rights of Human beings. Right to marriage and Family, Right to decent Living, and Right to seek equal treatment are some of the crucial articles added in the declaration which could address the problems of the poor in relation to poverty. So UNDHR is the 1^st such document which recognized that Right to food is a part of Economic, Cultural, Social and Political domain.

Another significant need to issue the problem of ‘World Hunger’ aroused in International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) when the report titled ‘Right to Food as a Human Right’ was then published in 1987. It poses critical questions on the government worldwide due to alarming data of ‘World Hunger’ and death due to hunger came into the picture. Several investigations had taken place after the report to curb Global Hunger and to make the government accountable.

US-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) released the ‘Global Hunger Index’ for the first time in 2006. Since then it releases the report titled ‘Global Hunger Index’ every year which tends to show the condition of various countries of the world in numerical figures which are efficient in terms of serving the need of food and which are not successful in catering to the need for food to its countrymen.

The ‘Global Hunger Index 2019’ ranked Yemen, Malaysia, Madagascar, Venezuela, Lebanon, Mauritania, Jordan, the Central African republican and Oman at the lowest rankings. These countries are facing large scarcity and nationwide poverty which is an alarming situation as per the report. Countries like Belarus, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Bulgaria, and Chile were ranked as the top countries which are least affected by ‘hunger’.

Problem in Indian Context

As per the ‘Global Hunger Index’ report, the situation of India is not much optimistic. The data suggested that India ranked 102^nd out of 117 countries. India is ranked below Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and other south Asian countries indicate that ‘India is suffering from the serious hunger problem’. Hunger problem has also contributed to a higher infant mortality rate, malnutrition, and lower life expectancy. The report suggested that in India only 9.6% of children between the age group of 6 to 23 were given a standardized diet. Now, this alarming data raised some of the burning questions which are necessary to be addressed as the need of the hour.

1) Is Right to Food linked with Malnutrition?

2) Does Article 21 of the Constitution of India also include the Right to Food in its ambit?

3) Whether the democratically elected government in India owes any accountability towards the citizens and the poor in terms of serving the food?

We’ll try to answer each and every question by lenses of Constitutionality and Constitutionalism.

1) Surely, whenever the question of ‘Right to Food’ arises simultaneously the question of health and nutrition arises. Food is the basic need for human survival and not only food but also there should be standardized and adequate diet. As the GHI report indicated that in India only 9.6% of children between the age group of 6 to 23 could get a proper diet and this contributed to the problem of Malnutrition. Malnutrition is a silent degradation to the country’s manpower. The government is accountable for the citizens not only for providing food but also for providing proper food which contains dietary fibres.

2) In the case of ‘Olga Tellis v. Bombay Pavement Dwellers’ case, the Honorable Court held that ‘Right to Life’ enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India also includes ‘Right to Livelihood’. Over the period of time in landmark cases such as ‘Kishan Pattnayak v. State of Orissa’, ‘Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar’ and ‘Chameli Singh v. State of U.P’, the Court realized that Right to Life under Article 21 also includes Social Rights such as ‘Right to Food’ and ‘Right to pollution-free air and water resources’ in its ambit.

3) The democratically elected government of India has its foundations in the preamble and the values like Sovereignty, Socialism, Secularism, Democracy, and Republic are the soul of the democratic government. So a Sovereign democratically elected Indian government is socially responsible to cater and serve with the basic need for quality food to the secular citizens of the Republic of India.

CONCLUSION

Food is linked with human dignity and standard of living. We could not deny the fact that India is the 2^nd most populous country in the world and it is very difficult to manage and distribute the food on a regular basis to 130+ Crore people but the government should create such mechanisms or channels through which it could cater to the basic needs of the people such as food, shelter, and water in an effective manner.

We as a citizen could also contribute in this regard by not wasting the food, by distributing the access food and by realizing that everyone has the right over the natural resource and food is one of the natural resources on which moral claims are much weightier than monetary claims.

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Report by- Riddhima Bhadauria

The supreme court holds that a person in possession cannot be dispossessed by another, except by due process of law. In this case the supreme court has observed that a memorandum of family settlement is not required to be registered and is binding on the parties and it is being clarified that a person claiming title by virtue of adverse possession can maintain a suit for declaration of title. The bench consisted of Justice AM Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari.

Issue involved-

Whether the document Exhibit P6 was required to be registered as interest in immovable property worth more than Rs.100/ was transferred in favour of the plaintiff?

