Can we legalize prostitution?, Supreme Court

The honourable Supreme Court of the country in a striking remark while hearing a public interest litigation yesterday (Wednesday) had asked the Government of India whether it is possible to legalize world’s oldest profession prostitution, if the profession considered as shameless is feasibly beyond control.  
   
A bench comprising Justice Dalveer Bhandari and AK Patnaik gave above mentioned dramatics remarks when they were hearing a public interest litigation lodged by country’s leading N.G.O Bachpan Bachao Aandolan and a similar PIL lodged by Childline, the PIL had brought a sensitive cause in front of the honourable court . In its application the NGOs have raised the issue of massive child trafficking and its implications on socio-economic development of the children and in turn society and country as a whole. 

The bench vigilantly heard arguments from both the party and opined “They (sex trade) have been operating in one way or the other and nowhere in the world have they been able to curb it by legislation. In some cases, they are carried out in a sophisticated manner. So why don't you legalise it?" Appearing for the government Solicitor General expressed that he will thoroughly work on the issue and discuss it with the various government agencies, before filling government’s opinion and reply on the controversial issue.     

The bench also touched various other issues liable for child trafficking and prostitution, it was of the opinion that poverty is one of the significant causes that forces people into this trade, children are trafficked from poverty ridden areas and most of them end up becoming bonded labour and prostitutes. The bench also vehemently rapped the government for failing to check poverty, the two justices said "We are talking about growing GDP. I do not know what is the development we are all talking about when the number of BPL families is at 37 per cent which has increased from 30 per cent. Growth of GDP does not mean some four or five families have developed. If this is the state of development, we can't help it."

Given the manner in which this derogatory trade prostitution is carried out across the country, government should legalize it, as penalizing people have not helped in curbing sex trade in any part of the country. Reasons are obvious, urge for sex is natural, migrant workers and others willing to have sex often visit prostitutes and call girls, that’s why the trade is flourishing but declining. Legalizing it will also help in designing comprehensive strategy to combat AIDS/HIV and proper rehabilitation of people engaged in the trade.

 

Apart from red light area (known prostitution area) the trade is also carried out in camouflage manner, fake massage and escort service centres in metro cities carry out it in a very planned and sophisticated style, they run their business like corporate companies.     

Now the next hearing of the issue will take place on January 5, then only we will know whether government favours legalising prostitution or not.

Poaching threat over Chilika

BERHAMPUR: Orissa's famed blue lagoon, the Chilika Lake, which becomes home to hundreds of migratory birds in winter, is failing to curb poaching

Twitter Facebook Share Email Print Save Comment

despite a strong security net.

Wildlife officials registered four cases and arrested two persons allegedly for poaching recently. The lake hosts over four lakh migratory birds during winter. The latest incident of poaching was reported from Sorana on Friday night. Forest officials and police seized 16 different birds, one pintail and 15 Indian moorhens, from a person.

"The poacher, identified as Anwar Khan, was caught red handed by the staff when he was returning to his village after poaching in Chilika," said divisional forest officer B P Acharya. Khan was identified as a habitual bird poacher and was arrested by wildlife officials.

Although wildlife and police officials have seized 15 different birds from poachers on three occasions, only one person was arrested. The other three, however, have managed to escape, the DFO said.

"While poaching was reported from Sorana and Kalupadaghata, no poaching was reported from the Nalabana Bird Sanctuary, where most migratory waterfowls congregate," he said.

Wildlife authorities have set up 21 camps, including two mobile camps, to guard the avian guests. "Several local youths have also engaged to protect the birds," the DFO said.

The birds concentrate in the 1,150 sq km Chilika Lake, mainly in Bhusandapur, Sorana and Mangalajodi areas. Flocks of migratory birds arrive from the Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, remote parts of Russia, central and south East Asia, Ladakh and the Himalayas for feeding and roosting. The lake is recognized as the wintering zone for the largest congregation of waterfowls in the country. They start arriving in mid-October and roost here till the first week of March. But the peak congregation period is between mid-December and mid-January.

Stop construction activity on Alibaug beach: HC Bombay

Mumbai:-The Bombay High Court in a recent interim order to the state revenue department and the collector of Raigad, has asked them to put a stop to encroachments on a beach at Nandgaon, Alibaug.

Responding to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG), the court took immediate cognizance of violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms on the beach.

The PIL had sought the court’s direction to the state as well as the Union Government to “protect the beach and shoreline at Nandgaon”. BEAG named the state environment and revenue department, the collector of Raigad, tahsildar of Murud, the sub-divisional officer of Alibaug, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest and the Maharashtra Coastal Management Authority as respondents.

