The Autobiography of a Half-Baked Indian. That’s what I ought to call my life’s story. The Great Indian Rooster Coop. Every evening on the train out of Surat, where they run the world’s biggest diamond-cutting and polishing business, the servants of diamond merchants are carrying suitcases full of cut diamonds that they have to give […]
Read more "The White Tiger"State of Gujarat v. Shri Ambica Mills Ltd., (1974) 4 SCC 656 has laid down certain principles relating to under-inclusive and over-inclusive classification. This is, no doubt, apart from holding that a law which contravenes fundamental rights of the citizens may continue to be valid as regards non-citizens [See, Bennett Coleman v. Union of India, (1972) 2 […]
Read more "The Revival of Ray LX"A person does not commit contempt if, during the pendency of certain proceedings, he takes recourse to other judicial proceedings open to him, even though the latter proceedings put the other party at a loss [Pratap Singh v. Gurbaksh Singh, 1962 SCR Supp. (2) 838; Radhey Lal v. Niranjan Nath, (2004) 5 SCC 119; Mehar […]
Read more "Contempt Jurisdiction VII"The Constitution Bench in Jammu & Kashmir v. Triloki Nath Khosa, (1974) 1 SCC 19 considered the question, whether persons drawn from different sources and integrated into one class can be classified on the basis of their Educational Qualifications for promotion. The Constitution Bench answered the question in the affirmative holding, providing for Graduates to […]
Read more "Educational Qualifications in Promotion / The Revival of Ray LIX"It is settled law, only the ratio decidendi is binding as a precedent. Thus, in B. Shama Rao v. Union Territory, Pondicherry, (1967) 2 SCR 650 the Majority Judgment of Shelat J, speaking for himself and other Two Learned Judges held: “It is trite to say that a decision is binding not because of its […]
Read more "Ratio Decidendi II"It is well settled, an Arbitration Agreement is distinct and separate; independent from the substantive commercial contract in which it is embedded. The autonomy of the Arbitration Agreement is based on the twin concepts of separability and kompetenz – kompetenz; which, though inter-related, are distinct. The Doctrine of Separability of Arbitration Agreement connotes, the invalidity, […]
Read more "Referred to Larger Bench XXV: Doctrine of Separability of Arbitration Agreement"An election of remedies arises when two concurrent remedies are available and the aggrieved chooses to exercise one, in which event he loses the right to simultaneously exercise the other for the same cause of action. Doctrine of Election was discussed in A.P. State Financial Corporation, (1994) 2 SCC 647; P.R. Deshpande, (1998) 6 SCC […]
Read more "The Doctrine of Election"Arbitral Process is strictly conditioned upon time limitation. This Court in P. Radha Bai v. P. Ashok Kumar, (2019) 13 SCC 445 observed: “Section 34(3) reflects the principle of unbreakability. According to this ‘unbreakability’ of time-limit and true to the ‘certainty and expediency’ of the Arbitral Awards, any grounds for setting aside the Award that […]
Read more "Section 34(3) of The Arbitration Act II"The core issue: not to say, consultation should be open ended/indefinite or release all information; disclosure of certain information may violate the right to privacy of individuals/cause breach of national security/impinge on confidentiality; information may be abridged or even denied for larger public interest; there should be good grounds and justification to withhold information; boundaries […]
Read more "Principles of Natural Justice VII / The Revival of Ray LVIII"It is true, strict rules of evidence are not applicable to departmental enquiry proceedings. The only requirement of law is, the allegation against the delinquent must be established by such evidence acting upon which a reasonable person acting reasonably and with objectivity may arrive at a finding upholding the gravity of the charge against the […]
Read more "Disciplinary Proceedings IV"The sheer amount of time and effort that is dedicated to household work by individuals, who are more likely to be women than men, is not surprising when one considers the plethora of activities a housemaker undertakes. The conception that housemakers do not ‘work’ or that they do not add economic value to the household […]
Read more "Value of Housework"The short question is, whether the acceptance of a conditional offer with a further condition results in a concluded contract, irrespective of whether the offerer accepts the further condition proposed by the acceptor. The offer and acceptance of an offer must be absolute. It can give no room for doubt. The offer and acceptance must […]
Read more "Acceptor’s Condition"“At the outset, we must note the perspective from which the evidence of a child witness is to be considered. The caution expressed by this Court in Suryanarayana v. State of Karnataka, (2001) 9 SCC 129 that, “corroboration of the testimony of a child witness is not a rule but a measure of caution and […]
Read more "Child Witness II"A ‘group of 34’ gathered in a public park to analyze their new-found hobby of collectively maintaining absolute silence for two hours, each day of one astrologically-permissible week. Of course, curiosity arose. There were those who wished to break the silence and there were those too who joined in, just to see where it all […]
Read more "Collective Maintenance of Absolute Silence"Sister Abhaya was found dead on 27.03.1992 and her body was recovered from a well. She was born on 26.02.1971. Varghese Chacko was a photographer, during 1992, in Kottayam Venus Studio. He took photographs of the dead body of Sister Abhaya, as per the instruction of Kottayam West Police. He noticed nail mark injuries on […]
Read more "Sacred Cows of Shadowy Doubts"Special Leave Petition has been filed with a delay of 663 days. Supreme Court of India cannot be a place for the Governments to walk in when they choose, ignoring the period of limitation prescribed. No doubt, some leeway is given for the Government inefficiencies. But, the sad part is, authorities keep on relying on […]
Read more "Condonation of Delay VIII: 663"I am also of the opinion that the views expressed by Rajasthan High Court, Gujarat High Court, Bombay High Court and Uttarakhand High Court, termed as ‘first view’, is the correct one and not the view expressed by Allahabad and Madhya Pradesh, called as ‘second view’. [Hon’ble Justice S. Ravindra Bhat] Finally, we must say […]
Read more "Vertical and Horizontal Reservation"The disqualification under Section 8 of The Representation of People Act, 1951 is relatable to Article 191(1)(e). Therefore, any interpretation to Section 8 should be in sync with the constitutional scheme. Once the period of disqualification starts running, the seat, hitherto held by the person disqualified, becomes vacant by virtue of Article 190(3). His name […]
Read more "Timing of Votes"Mr. Peter Leaver [Queen’s Counsel], Justice V.K. Gupta [Retd.] and Mr. Anthony Houghton [Senior Counsel] delivered their International Arbitral Award in New Delhi, on 12.05.2014. Majority Award [Mr. Peter Leaver and Mr. Anthony Houghton] was in favor of Anglo American Metallurgical Coal Pty Ltd. and Dissenting Award [Justice V.K. Gupta] dismissed the claim of Anglo […]
Read more "Section 34 of The Arbitration Act IV / Arbitral Award Dissent"The definition of the expression ‘shared household’ in Section 2(s) of The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 uses the familiar legislative formula of a “means and includes” definition; where the definition of an expression in an enactment adopts a “means and includes” stipulation, it is intended to be exhaustive; the ‘means’ part […]
Read more "A “Means and Includes” Definition VI"