Furlough II

Atbir, accused of causing death of his Step-Mother, Step-Brother and Step-Sister by multiple knife-blows, was charged of offence under Section 302 of The Indian Penal Code, 1860. Additional Sessions Judge, on 27/09/2004, awarded a Death Sentence, confirmed by High Court of Delhi on 13/01/2006. SC, on 09/08/2010, found it to be a case falling in […]

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104 Kilograms of Sea Gold

On receiving an intelligence input, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had intercepted a Pakistan Flag Ship, ‘Al Madina’, in Indian territorial waters on 21/05/2019. Narcotics were being clandestinely brought into Gujarat from Pakistan. During interrogation, Captain stated, delivery had to be made at a particular position on sea for which a communication was to be sent […]

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Non-Signatories to Arbitration III

The principle for binding Non-Signatories as laid down in Chloro Controls India Pvt. Ltd. v. Severn Trent Water Purification Inc., (2013) 1 SCC 641 was applied in context of a Domestic Arbitration in Ameet Lalchand Shah v. Rishabh Enterprises, (2018) 15 SCC 678. Three-Judge Bench of this Court in Cheran Properties Ltd. v. Kasturi & […]

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The Contra Proferentem Rule VII

Reconciliation of ambiguous terms in commercial contracts has been a contentious issue across jurisdictions. Rainy Sky SA v. Kookmin Bank, [2011] UKSC 50 provided for resolution of such ambiguity, keeping ‘business common sense’ as central. The principle was further developed by UK Supreme Court in Arnold v. Britton, [2015] UKSC 36. A decisive method was […]

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Compensatory Jurisprudence of Constitutional Courts XIII : Res Ipsa Loquitur II

State Commission relied on principle of ‘res ipsa loquitur’ to affix liability for defect in an airbag system, having regard to nature of collision. National Commission affirmed this finding referring to certain photographs, which showed substantial frontal damage. We do not find any reason to interfere. We are dealing with a case where in a […]

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Political Vendetta

Bhagwati, CJ in Sheonandan Paswan v. State of Bihar, (1987) 1 SCC 288 observed, a complaint being initiated by reason of political vendetta is not in itself a ground for quashing criminal proceedings. It is well-established, a criminal prosecution, if otherwise justified and based upon adequate evidence, does not become vitiated on account of mala […]

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Disciplinary Proceedings VIII

Anil Kumar Upadhyay was serving as a Head Constable (Ministerial) in 15th Battalion of Sashastra Seema Bal, Bongaigaon. He was charged under Section 43 of The Shashastra Seema Bal Act, 2007 for entering Mahila Barrack at around 00:15 AM on intervening night of 14th-15th April, 2013. He was imposed punishment of ‘removal from service’. His […]

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Review of Death Penalty XXVI

Having regard to circumstances, preceding and following deceased being last seen together with accused, Court has no hesitation in holding, prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt all circumstances, so conclusive as to rule out possibility of any other hypothesis except guilt. We deem it proper to commute Death Sentence to Life Imprisonment.   The only […]

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Disciplinary Proceedings VII

M. Duraisamy was serving as a Postal Assistant. He committed fraud and admitted so. M. Duraisamy deposited entire defrauded amount. He was imposed penalty of ‘removal’. Central Administrative Tribunal modified punishment from ‘removal’ to ‘compulsory retirement’. Chairman & Managing Director, V.S.P. v. Goparaju Sri Prabhakara Hari Babu, (2008) 5 SCC 569 observed, once all procedural […]

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Domain Name I

According to Snapdeal, by offering for registration, domain names which include ‘Snapdeal’, Domain Name Registrars (DNRs) are facilitating infringement of Snapdeal’s registered mark and are also themselves infringers within meaning of Sections 28 and 29 of The Trade Marks Act, 1999. If domain names are deceptively similar to ‘Snapdeal’, GoDaddy is indulging in infringement of […]

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Name of God

It is quite extraordinary, how word mark ‘Ganesh’ was registered without any restriction or limitation. When a mark is registered, Registering Authority may do so without any condition or limitation. Absence of a disclaimer does not always vest an exclusive right over a word mark. In our case, registration of word mark ‘Ganesh’ was without […]

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Res Ipsa Loquitur I

The maxim ‘res ipsa loquitur’ is resorted to when an accident is shown to have occurred and cause of accident is primarily within knowledge of Defendant. The cause of accident being unknown does not prevent Plaintiff from recovering damages, if proper inference to be drawn from circumstances which are known is: it was caused by […]

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Promissory Estoppel IX

It is abundantly clear, Principle of Promissory Estoppel cannot be invoked for enforcing promises in teeth of provisions of law [Motilal Padampat Sugar Mills, (1979) 2 SCC 409; Amrit Banaspati Co. Ltd., (1992) 2 SCC 411; Bangalore Development Authority v. R. Hanumaiah, (2005) 12 SCC 508; State of Gujarat v. Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel India […]

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Preventive Detention Statute III

The distinction between a disturbance to ‘law and order’ and a disturbance to ‘public order’ has been clearly settled by a Constitution Bench in Ram Manohar Lohia v. State of Bihar, AIR 1966 SC 740. Court has held, every ‘disorder’ does not meet threshold of a disturbance to ‘public order’, unless it affects community at […]

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The Doctrine of Basic Structure III

“Basic Structure Doctrine is applicable in Kenya” had only Lady Justice, Fatuma Sichale’s Dissent. My Lord, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission v. David Ndii, Petition No. 12 of 2021 before Supreme Court of Kenya at Nairobi? 6-1, Friend. Lady Justice, P.M. Mwilu, Deputy Chief Justice & Vice-President of Supreme Court of Kenya: If there were […]

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Apartment Buyer’s Agreement

The principle laid down in Pioneer Urban Land & Infrastructure Ltd. v. Govindan Raghvan, (2019) 5 SCC 725 has been followed consistently in many cases where terms of an Apartment Buyer’s Agreement were found to be one-sided. The following are instances where terms of an Apartment Buyer’s Agreement were found to be oppressive, constituting an […]

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