The Hindu Editorial (A questionable refusal) – Dec 19, 2022

It is a matter of concern that the Supreme Court has declined to review its May 2022 order holding that the Gujarat government is the “appropriate government” to decide on the premature release of 11 convicts serving life terms in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case,… For further reading, visit “The Hindu”. Below is today’s word list-1 for The Hindu Editorial (A questionable refusal) – Dec 19, 2022.

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The Hindu Editorial (A questionable refusal) – Dec 19, 2022:

plea (noun) – petition, appeal, urgent/earnest request, entreaty.
review petition (noun) – the Constitution of India itself gives, under Article 137, the Supreme Court the power to review any of its judgments or orders. The court has the power to review its rulings to correct a “patent error” and not “minor mistakes of inconsequential import”. It is not necessary that only parties to a case can seek a review of the judgment on it. As per the Civil Procedure Code and the Supreme Court Rules, any person aggrieved by a ruling can seek a review. However, the court does not entertain every review petition filed. It exercises its discretion to allow a review petition only when it shows the grounds for seeking the review. As per 1996 rules framed by the Supreme Court, a review petition must be filed within 30 days of the date of judgment or order.
remission (noun) – it implies reducing the period of sentence without changing its character (whereas commutation denotes the substitution of a form of punishment for a lighter one).
convict (noun) – prisoner, inmate; criminal, lawbreaker, offender.
matter of concern (phrase) – something which causes worry.
hold (verb) – (of a court) rule, decide.
Section 432(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 (noun) – When any person has been sentenced to punishment for an offense, the appropriate Government may, at any time, without conditions or upon any conditions, which the person sentenced, accepts, suspend the execution of his sentence or remit the whole or any part of the punishment to which he has been sentenced. (The appropriate Government can be a Central or State Government. If the order passed in which the Union has extensive power then the Central Government is the appropriate Government or else in other cases the State Government becomes the appropriate government).
premature (adjective) – untimely, early, too soon, too early, before time; ill-timed, ill-considered.
life term/sentence (noun) – a punishment for a criminal of imprisonment for life; prison term, prison sentence, jail sentence, penal sentence.
gruesome (adjective) – horrible, grim, dreadful/terrible.
jurisdiction (noun) – power, authority, command, control, sovereignty, influence.
limited (adjective) – restricted, bounded, meagre, narrow, little, slight.
apparent (adjective) – evident, obvious, visible, noticeable, pronounced, crystal clear; claimed, supposed, presumed, seeming.
on the face of it (phrase) – apparently, seemingly, outwardly, ostensibly, at first glance, it seems (that), it appears (that), at face value, to go by appearances, by all accounts.
discretionary (adjective) – optional, voluntary, up to the individual, non-mandatory, non-compulsory.
remedy (noun) – solution, answer, antidote/panacea.
in open court (phrase) – in a court of law, before the judge and the public.
bench (noun) – a court of law with a number of judges.
Constitution Bench (noun) – a bench of the Supreme Court having five or more judges on it. These benches are not a routine phenomenon. Constitution Benches are exceptions, set up only if some circumstances exist). (A bench of two or three judges is called a division bench).
address (verb) – tackle, deal with, attend to, try to sort out.
findings (noun) – conclusion arrived at (as a result of an inquiry).
heinous (adjective) – wicked, horrible, terrible, awful, disgraceful, shameful, outrageous, hateful, shocking.
pogrom (noun) – (planned) mass slaughter, mass killing, mass murder (of a particular ethnic group).
trail (noun) – court case, judicial proceedings, legal action.
Section 432(7) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) (noun) – Section 432(7b) says the “appropriate government” is “the Government of the State within which the offender is sentenced or the said order is passed”.
sentence (verb) – pass judgement on, impose a sentence on, pronounce sentence on, mete out punishment to, punish, convict.
provision (noun) – term, clause, requirement/condition.
take the view (phrase) – to have an opinion/belief about something : to believe.
offence (noun) – crime, misconduct, misdeed, wrongdoing, criminal act.
extraordinary (adjective) – exceptional, unusual, rare, uncommon.
circumstances (noun) – condition, situation, background, context.
peculiar (adjective) – strange, unusual/odd, unexpected, bizarre, abnormal.
go against (phrasal verb) – oppose something; resist something.
statutory (adjective) – legitimate, constitutional.
fair (adjective) – honest, trustworthy, impartial, unbiased, non-partisan, non-discriminatory, neutral.
it stands to reason (phrase) – it is obvious, it is logical, it is sensible, it is understandable.
ought to (modal verb) – must, should.
divest of (verb) – deprive, strip, dispossess of (power/rights)
in force (phrase) – in effect; valid, operative.
conviction (noun) – sentence, judgement, verdict.
in the absence of (phrase) – without something.
curb (noun) – restriction, restraint, control, limitation.
remit (verb) – pardon, forgive, excuse; cancel, revoke, suspend.
concur (verb) – agree, be in agreement, go along.
outcome (noun) – result, consequence, conclusion.
ground (noun) – reason.
disregard (verb) – ignore, overlook, dismiss, deny, reject, disregard, spurn, brush off, take no notice of.
functionary (noun) – official, office-bearer, office-holder.
committee (noun) – advisory body; committee, board, council, panel.
vitiate (verb) – destroy, impair, spoil, ruin.
legitimacy (noun) – lawfulness, legality, rightfulness.
motivated (adjective) – provoked, triggered, induced, incited.