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Karnataka High Court

By Mahak Shinghal

Case – Husna Banu v. State of Karnataka

Bench – Justice Krishna S. Dixit

In a recent case, the Karnataka High Court on 24 September, 2021 observed that breastfeeding is an inalienable constitutional right of a lactating mother and the right of the infant needs to be assimilated with the mother’s right. 

The present case of kidnapping is filed by the genetic mother of the child, Smt. Husna Banu [hereinafter, “genetic mother”] wherein she approached the Court for the custody of her child which landed on the lap of Smt. Anupama Desai [hereinafter, “foster mother”]. 

The child was born in a maternity home in Bengaluru in May 2020 but was stolen from the cradle by an unscrupulous person. The police traced the child to the foster mother’s home in Koppal town in May this year.

The foster mother sought to retain the child which she took care for a year or so. Another case was filed by the foster mother and her husband wherein they challenged the police notice dated 12.08.2021 whereby they were directed to produce the child before the Child Welfare Committee. Both the cases were clubbed before the Court.

The counsel for the foster mother argued that his client has pampered the child with abundant love and affection for all this time. A child who is well fostered for long cannot be parted away from the foster mother. The Counsel alleged to retain the custody of the child by sighting the episodes from Bhaagavatam in which Devaki, the genetic mother of Lord Krishna, permitted Yashoda, the foster mother, to retain custody of infant Krishna. The foster mother also pointed out that the genetic mother already has two children, however, she has none.

The genetic mother filed a habeas corpus writ petition in the High Court of Karnataka and traced the child with the foster mother. The counsel for the genetic mother contended that the genetic parents of the child have undergone severe agony for a year or so. The counsel also highlighted the difficulties of a lactating mother from whom the sucking infant is kept away. 

The Court, after hearing both the parties, observed that the custody should be given to the genetic mother. Justice Krishna S. Dixit observed “breastfeeding needs to be recognized as an inalienable right of lactating mother; similarly, the right of the suckling infant for being breastfed too has to be assimilated with mother’s right; arguably, it is a case of concurrent rights; this important attribute of motherhood is protected under the umbrella of Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”

The Court also said that it is unfortunate that the child had to suffer for no fault of his and remained un-breastfed since the genetic mother had no access to him until now. 

The argument on behalf of the foster mother that the genetic mother has two children while the foster mother has none, the Court said that “children are not chattel for being apportioned between their genetic mother and a stranger, on the basis of their numerical abundance.”

Later, the Court was told that the foster mother has delivered the custody of the child to the genetic mother, who in turn, agreed that the foster mother may see the child whenever she desires.

Noting this, the Court said that “such kind gestures coming from two women, hailing from two different religious backgrounds, are marked by their rarity, nowadays; thus, this legal battle for the custody of the pretty child is drawn to a close with a happy note, once for all.”

With these observations, the Court directed that there shall be no cause of action against the foster parents concerning the alleged kidnapping of the child and freed the foster mother from all civil and criminal liabilities and disposed of the two writ petitions. 

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By Neha Bhupathiraju

President Ram Nath Kovind has cleared nine names for alleviation to the Supreme Court recommended by the collegium, including three women judges:

  • Justice Hima Kohli, Chief Justice of Telangana High Court
  • Justice B.V Nagarathna, Judge, Karnataka High Court
  • Justice Bela Trivedi, Judge, Gujarat High Court

This is refreshing, because the judiciary has long been criticized for lack of representation. At present, Justice Indira Banerjee is the lone serving woman judge at the Apex Court set to retire in 2022, and she is among the 8 women judges who have served there since 1989. It is also for the first time in history that we’re witnessing three woman judges appointed at the sametime. India has never seen a woman chair the Chief Justice of India.

Justice Hima Kohli is the first woman Chief Justice of the Telangana HC. She was a Delhi HC judge before her appointment to Telangana. She began her practice at Delhi in 1984. She has made stellar progress in her 7 month office at Telangana HC.

Justice B.V Nagarathna began her practice in 1987. She was appointed as an Additional Judge at Karnataka HC in 2008 and as a permanent judge in 2010. Justice Nagarathna might also become the first Chief Justice of India in 2027.

Justice Bela Trivedi was elevated as an Additional Judge at the Gujarat HC in 2011. She was also transferred to Rajasthan HC and received a permanent Judge status at Gujarat HC in 2016. 

Why does it matter?

The world has long been androcentric, and it has not left any stone untouched – whether it is how we understand rights and morality or issues of policy, an androcentric worldview can only be challenged by someone who does not belong to it. Women and queer persons have a hard time navigating the justice system, whether they’re a complainant or a practicing advocate. Minority representation at an office like judiciary opens several avenues for those who need judicial intervention to live a safe and secure life. They bring fresh and crucial perspectives to the table that would’ve otherwise been ignored if it weren’t for their seat at the table. It is not unknown that several laws, including language of the law, are based on incorrect notions of gender and/or sexuality. Appointments like these challenge just that. A seat at the table is the fuel for a better tomorrow. But we have a long way to go. 

Out of 1079 judges at the HCs, only 82 are women. The Collegium is also known to prioritize geographical diversity over ethnic/gender/caste/other minorities and it doesn’t bode well for future appointments either. The situation at lower judiciary is however slightly better, with a 36% women representation between 2007- 2017 in 17 states. 

