A ‘corrupt practice’ is easy to level but difficult to prove. No allegation would fall within definition of ‘corrupt practice’ of ‘undue influence’ as envisaged in Section 123(2) of The Representation of the People Act, 1951. Election Petition No. 01 of 2021 of Aminul Haque Laskar against Karim Uddin Barbhuiya also lacks ‘concise statement’ of […]
Read more "Disobedience of Section 83(1)(a) of RP Act, 1951"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 […]
Read more "Referred to Larger Bench XXXVI (Answered): Principles of Natural Justice X"This litigation between parties started sometime in 1981. We are in 2024. Almost 43 years have elapsed. It would be a mockery of justice if we condone a delay of 12 years and 158 days. We are of view, a question of limitation is not merely a technical consideration. We should not keep the ‘Sword […]
Read more "Condonation of Delay XII: 12 Y 158 D"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 […]
Read more "Claim of Juvenility VIII"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 […]
Read more "The Revival of Ray XCIII"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 […]
Read more "Illegal Gratification IV"High Court is constitutionally independent and not subordinate to Supreme Court. _____ We do not live in an ideal world. Constitution Bench of Sanjeev Coke Manufacturing Company, (1983) 1 SCC 147 held, “We have serious reservations on whether it is open to a Court to answer academic or hypothetical questions. We think it is inexpedient […]
Read more "The Nature of Judicial Power: Asian Resurfacing"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 […]
Read more "Curative Jurisprudence"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 […]
Read more "The Little Pencil"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 […]
Read more "The Rules of The Game Principle X"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 […]
Read more "Deep Association of Money and Politics"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’ […]
Read more "Principle of Generality v. Enumeration"On 19.10.2018, secret information was received about 2 hanging cloth banners, on which Khalistan Jindabad and Khalistan Referendum 2020 was written, at Pillars Kot Mit Singh Flyover, Amritsar. Language of bail limitation adopted in Section 43D(5) of The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 remains unique. Courts are burdened with a sensitive task. Call Detail Records […]
Read more "Gurwinder’s Bail"A product-by-process claim is permitted where it is found, it would be difficult to define a product with reference to its structural features. It is acceptance of this facet of such claims which constitutes point of origin of product-by-process claims. For assessing novelty one must disregard the process terms and discern whether the product possesses […]
Read more "Product-by-Process Claim"Learned Senior Counsel, Dr. S. Muralidhar vehemently submitted no error could be said to have been committed by High Court. We set aside. Harshness of a provision is no reason to ‘Read Down’ same. _____ Privy Council in Kunwar Chiranjit Singh v. Har Swarup, (1926) 23 LW 172 was referred to and relied upon by […]
Read more "Forfeiture in Public Auctions"A proposition traceable to Forbes v. Git, [1922] 1 AC 2564 was approvingly taken note of by a Three-Judge Bench of this Court in Radha Sundar Dutta v. Mohd. Jahadur Rahim, AIR 1959 SC 24. “If in a deed an earlier clause is followed by a later clause which destroys altogether the obligation created by […]
Read more "Earlier Clause v. Later Clause"There cannot be any disagreement, right of default bail under Section 167(2), Cr.P.C. is not only a statutory right but is a right that flows from Article 21. Once from material produced along with a Charge Sheet, Court is satisfied about commission of an offence and takes cognizance of that offence allegedly committed – it […]
Read more "Default Bail V"At this stage, we deem it necessary to expound on the meaning of ‘disclosure’. As per P. Ramanatha Aiyar, ‘to disclose’ is to expose to view or knowledge, anything which before was secret, hidden or concealed. The word ‘disclosure’ means to reveal, unravel or bring to notice [CIT v. Bimal Kumar Damani, (2003) 261 ITR […]
Read more "Disclosure"Case of State against Nara Chandrababu Naidu is, Naidu was a mastermind. Learned Senior Advocate, Mr. Mukul Rohtagi argued, since, at time of commission of offence, protective shield of Section 17A of The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 was not in force, Naidu could not claim benefits thereof. I do not accept. It has been already observed by me, […]
Read more "Accused No. 37, Mastermind Naidu"It is time to check with firmness, litigation initiated and laced with concealment, falsehood and forum hunting. This unnecessary turning of a civil matter into a criminal case not only overburdens criminal justice system but violates principles of fairness and right conduct in legal matters. It will set a harmful precedent if not addressed. Karan […]
Read more "25 Lakhs for Supreme Court"
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