The recent flaws in the Indian Fashion Law have raised questions on the existing guidelines and methods failing to protect it. The fashion industry is a global phenomenon followed by millions of people. Fashion is a billion dollar industry in different countries including India & USA. Indian textiles have also been one of the most sought after globally. It is a vibrant and global hub for business. But this cannot be ignored that people in the Fashion Industry suffer a lot, thereby compromising with their work and putting their unique ideas at stake. There are laws which regulate fashion and protect the rights of the creators. It is regulated by IP Laws, mainly– The Copyright Act 1957, The Trademark Act 1999, The Designs Act 2000, and The Geographical Indication Act of Goods Act, 1999. Though these Fashion Protection Laws are present but they are not competent enough to deal with this sector completely. The intellectual property represents the prominent concerns of the fashion designer, and to deal with this multiple laws are needed to be put on table. It includes corporate governance, real estate, labor, advertising, internet and technology, import & export, and the growing necessity for each brand to have an online presence and more.

THE AWE-INSPIRING WEDDING LEHENGAS

In today’s world everybody wants to try different looks and flaunt their clothing and style, but it isn’t possible for every being to do such a thing. Money becomes a restraint to such an effort. The main problem starts here. Local Indian market knows the fashion taste of the people. They hunt down and create styles copied from original brands, creators, designers etc. Since it is nearly impossible for a local person to buy the same original design, so they settle with the copied version of the product. People today are more concerned with what Anushka Sharma, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra were wearing on their respective wedding day. They have an urge to dress like them and flaunt their clothing. But money restricts them. It is nearly impossible for a common person to bear the cost of such lehengas which costs worth lakhs. The local Indian market sellers know this ultimate weakness of the people. It is here where the flawed practice comes into play and people use such practices to satisfy their dream clothing experiences. These markets sell their own products but are copied versions i.e. first copies of the original products. They are available at a much cheaper rate as compared to its real design. This is crime and the owner/creator/designer of the original product needs protection against this illicit use of their creation. It is just like stealing someone’s car, painting and recreating it and thereafter selling it to some third party claiming to be one’s own car bought from his/her own hard earned money.

Be it Delhi’s Chandani Chowk, Gaffar Market, Lajpat Nagar or Sarojni Nagar, Mumbai’s Linking Road, Bangalore’s Brigade Road and the Vardaman Market in Kolkata, one can find multiple shops selling copies of the lehengas at a cheaper subsidized rate as compared to the original prices. It is quite obvious that these lehengas cost way higher and are out of the league for most of the people. This leads them to resort to easy means to look perfect in the same lehenga. This is where contrabands and copies of the original creations come to the rescue.

DECEPTIVE PRICES

ONE SHOULD NOT RELY ON

Owing to the fact that false and fake copies of products are being sold in the market, obviously amounts to their prices being kept low to attract more customers. Though this is completely illegal on the side of traders but customers are willing to pay the subsidized prices in lieu of wearing a next-to-original copy of a brand or product.

Several replicas of wearable are sold in stores across India. A shop owner in old Delhi’s Chandani Chowk sold the first copy of Bollywood Actor Anushka Sharma’s wedding lehengas for Rs 1.5 lakh. The price of the customized version of the same lehenga can go up to Rs 2.5 lakh. The price of the designer lehenga depends on the kind of the embroidery the customer wants. The original price of such lehengas can be around 7-8 lakh and even more, and it is surprising to note that a copy of the same dress is sold for something as low as Rs 12000.

Shops and boutique owners simply copy the original design, create required changes as per the customer’s demand, and then sell those copies in varied prices. It has been reported that many such boutiques get as much as 5000 orders on one single wedding season. The prices are deceptive but the customers are happy because obviously not everyone can afford expensive wedding dresses. It was reported by Times of India (TOI) in 2018 that Sabyasachi and Manish Malhotra are the two designs whose bridal designs are copied the most.

PEOPLE BEING DUPED IN THE NAME OF BRANDS

In the year 2012, Chandigarh Police raided and busted illegal clothing trade which had been functioning for a long time. They found that a Tommy Hilfiger denim which costs over Rs 3,500 in an authorized showroom was sold at just Rs 400. Similarly, a Calvin Klein shirt costing above Rs. 2000 was being sold at just Rs 350. When the raid was conducted with the help of the company officials, many duplicate denims, shirts, jackets, pullovers and T-shirts were found.

Traders have been using fake logos and stickers of branded clothes to run their illegal business for a long time now. It is highly required that proper laws and regulations should be implemented and used against such practices. The most coveted brands such as Gucci, Versace, Armani, Louis Vuitton, H&M, Kenzo and many more might be a big deal for some but the street markets in India are thriving on the copies of these brand names. Such practices doubt the competency of the present IP laws in the fashion industry.

LAWS GOVERNING IP AND FASHION INDUSTRY

The Copyright Act, 1957 and The Designs Act, 2000 gives two kinds of protection to the people involved in the Fashion Industry. Designers are aggressively pushing to protect their design rights of this category. In 2017 Rohit Bahl became the first designer in India to get copyright over his entire collection and was thereafter, followed by number of other designers.

Selling first-copies of branded products is not a legal business. It leads to counterfeiting which is a form of infringement of trademark. There are various civil and criminal actions under the Indian trademark law which can be taken against those who violates functioning someone’s brand product or business.

PROTECTION UNDER THE TRADEMARK ACT, 1999

Section 103 and 104 lays down provisions for imprisonment for a term which is not less than 6 years and may extend up to 3 years, including fine not less than 50,000 rupees which may extend up to 2 lakh rupees, when there is a case of false application of trademark and selling of goods to which a false trademark is applied.

Furthermore, section 115(4) of the Act talks about the powers of police for the process of search and seizure of any product which calls for action against the infringement of trademark. Basically the police officer or any such authority has to follow certain norms and the Registrar’s opinion before conducting any sort of raid anywhere.

