• NATIONAL

Legal double whammy for Mayawati

The judiciary has come down heavily on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms Mayawati. The Supreme Court of India ruled that it was dissatisfied with her government’s response to its query asking why she had not stopped work immediately on the memorials she was building even after her counsel gave an undertaking to do so. Separately the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court also took up the near-forgotten Taj Corridor case again, sending notices to the CM and one of her ministers, as it admitted a public interest litigation that wanted the case restarted. On September 8, when the SC questioned Mayawati’s use of public money to build memorials to commemorate Dalit heroes, her counsel had agreed to stop work at once. But newspaper reports revealed work still continued, forcing the court to send a stern warning. The court had also sought an explanation, which the UP government provided on Friday. “The affidavit of the UP government is not satisfactory,” the bench observed. The Taj Corridor case related to construction in the ‘heritage zone’ near Agra’s Taj Mahal that Mayawati initiated. It was not pursued after the governor refused permission for Mayawati’s prosecution.

Kaya Eldridge, the 23-year-old British national who was allegedly humiliated by a lawyer during the hearing of her molestation case in a city court, has spawned a forum by city organizations to raise the voice of suppressed women victims in the state. Eldridge, who participated to launch the forum at Jhansi ki Rani statue on Saturday, said, "It is not my lone case. Hundreds and thousands of women victims are denied justice. It is time the system changes and empathizes with the plight of women in the society." Eminent citizens, activists of women and non-government organizations gathered to back the forum. Eldridge said, "I have been flooded with text messages and emails from India and abroad in support of our cause." She accused the local AIESEC community of turning their back when she needed them the most. The British national said, "There is not a single female AIESEC member I met during the stay. Not a single member of AIESEC even bothered to call or help me in my legal fight."

The proposed deal between Bharti and MTN to create one of the world’s largest telecom players has been held up due to legal obstacles in India. At the heart of the issue, between the governments of South Africa and India, is the question of allowing a dual listing company structure for Bharti-MTN. While finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has indicated the Indian government’s support for the proposed alliance between Bharti and MTN, the South African government on the other hand has waved the red flag of national pride and insisted on its home-grown multinational retaining its character as a South African entity, following any deal between the mobile phone companies. The proposed $23-billion deal’s contours, unveiled in May, involves MTN taking a 25% economic interest in Bharti Airtel for $2.9 billion plus new shares in the South African telco, which is equivalent to 25% of MTN’s existing shares.

The fight over administrative control of the Radharaman Swaminaryan temple in Junagadh (Vadtal sect) has now reached the Gujarat High Court. A newly-elected office bearer of the temple board has challenged the order of Rajkot Joint Charity Commissioner in the HC. Acting on a petition filed by two members of the temple board, the Joint Charity Commissioner had said the election of office bearers of the temple board was in violation of the rules, and asked the board members not to take administrative decisions on the resolutions passed by them.

A 17-year-old girl with hearing impairment has been permitted to appear for a test after a Gujarat High Court order in her favour. The decision came after irregularities were detected in the evaluation of her answer sheets of remedial tests. After clearing the boards last year, Rachna enrolled in a diploma course in electronics and communication. Just before she was to take her second semester exams, GTU changed the medium of study to English. Rachna had all along studied in Gujarati medium. To her shock, she was declared failed in all six subjects. The university provided remedial tests for three subjects, but she was passed in one subject only. She appeared in the mid semester test and secured 67.7 per cent, but was not allowed to attend classes from April this year because she did not clear all the papers in the remedial tests. Rachna requested the authorities to show her answer sheets, which they refused. Ultimately, she approached the officer appointed under the RTI Act, but was shown her copies from a distance only and that too only the first page of the answer book. She approached the Gujarat High Court demanding transparency in evaluation system, to fix 20 per cent criteria as passing score for disabled students, and to allow her to sit in the third semester. But the judge refused to entertain her application. Ultimately, a division bench of Chief Justice KS Radhakrishnan and Justice Akil Kureshi heard her case. The court's order has not only smoothened things for Rachna alone, but will force GTU to make appropriate changes in its policy towards physically challenged students.

