List of Current Affairs

Source: Madhya Pradesh High Court

Why in News?

Recently, a unique bail condition was imposed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, requiring the accused student to perform community service as part of their temporary release on bail.

• The statement by Justice Anand Pathak highlights the court's recognition of the seriousness of the allegations while also acknowledging the potential for the accused to reform their behavior.
• This decision reflects a judicial approach that balances accountability for the alleged offense with the opportunity for rehabilitation and personal growth.

What was the Background of Abhishek Sharma v The State of Madhya Pradesh?

• Accused arrested on April 4,2024 for continuous harassment of a girl via WhatsApp, stalking, and vulgar calls.
• Accused, a first-year BBA student, seeks temporary bail citing potential academic setback due to prolonged confinement.
• The applicant asserts a commitment to reform, vowing not to engage in such activities again.
• Parents pledge to oversee their son's behavior, ensuring no further embarrassment or harassment to the complainant.
• Applicant's actions, as per counsel, stem from ego issues, suggesting engagement in creative pursuits and community service to facilitate reform.
• Applicant applied for temporary bail in High Court.

What were the Court’s Observations?

• High court allowed the temporary bail on the condition of community service.
• Justice Anand Pathak's opinion that it's important in legal proceedings to consider both accountability and opportunities for reform.
• The applicant is a student; therefore, chance be given for course correction so that he can mend his ways to become a better citizen by not involving in criminal activities especially in the nature of Section 354(D) of the IPC and Sections 11 and 12 of the POCSO Act.
• Court agreed on the suggestion of counsel to grant the temporary bail for 2 months on the condition, he may engage in creative pursuits and community service so that his alleged ego may be melted and thereafter looking to his conduct, bail be confirmed, This would enable the applicant to learn a lesson and engage in creative pursuits for a better future.
• The bail conditions imposed on the applicant are
• He will render his services at the District Hospital (1250) Bhopal on every Saturday and Sunday from 9 am to 1 pm (irrespective of being affected by the decision of the trial) and his role will be to assist the patients of the external department in the services provided by doctors and compounders.
• He will be barred from the operation theatre, private wards, and administering medication or injections.
• They must ensure no harm or inconvenience to patients; doctors will oversee compliance.

What is Community Services?

• About
  • Community services refer to a broad range of programs, activities, and initiatives aimed at enhancing the well-being of a particular community or group of people.
  • These services are often provided by government agencies, non-profit organizations, or volunteer groups and can encompass various areas such as social services, healthcare, education, environmental sustainability, cultural enrichment, and more.
• Community Service Sentencing in Indian Criminal Justice System and other countries
  • India
    • India recently adopted the provision of community service punishment as a form of punishment in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
    • It reflects a shift towards restorative justice, emphasizing rehabilitation and community involvement.
    • This approach allows offenders to contribute positively to society while addressing the harm caused by their actions.
    • By promoting personal growth and integration, community service offers a chance to break the cycle of criminal behavior.
  • Other Countries
    • United States: Utilizes probation, with offenders supervised in the community under specific conditions, often involving non-profit organizations or government agencies for community service opportunities.
    • United Kingdom: Employs community orders, offering various requirements such as unpaid work, curfews, or rehabilitation programs to offenders as part of community sentencing.
    • Australia: Implements Community Corrections Orders, combining supervision with tailored conditions like counseling or community service to address offender rehabilitation.
    • Canada: Utilizes conditional sentences, allowing offenders to serve their sentences in the community under strict conditions, emphasizing rehabilitation alongside punishment.
    • Norway and Japan: Norway focuses on restorative justice programs and alternative sanctions, while Japan implements "day-fines" based on daily income, both aiming to reintegrate offenders into society while considering cultural and legal nuances.
• Community Services in BNS
  • First time the provision of community service has been proposed in penal law for minor offences under the ‘Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita’ (BNS) Bill.
  • Section 4 of BNS deals with punishment. It states that the punishments to which offenders are liable under the provisions of this Sanhita are—
    • Death;
    • Imprisonment for life
    • Imprisonment, which is of two descriptions, namely:— Rigorous, that is, with hard labour; Simple
    • Forfeiture of property
    • Fine
    • Community Service.

