Legitimacy of Law

Introduction Law is a set of rules and regulation framed by the government so that the people of country as well as government can follow them. When it comes to law most of people are scared from the law they think that the law will not give their rights and freedoms but they are wrong. Laws are framed for the country only so they can know about them and can claim their rights. Well our system is not performing according to their competency. The country has passable laws but glitches arise when they are not implemented in letter and spirit and many people seek legal recourse when such problems arise. There are laws for almost everything. For example they have labor law, narcotics act, IPC etc. But still India is lacking behind in the name of justice and there is exploitation of the people who are living in the country. India has a common law legal system innate from the colonial era. India follows the laws passed by the britishers, they passed Indian Contract Act, Indian Penal Code (IPC) there are only the amendments otherwise the Indian government is following the same laws that were given by the britishers. Indian law is different for religion, Hindu religion follows their own laws, and Muslims follows their Islam law and Sikhs their own law. There is no uniformity in the laws, the working, and punishment, trial everything is different. Child Labour Act 1986 Child Labour Act[1] was passed in the year 1986 with an objective that there will be no child labours in future because there were many cases and incidents that proved that the children are forced to work, they are not paid properly for their work and apart from that they were forced to work more than their capacity. Part A of act says that the child who has not completed the age of fourteen is not allowed to work at catering at railway establishments, construction work on the railways or anywhere near the tracks, automobile garages, plastic factories, industries etc. because it is harmful for children at this trifling age, it can harm them physically, there health can be at the risk this can create problems in their future. There is a law as well there are restrictions but still we can see there are children who are working in the industries, automobile garages and they are exploited, they can be poor, they don’t have money to eat but we cannot let them work in such harmful places. One wrong incident can lead their life to an end or can render it useless but no one cares about it, they just want to get their work done in the low pay. The employer makes full use of children workers they are assigned same work as much as it is assigned to adult but they are paid less and their working hours are more than the adult.  The child labour is such a big crime but the penalties under it is less the minimum fine under it is Rs. 10,000 and the maximum can be Rs. 20,000 with the imprisonment of 3 months or it can extend to a year, it can be with fine or without fine as stated in Section 14 (1) of Child Labour Act 1986. What do you think, is this punishment sufficient for such crimes like child labours that is spoiling the lives of young children? According to me this punishment is not sufficient and there should be much more strict punishment than this so that it cannot be repeated again. Survey report of NSSO[2] of 2009-10 shows that in India still there are 49.84 lakhs children who are working as a child labour. This is a concern for our country. If the future of country will waste their education in young age then how we will get the good working youth for the country. How? Child Marriage Act 1929 Child marriage act was passed in 1929 with the objective to totally remove the child marriage from the country, in whole India this practice was continued that once the boy turns 12 and girls turn 10 it is time for their marriage. In this trivial age of education and playing games they are getting married. Even they don’t know what the marriage is? What is all this stuff pujas, pheres all these things happening in such small age and when they understand about it later at the age when they are matured, in the many cases boy leaves the girl for his own reasons or as directed by the family, now what girl will do? She cannot do other marriage, as our system is very conservative second marriages of boys are acceptable but the second marriage of girl is not at all. Society will raise the question of dharma, shastras, purans etc. they will say that you are not allowed. The whole life of that girl gets ruined. Now she has to spend all her life with her parents, till her parents are alive she can get food after they are dead who will feed her? She is not educated at all, she might know little work but that will not help her in earning her livelihood. This act was passed so that it can cure the problems of child labour but the condition is different. Child marriage is clearly in disruption of the rights of the girl child, who, by law, is entitled to be free from all forms of discrimination, humiliating treatment, slavery and mistreatment. The weft of legal provisions that start from international human rights law, constitutional guarantees of gender equality and gender friendly law offer these rights, but sadly, implementation is lacking. India is anticipated to have over twenty four million child brides. Fourty percent of the world’s sixty million child weddings take place in India according to the National Family Health Survey. India has the 14th highest rate of child marriage in the world, as data given by the International Center for Research on Women. There are many effects of child marriage like girls who get married at an early age are often more subject to the health risks associated with early sexual beginning and childbirth, including HIV and obstetric fistula. Young girls who lack status, power and maturity are often subjected to domestic violence, sexual abuse and social separation. Early marriage almost always deprives girls of their learning or meaningful work, which contributes to tenacious poverty. Child Marriage disseminates an unrelenting cycle of gender inequality, sickness and poverty. Getting the girls married at an primary age when they are not physically mature, leads to highest rates of maternal and child mortality. How the law can be properly implemented? Well the law cannot be implemented in just one day or two days. It is a process that has to be started and then the laws can be properly implemented and it can work for the welfare of the people. Responsibilities are in the head of advocates, police officers, and citizens to look after it and raise voice against the exploitation or wrong that are happening in the society. In order to effectively address violence against females, laws and national action plans should require the engagement of and direction between multiple sectors and groups, both public and private. This section discusses measures specifically related to certifying that the police and other law enforcement officials effectively implement laws on violence against women, children and citizens. The quality of police work is crucial for implementation. If the police force is not active in the society then crime will happen and no one will be serious. Parliament passes the law but the proper implementation can be with the help of police force. It requirescoordination with other entities. Creation of special units will help in the proper implementation. Police force with specialized training required for work can help them. The advocates are the one who can help in the proper implementation. They are the one appointed by the peoples who can fight for their interest and rights. Advocate with good knowledge of law can help the peoples, they will give the legal advice, and they will tell what to do and what not. They can guide them properly and can claim their rights. Education plays an important role in the implementation of the law. Educated citizens know their rights and duties; they can raise their voice for it and can fight against it. Government has to take initiative regarding this; parliament passes and amends the law. They have to look on the peoples who are suffering. There was an amendment in Child Labour Act in 2016, after the amendment penalties amount and the imprisonment period was also increased. And it was changed to that owner will be directly liable for it and if held liable he will face penalty of Rs 60,000 or 2 years imprisonment or both. Under the proposed changes, even the parents are liable if they force children below 14 years to work, they will be fined Rs 5,000 and imprisonment between six months to one year. It is a good change we can say that but we need something more so the day will come when people will say, “We are happy that we got the justice” Conclusion Problems comes with solutions, we want India to get rid of the problems specially when it comes to cases that are pending in courts. We have to increase judges of courts so more the judges the cases will be solved rapidly and there will be proper implementation of law. It was said by the King Martin Luther, “Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.” So we don’t want to stop the progress, we want India to develop more and more. Originally Published in ICFAI Law School, Hyderabad official magazine 'The Student'. Published here with all permissions.   [1] Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 http://www.childlineindia.org.in/child-labour-prohibition-and-regulation-act-1986.htm [2] NSSO Data on Child Labour http://labour.gov.in/sites/default/files/FAQ_child_labour.pdf