In an unprecedented move, the Advocates Association of Bangalore (AAB) on Thursday passed a resolution calling upon the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, P.D. Dinakaran, to refrain from presiding over or participating in any judicial function till he was cleared of the allegations levelled against him. The association had called for an emergency general body meeting to discuss an article that appeared in The Hindu on September 16 which said that Justice Dinakaran had been summoned to Delhi by the Chief Justice of India, K.G. Balakrishnan, after he received a letter from a group of eminent advocates, including Fali S. Nariman and Shanti Bhushan, alleging that Mr. Dinakaran had acquired illegal assets in Tamil Nadu. The letter had requested the judges of the apex court to stop Mr. Dinakaran’s elevation to the Supreme Court.

The Indian government is backing the World Anti-Doping Agency's anti-doping code, including the controversial 'whereabouts' clause. Rahul Bhatnagar, director-general of India's National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), said WADA had already been told of the government's stand in a letter. "The Government and National Anti-Doping Agency stand fully committed to WADA Code including the provisions related to International Standards of Testing and 'whereabouts' clause," Bhatnagar, who is also joint secretary in the sports ministry, said. "We have informed WADA that there is no change in the position of Government of India in so far as implementation of anti-doping rules adopted by NADA.”India's stand now and before has been the same. There is no compromise when it comes to doping in sport," he said. "In respect to the issue raised by BCCI regarding 'whereabouts' clause we have repeatedly been asking BCCI about the advice they have sought in this matter. But we have not got any response either from BCCI or from elsewhere as to what exactly was that opinion."

• INTERNATIONAL

13 year Dutch girl in legal battle to sail solo around globe.

Dutch Council for Child Protection is seeking legal custody to halt the trip of Laura Dekker, the 13 year teen, who wants to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world with her parents support. Record-breaking attempts by children may earn memorable personal triumphs but they can also run the risk of turning to tragedy. Besides the physical hazards, experts also warn that being alone for so long at such a young age could hinder the child’s emotional development. Laura’s lawyer, Peter de Lange, pleaded that authorities should just let her chase her dream in her 26-foot (8-meter) boat, Guppy. The Guinness Book of World Records is keeping mum on her case but said it stayed away from many such records. However, Guinness spokesman Damian Field managed to give a brief statement saying,“ (We have) a standard policy that does not sanction, endorse or encourage attempts by minors (people under the age of 16) on records which are dangerous or potentially life-threatening,”

The federal government won't say if Canadians who suffer harmful side effects from the new swine flu shot can take the vaccine maker to court. The Public Health Agency of Canada will not reveal whether drug companies are shielded from H1N1 flu vaccine lawsuits in this country like they are in the United States. "This is a complex issue which is currently being examined by the federal government," spokeswoman Nadia Mostafa said in an email. "It raises legal questions involving federal/provincial and public/private sector jurisdictions. The federal government will provide additional details around this issue in due course, following appropriate discussions/deliberations." That effectively throws a shroud over Ottawa's arrangement with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, which has a contract to produce 50.4 million doses of pandemic vaccine at its facility in Ste-Foy, Que.

Following complaints, Twitter is testing a new system that guarantees genuine accounts with a tick next to the name. Recently Tony La Russa, the coach of a US baseball team, has launched legal action over a fake account which he said featured "hurtful" comments about the deaths of two of his players. The actor Ewan McGregor is also said to be considering legal action after nearly 20,000 followers of a bogus account set up in his name read updates about his personal life. Other false accounts on Twitter include one in the name of Britney Spears, another for the Dalai Lama and one for the Queen. Twitter has struggled to prevent fake accounts being set up because it does not request proof of identity and until now, has tolerated them provided they do not claim to be genuine.