SC upholds death in Nirbhaya case
‘If at all there is a case warranting award of death sentence, it is the present case’
•“The accused found an object for enjoyment in her... for their gross, sadistic and beastly pleasures... for the devilish manner in which they played with her dignity and identity is humanly inconceivable.”
•These were the final words with which Justice Dipak Misra concluded the pronouncement of the Supreme Court judgment, confirming the death penalty to four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case which shook the entire nation with its brutality and spurred the genesis of a stringent anti-rape law.
Claps in courtroom
•Claps resounded through the courtroom from the visitors’ gallery when Justice Misra, flanked by Justices R. Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan, read out the part upholding the Delhi High Court’s verdict to the send the 23-year-old paramedical student’s attackers to the gallows.
•Justice Banumathi, the woman judge on the Bench, said “there is not even a hint of hesitation in my mind” in sending the men to their deaths.
•“If at all there is a case warranting award of death sentence, it is the present case,” Justice Banumathi wrote in her separate concurring judgment.
•The pronouncement on Friday culminated the marathon hearings held in the apex court for about a year after the four accused -- Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Akshay Kumar Singh and Vinay Sharma -- appealed against their death penalty.
•The three-judge bench subjected the evidence of the case to the minutest scrutiny. At one point, its own amicus curiae and senior advocate, Sanjay Hegde, had, after a dispassionate consideration of the case, suggested that death penalty would be “extremely harsh.”
•The defence lawyers had pressed for life imprisonment. They said the accused were first-time offenders, young, had small children and aged parents whose lives would be rendered “calamitous” if they were put to death. The accused had reformed, repented and never misbehaved in jail.
•But the court threw out this plea for mercy and instead listed out the “brutal, barbaric nature of the crime” which made it rarest of the rare. For one, Justice Banumathi pointed out how the accused had used a public transport bus to lure the passengers.
•The court agreed with the Delhi Police counsel and senior advocate, Siddharth Luthra, that anything short of death penalty would be a “devastation of social trust.”
•The court acknowledged Mr. Luthra’s submission that the depravity of the crime “invites indignation of the society and created a fear psychosis. This case was indeed rarest of rare considering the brutal and diabolic nature of the crime.”
•To the accused, the court read out the “entire medical history of the victim -- the shattering of the intestine caused by the repeated insertion of iron rods, the tearing of her clothes, looting of her personal belongings, aggravated the sexual assault.”
•The court said this was followed by the fact that the victim and her companion were thrown out naked in the cold winter night. As they lay on the road, the convicts tried to silence them by running the bus over them. They had then tried to destroy evidence.
‘Extreme brutality’
•“Where a crime is committed with extreme brutality and the collective conscience of the society is shocked, courts must award death penalty. By not imposing a death sentence, the courts may do injustice to the society at large,” Justice Banumathi observed.
•This sounds like a story from a different world where humanity has been treated with irreverence,” Justice Misra wrote.
•Spelling out each of the arguments raised in the appeal hearings, the Supreme Court gave primary emphasis to the victim’s multiple dying declarations, the last and third one in gestures. The judgment said the dying declaration proved beyond doubt the guilt of the accused.
Set up database of children in orphanages, SC tells govt.
Complete registration of child care institutions by year-end: Bench
•The Supreme Court on Friday passed a slew of directions, including setting up of a database of children living in orphanages and child care institutions to ensure their safety and welfare.
•A Bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta directed the Centre, States and union territories (UTs) to complete the registration of all child care institutions by year-end.
•The court said the registration process should also include a database of all children in need of care and protection and update it every month.
‘Ensure privacy’
•It asked the authorities concerned to ensure confidentiality and privacy in maintaining the database.
•The Bench said it was not necessary that every child in need of care and protection must be placed either in a child care institution and alternative option like adoption and foster care could seriously be considered.
•The verdict came on a PIL petition filed on the basis of a 2007 newspaper report alleging that orphanages in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, run by NGOs as well as government institutions, were reportedly involved in systematic sexual abuse of children.
•“It is imperative that the Union government and the governments of States and UTs must concentrate on rehabilitation and social re-integration of children in need of care and protection,” the Bench said.
Skill development
•It said Centre’s schemes such as skill development and vocational training must be taken advantage of keeping in mind the need to rehabilitate such children.
•The Bench also directed the States and UTs to set up ‘Inspection Committees’ before July 31 to conduct regular inspections of child care institutions and prepare reports of such inspections so that the living conditions of kids there undergo positive changes.
•The first report after conducting the inspection should be filed before the government concerned by December 31.
•It directed that the process for preparing individual child care plans must be initiated immediately and an individual plan must be prepared for each child in each such centre on or before December 31.