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By Srinivas Rayappa

“I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things we could use” – Mother Teresa

Bengaluru, touted as the Silicon Valley of the East and the Technological Hub of India, has in recent years earned the ignominious title of ‘garbage city’ due to abysmal planning and a broken waste management system. At present, Bengaluru generates about 2,800 tonnes of mixed waste on a daily basis. This is currently dumped in landfills, which are unhygienic, unsustainable and are under scrutiny from the Karnataka High Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

People are seen scrunching their noses, complaining about the unbearable stench and grumbling about how their area has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, but very few have taken any concrete steps to find a viable solution to the problem. However, Ms. Nivedha RM has set out on a journey to put an end to this menace.

Nivedha was in her third year of chemical engineering at Bengaluru’s R V College of Engineering when she and a group of friends cleared a lane near their college, where garbage had piled up over time and remained uncleared. This initiative made headlines in a local magazine which gave her the much needed recognition to pursue a larger goal of cleaning up Bangalore.

In her vicinity, Nivedha saw that all kinds of waste – stale food, diapers, blood, used syringes, plastic were strewn around on the streets. She was always frustrated to see the litter on the streets close to her house which would often stink and would get obnoxious when the garbage was burnt once a week by the authorities. She and her friends decided that they had to put an end to this menace and started cleaning the garbage themselves. But, unfortunately after a few days of cleaning, the garbage was back on the streets. Nivedha felt she had failed because she had only temporarily solved the problem but had failed to identify the root cause of the problem.

Determined to pursue her goal, Nivedha and her team decided to do a door-to-door campaign in an attempt to help educate people about the need to segregate waste at the source. But convincing people to change their age-old habits was a daunting task. She then began to research online to find ways in which this problem could be resolved, only to end up being frustrated because she could not find any feasible solution. Nivedha almost gave up.

One day, a 3 year old girl who was playing by the roadside, slipped and fell into a burning pile of garbage and lost her life. Nivedha was deeply anguished to hear the wails and cries of the young girl, but little could she do to help save her life. This incident left a deep impact in the mind of Nivedha and her resolve to pursue her goal of finding a solution to this menace was cemented.

Nivedha furthered her research on the internet to find any product which could segregate waste but was disappointed not to find any solution across the globe. Hell-bent on trying to fix the problem, Nivedha decided to build her own system which could get the job done. She decided to meet industry veterans and share her idea hoping somebody would help her pursue her goal. However, she was dismayed to learn that several people had attempted this feat before and had failed miserably. The only advice she got from these veterans in the industry is to not waste her time trying to fix this problem and to go find a rewarding career. Nivedha who came from a humble middle-class family was distraught by the responses she got. But the wails and cries of the 3 year old continued to haunt her and she set out to build her own machine. 

Within 5 months, Nivedha built a working model of a system from scratch and was partially successful in segregating waste. Enthused by the results, she decided to demonstrate her product to all her critics who had advised her against treading on this path. Unfortunately, on the day of the demonstration, the system failed within five seconds of being switched on, as the motor jumped out of the machine and she was totally distraught. The mocking of people left her devastated and she was convinced that all her critics were indeed right in advising her not to pursue this endeavor. She decided that this was the end of the road and she must now focus on pursuing a job.

One call with her mother however changed everything. Her mother reminded her of the loss of the precious life of the 3 year old in the burning waste and the need to bring about change, else the menace could engulf the entire society one day in the near future. Her mother also reinforced Nivedha the need to put in dedicated and sincere efforts until all the possibilities were exhausted and not to bother about the end outcome. She also assured Nivedha that she would support her daughter fulfill her dreams with whatever meager income that she had. 

This call with her angel mother gave her the much needed oxygen to pursue her goal. Nivedha spent the next few months visiting garbage dump sites across the city to study the different types of wastes and the potential ways to deal with this abundance of litter. Thanks to her continued efforts, she embarked on a journey which was nothing less than an adventure where she chanced upon some of the most interesting people, who eventually quit their lucrative jobs to join her in her efforts to clean the city. Now equipped with manpower and intelligence from diverse spectrum of society, her team methodically and meticulously built a system which could segregate waste, a system which was deemed impossible to build by the so-called experts. Nivedha had made her “Impossible Dream” come true. Thus was born ‘Trashcon Labs Private Limited.’ 

Trashcon Labs, with its technology enabled solutions, is helping the world dispose off waste in a responsible manner by turning every bit of waste into something of value that is not perceived as waste. Their flagship product, Trashbot starts at Rs. 9 lakh and the price varies on capacities. Societies can process their waste and connect it to a biogas plant or composting unit. The gas can be used for cooking purposes, while compost in the gardens. Plus, they can sell the non-biodegradable waste to Trashcon and generate revenue too. 

Some of their esteemed clientele include Adani Port in Mundra, Gujarat and Airports Authority of India, Chennai. 

In recognition of her work in providing unconventional solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems, the Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry, Torbjørn Røe declared Nivedha the winner of the 2019 Impact Maker Awards which carried a prize money of Rs. 40 lakhs. The Impact Maker Awards has been instituted by the Norway-based group Xynteo, and consists of major companies like Unilever, Mastercard, General Electric and Tatas. Xynteo has also extended support to Nivedha to help her scale up the production which currently stands at ten machines a month. 

In an interview to BetterIndia, Nivedha says, “When I started working at the dumpsite, my friends were getting an MBA. They would joke and mock me as a ‘kachrewali’ (waste-picker). But now, when I look back, the recognition and the blessings of people we impacted, outweigh any doubts. With every tonne of waste I saved from entering landfills, I impacted 4,000 lives (1 kg per household of four). We now want to reach every village and city and prove that waste is wealth.”

Even though Nivedha could not save the 3 year old girl from losing her life in the burning pile of waste, she has now ensured that more young children do not fall victim to the garbage menace plaguing cities across the globe.

To learn more, please contact Nivedha at nivedha@trashcon.in

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