The proprietor whose rights are infringed can seek fast forward action. She/he can file a criminal complaint under section 156 of CrPC. Section 156(3) lays down that in case of refusal by the police to lodge an FIR and initiate criminal action, the aggrieved party can file a complaint before the Magistrate, as per the procedure laid down under section 190 of the CrPC, 1973.

Protection under The Copyright Act, 1957

Logos and designs which are used as brand identities for representing businesses can be protected as copyrights as well, if they are original artworks, and possess an element of creativity.

If there is an infringement of the said mark, the proprietor can take action under section 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957. There is a provision of punishment of 6 months imprisonment which can be extended up to 3 years. A fine of 50,000 rupees can be imposed too, which can go as high as 3 lakh rupees.

Under Section 64(1) of the Copyright Act, 1957, a police officer not below the rank of sub-inspector has the power to seize infringing copies of work without a warrant.

The proprietor whose mark is said to be infringed can file a criminal complaint citing charges under section 420 of IPC, along with section 63 of the Copyright Act. Under section 156(1) of CrPC, 1973 the investigating officer has the power to start an investigation after making an arrest without a court’s order.

Transgenders have been at the receiving end of all societies over ages and even in the surreal world of the “idiot box”. In one of the episodes of Netflix’s TV show, Designated Survivor, Sasha, a transgender and sister-in-law to President of the United States of America faces backlash for using a toilet earmarked for women. A liberal and progressive President struggles to decide whether to speak in favour of Sasha or remain silent to avoid conservative backlash in his re-election year.

This fictional episode has been mentioned only to highlight the hostility that transgender (or third gender) face while accessing public facilities all over the world. Historically, public facilities have been made for two sexes- male and female, with no thought to the ‘other’. This may not be out of apathy, but due to the fact that expenditure choices made by government policy makers have to balance a set of competing demands.

What complicated the situation was the absence of official census of transgender population till 2011. Census of India did not collect any data specifically on ‘transgender’. Census 2011, for the first time provided three choices, i.e. Male, Female and Other to respondents. The ‘other’ enumerated at around 5 lakhs, are a very small number and perhaps not realistic. In a democratic set up, numbers will always matter and thus, for decades, public policy treated these ‘others’ as invisible while formulating policy and allocating funds for creation of public facilities like toilets.

Supreme Court took cognizance of the plight of members of transgender community in National Legal Services Authority vs. Union of India (UOI) and Others. (2014), noting their social exclusion from the mainstream of the society and denial of equal access to fundamental rights and freedoms. In particular, Supreme Court declared that Centre and State Governments shall take proper measures to provide public toilets to transgender community. Supreme Court also directed Centre and State Governments to take steps for framing various social welfare schemes for their betterment.

This welfare orientation got legal recognition with the enactment of The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. Chapter IV of the Act makes it obligatory on the government to take measures for formulation of welfare schemes and programmes in a manner that they are transgender sensitive, non-stigmatising and non-discriminatory.

When Misha Singh, a young IAS officer took over as Chief Executive Officer, Zila Parishad, Shajapur, Madhya Pradesh, she was confronted with this problem. Normally such issues are overlooked on account of other pressing priorities. But Misha chose to consider this vital requirement of marginalised section of the society.

Swachh Bharat Mission, launched on 2nd October 2014 targets universal sanitation coverage and puts sanitation at focus of rural development efforts. The first phase of the mission witnessed construction of over 100 million toilets in rural India, as India declared itself Open Defecation Free on 2nd October, 2019. The second phase of the SBM titled as ODF-Plus aims to ensure that no one is left behind, and that solid and liquid waste management facilities are accessible.

It is this mandate to ensure that ‘no one is left behind’ that informed implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh. This year, there was a target of building community toilets on a large scale. It was decided to implement Swachh Bharat Mission in a transgender sensitive manner, enlivening the spirit of The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. The entire process saw extensive exercise and deliberation over location, nature, design and maintenance.

The locations of community toilets were carefully selected to cater to the needs of local, floating and migratory population who cannot avail of the individual households under the scheme. Transgender have to frequently travel by bus and railways for work and stand to directly benefit if separate access is provided for them in community toilets located at important centres of road and railway connectivity.

Nature of the toilets was the most crucial aspect of the deliberations. Whether to build standalone separate toilets for transgender or to have a Gender Inclusive Unit. Some urban municipal bodies in recent years have constructed an occasional separate toilet for transgender but a similar model in rural areas would have entailed issues of security and maintenance due to constraints of resources and auxiliary staff. Having involved the kinnar akharas and understanding the complexity of the matter, it was finally decided to go for Gender Inclusive Units.

The third important aspect was design and cost. The suggested design provides separate access to male, female and transgender in the same complex. Swachh Bharat Mission has the flexibility to factor in local conditions and material availability, so an innovative design was evolved for making provision for a separate unit for transgender within the community toilet complex. The idea was to innovate within the framework of an existing scheme to promote the welfare of transgender community. It was also decided to include facilities like crèche, breast feeding areas for women to extend appeal and use of these modern toilets. Convergence of three schemes- SBM, MGNREGS and 15th Finance Commission was done to fund this initiative.

The project is backed by willingness of Sarpanchs and members of local self-government as ground executing agency to take the momentum forward. These utilities are modelled on Pay and Use basis promising continued sustenance of this important rural community asset. All the 87 community toilets built under Swachh Bharat Mission in Shajapur district have access for transgender. A rights-based approach abhors symbolism, as inclusivity cannot be reduced to a token exercise by construction of few separate standalone toilets and has to become generalised in all our design and outreaches. These are 87 small, yet affirmative steps towards an idea whose time has come.

What this young and dynamic officer, Misha Singh could achieve in her short tenure is quite stupendous. She could make-it-happen despite adverse set of circumstances on account of her vision, planning and meticulous execution to resolve an issue that is normally chosen to be ignored. She also demonstrated that age doesn’t really matter when it comes to maturity and anything can be achieved by taking stake-holders into confidence.

