Why No Death Penalty For Gang Rape In India?

“Brother, please save me, I don’t want to die. I want to live. Those who have done this to me, I want to see them getting a death sentence.”

These were the most emotional last words of Unnao gang rape victim who was brutally gang raped in March and when police allowed those gang rapists to be released on bail then they decided to burn her while she was on her way to attend the court hearing pertaining to this gang rape case as they were hundred percent convinced that the judiciary of India does not hang gang rapists and it is only once in 15 years that a poor Dhananjoy Chatterjee who could not afford fees to hire lawyers and whose petition was drafted by Tihar jail prisoners is hanged and so the chances of very easily escaping from strict punishment are quite bright! Every Indian will get moved to read what this Unnao rape victim said before dying! What was her fault? That she was a women?

Why are rapists released on bail for some time as we saw in case of Unnao gang rape case? Why no security is provided to the victim who was raped? Why the life and safety of victim is not cared for by police as we saw most unfortunately in Unnao which resulted in accused burning her 90% which led to her death later? Why should the strictest action not be taken against all those police cops who ensured that the accused were out on bail and who ensured that gang rape victim got no security?

Should we be proud of our legal justice system which operates at an excruciatingly glacial pace and makes sure that those who commit rape and gangrape coupled with murdering the rape victim by either setting them ablaze as has nowadays become the latest fashion or in some other manner in some cases? All the Judges of Supreme Court, ex Judges, ex-CJIs, legal giants like K Parasaran, Soli J Sorabjee, Kapil Sibal, Harish Salve, Mukul Rohatgi, etc must ponder over it and think of ways by which the waning public faith in our judicial system is restored! If the public faith is destroyed then people will start taking law in their own hands to deliver “instant justice” which can never be good for our country!

It is most shocking that the incidents of not just rape but even gang rape followed by setting ablaze the victim is increasing very rapidly in our country as we saw most recently in Unnao, Hyderabad and many other cities but still we don’t get to read gang hanging! Are gang rapists immune from death penalty? Why is it that under our penal laws there is no mandatory death penalty for gang rape?

Why is it that under our penal laws there is no mandatory life imprisonment also for gang rape as stipulated in Section 376D of the IPC? Why the punishment for gang rape as stipulated in Section 376D of the IPC is “shall not be less than twenty years but which may extend to life”? Why this “discretion bomb” in form of “may” is inserted in Section 376D dealing with gang rape?

Should this “discretion bomb” not be defused promptly by removing it and providing for “mandatory death penalty” considering the irrefutable fact that gang rape incidents are increasing alarmingly in our country followed by even gang burning of gang rape victims as we saw most recently in Unnao and earlier in Hyderabad with a 26-year-old veterinary doctor? Can gang rape be justified under any circumstances? Why then do we see that there is no mandatory death penalty for such offences?

Why different punishment prescribed for gang rape on woman under 16 years of age as prescribed in Section 376DA and that on woman under 12 years of age as prescribed under Section 376DB of IPC? Why only life imprisonment under Section 376DA and not death? Why option of life and death in Section 376DB of IPC? Why not mandatory death penalty?

Why even for repeated offenders there is no mandatory death penalty and why the option of life term is added simultaneously in Section 376E of IPC? All these escape routes must be closed now forever so that rapists are never able to take advantage of the loopholes in our legal system anymore now! But are our politicians, lawmakers and Centre ready to do this or will they be happy with just face saving exercise and lip service? Only time will tell!

Why is it that about 15 to 16 years ago a poor rapist named Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged for rape-cum-murder of a Class XI girl in 2004 and that too on circumstantial evidence alone but no gang rapists are hanged ever? How many times have gang rapists been hanged in our country? Why are they not hanged?

Why gang rapists who even murder their victim as we saw in Nirbhaya case are not hanged till now? Should we keep feeling proud that just one poor Dhananjoy Chatterjee whose petition was drafted by prisoners of Tihar jail as was pointed out by senior Supreme Court advocate Colin Gonsalves was hanged about 15 years back in 2004? Should we not feel ashamed that many thousands of rapists cum killers escape death penalty by exploiting the legal loopholes in their favour?

Should we feel proud that since then not a single rapist has been hanged? Should we feel proud that even though thousands and thousands of rape incidents keep happening all across our country but yet we don’t see any hanging since 2004 when Dhananjoy was last hanged? Should our judiciary, lawmakers, Parliament and Centre feel very proud on this?

Why just recently we saw how people threw flowers on those policemen in Hyderabad who killed those 4 gang rapists when they attacked them as is being alleged and people started celebrating and many politicians started hailing it? Why is it that people are losing faith in the ability of our judiciary to deliver justice in time? Is it not a matter of utmost concern for all of us that encounter killings is being glorified as people believe that the legal system has been designed in such a manner that it ensures that rapists and gang rapists are not hanged for many decades?

Why is it that Arvind Kejriwal who is Chief Minister of Delhi while expressing concern over people’s loss of faith in the criminal justice system openly says that, “People across the country are agitated over reports of horrible rape and murder incidents happening across the country that have come to light of late – whether it is Hyderabad or Unnao [where a rape victim was burnt earlier this week]. That’s a reason why people are expressing happiness and satisfaction over the police encounter in Hyderabad?” Why Kejriwal further says that, “It is also something to be worried about, the way people have lost their faith in the criminal justice system. This demands introspection and all governments must come forward and work together strengthening the criminal justice system and investigating agencies?” We all must seriously introspect on this!

Why is it that even after the killers of Nirbhaya who had been convicted by the Supreme Court and even after five years of death penalty being convicted by the Delhi High Court have not been hanged top death till now? Why their mercy petition keeps hanging? Is this the real beauty of our judicial system for which we should feel proud?

Why even Supreme Court does not say anything on it? Why even in terror cases like the killing of former PM late Rajiv Gandhi, killing of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, mercy petition keeps pending for decades? Should we be proud of this and justify it in the name of “due process”?

The Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu very rightly said that, “What happens even after punishment is given to convicts. We all are witness… appeal, mercy (petition)… can anybody think of having mercy on such people? This kind of violation of dignity of women cannot go on unchallenged. What is required is not a new bill; what is required is political will, administrative skill and then change of mindset and then go for the kill of the social evil.” He also rightly said that minors who know how to rape should not be given any benefit and must be punished just like others! Rightly so!

Why should a definite time not be set for completing rape cases? Why should a definite time not be set for deciding rape cases in lower courts, High Court as well as the Supreme Court also? Why should review petition not be abolished or at least time limit set for deciding it?

Why should mercy petition for heinous crimes like gang rapes and terror cases not be abolished or at least a time limit be set up for deciding it? Why Centre repeatedly ignores such demand made by prominent persons in this regard? Whose interest is served in doing so? Should we be proud of it? Why is it that it takes decades or many years to decide a mercy petition? Why can’t it be decided within few days as pointed out by former Attorney General Soli J Sorabjee?

It is good to note that even our President Ram Nath Kovind rightly pointed out that incidents of demonic attacks on women have shaken the conscience of the country. He rightly said that women safety is a very serious issue and a lot of work has been done on this but much remains to be done. He also advocated that those convicted under the POCSO Act should be deprived of their right to mercy petition as they do not need any such right. Here I would beg to differ with the President most humbly and add that there should be no discrimination of POCSO and others and all the rapists and all the terrorists deserve no mercy petition under any circumstances and even if it is still not abolished it must be decided within a short span of time say a few days or weeks and not in many decades which only gives a potential tool to our adversaries to take potshots at the manner in which anyone can get away even after killing the former PM of India as we saw in case of late Rajiv Gandhi where mercy petition was not decided even after decades!

Why can’t strict and speedy justice be provided to people? Why should the 45% of lawmakers who have been elected to Parliament and who are facing themselves serious charges of rape and murder not be debarred permanently from entering politics until their name is cleared of all charges by the top court itself? Why no law has been enacted in this regard?

Why do we expect that such lawmakers who are themselves facing rape charges will support laws that mandates compulsory death penalty for all rape and terror cases? Are we not foolish? What they will favour is that just a single rapist like the poor Dhananjoy Chatterjee is hanged on the basis of circumstantial evidence alone once in 15 years and no rapists or gang rapists are hanged all these years even after they set the victim ablaze!

They will advise us that law will take its own course! They will advise us to be patient and have faith in India’s judicial system! It is high time and now the Supreme Court too must speak out most strongly against all the inadequacies in our criminal justice system due to which people’s faith in it is getting steadily dwindled as is being pointed out repeatedly in different newschannels, different newspapers and different magazines which is certainly not a healthy sign for a democratic country like India! Parliament too must seriously debate on it and should give this most sensitive issue of woman’s safety and of according nothing but death penalty to those perpetrate the most horrifying crime against women the topmost priority instead of just debating trivial issues like that of onion or tomato or radish! Let’s hope so!

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,

s/o Col BPS Sirohi,

A 82, Defence Enclave,

Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,

Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.

Due Process Of Law For Rapists Must Speed Up Now

It has been repeated ad nauseam that we all must respect law and allow the due process of law to work accordingly. It cannot be denied that “fake encounters” and “extra judicial killings” are a big threat to our Indian democracy. But the biggest threat to our criminal justice system is to justify the excruciatingly glacial pace with which our courts function under the garb of “due process of law”! It is the victims families who bear the maximum brunt because of this which under no circumstances can ever be justified on any ground whatsoever! This cannot be left unattended and it is high time now that the due process of law for rapists must speed up now!

Is it due process of law that thousands of Judges post are lying vacant in trial courts due to which inordinate delay in delivering justice happens? Is it due process of law that an astonishing 38% of sanctioned posts for High Court Judges – 410 of 1,079 posts are lying vacant? Is it due process of law that thousands of Judges post are lying vacant in trial courts? Is it due process of law that we earlier saw how even posts of Supreme Court Judges are lying vacant?

Is it due process of law that witnesses are threatened to turn hostile by dreaded goons due to which they succumb many times out of fear? Is it due process of law that those witnesses who still don’t listen to dreaded goons are liquidated brutally? Is it due process of law that witnesses who speak up against dreaded goons or who are rape victims and inspite of security needs are denied the same by the police due to which they are brutally murdered?

Is it due process of law that rape cases keep pending for many years first in the trial court, then for many years in the High Court and finally in the Supreme Court? Is it due process of law that Public Prosecutors many times skip appearance on crucial hearings due to which rape victim suffers immensely? Is it due process of law that the victim has to wait endlessly for getting justice and she is told clearly by the Judges that don’t expect instant justice and she can get justice after decades of fighting the legal battle in court after following the due process of law?

This must change now and the judicial system must now speed up cases in serious crimes like that of rape among others. Our judicial system needs a lots of changes which will benefit the rape victim. It can be done if there is adequate political will in this regard!

We just saw how amid a chorus of voices in both Houses of Parliament endorsing the encounter killing by Telangana Police of the four accused in the gangrape and murder of a veterinary doctor in Hyderabad, there were a few voices of caution and dissent also that cut across party lines which cannot be ignored. We are a democratic country where “rule of law” prevails and we all as good citizens have to abide by it. There can be no denying or disputing it.

While condemning the Hyderabad police encounter, BJP MP Maneka Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament that, “Whatever happened was terrible for the country. You cannot take the law in your hands. They (accused) would have been hanged anyway.” I agree with Maneka Gandhi’s first two statements that whatever happened was terrible for the country and no one can take law in one’s own hands. There can be no denying it!

But I don’t agree with the third line that, “They (accused) would have been hanged anyway.” Our past experience does not inspire the unflinching confidence which Maneka has tried to demonstrate in our criminal justice system! We cannot run away from the ugly truth that confronts us on this score!

Based on my personal knowledge I will tell what I know on this count. The last time we had the great privilege to see a rapist being hanged was 15 years ago in 2004 when a poor Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged on circumstantial evidence alone with his petition being drafted by Tihar jail prisoners as was pointed out by senior Supreme Court advocate Colin Gonsalves which is nothing but a “miscarriage of justice” because in other similar cases like that of Priyadarshini Mattoo rape cum murder case where the evidence was direct, death penalty was not given because there were “eminent and experienced lawyers” to defend him! Similarly before 2004, it was way back in 1982 that Ranga and Birla were rightly hanged.

But can Maneka Gandhi tell me why is it that just three rapists hanged in last 37 years and why no gang rapists have been hanged ever till now at least to the best of my knowledge? Is this due process of law? Is this the right manner of imparting justice?

What about the other thousands of rapists cum murderers who escape very easily from punishment? Why have they been spared? Is it just because they were able to hire a battery of “eminent and experienced” lawyers who were able to give thousands of reasons for saving their clients from being sent to the gallows? Is this due process of law?

I have just no words of praise for Naresh Gujral who is Rajya Sabha MP of Shiromani Akali Dal and who sums up most eloquently and elegantly by saying that, “Though I feel very strongly for women’s security because I have two daughters, the due process of law is to be followed. The problem is the process of law has become very slow. But still, there has to be process of law. This way, we are walking towards anarchy. We are not savages. There were four accused and a full investigation did not take place and we do not know whether all four were involved or not. This is dangerous.”

In other words, Naresh Gujral who is a learned Rajya Sabha MP and son of former PM IK Gujral has not minced any words to make it very clear that the nub of the problem in our criminal justice system is this: “The problem is the process of law has become very slow.” Why can’t the due process of law for rapists be speed up? Who is stopping it?

It can be done provided there is political will as was very rightly acknowledged by none other than the Vice President – M Venkaiah Naidu himself. He said that, “I am not against any bill or new law, but what I always feel is political will and administrative skills to kill the social evil are needed. Change in the mindset is the need of the hour and that we should go back to the roots and culture. Looking at such incidents from the prism of religion and politics would ensure that the “cause is lost”.” Very rightly so!

Why can’t Centre display adequate political will and take the bull by the horns? Why can’t thousands of rapists be hanged by ensuring greater speed in “due process of law” which presently is moving at snail’s pace? The ball certainly lies clearly in the Centre’s court and it must now take the historic initiative in this regard just like it did on Article 370 which invited praise from many Congress and other opposition leaders also!

Having said this, it must be pointed out that on new laws, the Vice President said that, “Bringing new laws was not the solution. We brought a Bill on Nirbhaya. What happened? Was the problem solved?”

With due respect to Vice President whom I adore, I must tell him that he is right that they brought a Bill on Nirbhaya but it did not solve the problem. In the same vein, I must tell him even though it would seem unpalatable that the Bill on Nirbhaya was riddled with inconsistencies and there were too many “escape routes” which were exploited fully. Why mercy petition for rapists and terrorists have not been abolished? Why no time limit fixed for deciding mercy petition?

Why mandatory death penalty not inserted in Bill on Nirbhaya? Why Judges were armed with “discretion bombs” in form of “may” in the new Sections inserted by the 2018 amendment which now must be defused by removing “may” and punishing those who commit rape as in Nirbhaya case with mandatory death penalty? Was it done earlier? Certainly not!

