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"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"Section 220, CrPC envisages situations when a person shall be tried for multiple offences at one trial. It now needs to be determined, if Section 220, CrPC can be applied to proceedings before a Special Court constituted under The Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. It is apparent, on combined reading of […]
Read more "The Principle, Rule, Doctrine of Implied Repeal II"After Narayan Govind Gavate v. State of Maharashtra, (1977) 1 SCC 133 a ‘discordant note’ came to be struck in Pista Devi, (1986) 4 SCC 251. Chameli Singh, (1996) 2 SCC 549 proceeded to consider decisions in Gavate, Pista Devi and Rajasthan Housing Board, (1993) 2 SCC 84. Chameli Singh was not noticed in Om […]
Read more "The Revival of Ray LXXVI"The act of ‘touching’ sexual part of body or any other act involving ‘physical contact’, if done with ‘sexual intent’, would amount to ‘sexual assault’ within meaning of Section 7 of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. Restricting interpretation of words ‘touch’ or ‘physical contact’ to ‘skin to skin contact’ would not […]
Read more "Ut Res Magis Valeat Quam Pereat"An interpreter, to deviate from defined meaning, should record reasons to show word/expression in a particular provision carries a different meaning; contrary context is not to be assumed or accepted easily, in absence of indication and reason to differ from defined meaning. Repugnancy is not indicated and does not arise in context of Clause 22(ix)(a) […]
Read more "Repugnancy II"Girdhari Lal Gupta v. D.H. Mehta, (1971) 3 SCC 189; State of Karnataka v. Pratap Chand, (1981) 2 SCC 335; Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Ram Kishan Rohtagi, (1983) 1 SCC 1; Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Purshotam Dass Jhunjunwala, (1983) 1 SCC 9; National Small Industries Corporation Limited v. Harmeet Singh Paintal, (2010) 3 […]
Read more "Vicarious Liability"Sarabjeet Singh Mokha is said to have procured fake Remdesivir injections which were administered to patients during COVID-19 pandemic to make illegal profits. Article 22 of the Constitution provides specific protections to undertrials and detainees in India. The communication of grounds is in aid of facilitating right of detenu to submit a representation against ‘order […]
Read more "Preventive Detention Statute II / The Revival of Ray LXXIV"“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"Kalpraj Dharamshi v. Kotak Investment Advisors Ltd., (2021) SCC OnLine SC 204 considered applicability of Section 14 of The Limitation Act, 1963 to reckoning of limitation under Section 61(1) of The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The law on limitation with respect to IBC is settled and emphatic in its denunciation of delays [Essar Steel […]
Read more "Condonation of Delay X: Special Statues"It is clear, if contract prohibits pre-reference and pendente lite interest, Arbitrator cannot award interest for said period. Clause 17, barring interest, is very clear and categorical. See, Sayeed Ahmed, (2009) 12 SCC 26; Kamatchi Amman Constructions, (2010) 8 SCC 767; Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, (2015) 5 SCC 718; Chittaranjan Maity, (2017) 9 SCC 611. […]
Read more "Section 31(7) of The Arbitration Act VII"Soutrik was successful in JEE 2020 (Mains) and was qualified and eligible to appear in JEE (Advanced), 2020. He scored Rank 4015. He secured admission in Chemical Engineering at IIT Kharagpur. Soutrik had also been offered B.S. (Mathematics) in IIT Bombay through a separate admission process based on his performance in Mathematics Olympiad. IIT alleges, […]
Read more "Matters of Education II"Two-Judge Bench of Mathew Varghese v. M. Amritha Kumar, (2014) 5 SCC 610 has heavily relied on Three-Judge Bench of Narandas Karsondas v. S.A. Kamtam, (1977) 3 SCC 247. Court held, there was no reason as to why general principle laid down in Narandas Karsondas, with reference to Section 60 of The Transfer of Property […]
Read more "The Revival of Ray LXXII"13 March, 2015 – Members of Legislative Assembly, belonging to Party in Opposition, climbed over to Speaker’s dais and damaged furniture and articles, causing a loss of Rs. 2,20,093/-. _____ A copy of the video recording of the incident was procured from the Electronic Control Room of the Legislative Assembly. The first question to be […]
Read more "Veil of Protest"“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"“What’s in a name?“, said Juliet. It conveys, natural characteristics of an individual are more important than his/her artificial/acquired characteristics. A poetic statement as it certainly is, it does not go in tune with significance of a ‘name’ in marking identity of an individual in his/her societal transactions. An individual must be in complete control […]
Read more "Names in CBSE Certificates"The theme of ‘gradual implementation’ of law or legal principles, was also spoken about in Javed v. State of Haryana, (2003) 8 SCC 369 which held, there is no constitutional imperative that a law or policy should be implemented all at once: “when the policies have far-reaching implications and are dynamic in nature, their implementation […]
Read more "Gradual Implementation"Repugnancy can be looked at from three distinct perspectives. The first is where provision of a State enactment is directly in conflict with a law enacted by Parliament. Compliance with one is impossible along with obedience to the other. The second is where regulation of subject matter by Parliament is so complete as a code, […]
Read more "Repugnancy I"It becomes necessary for this Court, to dwell on the ‘rule of alternate remedy’ and its judicial exposition [Whirlpool Corporation v. Registrar of Trademarks, Mumbai, (1998) 8 SCC 1; Harbanslal Sahnia v Indian Oil Corpn. Ltd., (2003) 2 SCC 107]. When a right is created by a statute, which itself prescribes the remedy or procedure […]
Read more "Rule of Alternate Remedy"High Courts in India as well as Supreme Court recognize Doctrine of Indirect Discrimination. Only by exercising close scrutiny and exhibiting attentiveness to the possibility of alternatives can a Court ensure, full potential of Doctrine of Indirect Discrimination is realized and not lost in its application. _____ In a case of direct discrimination, judicial enquiry […]
Read more "The Doctrine of Indirect Discrimination"
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