•The court also directed that all vacancies in State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) be filled by the end of this year.
•“It is time that the governments of the States and Union Territories consider de-institutionalisation as a viable alternative,” it said.
•The Bench said it was imperative that the process of conducting a social audit must be taken up in right earnest by the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights as well as by each State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights.
•The Centre was asked to file a report by January 15.
Space bonding hits a new high
India successfully launches South Asia Satellite; 7 leaders hail new cooperation
•South Asia Satellite or GSAT-9, termed India's technology largesse from the sky to the peoples of the region, was flown into space on a GSLV rocket at 4.57 p.m. on Friday.
•In a televised teleconference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon after the launch, leaders of the six benefiting nations hailed the gesture as a new face of cooperation in space for common good of the neighbourhood.
•War-ravaged Afghanistan alone does not share a border with India. Its Prime Minister Ashraf Ghani said, “If cooperation through land is not possible, we can be connected through space.”
•The 2,230-kg communication spacecraft will support communication, broadcasting and Internet services, disaster management, tele-medicine, tele-education, weather forecasting in a region that is geographically challenging, economically lagging with limited technological resources, they echoed in their addresses.
Free services
•The spacecraft and the launch are estimated to have cost India around Rs. 450 crore. Its applications touch everyday life and the neighbours use its applications free of charge.
•About 17 minutes after the launch, GSAT-9/ South Asia Satellite carrying 12 Ku band transponders was put into a temporary oval orbit on the GSLV-F09 rocket from Sriharikota in coastal Andhra Pradesh. Indian Space Research Organisation later said the major phases of the flight took place as planned.
•South Asia Satellite now orbits Earth in an oval orbit 169 km at the nearest and 36,105 km at the farthest, “with an orbital inclination of 20.65 degrees with respect to the Equator.”
•The orbit will be made circular through manoeuvres from the Master Control Facility in Hassan in Karnataka.
Govt. arms RBI to crack down on NPAs
•The Centre on Friday authorised the Reserve Bank of India to take tough actions to crack down on the rising bad loans on the books of public sector banks, after President Pranab Mukherjee signed off on an ordinance late on Thursday to amend the Banking Regulation Act of 1949, empowering the central bank to deal with the menace more effectively.
•“ While over the last three years, we have been able to bring several structural reforms in the economy, one of the key problems remained of stressed assets. Banks necessarily need to be in a robust position to support growth and if banks have an unacceptably high level of Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), it hinders their capacity,” Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley said.
•The RBI is expected to issue issue norms within a week to banks on resolving their bad loan accounts in a specified time frame through various strategies including asset sales, and where no breakthrough is imminent, invocation of insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings against the borrowers. The total stressed assets in the banking system are estimated to be Rs. 14 lakh crore. Explaining the ordinance route to enhance the central bank’s powers, the Minister said the existing provisions were not clear enough for the RBI to act on specific stressed assets. He took a dig at previous governments, saying, “Whenever North Block without power has interfered in the banking system, it hasn’t done good.”
•He also scotched concerns about bankers’ autonomy being compromised and said commercial decisions will, in fact, be expedited. “The status quo can’t continue — and the status quo is that not much was moving. A paralysis in the name of autonomy is detrimental to the economy. And therefore, that really requires to be broken,” said Mr Jaitley.
Is gender justice only on paper, asks woman judge
Member of Nirbhaya case Bench Justice R. Banumathi rues how crimes against women go on despite legislation meant to deter them
•The Supreme Court's sole woman judge and a member of the Bench which confirmed the death penalty in the Nirbhaya case, Justice R. Banumathi, asked whether the much-touted gender justice will continue to remain only on paper.
•Justice Banumathi expressed dissatisfaction over how crimes against women continue to increase despite numerous laws to protect women. The judgement asked if laws punishing crimes against women are paper tigers, unable to serve their purpose. Justice Banumathi, in her separate judgment in the Nirbhaya case on Friday, observed “offences against women are not women's issue alone but a human rights issue”.
‘Emergent need’
•“Increased rate of crime against women is an area of concern for the lawmakers and it points out an emergent need to study in depth the root of the problem and remedy the same through a strict law and order regime,” Justice Banumathi wrote.
•She said the brutal incident triggers a sense of dread in the society. “Whenever such grave violations of human dignity come to fore, an unknown sense of insecurity and helplessness grabs the entire society, women in particular, and the only succour people look for, is the State to take command of the situation and remedy it effectively,” Justice Banumathi wrote. Referring to the Nirbhaya case, Justice Banumathi observed that “human lust was allowed to take such a demonic form”. She said the case definitely belonged to the category of the rarest of rare and any punishment other than death penalty is “unquestionably foreclosed”.