Petitioner’s contention(represented by learned counsel Manoj Swarup)

The suit was filed by the Harbans Singh, against his real brothers Mohan Singh and Sohan Singh for a declaration that he was the exclusive owner in respect of land admeasuring 11 kanals 17 marlas comprising khasra Nos. 935/1 and 935/2 situated at Mohalla Road and other properties. His land includes the construction thereon (16 shops, a samadhi of his wife,one service station with boundary wall).

The trial court judgement-

ssssIn view of my discussion on various issues above, the suit of the plaintiff partly succeeds and partly fails. Therefore, his suit is decreed partly to the extent that he is declared to be owner in possession of khasra no. 935/1/1/2 (518) and to the extent of ½ share in khasra no. 935/1/1/1 (519) with construction there upon. Keeping in view the relationship between the parties and the circumstances of the case, no order as to cost. Decree sheet be prepared accordingly. File be consigned to the record room.”

Harbans Singh has decided to file suit for declaration praying for a decree that he was the owner in possession of the land admeasuring 11 kanals 17 marlas comprising khasra Nos. 935/1 and 935/2 situated at Mohalla Road. During the pendency of the trial he expired. The first appellate Court declared the original plaintiff as owner of the suit land along with constructions including 16 shops, a service station and boundary wall with samadhi in the land.

The appellate court order-

The appeal is allowed and the judgment passed by the learned trial court is modified and the suit of the plaintiff is decreed. The plaintiff is declared owner of the land measuring 11 kanals 17 marlas composed in rectangle and killa no. 935/1/1/1 (519), 935/1/1/2 (518) situated in Mehlan Road, Sangrur along with construction including 16 shops, a service station and boundary wall with samadh in the land. In view of the peculiar circumstances of the case the parties are left to bear their own costs. Decree sheet be prepared and copy of the judgment be placed on the file of the learned trial court and the same be returned immediately to the successor court of Smt. 6 Harreet Kaur PCS, the then Civil Judge (Junior Division), Sangrur.

The High Court set aside the conclusion recorded by the first appellate Court and opined that the document which, for the first time, creates a right in favour of plaintiff in an immovable property in which he has no preexisting right would require registration, being the mandate of law

Defendant’s contentions(represented by learned counsel Praveen kumar aggarwal)

Mohan singh and sohan singh has rightly contend that the High Court has rightly considered the document Exhibit P6 as containing terms and recitals of family settlement and for which reason it was essential to get the same registered. It is urged that there was no pre existing title in favour of the plaintiff in respect of the suit property, as the same was purchased in the name of concerned defendant by way of a registered sale deed. defendants in the written statement that the suit property was jointly owned by Mohan Singh (original defendant No. 1) and Sohan Singh (original defendant No. 2). The contesting respondents have reiterated the stand that there was no family settlement in 1970, as stated by the plaintiff and that the signature of the defendant No. 2 appearing in document Exhibit P6 is forged and fabricated. The high court restored the partial decree passed by the trial Court on the conclusion that the document Exhibit P6 is inadmissible in evidence, as it has not been registered despite the transfer of title in immovable property worth more than Rs.100/(substantial question of law answered).

Question of law involved?

Whether a person claiming the title by virtue of adverse possession can maintain a suit under Article 65 of limitation act for declaration of title and for a permanent injunction seeking the protection of his possession thereby restraining the defendant from interfering in the possession or for restoration of possession in case of illegal dispossession by a defendant whose title has been extinguished by virtue of the plaintiff remaining in the adverse possession or in case of dispossession by some other person?

The question of law was answered by the three judge bench in favour of the plaintiff. The plea of acquisition of title by adverse possession can be taken by plaintiff under Article 65 of the Limitation Act and there is no bar under the Limitation Act, 1963 to sue on aforesaid basis in case of infringement of any rights of a plaintiff.

Article 65 of limitation act prescribes a timeline of 12 years, within which an aggrieved person may file a suit for recovery of possession of immovable property or any interest therein based on proprietary title (i.e. title based on documents). After an uninterrupted 12 years of possession, the person is said to have perfected his title over the property by way of adverse possession provided he proves that his possession is peaceful, open and continuous. The limitation Act further says that in case no suit is filed within the timeline of 12 years as provided under Article 65, the person extinguishes his right to file a suit for recovery of possession.

