Archives for December 2021

Chandigarh: Recording of wife’s telephonic conversation without her knowledge is infringement of her privacy, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has observed.

The court of Justice Lisa Gill passed the order last month on a plea filed by a woman who challenged a 2020 order of the Bathinda family court.

The Bathinda family court had allowed the woman’s estranged husband to prove a CD pertaining to recorded conversations between him and his wife subject to the condition of its correctness.

“Recording of telephonic conversation of the wife without her knowledge is a clear cut infringement of her privacy,” observed the high court.

“Furthermore, it cannot be said or ascertained as to the circumstances in which the conversations were held or the manner in which response elicited by a person, who was recording the conversations, because it is evident that these conversations would necessarily have been recorded surreptitiously by one of the parties,” it further observed.

The husband had submitted a petition in 2017 seeking a divorce from the woman. Their marriage was solemnised in 2009 and the couple had a daughter together.

During cross-examination, an application was moved by the husband in July, 2019, seeking permission to submit his supplementary affidavit by way of examination-in-chief along with the CD and transcripts of conversations recorded in memory card or chip of the mobile phone.

In 2020, the family court allowed the husband to prove the CD subject to the condition of correctness and also observed that strict principles of evidence were not applicable to the proceedings before it, keeping in view Section 14 and 20 of the Family Court Act. Thereafter, the wife approached the high court.

The counsel for the wife argued that the evidence sought to be led by the husband is completely beyond pleadings, therefore, absolutely impermissible. It was contended that the pleadings do not refer to any such conversations which are sought to be proved.

“Therefore, this evidence has been wrongly accepted. Furthermore, the said CDs are a clear-cut infringement and downright invasion of the wife’s privacy, thus, a violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, as the conversations have been recorded without knowledge, what to say of consent of the petitioner,” the counsel argued.

The counsel further contended that the family court has given a complete go bye to Section 65 of the Indian Evidence Act, because if recordings were done through a mobile phone, CDs of the recording and transcripts thereof in any case cannot be accepted as evidence.

The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the husband, being very well aware of the conversations allegedly held years prior to filing of the divorce petition, was at liberty to have incorporated them in his pleadings at the very first instance.

Though the veracity of such conversations cannot be vouched for, even if taken to be correct, they are not admissible in evidence as they have been recorded without the consent or knowledge of the petitioner, the counsel submitted.

The counsel for the husband refuted the arguments and submitted that there was no question of infringement of the right of privacy and in any case, the husband can always be subjected to cross-examination.

It is vehemently argued that conversations so recorded are not beyond pleadings as it has always been the husband’s case that he was treated with cruelty by his wife.

Though specific conversations are not mentioned in the petition, it has been clearly mentioned that the wife used to treat him in a cruel manner, his counsel argued.

The recorded conversations are only an attempt to prove the same, therefore, it cannot be said that they are beyond pleadings, the counsel argued.

The high court set aside the Bathinda family court order. 

New Delhi: The CBSE on Monday dropped a comprehension passage and the accompanying questions from the Class-10 English exam and decided to award full marks for it to students, following an outrage over the board allegedly promoting “gender stereotyping” and supporting “regressive notions”.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had referred the matter to subject experts on Sunday and sought their feedback.

In the Class-10 exam conducted on Saturday, the question paper carried a comprehension passage with sentences such as emancipation of women destroyed the parents’ authority over the children” and “it was only by accepting her husband’s way that a mother could gain obedience over the younger ones”, among others.

Excerpts from the passage have gone viral on social media platforms with users calling out the board for supporting “misogynistic” and “regressive opinions” and the hashtag “#CBSEinsultswomen” trending on Twitter.

“A passage in one set of English language and literature paper of CBSE Class-10 first-term examination held on December 11 is not in accordance with the guidelines of the board with regard to the setting of question papers. In this backdrop and on the basis of the feedback received from the stakeholders, the matter was referred to a committee of subject experts. According to its recommendation, it has been decided to drop the passage and the accompanying questions,” CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj said.

“Full marks will be awarded for this passage to all the students concerned. To ensure uniformity and parity, full marks will also be awarded to students for passage number one for all sets of the question paper,” he added.

Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the first phase of the Kashi Vishwanath Dhhere, a project which is spread over five lakh square feet and connects the temple premises to the River Ganga besides providing several facilities to devotees.

After arriving in the holy city, also his parliamentary constituency, Modi paid obeisance at the Kaal Bhairav Temple and then took dip in Ganga from where he collected holy water for worship at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

People chanted hymns as the prime minister’s carcade rolled through the city. Modi also stopped at some places to accept felicitation.

Before the inauguration, Modi attended a prayer ceremony and later showered workers involved in building the project with flower petals in a gesture to acknowledge their work. He also sat with them for a group photograph.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP President J P Nadda and a large number of saints from across the country attended the ceremony.

The earlier Kashi Vishwanath premises was limited to just 3000 square feet. Now 23 new buildings have been constructed that will provide diverse facilities to the pilgrims and devotees.