•“Where the victims are helpless women, children or old persons and the accused displayed depraved mentality, committing crime in a diabolic manner, the accused should be shown no remorse and death penalty should be awarded,” Justice Banumathi observed, highlighting our justice administration system is primarily “victim-centric”.
•Justice Banumathi delved on how the case shocked the collective conscience of the society, and it was necessary to send the message across that the courts stand by the rights of the victims and their families for justice. The judge called the families of victims as “incidental victims” themselves.
SC cautions against delay in enacting anti-torture law
Such issues hold international ramifications, says CJI
•The “tough” peer review India faced at the United Nations Human Rights Council became the point of discussion in the Supreme Court on Friday with the Chief Justice of India cautioning the government against delay in enacting human rights laws, especially the long-pending anti-torture statute, in national interest.
•A day after other countries questioned India on the AFSPA, marital rape laws and custodial torture, a Bench led by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar said delay in enacting laws to protect citizens against torture and other human rights violations might have “international ramifications.”
‘National interest’
•“Issues like these have international ramifications. See the news about yesterday’s debate. You have to be careful about how you proceed about it. This is in national interest,” the Chief Justice addressed Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar.
•The Bench, also comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, was hearing a writ petition filed by former Union Law Minister Ashwini Kumar to make good India’s commitment to enact a stand-alone anti-torture law.
•“It is a question of legislation. If something has to happen, it will happen only through Parliament,” the SG responded to the court.
•Justice Chandrachud said though acceding to policy, ratifying international treaties were decisions best left to the government’s policy and not to be interfered by courts, it was still a jarring fact that India remained one of only nine countries to ratify the U.N. Convention Against Torture.
Ready to wait
•The court, however, said that it would wait till the end of the monsoon session of Parliament to see whether any new law would be enacted in the place of the lapsed Prevention of Torture Bill of 2010.
•The court ordered the government to report back to it on the status after Parliament session is over.
•The court said it was a matter of both Article 21 (fundamental right to life and dignity) and of international reputation that the government consider promulgating a stand-alone, comprehensive law defining and punish torture as an instrument of “human degradation” by State authorities.
•Mr. Kumar, who filed the PIL in his personal capacity, said India, which signed on the U.N. Convention against Torture way back in 1997, had still not ratified the Convention which defined torture as a criminal offence.
New terms for PSBs seeking capital: FM
Banks should commit to improving balance sheet position
•Public sector banks (PSBs) seeking fresh capital from the Centre would have to commit to reform their own operations and take immediate steps to improve their balance sheet position, the government said on Friday.
•The lenders will also have to close unprofitable branches and put in place stronger systems for credit appraisals and management of non-performing assets (NPAs).
More measures
•Apart from empowering the Reserve Bank of India to tackle the problem of non-performing assets in public sector banks more effectively through new provisions under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the government is working on some more measures to resolve bad loans that will be announced shortly, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
•“There are some other steps also being taken, which once decided… we will convey it to you. We are planning in the process of signing memorandums of understanding with public sector banks which seek capitalisation, specific provisions that will be incorporated,” he said.
•These conditions, he said, would relate to immediate cash relief initiatives such as sale of assets, closure of unprofitable branches, reduction of overheads, business turnaround initiatives such as the strengthening of the credit appraisal process, active NPA management, among others.
•While the resolution of NPAs is an ongoing process, the government wants to speed it up and see resolutions of specific bad loans. “Where resolutions at the joint lenders forum (JLF) used to take time, and many times the process was delayed as all bankers were not on the same page, directives have been issued to empower the RBI on this too,” Mr. Jaitley said.
Oversight committees
•As per the new provisions incorporated in the banking regulation law allow the government to authorise the RBI to initiate insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings in relation to any stressed assets under Section 35 AA. A separate clause 35B allows the RBI to issue specific directions, including the formation of oversight committees (OCs) to resolve bad loans.
•Currently, the OC mechanism functions only in relation to the scheme for sustainable structuring of stressed assets (S4A) for banks. The new provision will allow the RBI to form OCs in relation to resolution of specific accounts either under the insolvency and bankruptcy framework or any other JLF framework as well, the minister said.
•A corollary benefit and objective of such oversight committees, Mr. Jaitley pointed out, is that bankers will have more comfort while taking tough decisions to write off or take haircuts on existing bad loans.