Why even for repeated offenders of rape there is no mandatory death penalty? Why “escape route” in form of “life imprisonment” still open in the Bill on Nirbhaya? Why should rapists get a chance again ever to commit rape again and still not get death penalty compulsorily?

Why no time limit was fixed for trial court, High Court and also Supreme Court to decide the case? Why was it allowed to linger on for so long? Why minimum punishment for gang rape was fixed at 20 years?

Why no mandatory death penalty was fixed for gang rape? Why maximum punishment was fixed only at life and not death? Why time limit not fixed for filing review and mercy petition and also for deciding them?

Whose interest did all this serve by leaving it totally untouched? It goes without saying that it was the accused rapist who gained the most due to all this just like we saw earlier prior to bringing of a Bill on Nirbhaya. Can the Vice President deny this? Certainly not! But certainly Vice President is right in advocating that minor rapists whop know how to rape must be punished just like other adult!

I must also admire what Trinamool Congress Leader in the Rajya Sabha – Derek O’ Brien said about this. He very rightly said that, “The problem needs a solution without politics. West Bengal has 48 fast track courts of which 46 are for dealing with cases of violence against women. I strongly believe it’s a social evil. We need to solve this without politics. Quick justice is the need of the hour, but we need the rule of law. This is a very emotional issue, a sensitive issue.”

More importantly, selective hanging of rapists as we saw in case of poor Dhananjoy Chatterjee must stop once and for all. All rapists irrespective of their background must be hanged and killed promptly just like mosquitoes! No discrimination based on economic and social status should be done on this score!

Also, those who are poor like Dhananjoy Chatterjee must be given the best lawyer so that “due process of law” is actually implemented on ground and it is not the prisoners of Tihar jail who draft his petition which ostensibly had to be rejected as it was poorly drafted! What a shame that Dhananjoy Chatterjee’s application was drafted by Tihar jail inmates as was pointed out by senior Supreme Court advocate Colin Gonsalves which is nothing but the supreme rather worst travesty of justice as he was hanged on circumstantial evidence alone whereas in other similar cases the accused rapist were not given death penalty! This nothing but abuse of “due process of law”!

This should never be allowed under any circumstances to happen! Why should rich rapists be allowed to walk away even after raping, committing murder and committing gang rape? To walk the talk, no rapist irrespective of his economic status should ever be spared under any circumstances and this is when we can then say that “due process of law” has been followed!

Most importantly, the due process of law for rapist must be speed up. The time limit for completing trial in trial courts as well as time for deciding cases in High Courts and Supreme Court must be fixed and should be accorded the topmost priority as it brooks no inordinate delay! Centre and also Supreme Court must act in tandem to ensure this.

To sum up, Julio Ribeiro who is a retired IPS officer and who was Mumbai Police Commissioner, DGP Gujarat and DGP Punjab and whom I hold in highest esteem very rightly says that, “The Telangana police unit which shot dead the four suspects in the veterinary lady doctor’s rape-cum-murder offence were likely carrying out a mandate entrusted to it by their own leaders who, in turn, will have received instructions from political superiors. The public baying for blood is a symptom of a puzzled and ill-informed society. Until the system of judicial process is put back on the rails, these short-cuts will continue. How does the government – with the judiciary, the Bar and the police, all components of the judicial process – correct all these flaws in the system? For starters, the court must hold daily hearings in such cases without any interruption. No adjournments should ever be given. If lawyers are busy with other cases, they must take steps to send their juniors to attend those other cases instead. All stakeholders in the judicial process must sit across the table and take a decision to speed up the trials of rape and murder cases, at least.”

He further adds that, “When I was a young student of law, those accused of heinous crimes like murder or rape were tried swiftly and punished or set free, as the evidence on record dictated, within a year. The average time taken was eight or nine months, during which time the accused were in the custody of jailors. The hearings were held daily, and no adjournments were asked for or given. The public prosecutor and the lawyer of the accused were invariably present in court to rise in their seats when the presiding judge entered at the appointed hour of the morning. The witnesses were kept ready outside the court and would be ushered inside the courtroom when his or her name was called by the judge’s clerk. There was great precision and solemnity to this whole process. Sadly, this has disappeared now with advocates for the prosecution or the defence seeking adjournments, often on flimsy grounds. Sadder still, they are able to obtain it without any difficulty. The entire atmosphere has been transformed into one witnessed routinely in the courts of the lower judiciary. Delays in the disposal of trials of those accused who are charged with murder and rape, or other heinous crimes, has warped the judicial system. If those who dare to commit such crimes feel that there is laxity within the system, where the chances available to suborn witnesses are enhanced, then the threat of law catching up with offender retreats. An atmosphere of lawlessness creeps in. It is exactly this atmosphere of lawlessness that presently prevails. The middle class, who form the bulk of the opinion makers in any country, put pressure – subtle or overt – on the governments of the day to preserve their sense of security in anyway possible. Since the judicial system does not operate as smoothly as it used to in the past, popularly elected governments, in turn, put pressure on the police forces to use other methods to solve the problem.”

It is high time now and both the judiciary and the Centre must take the suggestions of Julio Reibero who has a vast experience of police service most seriously and implement his commendable suggestions! Rape laws must be earnestly expedited and all laws which affect women must be speed up so that women gets justice as per due process of law and not by encounters! Only then will people start respecting judiciary in the true sense and people’s unflinching faith which earlier was there shall stand restored once again!

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,

s/o Col BPS Sirohi,

A 82, Defence Enclave,

Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,

Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.

Delhi HC Issues Directions For Streamlining The Recording Of Victims

It is good to learn that while unambiguously highlighting the inevitable and invaluable importance of efficient recording of witness testimonies in a criminal trial, the Delhi High Court most recently in a latest, landmark and extremely laudable judgment titled Court On Its Own Motion Vs State in Crl. Ref. 2/2019 delivered on February 28, 2020 has issued a series of directions for collecting the evidence given by victims/witnesses, who are foreign nationals, in cases of sexual assault. This was imperative also so that the matter was decided swiftly. If this was not done then the cases as usual would have continued inordinately and this would certainly hamper the speedy and swift delivery of justice!

To start with, this notable judgment authored by Justice Manmohan for himself and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal first and foremost sets the ball rolling by pointing out in para 1 that, “The subject-matter of the present Criminal Reference is reproduced below:

“There is no law/guidelines by which the court can seek intervention/involvement of the MHA and/or concerned Embassy/High Commission/Consulate for making necessary arrangements for recording of testimony of the victims/witnesses who are foreign nationals in cases of sexual assault even when the victim is very much available and has offered to get her testimony recorded. There is an urgent need to redress the issue so that the case involving victims, who are foreign nationals, do not result in imminent acquittal for want of recording of testimony of the victim/witnesses and further that the case does not remain pending in the system inordinately.””

In hindsight, para 2 then puts forth that, “It was brought to our attention that on 11^th February, 2009, the Ministry of Home Affairs (hereinafter referred to as ‘the MHA’) issued the ‘Comprehensive Guidelines Regarding service of summons/notices/judicial process on persons residing abroad’ (‘2009 Guidelines’) that laid down the procedure for the service of summons on witnesses residing abroad, for the purpose of recording their evidence. These guidelines of 2009 clarified that the MHA on behalf of the Central Government had entered into reciprocal arrangements with foreign governments for service of summons/warrants/judicial processes, as required under Section 105 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The reciprocal arrangements were in the form of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (‘MLAT’) with other countries.”

As it turned out, para 3 then states that, “During the pendency of the present proceedings, the MHA revised and updated its 2009 Guidelines with a view to comprehensively codify guidelines covering a gamut of issues including issuance of Letters Rogatory, mutual legal assistance requests, service of summons, notices, judicial processes including request for video conferencing, protection and preservation of data and extradition requests.”

Needless to add, it is then pointed out in para 4 that, “The comprehensive and updated Guidelines on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (the ‘MHA Guidelines, 2019’) was approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs and have also been placed before this Court.”

To put things in perspective, it is then added in para 5 that, “Vide order dated 29^th November, 2019, this Court took on record the detailed report handed over by the learned Amicus Curiae and extracted salient features of the said report. The Union of India and the Government of NCT of Delhi were directed to file a response to the report of the learned Amicus Curiae.”

As a corollary, it is then pointed out in para 6 that, “The Union of India (through the Ministry of Home Affairs) has filed its response on 17^th January, 2020 endorsing the comments of the learned Amicus Curiae.”

Be it noted, it is then disclosed in para 7 that, “The Delhi Police has also filed a status report dated 11^th February, 2020 through the learned Standing Counsel (Criminal). The Report submitted by the learned Amicus Curiae had recommended that the Investigating Officer should collect relevant personal information, including passport and visa details of the witness residing abroad so that the process is immediately commenced for the issuance of summons to such witness as per the MHA Guidelines, 2019 and trial is set into motion. In paragraph 4 of the status report filed by the Delhi Police, it is stated that instructions have been issued by the DCP, Legal Cell, Police Headquarters, Delhi, vide No. 762-90/Court Cell (DA-1)/PHQ dated 20^th January, 2020 to all supervisory and Investigating Officers to ensure strict compliance with the suggestions of the learned Amicus Curiae, incorporated in the order of this Court dated 29^th November, 2019.”

What follows next is narrated in para 8 that, “In response to the learned Amicus Curiae’s suggestion that necessary amendments be made to the Delhi Criminal Courts (Payments of Expenses to Complainant and Witnesses) Rules, 2015, to incorporate the costs and payments for transmission of summons, notices and judicial processes, payments to witnesses including expert witnesses etc., the Government of NCT of Delhi has placed on record a letter dated 23^rd January, 2020 issued by the Principal Secretary (Law, Justice and LA). By way of this letter, it has been brought to this Court’s notice that since the Delhi Criminal Courts (Payments of Expenses to Complainant and Witnesses) Rules, 2015, have been notified on the basis of a set of rules forwarded by this Court vide letter 8256/Rules/DHC/2013 dated 18^th March, 2013, this Court has been requested to take necessary action for amending the rules and to forward the recommendations/set of rules to the Department of Law, Justice and LA, for compliance.”

Directions to the Government of NCT of Delhi

To be sure, it is then enunciated in para 9 that, “The learned Amicus Curiae proposes that the following amendment be made to the Delhi Criminal Courts (Payment of Expenses to Complainant and Witnesses) Rules, 2015:-

“Chapter 5

Payment of expenses in cases of persons residing abroad

The expenses for service of summons, notices and judicial processes, on persons residing abroad, and for recording of statement or collecting of evidence through video-conferencing:-

The actual expenses for service of summons, notices and judicial processes, on persons residing abroad, expenses sufficient to defray the cost of travelling of the witness within the territory of the Requested Country to a point where evidence is to be recorded through video-conferencing, the cost of establishing the live video-conferencing link, the remuneration of interpreters/translators provided by the Requested Country, expenses of preparing soft copies, certified copies of the relevant evidence and documents by the Coordinator at the Requested Country to the Court, and such other ancillary expenses as may arise, shall be paid on receipt of such demand for payment from the Requested Country, as applicable under the provisions of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, or any other bilateral or multilateral treaty, or any other international instrument existing between India and the Requested Country, as the case may be.””

While continuing in the same vein, it is then also added in para 10 that, “The above proposed amendment may be placed before the Rules Committee of this Court for consideration, and if approved, be forwarded to the Principal Secretary (Law, Justice & LA), Government of NCT of Delhi, for necessary compliance.”

Video-Conferencing Guidelines

To say the least, para 11 then makes it clear that, “This Court has also issued guidelines laying down the procedure to be followed for Video Conferencing titled as ‘Video Conferencing Guidelines Issued by the High Court of Delhi: Guidelines for the Conduct of Court Proceedings between Courts and Remote Sites’, which were subsequently incorporated as Annexure B to the Delhi High Court (Original Side) Rules, 2018, and are applicable to both civil and criminal cases.”

More significantly, para 12 then minces no words in saying in simple and straight language that, “Having gone through the Report of the learned Amicus Curiae, and the need to ensure that the Video-Conferencing Guidelines issued by this Court are in conformity with the MHA Guidelines, 2019, we deem it appropriate to issue the following directions:

Directions for the High Court of Delhi

Replace existing Rule 3.4(i) with the following:-

(i) Where the person to be examined is overseas, the Court may specify the coordinator out of the following:-

(a) the official of the Consulate/Embassy of India,

(b) duly certified Notary Public/Oath Commissioner.

Notwithstanding the above, in criminal cases, the Coordinator at the remote point shall be appointed by the Competent Authority in the Requested Country in terms of paragraph 4.9 of the MHA Guidelines, 2019, and may be any of the following:

a) the Central Authority of Requested Country,
b) if the law of Requested Country permits, the official of Consulate/Embassy of India.
Incorporate the following as Rule 6.12:-

“6.12. In criminal cases, all relevant documents sought to be put to the witness by the Prosecution/Complainant and the Defence, must be scanned, identified and numbered, and translated into a language that the witness is familiar with (if required). The same should be sent to the Coordinator in the Requested Country prior to the hearing, under strict instructions of confidentiality.”

It would be instructive to note that para 13 then observes that, “The above proposed amendments may be placed before the Information Technology Committee of this Court, for consideration.”

Practice Directions for all Trial Courts

Most significantly, it is then elucidated in para 14 that, “This Court is of the view that certain practice directions may also be issued to all criminal courts in order to streamline the procedure for service of summons, notices, and judicial processes, on witnesses residing abroad, and for recording their evidence through video-conferencing.

For the purpose of service of summons/notices/judicial processes on persons residing abroad, the Trial Courts must follow the procedure as laid out in the MHA Guidelines, 2019. The designated Central Authority in India is the Ministry of Home Affairs, and not the Ministry of External Affairs or any Indian Embassy or Consulate abroad.
It is clarified, however, that the Ministry of Home Affairs does not facilitate the execution of non-bailable warrants of arrest on an individual residing abroad. Such requests are in the nature of extradition proceedings and ought to be forwarded to the Ministry of External Affairs, CPV Division, Patiala House Annexe, Tilak Marg, New Delhi – 110001. Reference may be made to Part VII of the MHA Guidelines, 2019.
For service of summons/notices/judicial processes on persons residing abroad, Trial Courts should ensure compliance of Figure 4.6 of the MHA Guidelines, 2019, under its sign and seal. Trial Courts should additionally comply with the requirements of the checklist contained in Figure 4.3.
At the time of issuance of summons on a person residing abroad, the order of the Trial Court should also indicate whether evidence is to be recorded through video-conferencing.
It must be borne in mind that the MHA requires a minimum of ten weeks for the purpose of transmission of summons/notices/judicial processes on persons residing abroad. The process of establishing video-conferencing links between the Court and the Requested Country can begin only after service is completed. Trial Courts should therefore fix date(s) for recording of evidence, at least 12-13 weeks after its order issuing summons to the said witness.

