Latest news with #NALSA
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
DLSA Gurgaon sets up ‘Asha' team to tackle child marriages
Gurgaon: The district legal services authority (DLSA) has established a special unit named ASHA (awareness, support, help, and action) to prevent child marriages and rehabilitate victims. ASHA will focus on awareness campaigns, legal assistance, psychological support, rescue operations, and victim rehabilitation. It will also facilitate the enrolment of victims into foster care under Ministry of Women and Child Development's Mission Vatsalya, and will be headed by additional principal judge (family court). DLSA secretary, panel advocates, para-legal volunteers, members of child welfare committee, police liaison officers, officers from district child protection unit and representatives from the departments of education and health will also be a part of the unit. ASHA was formed following Supreme Court's directions in the case Society for Enlightenment and Voluntary Action & Anr vs Union of India. Under part IX of the judgment, SC directed NALSA to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) laying out detailed guidelines for legal aid and long-term rehabilitation of victims. This SOP was meant to serve as a reference guide for lawyers and law enforcement officers. In compliance with the court's directives, NALSA formulated "standard operating procedure for prevention, protection, and rehabilitation of child marriages". by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like USDJPY đang đi lên không? IC Markets Đăng ký Undo For an effective implementation of this SOP, DLSA came out with ASHA, said Rajat Verma, secretary, DLSA Gurgaon. The unit was disseminating information about child protection helplines and portals, said officials, adding that NGO Shakti Vahini was also extending full support to it. "The SOP and ASHA will work hand-in-hand to eliminate child marriage and ensure a dignified rehabilitation of victims," said Verma.
The Hindu
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Probation must be pillar of juvenile justice, say experts
Recognising probation as a cornerstone of child rehabilitation was the central message of the first-ever national consultation on 'Strengthening Probation in the Juvenile Justice System in India,' held recently at the capital. Organised jointly by the Resource Cell for Juvenile Justice (RCJJ), a field action project of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), and the Department of Social Work, University of Delhi, the event brought together key stakeholders from across 20 States and one union territory. Delivering the keynote address, retired Supreme Court judge and Chairperson of the UN Internal Justice Council, Justice Madan B. Lokur, lamented the neglect of probation in India's juvenile justice system. Justice Lokur said his first contact with probation officers took place in early 2000's in Canada where he had gone for judicial education programme for two weeks. He found that every probation officer there handled 30-35 probationers. He said, in India, probation had not been given the importance it should have been given and that the Probation of Offenders Act had not been properly implemented. He commented on the understaffing in the Indian juvenile justice system, where one probation officer is responsible for 150-500 children. Bharat Parashar, Member Secretary, National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) said the system should give every child a second chance, and it should not re-traumatise them. He said NALSA was committed to this cause, and the Probation Officer could go a long way in mentoring children. Held as a satellite event to the recently concluded 5th World Congress on Justice with Children, the consultation saw active participation from principal magistrate, Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB), social work members on the JJB, probation officers, legal-cum-probation officers, deputed government officers, civil society organisations, academicians, research scholars, and a few independent lawyers. Over two days, panel discussions explored the socio-legal dimensions of juvenile justice. The sessions emphasised, 'the need for probation to be acknowledged as a pillar of rehabilitation for children in conflict with the law and strengthen it by looking at concerns like the ratio between probation and probationers, skill sets, and training required'. Prof. Bipin Jojo, Dean, School of Social Work, TISS, spoke about how the legal structure of probation in India was developed at TISS in the early 1950s, and from then to now, TISS had been committed to pioneering the cause of strengthening probation in India. Prof. Sanjoy Roy, Head, Department of Social Work, DU, emphasised that the collaboration of TISS and the Department of Social Work, DU is also historic as it has been the first time that the two colleges of social work have come together and organised this national consultation on strengthening probation.
