Mumbai, Dec 28: Law and Order has been the word of the year 2017 with the judgments that changed the face of judiciary in India. From Triple Talaq to Right to Privacy and cases such as 2G scam and Aarushi-Hemraj murder, 2017 has been a busy year for the courts. This year, the judges worked beyond their regular working days and made the summer vacation count with the triple talaq verdict.
This year also saw the conviction and jailing of prominent personalities including Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and AIADMK leader Sasikala. Here is a look back at 2017 in verdicts for this has indeed been The Year of Indian Judiciary.
Triple Talaq Verdict
In August 2017, the Supreme Court struck down the practice of instant triple talaq, terming it “unconstitutional”, “arbitrary” and “not part of Islamic faith”. A five-judge constitutional bench said by a 3:2 majority judgement that there is no constitutional protection for triple talaq as it is arbitrary and “whimsical” as it leaves no scope for conciliation and violates Muslim women’s rights.
Justices Kurian Joseph, Rohinton Fali Nariman and Uday Umesh Lalit held that triple talaq is bad in law and lacks approval of the Shariat. On the other hand, then Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice S Abdul Nazeer held that triple talaq was integral to the Muslim faith and enjoyed constitutional protection.
Following the landmark judgment, the Triple Talaq Bill drafted by the Narendra Modi government is now in Parliament.
Right to Privacy
Just days after the Triple Talaq verdict came another landmark judgment by the Supreme Court. The apex court ruled that Right to Privacy was a fundamental right. The nine-judge bench headed by Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar unanimously pronounced that privacy was a fundamental right.
The landmark judgment overruled the 1954 judgment by Justice MP Sharma and the 1962 judgment by Justice Kharak Singh. The court, in its ruling, said that anything that infringes the privacy of a citizen will be struck down. The court ruled that Right to Privacy is an intrinsic part of life and personal liberty under Article 21.
All eyes are now on how this judgment affects other cases like Section 377, Aadhaar and marital rape.
2G Verdict
Just before Christmas, a special court in Delhi acquitted all accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam. It came as a huge relief for former telecom minister A Raja and DMK leader Kanimozhi, who were among the main accused in the 2G case. In a strongly worded 2000-page judgment, Judge OP Saini said that the “prosecution failed miserably to prove any of its charge. Thus, all accused are acquitted.”
Sex With Minor Wife is Rape
In October 2017, the Supreme Court pronounced that intercourse or sexual act by a man with his wife below the age of 18 years will be considered as rape. It came as a landmark judgment for the movement to criminalise marital rape. The court ruled that Exception 2 to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code is arbitrary and violative of Articles 14, 15 and 21 and not in consonance with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The apex court also urged the Central and State governments to take steps to prevent child marriages.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Convicted and Jailed
A Special CBI court convicted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim in August this year for raping two of his sadhvis. What followed was violence by Dera followers outside the Panchkula court, that left many dead and several injured. While Ram Rahim was sentenced to 20 years in jail over the two cases, his “adopted daughter” Honeypreet is also behind bars for allegedly planning the violence that broke out after his conviction.
Aarushi-Hemraj Double Murder: Talwars Acquitted
In October 2017, the Allahabad High Court acquitted Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar in the murder case of their daughter Aarushi Talwar and domestic help Hemraj. In what came as a major relief for the Talwars, Nupur and Rajesh walked out of Dasna jail after the court’s verdict. The two had been lodged in Dasna jail since 2013 after they were convicted by a Ghaziabad court in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder.
Sasikala Convicted and Jailed
AIADMK leader Sasikala Natarajan, who was aspiring to be Tamil Nadu Chief Minister after J Jayalalithaa’s death in December 2016, received a major blow when the Supreme Court convicted her in the disproportionate assets case. In February 2017, the apex court set aside a Karnataka High Court order staying the conviction of Sasikala and three others by a trial court.
A division bench of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Amitava Roy also sentenced her to four years in jail and asked her to surrender “immediately”. Sasikala is now behind bars, serving her sentence in the Bengaluru Central Jail.
While 2017 has been a landmark year for judiciary, there is more to look forward to in 2018 with judgments expected in several cases including Ayodhya case, Asaram case and Aadhaar case.