Cases referred to-

Bhoop Singh vs. Ram Singh Major & Ors.
Hans Raj & Ors. vs. Mukhtiar Singh
Hari Shankar Singhania & Ors. vs. Gaur Hari Singhania & Ors.
Jagdish & Ors. vs. Ram Karan & Ors.

SC order restoring the order of the first appellate court.

The 3-judge bench of Arun Mishra, SA Nazeer and MR Shah, JJ has held that the Article 65 of Limitation Act, 1963 not only enables a person to set up a plea of adverse possession as a shield as a defendant but also allows a plaintiff to use it as a sword to protect the possession of immovable property or to recover it in case of dispossession. The Court held that a person in possession cannot be ousted by another person except by due procedure of law and once 12 years’ period of adverse possession is over, even owner’s right to eject him is lost and the possessory owner acquires right, title and interest possessed by the outgoing person/owner as the case may be against whom he has prescribed. It was opined that the High Court committed manifest error in interfering with and in particular reversing the well-considered decision of the first appellate Court, which had just concluded that the document executed between the parties was merely a memorandum of settlement, and it did not require registration. The order of the high court was set aside and the judgment and decree passed by the first appellate Court were restored in favour of the plaintiff (appellants).

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This article is written by Siddhi P. Nagwekar, Karnataka State Law University’s Law School. This article discusses the legal framework related to the rights of elderly people in India.

INTRODUCTION

Caring for the elderly passes as one of the rudimentary roles a society must be held liable for. The idea of a nuclear family impacted the cycle resulting in an imbalance of the usual life of elderly people by getting the better of a thousand years old practice of India where parents are treated as a pious form of God. While most developed countries have codification and schemes in place to make sure that no senior citizens are deprived of their rights, a major part of the population of the country such as ours remains oblivious to them owing to low rates of literacy. While some of the core laws include the Elder law and the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, there are sections further, of our constitution that safeguard the rights and interests of the elderly.

1. Constitutional Safeguards

The right to work, right to education and the right to public assistance in certain cases: It is considered that the State shall, within the boundaries of economic capacity and development, make constructive provision for safeguarding the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement, and in other cases of undeserved want.

Promotion of educational and economic interests of weaker sections: It is given that the State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people and shall safeguard them from social injustice and all sorts of exploitation.

However, these provisions are included in Chapter IV i.e., Directive Principles of the Indian Constitution. The Directive Principles, as laid down in articles 36- 51, are not executory by any court of law. But Directive Principles impose positive obligations on the state, i.e., what it should do. The Directive Principles have been declared to be essential in the governance of the country and the state has as an implication to apply them in making laws. The courts, however, cannot impose a Directive Principle as it does not create any legitimate right in favour of any individual. It is most unfortunate that the state has not made even a single Act that is directly related to elderly persons.

2. Legislative Protection

Safeguards under Personal Laws: The duty to maintain parents is righteous and is recognized by all people. However, so far as the law is concerned, the position and extent of such liability vary from community to community.

Protection under Hindu Laws:

Part IX – Personal Law (Hindu), (Chapter III – Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956) states that a Hindu is obliged during his or her life, to maintain his or her legitimate/illegitimate children and his or her aged or infirm parents. The responsibility of a person to maintain his or her aged infirm parent or a daughter who is unmarried extends in so far as the parent or the unmarried daughter, as the case is, is unable to maintain himself or herself out of his or her own earnings or others property. Therefore, amongst the Hindus, the binding on sons to maintain their aged parents, who were not able to maintain themselves out of their own earning and property, was recognized even in early texts. And this commitment was independent, not qualified by a reference to the possession of the family property. It was a personal legal obligation enforceable by the sovereign or the state. The statutory provision for maintenance of parents under Hindu personal law is 23 Article 46 of the Constitution of India 24 Section 20(1) of Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 25 Section 20(3) of Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 contained in Sec 20 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956. This Act is the primary personal law statute in India, that imposes a binding on the children to maintain their parents. As is apparent from the framing of the section, the obligation to maintain parents is not limited to sons only, and daughters also equally have a duty towards parents. It is necessary to note that only such parents who find it financially unviable to maintain themselves from any source, are permitted to get maintenance under this Act.

Safeguards Under Muslim Law:

Children have a duty to maintain their aged parents even under Muslim law. According to Mulla:

(a) Children in undemanding situations are bound to maintain their poor parents, even though the latter may be able to earn something for themselves.

(b) A son in difficult conditions is obligated nevertheless to maintain his mother, if the mother is poor, irrespective of whether she is infirm.

