Public Prosecutor

Time and again Court has said, there should not be any element of political consideration in matters like appointment of a Public Prosecutor. The only consideration for Government should be ‘merit’. A good, seasoned and experienced Public Prosecutor will not only bring contradictions on record, but will also cross-examine a hostile witness at length. It […]

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Criminal Proceedings in Marriages

Many times, Parents including Close Relatives of a Wife make a mountain out of a mole. No sooner it reaches Police, fair chances of reconciliation would get destroyed. The foundation of a sound marriage is tolerance, adjustment and respecting one another. Tolerance to each other’s fault to a certain bearable extent has to be inherent […]

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Intimidation

An offence of ‘criminal intimidation’ arises when the accused intends to cause alarm to the victim, though it does not matter whether the victim is alarmed or not. The word ‘intimidate’ means to make timid or fearful, especially: to compel or deter by or as if by threats. The word ‘threat’ refers to the intent […]

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Promotional Trailers

A ‘service’ involving ‘art’ necessarily involves ‘freedom and discretion in presentation’. Before release of ‘Fan‘ in 2016, Yash Raj Films Private Limited circulated a ‘promotional trailer’, both on television and online, which contained a song in form of a video. Afreen Fatima Zaidi states, ‘Fan‘ did not contain the song, even though the song was […]

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1.450 Kilograms of Charas

Intelligence Officer/Inspector-Mrs. Krishna Chaube on 10.12.1999 at about 06:30 PM had received the secret information, Abdul Hamid Chandmiya would be carrying narcotic substances in an Auto Rickshaw-GJ­9T­2355 at about 07:00 AM on 11.12.1999 and shall be passing through Shahpur Darwaja. It was recorded and reported to Superior Officer-Mr. Pawan Singh Tomar. Auto Rickshaw-GJ­9T­2355 was chased […]

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The Case of Three Vehicles

Karikho Kri-Independent, Dr. Mohesh Chai-Bharatiya Janata Party and Nuney Tayang-Indian National Congress contested from 44 Tezu (ST) Assembly on 11.04.2019. Karikho Kri emerged victorious with 7538 votes, while Dr. Mohesh Chai secured 7383 and Nuney Tayang secured 1088 votes. Once it is accepted, Kri’s Kinetic Zing Scooty-AR-11/4474, Maruti Omni Van-AR-11A/3100 and TVS Star City Motorcycle-AR-11/685 […]

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Referred to Larger Bench XXXVI: Principles of Natural Justice X

Chief Justice Sabyasachi Mukharji in Charan Lal Sahu v. Union of India, (1990) 1 SCC 613 felicitously described, “Principles of Natural Justice are fundamental… no man or no man’s right should be affected without an opportunity to ventilate his views… we are also conscious, justice is a psychological yearning.” This echoes what Lord Megarry said […]

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Claim of Juvenility VIII

The procedure provided under Sections 15 and 19 of JJ Act, 2015 has been held to be ‘mandatory’ by this Court in Ajeet Gurjar v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 2023 SCC Online SC 1255. Court held, ‘may’ in Section 19(1) be read as ‘shall’. As can be seen, there has been a flagrant violation of […]

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The Revival of Ray XCIII

In matters of appointment of Judicial Officers, opinion of a High Court is not a mere formality because a High Court is in best position to know about suitability of candidates as District Judges. Constitution therefore expects Governors to engage in ‘constructive constitutional dialogue’ with High Courts before appointing persons to a post of a […]

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Illegal Gratification IV

Duality of Sir Amitabh in Shahenshah, (1998) as a Corrupt-Comic Police Officer and a Costumed Crime-Buster compelled many to wonder, what did Sir Amitabh do with his illegal gratifications? No matter what you answer, acceptance of those gratifications were without law. Court has not refrained from reconsidering a prior construction, if it proves to be […]

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Curative Jurisprudence

Registrar: “Curative Petitions filed were heard and disposed of in an Open Court. In this regard, Rule 2(1), Order XLVIII, S.C.R., 2O13 reads: Petitioner, in Curative Petition, shall aver specifically, grounds mentioned therein had been taken in Review Petition and it was dismissed by circulation. Since aforesaid Review Petitions were disposed of in an Open […]

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The Little Pencil

Ensuring a free and fair electoral process is imperative to maintain legitimacy of trust in a representative democracy. Kuldeep Kumar is declared to be validly elected as Mayor of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. We echo observations by Justice VR Krishna Iyer in Mohinder Singh Gill v. Chief Election Commissioner, (1978) 1 SCC 405. “At the bottom […]

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The Rules of The Game Principle X

Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya Institute for Physically Handicapped called for appointment of Primary School Teachers and reserved a right to evaluate, review its process of selection at any stage. This one is a classic case of arbitrary action. While primary duty of Constitutional Courts remains control of power, including setting aside of illegal or arbitrary actions, such […]

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Deep Association of Money and Politics

The fear of reprisal and vindictiveness does not evaporate. The so-called protection exists only on paper. – Hon’ble Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Association for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India, [Writ Petition (Civil) No. 880 of 2017]. Constitution guarantees a right to informational privacy of political affiliation. Can such right be extended to contributions to political […]

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Principle of Generality v. Enumeration

Where a statute confers particular powers without prejudice to generality of a general power already conferred, those particular powers are only illustrative of the general power and do not in any way restrict the general power. However, the general power cannot be so exercised as to bring into existence ‘substantive rights or obligations or disabilities’ […]

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