Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda today highlighted achievements/initiatives of Ministry of Law & Justice in last two years

Union Law & Justice Minister Shri D.V. Sadanada Gowda today addressed  the media here in New Delhi and gave an account of the achievements/initiatives of ministry his ministry  in last two years. Following is the detail of his narrations:

Initiatives towards Ease of Doing Business

v    To ensure speedy and fair disposal of commercial disputes, a new Act namely, the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act 2015 has been enacted by Parliament. It is Government’s endeavour to make India an investor friendly destination and enhance its ranking in Ease of Doing Business.

v    The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 has been amended to make Arbitration as preferred mode for settlement of commercial disputes by making it more user-friendly, cost effective, leading to expeditious disposal of cases. This Bill was pending before the Government since 2003.

Initiatives towards better management of litigation

v    Draft National Litigation Policy is under formulation to make Government a responsible and efficient litigant. The Draft National Litigation Policy shall facilitate in bringing down unwarranted litigation.

v    For proper monitoring of the pending court cases of the entire Government of India, a web portal Legal Information and Management Based System (LIMBS) has been set up.

v    19 Law Officers (including AG/SG) and 34 ASGs in High Courts have been appointed. Fresh panels of Counsels were approved for Supreme Court/High Courts/Central Administrative Tribunals/Armed Forces Tribunal/District Courts/Armed Forces Tribunal.

v    Fee revision of Law Officers and Legal Counsels was upwardly revised to the extent of 50% from the rates existing prior to 1.10.2015.

Initiatives towards Minimum Government Maximum Governance

v    Four Acts have been enacted to repeal the obsolete and redundant laws. In total the aforesaid four enactments have repealed 1175 Acts. This exercise was taken up after 14 years, earlier being taken up only in the year 2001.

v    Major exercise for convergence of Tribunals to reduce the number of tribunals is being carried out. High level Inter-Ministerial Group has been constituted for consideration of the issue.

Initiatives towards digital India and e-Governance

v    A major change has been introduced to receive applications for appointment of Notaries online along with supporting documents w.e.f. 1.1.2016.

v    e-Governance and E-courts usage have started in Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) leading to faster disposal of cases with less hassles to litigants. 

v    Digitisation work of Appeals has been undertaken in ITAT. Once the digitisation work is complete, all the appellate records shall be accessible from any station and any appeal can be taken by e-court in any location.

v    Web portal named LIMBS has been introduced for Centrally monitoring cases of UoI pending in various courts and Tribunals. 

Initiatives towards Computerisation of Courts

v    eCourts Mission Mode Project has been taken up for universal computerization of district and subordinate courts with an objective of providing designated services to litigants, lawyers and the judiciary.

v    During the first two years of NDA rule i.e. 2014-15 and 2015-16, Rs.212.23 cr were released to various States for eCourts projects against Rs.122.41cr released during UPA-II rule for the years 2012-13 and 2013-14, thus, registering an increase of 73.4%.

v    eCourts Phase-II projects aims at automation of workflow management, enabling the courts to exercise greater control in management of cases. This will also include installation of touch screen based kiosks, use of e-filing, e-payment and mobile applications and composite set of services through Judicial Service centres.

v    Case status information in respect of over 6.11 crore pending, decided cases and more than 2.4 crore orders/judgements pertaining to District and Subordinate Courts are available online.

v    Over 4000 court officials and 14000 Judicial Officers have been trained on computerization of Judiciary. Laptops have been provided to 14,309 judicial officers.

Initiatives towards Justice Delivery

v    Appointment of Judges in higher judiciary has been undertaken.  86 additional Judges were made permanent, 51 new judges were appointed and appointment of another 170 is being processed.

v    Judges’ sanctioned strength of the High Courts has been increased from 906 on 01.06.2014 to 1065 as on 27.4.2016. In the case of District/Subordinate Courts, the sanctioned strength has been increased from 17,715 at the end of 2012 to 20,502 in December, 2015.

v    Pecuniary jurisdiction of Delhi High Court has been increased from Rs. 20 lakhs to Rs. 2 crore, facilitating access to justice within the vicinity of the location of District Courts.

v    Department of Justice has been implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary. On account of concerted efforts by all stakeholders, the availability of judicial infrastructure for subordinate courts has increased considerably in the recent past.

Initiatives towards Access to Justice Projects

v    300 Paralegal Volunteers of Odisha, 400 Para Legal Volunteers of North Eastern States and 187 Para Legal Volunteers of J&K have been trained under the activities of State Legal Services Authorities.

v    Legal literacy has been incorporated into National Literacy Mission Authority (NLMA) and activities have been started in States- 62 Districts of Uttar Pradesh and 31 Districts of Rajasthan.

v    Helpdesks for Juveniles in Observation Homes have been established in Maharashtra.

v    50 voice based Legal Information Kiosks have been established in the State of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

v    46 Legal Aid Clinics have been established in two most backward districts of Nagaland – Tuensang and Mon.

v    MoU has been signed between Department of Justice and NLMA (National Literacy Mission Authority) for initiating legal literacy activities by SRC Assam, Shillong, J&K and Arunachal Pradesh.