Indian Express
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
The diversity of families: Kerala HC does well to back transgender co-parenting
In a reassuring affirmation of dignity and equality, the Kerala High Court has recognised a transgender couple from Kozhikode as the legal 'parents' of their biological child. The transgender man who gave birth in 2023, and his partner, had sought recognition as co-parents without gender-binary labels so that their child's future — especially with regard to identification documents and school admission — is not impeded. While the Court declined to read down the format mentioned in the Registration of Births and Deaths Rules, 1999, saying that this was a 'rare and exceptional' case, it has directed authorities to issue a birth certificate that reflects the gender-neutral term instead of the conventional 'father' and 'mother'. In its observation, the Court emphasised that in certain instances, 'social justice adjudication' must take precedence over an 'adversarial approach'. In doing so, it broadened the legal imagination around family, gender, and parenthood. In August 2022, granting maternity leave to a central government employee who had previously availed it for the care of her step-children, a bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and A S Bopanna had observed that 'atypical' families are equally deserving of legal protections and social welfare benefits. 'The black letter of the law must not be relied upon to disadvantage families which are different from traditional ones,' they had held. The apex court's refusal to extend civil union or joint adoption rights to LGBTQIA+ couples and its deferral of substantive rights to legislative reform — despite acknowledging queer love and lived discrimination — however, has come as a setback after years of progressive milestones, such as the 2014 NALSA verdict recognising the rights of transgender persons and the 2018 Navtej Johar ruling that decriminalised same-sex relations. In such circumstances, the Kerala High Court's verdict offers a template for affirming queer parenthood within the existing legal framework — and places the child at the centre of that empathetic recognition. It asserts that constitutional dignity cannot wait for political consensus. Days after the Kerala HC verdict, the Madras High Court, while ruling on a habeas corpus petition by a woman forcibly estranged from her lesbian partner, upheld her right to 'find a family'. 'The concept of a 'chosen family' is now well-settled and acknowledged in LGBTQIA+ jurisprudence,' the division bench said. In a country grappling with entrenched social prejudices, these affirmations of diversity reflect a welcome judicial sensitivity to the complexities and plurality of lived experience. They validate, with quiet strength, the right to belong — not as a privilege granted conditionally by tradition, but a truth that embraces every identity, even those that challenge convention.
Hans India
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Kerala HC rules transgender parents be designated just 'parent' in child's birth certificate
Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday ordered that the gender details of Kerala's first transgender parents in their child's birth certificate be changed from "mother" and "father" to just "parent" for both partners. While the Pinarayi Vijayan government often says it is the first state government to have come out with a transgender policy, the transgender parents failed to get justice from the CPI-M ruled Kozhikode Corporation when they first approached it to modify their child's certificate, and then, took legal recourse. A bench of Justice Rahman passed the order on the plea by Zahhad, a transman (assigned female at birth but identifying as a man) and Ziya Paval, a transwoman (assigned male at birth but identifying as a woman), who are the first openly transgender couple in Kerala. "This writ petition is disposed of directing the fifth respondent to issue a birth certificate with the modification by removing the columns of names of father and mother and by incorporating the names of the petitioners as parents without referring to their genders," the court ruled. The transgender couple was in the news in February 2023 when Zahad gave birth to their child. The birth certificate of the child registered by the Kozhikode Corporation recorded the mother's name as Zahad (transgender) and the father's name as Ziya (transgender). Zahad and Ziya approached the Corporation to change the details in their child's birth certificate to indicate both of them as just 'parents' rather than mother and father. But the Corporation authorities rejected their request, and the couple then approached the High Court seeking relief. "Since scientifically there's some contradiction in the fact that a male is giving birth to a child, the petitioners requested the authorities to avoid the name of father and mother but simply writing 'parent' to avoid further embarrassment which the third petitioner (child) would have to face during her life time viz. school admission, Adhar Card, PAN Card, Passport and various other documents including job and connected matters," the parents contended. They also pointed out that the denial of such a certificate is a denial of their and their child's fundamental rights. Moreover, the denial of the new certificate goes against the dictum laid down by the Supreme Court in the landmark NALSA case. They further added that various other countries allow couples, especially same sex couples, to choose their title in their child's birth certificate from among 'mother', 'father' and 'parent'.
India Today
20-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Court orders appointment of domestic violence Protection officers within 6 weeks
The Supreme Court on Tuesday mandated all states and Union Territories to appoint designated Protection Officers within six weeks in order to improve the enforcement of the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence (DV) bench, comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, took note of the lack of appointed Protection Officers in many regions and issued clear instructions for states and UTs to designate 'one officer of the Women and Child Development Department or the Social Welfare Department at every District and Taluka level' under the Protection Officers are the first point of contact for women subjected to physical, mental, sexual, or financial violence within the family. These officers are responsible for ensuring appropriate action, initiating legal proceedings, and monitoring the safety and welfare of the affected women. Despite the DV Act being in force for two decades, its implementation remains uneven across the issue stems from several states assigning the responsibilities under the DV Act to officials already handling the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), which includes child welfare and protection duties. Senior advocate Shobha Gupta, representing the NGO "We the Women," argued that these officers are overburdened and unable to manage the workload, leaving vulnerable women and children unsupported.'Designating ICDS or Anganwadi workers as PO will not be enough,' Gupta various state governments cited logistical challenges such as recruitment, training, and funding as obstacles to appointing dedicated officers, Justice Nagarathna noted, 'Maybe it's an ideal long-term situation that a cadre may be created, but we cannot say someone else cannot come and help in the meantime.'The Court also directed the Central Government and the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) to support the Act's enforcement. The bench instructed NALSA's Member Secretary to coordinate with state and UT legal services authorities to publicise the availability of free legal aid and advice for vulnerable women at the district and taluka InMust Watch