Trial Courts should separately fix an intermediate date between the date of issuance of summons and the date of recording of evidence, to seek confirmation from the prosecuting agency about the service of summons, and to additionally seek details/information regarding the technical coordinator in the Requested Country, along with the details of the technical link for conducting video conferencing on the date(s) fixed.

Based on the information received on the intermediate date, the Trial Court should direct its own Coordinator to forthwith establish contact with its counterpart in the Requested Country, conduct a mock test of the video-conferencing link prior to the date of recording of evidence, and submit a report in this regard at least three days prior to the date fixed for recording of evidence. On the receipt of the report from Court Coordinator, the documents relied upon by the prosecution and the Defence should be identified, scanned and numbered, and sent to the Coordinator in the Requested Country, under strict instructions of confidentiality. An identical set of the above documents should be made a part of the Court record.
Due to the time taken and the costs involved in summoning witnesses residing abroad and setting up video-conferencing facilities, besides the involvement of bilateral agencies in both countries, Trial Courts should ensure that the date(s) fixed for recording of evidence through video-conferencing are utilised productively. If for some reason the Presiding Judge is unable to hold Court on the date(s) fixed, s/he should ensure, as far as possible, that the evidence is recorded by the Link Judge.”

Directions to the Delhi Police

Be it noted, it is then envisaged in para 15 that, “We have also gone through the status report filed on behalf of the Delhi Police dated 11^th February, 2020. In view of Paragraph 4 of the status report, no further order or directions are required to be issued to them with regard to collection of personal information of the witness residing abroad. However, the Investigating Officer of the case must ensure that information regarding service of summons and details pertaining to video-conferencing links are provided to the Trial Court after obtaining the same from the MHA.”

Directions for Training

Of course, it cannot be missed out that it is then held in para 16 that, “We are also of the view that training sessions for judicial officers, technical staff, and police officials must be conducted to familiarize them with the procedures contained in the MHA Guidelines, 2019, the Video-Conferencing Guidelines issued by the High Court of Delhi, and the Delhi Criminal Courts (Payment of Expenses to Complainant and Witnesses) Rules, 2015.”

Now coming to the concluding paras, it is held in para 17 that, “The learned Amicus Curiae has further submitted that a copy of the MHA Guidelines, 2019, must be uploaded on the websites of this Court as well as of the District Courts. We accordingly direct the same.” Para 18 then states that, “Registry is directed that a copy of this order and the earlier order dated 29^th November, 2019, be circulated to the courts below.” Lastly, it is then held in para 19 that, “In view of the above, no further orders are called for in the present matter and the Registry is directed not to list the same any further.”

No doubt, it is an extremely commendable and well written judgment by a two Judge Bench of the Delhi High Court which must be implemented in totality. It will certainly go a long way in efficient recording of witnesses in a criminal trial in cases of sexual assault. There can be no denying ort disputing it!

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,

s/o Col BPS Sirohi,

A 82, Defence Enclave,

Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera, UP

SC Directs Navy To Grant Permanent Commission For Serving Women SSC Officers

In continuation of the convincing, courageous and commendable judgment delivered by the same Division Bench of Apex Court comprising of Justice Dr DF Chandrachud and Justice Ajay Rastogi on February 17, 2020 that favoured the extension of permanent commission for women in the armed forces so that gender equality is implemented in reality in the case titled The Secretary, Ministry of Defence vs Babita Puniya and others in Civil Appeal Nos 9367-9369 of 2011 with Civil Appeal Nos 1127-1128 of 2013 and with Civil Appeal No 1210 of 2020, we see once again that these same Judges have now in yet another case titled Union of India & Ors vs Lt Cdr Annie Nagaraja & Ors in Civil Appeal Nos 2182-87 of 2020 @ SLP (C) Nos. 30791-96 of 2015 along with others very clearly, convincingly and commendably held that serving women Short Service Commission Officers in Indian Navy were entitled to Permanent Commission at par with their male counterparts. We thus see that the Apex Court Bench thus upheld the 2015 Delhi High Court verdict which had upheld women officer’s claim in this regard! Very rightly so!

To be sure, women were not commissioned in the Navy till the issuance of notification dated 9^th October 1991, whereby for the first time, the power under the enabling provision under Section 9(2) of the Navy Act was exercised to lay down that women would also be eligible for appointment as officers in the Indian Navy. But the induction of women was confined to four branches namely Logistics, Law, ATC and Education. It was also stated by the Ministry then that policy guidelines regarding permanent commission for women will be laid down in 1997. But such guidelines were not laid down until 2008. On 26^th September 2008, the Ministry for the first time took a decision to grant permanent commission to SSC women officers in all the three forces. Regulation 203 of Chapter IX of the Indian Navy Act, 1957 puts no restriction to the grant of permanent commission either gender wise or category wise. But this offer was restricted to certain categories and was also to operate prospectively. As per this policy, only women officers inducted after January 2009 were eligible for permanent commission, that too only in the branches of education, law and naval architecture. The cadre of logistics and ATC which were opened to women for SSC in 1991 were excluded.

Before proceeding ahead, it would be instructive to now mention that the Delhi High Court Division Bench comprising of Justice Kailash Gambhir and Justice Najmi Wazri in Annie Nagaraja and others vs Union of India and others in W.P. (C) 7336/2010, CM Nos. 9348/2012 & 6859/2014 along with others have held the denial of permanent commission to women Short Service Commission (SSC) officers in the Indian Navy in different branches which includes the cadres of Education, ATC and logistics to be discriminatory. It is very rightly held in para 32 of this notable judgment while ordering that permanent commission should be offered to the petitioners that, “We fail to comprehend that when these petitioners along with the male officers had undertaken the same kind of training but nevertheless were denied permanent commission although the men were granted the permanent commission with no special merit except for the fact that they belong to the male sex. If this does not tantamount to gender discrimination then what else does?”

delhi-supreme-court-women-army-personnel-case_f146f432-51ea-11ea-ac83-d06189239a09

Needless to say, in this present case we see that the Apex Court was considering the appeals filed by the Union Ministry against a judgment delivered by the Delhi High Court on September 4, 2015 allowing the claim of women officers for permanent commission. While rejecting the appeals of the Union Government and upholding the Delhi High Court judgment, the Apex Court held that both male and female officers are to be treated equally in granting permanent commission in Indian Navy, once the statutory bar for inducting women in Navy was lifted. Discrimination on the ground of sex as we see here or on the ground of religion or on the ground of region or on any other ground can never be justified under any circumstances!

For the sake of brevity, let us now deal starightaway with the directions passed by the Apex Court in this landmark, latest and extremely laudable judgment. It is held in para 96 that, “We hold and direct that:

(i) The statutory bar on the engagement or enrolment of women in the Indian Navy has been lifted to the extent envisaged in the notifications issued by the Union Government on 9 October 1991 and 6 November 1998 under Section 9(2) of the 1957 Act;

(ii) By and as a result of the policy decision of the Union Government in the Ministry of Defence dated 25 February 1999, the terms and conditions of service of SSC officers, including women in regard to the grant of PCs are governed by Regulation 203, Chapter IX, Part III of the 1963 Regulations;

(iii) The stipulation in the policy letter dated 26 September 2008 making it prospective and restricting its application to specified cadres/branches of the Indian Navy shall not be enforced;

(iv) The provisions of the implementation guidelines dated 3 December 2008, to the extent that they are made prospective and restricted to specified cadres are quashed and set aside;

(v) All SSC officers in the Education, Law and Logistics cadres who are presently in service shall be considered for the grant of PCs. The right to be considered for the grant of PCs arises from the policy letter dated 25 February 1999 read with Regulation 203 of Chapter IX Part III of the 1963 Regulations. SSC women officers in the batch of cases before the High Court and the AFT, who are presently in service shall be considered for the grant of PCs on the basis of the vacancy position as on the date of judgments of the Delhi High Court and the AFT or as it presently stands, whichever is higher;

(vi) The period of service after which women SSC officers shall be entitled to submit applications for the grant of PCs shall be the same as their male counterparts;

(vii) The applications of the serving officers for the grant of PCs shall be considered on the basis of the norms contained in Regulation 203 namely: (i) availability of vacancies in the stabilised cadre at the material time; (ii) determination of suitability; and (iii) recommendation of the Chief of the Naval Staff. Their empanelment shall be based on inter se merit evaluated on the ACRs of the officers under consideration, subject to the availability of vacancies;

(viii) SSC officers who are found suitable for the grant of PC shall be entitled to all consequential benefits including arrears of pay, promotions and retiral benefits as and when due;

(ix) Women SSC officers of the ATC cadre in Annie Nagaraja’s case are not entitled to consideration for the grant of PCs since neither men nor women SSC officers are considered for the grant of PCs and there is no direct induction of men officers to PCs. In exercise of the power conferred by Article 142 of the Constitution, we direct that as a one-time measure, SSC officers in the ATC cadre in Annie Nagaraja’s case shall be entitled to pensionary benefits. SSC officers in the ATC cadre in Priya Khurana’s case, being inducted in pursuance of the specific representation contained in the advertisements pursuant to which they were inducted, shall be considered for the grant of PCs in accordance with directions (v) and (vi) above;

(x) All SSC women officers who were denied consideration for the grant of PCs on the ground that they were inducted prior to the issuance of the letter dated 26 September 2008 and who are not presently in service shall be deemed, as a one-time measure, to have completed substantive pensionable service. Their pensionary benefits shall be computed and released on this basis. No arrears of salary shall be payable for the period after release from service;

(xi) As a one-time measure, all SSC women officers who were before the High Court and the AFT who are not granted PCs shall be deemed to have completed substantive qualifying service for the grant of pension and shall be entitled to all consequential benefits; and

(xii) Respondents two to six in the Civil Appeals arising out of Special Leave Petition (C) Nos 30791-96 of 2015, namely Commander R Prasanna, Commander Puja Chhabra, Commander Saroj Kumar, Commander Sumita Balooni and Commander E Prasanna shall be entitled. In addition to the grant of pensionary benefits, as a one-time measure, to compensation quantified at Rs 25 lakhs each.”

Going forward, it is then held in para 97 that, “We affirm the clarification which has been issued in sub-para (a) of paragraph 50 of the impugned judgment and order of the Delhi High Court.”

Furthermore, it is then held in para 98 that, “Compliance with the above directions shall be effected within three months from the date of this judgment. We accordingly dispose of the appeals.”

Most significantly, it is very rightly and remarkably held in para 91 that, “Once the policy decision of the Union Government was communicated on 25 February 1999, the authorities were bound to consider the claims of the SSC officers for the grant of PC in terms of Regulation 203. The naval authorities and the Union Government failed to do so, depriving them of the entitlement to be considered for the grant of PC. By the failure of the authorities to consider the SSC officers for PCs in terms of the policy communication of 25 February 1999, SSC officers lost out on the opportunity to be granted PCs and all the responsibilities and benefits attached to the grant of PC, including promotions and pensionable service. The situation which has come to pass is due to the failure of the authorities to implement statutory notifications issued under Section 9(2) the policy statement of 25 February 1999 by which they were bound and as the decisions of the Delhi High Court and the AFT.”

Most remarkably, it is then further commendably held in this same para 91 ahead that, “These SSC officers cannot be left in the lurch and the injustice meted to them by lost years of service and the deprivation of retiral entitlements must be rectified. The injustice is a direct consequence of the authorities having breached their duties under law, as explained above. To deny substantive relief to the SSC officers would result in a situation where a breach of duty on the part of the authorities to comply with binding legal norms would go unattended. This would result in a serious miscarriage of justice to the SSC officers who have served the nation and is unsustainable in law.”

Equally heartening to note is that the Apex Court rejected the Centre’s objections based on physiological features of women as “gender stereotypes”! Justice Dr DY Chandrachud while reading the operative part of the judgment minced no words to state commendably that, “Performance at work and dedication to the cause of the nation are the surest answers to prevailing gender stereotypes. To deprive serving women officers of the opportunity to work as equals with men on PCs in the Indian Navy is plainly discriminatory. Furthermore, to contend that women officers are ill-suited to certain avocations which involve them being aboard ships is contrary to the equal worth of the women officers who dedicate their lives to serving in the cause of the nation.”

Words are short to commend these two Judges of the Apex Court – Justice Dr DY Chandrachud and Justice Ajay Rastogi who have delivered this extremely commendable judgment which has opened the door for permanent commission of women in the Navy just like earlier they by their order had similarly opened the doors of permanent commission of women in the Army! They rightly rejected the specious submission that women are not suited for sea sailing duties. It was laudably observed that, “It is impossible to countenance a submission that women cannot sail alongside men sailors.”

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,

s/o Col BPS Sirohi,

A 82, Defence Enclave,

Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,

Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.

Guns Licensed For Self Protection Cannot Be Used For Celebratory Firing: SC

Without mincing any words and without pulling back any punches, a three Judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde and comprising also of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Surya Kant most recently on March 18, 2020 in a notable judgment titled Bhagwan Singh vs State of Uttarakhand in Criminal Appeal No. 407 of 2020 [Arising out of Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 656 of 2018 have sought to send a firm and final message to all the people in our country that guns licensed for self protection cannot be used for celebratory firings and those who still dare to do it would have to pay a heavy cost for doing so! It also expressed its serious concerns on the increasing number of such incidents in our country. There has to be zero tolerance for all such incidents of celebratory firings in which all rules are broken with impunity and the lives of innocents are endangered most shamelessly and most carelessly!

To start with, the ball is set rolling in para 2 of this noteworthy judgment wherein it is observed that, “This Criminal Appeal is directed against the judgment dated 26^th July, 2017 passed by the High Court of Uttarakhand whereby the appellant’s criminal appeal against the judgment and order dated 11^th/12^th July, 2013 rendered by Learned Sessions Judge, Bageshwar convicting the appellant under Sections 302 and 307 of Indian Penal Code (for short, ‘IPC’) and sentencing him to undergo life imprisonment (under Section 302, IPC) and 5 years’ rigorous imprisonment (under Section 307, IPC) along with a fine of Rs. 20,000/- in default whereof he was directed to undergo 6 months additional rigorous imprisonment was dismissed. The appellant was, however, acquitted for offence punishable under Section 25 of the Arms Act for want of the requisite sanction.”

Needless to say, it is then stated in para 3 that, “It may be mentioned at the outset that notice of the special leave petition was issued on the limited question to determine the nature of offence committed by the appellant i.e. whether it falls under the ambit of Section 302 or 304 of IPC. To determine this question the facts may be briefly noted.”

To recapitulate, while narrating the facts it is then observed in para 4 that, “On 21^st April, 2007, the marriage ceremony of the Appellant’s son was taking place at village Dafaut, Uttarakhand, when around 5:30 pm as soon as the marriage procession reached the Appellant’s courtyard – he suddenly fired celebratory gunshots. The pellets struck 5 persons standing in the courtyard namely, Smt. Anita W/o Chanchal Singh, Khushal Singh @ Sonu, Ummed Singh (P.W.6), Smt. Vimla W/o Devendra Singh (P.W.5) and Smt. Vimla W/o Bhupal Singh (P.W.7). The injured were taken to the hospital where two of them – Anita and Khushal Singh @ Sonu succumbed to their injuries. Later at about 8:40 pm, Dharam Singh (P.W.3) filed an FIR at PS Kothwali, Bageshwar, narrating in full detail the incident of which he himself was a witness.”