(c) A son, who is poor, nonetheless, is earning something, is obligated to support his father who earns nothing.

According to Tyabji, parents and grandparents in strained state of affairs are allowed, under Hanafi law, to maintain their children and grandchildren who have the avenues, notwithstanding their ability to earn their livelihood. Both sons and daughters have a duty to maintain their parents under Muslim law. The binding, however, depends on their having the means to do so.

Protection Under Criminal Laws

1. Protection under the Code of Criminal Procedure

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 – Chapter IX: ‘Order for maintenance of wives, children and parents’: If any person having adequate means abandons or spurns to maintain his mother or father, incapable to maintain himself or herself, a Magistrate of the first class can, upon evidence of such abandonment or refusal, order that person to provide a monthly grant for the maintenance of his wife or such child, father or mother, at such monthly rate not going beyond five hundred rupees in the entirety, as such Magistrate thinks fit, and to pay the same to such person as the Magistrate may from time to time direct. Section 125(3): If any person so ordered fails without adequate reason or cause to meet the order, any such Magistrate can, for every non-compliance of the order, issue a warrant for exacting the amount due in the approach provided for imposing fines, and may sentence that person, for the whole or any part of each month’s grant remaining unpaid after the enforcing the warrant, to imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month or until payment whatever is sooner. It can thus be said that prior to 1973, there was no provision for the maintenance of parents under the code. The Law Commission, however, was not in favour of making such provision. According to its report, the CrPC is not the right place for such a provision. There will be a significant difficulty in the sum of maintenance awarded to parents apportioning amongst the children in a summary proceeding of this type. It is prudent to leave this matter for a pronouncement by civil courts. The provision, nevertheless, was introduced for the first time in Sec. 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in 1973. It is also necessary that the opposite party having ample means, abandoned or refused to maintain his, who is unable to maintain himself.

2. Government Protections

The Government of India, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment is the nodal Ministry responsible for the welfare of the Senior Citizens. It has declared about the National Policy on Older Persons encapsulating all doubts/worries pertaining to the welfare of older persons. The National Policy on Older Persons recognizes a person aged 60 years and above as a senior citizen. The Ministry is also implementing the following schemes for the benefit of Senior Citizens:

The Government of India approved the National Policy for Older Persons on January 13, 1999, to speed up the welfare measures and enable the elder people in ways advantageous to them. This policy contained the following major points:

Setting up a pension fund for ensuring security for those persons who have been serving in the unorganized sector,
Construction of old age homes and day-care centres for every 3-4 districts,
Establishing resource centres and re-employment bureaus for people above 60 years of age
Making rail/airfares concessional for travel within and between cities, i.e., a 30% rebate on the train and 50% in Indian Airlines.
Passing legislation to make sure that obligatory geriatric care in all the public hospitals is available.
The Ministry of Justice and Empowerment has declared the setting up of a National Council for Older Person, called AGE-WELL Foundation. It will seek the opinion of age on measures to make life easier for them.
Attempts to sensitize school children to live and work with the Old age. To set up around the clock helpline and discouraging social ostracism of the older persons are being taken up.
The government policy promotes an immediate settlement of pension, provident fund (PF), gratuity, etc. in order to avoid further hardships. The policies consider elder sensitivity.

Conclusion

Elderly people carry a vast range of experiences of their personal and professional life, and society in general needs to utilize those experiences for a greater future. They can layout a key generational link for upcoming generations. It gives support and stability to families and society. Grandparents in joint families provide a critical link for transmitting values and morals to the younger generation in their early years, thus working towards raising sensible human beings and responsible citizens. Recognizing seniors’ contributions would aid in making ours a more age-inclusive society that doesn’t pit one generation against the other. Their profound cultural impressions and social experiences provide the essential buffer against intolerance, violence and hate crimes which gives stability in society especially in the age of hate and crime. They can play an important role in alleviating societal tensions, both within and outside families through their insights and understanding.

Social security is the simultaneous responsibility of the central and state governments, as mandated under the Indian constitution i.e., Well-being of senior citizens – Article 41 in particular and 46 in general of Indian constitution. In this aspect, the National Policy on Senior Citizen, 2011 was devised. For the welfare and care for the older persons, we must concentrate on the safeguarding of existing traditional social institutions/social support systems such as kinship and family, community bonding, community participation and neighbourhood bonding should certainly be revived. People in the family or those related should show more care and sensitivity towards elderly citizens.

