A reading [State of Assam v. Ranga Mahammad, (1967) 1 SCR 454; Jagdish Chander Gupta v. Kajaria Traders (India) Ltd., (1964) 8 SCR 50; Rajasthan State Electricity Board v. Mohan Lal, (1967) 3 SCR 377; CBI v. Braj Bhushan Prasad, (2001) 9 SCC 432; Godfrey Phillips India Ltd. v. State of U.P., (2005) 2 SCC […]
Read more "Civil Sheep & Criminal Wolf"“Inheritance is in some sort a legal and fictitious continuation of the personality of the dead man for the representation is in some sort identified by the law with him who he represents.” In Chiranjilal Shrilal Goenka, (1993) 2 SCC 507 the primary question arose, whether an Arbitrator appointed by Court, by consent of parties, […]
Read more "The Proof of Valid Wills III"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 […]
Read more "Compensatory Jurisprudence of Constitutional Courts XI : Custodial Violence"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 the view of Trial Court can be reasonably formed, regardless of whether High Court agrees with the same or not, verdict of […]
Read more "Illegal Gratification II"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 other […]
Read more "Sham Transactions"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 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 […]
Read more "Contempt Jurisdiction VII"It is true, strict rules of evidence are not applicable to departmental enquiry proceedings. The only requirement of law is, the 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 […]
Read more "Disciplinary Proceedings IV"“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 […]
Read more "Child Witness II"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"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 the dead body of Sister Abhaya, as per the instruction of Kottayam West Police. He noticed nail mark injuries on […]
Read more "Sacred Cows of Shadowy Doubts"The disqualification under Section 8 of The Representation of People Act, 1951 is relatable to Article 191(1)(e). Therefore, any interpretation to Section 8 should be in sync with the constitutional scheme. Once the period of disqualification starts running, the seat, hitherto held by the person disqualified, becomes vacant by virtue of Article 190(3). His name […]
Read more "Timing of Votes"Mr. Peter Leaver [Queen’s Counsel], Justice V.K. Gupta [Retd.] and Mr. Anthony Houghton [Senior Counsel] delivered their International Arbitral Award in New Delhi, on 12.05.2014. Majority Award [Mr. Peter Leaver and Mr. Anthony Houghton] was in favor of Anglo American Metallurgical Coal Pty Ltd. and Dissenting Award [Justice V.K. Gupta] dismissed the claim of Anglo […]
Read more "Section 34 of The Arbitration Act IV / Arbitral Award Dissent"Titty, alias George Kurian, a Turtle, was seized. Veterinary Surgeon identified the Turtle, on inspection, as ‘Indian Flap Shell’. The scientific name is ‘Lissemys Punctata’. The Court, near immediately, directed the Turtle to be freed. Section 9 of The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 prohibits hunting of any wild animal under Schedule I, II, III […]
Read more "Leo, Raph, Mikey, Don"Amish Devgan hosts ‘Aar Paar’ on News18 India and ‘Takkar’ on CNBC Awaaz. It remains difficult in law to draw the outmost bounds of freedom of speech and expression, the limit beyond which the right would fall foul and can be subordinated to other democratic values and public law considerations, so as to constitute a […]
Read more "Hate Speech / The Revival of Ray LVI"Majority of 2:1 affirmed the conviction in Anant Chintaman Lagu v. State of Bombay, AIR 1960 SC 500. There is absolutely no evidence relating to poison in relation to the deceased. If it were forcible poisoning by using any kind of poison, there would be struggle and resistance. There are none. The existence of […]
Read more "Poison"It is not always affordable to approach a Court of Law. Even if approached, it may be years before a final decision. Imtiyaz Ahmad v. State of Uttar Pradesh, (2012) 2 SCC 688 had a simple answer: “Pendency is merely a localized problem, in the sense that it affects some High Courts far more than […]
Read more "The Persistent Illusion of Judge-Strength"Mohinder Singh, AIR 1953 SC 415 was considered by a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in Gurucharan Singh, (1963) 3 SCR 585. The evidence of a ballistics expert would assume significance where direct evidence is not satisfactory, or is of interested witnesses or where the nature of the injuries requires expert corroboration. In other words, […]
Read more "Experts VI: Ballistics Experts"Constitution Benches are constituted to resolve a constitutional issue, harmonize conflicting views and settle the law. Constitution Bench decisions might only be reconsidered by a Constitution Bench of a Larger Strength and that too in exceptional and compelling circumstances. Bench of Lesser Strength cannot revisit the proposition laid down by at least Three Constitution Benches. […]
Read more "Judicial – Bench Strength – Decorum II"Court should be over cautious to place reliance on a piece of evidence with which the concerned witness has not been confronted despite an opportunity to do so. As held by this Court in Sita Ram Bhau Patil v. Ramchandra Nago Patil, (1977) 2 SCC 49 an admission must not only be proved but also […]
Read more "The Revival of Ray LIV"