Be it noted, it is then noted in para 5 that, “After the conclusion of investigation, initially a charge sheet under Section 304, IPC was filed but later on the appellant was charged under Sections 302 and 307, IPC along with Section 25 of the Arms Act.”

Of course, it is then brought out in para 6 that, “The Ld. Sessions Judge held the appellant guilty of offences under Sections 302 and 307, IPC based on testimonies of eye witnesses and injured witnesses. It was noted that Appellant fired shots from his son’s licensed gun causing fatal injuries to Smt. Anita and Khushal Singh and injuring three others. He was consequently sentenced in the manner as briefly noticed in the opening paragraph of the order.”

What follows next is then stated in para 7 that, “The appellant went in appeal before the High Court. His primary contention was that he had no intention to cause anyone’s death. He stated that the firing was by a ball with which some children were playing. The ball struck against the gun in his hand and led to the firing of shots. The occurrence was an admitted fact and the only plea taken was that it being a case of accidental firing, Section 300 punishable under Section 302, IPC was not attracted.” But the High Court rejected his plea as pointed out in para 8.

As it turned out, the Bench then points out in para 15 that, “The trial court as well as the High Court have proceeded on the premise that the appellant’s act by firing from the gun which was pointed towards the roof was as bad as firing into a crowd of persons so he ought to have known that his act of gun-shot firing was so imminently dangerous that it would, in all probability, cause death or such bodily injury as was likely to cause death.”

More significantly, it is then held in para 16 that, “The facts and circumstances of the instant case, however, do not permit to draw such a conclusion. We have already rejected the prosecution version to the extent that the appellant aimed at Smt. Anita and then fired the shot(s). The evidence on record contrarily shows that the appellant aimed the gun towards the roof and then fired. It was an unfortunate case of mis-firing. The appellant of course cannot absolve himself of the conclusion that he carried a loaded gun at a crowded place where his own guests had gathered to attend the marriage ceremony. He did not take any reasonable safety measure like to fire the shot in the air or towards the sky, rather he invited full risk and aimed the gun towards the roof and fired the shot. He was expected to know that pellets could cause multiple gun-shot injuries to the nearby persons even if a single shot was fired. The appellant is, thus, guilty of an act, the likely consequences of which including causing fatal injuries to the persons being in a close circuit, are attributable to him. The offence committed by the appellant, thus, would amount to ‘culpable homicide’ within the meaning of Section 299, though punishable under Section 304 Part 2 of the IPC.”

Most significantly, it is then underscored in para 17 that, “Incidents of celebratory firing are regretfully rising, for they are seen as a status symbol. A gun licensed for self-protection or safety and security of crops and cattle cannot be fired in celebratory events, it being a potential cause of fatal accidents. Such like misuse of fire arms convert a happy event to a pall of gloom. Appellant cannot escape the consequences of carrying the gun with live cartridges with the knowledge that firing at a marriage ceremony with people present there was imminently dangerous and was likely to cause death.”

To buttress its point further, we then see that the Bench observes in para 18 that, “A somewhat, similar situation arose in Kunwar Pal (Supra) wherein this Court held as under:

“12. We find that the intention of the appellant to kill the deceased, if any, has not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt and in any case the appellant is entitled to the benefit of doubt which is prominent in this case. It is not possible therefore to sustain the sentence under Section 304 Part I IPC, which requires that the act by which death is caused, must be done with the intention of causing death or with the intention of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death. Though it is not possible to attribute intention it is equally not possible to hold that the act was done without the knowledge that it is likely to cause death. Everybody, who carries a gun with live cartridges and even others know that firing a gun and that too in the presence of several people is an act, is likely to cause death, as indeed it did. Guns must be carried with a sense of responsibility and caution and are not meant to be used in such places like marriage ceremonies.”

On balance, it is then held by the Bench in para 19 that, “Resultantly, we hold that the appellant had the requisite knowledge essential for constituting the offence of ‘culpable homicide’ under Section 299 and punishable under Section 304 Part-2 of IPC. He is thus held guilty under Section 304 Part-2 and not under Section 302 of IPC. On the same analogy, the appellant is liable to be punished for ‘attempt to commit culpable homicide’ not amounting to murder under Section 308, in place of Section 307 of IPC for the injuries caused to the other three victims. To this extent, the appellant’s contentions merit acceptance.”

Last but not the least, it is then held in para 20 that, “For the above-stated reasons, the appeal is allowed in part. The conviction of the appellant under Section 302, IPC is modified to Section 304 Part-2, IPC and that under Section 307, IPC is altered to Section 308, IPC. As a necessary corollary, the sentence of life imprisonment awarded to the appellant for committing the offence under Section 302 IPC, is reduced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and the sentence awarded to him under Section 307, IPC is substituted with Section 308 IPC, without any alteration in the fine imposed by the trial court.”

No doubt, the time is ripe now to enact the strictest law which completely prohibits celebratory firing and the jail term for it must be increased from 10 to 30 or at least 20 years and in addition a heavy fine should also be imposed on those indulging in the same! The Apex Court Bench headed by CJI Sharad A Bobde have sent the simple and straight message to one and all that if you indulge in celebratory firing and break the law then you are bound to face the punishment as envisaged right now under our penal laws and be behind bars for 10 years! Very rightly so!

To sum up, one hopes earnestly that now strictest law is enacted by Parliament on this at the earliest so that innocent and invaluable lives are saved from being lost forever! It brooks no more delay anymore now! All that is required is just adequate political will! Nothing else is required. We have lost many invaluable lives for no fault of theirs on account of this celebratory firing which deserves zero tolerance yet we see that the punishment level is still the same! It goes without saying that more than the fine it is the increase in jail term that will deter people from indulging in the same!

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,

s/o Col BPS Sirohi,

A 82, Defence Enclave,

Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera,

Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh.

Distinguished Service and Gallantry Awards to IAF Personnel on Republic Day – 2020

The following Indian Air Force personnel have been conferred with Distinguished Service and Gallantry awards by the President of India on the occasion of Republic Day 2020

PARAM VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL

Air Marshal Raj Karan Singh Shera AVSM VSM (Retd)
Air Marshal Kuldeep Sharma AVSM VSM (Retd)
Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora AVSM
Air Marshal Surendra Kumar Ghotia VSM
Air Marshal Rajiv Dayal Mathur AVSM VSM
Air Marshal Pradeep Padmakar Bapat VSM (Retd)

ATI VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL

Air Marshal Shashiker Choudhary VSM
Air Marshal Rajvir Singh VSM (Retd)
Air Vice Marshal Sanjeev Narayan Deshpande VM (Retd)
Air Vice Marshal Manoj Kumar Dixit VSM (Retd)
Air Vice Marshal Gurcharan Singh Bedi VM VSM
Air Vice Marshal Dilip Kumar Patnaik VM
Air Vice Marshal Amar Prasad Babu Guttikonda VM
Air Vice Marshal Bavisetti Chandra Sekhar
Air Vice Marshal Nikhil Ramesh Chitnis VSM (Retd)
Air Vice Marshal Sattaru Bhanoji Rao VSM (Retd)
Air Vice Marshal Laxmi Narain Sharma
Air Vice Marshal Makarand Ranade VM

VAYU SENA MEDAL (GALLANTRY)

Wing Commander Daler Singh Billing
Wing Commander Rajesh Agarwal
Squadron Leader Ninad Anil Mandavgane (Posthumous)
Squadron Leader Siddharth Vashisht (Posthumous)

BAR TO VAYU SENA MEDAL

Group Captain Subhash Singh Rao VM

VAYU SENA MEDAL

Group Captain Satish Kumar Gupta
Group Captain Aniruddha Nandan Karulkar
Group Captain Prabhat Malik
Group Captain Rohith Vijayadev
Group Captain Kosana Rama Rao
Group Captain Promeet Bose
Group Captain Girish Dantale
Group Captain Tarun Gupta
Group Captain Sumit Garg
Group Captain Mandetira Medaiah Bopanna
Group Captain Parijat Saurabh
Group Captain Neetin Kumar Vatsya
Group Captain Samit Gupta

VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL

Air Vice Marshal Daljit Singh
Air Vice Marshal Shanmugasundaram Anandan
Air Commodore Sambasivam Bhaskaran
Air Commodore Vijay V Joshi
Air Commodore Niraj Nainwal
Brigadier Sanjay Mathur
Group Captain Arindam Lahiri
Group Captain Vadapalli Ravi Satyanarayana Raju
Group Captain Nitin Yashwant Patil
Group Captain Deepak Ahluwalia
Group Captain Himanshu Gopal
Group Captain Anuj Gupta
Group Captain Anupam Banerjee
Group Captain Ashish Srivastava VM
Group Captain Yogesh Kalyan Dixit
Group Captain Mantha Srinivasa Rama Mohan
Group Captain Vikram Singh

VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL (CONT’D)

Group Captain Manoj Kumar Rana
Group Captain Tushar Agrawal
Group Captain Tarun Desai
Group Captain Ajay Rana
Group Captain Raji Ranjan
Group Captain S Vinay Kumar
Group Captain Jaswant Patel
Group Captain Samrath Dhankhar
Wing Commander Achin Pillai
Wing Commander Sankarasubbu Siddharthan
Wing Commander Arun Singh
Junior Warrant Officer Kumar Chandra Shekhar

MENTION-IN-DESPATCHES

Wing Commander K Suryanarayanan
Sergeant Vikrant Sahrawat (Posthumous)
Sergeant Vishal Kumar Pandey (Posthumous)
Corporal Pankaj Kumar (Posthumous)
Corporal Deepak Pandey (Posthumous)

***

Distinguished service and gallantry award winners on Republic day 2020

Ser	Name & Rank	P.No	Appointment/ Unit	Award
1.	VAdm Anil Kumar Chawla, AVSM,NM, VSM	02312-B	FOCINC(South)	PVSM
2.	VAdm G Ashok Kumar, AVSM,VSM	02470-N	VCNS	PVSM
3.	VAdm Atul Kumar Jain, AVSM,VSM	02459-N	FOCINC(East)	PVSM
4.	VAdm Kalidoss Srinivas, NM,VSM	40999-B	SBC(V)	AVSM
5.	VAdm Kiran Manikrao Deshmukh, VSM	41147-R	DGNP (V)	AVSM
6.	RAdm Puneet Kumar Bahl, VSM	02741-B	DSSC Nilgiris	AVSM
7.	RAdm Sanay Jasjit Singh, NM	03081-A	HQ Western Fleet	AVSM
8.	RAdm Rajesh Pendharkar, VSM	03130-N	HQ FOMA	AVSM
9.	RAdm Suraj Berry, NM, VSM	03101-Y	HQ Eastern Fleet	AVSM
10.	RAdm G Srinivasan, VSM	41184-Z	ND(Mbi)	AVSM
11.	Capt Sanjay Sameer Pote	04514-H	Chakra	YSM
12.	Cdr Prakash Vivek	05240-K	INAS 312	YSM
13.	Cmde Jyotin Raina, VSM	03556-F	HQWNC	NM(G)
14.	Lt Cdr Shailendra Singh	05982-W	Kirpan	NM(G)
15.	Lt Cdr Vikrant Singh	06046-R	Kumbhir	NM(G)
16.	Lt Cdr Ravindra Singh Chaudhary	07270-Y	Abhimanyu	NM(G)
17.	Sushil Kumar, LS (GW)	230617-F	Abhimanyu	NM(G)
18.	Cmde JA Maolankar	02872-A	NPO Bangalore	NM(D)
19.	Cmde MP Anil Kumar	03329-R	DIW	NM(D)
20.	Cmde Gurcharan Singh	03594-T	INWT	NM(D)
21.	Cmde CR Praveen Nair	03756-K	HQ EasternFleet	NM(D)
22.	Cmde Sundeep Kumar Verma	03883-Z	HQWNC	NM(D)
23.	Cmde PC Maragathavelan	41357-T	CQAE(EFS)(V)	NM(D)
24.	Cmde R Vijay Sekhar	51116-Y	SBC(V)	NM(D)
25.	Surg Cmde Sandeep Singh Khanuja	75440-B	DGMS (N)	NM(D)
26.	RAdm Dhiren Vig	03001-W	NDC NDL	VSM
27.	RAdm Sanjay Roye	03136-A	HQ FOGNA	VSM
28.	RAdm Tarun Sobti	03350-N	INA Ezhimala	VSM
29.	RAdm Ashish Prabhakar Kulkarni	41218-A	P-75	VSM
30.	Cmde R Ramakrishnan Ayyar	03253-T	GP HQ-Ernakulam	VSM
31.	Cmde Madan Mohan Singh Shergill	03567-F	DPS	VSM
32.	Cmde Shobhit Srivastava	03561-T	DAPM	VSM
33.	Cmde Ajith V Kumar	41197-B	NAQAS(K)	VSM
34.	Cmde Brijpaul Singh	41347-W	NSRY(PBR)	VSM
35.	Cmde Nitin Nangia	51286-H	DWE	VSM
36.	Capt Ravi Kumar, YSM	04669-K	INAS 312	VSM
37.	Capt Mohamed Thaju	51529-K	IIPA (NDL)	VSM
38.	Capt K Nirmal Raghu	04936-T	NDA (Khadakwasla)	VSM
39.	Cdr Rahul Malhotra	04376-W	COL	VSM
40.	Ram Dular, MCME II	178116-K	Dhruv Cell	VSM
41.	Shrikant Parashram Mane, MCPO (UW) II	179868-T	INS Chakra	VSM

_________________________________________________________________________

VM/MS 10/20

President approves 409 Gallantry and other defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel on Republic Day

The President has approved awards of 409Gallantry and other Defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel and others on the eve of 71^stRepublic Day celebrations. These includes nineShaurya Chakras, 28 Param Vishisht Seva Medals, four Uttam Yudh Seva Medals, 53 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals, 10 Yudh Seva Medals, 123 Vishisht Seva Medals, fourBar to Sena Medals (Gallantry), 107 Sena Medals (Gallantry), fiveNao Sena Medals (Gallantry), fourVayu Sena Medals (Gallantry), four Bar to Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty), 36 Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty), eight Nao Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty), one Bar to Vayu Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty) and 13 Vayu Sena Medals (Devotion to Duty).

