Criminal cases based on circumstantial evidence can be resolved in several ways in a work of fiction. Judges do not have such liberty. It would be in fitness of things to assume, there is only one right way for them to interpret ‘circumstances’. Two lovers, in love forever, alone in a stranger’s house, scribbled their […]
Read more "The Baazigar Suicide Letter"As 1992 drew to a close, simmering communal fervor came to a boil as a BJP-led mob demolished 465-year-old Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Mumbai witnessed some of the bloodiest riots. Sunil Dutt organized help and medical aid for all those injured, regardless of their religion, origin or constituency, while Sanjay too pitched in. […]
Read more "My Name is Abu Salem I"An innovative, 51-year old, Former English Batsman was coaching the South Africans during the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup. He went by the name Bob Woolmer. He allowed his captain Hansie Cronje to take the field against India wearing an earpiece. The move was unfair but did not technically breach any rules. Only later would […]
Read more "A World Cup Murder"“DNA is the abbreviation of Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid. It is the basic genetic material in all human body cells. It is not contained in red blood corpuscles. It is, however, present in white corpuscles. It carries the genetic code. DNA structure determines human character, behaviour and body characteristics. DNA profiles are encrypted sets of numbers […]
Read more "Science For Everyone: DNA Again"Can citizens claim an absolute right over their body parts and refuse to give digital samples of their fingerprints and iris for Aadhaar enrollment? Senior Advocate, Shyam Divan argued recently that, in the digital age, the right to informational self-determination had become a crucial facet of the right to personal autonomy and was protected under […]
Read more "Adverse Inference v. Civil Death"“We would like to emphasize on the vital role played by opinion of the expert which is simply a conclusion drawn from a set of facts coming to his knowledge and observation. Expert’s opinion should be demonstrative and should be supported by convincing reasons. A Court cannot be expected to surrender its own Judgment and […]
Read more "Experts IV: Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose"“On 8 October, 1997, Veerappan abducted wildlife researchers and photographers Krupakar and Senani. The next day, he stopped a bus carrying fifteen tourists through Bandipur Forest and took them hostage. The same fate was reserved for the six Karnataka Forest Department staffers who went searching for the bus. Though Veerappan set most of the tourists […]
Read more "Chasing the Brigand: The Rajkumar Abduction"The Don always sells. There is even a sweet, fan-girl account in Sheela Raval’s Godfathers of Crime (Hachette, 2015). She attended the reception of Mahrukh’s wedding in the summer of 2005 and said, “Mario Puzo would have been proud of the scene“. In Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored (HarperCollins India, 2017), the actor has his […]
Read more "D For Don II: Khullam Khulla"“An expert is one who has made a subject upon which he speaks or renders his opinion, a matter of particular study, practice or observation and has a special knowledge thereof. His knowledge must be within the recognized field of expertise and he essentially has to be qualified in that discipline of study. It has […]
Read more "Experts III: The Jayalalitha Case"On March 05, 2014 Hon’ble Justice T.S Thakur, not yet CJI, observed, “cynical Chalta Hai Attitude… more often than not costs society dearly in man-made tragedies” [(2014) 6 SCC 173]. The price of Sushil Ansal’s ‘Chalta Hai Attitude’ was pegged at Rs. 30 Crores [(2015) 10 SCC 359]. That is merely 18 Crores more than what a […]
Read more "The Advanced Age of Sushil Ansal"April, 2012 ‘Madam, I’ll tell you what I know,’ he said, pushing his spectacles up, ‘but promise me, you won’t reveal my name… King Khan’s friend D.K. in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is Anuj Tikku… He owns all first-floor-flats. There are 3 of them. His old father was murdered. I hear his paying guests […]
Read more "India’s New Serial Killers I: Vijay Palande"[The following was first published here] It is murder, if the intentional infliction of bodily injury is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death. In February 2011, a day before her engagement ceremony, 23-year-old Soumya was injured, raped and robbed. She died a few days later, in a hospital, having never regained […]
Read more "The Exquisite Corpse of Soumya II: Law and Other Things, 05.10.2016"It was contended before SC in Vikas Yadav v. State of Uttar Pradesh, [Criminal Appeal Nos. 1531-1533 of 2015], under Section 302 of The Indian Penal Code, 1860 life is minimum and maximum is Death Sentence and therefore Court has a choice between the two and is not entitled to follow any other path. It would […]
Read more "Judge Made Law: Fixed Term Sentences I"“The sole evidence of a handwriting expert is not normally sufficient for recording a definite finding about the writing being of a certain person or not. A Court is competent to compare the disputed writing of a person with others which are admitted or proved to be his writings. It may not be safe for […]
Read more "Experts II: Handwriting Experts"“Death of the deceased was occasioned by a combination of Injury No. 1 and 2, and complications arising therefrom including aspiration of blood into the air passages resulting in Anoxic Brain Damage. The same, in the opinion of the doctor (P.W. 64), had occurred due to the fact that the deceased was kept in a […]
Read more "The Exquisite Corpse of Soumya I"Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram: Love Sublime Omniscience ≠ Judge Property Hon’ble Justice Krishna Iyer, Raj Kapoor, (1980) 1 SCC 43. Any attempt to go further than Raj Kapoor, (1980) 1 SCC 43 as regards issues relating to inherent powers of a High Court under Section 482 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is ‘unwarranted’. In […]
Read more "Section 482 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 I"Throughout the history of the use of the term in Latin, ‘prima facie’ meant only the most cursory, initial impression. It retained that meaning upon its adoption into colloquial English. The term ‘prima facie’ is used in the law both as an adjective and as an adverb. Common Law Courts which developed the judicial meaning […]
Read more "Prima Facie"Manoj Kumar Sharma, serving in the Indian Air Force at the relevant time, got married to one Nandini on 27.04.1999. On 20.09.1999, Nandini Sharma committed suicide at her matrimonial home. Ambala Police closed the case after fulfilling the requirements of Section 174 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 holding, there was no foul play […]
Read more "First Information Report I"Every criminal trial is a voyage of discovery in which truth is the quest. It is the duty of a Presiding Judge to explore every avenue open to him in order to discover the truth and to advance the cause of justice. Presiding Judge must cease to be a spectator and a mere recording machine. […]
Read more "Section 311 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 I"
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