My Lord, Who Killed Mahatma? Mahatma Gandhi: Dead. Accused: Dead. Unseen Hand? Issue: Gross. Truth: Well Known. Hearsay. New Fires of Controversy: No. – Hon’ble Justice S.A. Bobde – Hon’ble Justice L. Nageswara Rao, Dr. Pankaj Kumudchandra Phadnis v. Union of India Ministry of Law and Justice, [SLP (Civil) 8293 of 2018].
Read more "Murder of Mahatma"My Lord, Transfer Investigation by West Bengal Police to NIA/CBI/Independent Investigation Agency? Power of Transferring Investigation: When, Rare and Exceptional Case; When, Investigation by State Police: No Credibility; When, Confidence in Public Mind: Necessary. Not a Fit Case. – Hon’ble Justice Ashok Bhushan, Bimal Gurung v. Union of India, [Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 182 of […]
Read more "Investigation Transfer"“In Gopal Sah, (2008) 17 SCC 128 Court held, an extra-judicial confession is, on the face of it, weak evidence and should not be relied upon to record a conviction, in the absence of a chain of circumstances. In Pancho, (2011) 10 SCC 165 as well, Court refused to convict the accused on the basis […]
Read more "Extra Judicial Confessions I"Issues of Tribunals: Unresolved. 07.05.2018 “The functioning of Tribunals is required to be reviewed on the test of speedy and inexpensive quality justice. L. Chandra Kumar, (1997) 3 SCC 261 noted, various Tribunals have not evolved up to the expectations which is self-evident and widely acknowledged. Drastic measures were required to elevate the standards. R. […]
Read more "Rojer Mathew, SLP (Civil) 15804/2017"The execution of a Will is proved not only when the statutory requirements for proving that Will are satisfied but the Will is also found to be ordinarily free from suspicious circumstances [Pragnaben, (2008) 15 SCC 365]. Whether a Will is surrounded by suspicious circumstances or not is essentially a question of fact. “3 Courts […]
Read more "The Proof of Valid Wills I"“There can be no doubt, a mere breach of contract is not in itself a criminal offence. However, as held by this Court in Hridaya Ranjan Prasad, (2000) 4 SCC 168 the distinction between mere breach of contract and cheating, which is a criminal offence, is a fine one. Breach of contract would amount to […]
Read more "Section 482 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 III: Deception at Inception"“There is no doubt that the socio-economic factors relating to a convict should be taken into consideration for the purposes of deciding whether to award Life Sentence or Death Sentence. The consideration of socio-economic factors is tied up with another important issue and that is whether the convict has had adequate legal representation. It would […]
Read more "Review of Death Penalty IV"It was decided. 8 December, 1930 would be ‘Operation Simpson Day’. The journey began at 12:00 in the afternoon. Three Men sat in a taxi and headed for the Writers Building. One of them had his Birthday < 50 hours ago. The last ride together. [File No. 59/19/30] 12:30. Cap, coat, tie, trousers, boots – […]
Read more "December 8, 1930"There is no limitation placed on power to review evidence in an Appeal against Acquittal. It is relevant to refer to Lord Russell in Sheo Swarup, (1934) 36 BOM LR 1185; Surajpal Singh, (1952) 3 SCR 193; Muralidhar @ Gidda, (2014) 5 SCC 730 and Ghurey Lal, (2008) 10 SCC 450. “Interference with Judgment of Trial Court, […]
Read more "Setting Aside, Acquittal Orders I"“A convict is sent to jail with the hope and expectation that he would make amends and get reformed. A positive change on a Death Row Convict should weigh the Court. The conduct of the convict in prison cannot be lost sight of. We are of the view that a time has come where we […]
Read more "Review of Death Penalty III"Sumit was Appellant Swapan’s first cousin, mother’s brother’s son. Appellant ‘kidnapped’, ‘drugged’, ‘throttled’ Sumit, placing ‘ransom calls’ for Rs. 20 Lakhs. Star Witness: Dulal Mahto, Driver, Indica Car No. JH 09D 6666. Unbroken chain of circumstances pointed unequivocally towards guilt. SC remembered well-settled legal propositions. First, Death Penalty is to be imposed only when it […]
Read more "Review of Death Penalty II"I had declared in December, 2014: “It might be very useful to find more instances such as these – with clever scrutiny of the Judge Compositions – in order to find a pattern of how frequently or infrequently an SC Judge alters or refines his Opinion/Judgment during his tenure. Especially if he has held one […]
Read more "Review of Death Penalty I"“The parameters of exercise of power under Section 319, CrPC has been explained by this Court time and again. It is sufficient to refer to Constitution Bench Judgment in Hardeep Singh, (2014) 3 SCC 92. Constitution Bench held, the person against whom Court decides to proceed, “has to be a person whose complicity may be […]
Read more "Section 319 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 I"“An agreement was entered into with regard to development of property owned by the Appellants. This property is situated at 20, Feroz Shah Road, New Delhi which falls under Lutyens Zone. Respondent No. 2 paid a sum of Rs. 1,00,00,000 (Rupees One Crore). The agreement could not be fulfilled as the new building regulations prohibited […]
Read more "Section 482 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 II"‘Yes?’ It was the Lover of the Century, Raghu. ‘You have to leave this Girl. It’s been too long.’ ‘I am so over her.’ 5 WhatsApp Messages, Zara Lone: ‘It’s my Birthday. I hope you remember.’ 9th February. ‘This is insane,’ Saurabh kept chanting. ‘Ready?’ I said, putting on my helmet. ___ Victim is Zara […]
Read more "The Zara Lone Case"“Willie (William) Slaney v. State of Madhya Pradesh, AIR 1956 SC 116 explained the concept of ‘prejudice caused to the accused’ and held: “Trial is not vitiated unless the accused can show substantial prejudice. Some violations of the Code will be so obvious that they will speak for themselves as, for example, a refusal to give the […]
Read more "Principles of Natural Justice III"There is always much to study in a dissenting opinion; dissents in constitutional law matters are remembered/revered; dissents in criminal law matters produce intense causes of concern. How best can one ensure advancement of justice, if Supreme Court Judges disagree on a crime? There would be a day surely when 5/7/9 or perhaps 13 shall […]
Read more "Section 372 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 I"Chess has been represented, or shall I say misrepresented, as a game – that is, a thing which could not well serve a serious purpose, solely created for the enjoyment of an empty hour. If it were a game only, Chess would never have survived the serious trials to which it has, during the long […]
Read more "A Man of Reason and Logic"“A surgeon cannot and does not guarantee that the result of surgery would invariably be beneficial, much less to the extent of 100% for the person operated on. The only assurance which such a professional can give or can be understood to have given by implication is that he is possessed of the requisite skill […]
Read more "Medical Negligence and Consumer Law I"Joseph Shine v. Union of India, [Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 194 of 2017] Hon’ble Justice Indu Malhotra The issue is whether ‘adultery’ must be treated as a penal offence or a marital wrong. Adultery has the effect of not only jeopardizing the marriage between the two consenting adults, but also affects the growth and moral […]
Read more "Section 497: A Tripartite Labyrinth"
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