‘Hand over ‘Muda scam’ to CBI’, demands Chalavadi Narayanaswamy
Bengaluru: Legislative Council Opposition leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy stated that the MUDA site allotment scam must be given over to a CBI investigation. Only this could bring out the real facts, he said. He was speaking to the press people at Jagannatha Bhavana, BJP state office, in Bengaluru on Friday.
Alleging that attempts were afoot to bury the MUDA case without allowing a CBI investigation, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy said that the Congress should have celebrated the Valmiki Jayanti as a day of repentance, if it had any humanity. "The CM must immediately resign and all those who loaded the all the MUDA files onto a helicopter must also be investigated", he added.
The BJP leader alleged that corruption had stopped being an offence to the CM and Congress party. "The Congress government has appointed a wolf to guard the sheep. Despite heavy corruption taking place, those who come out of jail are in a jubilant mood. Valmiki Jayanti only happened yesterday. I felt ashamed when Siddaramaiah was celebrating it. How right is it for the people who gulped down the Valmiki Corporation to celebrate Valmiki Jayanti?" he questioned.
Referring to ED raid on MUDA office, taluk office and the house of the land owner Devaraju, Narayanaswamy said that this happened because the investigative agency's repeated request for MUDA files had been rejected. He alleged that the government wanted to bury the facts of the case and the MUDA sites were 'unnecessarily' returned. "President Marigowda has been removed. Officers there have been shifted to different departments. All this points at the fact that a huge corruption had happened there", he said.
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Supreme Court declares child marriages violate basic rights, urges Parliament to act
New Delhi, October 18, 2024: The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that child betrothals—a tactic often used to evade the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA)—violate fundamental rights, including freedom of choice, autonomy, and the right to childhood.
A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, along with Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, emphasized that the anti-child marriage law was unclear on child betrothals. The Court urged Parliament to outlaw the practice and categorize children whose marriages are arranged as “minors in need of care and protection” under the Juvenile Justice Act.
The judgment noted that despite international frameworks like the 1977 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), India has not fully addressed the issue of child betrothals. Under the PCMA, girls under 18 and boys below 21 are considered children, and child marriage is both a crime and a social evil.
Chief Justice Chandrachud pointed out that confusion persists regarding the intersection of personal laws and the PCMA. The Court acknowledged that the government had submitted a “note” suggesting that the PCMA should take precedence over personal laws, citing conflicting High Court judgments. However, the note was not backed by formal documentation, and the matter remains unresolved, with an Amendment Bill introduced in December 2021 still pending in Parliament.
The Court also broke new ground by addressing the impact of child marriage on boys. The judgment highlighted how patriarchal expectations, misinformation, and peer pressure push boys into committing violence against their child brides. “While girls are disproportionately affected, the right to childhood belongs to all genders,” Chief Justice Chandrachud observed.
“The intent of POCSO is to protect children from sexual harm, while child marriage institutionalizes sexual abuse by subjecting minor girls to exploitation,” the CJI stated. He further noted that child marriage reduces children to objects, imposing burdens such as compulsory heterosexuality and reproductive expectations, which deny them the freedom to explore their sexuality and personal choices.
The Court issued several guidelines, including:
• Introducing culturally appropriate sexuality education in schools.
• Launching a ‘Child Marriage Free Village’ campaign, similar to the ‘Open Defecation Free Village’ initiative, with the involvement of community leaders.
• Establishing an online portal under the Home Ministry for reporting child marriages.
• Creating a compensation scheme under the Ministry of Women and Child Development for girls who opt out of child marriages.
• Allocating an annual budget to prevent child marriages and support those affected by the practice.
The verdict was delivered in response to petitions by NGOs, including the Society for Enlightenment and Voluntary Action, which raised concerns about the persistence of child marriages despite nearly two decades of the PCMA. The Court warned that child marriage poses a direct threat to laws like the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