•“When bankers take commercial decision on commercial and banking considerations, they must have an adequate comfort level. Therefore, a committee that oversees such JLF arrangements is one step that will give them this comfort level,” he said, adding that the government is also working on amendments to the Prevention of Corruption law to allow honest officials to discharge their duties without fear of a witch-hunt from investigating agencies.
•“The proposed amendments have been considered by a standing committee of parliament and its report will now be taken up by both houses of Parliament,” Mr. Jaitley said.
Banks to act within set time frame
Following ordinance, RBI to issue norms; ‘bad’ bank proposal takes back seat
•Following the executive order by the government to empower the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the resolution of stressed assets, the central bank is expected to announce detailed guidelines for banks.
•This may include time-bound resolution to such assets.
•RBI will give banks specific time-frames within which they have to either decide the borrower is bankrupt or restructure the debt while taking a haircut, bankers said.
•In a statement, following the government announcement, RBI reiterated that lenders must scrupulously adhere to the timelines prescribed in the Joint Lenders’ Forum framework for finalising and implementing the corrective action plan.
•“To facilitate timely decision making, it has been decided that, henceforth, the decisions agreed upon by a minimum of 60% of creditors by value and 50% of creditors by number in the JLF would be considered as the basis for deciding the CAP, and will be binding on all lenders, subject to the exit (by substitution) option available in the Framework,” RBI said.
•The banking regulator said non-adherence to the instructions and timelines specified under the framework will attract monetary penalties.
•“Amendments to the Banking Regulations Act, coming on the heels of the enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and amendments to the SARFAESI and Debt Recovery Tribunal Acts, indicate the Government’s firm commitment to find a satisfactory solution to the NPA resolution problem,” Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, SBI said on the government’s ordinance to resolve NPAs.
•“Empowering the RBI with an explicit mandate should reorient various stakeholders for effective NPA resolution.
•The country and its banking system need to move quickly and decisively to take benefits of these enabling provisions,” she added.
•According to bankers, the final decision will be taken by a bank within the RBI’s guideline framework. However, the process will make it explicit that such a decision has the central bank’s and the government’s backing. Bankers are hesitant to take a decision on haircuts while restructuring loans or going for one-time settlement for fear that such a decision could prompt investigation by agencies.
•The government has amended the Banking Regulation Act, Section 35 A, to tackle the bad loan problem that is choking bank credit. While the laws have been amended to give RBI more power, the idea of forming a ‘bad’ bank has taken a back seat, it appears. The main reason is the huge amount of capital required, to the tune of Rs. 30,000, which the government needs to infuse as initial capital to a ‘bad’ bank.
•“Bringing Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on board by taking their buy-in for the overall resolution decision-making process does pave the way for a more collaborated and concentrated effort,” Udit Kariwala, Senior Analyst, India Ratings.
•“However, a larger question to be asked pertains to the independence of banks in making commercial lending decisions; making the regulator a part of this process does pose questions on the effectiveness of bank managements as a custodian of depositors hard earned money,” he said.
Many questions still remain
Viral Acharya’s suggestion of re-privatising PSBs must be seriously considered
•The ordinance to amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 has been touted by the Union government as bringing serious changes to the status quo when it comes to the resolution of banks’ huge non-performing assets.
•The real significance of the amendment, however, will depend on many unknowns that only time will answer.
•The ordinance gives the government the power to authorize the Reserve Bank of India to directly deal with banks in resolving NPAs by targeting specific borrowers.
•The build up of NPAs threatens the solvency of banks, holding them back from lending to businesses. It is hoped that the RBI’s direct role in the resolution process will encourage banks to be bolder in taking hair-cuts .
•Earlier, it is said, bankers feared questions from the RBI if they invoked the insolvency and bankruptcy code.
•But the prominent concern right now should be what percentage of NPAs will be successfully recovered by banks.
•After all, it was only in April that the RBI mandated banks to increase provisioning for loans exposed to certain sectors, suggesting banks still don’t recognize the full extent of their losses. A related issue is whether willing buyers will emerge to purchase NPAs and the price these loans would command.
•There is also the issue of the risk that deep hair cuts pose to the capital position of banks, and if banks are in a position to absorb the impact. Lastly, the ordinance does not address the problem of cronyism at the root of India's NPA crisis. Since public sector banks have been the primary perpetrators and victims of cronyism, RBI deputy governor Viral Acharya’s suggestion of re-privatizing must be seriously considered.
•Gross NPAs of India’s listed banks almost doubled from September 2015 to reach Rs. 7 lakh crore by the end of December 2016. The size of NPAs in the overall banking system is about Rs. 10 lakh crore. The ordinance, it is speculated, will first target the top 50 defaulters as the RBI turns into more than just a passive regulator.