Other important initiatives

v    21^st Law Commission of India has been reconstituted in September, 2015.  Chairman/Member has been appointed.

v    The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has been constituted to monitor and evaluate the implementation of legal services programmes and to lay down policies and principles for making legal services available under the Act. A total number of 2,49,996 persons have been benefitted through Legal Services and advice from 1.04.2015 to 31.01.2016.

v    As on 30.09.2015, more than 15.14 lacs Lok Adalats have been organized in the country since inception. More than 8.25 crore cases including cases pending in the courts as well as those at the pre-litigation stage have been settled in these Lok Adalats. A total number of 746,29,721 cases have been settled in such National Lok Adalats since November, 2013 to 2015.

v    Promotion of Alternate Dispute Resolution Mechanism through National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) at the national level and State Legal Services Authorities at State level.

v    DoJ has taken up with all High Courts and Supreme Court for implementation of Incheon strategy to facilitate people with disability.

v    Proper training to Judicial Officers in international best practices w.r.t. alternate dispute resolution, quick and easy entity structuring, restructuring, incorporation, evolution and exit, tax reforms in the light of Make in India and Start-up India.

v    Process Re-engineering (PR) exercise taken up to modernize the existing processes and procedures and introduce new processes and procedures to expedite disposal of cases.

v    101 Legislative Bills were introduced in the Parliament. 75 Bills have been enacted into Acts and two constitutional Acts were enacted.

Cabinet gives ex-post facto approval to the Amendments in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Puducherry

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for introduction of two Bills in the Parliament for certain amendments in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 so as to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes in respect of five States, namely, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and identification of new communities in the Union Territory of Puducherry.

The following communities as per approved modalities were found to be eligible for their inclusion in, exclusion from and other modifications in the list of Scheduled Tribes:

Sl.No.	State / Union Territory	Inclusion / Exclusion / Rectification / Identification	Community
1.	Assam	Inclusion	i) Boro, Boro Kachari,     Bodo, Bodo Kachari ii) Karbi (Mikir)
2.	Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh	Inclusion Rectification of Hindi Version of the Notification	iii) Bhuinya, Bhuiyan, Bhuyan iv) Dhanuhar / Dhanuwar v) Kisan vi) Saunra, Saonra vii) Dhangad
3.	Jharkhand	Inclusion	viii) Bhogta, Deshwari, Ganjhu, Dautalbandi (Dwalbandi), Patbandi, Raut, Maajhia, Khairi (Kheri) ix)  Puran
4.	Tamil Nadu	Inclusion	x) Malayali Gounder xi) Narikoravan,       Kurivikkaran
5.	Tripura	Inclusion	xii) Darlong
6.	Puducherry	Identification (First Order)	xiii) Irular (including Villi and Vettaikaran)

After the Bill becomes as Act, members of the communities included in the list of Scheduled Tribes will be able to derive benefits meant for Scheduled Tribes under the existing schemes.  Some of the major schemes of this kind include Post Matric Scholarship, National Overseas Scholarship, National Fellowship, Top Class Education, Concessional Loans from National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation, Hostels for ST boys and girls etc.  In addition to above, they will also be entitled to benefits of reservation in services and admission to educational institutions.

Consequently, existing entries in list of Scheduled Castes (SCs) in case of Jharkhand and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) / Most Backward Classes (MBCs) of Central / State lists would be modified.

Background:

The Constitution of India provides certain privileges / concessions to the members of Scheduled Tribes which are notified under the provisions of Article 342 of the Constitution of India.  First list of Scheduled Tribes in relation to a State or Union Territory is to be issued by a notified Order of the President after having consultation with the State Government concerned.  Any subsequent inclusion in or exclusion from the list of Scheduled Tribes can be effected through an Act of Parliament as envisaged under clause (2) of Article 342.

The Government approved Modalities in June, 1999 as amended in June 2002, for considering proposals in regard to modifications in the lists of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes.  According to the approved Modalities, amending legislation to the concerned Constitution Order is proposed only in respect of such proposals of the concerned State Government / Union Territory Administration, which have been agreed to both by the Registrar General of India (RGI) as well as the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST).

