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"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"High Court’s conduct in not furnishing reasons is strongly deprecated. Reliance on Balaji Baliram Mupade v. State of Maharashtra, AIR 2020 SC 5758; Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Zaixhu Xie, (2020) SCC OnLine SC 1145 and Sudipta Chakrobarty v. Ranaghat S.D. Hospital, AIR 2021 SC 3344 is warranted. + There is no doubt, Public Interest […]
Read more "Crusader’s Jurisprudence / The Revival of Ray LXXIII"‘Judgment’ means a judicial opinion which tells the story of the case; what the case is about; how the Court is resolving the case and why. ‘Judgment’ should be coherent, systematic and logically organized. It should enable the reader to trace the fact to a logical conclusion on the basis of legal principles. Many times […]
Read more "Judgment"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"The technological age has produced digital platforms – not like the railway platforms where trains were regulated on arrival and departure. These digital platforms can be imminently uncontrollable at times and carry their own challenges. One form of digital platforms are the intermediaries that claim to be providing a platform for exchange of ideas without […]
Read more "Facebook India"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"“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"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*"There is no bar on High Court’s power to reappreciate evidence against acquittal [Sangappa v. State of Karnataka, (2010) 3 SCC 686]. Cambridge Dictionary defines ‘exaggeration’ as “fact of making something larger, more important, better or worse than it really is.” Concise Oxford Dictionary defines it as “enlarged or altered beyond normal proportions.” These expressions […]
Read more "Exaggeration"Time fleets, generations grow, society changes, values and needs also change by time. There can be no denial, law should change with changing time and changing needs of society. Famous words of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. in Towne v. Eisner, 245 US 425 (1918): “Word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged; it is […]
Read more "Precedential Certainty / The Revival of Ray LXVI"In the present case, we are concerned with Article 224A. Krishan Gopal v. Shri Prakash Chandra, (1974) 1 SCC 128 observed, if a person appointed under Article 224A was not considered to be a Judge of the High Court for the purpose of jurisdiction, powers and privileges, the question of appointing such a person would […]
Read more "An Alive Article 224A / The Revival of Ray LXV"Charles Sobhraj was arrested on 06.07.1976. Ever since he was lodged in Tihar Central Jail he was put in bar fetters and the fetters were retained continuously. “The sorrows of Sobhraj cannot be appreciated nor his constitutional claims evaluated without a fuller account of the bar fetter chapter of his jail life. I hold, bar […]
Read more "Charles, Charles Sobhraj"It was claimed in Hamdard National Foundation v. Hussain Dalal, 202 (2013) DLT 291 Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013, Dir. Ayan Mukherjee) contains some dialogues which injures the goodwill and reputation of ‘Rooh Afza’, a popular concentrated squash. It was admitted, ‘Rooh Afza’ is a well-known trademark. Attention was drawn to Section 29(9) of The […]
Read more "Rooh Afza Returns"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"
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