Justice Mookerjee held the following in Pulin Behari Das v. King Emperor, 16 CWN 1105. The acts of officers de facto performed by them within the scope of their assumed official authority, in the interest of the public or third persons and not for their own benefit, are generally as valid and binding as if […]
Read more "The De Facto Doctrine"The Networked Public – How Social Media is Changing Democracy is a good read, amongst other things, for all the thoughts it superbly footnotes. Amber Sinha has bravely questioned the moral authority of certain Former Chief Justices of India. Hon’ble Justice Dipak Misra quashed proceedings regarding a ‘bribery scandal’ that implicated him. Hon’ble Justice Ranjan […]
Read more "The Devil in Holy Water"“It is a well established position, when statutes are unambiguous, Courts must adopt plain and natural meaning irrespective of consequences [Nelson Motis v. Union of India, (1992) 4 SCC 711]. On a bare reading of Section 207 of The Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 no other interpretation is possible. We hold, ‘contents of the memory card/pen […]
Read more "Cloned Copy of Electronic Record"“The use of the term ‘assist’ in the proviso to Section 24(8) of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is crucial, and implies that the Victim’s Counsel is only intended to have a secondary role qua the Public Prosecutor. In our considered opinion, a mandate that allows the Victim’s Counsel to make oral arguments and […]
Read more "Section 24(8) of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973"“Justice S.R. Tendolkar, AIR 1958 SC 538 had postulated two conditions which must be satisfied for a classification to withstand a challenge under Article 14, namely: i) the classification should be founded on intelligible differentia which distinguishes persons or things that are grouped together from others left out of the group; and (ii) the differentia […]
Read more "The Nature of Judicial Power: Hon’ble Justice Sanjiv Khanna"Section 2(a) of The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 defines ‘child’ as a person who, if a male, has not completed twenty-one years of age, and if a female, has not completed eighteen years of age. A ‘child marriage’ means a marriage to which either of the contracting parties is a child. Hardev Singh […]
Read more "Prohibition of Child Marriage"There is no gainsaying, procedural justice is imbibed to provide further impetus to substantive justice. We must be mindful of legislative intention to provide for certainty and clarity. In name of substantive justice, providing unlimited and unrestricted rights in itself will be detrimental to certainty and would lead to state of lawlessness. In this regard, […]
Read more "Order 8, Rule 6A of The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908"Dicitex was facing financial distress and economical duress. Oriental Insurance had insisted Dicitex to sign a clean discharge voucher and to withdraw the letter of protest addressed by it, failing which, Oriental Insurance would not release the amount reflected in the discharge voucher. HC allowed an application under Section 11(6), preferred by Dicitex, and appointed […]
Read more "Section 11(6) of The Arbitration Act III"“Court has to look at ‘dominant purpose’ for which purchase is made in order to decide whether it was for a ‘commercial purpose’. We are of considered opinion, purchase of flats for purpose of providing hostel facilities to hospital nurses does not qualify as meant for a ‘commercial purpose’. Though ‘commercial purpose’ as referred to […]
Read more "Section 2(1)(d) of The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 II"“The expression ‘rule of law’ can be traced back to the great Greek philosopher Aristotle, who lived 2,400 years ago. “It is better for the law to rule than one of the citizens… so that even the guardians of the law are obeying the laws.” – Brian Z. Tamanaha, Rule of Law. Bona fide criticism […]
Read more "Rule of Law"Review Petition (Civil) No. 3358 of 2018 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 373 of 2006 Essential Religious Practices of a Religious Denomination or Section of a Religious Denomination – Constitutional Protection under Article 26? “In the Indian context, given the plurality of religions, languages, cultures and traditions, what is perceived as faith and essential practices […]
Read more "Referred to Larger Bench XX: The Sabarimala Temple III"“Regardless of how it is articulated, some like formula of compromise must be applied.”Chief Justice Frederick Moore Vinson My Lord, How Transparent is Transparent Enough? “This case concerns the balance which is required between two important fundamental rights i.e. right to information and right to privacy. Often these two rights are seen as conflicting, however, […]
Read more "Transparency of Transparency / The Revival of Ray XXXIII"Writ Jurisdiction of Supreme Court may be resorted to when available remedies are exhausted [U.P. State Spinning Co. Ltd., (2005) 8 SCC 264]. This is essentially a ‘rule of policy, convenience and discretion’; it’s not a ‘compulsion’ [Mohammad Nooh, AIR 1958 SC 86; Harbanslal Sahnia, (2003) 2 SCC 107]. Supreme Court in Shrimath Balasaheb Patil […]
Read more "Writ Jurisdiction of Supreme Court / The Revival of Ray XXXII"“Possessory claim of Hindus to composite whole of disputed property stands on a better footing” is the decisive observation. Importantly, Supreme Court has in strongest terms castigated damage caused to the mosque in 1934, its desecration in 1949 leading to the ouster of Muslims, and the eventual demolition of the mosque on December 6, 1992. This, […]
Read more "The Nature of Judicial Power: Senior Advocate, Rakesh Dwivedi"Section 45 of The Evidence Act, 1872 allows for an opinion of an expert as a relevant fact when Court has to form an opinion upon a point of foreign law, science or art or as to identity of handwriting or finger impressions. In Murari Lal v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (1980) 1 SCC 704 […]
Read more "Experts V: Handwriting Experts"“Janmaasthan of Lord Ram is where Babri Mosque has been constructed.” Mikhail Tal, born on 09.11.1936, said once, “you must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5 and path leading out is only wide enough for one.” M Siddiq v. Mahant Suresh Das, [Civil Appeal Nos. 10866-10867 of 2010], pronounced on 09.11.2019, […]
Read more "The Nature of Judicial Power: Proprietary Claims of Religion"“Where Courts find that the words appear to have been accidentally omitted, or if adopting a construction deprives certain existing words of all meaning, it is permissible to supply additional words but Courts should not easily read words which have not been expressly enacted. Court should construct the provisions harmoniously having regard to the context […]
Read more "Word Supply II"Section 5 of The Limitation Act is held applicable to Section 48 of The Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005 as in Section 48 there is no express exclusion. Because of scheme of Act of 2005, it cannot be inferred, Section 5 of The Limitation Act is excluded. Section 29(2) of The Limitation Act […]
Read more "The Plea of Limitation XI: Inclusion of Section 5 of The Limitation Act, 1963"“Judge who had rendered any decision in a smaller combination is not disqualified from being part of a Larger Bench when a Reference is made to the Larger Bench. Rather, it is a consistent practice prevailing in various High Courts as well as of this Court to include the same Judge/Judges in Larger Benches. Litigants […]
Read more "The Art of Recusal"“The principal issue involved in the matter is whether a Charitable Trust could maintain an action under the provisions of The Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The reliance was placed on Pratibha Pratisthan, (2017) 3 SCC 712 to hold that a Trust would not be a ‘person’ and consequently not a ‘consumer’. The definition of ‘person’ in terms […]
Read more "Referred to Larger Bench XIX: Trusts Not Consumers"
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