Parmesh S Jain

For the first time, the Karnataka government has called for applications from transgender candidates for recruitments in the state police department.

The Karnataka state police has decided to include transgenders into their force

A notification has been issued on Monday by recruitment and training department inviting eligible men,women and transgenders to apply for the 70 posts of RSI rank .

The department had amended the Karnataka civil service rules (general recruitment),1977 to accomodate 1 per cent reservation for transgenders.

This is for the first time in the police department decided to include transgenders into their force after judiciary.

Sangama,a city based NGO working for the welfare of the community welcomed the move stating that it will help the elegible transgenders to avail the opportunity.

As per the notification issued recently, four posts of special Reserve sub-inspector for Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) and one post in India Reserve Battalion of the rank of special Reserve sub-inspector will be reserved for transgenders.

As per the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules 2020 framed by the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment, the transgender candidates must obtain a certificate from the district magistrate. The certificate is mandatory.

In addition to this, three posts have been reserved for transgender candidates in the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO). The applications can be submitted till January 15.

In 2014, the Supreme Court recognised the transgender community as a third gender along with male and female and ruled that they have equal privilege over the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.

In 2017, the Chhattisgarh police decided to include the third gender in their recruitment exam.

DG&IGP of Karnataka, Praveen Sood,said in his tweet,Yes. You read it right! Karnataka State Police is an equal opportunity organisation. We are recruiting men, women and even transgenders.

Another first…Karnataka State Police recruiting Scene of crime officers (SOCO) as a part of Forensic Science laboratory to strengthen scientific investigation into crimes by collecting samples more professionally from the scene of crimes… More power to scientific investigation he tweeted.

KSRP does it again.It becomes the first Police Unit which would be inducting 5 Reserve Sub Inspectors from among the transgenders in its ranks very soon.We always strive for the equality and dignity of human beings. ADGP,KSRP,Alok Kumar tweeted.

Bengaluru: Two back-to-back mild earthquakes hit parts of Chikkaballapura district bordering Bengaluru on Wednesday morning, official reports said.

Epicentre of the quakes with magnitude of 2.9 and three on Richter scale that happened around 7.10 am and 7.15 am was close to Mandikal and Bhogaparthi villages, according to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC).

As per the seismic intensity map of the earthquakes from the epicentre, the intensities observed are low and the tremors might have been felt up to a maximum radial distance of 10 km to 15 km, it said in a statement.

“These types of earthquakes do not create any harm to the local community, although there may be slight shaking observed locally. The community need not panic as the intensity observed is low and not destructive,” the statement said.

The National Centre for Seismology (NCS) had also tweeted about the occurrence of the two earthquakes about 70 kms north-north east of Bengaluru.

Ranchi: The Jharkhand Assembly Tuesday passed a bill to prevent mob violence and lynching in the state notorious for vigilante justice, with the proposed law providing for punishment ranging from three years in jail to life imprisonment.

The Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021, was passed by a voice vote despite opposition by the BJP.

Jharkhand became the third state in the country after West Bengal and Rajasthan to pass such a legislation.

The Bill envisages imprisonment for those pronounced guilty of mob violence and lynching for periods ranging from three years to life term, besides fine and attachment of property. Those held responsible for sharing information in an irresponsible manner will also be punished.

It provides for fine and imprisonment of up to three years for those creating a “hostile environment”, the definition of which includes threatening or coercing the victims, their family members and witnesses or any person providing assistance to them. It also envisages financial compensation to the victim’s family and free medical treatment of victims of mob violence and mob lynching.

The Bill will be now be sent to the governor for his assent.

Tabling the Bill in the House, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Alamgir Alam said its main objective is to provide “effective security” to people, protect their constitutional rights and prevent mob violence.

During the debate on the Bill, the main opposition BJP introduced several amendments which were rejected by voice vote.

BJP leader C P Singh accused the state government of bringing the legislation “in a hurry to appease the minorities”.

