The Doctrine of Legitimate Expectation VI

We do not find any infirmity, much less any perversity, warranting any interference by this Court. However, there is one aspect which requires clarification. Doctrine of Legitimate Expectation does not always result in relief. A protection of legitimate expectation is subject to overriding public interest. Even if an individual’s expectation is reasonable and based on […]

Accord and Satisfaction

Appellant contends, i) no Arbitrable Dispute remained after a ‘full and final settlement’ and ii) appointment of an Arbitrator was an exercise in futility. However, we uphold and affirm, appointment of Justice K.A. Puj, Former Judge of High Court of Gujarat, as an Arbitrator. There is no rule of an absolute kind which precludes Arbitration […]

Bail for Sheikh Javed Iqbal and Ors.

“It would be very wrong to say, under a particular statute, bail cannot be granted.” According to Police, Sheikh Javed Iqbal had confessed, he was engaged in illegal trade of supplying counterfeit Indian currency notes in Nepal. Sheikh Javed Iqbal was arrested on 23.02.2015. We are in July, 2024. 9 years have gone by. A […]

Flea-Bite

It is a fact, certain High Courts maintained a view, sentencing to undergo ‘imprisonment till rising of Court’ would be no sentence at all according to law. It cannot be said, imposing a sentence of ‘imprisonment till rising of Court’ is impermissible or an action amounting to evasion of statutory provisions. However, we have no […]

Referred to Larger Bench XXXVIII: Necessity to Arrest

We are examining legality of arrest of Arvind Kejriwal on 21.03.2024. Gifford v. Kelson, (1943) 51 Man. R 120 accurately explains difference between “reasons to believe” and “suspicion”. “Suspicion” requires lower degree of satisfaction and does not amount to belief. An arrestee should be furnished “reasons to believe” to enable him to exercise his right […]

Tender Law VI

State abused its position under a misconceived notion, all its actions, such as award of contracts or tenders, were nothing but a generosity which it could, at its own whims, choose to deny, alter, modify, or take away without any consequences. Law cannot afford to remain static [M.C. Mehta v. Union of India, (1987) 1 […]

Section 34(3) of The Arbitration Act III

Arbitral Award made by Arbitral Tribunal on 30th June, 2022 was served on same day. In view of Section 12(1) of The Limitation Act, 1963, 30th June, 2022 will have to be excluded while computing limitation period. Thus, in effect, period of limitation started running on 1st July, 2022, period of limitation being of 3 […]

Section 37 of The Arbitration Act IV

Appellate Court under Section 37 is to decide, whether jurisdiction under Section 34 has been exercised rightly or wrongly. As observed, scope of interference under Section 34 is very narrow; jurisdiction under Section 37 is narrower [UHL Power Company Limited v. State of Himachal Pradesh, (2022) 4 SCC 116]. There is no statutory embargo on […]

Able Disable All People Together II

Nachiketa Walhekar v. Central Board of Film Certification, (2018) 1 SCC 778 held, Court will be extremely slow to restrain creative works, once Board had approved exhibition. The context, intention and overall message must be considered before protection of free speech is lifted. We have heard Sanjoy Ghose, Senior Counsel and Jai Anant Dehadrai, Counsel […]

Fiat Justitia Ruat Caelum, Again

“Let justice be done though the heavens fall” In early hours of 19/05/2024 a ghastly incident killed 2 young individuals in Pune and cause for same happened to be a Porsche rashly driven by Master X, a child in conflict with law. On very same day, he came to be released on bail. Juvenile Justice […]

Price is Right

Somendra was a cunning merchant. Nandish was a simple village boy. He was poor and had nothing in the world but one beautiful white horse. “What does a young boy like you need with a horse?” When the offer reached five hundred gold coins, Nandish paused and seemed to give it a thought. “You must […]

Equestrian

The equestrian sport dates back to ancient Greek era and has been an Olympic sport from 1900 onwards. The dressage sport is popularly known as horse ballet. The riders and their horses are judged based on their movement, calmness, suppleness and flexibility. One judges the horse’s enthusiasm to perform each element with minimum encouragement from […]

Section 32 of The Arbitration Act

Arbitrator does not do pro bono work. For him, it is a professional assignment. Arbitrator who accepts an appointment cannot say, he will not fix a meeting to conduct Arbitral Proceedings or a hearing date unless parties request him to do so. It is duty of an Arbitral Tribunal to do so. Section 32 of […]

Contracts of Insurance VIII

An insurance is a contract of indemnification, being a contract for a specific purpose [Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Sony Cheriyan, (1999) 6 SCC 451], which is to cover defined losses [United India Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Levis Strauss (India) (P) Ltd., (2022) 6 SCC 1]. Courts have to read an insurance contract strictly. Essentially, […]

Forthwith

Our research indicates, there is no authoritative pronouncement of this Court on this issue. _____ “Government will be well-advised to make suitable amendments.” – Anwar Ahmad v. State of U.P., AIR 1976 SC 680. Section 102(3), CrPC came by way of an amendment only in 1978. It becomes necessary to understand, meaning of the expression […]

34, The Nature of Judicial Power: Article No. 1434

27 SC Judges on CJI Lalit J’s retirement day [08/11/2022] turned to 28 with Datta J’s arrival [12/12/2022] and 27 again on Nazeer J’s retirement [04/01/2023]. A month later [06/02/2023], 5 Judges were elevated to SC [Mithal, Karol, S. Kumar, Amanullah, M. Misra JJ]. Also, within a week [13/02/2023], 2 more Judges were elevated to […]

Referred to Larger Bench XXXVII: Limitation and Debt

State of Kerala v. V.R. Kalliyanikutty, (1999) 3 SCC 657 did not dispute, a statute of limitation only bars a remedy and does not extinguish a debt. It would also be apposite to point out, recently, K.C. Ninan v. Kerala State Electricity Board, 2023 INSC 560 noticed V.R. Kalliyanikutty and concluded, a statute of limitation […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

The Last Word

A Diversion for Lawyers and Others

Author: Rudrajyoti Nath Ray