What are Some Major Case Laws in Which Community Services are Used as a Bail Condition?

• Gudikanti Narasimhulu And Ors v. Public Prosecutor (1977), the Supreme Court of India noted that measures aimed at social defense and individual correction, with an anti-criminal focus, may justify limitations on personal liberty.
• Aparna Bhat & Ors vs. State of Madhya Pradesh & Anr (2021), Court questioned the prevalent practice of mandating "community service" as a bail condition, especially in gender-related crimes.

Source: Allahabad High Court

Why in News?

Recently, the Allahabad High Court has held that an act intentional insult or intimidation to humiliate a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe would constitute an offence under Section 3(1)(r) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (SC/ST Act) only if it is committed in public view.

• The aforesaid observation was given in the matter of Pintu Singh @ Rana Pratap Singh & Ors. v. State of U.P. and Anr.

What was the Background of Pintu Singh @ Rana Pratap Singh & Ors. v. State of U.P. and Anr. Case?

• In this case initially an FIR was lodged on 15^th November 2017 under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) and 3(1)(r) of SC/ST Act at Police Station Nagara, District Ballia with the allegations that the nominated accused persons who are seven in number including the applicants have entered into the house of the informant and have stated caste based remark and have also assaulted the informant and his family members.
• Thereafter, an application under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) has been filed before the Allahabad High Court by applicants for quashing of the criminal proceedings.
• The learned counsel for the applicants submitted that the applicants are pressing the application in respect of the offence under section SC/ST Act. In respect of the other offences the applicants are not putting any challenge to the charge sheet at this stage.
• The learned counsel for the applicant submits that once the words uttered was not in public view nor it was in public place then provisions of Section 3(1) (r) of SC/ST Act would not be attracted.
• Partly allowing the application, the High Court quashed the proceedings in respect of Section 3 (1) (r) SC/ST Act.

What were the Court’s Observations?

• Justice Vikram D. Chauhan observed that one of the essential ingredients for an offence under section 3(1)(r) of SC/ST Act is that the offence ought to have been committed in public view. In the present case, the offence is not committed in public view, nor has the offence been committed at public place.
• The Court further observed that once the offence has not taken place in public view the provisions of Section 3(1)(r) of the SC/ST Act would not be attracted and as such the same cannot be proceeded with.

What is Section 3(1)(r) of the SC/ST Act?

About the SC/ST Act:

• SC/ST Act 1989 is an Act of Parliament enacted to prohibit discrimination against SC & ST communities members and prevent atrocities against them.
• The Act was passed in Parliament of India on 11^th September 1989 and notified on 30 January 1990.
• The Act is also a recognition of the depressing reality that despite undertaking several measures, the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes continue to be subjected to various atrocities at the hands of upper castes.
• The Act has been enacted keeping in view the express constitutional safeguards enumerated in Articles 15, 17 and 21 of the Constitution of India, 1950 (COI), with a twin-fold objective of protecting the members of these vulnerable communities as well as to provide relief and rehabilitation to the victims of caste-based atrocities.

SC/ST (Amendment) Act, 2015:

• This Act was amended in the year 2015 for the purpose of making the act more stringent with the following provisions:
  • Recognition was given to more instances of atrocities as crimes against SCs and STs.
  • It added several new offences in Section 3 and renumbered the entire section since the recognized crime almost doubled.
  • The Act added Chapter IVA Section 15A (the rights of victims and witnesses), and defined dereliction of duty by officials and accountability mechanisms more precisely.
  • It provided for the establishment of exclusive special courts and special public prosecutors.
  • In the context of public servants at all levels this Act defined the term willlful negligence.

SC/ST (Amendment) Act, 2018:

• In the case of Prithvi Raj Chauhan v. Union of India (2020), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of Parliament’s 2018 Amendment to the Prevention of Atrocities Act. The Salient features of this Amendment Act are as follows:
  • It added Section 18A to the original Act.
  • It delineates specific crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as atrocities and describes strategies and prescribes punishments to counter these acts.
  • It identifies what acts constitute “atrocities” and all offences listed in the Act are cognizable. The police can arrest the offender without a warrant and start an investigation into the case without taking any orders from the court.
  • The Act calls upon all the states to convert an existing sessions court in each district into a Special Court to try cases registered under it and provides for the appointment of Public Prosecutors/Special Public Prosecutors for conducting cases in special courts.
  • It creates provisions for states to declare areas with high levels of caste violence to be “atrocity-prone” and to appoint qualified officers to monitor and maintain law and order.
  • It provides for the punishment for willful neglect of duties by non-SC/ST public servants.
  • It is implemented by the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations, which are provided due central assistance.