The full list of the recipients of gallantry and other Defence decorations is as follows:

SL. NO.	RANK & NAME	SERVICE
SHAURYA CHAKRA
	IC-64162M LIEUTENANT COLONEL JYOTI LAMA 11^THBATTALION THE GORKHA RIFLES / 37^TH BATTALION THE ASSAM RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-77536W MAJOR KONJENGBAM BIJENDRA SINGH ARMY AIR DEFENCE / 23^RDBATTALION ASSAM RIFLES	ARMY
	JC-414282H NAIB SUBEDAR NARENDER SINGH 9^TH BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT (SPECIAL FORCES)	ARMY
	JC-492138A NAIB SUBEDAR SOMBIR THE JAT REGIMENT/34^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES (POSTHUMOUS)	ARMY
	9103747M NAIK NARESH KUMARTHE JAMMU AND KASHMIR LIGHT INFANTRY/42^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	4282386X SEPOY KARMDEOORAON 8^THBATTALION THE BIHAR REGIMENT	ARMY
	SHRI CHALLAPILLA NARASIMHA RAO (POSTHUMOUS)	MHA
8.	SHRI KAMAL KISHORE, SG CONSTABLE (POSTHUMOUS)	MHA
9.	SHRI AMAN KUMAR, DY SP (POSTHUMOUS)	MHA
PARAM VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL
	IC-39070P LIEUTENANT GENERAL RANBIR SINGH, AVSM**, YSM, SM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC–39073H LIEUTENANT GENERAL SANJEEV KUMAR SHRIVASTAVA, AVSM THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
	IC–39130Y LIEUTENANT GENERAL RAJEEV CHOPRA, AVSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC–39380A LIEUTENANT GENERAL PODALI SHANKAR RAJESHWAR, AVSM, VSM THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
	IC-39436F LIEUTENANT GENERAL SATINDER KUMAR SAINI, AVSM, YSM, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-39465W LIEUTENANT GENERAL AMARJEET SINGH BEDI, UYSM, YSM, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-39492A LIEUTENANT GENERAL ANIL CHAUHAN, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-39522M LIEUTENANT GENERAL JAIVEER SINGH NEGI, AVSM, YSM, VSM** THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-39871W LIEUTENANT GENERAL SANTOSH KUMAR UPADHYA,AVSM, SM, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-40031H LIEUTENANT GENERAL SANJEEV KANAL, AVSM THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
	IC-40101W LIEUTENANT GENERAL RAJNI KANT JAGGA, AVSM, VSM, ADC THE ARMOURED CORPS	ARMY
	IC-40293Y LIEUTENANT GENERAL ALOK SINGH KLER, VSM THE ARMOURED CORPS	ARMY
	IC-40302P LIEUTENANT GENERAL RAVENDRA PAL SINGH, AVSM,VSM THE MECHANISED INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-40382X LIEUTENANT GENERAL ARVIND DUTTA, AVSM, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-40703K LIEUTENANT GENERAL HARPAL SINGH, AVSM, VSM THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
	IC-37882K LIEUTENANT GENERAL DALIP SINGH, VSM THE ARMY ORDNANCE CORPS	ARMY
	IC-40003W MAJOR GENERAL SANDEEPAN HANDA (RETIRED) THE ARMY AVIATION CORPS	ARMY
	IC-40471W MAJOR GENERAL MUKESH KUMAR, SM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-41960N MAJOR GENERAL ASHWANI KUMAR CHANNAN, SM THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
	VICE ADMIRAL ANIL KUMAR CHAWLA, AVSM, NM, VSM (02312-W)	NAVY
	VICE ADMIRAL G ASHOK KUMAR, AVSM, VSM (02470-N)	NAVY
	VICE ADMIRAL ATUL KUMAR JAIN, AVSM, VSM (02459-N)	NAVY
	AIR MARSHAL RAJ KARAN SINGH SHERA, AVSM, VSM (16315) AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING (ELECTRONICS)	AIR FORCE
	AIR MARSHAL KULDEEP SHARMA, AVSM, VSM (16541) AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING (MECHANICAL) (RETIRED)	AIR FORCE
25.	AIR MARSHAL HARJIT SINGH ARORA, AVSM (16557) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	AIR MARSHAL SURENDRA KUMAR GHOTIA, VSM (16575) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	AIR MARSHAL RAJIV DAYAL MATHUR, AVSM, VSM (16772) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	AIR MARSHAL PRADEEP PADMAKAR BAPAT, VSM (17227) ADMINISTRATION	AIR FORCE
UTTAM YUDH SEVA MEDAL
1.	IC-40353H LIEUTENANT GENERAL PARAMJIT SINGH SANGHA, AVSM, SM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
2.	IC-40500A LIEUTENANT GENERAL YOGESH KUMAR JOSHI, AVSM, VRC, SM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
3.	IC-41072Y LIEUTENANT GENERAL RAJEEV SIROHI, AVSM, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
4.	IC-41509F LIEUTENANT GENERAL KANWAL JEET SINGH DHILLON, YSM, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
ATI VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL
	IC-39868W LIEUTENANT GENERAL SUNIL SRIVASTAVA, VSM** THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
	IC-39872Y LIEUTENANT GENERAL ANIL KAPOOR, VSM THE CORPS ELECTRONICS AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS	ARMY
	IC-40680N LIEUTENANT GENERAL PANDALA NAGESH RAO, YSM, SM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-41456N LIEUTENANT GENERAL RAKESH KUMAR ANAND, SM, VSM THE CORPS OF SIGNALS	ARMY
	IC-45009F LIEUTENANT GENERAL SUKHDEEP SANGWAN, SM** THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-39966W MAJOR GENERAL VIRINDER SINGH RANDHAWA, VSM THE CORPS ELECTRONICS AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS	ARMY
	IC-40311W MAJOR GENERAL RAJESH CHOPRATHE MECHANISED INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-40679Y MAJOR GENERAL AMIT KUMAR SANYAL, VSM THE ARMOURED CORPS	ARMY
	IC-40714W MAJOR GENERAL BASAVARAJ G GILGANCHI THE CORPS OF SIGNALS	ARMY
	IC-40720K MAJOR GENERAL SANDEEP SHARMA, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-41463K MAJOR GENERAL PAWAN ANAND THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
	IC-42771W MAJOR GENERAL SANJAY SINGH, SM**, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-42796H MAJOR GENERAL KC PANCHNATHAN THE ENGINEERS CORPS	ARMY
	IC-43245K MAJOR GENERAL NS RAJA SUBRAMANI,SM,VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-43285L MAJOR GENERAL DEVENDRA PRATAP PANDEY, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-43295P MAJOR GENERAL RAVIN KHOSLA, SM, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-43296X MAJOR GENERAL VIJAY KUMAR MISHRA THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-43330M MAJOR GENERAL JASBIR SINGH SANDHU THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-43354W MAJOR GENERALJYOTINDER SINGH SANDHU THE ARMOURED CORPS	ARMY
	IC-43370N MAJOR GENERAL JOHNSON P MATHEW, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-43444X MAJOR GENERAL P GOPALAKRISHNA MENON THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-43472K MAJOR GENERAL PRADEEP CHANDRAN NAIR, YSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-43686A MAJOR GENERAL SANJIV RAI, SM, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-43877P MAJOR GENERAL RAJINDER DEWAN, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-44036Y MAJOR GENERAL ATUL RAWAT THE MECHANISED INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-44504N MAJOR GENERAL GURBIRPAL SINGH, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-45211PMAJOR GENERAL RAJESH KUNDRA, SM BRIGADE OF THE GUARDS	ARMY
	IC-45297YMAJOR GENERAL SHAMMI RAJ, SM THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
	IC-45582X MAJOR GENERAL KALIKA PRASAD SINGH, YSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	MR-05005H MAJOR GENERAL SANJAY DARSHAN BEHERA THE ARMY MEDICAL CORPS	ARMY
	MR-04921X MAJOR GENERAL VIVEK SHARMA THE ARMY MEDICAL CORPS	ARMY
	IC 49496K BRIGADIER PREET PAL SINGH, VSM THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	VICE ADMIRAL KALIDOSS SRINIVAS, NM, VSM (40999-B)	NAVY
	REAR ADMIRAL PUNEET KUMAR BAHL, VSM (02741-B)	NAVY
	REAR ADMIRAL SANJAY JASJIT SINGH, NM (03081-A)	NAVY
	REAR ADMIRAL SURAJ BERRY, NM, VSM (03101-Y)	NAVY
	REAR ADMIRAL RAJESH PENDHARKAR, VSM (03130-N)	NAVY
	REAR ADMIRAL KIRAN MANIKRAO DESHMUKH, VSM (41147-R)	NAVY
	REAR ADMIRAL G SRINIVASAN, VSM (41184-Z)	NAVY
	AIR MARSHAL SHASHIKER CHOUDHARY, VSM (17645) AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING (MECHANICAL)	AIR FORCE
	AIR MARSHAL RAJVIR SINGH, VSM (35801) MEDICAL (RETIRED)	AIR FORCE
	AIR VICE MARSHAL SANJEEV NARAYAN DESHPANDE, VM (16559) FLYING (PILOT) (RETIRED)	AIR FORCE
	AIR VICE MARSHAL MANOJ KUMAR DIXIT, VSM (17205) ADMINISTRATION (RETIRED)	AIR FORCE
	AIR VICE MARSHAL GURCHARAN SINGH BEDI, VM, VSM (17448) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	AIR VICE MARSHAL DILIP KUMAR PATNAIK, VM (17464) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	AIR VICE MARSHAL AMAR PRASAD BABU GUTTIKONDA, VM (17714) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	AIR VICE MARSHAL BAVISETTI CHANDRA SEKHAR (17726) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	AIR VICE MARSHAL NIKHIL RAMESH CHITNIS, VSM (17826) AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING (MECHANICAL)	AIR FORCE
	AIR VICE MARSHAL SATTARU BHANOJI RAO, VSM (18243) AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING (MECHANICAL)	AIR FORCE
	AIR VICE MARSHAL LAXMI NARAIN SHARMA (18338) EDUCATION	AIR FORCE
	AIR COMMODORE MAKARAND RANADE, VM (18586) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	GO-1568L ANIL KUMAR, ADDL DGBR	BRDB
	GO-2116P ASHU SINGH RATHORE, CE(CIVIL)	BRDB
YUDH SEVA MEDAL
	IC-49926H BRIGADIER VIJAY KUMAR PUROHIT, SM THE PUNJAB REGIMENT/HEADQUARTER 114 INFANTRY BRIGADE	ARMY
	IC-50568P BRIGADIER VIKAS CHOUDHARY THE RAJPUTANA RIFLES/HEADQUARTERS 112 MOUNTAIN BRIGADE	ARMY
	IC-50749A BRIGADIER SACHIN MALIK THE SIKH LIGHT INFANTRY/HEADQUARTERS 2SECTOR RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-50789F BRIGADIER PAWAN BHARDWAJ THE JAMMU AND KASHMIR RIFLES/ HEADQUARTERS 17 INFANTRY BRIGADE	ARMY
	IC-51040K BRIGADIER BALBIR SINGH, VSM THE GORKHA RIFLES/HEADQUARTERS 1 SECTOR RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-51160H BRIGADIER SURESH KUMAR SHEORAN, SM THE SIKH REGIMENT/HEADQUARTERS 7 SECTOR ASSAM RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-61582F COLONEL NARESH CHANDRA GAIROLA, SM THE JAT REGIMENT/34^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-62554F COLONEL SHAITAN SINGH 23^RD BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT	ARMY
	CAPTAIN SAMEER SANJAY POTE (04514-H)	NAVY
	COMMANDER VIVEK PRAKASH (05230-K)	NAVY
VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL
	IC-40693L MAJOR GENERAL SUNANDA KUMAR PANIGRAHI THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
	IC-40925Y MAJOR GENERAL AMITABH JOSHI THE INTELLIGENCE CORPS	ARMY
	IC-41722F MAJOR GENERAL SANJAY SHARMA THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
4.	IC-41881Y MAJOR GENERAL RAKESH KAPOOR THE ARMY ORDNANCE CORPS	ARMY
5.	IC-42755Y MAJOR GENERAL PAWAN KUMAR SAINI THE MECHANISED INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-42781AMAJOR GENERAL ULHAS VEERAPPA TALUR THE ARMY AIR DEFENCE	ARMY
	IC-44132N MAJOR GENERAL SURESH CHANDRA TANDI THE ARMY ORDNANCE CORPS	ARMY
	IC-44239H MAJOR GENERAL PREET MOHINDERA SINGH ARMY SERVICE CORPS	ARMY
	IC-45365F MAJOR GENERAL PRAVESH PURI THE ARMOURED CORPS	ARMY
	IC-45641Y MAJOR GENERAL RAJENDRA SACHDEV THE INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC 47079Y MAJOR GENERAL SANJAY SETHI THE ARMY ORDNANCE CORPS	ARMY
	DR-10339F MAJOR GENERAL NANDA KISHORE SAHOO THE ARMY DENTAL CORPS	ARMY
	IC-44513PBRIGADIER RAMESH BALAN THE CORPS OF SIGNALS	ARMY
	IC-44611PBRIGADIER RAJINDER PAL SINGH THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
	IC-45688K BRIGADIER SALIL SHARMA(RETD) THE ARMOURED CORPS	ARMY
	IC-46051M BRIGADIER RAJAGOPALA CHELLAMANI SRIKANTH THE ARMY AIR DEFENCE	ARMY
	IC-47035FBRIGADIERPRAVIN SHINDE (RETD) THE MARATHA LIGHT INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-47046N BRIGADIER SHAILENDRA MALIK THE ELECTRONICS AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS	ARMY
	IC-47057A BRIGADIER MUKESH AGGARWAL THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
	IC-47580L BRIGADIER AJEY SETHI THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
	IC-48183Y BRIGADIER RAJESH SACHDEV THE SIKH LIGHT INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-49471X BRIGADIER MANISH KUMAR THE ARMY AIR DEFENCE	ARMY
	IC-49807M BRIGADIER RAJEEV OHRI THE CORPS OF SIGNALS	ARMY
	IC-49868K BRIGADIER AJAY DUA THE ARMOURED CORPS	ARMY
	IC-49905M BRIGADIER LAKHBINDER SINGH LIDDER, SM THE JAMMU AND KASHMIR RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-49925A BRIGADIER AMIT SINGH SOHAL THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
	IC-50046Y BRIGADIER RAMANKUTTY PREM RAJ THE MECHANISED INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-50744F BRIGADIER SANDEEP S SHARDA THE DOGRA REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-50765X BRIGADIER GIRISH KALIA THE MADRAS REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-50781P BRIGADIER RAJESH SETHI, SM THE JAT REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-51277F BRIGADIER ZUBIN BHATNAGAR THE MARATHA LIGHT INFANTRY	ARMY
	MR-05746A BRIGADIER RAJAT PRAKASH ARMY MEDICAL CORPS/92 BASE HOSPITAL	ARMY
	MR-05316W BRIGADIER SUSHIL KUMAR JHA THE ARMY MEDICAL CORPS	ARMY
	MR-05551P BRIGADIER APPALLA VENKATA RAMESH ARMY MEDICAL CORPS	ARMY
	MR-05795H BRIGADIER ATUL KUMAR SOOD THE ARMY MEDICAL CORPS	ARMY
	IC-50714K COLONEL GAURAV KAUSHAL THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
	IC-51607P COLONEL SUDEEP SINGH ARMY ORDNANCE CORPS	ARMY
	IC-52526F COLONEL RAKESH CHAND KATOCH THE SIKH LIGHT INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-52554N COLONEL SYED TAQUI ABBAS RIZVI ARMY SERVICE CORPS	ARMY
	IC-52724M COLONEL ANUJ KALIA THE ARMOURED CORPS	ARMY
	IC-53404K COLONEL ASAD SHEIKH ARMY SERVICE CORPS	ARMY
	IC-53511L COLONEL MUNESH CHANDRA TAMANG THE ASSAM REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-53652A COLONEL ARVIND KUMAR DIMRI THE MADRAS REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-53926A COLONEL AMANDEEP MALHI THE PUNJAB REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-54098M COLONEL SUBRAHMANYAN RAMAKRISHNA THE MADRAS REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-54119X COLONEL DHANURJIWAN JYOTI RANADE THE CORPS OF SIGNALS	ARMY
	IC-54600W COLONEL AKHIL KUMAR SINGH THE ELECTRONICS AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS	ARMY
	IC-54808Y COLONEL ARUN KUMAR RAI, SM THE ARMOURED CORPS	ARMY
	IC-57418F COLONEL AKSHAY CHANDRAN 11 GORKHA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-59626P COLONEL DHEERAJ KUMAR SINGH THE KUMAON REGIMENT	ARMY
	COLONEL RANJIT SINGH SANDHU REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
	IC-60148H COLONEL PUNAR PREET SINGH MANN THE BRIGADE OF THE GUARDS	ARMY
	IC-61246P COLONEL ANTERPREET SINGH THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
	IC-61415LCOLONEL AJAY KUMAR THE JAMMU AND KASHMIR RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-61716P COLONEL JAI VIJAY SINGH RAWAT THE GARHWAL RIFLES	ARMY
	COLONEL NISHIT MURAT SINGH THAKUR SIKH REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-62453N COLONEL SUMIT SHARMA THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
	IC-62552A COLONEL DEBASHIS NATH THE BIHAR REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-65236H COLONEL BHUPINDER SINGH THE NAGA REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-54986F LIEUTENANT COLONEL PALLAV BORA THE ARMY AIR DEFENCE	ARMY
	IC-56487L LIEUTENANT COLONEL ROHIT RASAILY THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
	IC-58192N LIEUTENANT COLONEL HARSHVARDHAN SATRE THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
	IC-62914M LIEUTENANT COLONELVARUN BAJPAI THE JAMMU AND KASHMIR LIGHT INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-63434P LIEUTENANT COLONEL BINIT KUMAR THE PUNJAB REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-70272X MAJOR HARENDER SINGH RAUTELA THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
	SS-43490M MAJOR TASHI THAPLIYAL THE CORPS OF SIGNALS	ARMY
	SS-43770A MAJOR ANOOP MISHRA THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
	SS-44301K MAJOR ABDUL HAMEED THE MARATHA LIGHT INFANTRY REGIMENTAL CENTRE	ARMY
	TA-42747A MAJOR PRAVEEN KUMAR TERRITORIAL ARMY/ 102 INF BN TA (PUNJAB)	ARMY
	JC-450928N SUBEDAR MAJOR RANJEET SINGH SHEKHAWAT THE GRENADIERS	ARMY
	JC-635217A SUBEDAR JITU RAI, SM 11 GORKHA RIFLES	ARMY
	JC-471869A SUBEDAR NEERAJ CHOPRA THE RAJPUTANA RIFLES	ARMY
	JC(NYA)-16025396H NAIB SUBEDAR OM PRAKASH MITHARVAL THE RAJPUTANA RIFLES	ARMY
	JC-283858W NAIB SUBEDAR JINSON JOHNSON THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
	JC-354624Y NAIB SUBEDAR GAURAV SOLANKI THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
	JC-571742M NAIB SUBEDAR AMIT THE MAHAR REGIMENT	ARMY
	REAR ADMIRAL SANJAY ROYE (03136-A)	NAVY
	REAR ADMIRAL DHIREN VIG (03001-W)	NAVY
	REAR ADMIRAL ASHISH PRABHAKAR KULKARNI (41218-A)	NAVY
	REAR ADMIRAL TARUN SOBTI (03350-N)	NAVY
	COMMODORE R RAMAKRISHNAN AYYAR (03253-T)	NAVY
	COMMODORE MADAN MOHAN SINGH SHERGILL (03567-F)	NAVY
	COMMODORE BRIJPAUL SINGH (41347-W)	NAVY
	COMMODORE AJITH V KUMAR (41197-B)	NAVY
	COMMODORE SHOBHIT SRIVASTAVA (03561-T)	NAVY
	COMMODORE NITIN NANGIA (51286-H)	NAVY
	CAPTAIN RAVI KUMAR, YSM (04699-K)	NAVY
	CAPTAIN THAJU MOHAMED (51529-K)	NAVY
	COMMANDER RAHUL MALHOTRA (04376-W)	NAVY
	COMMANDER K NIRMAL RAGHU (04936-T)	NAVY
	RAM DULAR, MCME II, 178116-K	NAVY
	SHRIKANT PARASHRAM MANE, MCPO (UW) II	NAVY
	AIR VICE MARSHAL DALJIT SINGH (17403) MEDICAL	AIR FORCE
	AIR COMMODORE SAMBASIVAM BHASKARAN (18161) ACCOUNTS	AIR FORCE
	AIR COMMODORE SHANMUGASUNDARAM ANANDAN (18532) AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING (ELECTRONICS)	AIR FORCE
	AIR COMMODORE VIJAY VISHNU JOSHI (18705) MEDICAL	AIR FORCE
	AIR COMMODORE NIRAJ NAINWAL (19671) AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING (ELECTRONICS)	AIR FORCE
	BRIGADIER SANJAY MATHUR (IC-48816) ENGINEERS	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN ARINDAM LAHIRI (20096) LOGISTICS	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN VADAPALLI RAVI SATYANARAYANA RAJU (21162) AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING (MECHANICAL)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN NITIN YASHWANT PATIL (21490) AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING (MECHANICAL)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN DEEPAK AHLUWALIA (21602) FLYING (NAVIGATION)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN HIMANSHU GOPAL (21739) AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING (ELECTRONICS)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN ANUPAM BANERJEE (22145) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN ASHISH SRIVASTAVA VM (22523) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN YOGESH KALYAN DIXIT (22621) ADMINISTRATION/AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN MANTHA SRINIVASA RAMA MOHAN (22837) AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING (MECHANICAL)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN VIKRAM SINGH (23313) AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING (MECHANICAL)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN MANOJ KUMAR RANA (23597) ADMINISTRATION/ FIGHTER CONTROLLER	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN TUSHAR AGRAWAL (24056) FLYING (NAVIGATION)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN TARUN DESAI (24069) ADMINISTRATION/FIGHTER CONTROLLER	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN AJAY RANA (24280) LOGISTICS	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN RAJI RANJAN (24560) ADMINISTRATION/ FIGHTER CONTROLLER	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN SHIVARAJ VINAY KUMAR (24650) AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING (MECHANICAL)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN JASWANT PATEL (26094) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN SAMRATH DHANKHAR VM (26513) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	WING COMMANDER ACHIN PILLAI (25223) ADMINISTRATION/ FIGHTER CONTROLLER	AIR FORCE