Anil Swarup has served as the head of the Project Monitoring Group, which is currently under the Prime Minister’s Offic. He has also served as Secretary, Ministry of Coal and Secretary, Ministry of School Education.

Swachh Bharat Mission, launched on 2nd October 2014, targets universal sanitation coverage and puts sanitation at focus of rural development efforts. The first phase of the mission witnessed construction of over 100 million toilets in rural India.

Diversity of viewpoints is a natural process in a democracy and it is also essential for a healthy democracy, but the spectacle of low politics in Maharashtra has hurt my feelings deeply. Whatever is going on these days is extremely mortifying. Politics apart, everyone who loves Maharashtra is feeling hurt. In this entire case, neither the Aghadi government nor BJP has won. But Maharashtra stands disgraced for sure. The Vaze case has besmirched the administrative credibility of Maharashtra.

We proudly say Maharashtra is the best state! There is a long list of our leaders who worked day and night to take Maharashtra to the status of primacy in every field. They are the ones who have groomed this state with their hard work and foresight. They planted a sapling and saw its transformation into a rich, prosperous tree under which people from all over the country seek shelter. Yashwantrao Chavan had decided to adopt a system of governance based on the values of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and accordingly, the governance system of the state progressed. Marotrao Kannamwar, Vasantrao Naik, Vasantdada Patil, Pratibhatai Patil, Shankararao Chavan, Shripad Amrit Dange, Balasaheb Thackeray, Jawaharlal Darda, Sharad Pawar, Keshavrao Dhondge, Ganpatrao Deshmukh, Rambhau Mhalgi, Dhananjayrao Gadgil, Punjabrao Deshmukh, Ram Naik, Ram Kapse, Uttamrao Patil, Bapusaheb Kaldate, N D Patil and many other leaders have made their invaluable contribution to the progress and prosperity of the state. Everyone had their own ideology and their political beliefs, but everyone had a vision — the development of Maharashtra and the prosperity of the common man. Due to the dedication of these leaders, our Maharashtra today is a leader in everything right from agriculture to industry.

There has always been a tradition of working together in Maharashtra. That is why the state has witnessed the problem of political instability very rarely. Therefore, the state did not face the consequences of ‘Aaya Ram Gaya Ram’ political culture. Even when there was no anti-defection law, we still had political peace. The result of this stability was that many such schemes were started in Maharashtra which the country later adopted. Education, Cooperation, Banking, Green Revolution, Employment Guarantee Scheme, Conflict-Free Village, Clean Village Campaign are the gifts of Maharashtra. Previously, there was a lot of cooperation and coordination between politicians and officials. Good officers were appreciated and while pesky ones were shown their place. This strong tradition of creation of superior officers in Maharashtra gave credibility to the administration here. Even today, the officers of Maharashtra are seen with respect all over the country. Even when a freshly minted IPS or IAS officer passes out, his first priority is to join the Maharashtra cadre.

I remember that my hometown Yavatmal was the centre of political power for a long time. Vasantrao Naik, Sudhakarrao Naik and my Babuji Jawaharlal Darda stayed at the centre of power, while on the other hand, there were opposition heavyweights like Jambuwantrao Dhote. Ordinarily, officers try to avoid posting at the place dominated by heavyweight leaders because they fear political pressure, but contrary to that, every IAS or IPS officer sought to be posted in Yavatmal. So, this is the tradition of Maharashtra. There was a famine in Maharashtra in 1972. While addressing a public meeting in Pune, Vasantrao Naik had spoken of his resolve to transform Maharashtra in two years. “If Maharashtra does not make itself self-sufficient in the matter of food grains, then hang me here!,” he had thundered. In order to translate his resolution into reality, the authorities had dedicated themselves to making Maharashtra food-sufficient. There was a Green Revolution in Maharashtra.

Even today, most of the officers are dedicated and disciplined, but a gruesome aspect is also coming out. Earlier, we used to hear about states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh that IAS, IPS officers work there as the pawns of politics in the name of caste and religion. We also used to hear that prime posts in those states were auctioned. But today, the question that arises is whether a gang-like situation has emerged even in Maharashtra? Only time will tell us, but questions keep popping up as to how can an officer become so arrogant with power and not fear law at all? It is seen for the first time that an officer has put the government in the dock. The main issue in this whole case is, who parked the vehicle packed with gelatin sticks near Mukesh Ambani’s house Antilia? Why was it kept there and on whose instruction? Who was its owner and what was the motive? Who murdered Mansukh Hiren? Many questions are still unanswered! May these questions not get lost!

Ripping off the veil of melodrama politics, when I go beyond allegations and counter-allegations and see conspiracies taking shape, my mind gets distracted. Politics is using officials for furthering their interests and officials are using politicians for their own good. Now the administrative set-up has become a gangland. Like the gang, there have been groups in the police force and in the same way, there have been coteries in the IAS which was once considered the steel frame of Indian bureaucracy. A good posting is given to the one who professes loyalty to the ruling party. Previously, the officials never got scared irrespective of which government was in power. We have shining examples of Julio Ribeiro and Sarabdeep Singh Virk who were deputed out of Maharashtra and brought the country out of the crisis.

Unfortunately, a campaign is going on today to run down each other! Politics has been surrounded by the black shadow of politics? There are many such questions and the politics will have to provide answers to them all. The leaders will have to enhance their moral stature so much that they can stop the administrative staff from going berserk and breaking the law. If the mutual recriminations of politicians do not end, the situation will get worse, triggering off a series of embarrassing episodes.

So beware, sir!

It’s time to mend ways!

The author is the chairman, Editorial Board of Lokmat Media and former member of Rajya Sabha.

The basic questions in the Vaze case, which has shaken Maharashtra’s politics and administrative and police system, are who parked the vehicle packed with gelatin sticks near Antilia and why. On whose instructions was it parked? How Mansukh Hiren died? Who is the culprit? These questions should not get lost in the cesspool of politics! The current happenings have certainly damaged Maharashtra’s reputation.

