SC to hear plea seeking speedy trial in rape cases (19)New Delhi: Amid growing demand for stricter punishment for offences against women, the Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a PIL for setting-up fast-track courts all over the country for speedy trial of rape cases. The PIL, filed by retired IAS officer Promilla Shankar, also seeks suspension of MPs and MLAs who have been chargesheeted for crime against women. Meanwhile, another bench of Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi issued notices to the Centre and all the states on another PIL seeking security measures for women. Filed by advocate Mukul Kumar the PIL seeks creation of women police stations in every town to investigate complaints of rape and sexual assault against women and implementation of UN convention on elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. "In spite of international agreements, the denial of women's basic human rights is persistent and widespread. As per a study, conducted by the Centre for Social Research, 18 women were tortured every hour in some way or the other across the country," the petition said. In her PIL, Promilla said no effort was being made for effective implementation of existing laws for safety of women. "Punitive actions are being taken only after incidents are reported by media, but no reformatory or systematic improvements are being made ... People are getting frustrated by absence of deterrent effect of law on criminals and innocent people are suffering due to misuse of police power." No fast track courts for women in Gujarat (19)AHMEDABAD: on the fast track! Even as states like Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala and of course Delhi announced fast track courts for speedy justice to women in the aftermath of national upsurge against Delhi gang rape, Gujarat has no courts dedicated to women. Delhi announced six fast track courts for women, Maharashtra 25, West Bengal 88! Gujarat has not yet woken up to the fact that the women in the state need such courts for speedy trials and justice. Advocate Meena Jagtap said fast track courts dedicated to women with women judges and women public prosecutors should be started on top priority by Gujarat government for speedy delivery of justice to the women wronged in the state. "First thing, women especially those who have been raped feel extremely humiliated and are hesitant to testify before male advocates and judges. Secondly, I have witnessed in some cases that judges themselves advised women to work out a compromise. In such a situation, the case is resolved but justice is not done", said Jagtap. Nupur Sinha of Center for Social Justice (CSJ) said Gujarat has no dedicated women court. "Gujarat needs fast track courts dedicated to women for the simple reason that we have found it difficult to sustain the interest of the litigants or women survivors or witnesses over a long period of time. When the case drags on for long years, the victim gets tired of coming to the court and a compromise is reached due to pressure from the community or relatives", said Sinha. Legal secretary V P Patel said the state had begun fast track courts in the year 2001 and the functioning of these courts were stopped in 2010. Legal eagles said that these were funded by the central government and were stopped when the funds did not come. Patel said while there were no special fast track courts dedicated to women ever in the state, following the Supreme Court direction, women judges were asked to handle women related cases, wherever possible. Pradeepsinh Jadeja, minister of judiciaryWife-beating not accepted social norm, observes SC (19)New Delhi: The Supreme Court has expressed its anguish over a judgment delivered by a Karwar sessions court judge, which suggested that beating wife was a normal facet of life. Describing the judgment as perverse, a bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai asked for bringing in change in the mindset of judges in order to deal with the phenomenal rise in the crimes against women. There is a phenomenal rise in the crimes against women and protection granted to women by the Constitution of India and other laws would be meaningful only if those who are entrusted with the job of doing justice are sensitised towards womens problems, the bench said. The court dismissed an appeal by Vajresh Venkatray Anvekar, who was fined and sentenced to five years jail by the Karnataka High Court, for driving his wife Girija to commit suicide in June 2002. Their marriage had taken place in December, 2001. The apex court said the high court had rightly reversed the judgment delivered by the trial court, which had acquitted the accused. It, however, pulled up the fast-track court judge for writing a judgment that suggested occasional slapping of wife was not that strong a reason for the woman to end her life. The tenor of the judgment suggests that wife beating is a normal facet of married life. Does that mean giving one or two slaps to a wife by a husband just does not matter? We do not think that that can be a right approach. It is one thing to say that every wear and tear of married life need not lead to suicide and it is another thing to put it so crudely and suggest that one or two assaults on a woman is an accepted social norm. Judges have to be sensitive to womens problems. Perhaps learned Sessions Judge wanted to convey that the circumstances on record were not strong enough to drive Girija to commit suicide, the bench said. The court said that making light of slaps given to Girija, which resulted in loss of her eyesight, was to show extreme insensitivity. Assault on a woman offends her dignity. What effect it will have on a woman depends on facts and circumstances of each case. There cannot be any generalisation on this issue, the bench said. (Deccan Herald 7/1/13)