	WING COMMANDER SANKARASUBBU SIDDHARTHAN (25944) AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING (MECHANICAL)	AIR FORCE
	WING COMMANDER ARUN SINGH (27897) AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING (ELECTRONICS)	AIR FORCE
	742524 JUNIOR WARRANT OFFICER KUMAR CHANDRA SHEKHAR RADAR FITTER	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN ANUJ GUPTA (21833) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	GO-2123L SHRI HARENDRA KUMAR, CE(CIVIL)	BRDB
	GO-2130F SHRI VIMAL GOSWAMI, CE(CIVIL)	BRDB
BAR TO SENA MEDAL (GALLANTRY)
1.	IC-63941H LIEUTENANT COLONEL SANJEEV KUMAR SINGH, SM THE RAJPUT REGIMENT / 44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
2.	IC-71608Y MAJOR HARPRIT SINGH, SM THE PUNJAB REGIMENT / 22^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
3.	IC-73342W MAJOR VIPUL NARAYAN, SM THE GRENADIERS / 55^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
4.	IC-76799H MAJOR VARUN GAUR, SM THE ARMOURED CORPS / 22^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
SENA MEDAL (GALLANTRY)
	IC-60349F LIEUTENANT COLONEL SUNDEEP SINGH WALIA THE ARMY AVIATION CORPS / 23^RD (INDEPENDENT) RECONNAISSANCE AND OBSERVATION FLIGHT	ARMY
	IC-67387ALIEUTENANT COLONEL RAHUL GUPTA THE GRENADIERS /55^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-67597A LIEUTENANT COLONEL RAJKUMAR PALLAB GOHAIN THE GORKHA RIFLES / 32^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-68483F MAJOR SHISHIR KUMAR THE JAT REGIMENT / 34^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-69194Y MAJOR CHANDAN KUMAR THAKUR THE GORKHA RIFLES / 32^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-70871X MAJOR BALRAJ SINGH RANDHAWA 3^RD BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT (SPECIAL FORCES)	ARMY
	IC-70992YMAJOR GOOTY BALAJI NIRANJAN THE ARMY AVIATION CORPS / 23^RD(I) RECONNAISSANCE AND OBSERVATION FLIGHT	ARMY
	IC-71050P MAJOR RAHUL KUMAR RAI THE KUMAON REGIMENT / 50^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-71719W MAJOR VINEET KUMARTHE PUNJAB REGIMENT / 22^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-72471K MAJOR PRANAV PRABHAT THE JAT REGIMENT / 34^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-73351X MAJOR SACHIN ANDOTRA THE ARMY SERVICE CORPS / 34^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-73496H MAJOR KULBHUSHAN SINGH THE JAT REGIMENT / 34^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-74817F MAJOR VIKAS THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS/44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-74873A MAJOR KRUNAL THAKRE THE SIKH REGIMENT/46^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-74889L MAJOR C PRAVEEN KUMAR THE CORPS ENGINEERS / 41^ST BATTALION THE ASSAM RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-74961W MAJOR MOHIT KHARE THE ASSAM REGIMENT / 42^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-75491H MAJOR RAHUL BALAMOHAN THE MAHAR REGIMENT / FIRST BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-75900L MAJOR NILAAV SURENDRA 23^RD BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-76193Y MAJOR HARSH KAKRAN THE MECHANISED INFANTRY / 42^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-76759F MAJOR SANDEEP THE MAHAR REGIMENT / 30^TH BATTALION THE RASTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-76798A MAJOR SOURABH SUSHANT THE RAJPUT REGIMENT/ 44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-76857FMAJOR A SRINIVAS REDDY THE GRENADIERS / 55^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-77053Y MAJOR ANKIT DAHIYA THE PUNJAB REGIMENT / 22^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-77149F MAJOR MOHIT MALIK THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS / 3^RD BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-77294Y MAJOR AJAY KUMAR BRIGADE OF THE GUARDS/46^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-78579X MAJOR ANKIT PATHAK THE MECHANISED INFANTRY/50^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	SS-45272M MAJOR BHANU PRATAP SINGH THE CORPS OF EME / 22^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	SS-45484X MAJOR NISHANT MEHTA 55^TH BATTALION THE ENGINEER REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-78534X CAPTAIN AMARINDER SINGH THE MECHANISED INFANTRY / 9^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	CAPTAIN DEEPAK BISHT RAJPUTANA RIFLES / 9^TH BATTALION RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-79400L CAPTAIN ANKUR THE ARMOURED CORPS/53^RD BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-79424P CAPTAIN PIYUSH SHARMA THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS / 3^RD BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-80201K CAPTAIN A RANJITH KUMAR 23^RD BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-81704F CAPTAIN SIDDHARTHA DAS 23^RD BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT	ARMY
	SS-47575A CAPTAIN RAMAN TIWADI 23^RD BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT	ARMY
	JC-274567P SUBEDAR MUKESH KUMAR SINGH THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY / 34^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	JC-431390H SUBEDAR DILBAG SINGH THE PUNJAB REGIMENT/53^RD BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	13624203A HAVILDAR BHAL SINGH 9^TH BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT (SPECIAL FORCES)	ARMY
	13625356W HAVILDAR PAWAN 23^RD BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT	ARMY
	13625482Y HAVILDAR BANTI 9^TH BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT (SPECIAL FORCES)	ARMY
	13625637M HAVILDAR SHAMSHER SINGH 9^TH BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT (SPECIAL FORCES)	ARMY
	13761898A HAVILDAR JASBIR SINGH THE JAMMU AND KASHMIR RIFLES/52^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	14927285N HAVILDAR RAJIB SWARGIARY THE MECHANISHED INFANTRY / 42^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	14930228X HAVILDAR BALJEET THE MECHANISED INFANTRY / 50^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES(POSTHUMOUS)	ARMY
	14930384F HAVILDAR KIRAN KUMAR BOMMALI THE MECHANISHED INFANTRY / 50^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	15143867M HAVILDAR ESHWAR SINGH BANAFAR THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY/34^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	16011568F HAVILDAR HARIBIR SINGH THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT/23^RD BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT	ARMY
	2498417N HAVILDAR RAJESH SINGH 4^TH BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT (SPECIAL FORCES)	ARMY
	2896033N HAVILDAR PARDEEP KUMAR 10^TH BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT (SPECIAL FORCES)	ARMY
	3194674L HAVILDAR PRITAM SINGH THE JAT REGIMENT / 34^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	4192549Y HAVILDAR SUNIL SINGH 23^RD BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT	ARMY
	4193900F HAVILDAR RAVINDRA SINGH THE KUMAON REGIMENT /13^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	4367280H HAVILDAR LALTLANZOVA THE ASSAM REGIMENT / 42^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	15485571N LANCE DAFADAR FAROOQ AHMED KHAN THE ARMOURED CORPS /55^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	13627378N NAIK SANDEEP 10^TH BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT (SPECIAL FORCES)(POSTHUMOUS)	ARMY
	14936011K NAIK BISHAN SINGH LIMBU THE MECHANISED INFANTRY/9^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	15148306F NAIK DASARI RAMESH THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY / 34^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	15155298W NAIK BUTA SINGH THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY / 627^TH BATTALION THE SATA BATTERY(POSTHUMOUS)	ARMY
	15346244X NAIK SAMAY LAL SINGH THE ENGINEER CORPS / 3^RD BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	16113500N NAIK DILEEP POL THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS / 44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	16114121K NAIK KOTA RAGHUNATH REDDY THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS / 44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	3002748H NAIK RAJENDRA SINGH THE RAJPUT REGIMENT/44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	3004044X NAIK RAVINDER SINGH THE RAJPUT REGIMENT/44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	3009946W NAIK SONVEER SINGH THE RAJPUT REGIMENT / 44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	3201450W NAIK OUM SINGH THE JAT REGIMENT / 34^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	3203097N NAIK SURESH CHAND CHOUDHARY THE JAT REGIMENT / 34^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	3407118A NAIK KULDEEP SINGH 5^TH BATTALION THE SIKH REGIMENT(POSTHUMOUS)	ARMY
	4195719H NAIK SURENDER SINGH RAUTELA THE KUMAON REGIMENT/13 RASHTRIYA RIFLES (KUMAON)	ARMY
	4202399K NAIK SURENDRA YADAV THE KUMAON REGIMENT / 50^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	15497062F ACTING LANCE DAFADAR VINOD KUMAR THAKUR THE ARMOURED CORPS / 22^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	15625747N LANCE NAIK PAWAN KUMAR BRIGADE OF THE GUARDS / 50^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	3008745L LANCE NAIK ANIL KUMAR THE RAJPUT REGIMENT/44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	3200583A LANCE NAIK YOGENDRA SINGH THE JAT REGIMENT / 34^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	9111907W LANCE NAIK SUBZARAHAMDWANI THE JAMMU AND KASHMIR LIGHT INFANTRY/ 34^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	14942489X SEPOY GURMEET THE MECHANISED INFANTRY / 42^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	14943965X SEPOY GURDEV SINGH THE MECHANISED INFANTRY /9TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	14945738W SEPOY PUSHKAR THE MECHANISED INFANTRY/50^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	15221107Y SEPOY VINOD KUMAR THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY/34^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	2503317P SEPOY GURPREET SINGH THE PUNJAB REGIMENT / 22^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	2504495K SEPOY AMANDEEP SINGH THE PUNJAB REGIMENT/22^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	2505152A SEPOY TARSEEM SINGH THE PUNJAB REGIMENT / 22^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	2707511L SEPOY ARUNESH SINGH THE GRENADIERS / 55^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	2708224N SEPOY SANDEEP THE GRENADIERS/55^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES (POSTHUMOUS)	ARMY
	2708583FSEPOY PRITHVIRAJ THE GRENADIERS/55^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	2710149NSEPOY JAYPAL SINGH THE GRENADIERS REGIMENT/55^THBATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	3012885P SEPOY UDAY BHAN THE RAJPUT REGIMENT / 44^TH BATALLION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	3013103A SEPOY AMIR KHAN THE RAJPUT REGIMENT / 44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	3014288Y SEPOY SAIYYAD SAJEED IBRAHIM THE RAJPUT REGIMENT/44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	3015013X SEPOY ANUP SINGH THE RAJPUT REGIMENT / 44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	3015164W SEPOY YOGENDRA SINGH JODHA THE RAJPUT REGIMENT/44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	3017270N SEPOY RAMVEER THE RAJPUT REGIMENT / 44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	4379185H SEPOY MEDOYO NAKI THE ASSAM REGIMENT /42^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	4381554N SEPOY UYOKTA KUMAR MARING THE ASSAM REGIMENT / 42^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	4381646A SEPOYNEHMINLEN HAOKIP THE ASSAM REGIMENT/42^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	4381872X SEPOY GRATEFUL ASSAM REGIMENT/42^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	4583255X SEPOY RATHOD RANJITSINH AMARSINH THE MAHAR REGIMENT / FIRST BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	13777597A RIFLEMAN ANIL KUMAR JASWAL THE JAMMU AND KASHMIR RIFLES / 3^RD BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES (POSTHUMOUS)	ARMY
	RIFLEMAN AYUB MOHD RAJPUTANA RIFLES/9^THBATTALION RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	16025065F PARATROOPER HARI VIYAPAK 23^RD BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT	ARMY
	4379694F PARATROOPER Y ELONTHUNG LOTHA 9^TH BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT (SPECIAL FORCES)	ARMY
	15498629YSOWAR KULDIP SINGH BHADAURIA THE ARMOURED CORPS / 55^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	15499623K SOWAR RAMAN KUMAR THE ARMOURED CORPS / 22^ND BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	16118936H SAPPER VIPIN KUMAR UPADHYAY THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS/44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	16120559W SAPPER NAGENDRA UDYAGOL THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS/44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	16121821A SAPPER ELUMALAI R THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS / 44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	16124415LSAPPER ARJUN M THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS / 44^TH BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	2713069F GRENADIER HARI BHAKAR 4^TH BATTALION THE GRENADIERS (POSTHUMOUS)	ARMY
NAO SENA MEDAL (GALLANTRY)
	COMMODORE JYOTIN RAINA (03556-F)	NAVY
	LT CDR RAVINDRA SINGH CHAUDHARY (07270-Y)	NAVY
	LT CDR VIKRANT SINGH (06046-R)	NAVY
	LT CDR SHAILENDRA SINGH (05982-W)	NAVY
	SUSHIL KUMAR, LS (GW), 230617-F	NAVY
VAYU SENA MEDAL (GALLANTRY)
	WING COMMANDER DALER SINGH BILLING (26516) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	WING COMMANDER RAJESH AGARWAL (27197) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	SQUADRON LEADER NINAD ANIL MANDAVGANE (30820) FLYING (PILOT) (POSTHUMOUS)	AIR FORCE
	SQUADRON LEADER SIDDHARTH VASHISHT (31131) FLYING (PILOT) (POSTHUMOUS)	AIR FORCE
BAR TO SENA MEDAL (DEVOTION TO DUTY)
	IC-50961X BRIGADIER AMIT KABTHIYAL, SM THE GARHWAL RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-60744P COLONEL CS PARMAR, SM 9^TH BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT (SPECIAL FORCES)	ARMY
	IC-61342K COLONEL SANJAY SINGH KARKI, SM 21^ST BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT (SPECIAL FORCES)	ARMY
	JC-521742W SUBEDAR BALWANT SINGH, SM THE DOGRA SCOUTS	ARMY
SENA MEDAL (DEVOTION TO DUTY)
1.	IC-41530K MAJOR GENERAL MANDIP SINGH, VSM THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
2.	IC-42915N MAJOR GENERAL RAJ VIJAYENDRA SINGH, VSM THE ARMY SERVICE CORPS	ARMY
3.	MR-04091K MAJOR GENERAL REENA BHARADWAJ, VSM THE ARMY MEDICAL CORPS	ARMY
4.	IC-47011X BRIGADIER VINAYAK SAINI THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
5.	IC-49013F BRIGADIER HARDEV SINGH SOHI THE GORKHA RIFLES	ARMY
6.	IC-49139F BRIGADIER NEERAJ GOSAIN THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
7.	IC-49764H BRIGADIER RAJESH KUMAR SHARMA THE CORPS OF SIGNALS	ARMY
8.	IC-50700K BRIGADIER MAN RAJ SINGH MANN THE GORKHA RIFLES	ARMY
9.	IC-50730F BRIGADIER MOHIT SETH, VSM THE MADRAS REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-50888K BRIGADIER TRAILOKYA MOHAN PATTANAIK THE SIKH LIGHT INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-51506F BRIGADIER SAUMYA BANERJEE THE MADRAS REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-53154N COLONEL RAHUL THAPIYAL THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY	ARMY
	IC-53924P COLONEL ALOK DASH 9^TH BATTALION THE GORKHA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-54003F COLONEL NAGARAJ MOHAN BENDIGERI THE DOGRA REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-55030X COLONEL PANKAJ SETHI THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
	IC-59485L COLONEL PUSHPAM KUMAR THE JAMMU AND KASHMIR LIGHT INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-60787K COLONEL ANKUSH MARKAN THE ASSAM REGIMENT/ 4^TH BATTALION THE ASSAM RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-61401L COLONEL SANJU MATHEW 7^TH BATTALION THE 11^TH GORKHA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-62332M COLONEL VIJAY PAL SINGH JAMWAL 7^TH BATTALION THE ASSAM REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-62532H COLONEL KAPIL MOHAN SEHGAL THE MAHAR REGIMENT / FIRST BATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-64868F COLONEL RAJEEV DHINGRA THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
	IC-65572P COLONEL ARINDAM BARDHAN THE GORKHA RIFLES / 9^THBATTALION THE RASHTRIYA RIFLES	ARMY
	IC-62986W LIEUTENANT COLONEL BISWAS RAMACHANDRAN NAMBIAR THE ARMY AVIATION CORPS	ARMY
	IC-66206X LIEUTENANT COLONEL VIVEK KUMAR JHA THE SIKH LIGHT INFANTRY	ARMY
	IC-68925P LIEUTENANT COLONEL IROM CHINGKHEINGANBA THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
	IC-68859X MAJOR AASHISH KUMAR 21^ST BATTALION THE PARACHUTE REGIMENT (SPECIAL FORCES)	ARMY
	IC-72265A MAJOR GAURAV DAHIYA THE PUNJAB REGIMENT	ARMY
	IC-74833Y MAJOR KSHETRIMAYUM BIKRAM SINGH THE DOGRA REGIMENT	ARMY
	CAPTAIN GOURAV KUMAR PRASHAR GRENADIERS	ARMY
	SC-00958F CAPTAIN NAGA MALLIKARJUNA RAO B THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS	ARMY
	JC-235059H RISALDAR MAJOR & HONORARY LIEUTENANT KULDIP SINGH THE PRESIDENT’S BODY GUARD	ARMY
	4007576Y NAIK DINESH KUMAR THE DOGRA REGIMENT	ARMY
	4196498F NAIK INDAR SINGH ADHIKARI 16 KUMAON REGIMENT	ARMY
	4197755M NAIK NARAYAN SINGH THE KUMAON SCOUTS (POSTHUMOUS)	ARMY
	4090162H LANCE NAIK JAYPAL SINGH 13^TH BATTALION THE GARHWAL RIFLES	ARMY
	2703899K GRENADIER DEEPAK KUMAR 11^TH BATTALION THE GRENADIERS	ARMY
NAO SENA MEDAL (DEVOTION TO DUTY)
	COMMODORE JAIDEEP AVINASH MAOLANKAR (02872-A)	NAVY
	COMMODORE SUNDEEP KUMAR VERMA (03883-Z)	NAVY
	COMMODORE CHEMPAKVILAS RAMMOHAN PRAVEEN NAIR (03756-K)	NAVY
	COMMODORE GURCHARAN SINGH (03594T)	NAVY
	COMMODORE PC MARAGATHAVELAN (41357-T)	NAVY
	COMMODORE MP ANIL KUMAR (03329-R)	NAVY
	SURGEON COMMODORE SS KHANUJA (75440-B)	NAVY
	COMMODORE R VIJAY SEKHAR (51116-Y)	NAVY
BAR TO VAYU SENA MEDAL (DEVOTION TO DUTY)
	GROUP CAPTAIN SUBHASH SINGH RAO VM (25827) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
VAYU SENA MEDAL (DEVOTION TO DUTY)
	GROUP CAPTAIN SATISH KUMAR GUPTA (23739) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN ANIRUDDHA NANDAN KARULKAR (24166) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN PRABHAT MALIK (24494) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	Group Captain Rohith Vijayadev (24507) Flying (Pilot)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN KOSANA RAMA RAO (25286) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN PROMEET BOSE (25292) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN GIRISH DANTALE (25822) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN TARUN GUPTA (25824) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN SUMIT GARG (26085) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN MANDETIRA MEDAIAH BOPANNA (26092) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN PARIJAT SAURABH (26280) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN NEETIN KUMAR VATSYA (26283) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE
	GROUP CAPTAIN SAMIT GUPTA (26289) FLYING (PILOT)	AIR FORCE

