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Dear Reader,
The incarceration of children, as the Supreme Court has laid down, is a “flagrant violation of the law”. Yet, the practice of detaining children continues unabated – “in their thousands” —even though the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, expressly prohibits it.
Article 14 reports that the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) — a body constituted to deliver “free legal assistance to weaker sections” — has recently launched a country-wide campaign to identify children in prisons and provide legal assistance.
Another set of citizens who are impacted by systemic inequities in India are those afflicted by rare conditions and diseases. More often than not, these patients with rare disorders are met by an “unsympathetic” and even callous ecosystem.
The India Forum chronicles what is often missing—a dialogue with the patients on the diagnosis, a discussion of the specific treatments available, and even a non-pharma route to wellness. The situation is even more aggravated in India as it has yet to define what constitutes a rare disease, and the data on rare conditions is frugal at best.
Recently, Delhi University Professor G N Saibaba, after a ten-year incarceration, was acquitted by the Nagpur Bench of the Mumbai High Court, exonerating him of all charges. Some legal experts have suggested that the tenor of the judgement clearly indicated that he was “falsely implicated”. This has raised the question of legal remedies and monetary compensation for unjustly imprisoned citizens.
This is especially germane as India has ratified Article 14(6) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which decrees compensation for persons who have suffered “miscarriages of justice.” However, other than a few exceptions, the Courts have been reluctant to wade into the issue, pleading that “acquittals were based largely on technicalities and rarely on merit.” The Supreme Court Observer looks at the issues at hand.
Chhattisgarh’s Udanti Sita Nadi Wildlife Sanctuary, a sylvan haven for biodiversity, is also home to tribal populations—particularly the Gond and Paharia communities. Unfortunately, its status as a reserved and protected forest, while a critical necessity, has also meant that the state has tended to cite environmental regulations for its inability to provide even basic amenities. For the tribal settlements, basic things like drinking water, schools, and roads are conspicuously out of reach. Main Bhi Bharat reports from the Reserve.
For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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