In its order, the court upheld the ‘polluter pays’ principle in environmental law. The principle states that the party carrying on a polluting or environmentally non-benign activity must pay for the damage done to the environment. While BEAG is unaware as to who were behind the activities leading to the flouting of norms, the court has given the state and the Raigad collector the responsibility of preventing the activity and taking action against those responsible.

The PIL informed about “the construction of an  illegal road which, it appears, is about to be built on the beach itself; and for largescale illegal sand mining.” It stated that both the activities violated the CRZ notification of 1991.

The petition also pointed out that Alibaug falls within the CRZ III and the construction on the beach was in a CRZ area, between the high tide line (HTL) and the low tide line (LTL).

“Recently we visited the site and took photographs of construction of a road there. The work is clearly illegal,” stated Dr Sayed Nudrat Zawar, a senior conservation officer of the Conservation Action Trust, an offshoot of BEAG.

CRZ notification classifies coastal areas: The CRZ-I areas are (i) those that are ecologically sensitive and (ii) the area between the HTL and the LTL.

CRZ-III areas are those that are relatively undisturbed and those which do not belong to either Category-I or II (the latter being already developed areas). CRZ III areas include coastal zones in rural areas (developed and undeveloped) and areas within municipal limits or in other legally designated urban areas which are not substantially built up.

What is CRZ ?

The Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification, issued by the Ministry of Environment & Forests on February 19, 1991, under the provisions of the Environment Protection Act seeks to protect the ecology and environment of India’s coastline. It states that the area (i) within 500 metres of the High Tide Line (HTL), and (ii) the area between the HTL and the Low Tide Line (LTL) is a Coastal Regulation Zone. Restrictions are imposed on development activities in CRZ. The HTL is the line to which the highest of the spring or neap tides, reach.

Cops hunt for City Limo boss as court rejects anticipatory bail

C Unnikrishnan, TNN 14 November 2009, 02:11am IST
MUMBAI: The city police have launched a hunt for City Limouzines chairman S M Masood after the sessions court rejected his anticipatory bail 

Twitter Facebook Share Email Print Save Comment

on Friday.

More than 200 investors had gathered at the court from the morning to hear the verdict. Sessions judge N D Dhote pushed it back twice, and finally pronounced a one-line order saying Masood's anticipatory bail was rejected. There are three FIRs against him in Mumbai.

City Limouzines and its sister concern City Realcom have been accused of defaulting on interest payments to thousands of investors nationwide. "We've been trying to locate Masood. We checked several places where he might be hiding," a senior police officer said.

Masood's lawyers had argued that it was a civil dispute, but the police contended that it was a case of cheating and said several investors had been duped by the company.

The court order is a major setback for Masood, who has been filing numerous petitions in several courts for relief. He has filed six transfer petitions in the Supreme Court, for which the apex court has asked the state to file its reply.

The police have also initiated a separate investigation into group company City Realcom's agreement with some landowners where a plot of the land was shown to investors as belonging to them.

City Realcom had floated a scheme promising investors 20 square feet of land at the end of the maturity period. "The investigations are at a preliminary stage, and we are still in the process of verifying the documents,'' a police officer said.

Minister seeks more transparency in environmental clearances

New Delhi, June 26 (IANS) Environmental clearance procedures would be made more “transparent and businesslike” to avoid any conflict of interest and to ensure a stipulated period for the process, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said Friday.
“There has been criticism that the process (of environmental clearances) lacked transparency… lot of civil society organisations have commented that the people who headed some expert committees - that do appraisal of clearances - had conflict of interest. We have taken the first step today,” Ramesh told media persons at the Paryavaran Bhawan.
The first step was accepting the resignation of former bureaucrat P. Abraham, who was the chairman of the expert appraisal committee for river valley and hydroelectric projects - one of seven such committees in the ministry. Abraham had also been on the board of many power companies with interest in hydro-power and was charged with misusing his position.
In addition, the minister said four conditions - an annual environmental statement required under the Environment (Protection) Rules 1986, a copy of the clearance letter, the status of compliance of the stipulated environmental clearance conditions including results of monitored data, and a six-monthly report on the status of compliance - all be made public by the party undertaking the project.
Ramesh said this needed to be done to ensure a “more transparent, business-like clearance procedure within set time periods” and prescribed a period of 150 days for forest clearance and 210 days for environmental clearance.
The minister also said that the number of pending cases which were 700 when he took charge had been brought down to 250. “All cases will be put up on our website for public scrutiny by June 30,” he said.
Noting the ministry had an “unnaturally high rate of acceptance” for clearances, he said: “The rate is 98 percent - this needs to be changed to a healthy rate of rejection.” Several cases that had been rejected recently dealt with forests and mining in hilly states, he said.
Ramesh also criticised the tendency of project promoters, both in the public and private sector, to lay the foundation stones even before being granted the clearances from his ministry.
“This tendency to treat clearances as a mere formality cannot be accepted - legally I cannot do much, but I can sit on the file by administrative right,” he said.

