Saturday 17 January 2009

Unsung Hero.......

Indeed i borrowed (stealed??) this title from a freind, Richa, from who's posting i came to know about this unsung hero and his final editorial on the true situation of Srilanka....Mr. Lasantha Wickramatunghe, founder and editor of The Sunday Leader, one of the leading news papers of Srilanka was shot dead by unknown assailants in broad daylight on 8th Jan' 09 and the police are yet to identify or arrest anyone in this regard, i doubt they will catch any.....Lasantha, knowing that one day, his time will come to be assassinated, wrote this editorial to be published after his death. Thanks to Richa, from whom i came to know about his editorial, which clearly picturises the situation in Srilanka and what the people are going through - the sinhalese, the tamils and other minorities........Thought its worth sharing with others, thatsy posted this......
You can read Richas blog following this link:
http://doctorofphilosphy.blogspot.com
or follow this link for the complete editotial on The Sunday Leader:
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20090111/editorial-.htm

Thursday 1 January 2009

Amendments to CPC......

I dont know how many of us are aware of the amendments that were passed quickly in the parliament along with the amendments in Terrorism act and NIA act.......The truth is, the government have made few amendments to our Criminal Penal Code act, wherein this is how the new law liberalises the arrest provisions:
* Section 41A (1) says that in all cases punishable with imprisonment up to seven years, "the police officer may, instead of arresting the person concerned, issue to him a notice of appearance."

This is ok for a petty crime, but the amendment has a wider influence on crime, as it states that all cases punishable with imprisonment up to seven years, which includes - KIDNAPPING, SEXUAL MOLESTATION UNDER CUSTODY, etc.,.......

With the new amendment to the CPC, the police officer cant arrest an accused on cases punishable with upto 7 years of imprisonment, wherin, the officer to serve an appearance notice to the accused and wait till the expiry of the notice to arrest him.....I can understand where all this originated, as the law makers want to avoid the cops using the petty crimes to take on personal vengeance in arresting people.....but the amendment they made have wider consequences, as it doesnt specify any petty crimes, it just says any case punishable with imprisonment upto 7 years. How much practical it is to serve notice to an accused in our country, where no records are right.....starting from the ration card, drivers licence, vehicle registration to voters ID card, where the adress mentioned/recored is not updated.....such an amendment was passed along with NIA act on the aftermath of Mumbai terror attacks, where the Oppossition was completely co-operative with the governments action in the parliament.......am not sure how much thought have been given to this amendment by our elected politicians (MPs) in the parliament, before passing this to the President for approval ( a record 17 minutes, according to Times of India), which Ms.Patil is gonna sign n approve in due course.............
When are the politicians gonna wake up.......will the new year, new dawn bring sme changes?????gotto wait n see......