Source: PIB

Changes in JEE Examination 2017

After examining the report of Ashok Misra Committee and considering the public feedback, Ministry of Human Resource Development has notified the following changes in the JEE pattern for 2017 : 

1. The performance of the students in the 12th Class Examination shall be a crucial parameter for determining the eligibility of the student for the JEE examination. 

2. For the candidates to qualify in the JEE Examination, they shall have secured at least 75% marks or be in the top 20 percentile in the 12th Class Examination conducted by respective Boards. For SC/ST students this condition shall be relaxed to 65% marks. 

3. The present system of giving 40% weightage for the 12th Class marks in calculating the ranks in the JEE Main shall be dispensed with. 

4. All other JEE Examination systems shall remain unchanged

Source : PIB

Ram Vilas Paswan asks street food vendors to evolve self regulations for safe food

Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has asked the street food vendors to evolve self regulatory code and a set of guidelines for safe and hygienic food to win confidence of common man. He has said the Government can extend its help in this venture.

Taking a round of National Street Food Festival at Nehru Stadium in Delhi today, the Minister said that Indian street food is popular all over the world for its range of flavors. There is need to create awareness about hygiene and best practices among food vendors. He said Department of consumer Affairs in collaboration with industry is already working on it through “Surkhit Khadya Abhiyan” .

Shri Ram Vilas Paswan appreciated the concept of the street food festival for showcasing diversity of the India’s street food at one place. Organized by National Association of Street Vendors of India (Nasvi), the three-day festival, from December 11 to December 13, 2015, has more 800 hundred food stalls from 26 states.

Link:http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=133120

Use of Regional Languages in High Courts

The Government of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh had sent requests to the Government seeking the previous consent of the President of India under Article 348 (2) of the Constitution of India, for the use of the regional language in the proceedings of the High Courts of their States. Government had taken up these requests with the Chief Justice of India. The Full Court of the Supreme Court considered the requests in its meeting held on 11th October, 2012 and reiterated the earlier similar resolutions of the Full Court adopted in 1997 and 1999 to not accept the requests. The Government has abided by this decision.

Based on another request received on 10th June, 2014 from the Government of Tamil Nadu, the Government has again written to the Chief Justice of India on 4th July, 2014 in this regard. A similar request from the Government of Karnataka has also been received for the use of Kannada language in the proceedings of the Karnataka High Court. This request has also been forwarded to the Supreme Court. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has informed that the matter will again be put up for consideration of the Full Court.

This information was given by Union Minister of Ministry of Law & Justice, Shri D. V. Sadananda Gowda in a written reply in Lok Sabha today. 

Reservation in Promotion

The reservation in promotion is provided to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) at the rate of 15% and 7.5% respectively in posts and services under the Central Government. As on 1.1.2013, the representation of SCs and STs was 17.55% and 7.72% respectively.

The Hon'ble Supreme Court, on 19.10.2006, in the matter of M. Nagaraj & Ors. V/s Union of India, while upholding the validity of the Constitutional Amendments made in favour of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, inter-alia, observed that the State will have to collect quantifiable data of backwardness, inadequacy of representation before providing reservation in promotion.

In order to provide impediment free reservation in promotion to SCs and STs, the Constitutional (One Hundred and Seventeenth Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha by the Government in September , 2012. The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 17.12.2012 and transmitted to the Lok Sabha for consideration and passing. The Bill could not be considered in the 15th Lok Sabha and lapsed on the dissolution of 15th Lok Sabha. The issues emanating from the Hon'ble Supreme Court's judgment dated 19.10.2006 in M. Nagaraj case is under examination.

This was stated by Minister of State in the Personnel, Public Grievances and pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Dr. Jitendra Singh in Rajya Sabha today in a written reply to a question by Shri K. Rahman Khan. 

‘Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children 2015’ will help expand adoption programme in the country and address delays in adoption process: Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi

This information was given by the Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.  

The main features of the ‘Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children 2015’ include: provisions for linking the orphan/abandoned/surrendered children of all Child Care Institutions (CCIs) to the adoption system, making the entire adoption process online, treating NRI Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs) at par with the domestic PAPs and reducing the timeframe for completion of Home Study Report of the PAPs from two months to one month. 

The major objectives sought to be achieved through these Guidelines are: expanding adoption programme in the country and addressing delays in the adoption process with an IT enabled platform of Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS). 

The Guidelines were brought into effect to make the entire adoption process hassle free by minimizing delays at various levels. The provisions include declaring orphan, abandoned and surrendered children legally free for adoption by Child Welfare Committee(CWC) in a time bound manner, enabling online registration of PAPs for referral and matching, conducting Home Study Reports of the PAPs within a period of one month, mandating District Child Protection Unit(DCPU) to expedite placement of all adoptable children including setting up of linkage between Specialised Adoption Agency(SAA) and Child Care Institution(CCI) to reach all adoptable children etc.