Monsoon Session Of Parliament: Highlights

The Monsoon Session of the Parliament from July 18 to August 10 witnessed a lot of action, with several bills getting passed. The highlights of key legislative actions during the Monsoon session are given below:Specific performance of contract to be the norm : Amendment to Specific Relief ActThe Parliament passed the Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill 2018, proposing to bring significant amendments to Specific Relief Act 1963. On July 23, the Rajya Sabha passed Amendment Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on March 15, 2018.One of the major features of the amendment is that it takes away the discretionary power of courts in ordering specific performance of contract, by stating that specific performance of contract should be compulsorily enforced by the Court. As per Section 10 of the Act (as it stood before amendment) specific performance of contract 'may' be enforced by the Court in its discretion. As a result of wide discretionary powers, the courts often award damages for breach of contract as a general rule and grant specific performance as an exception. As per the present scheme of the Act, to obtain a decree of specific performance, the plaintiff has to appeal to the discretionary powers of the Court on the basis of grounds in Section 20. Section 20( as it stood before amendment) states that the jurisdiction to decree specific performance is discretionary, and the court is not bound to grant such relief merely because it is lawful to do so. This Section 20 has been totally done away with by the amendment, by substituting it with another provision.The amendment wholly substitutes Section 10 by stating that specific performance of a contract shall be enforced by the court. Similar discretionary power of Courts as per Section 11 in granting specific performance in relation to trusts is also taken away by the amendment, by making it compulsory even for trusts.The effect of the amendment will be that the plaintiff can seek specific performance of contract as a matter of course, without having to prove special circumstances. The amendment also introduces the concept of "substituted performance", enabling a party to get the contract performed by a third party at the cost of defaulting party. Read here to know more about other key provisions of the amendment.Interim compensation to complainant : Amendment to Negotiable Instruments ActNegotiable Instruments(Amendment) Bill was passed by the Parliament in this session. The amendment introduces Section 143A in the principal Act for interim compensation up to 20% of the cheque amount to the complainant during the trial proceedings.The amendment also introduces Section 148 in the Act, empowering the appellate court to direct deposit of a minimum of 20% of the cheque amount in appeal by the drawer against conviction, within a period of sixty days. This amount can be released to the complainant and has to be returned to the accused if the appeal is allowed.The amendment was notified by the Ministry of Law and Justice on August 2. The amendment bill passed by the Paliament may be read here.Death for child rape : Criminal Law Amendment The Criminal Law(Amendment) Bill passed by the Parliament makes the rape of a girl below the age of twelve years an offence punishable with death. To this end, the Bill amends provisions of Indian Penal Code(IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure, Evidence Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).It replaces the Ordinance promulgated by the Central Government in April 2018, in wake of the public outcry over Kathua incident of rape and murder of a minor girl.Punishment of rape of a woman is enhanced to minimum of ten years imprisonment from seven years imprisonment. Rape of woman aged below 16 years and 12 years are treated as separate offences. Rape of woman aged below 16 years attracts a minimum punishment of 20 years imprisonment. Rape of woman aged below 12 years is punishable with death penalty.The amendments brought to CrPC mandate completion of investigation within a period of two months. The amendment also bars grant of anticipatory bail to persons accused of raping minors. Read here for more detailed analysis of the amendment.Apex Court Verdict Diluted : SC/ST Act Amendment.The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes(Prvention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill passed by the Parliament on August 9 seeks to dilute the controversial verdict of the Supreme Court in Dr. Subhash Kashinath Mahajan .By way of the Amendment, a new section 18A has been inserted in the Act of 1989, which does away with the court-imposed requirements of undertaking preliminary inquiry and of procuring approval prior to making an arrest. It also restores the unconditional ban on the grant of anticipatory bail in the event of arrest for an offence under the Act.The Amendment expressly overrides any "judgment or order or direction of any court" in as much as it contains a non-obstante clause to that effect.In contrast to the directions...

Monsoon Session Of Parliament: Highlights

Manu Sebastian

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