Read more: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/minister-seeks-more-transparency-in-environmental-clearances_100209939.html#ixzz0YqL0ozXV

SC seeks details of environmental clearances for Ghazipur abattoir

NEW DELHI

: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday made a spirited presentation bringing out the stark contrast between the

Twitter Facebook Share Email Print Save Comment

facilities at the Rs 130 crore Ghazipur abattoir and the now-closed Idgah slaughter house, but the Supreme Court sought to know details of environmental clearances for the project.

When Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) counsel Vijay Panjwani alleged that the project had breached statutory requirements under environmental laws, MCD counsel Sanjiv Sen questioned the CPCB's locus standi saying the central body had nothing to do with the project, which had got all clearances under environmental law from Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).

Refusing to buy the argument that CPCB had no role to play, especially when the apex court had been seeking its assistance in the matter since 1996, a Bench comprising Justices V S Sirpurkar, Cyriac Joseph and Deepak Verma asked MCD to file all relevant environmental clearances obtained from DPCC in two weeks and adjourned the hearing.

The meat traders association and several other groups, which are on strike refusing to shift to the "ill-equipped" Ghazipur abattoir, also relied on the CPCB's environmental objections, primary among which is the location of a huge sanitary landfill next to the modern slaughter house.

They also said absence of a proper approach road could result in the vehicles transporting animals whipping up dust clouds and the unhygienic location of the abattoir would defeat the purpose of the project -- supply of hygienic meat to Delhiites.

The SC asked MCD to submit its response to the allegations within two weeks but clarified that slaughtering would not return to Idgah. "Those on strike are free to join slaughtering activity at Ghazipur," it said, and asked MCD to list what steps it had taken to make provisions for animal trading

at the new abattoir.

Environmental clearances to 6 mines in Andhra suspended

Hyderabad / New Delhi: The Union government on Monday suspended forest clearances to six iron ore mines in Andhra Pradesh, including those owned by Karnataka tourism minister Gali Janardhana Reddy.
The environment ministry has also advised the Andhra Pradesh government to ban mining in the state.
The move comes three days after the state government suspended mining operations at the six mines in Anantapur district, pending orders from the Supreme Court on the report of its central empowered committee. Reddy challenged the decision in the Andhra Pradesh high court, questioning the authority of the state government in suspending the mining operations.

Leading the charge: (from right) TDP’s Naidu addresses a conference on Andhra Pradesh mining issues in New Delhi on Sunday as CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan and CPM leader Brinda Karat look on. Vijay Verma / PTI

The committee, which looks into matters of forest clearances, had in a report submitted on 19 November advised that mining in the state be suspended till the mining areas were demarcated. It also recommended that transportation of already excavated ore be suspended.In its letter to the Andhra Pradesh government, the Congress party-led Union government said it had suspended clearances to Bellary Iron Ores Pvt. Ltd, Obulapuram Mining Co. Pvt. Ltd (OMC) and four mines adjacent to them under the Forest Conservation Act.
OMC is owned by Reddy, a member of the Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition at the Centre.
Reddy is known to be close to the family of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, known popularly as YSR, a Congress leader and the former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh who died in a helicopter crash in September. The Karnataka tourism minister had played a key role in a recent rebellion against the BJP government in Karnataka headed by B.S. Yaddyurappa.
Opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh, led by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu, have raised cries of mining irregularities by OMC and sought the support of national parties on the issue.
“We are estimating the size of the illegal mining to be at least Rs10,000 crore over the last few years and we suspect the role of family members of YSR in extending support to the mining irregularities of OMC,” Naidu had told reporters on 19 November.
Naidu demanded that the Union government order a multidisciplinary probe into the allegations against OMC, including possible encroachments into neighbouring mines, destruction of boundaries between various mines as well as the boundaries of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, violation of foreign exchange regulations, and money laundering.
Calls to OMC’s spokesperson on Monday evening remained unanswered. He did not reply to text messages sent to his mobile phone.
At a press briefing in Hyderabad on 13 November, Janardhana Reddy had denied the allegations against his company. He said he was being targeted by Naidu and other political leaders because of his close association with YSR’s family.
“There is a strong nexus between the industrial houses, politicians and government officials behind the irregularities in key areas such as merchant power projects, allotment of mineral resources and special economic zones,” said E.A.S. Sarma, a former secretary in the department of economic affairs and now convener of a citizens body, Forum for Better Visakha.