INTRODUCTION

Ideas such as ‘magic’ or ‘witchcraft’ are amusing themes for fiction movies and literature. In reality, however, they seem irrational. What if we tell you that a continued belief in such primitive concepts still forms the basis of violent crimes against women in several parts of rural India?

Witch-Hunting is a practice involving the search for a woman who has been labelled a ‘witch’ (‘chudail’, ‘dayan’, ‘tonahi’), on charges of causing harm to others through the use of black magic. The attack is led usually by relatives, neighbours or villagers and comprises violence against the accused in the form of hounding, thrashing, shaving of the head, naked parades, forcing consumption of human excreta, rape or murder. According to India’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, witchhunting has claimed nearly 2500 lives from 2000 to 2016. Yet, unlike many European Countries, India is yet to pass a Central level legislature or address incidental issues to combat the problem of witch-hunting.

Criminology is a subject which aims at studying an offence from a socio-behavioural perspective. It plays a key role in determining the root cause for an offence and how the criminal justice system can tackle it. While criminologists remain fascinated with dissecting physiological and behavioural science behind serial killers, female criminality remains an unexplored area of law. What little research is done in female criminality is largely unscientific and suffers from strong gender bias. We attempt to explain how gender bias present in the work of many celebrated sociologists and criminologists have a normalized stigma around the malpractice of witch-hunting and how the legislature has failed to tackle witch-hunting in rural parts of India.

NORMALISATION OF WITCH-HUNTING THROUGH MISOGYNISTIC THEORIES OF CRIME

An undeniable fact of our society is that women are still seen as the weaker sex. The unscientific notion of the weaker sex is not limited to rural or uneducated population. The gender prejudice is quite visible in almost all profession ranging from the inclusion debate around the inclusion of women in the army to a coveted position in academia. While progressive thoughts are emerging from around the globe like bringing a woman on par with men in terms of pay parity, the problem of gender bias is deeply entrenched and institutionalized when it comes to studying of crime.

Almost all prominent criminologists who laid the foundation of the subject have attributed female criminality to the physiological, hormonal or psychological female characteristics. Most of them argue that women who commit crime display an “abnormality” in natural female behaviour and hence, such women are “born criminals”. According to such criminologists, this “abnormality” of committing a crime can be rectified if certain measures such as sterilization of women committing a crime or isolating them from society are adopted. In short, Positivist School of criminology lays its foundation on a false notion that women who commit crime are “suffering” from an abnormality and the society as a whole should cure the said abnormality by whatever means possible.

According to Lombroso, women having a higher number of “atavistic” features are more likely to become criminals. According to him, Atavistic characteristics are special bodily features which are commonly found in criminals. For example – large hand size, low voice pitch, dark skin, crooked teeth etc. In the context of female criminality, Lombroso argued that women have a smaller cerebral cortex which diminishes their intelligence. Consequently, they are incapable of committing crime requiring intelligence and primarily indulge in offences like prostitution.

According to the famous sociologist W.I Thomas, female criminality occurs when women use their feminine attributes to manipulate others. According to him, female criminals use sexual proximity or commit acts of prostitution for obtaining something for self-interest. He argues that female criminals are driven by lust and commit crimes to attract the attention of males. In short, Thomas largely sees female criminals in terms of their sexuality to justify their criminal behaviour. Sigmund Freud built his theory on similar grounds stating that female criminals were those who attempted to compete with men by refusing to accept their “natural weakness”. Another renowned sociologist, Otta Pollak, believed that women used their inherent cunning nature to manipulate and deceive men into committing crimes. Therefore, women act as an instigator to the serious offence but could commit smaller offences like shoplifting by themselves.

Apart from these writers, there are plenty more criminologists and sociologists who advocated similar theories of female criminality. Such theories of crime fail to take into account factors like poverty, education and health when analyzing female criminality. One may argue that with time, such theories have lost their relevance. However, the malpractice of witch-hunting in northern India is a perfect example to elucidate the problem of bias and irrational principles dictating crimes against women. This bias stems from the work of noted criminologists who are glorified as founders of the subjects. Witch-hunting in India is committed to ward off “evil spirits” from the village by torturing the victim who is accused of casting a spell. As argued by Pollak, witch-hunting too establishes an idea that women are cunning in nature, thereby using blackmagic to obtain something for self-interest. In reality, witch-hunting is an attempt to subdue independent women in rural India. Just like Freud, perpetrators of witch-hunting consider women to be the weaker sex, who must remain dependent on men for their survival. Therefore, it is majorly the divorced or widowed women who are subjected to witch-hunting. Lastly, the theory of “Atavistic Characteristic” by Lombroso is visibly seen in the practice of witch-hunting where Dalit women are targeted for being “inherently impure and bringing ill-luck to the village”.

UNDERSTANDING TRUE REASONS BEHIND WITCHHUNTING IN INDIA

 Post-independence, witchhunting continued as a customary practice amongst rural and tribal populations in Assam, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and West Bengal. Jharkhand is the hot-bed for witching-hunting with maximum cases being reported from this State ever since its inception in the year 2000. Let us look at some of the predominant causes behind the continuing practice of witch-hunting in India.

The very premise of patriarchy that Indian society is built upon has injustices rooted in it. Entrenched gender hierarchy has made women easy scapegoats in all kinds of situations, and is similarly relevant to the analysis of witch-hunting practices in India. This is evident in the NCRB reports stating that allegations concerning black magic are mostly inflicted on women, even though male members of the family also receive the wrath of the people when a woman is declared a witch. A statistical indicator of patriarchal societies is how most of these high ranking states report wide gaps between the literacy rates for male and female populations. In Jharkhand, the State that records the highest number of cases, for instance, the literacy rate (male) is 76.8 % whereas the literacy rate (female) is only 55.4%. Depriving women of education equips men to further perpetuate the prevailing power dynamics. The requisite structural support is also ensured as local administrators, witch doctors, family headmen etc. are all invariably men. Here again, certain categories of women are more vulnerable to attacks. Amongst these are women that are middleaged or old, married, widow or childless.

