Dear Veeresh

Greetings from AdvocateKhoj!

It is our privilege to inform you that AdvocateKhoj is a legal portal and India's first communication platform to bridge the gap between people seeking legal assistance and advocates.

The portal has a law library which contains an exhaustive list of Acts and Rules passed by the Indian Parliament, Supreme Court Judgments (1950 onwards), Legal Forms, Sample Agreements and Glossary. Our law Library is an open resource, which is freely accessible to the public, to help them gain knowledge about the Indian Judiciary.

We are still in the early stage of development and it is our endeavor to make this portal comprehensive and more useful. This can be possible only with the support and encouragement from esteemed institutions like yours.

Therefore, it is our earnest request to list the AdvocateKhoj law library as a free legal resource in the library of "G.J. Advani Law College, Bandra".

This would be an added advantage for the students and the faculty to enrich their knowledge on the Indian Judiciary. Our law library can be accessed through the following URL: http://www.advocatekhoj.com/library/index.php 

Incidentally, AdvocateKhoj Law Library is listed by some of the esteemed institutions around the world:

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National:
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University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad
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Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, Visakhapatnam
http://dsnlu.ac.in/research-database/ 

ITM University Law School, Gurgaon
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Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat
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Best regards, 
Anoop Vincent 
Co-founder, AdvocateKhoj 
http://www.advocatekhoj.com

SC: No lowering age of juvenility below 18

‘Notion Of Spurt In Crime By Minors Wrong’

Dhananjay Mahapatra TNN 

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected petitions for lowering the age of juvenility from the existing 18 years, turning down a clamour in the wake of the alleged involvement of a 17-year-old in the gangrape of Nirbhaya last December. A string of petitions had pleaded with the court to prevent children in conflict with the law, who were in the 16-18 age group and convicted for heinous crimes, from escaping the rigour of the IPC-prescribed stringent punishment. 
    Rejecting the petition, the apex court said the notion that there was a huge jump in crimes involving juveniles was wrong. A bench of CJI Altamas Kabir and Justices S S Nijjar and J Chelameswar said it would be wrong to adopt a retributive approach towards juveniles at the cost of restorative scheme only on the basis of the wrong notion that there had been a spurt in criminal activity by juveniles. 
    “In recent years, there has been a spurt in criminal activities by adults, not so by juveniles, as the material produced before us show,” said the CJI, who wrote the judgment for the bench. 
    “We do not think that any interference is necessary with provisions of the statute till such time as sufficient data is available to warrant any change in the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and the Rules. On the other hand, implementation of various enactments relating to children would possibly yield better results,” the bench said. The court said it would not be proper to interfere with the juvenile’s age limit, which was raised from 16 to 18 years after proper deliberations in the government and thereafter in Parliament and felt the public clamour was a product of misunderstanding of law relating to the sentencing of juveniles. 
    “The general understanding of a sentence that can be awarded to a juvenile under Section 15(1)(g) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 200, prior to its amendment in 2006 is that after attaining the age of 18 years, a juvenile who is found guilty of a heinous offence is allowed to go free,” the court said. After the 2006 amendment clarified that “even if a juvenile attains the age of 18 years within a period of one year, he would still have to undergo a sentence of three years, which could spill beyond the period of one year when he attained majority”, the bench said. 
    This means, if the 17-yearold in the Nirbhaya case was found guilty by the trial court, then he would be liable to serve a sentence of three years despite being classified as a juvenile. 
    The court possibly had in mind the exception of a juvenile found allegedly involved in the Nirbhaya case, when it said such examples were rare and these should not dictate a change to the Parliament-approved statutory scheme.


Source:::: The Times of India, 18-07-2013, p.09. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW

Wife has right to ex-hubby’s inheritance

Himanshi Dhawan TNN 

New Delhi: A wife will get a share in her husband’s inherited or inheritable marital property on divorce, though the exact quantum of the compensation has been left to the discretion of the judge, according to a legislation cleared by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday. 
    The Cabinet also cleared the proposal that in cases where divorce has been sought on mutual consent of both parties, the judiciary has the discretion to grant a divorce to one party after three years, even if the man and the wife are no longer on the same page. 

