This article deals with the Provisions of Article 356 of the Constitution of India and talks about President’s Rule in States.

What is Article 356 of the Constitution of India?

Art. 356: Provisions in case of failure of constitutional machinery in State
(1) If the President, on receipt of report from the Governor of the State or otherwise, is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution, the President may by Proclamation:
(a) assume to himself all or any of the functions of the Government of the State and all or any of the powers vested in or exercisable by the Governor or any body or authority in the State other than the Legislature of the State;
(b) declare that the powers of the Legislature of the State shall be exercisable by or under the authority of Parliament;
(c) make such incidental and consequential provisions as appear to the president to be necessary or desirable for giving effect to the objects of the Proclamation, including provisions for suspending in whole or in part the operation of any provisions of this constitution relating to any body or authority in the State Provided that nothing in this clause shall authorize the President to assume to himself any of the powers vested in or exercisable by a High Court, or to suspend in whole or in part the operation of any provision of this Constitution relating to High Courts
(2) Any such Proclamation may be revoked or varied by a subsequent Proclamation
(3) Every Proclamation issued under this article except where it is a Proclamation revoking a previous Proclamation, cease to operate at the expiration of two months unless before the expiration of that period it has been approved by resolutions of both Houses of Parliament Provided that if any such Proclamation (not being a Proclamation revoking a previous Proclamation) is issued at a time when the House of the People is dissolved or the dissolution of the House of the People takes place during the period of two months referred to in this clause, and if a resolution approving the Proclamation has been passed by the Council of States, but no resolution with respect to such Proclamation has been passed by the House of the People before the expiration of that period, the Proclamation Shall cease to operate at the expiration of thirty days from the date on which the House of the People first sits after its reconstitution unless before the expiration of the said period of thirty days a resolution approving the Proclamation has been also passed by the House of the People
(4) A Proclamation so approved shall, unless revoked, cease to operate on the expiration of a period of six months from the date of issue of the Proclamation: Provided that if and so often as a resolution approving the continuance in force of such a Proclamation is passed by both Houses of Parliament, the Proclamation shall, unless revoked, continue in force for a further period of six months from the date on which under this clause it would otherwise have ceased to operating, but no such Proclamation shall in any case remain in force for more than three years: Provided further that if the dissolution of the House of the People takes place during any such period of six months and a resolution approving the continuance in force of such Proclamation has been passed by the Council of States, but no resolution with respect to the continuance in force of such Proclamation has been passed by the House of the People during the said period, the Proclamation shall cease to operate at the expiration of thirty days from the date on which the House of the People first sits after its reconstitution unless before the expiration of the said period of thirty days a resolution approving the continuance in force of the Proclamation has been also passed by the House of the People
(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause ( 4 ), a resolution with respect to the continuance in force of a Proclamation approved under clause ( 3 ) for any period beyond the expiration of one year from the date of issue of such proclamation shall not be passed by either House of Parliament unless
(a) a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, in the whole of India or, as the case may be, in the whole or any part of the State, at the time of the passing of such resolution, and
(b) the Election Commission certifies that the continuance in force of the Proclamation approved under clause ( 3 ) during the period specified in such resolution is necessary on account of difficulties in holding general elections to the Legislative Assembly of the State concerned: Provided that in the case of the Proclamation issued under clause ( 1 ) on the 6 th day of October, 1985 with respect to the State of Punjab, the reference in this clause to any period beyond the expiration of two years

What does the President’s Gazette Notification look like?

When the President takes over control of any State, he/she issues a gazette notification. The following is a sample of the Gazette Notification issued by Ram Nath Kovind when imposing President’s Rule in Maharashtra upon failure of any party / parties being able to form the government in Maharashtra on 12-Nov-2019.

213818

Where can I check the Gazette Notifications of President’s Rule?

You can search for gazette notifications on http://egazette.nic.in which is the official Government Press Website for issue of Gazette Notifications.

For how long can President’s Rule be imposed?

What are the consequences of President’s Rule?

5d25fb70671ebdraft-Model-Tenancy-Act-2019

Download the Draft Model Tenancy Law 2019 by the Ministry of Housing here.

Decision by Justice Gautam Patel.

ordjud

One of the most eloquently written decisions.

Covers matters related to Defamation, Freedom of Speech online, Right to Information Act, Injunctions for Defamation.