The question of caste or group identity is also extremely relevant in this analysis. Several reports reveal that victims of witch-hunts generally do not belong to the dominant castes. Thus, even within the gender category, lower caste and tribal women (SC, ST, OBCs and others) face greater victimization.

An interesting deduction from the analysis of the causes behind its modernday practice in India is that instances today are often rooted in individual conflicts more than an actual belief in witchcraft. Personal conflicts over ideological differences, economic reasons, non-conformity or jealousy may escalate into a situation where people may want to malign the concerned person’s image or cause them severe harm. Of course, the inherent structural backwardness of the society is exploited to garner support. For instance, old widows owning resources such as inherited land are often targeted to sideline them and seize their property. In male-centric communities, romantic rejection by a woman may also be avenged with allegations of practising witchcraft. This could be done by making various kinds of false claims regarding her demeanour. In a male chauvinist society that holds on to baseless ideas of dignity supposed to be preserved by the women, such allegations are accepted unquestioningly. Witchhunting, thus, becomes an effective tool in exercising control over-opinionated women who may try to break free from the shackles. The most unfortunate part is that in rural areas, the perpetrators in maximum cases are the woman’s family/in-laws or neighbours, men as well as women.

Economically backward societies are more susceptible to continuing with primitive practices like witchhunting. Rural societies in India suffering from chronic economic backwardness are usually those with large populations, considerably engaged in agriculture. Owing to economic deprivation, people lack access to quality education and healthcare facilities and tend to rely more on traditional responses during crises situations. Societies with agriculture as the primary occupation often witness income shocks propelled by sudden situations such as monsoon failure, floods or poor harvest in the region. Such financially trying times lead to an increase in strategic witchhunts where the motive is the confiscation of property or extraction of money. As per rankings of NSDP per capita for States in India (2018-19), Bihar and U.P. rank the lowest along with Jharkhand, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, West Bengal and others doing only fairly better.

Widespread illiteracy is another factor that a large number of cases of witchhunting in rural India can be attributed to. A progressive society must be capable of developing a rational outlook towards its cultural inheritance. Where more people have attained primary education, the growth of a rational intellect empowers that society to reject superstitions and inhuman traditions like witch-hunting. On the contrary, low levels of education usually indicate that people are susceptible to embracing irrational beliefs and practices. Uneducated people fail to comprehend the scientific reasons behind misfortunes such as a poor harvest, spread of disease, death of cattle or humans in the locality, etc. Resorting to explanations like black magic is a convenient way to rationalize with natural occurrence of events. According to Census-2011, Jharkhand- 66.4%, Bihar- 61.8%, Rajasthan66.1%, U.P.- 67.7%, Madhya Pradesh- 69.3%, Chattisgarh 70.3%, Assam- 72.2% and Odisha- 72.9% reported a literacy rate that struggles below the already grim national literacy rate of 74%. Thus, it is not a coincidence that the practice of witchhunting is thriving in these states of India.

Poor healthcare facilities also significantly aggravate the problem of witch-hunting in India. Many regions where witch-hunting cases are frequent still lack access to affordable quality healthcare facilities. At the most, predominantly rural areas may have primary healthcare centres. But these provide little respite owing to insufficiently trained personnel, poor infrastructure, etc. For the lack of alternatives, people seek help from quacks or ojhas (local witch doctors), who thrive by feeding into the collective conscience ideas like witchcraft. They are also responsible for conducting trials for suspected witches in the village. Ojhas command traditional authority amongst the villagers, and when they fail to understand a problem brought to them, they resort to illogical appeals like witchcraft. This is more rampant when addressing complex diseases or mental illnesses that rural people are unaware of.

Societies recording high rates of crime provide a conducive climate for practices like witch-hunting to thrive. As per NCRB’s annual crime report 2018, Uttar Pradesh topped the statewise rankings for crimes against women, followed by Maharashtra and West Bengal. The data also shows that cases of crimes against women in the country have increased as compared to the previous year, with domestic violence cases accounting for the largest share. The conviction rate in rape-related cases stood at 27.2% even though the rate of filing charge sheets was 85.3% in such cases. The poor plight of law and order in a State may not directly trigger an incident of a witch-hunt, but it certainly emboldens perpetrators to commit more crime since they mostly go unpunished.

CONCLUSION

Article 51-A (H) casts a duty upon Indian Citizens to develop a scientific temperament. However, even after 73 years of Independence, the practice of witch-hunting continues to thrive in India. While orthodoxy in rural India remains the prime factor behind the rising cases of witch-hunting, the inaction on part of the Central Government to tackle the problem is also deplorable. Various states have formulated legislations at state- level to combat the practice of witch-hunting but all state-level legislations are loosely framed laws which leave a lot to be desired in terms of strict punishment and enforcement. In fact, Justice Panigrahi in Jitu Murmu vs the State of Orissa observed that the state laws have failed to prevent crimes related to witch-hunting and re-emphasized the need for uniform legislation at the national level. Thus, it is high time that Governments at the centre and state levels acknowledge witch-hunting as a serious menace plaguing the Northern Indian states and undertake a coordinated effort by providing basic amenities like education and drafting a strict legislation to criminalize witchhunting in India.

The Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E) sector is expected to grow by 25% in 2021 and is expected to reach Rs 1.73 trillion (US$23.7 billion) states FICCI-EY report ‘Playing by new rules’ launched today. With its current trajectory, the M&E sector in India is expected to reach Rs 2.23 trillion (US$30.6 billion) by 2023 at a CAGR of 17%. In 2020 while television continued to remain the largest segment, digital media has overtaken print, and online gaming has overtaken a disrupted filmed entertainment segment. The Indian Media and Entertainment sector has degrown by 24% to Rs 1.38 trillion (US$19 billion) in 2020.

