The question had been floating for a while. It was January 1, 2019 when I wondered who amongst then Chief Justices of HCs, if elevated, could be our 51st CJI. January 18, 2019 – we finally received an answer. CJI No. 51 would be Hon’ble Justice Sanjiv Khanna who wasn’t ever a Chief Justice of […]
Read more "The Nature of Judicial Power: Article No. 1101"Dibrugarh offered a simple, uncomplicated lifestyle and we grew up in a milieu with a consistent feel-good ambience. My greatest satisfaction as a Lawyer was, help I could render to my Father outside Court when he had faced a disqualification under Tenth Schedule in 1994. P.K. Goswami, Senior Advocate, represented my Father. Amitava Roy [Retired […]
Read more "Justice Ranjan Gogoi’s Justice"Court has propounded several tests for determining reasonableness for purpose of Article 19(1)(g). These have ranged from testing restrictions for arbitrariness [Dwarka, AIR 1954 SC 224; Shree Meenakshi Mills, AIR 1974 SC 366], excessiveness [Chintaman Rao, AIR 1951 SC 118] and discerning their objective of compliance with Directive Principles of State Policy [Saghir Ahmad, (1955) […]
Read more "Proportionality in Culture of Justification"United Nations Conference on Human Environment at Stockholm in 1972, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development known as Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992, World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 and Glasgow Climate Change Conference in 2021 have all voiced grave concerns about global environmental degradation resulting in extinction of […]
Read more "Environmental Jurisprudence II"Greenstone Lobo has dedicated 91 Predictions, (Westland, 2021) to a ‘genius scientist’ who will restore Pluto’s dignity, honor and its rightful place as a Planet. The wish is to exhibit, astrology is a science and a subject worthy of attention, exploration, serious study and application. An excerpt. Everything comes in cycles. Indian an Western systems […]
Read more "91 Predictions"“If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.” - George Orwell, 1984. Orwellian concern. September, 2018 – Citizen Lab released software capabilities of a ‘spyware suite’ called Pegasus, produced by NSO Group. Historically, privacy rights have been ‘property centric’ rather than ‘people centric’. In 1604, in Semayne’s case, 77 […]
Read more "The Nature of Judicial Power: Pegasus"Estragon: Let’s go. Vladimir: We can’t. Estragon: Why not? Vladimir: We’re waiting for Godot. Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot, 1954. Let us now hark back to Waiting for Godot… with which, we started. National Green Tribunal must act, if exigencies so demand, without indefinitely waiting for metaphorical Godot to knock on its portal. NGT is […]
Read more "Environmental Jurisprudence I"I do not think there is any serious contestation. Constitution of Kenya, 2010 has a Basic Structure. Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020 violates certain components of our Constitution’s Basic Structure. [Mr. Justice D.K. Musinga, President of Court of Appeal] Constitutions, like human beings, are never perfect. Judges were agreed, Indian Constitution has a Basic […]
Read more "The Doctrine of Basic Structure II"“The Strict Liability Rule under Common Law is a relic of the past and should not be given effect in the Indian context.” – Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar, Taj Mahal Hotel v. United India Insurance Co. Ltd., (2020) 2 SCC 224. _____ There is certainly a phantom thread concerning the Rule of Strict Liability and […]
Read more "Be Kind Rewind, Strict Liability"While we were still shooting for Batwara, I attended a dinner party hosted by the Maharani of Jaipur with a few other members of the cast. A few players from the West Indies Cricket Team were also on the guest list, including their Captain at that time, Vivian Richards. I have always been crazy about […]
Read more "Neena and Vivian"Devdutt Pattanaik, Marriage – 100 Stories, (Rupa, 2021) has stories on – I. Origin, II. Singledom, III. Wooing, IV. Fidelity, V. Multiplicity, VI. Children, VII. Property, VIII. Barriers, IX. Heartbreak and X. Coupledom. The following is extracted from ‘III. Wooing’. Agastya Finds a Source of Income Rishi Agastya had to repay his debt to Ancestors […]
Read more "Wooing and Marriage"Although for me the idea of going to Pakistan was an exciting one it was not at all something out of the ordinary for the people in our neighborhood. It was a bright day in November when I set off to get my Passport and Visa from the Pakistan High Commission. I was accosted by […]
Read more "Framed Terrorist"Iqbal Mohammed Memon alias Iqbal Mirchi was arrested in April 1995 and was discharged in September 1995 by Bow Street Magistrates’ Court [Magistrate Jeremy Connor]. The order was non-appealable. An extradition case dismissed before a proper trial shows an astonishing level of non-application of mind… Mirchi’s career, much like Dawood’s, started from tough and grimy […]
Read more "Extraditable Fugitives III"Danish Khan & Ruhi Khan, Escaped, (Penguin, 2021) is beautifully detailed. The number of facts cited must be appreciated. It doesn’t matter whether the story is on Vijay Mallya or successful extradition of Hansie Cronje times Sanjeev Chawla or forgotten excuses of Raymond Varley who brought Goa to disrepute. Each one will educate. Excerpt follows. […]
Read more "Extraditable Fugitives II"Gulu Ezekiel, Myth-Busting: Indian Cricket Behind The Headlines, (Rupa, 2021) is as fascinating to read as it must have been to research on and eventually write. “The whole idea is to bust long-held myths spread.” There are charming, structured anecdotes aplenty. Consider these: Farokh Engineer has been claiming, he was the First Indian Cricketer to […]
Read more "Kapil’s 175*"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"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"Hello, this is Saurabh Maheshwari speaking, taking over from Lordship Keshav for only a short while. I am on way to meet my fiancée Prerna on Karva Chauth. A white cab came in. Anjali stepped out. She had her backpack with her, which seemed heavy and huge compared to her skinny frame. ‘Adi Mamu, what’s […]
Read more "One Arranged Murder"NLSIU, Bangalore has been in existence for some time now. The number of people who display the University, as, at least, a footnote in their identity, is distinctive. I came across my Super-Senior, Ruchika Chanana, while discussing on ‘Quirkier’, The NLSIU Alumni Newsletter. I am happy to have found a spot in ‘Quirkier’, Issue 1. […]
Read more "The Sadanand Sharma Trophy for Extramural Excellence"In Hindi-movies, there are quite a few library-scenes and scenes of a character reading. One may consider, When Eight Bells Toll (Alistair MacLean) in Aradhana (1969, dir. Shakti Samanta); You’ll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again (Julia Phillips) in Khel (1992, dir. Rakesh Roshan); The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield) in Dil To Pagal Hai […]
Read more "The Whiff of Money"
The Last Word 
You must be logged in to post a comment.