Besides these, 20personnel from Army and Air Headquarters have been awarded ‘Mention-in-Despatches’ by the President.

*****

President approves Tatrakshak medals to Indian Coast Guard personnel

The President has approved Tatrakshak Medals to the following personnel of the Indian Coast Guard for their act of conspicuous gallantry/meritorious service on the occasion of Republic Day 2020.

Tatrakshak Medal (Gallantry)

Dy Comdt Abhishek Kumar (4233-S)
Sanjay Kumar Singh, Adh (ME), 04217-P
Subhash, P/Nvk (QA), 05655-H

Tatrakshak Medal (Meritorious Service)

DIG Mukul Garg (0260-P)
IK Balan, P/Adh (AH), 01608-L

These awards are being given to the personnel of Indian Coast Guard on Republic Day and Independence Day every year since January 26, 1990.

list of Honorary Ranks awarded on the occasion of Republic Day 2020

List of Honorary Ranks (Honorary Captain and Honorary Lieutenant) awarded on 26 Jan 2020.

******

10th National Voters’ Day celebrated to mark the Foundation Day of ECI

The 10th National Voters’ Day (NVD) was celebrated across the country today. President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind presided over the national level event held at New Delhi. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Law & Justice, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology also graced the event as the Guest of Honour. The Chief Election Commissioner Shri Sunil Arora, Election Commissioners Shri Ashok Lavasa and Shri Sushil Chandra, Secretary General Shri Umesh Sinha and Director General Shri Dharmendra Sharma received the dignitaries on the occasion.

The theme for NVD 2020 was ‘Electoral Literacy for Stronger Democracy’ reiterating the commitment of Election Commission of India (ECI) towards electoral literacy for all to ensure maximum participation and informed & ethical voting. This year marks an important milestone in the history of Indian democracy as Election Commission of India (ECI) completes 70 years of its journey.

President Sh. Ram Nath Kovind hailed the varied interventions taken up by ECI for the successful conduct of the 17^th Lok Sabha Election in a free, fair and transparent manner. The President particularly appreciated the initiatives for reaching out to voters in the remotest corner to include their names in the electoral roll and to encourage them to exercise the Right to Vote, resulting in the historic voter turnout of 67.47%.He congratulated the new six new voters particularly who were given the Electoral Photo Identity Cards today. The President also particularly mentioned the Universal Adult Suffrage principle which helped all Indian eligible citizens to vote from the very beginning of the journey of Indian republic. Shri Kovind also took note of the special efforts undertaken by Election Commission of India to ensure that the gender gap was reduced to less than 0.1% in the last Lok Sabha General Election. He particularly lauded the Electoral Literacy Clubs’ efforts and use of vernacular language in reaching out to even in the remotest areas.

On this occasion, the President gave away the National Awards for the Best Electoral Practices to Officers for their outstanding performance in the conduct of elections in different spheres. The district administrative and Security Officers were lauded for their efforts to ensure enrollment of new eligible voters with sustained efforts, launch of SVEEP Apps to facilitate polling experience, conduct of elections with innovative means, facilitating Persons with Disabilities at polling booths as also working amidst challenging circumstances such as severe cyclonic storm or coordinating security grid mechanisms. In addition, awards were also conferred on CSOs, Govt. Departments and Media Houses for their outstanding contribution in the field of voter awareness and outreach.

