…by our esteemed Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has held that unlike the charge of attempt to murder, the Indian Penal Code does not recognise the charge of attempt to rape. Rape is said to have been committed only if a man inserts his sexual organ into the victim. Any other act only qualifies for the offence of outraging a woman or child’s modesty.

How about a failed attempt to blow up Parliament? Would that be terrorism or merely an offence of outraging our nationalistic and patriotic sensibilities. After we can use Freud to justify how the bullet/bomb is akin to a (male) ’sex organ’ and how Parliament is a woman!

or indeed a failed attempt to evade taxes? I can just imagine the defence.

My lord, the IT department caught us before we could commit the crime

Tags: Gender Issues, India, Judiciary, Society

Of all the forms of State so far, the modern Republic is the only one based on the consent of civil society. We are all supposedly participants in the state. And we abbrogate a lot of our responsibilities vis-a-vis the society we live in to the state. So for us to continue believing in this institution called the ’state’ we need to see it delivering. Otherwise there is no reason for us to continue consenting to the existence of a monolith. This is not a revolutionary concept or even a treasonous one - it is simply a matter of fact. Those states that haven’t delivered have been washed away by society - just look at whole chunks of Eastern Europe to know what i mean. It is more than the fall of Communism, it represents the failure of the State. Just look at the nationalistic tensions within Russia, or the mutual anihilation tried out by the former citizens of Yogoslavia, or even the more civilized divorce of Czechlovakia. Western European state face tensions internally, but immersing themselves in the Superstate called the EC - has probably helped them maintain their states! I can see a whole lot of turbulence hitting western europe - just look at France, or the UK now. They aren’t really happy states. One of ways that a certain level of faith is maintained in the State, is to ensure that a commonly agreed set of laws are applied equally, and justice is delivered without bias within the State. And, this is where i think that the Indian state is massively screwing up. Society, as a whole, is taking a back seat to a few select power oligarchies - and the sense of failure of the ’state’ is huge. The sense of a few getting away with it on mere legal technicalities is frustrating, to put it mildly. After the Jessica Lall Case where the guilty walked, with Satyendra Dubey’s killers still at large, with Priyadarshini Matoo family still waiting for justice, with Manjunath’s family in the same state, it is common news to see the guilty go scot free. Either because they are never caught or because they get off on techicalities. If you are super rich or super connected you simply hire lawyers who flood the system with paper work and keep pushing the date of trial - till such time witnesses are dead, purchased or scared off. Add to it a whole bunch of Parlimentarians who think that they are above the law - just look at the blatant vioationof the election code by Arjun Singh - with no action being taken as yet - and it is little wonder that there is so little faith in either the system or the state. So, in this scenario, it was rather refreshing to see Salman Khan go to jail. We all know that he won’t serve even a tenth of his sentance. But, it was nice to see justice being delivered for a change. Maybe if the EC spanks Arjun Singh this week - my cup truly will overflow with joy

Technorati Tags: Jessica Lall, Satyendra Dubey, Priyadarshini Matoo, Arjun Singh, Salman Khan

Tags: Discrimination, Gender Issues, India, Judiciary, Society, Women