Digital media and online gaming were the only segments that grew in 2020 adding an aggregate of INR 26 billion. Other segments have degrown by an aggregate of INR 467 billion. While M&E as a sector has usually grown and often outperformed India’s nominal GDP, the sector fell three times (3x) India’s nominal GDP fall by 8% due to the discretionary nature of the spend. Subscription revenues however proved their mettle by holding up better than advertising revenues.

Mr Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General FICCI, said that though the media and entertainment sector has been largely impacted by the pandemic, the positive news is that the digital subscription has grown by 49 per cent and the online gaming industry has grown by 18 percent. He further mentioned that different sectors of the media and entertainment industry will take different time to recover and this makes the report more crucial.

Mr Ashish Pherwani, Partner and Media & Entertainment Leader, EY India, said the M&E sector witnessed a shift in demand patterns as consumers actively sought alternatives and had the time to try new things. Consumption patterns shifted and increased across online news, gaming, and entertainment. The supply side too transformed as companies took the opportunity to reinvent themselves. Every segment redefined itself across verticals by becoming medium agnostic and embedded video, audio, textual and experiential products to enhance their offerings. However, the compelling content created around news and escapism, and the passion to build some of India’s most powerful brands remained resolute.

The Key findings of the report are :

TELEVISION

The TV industry declined 13% from INR787 billion to INR685 billion in 2020. The largest M&E segment saw a 21.5% fall in advertising revenues in 2020 to INR251 billion on account of highly discounted advertising rates during the lockdown months. Subscription declined 7% to INR434 billion due to the continued growth of free television, reverse migration and a reduction in average revenue per user due to part implementation of NTO 2.0. Regional channels received 27% more ad volumes than national channels in 2020. Major sport leagues got postponed, but IPL provided a much-needed revival push in sports viewership. Smart TV sets crossed the five million mark and grew their base by around a million homes. With people spending more time indoors the overall time spent watching TV increased by 9% over 2019.

Key insights – Television segment revenues are expected to grow at a CAGR of 7% to reach INR847 billion by 2023 driven by increased base of subscribers as households continue to get televised. Growth will be driven by connected TVs which could cross 40 million homes by 2025 and free television could cross 50 million homes by then, thereby making core television a more massified product. The smart television will usher in an era of connected viewing which will enable viewers to interact with each other, as well as the broadcaster, through the content. The importance of regional and sports programming will increase, driving up both ad rates as well as end-consumer package pricing, subject to regulatory action.

DIGITAL MEDIA

In 2020 digital media grew by 6.5% to reach INR235 billion and is expected to grow at 22% CAGR to reach INR425 billion by 2023. Digital subscription grew 49% in 2020 to reach INR43.5 billion as the pandemic and the consequent lockdown reduced fresh content on television, online sports went behind a paywall and the pandemic forced much of the population for longer periods indoors. Paid OTT subscriptions crossed 50 million for the first time in 2020. Digital advertising stayed stable on the back of increased allocation of ad spends by advertisers who accelerated their investments in digital sales channels. SME advertisers continued to increase their spends on digital advertising and experimented more with online e-commerce platforms.

Key insights: Digital advertising is expected to outpace all other ad media by 2024 or 2025. The metrics that matter will change from monthly active users to daily active users, from audience numbers to engagement, loyalty and time spent, leading to platforms focusing on segmented audiences and community ownership. Newspaper digital products will increasingly go behind paywalls and it is expected to generate subscription revenues of INR4 billion by 2023. It is estimated that demand for original content will double by 2023 from 2019 levels to over 3,000 hours per year. The share of regional language consumption on OTT platforms will cross 50% of total time spent by 2025.

PRINT

Print has degrown 36% in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19. Print’s revenue declines were led by a 41% fall in advertising and a 24% fall in circulation revenues. English language and metro newspapers were hit harder and struggled to get back their circulation post the pandemic, while regional language newspapers recovered a larger portion of their lost circulation. Print companies implemented significant cost reduction measures to achieve between 25% and 40% efficiencies, a significant portion of which can continue in the years ahead. Many print companies started conducting digital versions of their popular IPs and entered the high-volume but lower value digital events business.

Key insights –Transformation in the print segment is expected to be in the areas of product realignment, revenue transformation, cost intelligence and digital demarcation. Print will need to focus on growing reach in its existing markets through a combination of identifying new micro-markets which are underpenetrated as well as forging bundle deals with direct to consumer aggregators like television, e-commerce platforms, OTT platforms, etc. Significantly, more industry-level shared services initiatives are expected to ensure cost efficiencies. Publishers can also implement process automation for productivity improvement across key business processes. The focus will remain on strengthening the print segment’s core capability to building communities but with a wider scope of offerings to them apart from just news.

ONLINE GAMING

Online gaming was the fastest growing M&E segment in 2020. The online gaming segment grew 18% in 2020 to reach INR77 billion aided by work from home, school from home and increased trial of online multi-player games during the lockdown. Online gamers grew 20% from 300 million in 2019 to 360 million in 2020. Transaction-based game revenues grew 21% on the back of fantasy sport, rummy and poker and casual gaming revenues grew 8%, led by in-app purchases.

Key Insights: The segment is expected to reach INR155 billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 27% to become the third largest segment of the Indian M&E sector. Gaming will become all pervasive and will proliferate across our lives. The segment will grow across all its verticals viz, esports, fantasy sport, casual gaming and other games of skill, but revenue growth will be led by mobile-based real-money gaming applications across these verticals. A nodal agency is required to bring clarity in regulations and well as implement responsible gaming guidelines and monitor areas like minor game play, security, data protection, content guidelines and training.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS IN M&E

The sector continued to witness moderate deal activity, despite major disruptions brought by the COVID-19 outbreak. Although the number of deals increased from 64 in 2019 to 77 in 2020, deal value reduced to INR68 billion in 2020 from INR101 billion in 2019.