Proposal to give wife equal share in marital property moderated 
New Delhi: Recommendations of a GoM on Marriage Laws Amendment Bill will now be amended suitably before being brought to Parliament during the monsoonsession, beginning August 5. 
    By not quantifying the amount of compensation, the government has moderated its earlier proposal to give a wife “equal” share in marital property. The ministers felt that a judge could decide on the quantum of compensation after taking into account an entire set of considerations such as the disposable income of both the husband and wife, conditions like who will bear the primary responsibility of raising the children and claimants on “inheritable property”. 
    The proposal to give a woman share in “inheritable” property had run into rough weather in May because of a conflict of opinions within the government.


Source:::: The Times of India, 18-07-2013, p.01. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW

Calicut univ lends hand to moms-to-be

Students To Get Maternity Leave Without Year-Out

K R Rajeev TNN 

Kozhikode: Calicut university on Wednesday became the first Indian varsity to grant long-term maternity leave for women students, enabling them to continue a course without facing a ‘year-out’ due to pregnancy. 
    The university will allow new and expectant mothers to re-join their courses after maternity leave and appear for examinations, which will be considered as their first chance and not supplementary as in the past. 
    In a move towards implementating an earlier academic council decision, the university senate on Wednesday amended the MCA course regulations, 2010, to help students avail the benefits. 
    The university is in the process of extending the facility to students studying for MBBS, BHMS, BDS and other degrees. University student welfare dean P V Valsaraj said the decision was the culmination of the two-year efforts of the student grievance redressal cell. 
    “Many married students, especially those pursuing professional courses like MBBS, have been approaching us saying they were having a tough time balancing the mandatory attendance requirements and their maternity-related responsibilities in family life. We feel that it is the duty of the society to ensure that maternity related issues not come in the way of a girl student in achieving her career and academic aspirations,” he said. 
    Earlier, a woman student who took a break for childbirth faced the disadvantage of a ‘year out’ and had to write her supplementary examination. “As students who took the supplementary examination are not considered for ranks, many bright students were left out from achieving top honours,” Valsaraj said.

Source:::: The Times of India, 18-07-2013, p.09. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW

self-financed univs.

Only 3 applications to set up self-financed univs in state

Prafulla Marpakwar TNN 

Mumbai: Only three leading educational institutions have submitted applications a month after the state government issued model guidelines for setting up self-financed universities. 
    “The response is poor. In the first year, we were expecting more than a dozen applications. There were many enquiries before the rules were issued. But after we announced the rules, the response has been dismal,’’ a senior bureaucrat told TOI on Monday. 
    A year ago, after both Houses of the state legislature passed a bill, governor K Sankaranarayanan had refused to give his assent as there was no provision of reservation. Prominent politicians had demanded reservation for backward class students in self-financed universities. After the bill was returned by the governor, the higher and technical education department issued model guidelines for setting up self-financed universities on May 29. 
    The bureaucrat said all proposals will be put up before a high-level committee headed by principal secretary (higher and technical education department). If the proposals are approved, a separate bill for each self-financed university will be introduced in the legislature. If the bill is passed by both Houses and the governor gives his assent, a new self-financed university will be set up. 
    It would be mandatory for the self-financed university to set up a Rs 10 crore endowment fund if it is in Mumbai or its suburbs, and Rs 5 crore if outside Mumbai, added the bureaucrat. 
    There was no proposal for reservations, but the model guidelines provide a clear provision for admission and reservation for all courses as per the state government policy. 
    A leading education baron said the state government procedure was lengthy and there appeared to be a lot of red-tape. 
    “The procedure should be simple. In neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, approval of a proposal is time-bound,” he said.

Source:::: The Times of India, 02-07-2013. http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW&AW=1372761063606