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Stating that “it is disquieting to note that there are serious lapses in the enforcement” of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, popularly known as PoSH Act, almost a decade into its enactment, the Supreme Court Friday issued a slew of directions to ensure its effective implementation.
A bench of Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli was deciding an appeal filed by Aureliano Fernandes, a former Head of the Department of Political Science at the Goa University, against the Bombay High Court order upholding his dismissal from service on sexual harassment charges.
Allowing the appeal by Fernandes and sending the matter back to the Complaints Committee, the court flagged the report in a “national daily newspaper” that 16 of the 30 national sports federations don’t have an Internal Complaints Committee as stipulated under PoSH.
Incidentally, an investigation by The Indian Express on May 4 had revealed that half of the national sports federations don’t have sexual harassment panels as per law.
Express network
Better connectivity respecting sovereignty should be a priority, says Jaishankar in Dhaka (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Improving and enhancing connectivity should be the priority of the countries in the Indian Ocean region; and for India, a land connect to SouthEast Asia and a multi-model one to the Gulf and Central Asia could be challenging but the nations should work collectively for a smooth connectivity, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday.
Connectivity is a crucial issue as the era of imperialism disrupted the natural linkages of the continent and created regional silos that served its own end. Restoring and enhancing flows between distinct regions is of utmost priority. Improving and enhancing connectivity should be our priority.
For countries like India, a land connects to SouthEast Asia and a multi-model one to the Gulf and Central Asia offers its own distinct challenges but the more we work collectively on a smooth connectivity, we will be better off.
But we need to respect sovereignty and territorial integrity. So let me underline, for India, an effective and efficient connectivity to ASEAN will be a game changer.
At the session, addressed also by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Mauritius President Prithviraj Singh Rupun, Maldives Vice President Faisal Naseem among others, Jaishankar stressed on the need for the countries to take the long view of cooperation as any nation disregarding the legal obligation or violating long standing agreements could damage trust and confidence among the member nations.
With a focus on rehabilitation, the Centre prepares the new Prisons Act (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Union government announced it has prepared a Model Prisons Act to replace the current 130-year-old law in an attempt to shift the focus of incarceration from retributive deterrence to reform and rehabilitation.
In India, prisons and the ‘persons detained therein’ are a State subject. The Home Ministry said the Model Prisons Act, 2023 may serve as a guiding document for states for adoption in their jurisdiction.
In a statement, the ministry said the old pre-Independence act focuses on keeping criminals in custody and enforcement of discipline and order in prisons. There is no provision for reform and rehabilitation of prisoners.
It said the new Act attempts to change this through a number of steps: Creating provisions for grant of parole, furlough and remission to prisoners to encourage good conduct; providing special provisions to women and transgender inmates; ensuring physical and mental well-being of prisoners; and focusing on the reformation and rehabilitation of inmates.
Last year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while announcing that a change in the prison law was in the works, had called for a rehabilitative view of prisoners and jails, saying India’s incarceration system is prone to abuse because it was set up by the British to subjugate political prisoners.
Editorial
One nation many governments (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Thomas Jefferson once said that a “just government should derive its powers from the consent of the governed”. The Supreme Court judgment on the issue of who controls the bureaucracy in Delhi is a reiteration of this ideal of representative and accountable governance.
True, the central government too is a representative government with a massive mandate. It derives powers from the consent of the people.
But this consent is to govern the country, not Delhi. Delhi’s elected representatives have a more legitimate constitutional right and the explicit consent of the people of Delhi to govern them.
Post the Emergency, the Supreme Court was suffering from a crisis of legitimacy due to its pro-government judgments. To regain the people’s confidence in subsequent years, the SC, through Public Interest Litigations, tried to course correct.
In recent times, similar apprehensions were raised again. But with the new CJI assuming office in November 2022, a visible change seems to have taken place.
The Court has criticised the sealed cover process and looks far more committed to the supremacy of the Constitution and civil liberties.
In fact, the Delhi judgment may contribute to ushering in a “constitutional renaissance”. Terming the verdict as a mere setback to the central government would negate this renaissance.
The Delhi judgment — and to a great extent even the Shiv Sena verdict — would certainly restore people’s confidence in the judiciary.
Ideas page
G20 healing touch (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations/Health)
India’s G20 presidency is gathering momentum. It is focussed on harnessing shared responsibilities and collaborative governance to make the world safer from pandemics.
India is seeking to leverage this forum to bridge the gap between the Global North and Global South, especially because the G20 and several other plurilateral arrangements have memberships that cut across the global community.
The Covid-19 pandemic has affirmed that health is a global public good. It has also underlined the critical role of the State in shaping and delivering a public health vision, especially because market forces often fail to address the medical needs of people, particularly the poorest and the most vulnerable, in full measure.
The pandemic also highlighted the centrality of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in shaping the contours of responses to disease outbreaks.
The blueprint framed in the process can apply to national governments and multilateral institutions such as the G20. Its critical elements include helping countries to respond promptly, providing accurate information, ensuring vital supplies reach frontline healthcare workers, training and mobilising medical professionals and developing and delivering vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics.
Explained
What is carbon dating, allowed by HC on shivling found in Kashi (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Allahabad High Court ordered a “scientific survey”, including carbon dating, of a “Shivling” said to have been found at the Gyanvapi mosque complex in Varanasi after setting aside a lower court order on the issue. The order was passed by Justice Arvind Kumar Mishra.
On May 16 last year, a court-ordered videographic survey of the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque was completed by a Commission appointed by a local court.
During the survey proceedings, a structure – claimed to be a “Shivling” by the Hindu side and a “fountain” by the Muslim side – was found inside the mosque premises.
In their plea before the High Court, the Hindu petitioners had requested “to make scientific investigation by carbon dating or otherwise to determine the age, nature and other constituents of the Shivlingam.”
Senior Advocate Syed Farman Ahmad Naqvi, representing Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC) told The Indian Express the decision on whether to challenge the High Court order would be taken soon.
What is carbon dating, and what will it help achieve?
Carbon dating is a widely-used method to establish the age of organic materials, things that were once living. Living things have carbon in them in various forms.
The dating method is based on the fact that Carbon-14 (C-14), an isotope of carbon with an atomic mass of 14, is radioactive, and decays at a well known rate.