Q1. “The institution of marriage will become unstable if marital rape is criminalised.” Analyze the claim critically in light of a recent Supreme Court decision.
Paper & Topic: GS I/III à Geography Concepts in News/Disaster Management
- Model Answer:
- Introduction:
- According to studies conducted by the NCRB, a woman in India experiences sexual assault every 16 minutes and violence from her in-laws every 4 minutes. An examination of data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2015–16 shows that, on average, Indian women are 17 times more likely to encounter sexual assault from their husbands than from other persons. It is estimated that 99.1% of sexual assault cases go unreported.
- Body:
- What is the Definition of Domestic Violence:
- Marital rape, or the act of compelling your husband to have sex without express written agreement, is an unfair but frequently used strategy to denigrate and undermine women.
- India is one of just 36 countries that has not yet criminalised marital rape, despite the fact that it has been contested in more than 100 countries today.
- In 2013, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) recommended that the Indian government make marital rape.
- The JS Verma committee, which was set up in the wake of significant protests against the gang rape case on December 16, 2012, gave the same advice.
- Issues with the rape laws in India in regard to marital rape:
- Our country’s rape laws still reflect the patriarchal mentality that sees women as the property of men after marriage, with no autonomy or control over their bodies.
- Married women are not afforded the same legal protections as those guaranteed by the Indian constitution.
- Legislators find it difficult to understand why a marriage shouldn’t be viewed as allowing a husband to savagely abuse his wife without suffering any consequences. Both married and unmarried women possess the authority over their own bodies.
- In India, the concept of marital rape serves as the standard for “implied consent.”
- Marriage between a man and a woman is not conceivable without both parties having consented to sexual activity.
- Making marital rape unlawful, in accordance with the centre, would damage the institution of marriage and provide harassers unrestricted access to husbands.
- It has cited the SC’s and other HCs’ perspectives on the rising use of IPC Section 498A in inappropriate ways (harassment of a married woman by her husband and in-laws).
- The Indian Penal Code, 1860 similarly conveys a similar message. The crime of rape is defined by the six descriptions that combined make up Section 375. One of the exceptions to this crime is the statement that “Sexual intercourse or sexual activities by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under 15 years of age, are not rape.”
- Previously, Section 375 (Exception) made a distinction between consent given by a married woman and consent given by an unmarried woman, as well as between consent given by a married woman who was under the age of 15 and consent given by a married woman who was over the age of 15. Correctly overturning this and raising the legal drinking age to 18, the Supreme Court.
- Making rape in marriage a crime:
- The Supreme Court’s ruling might only do so much to keep marital rape from becoming lawful.
- The legislative needs to remove Section 375 (Exception) of the IPC, acknowledge this legal problem, and include marital rape in the rape statutes.
- Eliminating this restriction will give women more protection from abusive partners, enable them to receive the rehabilitation treatment they require after experiencing marital rape, and enable them to defend themselves against both domestic and sexual assault.
- No one, not even a spouse, should be allowed to violate another person’s human rights, and Indian women should be treated equally.
- Conclusion:
- Rape is rape, regardless of who committed the act or the victim’s age. When a woman is sexually assaulted by a stranger, she is only left with the memory of the horrifying act; when she is sexually assaulted by her husband, she is also only left with the rapist. The majority of the criminal laws we adopted from the British even after 73 years of independence remain the same. Since then, though, English law has altered, making marital rape a crime as of 1991. However, no Indian government has up until now shown a strong desire to find a solution.
Q2. Despite being praised as the biggest democracy in the world, India has recently done poorly on the majority of the most important global democracy reports. Comment.
Paper & Topic: GS II à Indian Constitution
- Model Answer:
- Introduction:
- Democracy is a type of government in which the people who are governed, either directly through voting or through elected representatives, ultimately have the authority. India is currently the largest democracy in existence.
- The Economist Intelligence Unit said that India dropped two spots to take up position 53 in the world’s ranking for the 2020 Democracy Index, blaming the government’s “democratic backsliding” and “crackdowns” on civil freedoms for the drop.
- Body:
- India is considered a democracy with flaws for the following reasons:
- Indian democracy is still plagued by corruption, poverty, gender discrimination, casteism, communalism, religious fundamentalism, regionalism, and criminalization of politics.
- The two most recent reports claim that “conservative religious views” are growing in popularity across the nation.
- India’s ranking has been impacted by vigilantism, violence, a reduction in the space for criticism, and threats to minorities and oppressed groups.
- The new citizenship rule has incited the nation’s sizable Muslim minority, exacerbated intergroup strife, and led to substantial demonstrations in major cities.
- Articles 370 and 35A were repealed along with how, in advance of the change, “the government deployed a considerable number of troops in J&K, implemented numerous draconian security measures, and placed local leaders under house arrest, including those with pro-India credentials.”
- In J&K, the government likewise limited Internet access.
- 1.9 million persons were left off the final list of participants in the Assam NRC exercise, and “the vast majority of those left off the NRC are Muslims,” according to the report.