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This article is written by AASHIKA AGGARWAL pursuing BBA-LLB (H) from AMITY UNIVERSITY, GURGAON.

INTRODUCTION

Environmental law is the law of environmental problems. Environmental law is the collection of laws, regulations, agreements and common law that governs how humans interact with their environment. The purpose of environmental law is to protect the environment and create rules for how people can use natural resources. Environmental laws not only aim to protect the environment from harm, but they also determine who can use natural resources and on what terms. Laws may regulate pollution, the use of natural resources, forest protection, mineral harvesting and animal and fish populations. Environmental law is a term used to explain regulations, statues, local, national and international legislation and treaties designed to protect the environment from the damage and to explain the legal consequences of such damage towards government or private entities or individuals.

A great deal of environmental law enforcement takes place through administrative law. The EPA might investigate a violation and bring administrative action to their own officials. Those who are found responsible for violating the rules may appeal the decision to the courts. Most violations are a civil offence, but they are also criminal penalties for serious offenders.

Environment and life are inter-related. Human depends on earth natural resources, such as air, water and land because if any of the natural resources is not there on the earth then life would not be possible on earth to survive. The world environment day is celebrated on 5^thJune every year.

Some of the provisions of environmental law in the Indian Constitution are as follows under:-

ARTICLE 21 OF INDIAN CONSTITUION says that right to life includes right to pollution free environment. This is a fundamental right which says about the right to live with human dignity. For living with human dignity, it includes right to pollution free environment.

PART IV: ARTICLE 48(A) OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION says that protection for improvement of environment and safeguarding of forest and wildlife. For protecting the improvement of environment and safeguarding the forest and wildlife so that it maintains the good balance of nature, environment and human. This article was added in the Indian Constitution in the 42^ndamendment. This article is a directive principle.

PART IV A: ARTICLE 51(A) CLAUSE(g) OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION says

that it imposes a fundamental duty on every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment. This article was added in the Indian Constitution in the 42^ndamendment. This article is a fundamental duty.

ARTICLE 253 OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION says that the parliament has the power to make laws for the country. By using the power of parliament, the parliament has enacted the environment protection act in 1986 under article 253 of the Indian Constitution.

International Terms under Environment Law

CONFERENCE: a formal gathering to discuss a broad theme.
CONVENTION: a meeting where a framework or basic guideline is prepared.

PROTOCOL: the final convention is the protocol and it is the agreement where the parties sign and accept the legal obligation. Whoever is the diplomatic country they follow the conventions in agreement type and then they sign and then they accept all the legal provisions.

Some of the conventions and protocols are as follows under:-

VIENNA CONVENTION, 1985- this convention was adopted for protection of ozone layer.
MONTREAL PROTOCOL, 1989- this convention was adopted for reduce ozone depletion.
BASEL CONVENTION, 1992- this was for trans- boundary movement of hazardous waste.
KYOTO PROTOCOL, 1997- this convention was basically for climate change.
CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, 1992- this convention was for sustainable use of biological resources.
NAGOYA PROTOCOL, 2014- this protocol was for fair and equitable sharing of benefits from convention on biological diversity.

The United Nations is an organisation which works on an international level and to protect the human environment, the United Nations organised a conference at Stockholm in 1972. The program was set up in GENEVA in June, 1971. This was the first conference on international protection of environment.

DAMODAR RAO V. MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, 1987

In this case, the Apex Court held that polluting the environment mounts to violation to the right to life under article 21 of the Indian Constitution. The article 21 of Constitution talks about the right to life and right to life includes right to get the pollution-free environment, so in this case, the Supreme Court said that polluting the environment is a violation to the right to life under article 21 of the Indian Constitution. This statement was med in Damodar Rao case.

SUBHASH KUMAR V. STATE OF BIHAR

In this case, the Supreme Court said that it is the right to get pollution free water and pollution-free air is a fundamental right guaranteed under article 21 of the Indian Constitution. This is a fundamental right as per the Constitution of India.

M.C. MEHTA V. KAMALNATH AND OTHERS, 2000

There is also another case of M.C MEHTA in the year 1997 and there that case talks about sustainable development but this is the case which relates to a fundamental right. In this case, the Supreme Court awarded damages not only for the restoration of ecological balance but also for the victim who has suffered for disturbance for violation of article 21 under the Indian Constitution.