“The Plaintiff has an edifice complex. It calls this complex ‘New Cuffe Parade’. It is nowhere near the old — and real — one. It is at Wadala, near the truck terminal. The appellation that Lodha has adopted is a triumph of imagination over geography. Lodha uses this moniker for its Wadala development for one reason only: it adds a cachet of desirability and is supposed to portray excellence, wealth and style. The edifice in question is named ‘Dioro’ in the usual fashion of this builder, using vaguely Italian names for all its buildings. This choice of names is neither irrelevant nor accidental. With other glossy material of a promised lifestyle, it lies at the core of the dispute: this is a case about a promise the Plaintiff is said to have made, one the Defendants say it has not kept, and now cannot keep. “

“At least at this prima facie stage, this narrative is important, but not for the reasons Lodha imagines. Lodha’s narrative is important not for what it says, but for what it does not. It completely suppresses all mention of the fact that Lodha had the entire content of the first 12th November 2018 blog post and audio visual material in an email from Rao on 8th November 2018. Lodha’s plaint makes no mention of this email. We do not know why. If the other emails could be referenced, why not this one? “

“The context has nothing at all to do with mere financing or
even the level of influence or money muscle, but is traceable to an
allegation Mr Rao makes that the entire financing structure is based
on an incorrect statement of the actual carpet area of the flats being
sold. This overlaps what is being said in the previous extract. In
addition, there are incorrect representations as to the phases or
stages of constructions and their date of completion. He illustrates
this by saying that the area mentioned supposedly includes
balconies. Mr Jagtiani’s response, that this is something to which
the purchasers have agreed in their purchase documents, is
underwhelming, and that is putting it mildly. What Rao says is that
financing is obtained on the basis of a carpet area representation
Lodha knows to be inflated and incorrect. This home-grown
definition of carpet area as including balconies (and perhaps flower
beds) is a statement of fact. That is indeed how the carpet area has
been computed. Whether this is lawful or not, and if not, why this
has been done, is an opinion, and falls squarely in the realm of fair
comment. When therefore Mr Jagtiani says that this is ‘per se
defamatory’, he throws down the gauntlet: he challenges Rao to
show that any part of it is true. Once Rao does this, and there is now
supporting material from Nadkarni’s report, it is for Mr Jagtiani to
show that the allegation is without a vestige of truth, and that it was
always so, i.e. that Rao never had any basis for his statement. He
cannot. And so, I have not even turned to Rao for his view.

Lodha may or may not like the use of the word ‘scam’. Courts
are not here to pander to Lodha’s notions of exquisite linguistic
delicacy. If indeed there is this carpet area misstatement in the
agreement itself, and obviously that statement was presented by
Lodha with purchasers having no say in the matter, then there may
be a storm coming with other, far harsher, words looming on the
horizon. The statement is not, prima facie, per se defamatory.

Rao maintains the underlying factual basis. He says it is
inconceivable that any occupation certificate or any form of
certification of fitness for the purpose could ever have been granted
to such basements. It may be that there now exists some form of
certification. That would not mean the underlying deficiencies do
not exist. The issuance of a certificate is a fact, but it does not
postulate the correctness or lawfulness of the issuance of that
certificate. He believes that no such occupation certificate for the
basements, full or partial, could in these factual circumstances ever
have been granted. He maintains that it constitutes a safety, fire and
health hazard. He has a somewhat colourful description of it, but I
will let that pass.

Rao acted as would have any print
journalist. He gave Lodha an opportunity to respond. Lodha did
nothing. In its plaint, it suppresses all mention of this. In this factual
scenario, I do not see how Lodha can be heard to say that it has any
equity on its side entitling it even on these restricted five elements
to a broad order gagging Rao. I am therefore clear that the only
restraint under which I can conceivably place Rao today is that
which he himself volunteers and which I have noted above. Beyond
this not only am I unwilling to go, but I also believe the law will not
let me go.

Rao showed me some documents that indicate that another
flat purchaser took the Right to Information Act route to obtain
some information including copies of the sanctioned plans and
occupation certificate. The Public Information Officer seems to
have sent this on to Lodha for comments. To my very great surprise,
I find that this request for disclosure was opposed tooth and nail
even up to appellate proceedings with Lodha claiming something called ‘commercial confidence’, ‘trade secrets’ and ‘intellectual
property protection’. Against a flat purchaser I do not see how any
vendor of a consumer facility or product can make any such claim.
The implications for Lodha are serious, and none redound to its
credit. Is the flat purchaser not entitled to see a sanctioned plan? An
occupancy certificate? Not entitled at all to any information about
the flat in which he supposed to live? Is he supposed to simply pay
money and then accept whatever he is given to him without
complaint? I do not see how a builder or developer offering flats for
sale is any different from a manufacturer of plastic buckets or any
other consumer product. There is nothing so very special about
Lodha. It has no special immunity or privileges. If there is a defect,
its purchasers, like all consumers, are entitled to entitled to
complain; and they may complain often, and loudly, and in every
available medium. It is no answer for the manufacturer or producer
of a defective product to claim commercial secrecy, confidentiality
or to shelter behind trade secrets or intellectual property protection
laws. The Right to Information Act was brought into force for a
reason and it has an avowed a constitutional mandate. There is no
reason this should be compromised for any builder.

