My Lord, Section 2(1)(d) of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 should engulf and embrace, in its connotative expanse, the mental age of a person or the age determined by the prevalent science pertaining to psychiatry so that a mentally retarded person or an extremely intellectually challenged person, who even has crossed […]
Read more "The Nature of Judicial Power: The Theory of Creative Interpretation"“The jurisprudential basis for the ‘rule of widest construction’ is the hallowed belief that a Constitution is drafted with an eye on future providing a continuing framework for exercise of governmental power. Therefore, it must be elastic enough to meet new social, political and historical realities often unimagined by the framers of the Constitution. Chief […]
Read more "The Doctrine of Widest Construction"The Shashoua Principle [Roger Shashoua v. Mukesh Sharma, 2009 EWHC 957 (Comm)] “When there is an express designation of the Arbitration venue as London and no designation of any alternative place as seat, combined with a supranational body of rules [i.e. ICC] governing the Arbitration and no other significant contrary indicia, the inexorable conclusion is, […]
Read more "Implied Exclusion of Part I of The Arbitration Act IV: The Shashoua Principle"‘Scandalisation of Court’ is not ‘precisely explained’ in Supreme Court cases [See, In Re: Hon’ble Shri Justice C.S. Karnan, Suo-Motu Contempt Petition (Civil) No. 1 of 2017]. It is a species of contempt and may take several forms. A common form is the vilification of the Judge [See, Shri Baradakanta Mishra v. The Registrar of […]
Read more "Scandalisation of Court"The New York Times on April 30, 1976 came out with an editorial, ‘‘If India ever finds its way back to the freedom and democracy that were proud hallmarks of its first 18 years as an independent nation, someone will surely erect a monument to Justice H.R. Khanna of Supreme Court.” The Time Magazine, London […]
Read more "Supreme Court Judges on Indian Magazine Covers"Vakasha Sachdev (@VakashaS) recently commented on ‘Live Tweeting Court Proceedings’: “A stream of live tweets… recently went viral in Indian Twitterverse. Surprisingly, these tweets had nothing to do with Shah Rukh Khan or Baahubali or IPL… What they related to was far more unexpected – constitutionality of a tax law amendment. Basically, Gautam Bhatia and […]
Read more "The Live Tweets Ailment I"“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"SC in Mohapatra, (2002) 8 SCC 1 had accorded primacy to Hon’ble Chief Justice in consultative process for appointment of an Orissa Lokayukta. Justice Lokur in Chandrashekaraiah, (2013) 3 SCC 117 however confined law laid down in Mohapatra to the facts of that case only. It was held, views expressed by Chief Justice of High Court […]
Read more "Primacy of Views III: The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013"It is settled law, Section 20(1) and 20(2), where the word ‘place’ is used, refers to ‘juridical seat’; whereas in Section 20(3), the word ‘place’ is equivalent to ‘venue’. My Lord, What is the correct depiction of the practical considerations and the distinction between ‘seat’ [Sections 20(1) and 20(2)] and ‘venue’ [Section 20(3)]? This, as […]
Read more "Section 20 of The Arbitration Act"The principles for interference in exercise of review jurisdiction are well settled. In Thungabhadra Industries Ltd. v. Government of Andhra Pradesh, AIR 1964 SC 1372 Court while dealing with scope of review had opined: “A review is by no means an appeal in disguise whereby an erroneous decision is reheard and corrected, but lies only […]
Read more "Order 47, Rule 1 of The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908"Retired Justice Prafulla Kumar Misra took over as Lokayukta of Goa on 28.04.2016. The post of Lokayukta was lying vacant since 17.10.2013. No sooner he took charge, Justice Misra directed Director of Tourism to stop all further payments to beach-cleaning contractors. Not stopping there, Lokayukta ordered a stay on electricity contracts worth Rs. 328 Crores […]
Read more "Lunatic Judge Karnan"George H. Gadbois, Jr., chronicler of 93 Judges of Supreme Court of India, had this to say once: “When I first wrote to Justice A N Ray requesting an interview, I included a couple of articles I had published earlier. This enabled him to see that I was rather well-informed about him and the Court. […]
Read more "Rudespotted: Vikram Raghavan"A citation of questionable scientific standard. _____ In a child custody dispute in Suburbs of Pittsburgh, 3 teenage boys begged a Family Court Judge not to force continued visits to their father because, they said, he was physically abusive towards them. Judge relied on an Expert Witness, retained by the father, a Columbia University Professor […]
Read more "The Disputed Reality of Parental Alienation Syndrome"Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board ridded certain students of their results, awarded in their professional MBBS course, on the ground, they had gained admission to the course by resorting to unfair means. Hon’ble Justice Chelameswar (Presiding Judge) had expressed the view, complete justice in the matter would be rendered, if the qualifications successfully acquired by […]
Read more "1+3 Judges Disagree With Justice Chelameswar on ‘Cheating Students’"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"“After all the 11 Judgments of the Court were orally pronounced on April 24, 1973 CJ Sikri produced and read out in Court a paper which was called “The View by the Majority” and passed it on for signatures of all 13 Judges on the Bench. 4 Judges, Justices Ray, Mathew, Dwivedi and Beg would […]
Read more "The Kesavananda Bench II: The Chandrachud Angle"Third-Rung Lawyers [i.e., those in the age-bracket of 28-37] are an active lot on Twitter. Key figures are controlling opinion on a variety of issues. It is expected some of them shall be, with time, legitimate Partners or credited Senior Advocates or hopeful Don Salves. There is a benefit in knowing them. For if they […]
Read more "Rudespotted: Vinay Kesari"Sub-section (3) of Section 123 of The Representation of the People Act, 1951 deems the following to be a ‘corrupt practice’: “The appeal by a candidate or his agent or by any other person with the consent of a candidate or his election agent to vote or refrain from voting for any person on the […]
Read more "‘His’ Story: Section 123(3) of The Representation of the People Act, 1951"“It is a settled proposition of law that a decree obtained by playing fraud on Court is a nullity and that such a decree could be challenged at any time in any proceedings. This proposition is certainly not in dispute. Learned Counsel also placed reliance on Union of India v. Ramesh Gandhi, (2012) 1 SCC […]
Read more "Fraudulent Decrees"“Judicial discretion can be exercised by a Court only when there are two or more possible lawful solutions. In any event, Courts cannot give any direction contrary to the statute or rules made thereunder in exercise of judicial discretion. It will be useful to reproduce from Judicial Discretion (1989) by Aharon Barak which is as […]
Read more "The Other Bara(c)k: Law’s First Superstar"
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