SHER SINGH V. STATE OF HARYANA AND PUNJAB, 2014

In this case, the Supreme Court held that the state is under constitutional obligation to protect and improve the environment as per article 48(A) and article 51(A)(g) of Indian Constitution.

STATE OF WEST BENGAL V. SUJIT KUMAR RANA, 2004

In this case, the Supreme Court is saying that all provisions of articles 48 (A) and 51 (A)(g) should be kept in mind while interpreting any statutory provision.

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This article is written by Anushka Singh, a second-year student, pursuing BBA-LLB at Unitedworld School of Law, Karnavati University. This article aims to explain International Criminal Court and laws on global terrorism with the help of a flashback to the Rome Conference 1998.

INTRODUCTION

The International Criminal Court is head quartered at The Hague in the Netherlands. ICC stems from a treaty of Rome Statute, a United Nations treaty. This statute officially came in force on 1^st July 2002, after it was ratified by more than 60 countries. At present over 120 countries have ratified this statute. This statute has laid down the basic aspects of ICC, like its jurisdiction, roles, functioning, laws to be followed, etc.

Unlike the International Court of Justice that deals with matters between states, ICC deals with matters persecuting individuals. The jurisdiction of ICC includes crimes committed after 1^st July 2002 in the states where the Rome statute has been ratified or by people belonging to that state.

What is Terrorism and Impact of Global Terrorism?

Terrorism basically means violent and intimidating acts committed to scare the general public and make the government submit, to achieve a political agenda. They’re acts committed out of hate and spite. Terrorism can be broadly divided into-

Bio Terrorism
Cyber terrorism
Eco- terrorism
Nuclear terrorism
Political Terrorism
State Terrorism

In the world the deaths caused due to acts of terrorism are comparatively very less to other crimes. However, it is still an issue globally that provokes deep thought and concern from every individual. Let us understand in the following points why this term only brings fear and anxiety to people’s mind-

The terrorist often goes by the way of harming the public or using the general population as the means to get their demands fulfilled or to protest against the authority. This method of capturing random civilians and using them in their ploy is a set pattern noticed by all, which now makes the topic of terrorism to be surrounded by fear and insecurity.

The most crucial weapon used by terrorists is intimidation, to influence the minds of general public to gain the upper hand on the government or authority. As these acts of hate are always used to propagate a religious agenda or express dissent violently and protest, it is mostly against the government ruling the state.

These acts leave the public shaken, fearful and questioning their security. A lot of money is also spent by the government to combat terrorism and repair the damages done by these acts. Given below are the broad categories of consequences suffered by a State and its people due to terrorism-

Psychological Consequences

These consequences affect the mental health of an individual which in turn affects his entire life style and behaviour towards others.

Social Consequences

Social consequences impact the people of that state directly. These consequences impact the opinions, beliefs and attitudes.

Economic Consequences

Terrorism impacts the economy of a state in direct as well as indirect manner. The direct impact includes the damage done to property, lives lost, funds required to fight back such attacks. Whereas in-direct impact includes the decline in GDP of that state, market becoming fragile, lower FDIs, etc. all due to security issues that are birthed by these terrorist acts.

Political Consequences

The agenda or decision by the government are mostly the cause such attacks. Which is why the aftermath of such incidents may leave people divided and conflicted regarding their political stance. It may also lead to animosity between religious communities or different political party supporters.

Therefore, terrorism is nothing but a way to impose ideology or get the authority to heed to a condition by violently disrupting the peace of the country.

ICC and International Terrorism

ICC has no direct jurisdiction on acts of terrorism under the Rome Statute. This is because of the majority intention to exclude terrorism, decided by the states present in the Rome Conference 1998.

A provision on terrorism was introduced in the conference, which would have included terrorism under the major three categories of crimes the ICC deals with i.e. war crimes, genocides and crimes against humanity. The provision defined the crimes which would constitute to terrorism in 3 categories –

This category had the basic and standalone definition of terrorism
This category defined the acts under the six already existing crimes that would amount to terrorism.
This category specified that violence on persons or populations by the means of firearms, explosive, weapons and other dangerous substances will amount to terrorism.