Two books were launched by Union Minister Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad and presented to the Hon’ble President. The first book was Belief in the Ballot-II, an anthology of 101 human stories from across the nation about Indian elections. An amalgamation of daring, interesting and inspiring stories of both election officers and voters, this anthology presents experiences of courage, sacrifice and dedication of the election personnel as well as the enthusiasm and commitment of the voters.

The second book launched was The Centenarian Voters: Sentinels of Our Democracy. This collection enumerates the stories and experiences of 51 centenarians across India, who braved difficult terrain, poor health and other challenges to come out and vote.

Chief Election Commissioners and senior officials from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Tunisia graced the occasion. Reputed international organisations working in elections such as A-WEB, IFES and International IDEA were also a part of the occasion. Members of Political Parties, Members of Parliament besides Diplomats from various countries and representatives from national and international organizations working in the area of democracy and elections also attended the national function.

The National Voters’ Day (NVD) is celebrated all over the country on January 25 every year since 2011 to mark the Foundation day of Election Commission of India, which was established on this day in the year 1950. This year, the celebrations were spread over three days to mark the 70 illustrious years of ECI establishment. On 23^rd January, the Commission organized the first ever annual lecture series in memory of the first Chief Election Commissioner of India, Shri Sukumar Sen. Hon’ble former President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee, delivered the keynote lecture. On 24^th January, an International Conference on “Strengthening Institutional Capacity” was organised.

The main purpose of the NVD celebration is to encourage, facilitate and maximize the enrollment, especially for the new voters. Dedicated to the voters of the country, the Day is utilized to spread awareness among voters for promoting informed participation in the electoral process.

Download link for National Voters’ Day Brochure: https://ecisveep.nic.in/files/file/1200-national-voters-day-2020-brochure/

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Ministry of AYUSH Issues Notice of Caution to AYUSH Professionals on “Recruitment Fraud”

The public in general and AYUSH professionals in particular are hereby cautioned that in recent past, some fraudulent/ suspicious advertisements for recruitment of AYUSH professionals have come up in the electronic media which seek to draw out payment in the form of “Registration Fees” etc. from gullible individuals. Such fraudulent/ suspicious notices are issued typically by agencies with misleading names that sound like government bodies, and seek to elicit payments (described as “fees” of various types) through online payment methods.

One such fraudulent/ suspicious advertisement that has come to the notice of the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India appeared on the blog-publishing platform “Blogspot” in the name of AYUSHGRAM BHARAT, which claims to be the NRHM WELLNESS CENTER INDIA. The link to the advertisement is https://ayushgrambharat.blogspot.com/2020/01/welcome-to-ayushgram-bharat-nrhm.html

While the Ministry of AYUSH will seek appropriate administrative and legal action in the matter, the public in general and AYUSH professionals in particular are hereby requested to note that the recruitment process followed by the Ministry of AYUSH and its subordinate organisations always follow the formal procedures prescribed by the Government of India, and are accompanied by formal announcements in the official websites (which are hosted on the NIC/ gov.in platform) of the respective organisations.

The Ministry hereby cautions all concerned that the Ministry of AYUSH has no connection whatsoever to the aforesaid recruitment announcement by individuals / recruitment agencies who are misguiding job-seekers by promising them government positions. Further, they are also seen to be un-authorisedly using logo/ images belonging to the Government of India as well as fake address similar to that of the Ministry to mislead the people.

The public in general and AYUSH professionals in particular are hereby advised to kindly cross-check the facts stated in such advertisements and verify the identity/ authenticity of individuals / recruitment agencies who issue such advertisements, before responding to them.

* * *

PM greets people on National Voters Day

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has greeted people on National Voters Day today.

“Greetings on National Voters Day. We express gratitude to ECI for their many efforts towards making our electoral process more vibrant and participative. May this day inspire us to work towards increased voter awareness and turnout, which makes our democracy stronger”, the Prime Minister said.

*****

List of MoUs/Agreements exchanged during State Visit of President of Brazil to India

Sl.No	MoU/Agreement	Exchanged from Indian side by	Exchanged from Brazilian side by	Exchanged/Announced

1.	MoU between the Republic of India and the Federative Republic of Brazil on Bioenergy Cooperation	Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas	H.E. Mr. Bento Albuquerque, Minister of Mines and Energy	Exchanged & Announced
2.	MoU for Cooperation in the field of Oil and Natural Gas b/w Ministry Of Petroleum And Natural Gas of the Government of the Republic of India and Ministry of Mines and Energy of the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil	Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas	H.E. Mr. Bento Albuquerque, Minister of Mines and Energy	Only Announced
3.	Investment Cooperation and Facilitation Treaty b/w the Republic of India and the Federative Republic of Brazil	Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister	H.E. Mr. Ernesto Araújo, Minister of Foreign Affairs	Exchanged & Announced
4.	Agreement between the Republic of India and the Federative Republic of Brazil on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.	Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister	H.E. Mr. Ernesto Araújo, Minister of Foreign Affairs	Only Announced
5.	MoU between the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Citizenship of the Federative Republic of Brazil in the field of Early Childhood	Mr. V. Muraleedharan Minister of State for External Affairs	H.E. Mr. Ernesto Araújo, Minister of Foreign Affairs	Only Announced
6.	MoU between the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil on Cooperation in the field of Health and Medicine	Mr. V. Muraleedharan Minister of State for External Affairs	H.E. Mr. Ernesto Araújo, Minister of Foreign Affairs	Exchanged & Announced
7.	MoU between the Ministry of AYUSH of the Government Republic of India and the Ministry of Health of the Federative Republic of Brazil on cooperation in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy.	Mr. V. Muraleedharan Minister of State for External Affairs	H.E. Mr. Ernesto Araújo, Minister of Foreign Affairs	Only Announced
8.	Cultural Exchange Programme b/w the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil for the period 2020-2024	Mr. Vijay Gokhale, Foreign Secretary	H.E. Mr. Ernesto Araújo, Minister of Foreign Affairs	Exchanged & Announced
9.	Agreement on Social Security b/w the Republic of India and the Federative Republic of Brazil.	Ms. Vijay Thakur Singh, Secretary (East), MEA	H.E. Mr. Ernesto Araújo, Minister of Foreign Affairs	Exchanged & Announced
10.	MoU on Cooperation between the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) of the Republic of India and the General Coordination of Network Incident Treatment Centre, Department of Information Security, Institutional Security, Cabinet of the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil (CGCTIR/DSI/GSI) on cooperation in the area of Cyber Security.	Ms. Vijay Thakur Singh, Secretary (East), MEA	H.E. Mr. Augusto Heleno, Minister Chief of the Institutional Security Office	Exchanged & Announced
11.	Programme of Scientific and Technological Cooperation for implementing the agreement on scientific and technological cooperation b/w the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Republic of India (2020-2023)	Ms. Vijay Thakur Singh, Secretary (East), MEA	H.E. Mr. Marcos Pontes, Minister of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication	Exchanged & Announced
12.	MoU on Cooperation in the field of Geology and Mineral Resources between Geological Survey of India (GSI), Ministry of Mines of the Republic of India and the Geological Survey of Brazil- CPRM, Ministry of Mines and Energy of the Federative Republic of Brazil	Ms. Vijay Thakur Singh, Secretary (East), MEA	H.E. Mr. Bento Albuquerque, Minister of Mines and Energy	Exchanged & Announced
13.	MoU between Invest India and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex Brazil)	Ms. Vijay Thakur Singh, Secretary (East), MEA	Mr. Sérgio Segovia, President of APEX-Brasil	Exchanged & Announced
14.	Joint Declaration of Intent between Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply of the Federative Republic of Brazil for Cooperation in the fields of Animal Husbandry and Dairying	Shri Atul Chaturvedi, Secretary, Animal Husbandry	Mr. Jorge Seif Junior, Secretary of Aquiculture and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply.	Exchanged & Announced
15.	MoU between Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Of the Republic of India and Centro Nacional de PesquisaemEnergia e Materiais (CNPEM) on Cooperation for establishing a nodal institution in India to carry out research on Bioenergy	Mr. Sanjiv Singh, Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL)	H.E. Mr. Marcos Pontes, Minister of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication	Exchanged & Announced

******

VRRK/KP

Text of PM’s Media Statement during the state visit of President of Brazil

Your Excellency ब्राजील के राष्ट्रपति श्री जेएर बोल्सोनारो
दोनों देशों के वरिष्ठ मंत्री और अधिकारी गणरो
रो
Friends,
नमस्कार।

boa tarde (Good Morning)
bem-vindo à India

मेरे मित्र राष्ट्रपति बोल्सोनारो और उनके उच्च-स्तरीय delegation का मैं भारत में हार्दिक स्वागत करता हूं।पिछले आठ महीनों में यह हमारी तीसरी मुलाकात है। यह हमारे बीच बढ़ती मित्रता और दोनों देशों के बीच गहराते संबंधों को दर्शाती है।

Excellency,
यह हमारे लिए बहुत गर्व की बात है कि हमारे 71वें गणतंत्र दिवस पर आप हमारे मुख्य अतिथि हैं। कल राजपथ पर गणतंत्र दिवस की परेड में आप भारत की विविधता का रंग-बिरंगा और उल्लासपूर्ण स्वरूप देखेंगे। ब्राजील खुद भी उल्लास से भरे पर्वों का देश है। एक मित्र के साथ इस विशेष पर्व पर हम अपनी खुशी साझा करेंगे।भारत का निमंत्रण स्वीकार करने के लिए मैं आपको धन्यवाद देता हूं। यह तीसरा अवसर है जब ब्राजील के राष्ट्रपति ने यह सम्मान हमें दिया है। और भारत और ब्राजील के बीच मजबूत मित्रता का प्रतीक है।

Friends,
भारत और ब्राज़ील की स्ट्रेटेजिक पार्टनरशिप हमारी समान विचारधारा और मूल्यों पर आधारित है।इसलिए, भौगोलिक दूरी के बावज़ूद हम विश्व के अनेक मंचों पर साथ हैं। और विकास में एक-दूसरे के महत्वपूर्ण पार्टनर भी हैं।इसलिए, आज राष्ट्रपति बोल्सानारो और मैं हमारे द्विपक्षीय सहयोग को सभी क्षेत्रों में और बढ़ाने पर सहमत हुए हैं।हमारी Strategic Partnership को और मज़बूत करने के लिए एक वृहद् Action Plan तैयार किया गया है। सन् 2023 में दोनों देशों के बीच diplomatic संबंधों की platinum jubilee होगी। मुझे पूरा विश्वास है कि तब तक यह Action Plan हमारी strategic partnership, people-to-people ties और business cooperation को और गहरा बनाएगा।

मुझे खुशी है कि हमने आज कई महत्वपूर्ण समझौते भी किए हैं। निवेश हो या अपराधिक मामलों में कानूनी सहायता, ये समझौते हमारे सहयोग को नया आधार देंगे। विविध क्षेत्रों, जैसे Bio-Energy, Cattle Genomics, Health and Traditional Medicine, Cyber Security, विज्ञान और प्रोद्योगिकी, तेल और गैस तथा संस्कृति में हमारा सहयोग और तेज़ी से आगे बढ़ेगा।गायों की स्वस्थ और उन्नत प्रजातियों पर सहयोग हमारे संबंधों का एक अनूठा और सुखद पहलू है। किसी समय, भारत से गीर और कंकरेजी गायें ब्राजील गयी थी। और आज, ब्राजील और भारत इस विशेष पशुधन को बढा़ने और उससे मानवता को लाभ पहुंचाने पर सहयोग कर रहे है। इस सहयोग के आर्थिक, सामाजिक और सांस्कृतिक महत्व को किसी भी भारतीय के लिए शब्दों में बयान कर पाना मुश्किल है।

Friends,
परंपरागत क्षेत्रों के अलावा कई नए क्षेत्र भी हमारे संबंधों में जुड़ रहे हैं। हम defence industrial cooperation को बढ़ाने के लिए नए तरीकों पर focus कर रहे हैं। रक्षा सहयोग में हम broad-based partnership चाहते हैं।इन संभावनाओं को देखते हुए हमें खुशी है कि अगले महीने लखनऊ में DefExpo 2020 में ब्राजील का एक बड़ा delegation भाग लेगा।मुझे प्रसन्नता है कि bio-energy, Ayurveda और advanced computing पर research में सहयोग बढ़ाने पर हमारे academic और research institution के बीच सहमति बनी है।

Excellency,
भारत के economic transformation में ब्राज़ील एक valuable partner है। Food और energy के क्षेत्रों में हमारी आवश्यकताओं के लिए हम ब्राज़ील को एक विश्वसनीय स्त्रोत के रूप में देखते हैं।हमारा द्विपक्षीय व्यापार हांलाकि बढ़ रहा है। दोनों बड़ी अर्थव्यवस्थाओं के बीच complementarities (पूरकताओं) को देखते हुए हम इसे बहुत अधिक बढ़ा सकते हैं।आपके साथ ब्राज़ील के प्रभावशाली business delegation का भारत में स्वागत करके हमें खुशी है। मुझे विश्वास है कि भारतीय उद्यमियों और व्यापारियों के साथ उनकी मुलाकातों के अच्छे परिणाम आयेंगे।

Friends,
दोनों देशों की ओर से investment को सुगम बनाने के लिए आवश्यक legal framework तैयार किया गया है। आज के inter-connected विश्व में भारत और ब्राज़ील के बीच Social Security Agreement Professionals के आसान आवागमन के लिए एक महत्वपूर्ण कदम है।

Friends,
दो बड़े लोक तांत्रिक और विकासशील देश होने के नाते महत्वपूर्ण global और multilateral मुद्दों पर भारत और ब्राज़ील के विचारों में गहरी समानता है। चाहे आतंकवाद की गंभीर समस्या हो या पर्यावरण का प्रश्न। विश्व के सामने मौजूदा कठिन चुनौतियों पर हमारा नजरिया बहुत मिलता-जुलता है। ब्राजील और भारत के हित समान है। विशेष रूप से BRICS और IBSA में हमारी partnership, भारत की विदेश नीति का एक महत्वपूर्ण पहलू है। आज हमने तय किया है कि दोनों देश multilateral मुद्दों पर अपने सहयोग को और दृढ़ बनायेंगे। और हम सुरक्षा परिषद, संयुक्त राष्ट्र और अन्य अंतर्राष्ट्रीय संगठनों में आवश्यक सुधार के लिए मिलकर प्रयासरत रहेंगे।

साथियों,
मैं एक बार फिर राष्ट्रपति बोल्सनारो और उनके delegation का भारत में स्वागत करता हूं। उनकी यह यात्रा भारत-ब्राजील संबंधों में एक नए अध्याय की शुरूआत है।

Muito obrigado
धन्यवाद।

*****

VRRK/KP

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RANK & NAME

SHAURYA CHAKRA

PARAM VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL

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