The inauguration of the state-of-the-art infrastructure, built at the cost of Rs 339 crore, surrounding the historic Kashi Vishwanath Temple near the iconic Dashashwamedh Ghat comes ahead of the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh early next year.

The gateways and other structures have been built with stones and other material using traditional craftsmanship.

The PMO had earlier said that it was Modi’s vision for a long time to facilitate pilgrims and devotees of Lord Shiva as they had to encounter congested streets and surroundings with poor upkeep while they went about the age-old custom of taking dip in the holy river, collecting its water and offering it at the temple.

“To realise this vision, Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham was conceptualised as a project to create an easily accessible pathway to connect Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple to the banks of the River Ganga,” it said.

The prime minister took a keen and active interest in all stages of the project.

Regular briefings, reviews and monitoring was done by him as he constantly gave inputs and insights to improve the project and make it more accessible for pilgrims, including the disabled, it added.

The new buildings will provide a variety of facilities to pilgrims, including ‘yatri suvidha kendras’, tourist facilitation centre, vedic kendra, mumukshu bhavan, bhogshala, city museum, viewing gallery, food court among others.

The project involved purchase and acquisition of more than 300 properties around the temple.

Modi’s vision to take everyone along was the principle based on which mutual negotiations were done for these acquisitions, the PMO said, noting that around 1,400 shopkeepers, tenants and homeowners were rehabilitated amicably.

Mumbai: The city police told the Bombay High Court on Monday that they will not arrest actor Kangana Ranaut till January 25, 2022 over her social media post that allegedly linked farmers’ protests to a separatist group.

The police made the statement after a bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sarang Kotwal said the issue involved the larger question of Ranaut’s fundamental right to free speech and that the court will have to grant her some ad-interim relief.

Ranaut approached the HC earlier this month, seeking that the FIR registered against her in November this year at Khar police station Mumbai, following a complaint by a Sikh organisation, be quashed.

In her plea filed through advocate Rizwan Sidiquee, Ranaut said while the complainants took objection to her Instagram post made on November 21, there was no legal case made out against her.

The FIR was registered against the actor following a complaint made by some members of a Sikh body that claimed Ranaut, through her Instagram post, had portrayed the farmers’ protest on Delhi borders as a Khalistani movement.

The police then booked Ranaut on charges of deliberately hurting the community’s religious sentiments under Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code.

On Monday, Ranaut’s counsel told the HC that to invoke charges under section 295-A, an accused must have made the offensive comment with the deliberate and malicious intent of hurting a particular person or a community’s religious sentiments. However, in the present case, the actor had no such intention, her counsel said.

The bench went through Ranaut’s social media post in question and agreed with her counsel’s submission.

“Where is the deliberate and malicious intent here? Section 295 says that should be the sole and dominant object,” the HC said to the prosecution.

The bench then asked the police if they intended to arrest Ranaut in the case.

Chief Public Prosecutor Aruna Pai, who appeared for the police, said the Khar police had issued a notice to Ranaut, asking her to appear before them for questioning, but the actor hadn’t responded to it yet.

“We have issued a notice to her (Ranaut) under Section 41A of the CrPC on December 1, but she hasn’t responded. She isn’t cooperating,” Pai told the HC.

A notice under Section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is issued to an accused in cases where immediate arrest is not necessary, but the accused’s presence is required at police station for questioning.

Ranaut’s counsel told the HC that she was willing to appear before the police, but apprehended her arrest in the case.

The HC then told Pai that the Khar police will require to make a categorical statement on whether they intended to arrest Ranaut or not.

“There is also the larger question of the protection of freedom of speech here. Unless the police make a statement of not arresting her (Ranaut), we’ll have to grant some relief,” the court said.

Ranaut’s counsel said the actor will appear before the Khar police on December 22.

Pai then made a statement on behalf of the investigating officer in the case that the “police will not arrest her (Ranaut) until the next date of hearing in the HC.”

The court accepted the police’s statement and posted the matter for further hearing on January 25, 2022.

The HC also granted time to the complainants till the next hearing to file a reply to Ranaut’s plea.

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday hit out at the CBSE over a comprehension passage in the class 10 English paper, terming it as “disgusting” and a “ploy” of the RSS-BJP to crush the morale and future of the youth.

The comprehension passage in the CBSE class 10 English question paper has sparked a controversy for allegedly promoting “gender stereotyping” and supporting “regressive notions” prompting the board to refer the matter to subject expert.

In a tweet, Gandhi said, “Most CBSE papers so far were too difficult and the comprehension passage in the English paper was downright disgusting. Typical RSS-BJP ploys to crush the morale and future of the youth”.

“Kids, do your best. Hard work pays. Bigotry doesn’t,” Gandhi said.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi also raised the issue in the Lok Sabha.

In the class 10 exam conducted on Saturday, the question paper carried a comprehension passage with sentences like “emancipation of women destroyed the parent’s authority over the children” and “it was only by accepting her husband’s way that a mother could gain obedience over the younger ones”, among others.

Various excerpts from the passage have gone viral on social media with users calling out the board for supporting “misogynistic” and “regressive opinions” and hashtag “CBSE insults women” trending on the microblogging site Twitter.