However, this entire provision was rejected by the state parties and any mention of this provision was left to the Resolution E of the Annex to the final Act. The reason behind rejecting the terrorism provision can be explained by the points given below-

The first and the biggest obstacle was the absence of a direct, specific and universally accepted definition of what is terrorism. This was also supported by the dissatisfaction in regards to the definition proposed in the draft of the provision.
The second reason for the reluctance was that the three core crimes- war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide included all the crimes of great concern at that time and terrorism was not considered to be a topic of international concern at that time.
The third reason behind rejecting the inclusion was to avoid burdening the court the need for a gravity threshold.
The fourth point against the provision of terrorism was that it would put a strain in the acceptance of the entire Rome Statute globally.
The fifth argument against this provision of terrorism was that it already existed as a treaty crime under UN and there was already a system set to deal with it.
The final objection argued that as terrorism is a very sensitive term politically, and if the ICC would deal with matters of terrorism it would be put in the centre of inter-state politics. Which in turn could damage its credibility and position to act as an impartial institution.

CONCLUSION

Most of the points given above have become irrelevant with time but terrorism has still not been added as a core crime under the Rome Statute. However, an amendment on crime of aggression has been added under Article 8 of the Rome Statute on 11 June 2010. This amendment defines the crime of aggression as an act of another state, blockading ports or coastlines, bombing another state, attacking the land, sea or air forces, violating a status of forces agreement by the use of armed contrabands such as weapons, explosives etc. Other than this amendment, the Netherlands has also proposed for terrorism to be added as a prosecuted crime under the Rome Statute.

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This article is written by Bunmi Adaramola, a current LPC MSc student at the University of Law. This article presents a detailed overview of the crime and violence and the nature of the relationship which exists between them.

Introduction

Crime and Violence, as asserted by a UN joint report, are development issues which have ‘direct effects on human welfare in the short-run, and long-run effects on economic growth and social development’. Crime, as defined simply by B Felson, is ‘a violation of law, an act of deviance and rule-breaking’. He also defines violence as intentional-harm doing using physical means. From his analysis of both concepts, the article suggests that there is an occasional overlap between crime and violence, as ‘some acts of violence are not criminal or deviant, whilst some crimes do not involve violence’. This point will be unpacked more throughout the course of this article.

1. Violence and Aggression

Statistics show that violence is among the leading causes of death worldwide, and even more prevalent among people aged between 15-44 years. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence as ‘the use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either result in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development or deprivation’. Clearly, this definition encompasses discussions on the types, nature and complete scope of what violence entails. Firstly, this definition classifies violence into three different categories: (i) self-directed violence (‘threatened…against oneself’), (ii)interpersonal violence (‘threatened…against another person’), which involves family or intimate partner violence, such as domestic abuse and (iii)collective violence (‘threatened…against a group or community’), which involves community violence such as destruction, rape, sexual assault. Secondly, this definition also puts into perspective how crime and violence interplay with each other. In dissecting this definition, it is worth putting at the back of the mind, the elements needed to constitute a crime. This definition addresses the mens rea aspect of the commission of a crime, that is the intention, where it describes violence as an act which ‘threatens’. The threat of committing violence itself may play an important role in forming the mens rea as it can be found in crimes such as assault. Similarly, the actus reus element of crime is satisfied by the definition, where it outlines the commission of violence as ‘the use of physical force or power…against’. Essentially, it can be argued from this analysis, that there is a serious and clear relationship between crime and violence, which is derived from the definition of violence provided by the WHO.

It is also important to appreciate the fact that violence can be invisible as much as it can be visible, and this invisibility of violence is equally as important as all other types. The invisible types are usually masked and less obvious when addressed from the surface, as they are ‘out of sight in homes, workplaces and even in the medical and social institutions.’ In such cases, the victims are either too young, weak or even ill to consider protecting themselves and are ‘forced by social conventions and pressures to keep silent about their experiences’. Furthermore, the nature of both visible and invisible violence may also range from physical, sexual, psychological or neglectful violence.

2. Crime, Violence& Violent Crimes

As stated previously, an overlap exists between crime and violence, which manifests itself in the concept of ‘violent crimes’. In understanding the scope of violent crimes, it is worth understanding the classification of crimes as a whole. In assessing the crime, it is important to ask whether harm was intended and is relevant to the motivation of the crime. Where harm is not intended, then the crime is a negligent and victimless one. In a case such as this, there is no overlap between violence and crime as there is no use of force, or threat to cause harm. At the other end of the spectrum, if harm was intended, it is worth asking whether the harm is an incidental consequence or is deliberately sought by the perpetrator. This essentially asks whether the perpetrator is indifferent to the harm caused. If the perpetrator is indifferent to whether the victim suffers or not, then in such case, there may be a clear overlap between violence and crime as such crimes are primarily predatory crimes, which may involve impulsiveness or thrill-seeking motivations for the harm done. In the case where the harm is valued and the harm is an incidental consequence of the crime, whether it is a violent crime will depend on the motivation and intention of the perpetrator in the commission of the crime. For instance, first-time offenders may engage in such crimes but may not be directly or intentionally engaged in aggression or violence, but the violence will only be as a result of negligence or recklessness in the commission of the crime. Felson further asserts that the major causes of violent crimes are ‘low self-control, thrill-seeking, as some people will only commit deviant acts that do not involve harm-doing’.