The state has seen many incidents of mob violence, but the lynching of 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari in 2019 triggered a nation-wide outrage after videos showed him tied to an electric pole as a crazed crowed beat him up in Seraikela Kharsawan district on suspicion of theft on June 17. He kept begging for his life in vain. Ansari died five days later in a Jamshedpur hospital.

There have also been innumerable incidents of mob lynching of those suspected of practising witchcraft in the tribal state.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren had denounced incidents of mob violence and promised to bring a legislation against it ahead of the 2019 state Assembly election.

Earlier this year, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led government had decided to set up district-level committees to deal with cases of mob violence and lyching after being rebuked by the high court.

Madurai (TN): India has “holy cows” grazing from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Vadipatti in Tamil Nadu and one dare not poke fun at them, the Madras High Court has held and said the Constitution would probably do with an amendment for “duty to laugh.”

All over the country, national security happens to be the “ultimate holy cow,” the Madras High Court Bench observed.

The court’s observation came while quashing a police FIR filed against a person for a Facebook post of photos with an accompanying caption “Trip to Sirumalai for shooting practice,” apparently written in a lighter vein.

Justice G R Swaminathan invoked well-known satirists, cartoonists and journalists and said had they authored the judgement, “they would have proposed a momentous amendment to the Constitution of India to incorporate sub-clause (l) in Article 51-A,” which deals with duty related to abiding by the Constitution and uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India among others.

“To this, the hypothetical author would have added one more fundamental duty- duty to laugh. The correlative right to be funny can be mined in Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution of India (the use of crypto vocabulary to be forgiven),” the judge said in his recent order.

Being funny is one thing and poking fun at another is different altogether, he added.

“Laugh at what? is a serious question. This is because we have holy cows grazing all over from Varanasi to Vadipatty. One dare not poke fun at them. There is however no single catalogue of holy cows. It varies from person to person and from region to region.”

“A real cow, even if terribly underfed and emaciated, shall be holy in Yogi’s terrain. In West Bengal, Tagore is such an iconic figure that Khushwant Singh learnt the lesson at some cost. Coming to my own Tamil Desh, the all-time iconoclast Periyar Shri E V Ramasamy is a super-holy cow. In today’s Kerala, Marx and Lenin are beyond the bounds of criticism or satire. Chhatrapati Shivaji and Veer Savarkar enjoy a similar immunity in Maharashtra. But all over India, there is one ultimate holy cow and that is national security, the judge said.

Petitioner Mathivanan, an office-bearer of CPI (ML), had sought quashing the FIR registered by Vadipatti police in Madurai over his Facebook post that carried his pictures of a visit to Siruamalai with the caption in Tamil– “Thuppakki Payirchikaga Sirumalai Payanam,” translating to “Trip to Sirumalai for shooting practice.”

“The petitioner herein is an important office-bearer of a not-so-important political party. CPI (ML) is now an over-ground organization which contests elections also. Paper warriors are also entitled to fantasise that they are swadeshi Che Guevaras,” the judge said.

“Revolutionaries, whether real or phoney, are not usually credited with any sense of humour (or at least this is the stereotype). For a change, the petitioner tried to be funny. Perhaps it was his maiden attempt at humour,” the judge said.

But the police did not “find it to be a joke” and booked him under different sections of IPC, including collecting arms with intention of waging war against the Government of India and criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication (IPC 507), the judge pointed out.

He said invoking IPC Section 507 “makes me laugh.”

“Section 507 IPC can be invoked only if the person sending the communication had concealed his identity. The communication must be anonymous. In this case, the petitioner had posted the photographs along with the caption in his Facebook page. He has not concealed his identity. There is nothing anonymous about the act in question,” he said.

In fact, none of the ingredients set out in the sections under which he was booked were present in the case, the court said.

“The very registration of the impugned FIR is absurd and an abuse of legal process. It stands quashed,” the judge ruled.