There is the other dimension to this matter. It involves
YouTube in particular, and social media in general. Rao’s journalism
is not in the more traditional form of print. But what of that? Does it
make the slightest difference? There is no different standard of law
that applies to online journalism or comment. If a statement is made
knowing it to be false, without believing it to be true, or in reckless
disregard of the truth, the medium in which it is made is entirely
irrelevant. The statement is actionable. But a statement is not to be
viewed as suspicious only because it is not made in print and is made
only online, or using one or more of the available modern
communications channels or technologies. That new technology
may have made us a noisier society. Certainly there may be
something to be said about the proliferation of what is known as fake
news, but that does not mean that everything about the technology
is evil or undesirable. We should not be misled into assuming that
every recipient of news or information is completely mindless and
will swallow wholeheartedly whatever comes his way.

This article deals with the setup, procedure and working of The Maharashtra State Police Complaints Authority (Maharashtra SPCA) राज्य पोलीस तक्रार प्राधिकरण which is established to receive complaints about Police Officers in Maharashtra.

You can complain about various Police excesses, wrongful arrest, wrongful detention, property grabbing, harassment, human rights violations, custodial violence, custodial death and even malpractice and corruption by police officers. A Complaint against any Maharashtra Police or Mumbai Police  or Pune Police officer is also dealt with by this Authority.

Which laws govern the working of the Maharashtra State Police Complaints Authority?

• Maharashtra Police (Amendment and Continuance) Ordinance, 2014 (Mah. Ord. VIII
  of 2014) Published on 5th April 2014 and deemed to come into force on 1st February 2014.
  Maharashtra Division Level Police Complaint Authority (Administration and Procedure) Regulations, 2018
• Maharashtra Government Resolution No.: NPC-1008/2/CR-6/POL-3, dated 25th July 2008
• Maharashtra Government Resolution No.: PCA-1013/CR-109/Pol-3 dated 15th July 2013

In addition to this, the Supreme Court Case that brought about the Government to form the Complaints Authority was:
Judgment dated 22/09/2006 of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition (Civil) No.310/1996 in Prakash Singh and Others Vs. Union of India and Others.

How many Police Complaints Authorities are existent?

As per the Law, 2 Police Complaint Authorities should be formed:

• State Level
• District Level

However, presently there is only the State Level Complaints Authority which has been setup.

Where is the Maharashtra State Police Complaints Authority located?

The address of the Maharashtra State Police Complaints Authority is:

Maharashtra State Police Complaints Authority (District Level)
4th Floor, MTNL Cooperage Telephone Exchange Building,
Opp. Cooperage Football Ground, Maharshi Karve Road,
Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021.
022-22820045 / 22820046 / 22820067

Second Office is coming up at Konkan Bhavan Navi Mumbai, to hear complaints for Police Officers below the rank of DCP.

Who are the officers who are a part of the Mah. SPCA?

Sr. No.	Designation	Currently (2019)
1.	Chairperson	Justice A V Potdar, Retd. Judge of the Bombay High Court
2.	Member	Shri Prem Kishan Jain, Ex-Addl. Director General of the Maharashtra Police
3.	Member – Civil Society Representative	Shri Umakant Mitkar
4.	Member
5.	Member-Secretary	Additional Director General of Police (Administration) Dr. Pradnya Sarvade,

Does the Maharashtra State Police Complaints Authority (Mah. SPCA) have a website?

The Maharashtra State Police Complaints Authority (Mah. SPCA) official website is still not active. Once it is up, we will provide the URL here.

Notification CR 56...

Notification CR 56

In what format should we complain about the Police to the Mah. SPCA?

Self Attested Declaration

On plain paper (No Court fee required)

I Shri/Smt./Ms. ____________________ son / daughter / wife / widow of_______________________ __________ aged _________ years, permanent and current address as given below, having Aadhaar No. _______________ (self attested copy attached) do swear in the name of God and/or  hereby solemnly affirm and state as follows:

That I am the complainant in the accompanying complaint / have authorized Shri / Smt. / Ms. ______________________________________________________ to file the authorized Shri/ Smt./ Ms.____________________________________________ to file the accompanying complaint as I am unable to file the same because of________________________________________________ ________________________________________ reason.

That the facts stated in the attached complaint in paras __________________________________ are true to the best of my knowledge and in paras ______________________________________ are true to my information and belief.

I therefore request you to enquire into the above complaint and take further action as deemed fit.

Deponent

Name : ________________________

Permanent Address

Within how much time does a complaint have to be filed with the Mah. SPCA?