Now, women too can be tried for domestic violence

October 9, 2016

New Delhi, Oct 9: From now on, complaints can be filed against women too under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

Supreme

The Supreme Court has struck down a provision that allowed a complaint only against an adult male under the act. In a ruling having far-reaching consequences, the apex court declared that the words “adult male” in Section 2(q) of the 2005 act will stand deleted since it does not square with Article 14 (equality) of the Constitution.

Under Section 2(q), only an adult male can hitherto be prosecuted, thereby saving women from any adverse proceedings. “If ‘respondent’ is to be read as only an adult male person, it is clear that women who evict or exclude the aggrieved person are not within its coverage, and if that is so, the object of the act can very easily be defeated by an adult male person not standing in the forefront, but putting forward female persons who can therefore evict or exclude the aggrieved person from the shared household,” the court said.

A bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman relied upon the definition of domestic violence as given in the social beneficial legislation, which provided various innovative remedies in favour of women against the perpetrators, to hold that the provision would defeat the object of the law.

“It is clear that such (domestic) violence is gender neutral. It is also clear that physical, verbal, emotional and economic abuse can all be by women against women. Even sexual abuse may, in a given circumstance, be by one woman on another,” the court said.

The court noted that the words “adult male person” are contrary to the object of affording protection to women who have suffered from domestic violence of any kind.

“We, therefore, strike down the words “adult male” before the word “person” in Section 2(q) as these words discriminate between persons similarly situated, and far from being in tune with, are contrary to the object sought to be achieved by the 2005 act,” said Justice Nariman, writing the judgement.

Applying the principle of severability, the court said that having struck down “adult male” in Section 2(q), the rest of the act is left intact and can be enforced to achieve the object of the legislation without the offending words.

The apex court passed its ruling while allowing an appeal against a Bombay High Court judgement that has read down the provision of the law.

The high court held that complaints can be filed against women as well.

The apex court went on to delete the provision, setting aside the judgement.

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March 17,2024

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New Delhi: The Election Commission on Sunday made public fresh data on electoral bonds, which it had submitted in sealed covers to the Supreme Court and was later asked to put it in public domain.

These details are believed to be pertaining to the period before April 12, 2019. Electoral bond details after this date was made public by the poll panel last week.

The BJP encashed electoral bonds totalling Rs 6,986.5 crore; maximum Rs 2,555 crore received in 2019-20, as per the EC data.

The Trinamool Congress received Rs 1,397 crore through electoral bonds, second largest recipient after BJP, as per the EC data.

On the other hand, the Congress redeemed a total of Rs 1,334.35 crore through electoral bonds.

DMK received Rs 656.5 crore through electoral bonds, including Rs 509 crore from lottery king Santiago Martin's Future Gaming.

BJD encashed electoral bonds worth Rs 944.5 crore, YSR Congress Rs 442.8 crore, TDP Rs 181.35 crore.

Political parties had filed data on electoral bonds in sealed cover as directed by the Supreme Court's interim order dated April 12, 2019, the poll panel said in a statement.

"Data so received from political parties was deposited in the Supreme Court without opening sealed covers. In pursuance of the Supreme Court's order dated March 15, 2024, the Registry of the Supreme Court has returned physical copies along with a digitized record of the same in a pen drive in sealed cover. The Election Commission of India has today uploaded the data received in the digitized form from the registry of the Supreme Court on electoral bonds on its website," EC said.

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March 15,2024

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New Delhi, Mar 13: The Supreme Court on Friday took exception to the State Bank of India (SBI) for not disclosing complete details of Electoral Bonds, including unique alfa numeric numbers, furnished to the Election Commission for uploading on the website.

A five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud issued notice to the SBI seeking its response on Monday after the court was informed that the issuing bank for the Electoral Bonds has not disclosed unique alfa numeric number of each bond.

"They have not disclosed the bond numbers. It has to be disclosed by the State Bank of India. All details have to be provided by the SBI," the bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, noted.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal said as per the Constitution bench judgment of February 15, 2024, all details were to be disclosed.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted since the SBI was a party to the judgment, notice may be issued to it.

The court said the counsel for SBI should have been here.

"If you see the judgment, we have specified that bond numbers have to be provided," the bench said.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan appeared for the main petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

On an application by the EC, the bench said the details of Electoral Bonds furnished by the poll panel before the top court should be scanned and returned to it for the purpose of uploading on the website.

The Election Commission through advocate Amit Sharma filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to release data on electoral bonds furnished to the top court in terms of previous orders of April 12, 2019 and November 2, 2023.

As per March 11, 2024 order, the Election Commission on Thursday uploaded the data on electoral bonds furnished to it by the SBI.

However, in an application, the poll panel said it had furnished to the Supreme Court a number of sealed envelopes, containing details on EBs encashed by the political parties, during the course of hearing in the matter.

It sought a direction for the return of those sealed envelopes to comply with the directions to upload it on the website as per order of March 11.

On Monday, the Supreme Court had told the SBI to furnish details of purchasers of Electoral Bonds and names of political parties redeemed those instruments by March 12 to the Election Commission, rejecting its plea for extension of time until June 30 for the purpose.

It had then directed the Election Commission to publish the information provided by the SBI on its website on March 15.

In its February 15, 2024 judgment, the SC had declared the Electoral Bonds scheme, introduced in 2018 for donation to political parties, as "unconstitutional" for being violative of the right to information.

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March 8,2024

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President Droupadi Murmu has nominated Sudha Murty to the Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in a social media post on March 8.

“I am delighted that the President of India has nominated Sudha Murty Ji to the Rajya Sabha. Sudha Ji’s contributions to diverse fields including social work, philanthropy and education have been immense and inspiring,” PM Modi wrote on microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) while sharing the news.

Describing the author, philanthropist, and former chairperson of the Infosys Foundation as “a powerful testament to Nari Shakti”, PM Modi wrote, “Her presence in the Rajya Sabha is a powerful testament to our ‘Nari Shakti’, exemplifying the strength and potential of women in shaping our nation’s destiny. Wishing her a fruitful Parliamentary tenure.”

Murty, who is travelling at the moment, thanked PM Modi for the nomination and said, “It’s a big Women’s Day gift to me. It’s a new responsibility to work for the country.”

Replying to PM Modi’s social media post, Sudha Murty wrote, “Thank you, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji. It is my privilege and honour to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha by our Hon’ble President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji. I am very grateful for the opportunity to serve our nation.”

Born on August 19, 1950, in Karnataka’s Shiggaon, Sudha Murty began her career as a computer scientist and engineer, going on to become the first female engineer hired at Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company (Telco).

Murty, wife of Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, is also the chairperson of the Murty Trust and has authored several books. Her son-in-law is the Prime Minister of the UK and her daughter Akshata Murty is a businesswoman, fashion designer, and venture capitalist.

The 73-year-old’s nomination coincides with International Women’s Day. She received the Padma Shri award in 2006 and the Padma Bhushan in 2023.

Responding to the development BJP Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said, “Today, Sudha Murthy ji has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha by honourable President Smt Droupadi Murmu. What other Sandesh (message) could have been more beautiful than this on International Women’s Day?”

The President of India nominates 12 members to the Upper House of the Parliament for their contributions towards arts, literature, sciences, and social services. Earlier this year, President Murmu had nominated founder-Chancellor of Chandigarh University and educationist Satnam Singh Sandhu to the Rajya Sabha.

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