Overall, it is clear that in some cases, there is a distinct overlap in the relationship between crime and violence, whilst in orders, it would be difficult to prove, depending on the nature of the crime, such as in theft, fraud or drug use.

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Report by- Riddhima Bhadauria

The Supreme court, on Wednesday 30-07-2020 restored the sentence of cashiering from service imposed on an army officer for misbehaving with two women while examining them. The Bench comprising Justice L. Nageswara Rao, Justice Hemant Gupta, Justice S.Ravindra Bhat opined that LT. Col. SS Bedi had abused the fiduciary relationship between doctor and patient and this act of doctor is not condonable.

Appellant’s contention

The appellant contended that his application to file was rejected by the tribunal. He filed a criminal appeal aggrieved by the judgment of the Tribunal upholding the conviction ordered by the General Court Martial and imposition of a fine of Rs.50,000/-. The appellant was convicted for misbehaving with two women during a checkup for touching their private parts and hence he was charged under section 354 IPC 1860 for using criminal force on women with intent to outrage their modesty. Appellant was presented by learned counsel Sridhar potaraju contended that conviction of the appellant is unsustainable as the evidence on record is not proper and the He further stated that the testimony of Lt. Col. R. Sharma is also in favour of the Appellant. Also, the physical examination of both the complainants was necessary for the ailments that were being suffered by them. One was suffering from bronchial asthma and the other had a complaint of the duodenal ulcer which involves exposure of breast. He also said that forfeiting pensionary benefits is not right as contemplated in section 71(h) of army act, 1950. Therefore, the Appellant is entitled to payment of pension. Court also gave similar decisions in cases like Union of India v. Brig. P.K. Dutta (Retd.) and Union of India v. P.D. Yadav.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

General court-martial converted the sentence from cashiering from service (section 71(d) of the army act, 1950) to a fine of Rs 50,000.
Union of India(respondent) filed criminal appeal no. 13 in 2013 aggrieved by the alteration of punishment.
The pension of the appellant cannot be forfeited as that in the absence of an order passed under section 71(h).
The pension of an army officer cashiered from service may be forfeited at the discretion of the president.
The Supreme court on 30-07-2020 restored the sentence of cashiering from service.

Respondent’s Contentions

Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, learned Additional Solicitor General appearing for the Respondent contended that there is ample evidence on record pointing to the guilt of the appellant. He also contended that the conversion of sentence by the Tribunal was unwarranted. The Appellant had misbehaved with two patients and the expert evidence also shows that there was no necessity of the Appellant touching the private parts of the complainants. Both the complainants were suffering from a disease which involves exposure of breast but touching or squeezing it is totally unnecessary hence the appellant was rightly held guilty under section 354 of IPC, 1860.

SC Restores the Punishment of Cashiering of Service

The Supreme court was not convinced with the reasons given by tribunal for converting the sentence from cashiering to the imposition of a fine of Rs 50,000. So, it recently restored the punishment of cashiering of service by taking into account the “reprehensible conduct of the Appellant abusing a position of trust being a Doctor which is not condonable”. However the court directed the respondents to consider the entire record of service of the Appellant and his advanced age while taking a decision to initiate proceedings under the Army Pension Regulations. In case the Respondents decide not to initiate proceedings under Army Pension Regulations, the Appellant shall be entitled for all pensionary benefits.

What are the key provisions of the Army Act, 1950 discussed here?

Section 71(d) tells about the cashiering in the case of officers.
Section 71(h) tells about the forfeiture of service for the purpose of increased pay, pension or any other prescribed purpose.
Section 71(k )explains the forfeiture in the case of a person sentenced to cashiering or dismissal from the service of all arrears of pay and allowances and other public money due to him at the time of such cashiering or dismissal.

Download the Judgment hereDownload