This was largely due to the absence of big-ticket deals with only two deals crossing the US$100 million threshold as compared to four such deals in 2019. In line with the trend of the past three years, new media contributed to majority of the deals in terms of volume. Its share increased in terms of deal value from 37% in 2019 to 92% in 2020.

Print has degrown 36% in 2020 due to the impact of Covid-19. Print’s revenue declines were led by a 41% fall in advertising and a 24% fall in circulation revenues. English language and metro newspapers were hit harder and struggled to get back their circulation post the pandemic, while regional language newspapers recovered a larger portion of their lost circulation. Print companies implemented significant cost reduction measures to achieve between 25% and 40% efficiencies, a significant portion of which can continue in the years ahead. Many print companies started conducting digital versions of their popular IPs and entered the high-volume but lower value digital events business.

It has to be said right at the very outset that in a fresh, fine, favourable and fortunate development, according to people familiar with the matter, a top panel has recommended to the Union Government that it should reduce the age for trying people as adults under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act from 18 to 16 to check increasing crimes against children which is certainly a matter of grave concern also as the number of cases are certainly multiplying also very rapidly. How can all this be allowed to go unchecked, unhindered, unaccounted and unpunished under any circumstances? This is a long standing demand also of many women organisations also which has to be taken into account!

To put things in perspective, it must be pointed out that the top committee took note of the irrefutable fact that cases registered under POCSO rose from 32,608 in 2017 to 47,325 in 2019 that is an increase of nearly 45% in two years and made important recommendations to check cyber crime, improve the condition of sex workers and increase police accountability in cases of crimes against women. This should certainly be a matter of grave concern for all progressive minded citizens of India. It also cannot be glossed over that it was also noted that the stringent law was often misused to criminalise consensual relationships.

It has to be borne in mind that in the present circumstances we see that someone between 16 and 18 can be tried as an adult, under POCSO or the Indian Penal Code, only if they are charged with heinous crimes such as murder or rape. This is definitely a glaring loophole in our penal laws which needs to be plugged immediately. The decision usually vests with a Juvenile Justice Board. If tried as juveniles, they are sent to a reform home, not a jail. In addition, a process of rehabilitation is also drawn up.

As it turned out, it is then also pointed out that the Members of the Parliamentary Panel on Home Affairs felt that juveniles convicted of minor sexual offences may grow up to commit more heinous crimes if left unchecked and unaccounted for. Absolutely right! This alone explains why it asked the Union Home Ministry and Women and Child Development Ministry to see if the age limit could be reduced to 16.

In fact, it is my personal opinion that it goes beyond an iota of doubt that for crimes against women, age should certainly not be the criteria. Those who dare to indulge in such reprehensible and regressive acts must certainly be always awarded strict punishment even though I would like to add here that they must be given an opportunity to reform and rehabilitate also and not condemned to jail for whole life but in case of repeated offenders or those who do more than once, no opportunity should be given again nor should any leniency be shown towards them!

It goes without saying that when a men or boy knows how to commit a crime against women or girl then he must be fully prepared to meet the serious consequences also emanating from his cowardly, dastardly and despicable acts! To leave them lightly will certainly only encourage them to commit further more and more such crimes which will affect more and more innocent women and girls which our nation certainly cannot afford under any circumstances! This is what the lawmakers must always keep in mind while making such laws!

To tell the truth, these landmark, laudable and learned recommendations come at a time when there has been an alarming rise in cases of teenage boys raping or assaulting very young girls, some aged 3 or 4. There can be no tolerance for such most dastardly, most despicable and obviously most dangerous incidents of crimes against young girls! It needs no Albert Einstein to arrive at this palpable conclusion!

Needless to state, we also see how several experts too have said that this trend necessitates the move to reduce the threshold for trying suspects as adults. However, it cannot be ignored that some other experts argue that reducing the age would be contrary to the jurisprudence of juvenile justice. A balance had to be strike and this is precisely what the top panel has chosen to do also!

It would be pertinent to mention that the top panel’s recommendations will now be tabled in Parliament as early as next week. The top panel also pointed out earnestly, elegantly and effectively that there was potential of misuse of the law, citing information from states about cases where an 18-year-old boy has been arrested under POCSO for marrying a juvenile girl with her consent. This has to be certainly guarded against and ensured that no innocent is ever convicted. We saw how Vishnu Tiwari was jailed for 20 years and how he was just recently acquitted by the Allahabad High Court! Who will return his precious 20 years?

It cannot be also glossed over that the top panel also commended Uttar Pradesh for its good conviction rate under the law. On an unflattering note, it must be said seriously and sincerely that a huge credit for it certainly goes to the incumbent UP CM Yogi Adityanath who has shown full seriousness to ensure that no criminal is ever left unpunished or let off lightly under any circumstances. It is most unfortunate that he as MP in 1998-99 had strongly voiced his voice in favour of a High Court Bench in Gorakhpur but more than 21 years down the lane we see that Centre has still not catered to his legitimate demand nor has it catered to the legitimate demand of former PM late Atal Bihari Vajpayee who had himself demanded a High Court Bench for UP at Meerut while in his capacity as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha in 1986!

It is a national tragedy that UP which is the biggest state of India has just one High Court Bench and that too so near to High Court at Allahabad at just 200 km away at Lucknow where there was just no need for Bench and yet created in 1948 but for more than 9 crore people of more than 26 districts there is not just a single Bench. This despite the unpalatable truth that Justice Jaswant Singh Commission had recommended 3 High Court Benches for UP and one for West UP yet in 2021 there is none! Why Centre pompously announces setting up of two more High Court Benches for a peaceful state like Karnataka with just 6 crore population at Dharwad and Gulbarga in 2008 first as circuit benches and then made full time Benches in 2013 but not a single for West UP which accounts for more than half of pending cases as Justice Jaswant Commission itself acknowledges? This too must be addressed at the earliest for it is UP which tops in maximum pending cases and not Karnataka and Maharashtra where Centre has approved Benches from time to time! This despite the irrefutable fact that it is Maharashtra which tops in Justice Index List and not UP or Bihar where there is not even a single High Court Bench!