- The multiple difficulties that Indian democracy faces have been made clear by significant topics like horse-trading in politics, the anti-defection statute, the advantages and disadvantages of post-election alliances, and the governor’s discretionary powers.
- Assaults on journalists are becoming more frequent, and there have been a number of murders.
- The Indian media is only considered to be “mostly free” because there isn’t much room for accurate reporting. According to the “Freedom in the World Report, 2018,” this is a fact.
- Post-poll alliances pose unique difficulties as opposed to pre-poll alliances, where voters are aware of who they are voting for.
- Anti-defection legislation does not appear to be effective in preventing MLAs from defecting.
- Dynastic politics, the absence of a strong center-left opposition, and religion-based politics An illustration would be the government’s classification of Karnataka’s Lingayats as a religious minority.
- People are worried about how long it takes the courts to resolve matters.
- misuse of data on social media platforms, user privacy, and the ability of social media to have a significant political impact.
- Conclusion:
- Democracy is significant because it allows for more societal representation in the government. However, there are still complete democracies, imperfect democracies, hybrid regimes, and even totalitarian regimes in the world. To ensure that the representation of citizens from different countries of the world is met and that their opinions are heard, efforts by organisations like the United Nations and nations worldwide are required. In order for democracy to realise its true objectives, it also needs a number of internal controls, such as the independence of the judiciary.
Q3. Describe how India’s law enforcement forces would feel less pressure as a result of the planned “Mediation Bill 2021.”
Paper & Topic: GS II à Government Policies and Interventions
- Model Answer:
- Introduction:
- Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms have the potential to replace more traditional approaches to conflict resolution. ADR provides to resolve any form of dispute, including civil, commercial, industrial, and familial disputes, in which parties are unable to initiate negotiations and come to a resolution. A neutral third person is typically used in ADR to facilitate communication, conflict resolution, and discussion between the parties. It is a technique that enables individuals and groups to uphold social order, cooperation, and offers the chance to lessen conflict.
- Body:
- Many ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) processes in India:
- Arbitration: The case is taken before an arbitral tribunal, which renders a decision (an “award”) that is largely enforceable against the parties.
- Conciliation: A non-binding process where a conciliator, a neutral third party, helps the parties to a dispute come to a mutually satisfactory resolution.
- Mediation: In mediation, a neutral third party known as a “mediator” assists the parties in their efforts to come to a mutually agreeable resolution of the conflict.
- Negotiation: A non-binding process in which the parties engage in negotiations without the involvement of a third party in an effort to reach a negotiated resolution to the conflict
- Adalat Lok: It translates roughly to “People’s court.” India has a long tradition of using village elder mediation to settle disputes. The Lok Adalats system is a development of that and is founded on Gandhian ideals.
- Draft of the 2021 Mediation Bill:
- A Draft Mediation Bill 2021 has been published by the Indian government in an effort to develop and advance India’s ADR systems.
- Advantages of the bill:
- In contrast to the court-annexed mediation programmes, which treat mediation as a part-time honorarium basis, the Bill recognises that it should be recognised as a profession.
- It recognises the significance of training programmes for mediators and the need for service providers to offer regulated mediation. Pre-litigation mediation is provided.
- If an urgent interim order is required, it may be possible to forego mediation at the outset and return to it after the temporary relief issue has been resolved.
- The Bill eliminates the ambiguity around the terms “mediation” and “conciliation” by choosing the former in line with accepted worldwide practise and broadly defining it to encompass the latter.
- It acknowledges the prominence of online dispute resolution during COVID-19.
- According to the Singapore Convention on Mediation, it allows for the implementation of commercial settlements agreed through international mediation involving parties from various nations.
- Issues with the draft legislation:
- Domestic mediation’s legal standing: The Bill foolishly regards international mediation that takes place in India as domestic mediation and grants the settlement reached through the latter the legal standing of a court’s judgement or order.
- Because the Singapore Convention does not apply to settlements that already have the status of a judgement or decree, it will be terrible if one party is from abroad.
- When cross-border mediation is conducted in India, the enormous advantages of global enforceability are lost.
- It includes three members, including a senior judge who has retired, a lawyer with ADR experience, and a professor who has taught ADR, but not a single mediator.
- It is obvious that none of them will be active practitioners given that they are all full-time members.
- The judiciary has jurisdiction over this area of conflict settlement, however the Chief Justice of India is not involved in the selection process.
- There is a broad list of disputes that should not be mediated, such as those involving fraud.
- According to the law, protection orders can be issued by the court in situations involving minors or those who are not of sound mind.
- There is no mechanism for manufacturers, service providers, and customers to communicate and work out problems in the telecom industry.
- Conclusion:
- ADR has demonstrated success in reducing the backlog of cases at various judicial levels. However, it appears that people are unaware of the existence of these mechanisms. More information on these should be made available by the National and State Legal Services Authorities so that potential litigants will consider them as their first course of action.
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