Section 3(1)(r) of the SC/ST Act:

• Section 3 of this Act deals with punishments for offences atrocities.
• Section 3(1)(r) states that whoever, not being a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe in any place within public view shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to five years and with fine.

Source: Allahabad High Court

Why in News?

Recently a bench of Justice Mohd. Faiz Alam Khan held that the suspension of an advocate's license to practice law would cause an injury of irreparable character, as it would affect his clientage/profession as well as reputation.

• The Allahabad High Court gave this observation in the case of Siddha Nath Pathak and Another v. State of Uttar Pradesh.

What was the Background of Siddha Nath Pathak and Another v. State of Uttar Pradesh Case?

• Accused is a practicing advocate at the Civil Courts in Faizabad/Ayodhya.
• He was convicted along with others by the trial court in Sessions Trial No. 288 of 2014 for offences under Sections 147, 148, 323, 308, and 452 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC).
• A relative of the informant filed a complaint against the advocate before the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh for cancellation of his registration (license to practice law) based on his conviction.
• The Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh issued a notice to advocate based on the complaint.

What were the Court’s Observations?

• The suspension of license of the appellant advocate, practicing at Civil Court, Faizabad/Ayodhya, would adversely affect him financially and socially.
• Considering the specific circumstance that appellant is a practicing advocate, and the suspension of his license would cause irreparable injury to his profession and reputation, the court deemed it appropriate to stay his conviction.
• Therefore, the conviction of appellant, as recorded by the impugned judgment dated 16^th March 2023 in Sessions Trial No. 288 of 2014, was ordered to remain stayed/suspended till the next date of listing, to prevent irreparable injury to his advocacy practice due to potential suspension of his license.

Who is an Advocate?

• Advocates in India:
  • The Advocates Act, 1961 governs the regulation and enrollment of advocates in India.
• Definition of an Advocate:
  • As per Section 2(a) of the Advocates Act, 1961, an "advocate" means a person whose name is entered in the roll of advocates maintained by a State Bar Council under the provisions of the Act.
• Qualifications for Enrollment as an Advocate:

Section 24 of the Act lays down the qualifications required for enrollment as an advocate on a State roll:

• • Indian citizenship (with provision for foreign nationals if reciprocal rights exist)
  • Minimum age of 21 years
  • Possession of a law degree from an Indian university or a recognized foreign qualification in law
  • Payment of prescribed enrollment fees
  • Fulfillment of any other conditions specified by the State Bar Council
• Role and Duties of an Advocate:

Advocates play a major role in the administration of justice by representing clients in courts, tribunals, and other judicial forums. Their duties include:

• • Providing legal advice and counseling
  • Drafting legal documents and pleadings
  • Representing clients in court proceedings
  • Conducting legal research and analysis
  • Negotiating settlements and alternative dispute resolution
• Professional Ethics and Conduct:
  • Advocates are bound by the rules of professional conduct and etiquette prescribed by the Bar Council of India and the respective State Bar Councils.
  • These rules govern their ethical behavior, professional responsibilities, and interactions with clients, courts, and other advocates.
    

    Differences
    Term	Definition
    Advocate	A person enrolled on the roll of advocates maintained by a State Bar Council under the Advocates Act, 1961.
    Law Graduate	A person who has obtained a bachelor's degree in law from a recognized university in India, as defined in Section 2(h) of the Advocates Act, 1961.
    Legal Practitioner	A broad term that includes advocates, vakils of any High Court, pleaders, mukhtars, and revenue agents, as per Section 2(i) of the Advocates Act, 1961.
    Pleader	As per Section 2(q) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), a person authorized by law to practice in a particular court, or any other person appointed by the court with its permission to act in a specific proceeding.