In hindsight, it may be pointed out that POCSO which was enacted in 2012 was brought in to ensure that there is a prompt check on mounting crimes against children and lists the maximum punishment as life imprisonment and death. It defines a child as anyone under 18. The Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 which governs the proceedings against minors in India – was amended in 2015 to try some juveniles between 16 and 18 as adults if they were accused of heinous crimes that attracted a minimum punishment of seven years. The change came in the backdrop of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case where one of the accused was 17 and tried as a minor which created a huge national uproar!

Having said this, we ought to keep in mind what child rights expert Swagata Raha says on this that, “For heinous offence, children over 16 can be tried as adult, the provision already exists…This recommendation does not take into account numerous studies and the Tamil Nadu government’s submission that POCSO is being utilized to criminalise relationships.” We also ought to know that Enakshi Ganguly who is the co-founder of HAQ Centre for Child Rights, warned of the possibility of criminalizing consensual sex and said that, “We are seeing a spurt in such incidents across the government. Are we going to institutionalize this now? We need to be in a preventive mode, not a penal one.”

It is worth noting that the panel noted that cybercrime against women and children rose from 4,330 in 2017 to 8684 in 2019 and transcended geographical boundaries. Therefore the top panel recommended that law enforcement agencies across the country coordinate to check such crimes, the people added, on condition of anonymity. This is certainly the crying need of the hour also as better coordination will ensure that criminals don’t escape away unnoticed!

Be it noted, the panel’s discussion also focused its attention on criminals using Virtual Private Network (VPN) – which allow a user to mask their location – to access the dark web, bypass security walls and remain anonymous. It very rightly, reasonably and remarkably recommended that the Union government permanently identify and block such VPNs. There can be just no denying or disputing it!

It cannot be ever ignored nor should it ever be ignored that the Committee received several submissions about women complainants finding it difficult to lodge police complaints and suggested strict action against police officers and law enforcement personnel who refused to file such cases, or registered false cases. How can this be ever taken for granted or just glossed over? Strictest police accountability must be there on police so that this serious deficiency is addressed at the earliest! The panel also recognized that the government did not support the sanctity of sex work but highlighted the need to safeguard them from violence, protect their rights and provide them legal aid. Very rightly so!

It is a no-brainer that the first biggest step to help women is to make it easy for women to lodge FIR and for this she should not be made to the police station. There are good people in every department but their number too are now decreasing in every field which includes police also. It is widely reported also time and again that there are many policemen who either demand bribe or groundlessly refuse to lodge FIR or agrees to lodge FIR but on lesser serious IPC Sections and this is what urgently needs to be checked now and here!

To cite the most latest example is as reported in Hindustan Times dated March 12, 2021 in which the heading was “HUMILIATION BY COPS MAY HAVE FORCED RAPE SURVIVOR’S FATHER TO KILL SELF: KIN.” It was also written in this news that, “The father of a 13-yearr-old gang rape survivor who was killed after he was hit by a truck in Kanpur may have died by suicide due to police humiliation during the course of the probe, a release said on Thursday. The development came a day after the deceased’s brother, in an FIR, alleged that the incident was orchestrated by the accused – son of a local police officer and his friends. The relative, a cousin of the deceased, said the girl was repeatedly asked objectionable questions at the hospital when she was sent for medical examination. “Just imagine how one must have felt running from one hospital to another with police raising questions over the character of his daughter, that too in his presence,” the relative said. It was the manner in which the cops dealt with the case that perhaps drove the father to take his life, the relative said. “He was so frustrated with the police that he committed suicide,” he added. The family claimed that the questions were asked at health centres in two districts. The sub-inspectors and constables present on the spot did not care if their questions troubled the survivor’s father, he said. The teen was reportedly sent for medical examination five times across various medical centres. “Have you ever heard a rape survivor being examined so many times,” the girl’s uncle said.”

To sum up, all changes in laws are useless if the police are not reformed! It is a national tragedy that police reforms as were enunciated in Prakash Singh case in 2006 have not been implemented 15 years later in 2021! This is the real nub of the problem!

It merits no reiteration that policemen who err must be also severely punished as per law and held accountable for their serious wrongs as also lapses! Under no circumstances should they be let off by just suspending them for a brief period and then recalling them again once popular anger of people subsides! We keep seeing this time and again and therefore this must be redressed by our lawmakers!

Truth be told, the top panel must also suggest ways whereby a woman rape survivor is not made to run from pillar to post to get herself examined and to lodge an FIR plead as also her father and get harassed, humiliated and harangued for no fault of theirs thus thereby being punished doubly – first by criminals and then by police! This has to end once and for all if we truly want India to progress, prosper and become powerful in the real sense! No denying it!

Of course, Judges too must be very careful in ruling in such cases by adopting a zero tolerance approach and should ensure that victims always get full justice and never feel cheated in her fight for justice by letting off the victims lightly! Unless this happens, things are not going to change and status quo will either continue or things will deteriorate even further as criminals and sex offenders will become more and more emboldened after being let of lightly! We all saw recently how a sex offender in Hathras mercilessly killed the father of girl victim after coming out of jail while he was working in his field and that too in her presence!

To put it mildly: Can our law makers allow this ever to keep happening repeatedly right under their nose as has been the case most unfortunately till now? Certainly not! No doubt, the landmark, learned and laudable recommendations made by the top panel must certainly be implemented also promptly but other steps too need to be taken as hereinbefore discussed above so that no shortcoming or loophole is left unattended, unchecked and untreated! Very rightly so!

The panel noted that cybercrime against women and children rose from 4,330 in 2017 to 8,684 in 2019 and transcended geographical boundaries. Therefore, the top panel recommended that law enforcement agencies across the country should coordinate to check such crimes. This is certainly the crying need of the hour as better coordination will ensure that criminals don’t escape unnoticed.