Compensatory Jurisprudence of Constitutional Courts XI : Custodial Violence I

We may refer to Division Bench Judgment of Nagpur High Court reported in Bipin Singh Choudhary, AIR 1945 Nagpur, Oudh, Peshawar & Sind 104 where Division Bench consisted of Justice Vivian Bose. The ratio is, in event people holding public office abuse their position, it becomes a matter of great public concern. We fully endorse […]

Section 37 of The Arbitration Act II

My Lord, Appeal under Section 37(1)(c) would be maintainable against an Order refusing to condone delay in filing an Application under Section 34? Yes. It is important to note, the expression “setting aside or refusing to set aside” an Arbitral Award has to be read with the expression “under Section 34”. A refusal to set […]

Rebuttable Presumption III

Trial Court completely overlooked and failed to appreciate statutory presumption drawn under Section 118 and Section 139, a point of law notably crystalized in Rohitbhai Jivanlal Patel v. State of Gujarat, (2019) 18 SCC 106. Trial Court ought to have presumed, cheque was issued as consideration for a legally enforceable debt, once signatures were admitted. […]

The True Owner

“It cannot be disputed that a person in possession of land in the assumed character of owner and exercising peaceably the ordinary rights of ownership has a perfectly good title against all the world but the rightful owner. And if the rightful owner does not come forward and assert his title by the process of […]

Illegal Gratification II

Hakeem Khan v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (2017) 5 SCC 719 considered powers of Appellate Court for interference in cases where acquittal is recorded by Trial Court. It was held, so long as view of Trial Court can be reasonably formed, regardless of whether High Court agrees with same or not, verdict of Trial Court […]

Sham Transactions

A transaction which is sham or collusive would only create an illusion that money has been disbursed to a borrower with the object of receiving consideration – when in fact the parties have entered into the transaction with a different or an ulterior motive. In other words, the real agreement between the parties is something […]

The White Tiger

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 […]

The Revival of Ray LX

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, a law which contravenes fundamental rights of citizens may continue to be valid as regards non-citizens [See, Bennett Coleman v. Union of India, (1972) 2 SCC 788]. […]

Contempt Jurisdiction VII

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 […]

Educational Qualifications in Promotion I / The Revival of Ray LIX

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 […]

Ratio Decidendi II

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 Majority Judgment of Shelat J, speaking for himself and other Two Learned Judges held: “It is trite to say, a decision is binding not because of its conclusion but […]

Referred to Larger Bench XXV: Doctrine of Separability of Arbitration Agreement

It is well settled, an Arbitration Agreement is distinct and separate; independent from the substantive commercial contract in which it is embedded. Autonomy of Arbitration Agreement is based on twin concepts of separability and kompetenz – kompetenz; which, though inter-related, are distinct. Doctrine of Separability of Arbitration Agreement connotes, invalidity, ineffectiveness or termination of the […]

The Doctrine of Election

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 […]

Section 34(3) of The Arbitration Act II

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 […]

Principles of Natural Justice VII / The Revival of Ray LVIII

The core issue: not to say, consultation should be open ended/indefinite or Govt. must release all information; disclosure of certain information may violate 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; […]

Disciplinary Proceedings IV

It is true, strict rules of evidence are not applicable to departmental enquiry proceedings. The only requirement of law is, 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 delinquent […]

Value of Housework

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 […]

Acceptor’s Condition

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 […]

Child Witness II

“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 […]

Sacred Cows of Shadowy Doubts

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 Sister Abhaya’s dead body, as per instruction of Kottayam West Police. He noticed nail mark injuries on either side of […]

The Last Word

A Diversion for Lawyers and Others

Author: Rudrajyoti Nath Ray