-The Economic Times A high-level panel set up after last month's gang-rape case in Delhi may have made headlines for not recommending the death penalty for rapists, but it is triggering concerns across India Inc for advocating far-reaching changes in rules that govern sexual harassment in corporate workplaces. The panel headed by former Supreme Court chief justice JSVerma, in its report submitted to the government, has said employers must not attempt conciliation...

-DNA 1. The equality of women, being integral to the Constitution, its denial is a sacrilege and a constitutional violation. Sustained constitutional violations mean that governance is not in accordance with the Constitution. A fortiori, all limbs of the State - the executive, the legislature as well as the judiciary -must respect women’s rights and must treat them in a non-discriminatory manner. 2. As a primary recommendation, all marriages in India (irrespective...

-The Economic Times The Justice Verma Committee, set up to recommend reforms to deal with sexual assault crimes, has come out with a comprehensive and laudable report. Not only did the committee take on board suggestions from a range of academics, activists, lawyers et al, but also came out with the report dot on time. Now, the ball is firmly in the government's court; and as the report notes, unless...

-The Indian Express Verma panel wants criminal trial for armed forces men in rape cases. A look at some such cases in Kashmir One of the key recommendations of the Justice J S Verma Committee has been that Sexual Offences by armed forces personnel be brought under ordinary criminal law. In Kashmir, the armed forces have frequently sought — and got — immunity from prosecution in civilian courts after their personnel have had...

-The Times of India In keeping with the public outrage over Nirbhaya's gang rape, the Justice J S Verma Committee has raised the bar of punishment for a wide range of existing and proposed Sexual Offences even as it rejected the demand for introducing death for rape. The report, released on Wednesday, has proposed codification of a stringent alternative to the life sentence, evolved through judicial activism in the last five years....