To convict for the offence punishable under Section 304-B, the following essentials must be satisfied: (i) The death of a woman must have been caused by burns or bodily injury or otherwise than under normal circumstances; “Section 304B IPC does not categorize death as homicidal or suicidal or accidental. This is because death caused by […]
Read more "Landmark Judgment on Dowry Deaths"This one shall remain for posterity. Suggestion 24 in GS’s Collegium Submissions: “No Judge must be asked to state what he considers are his ‘best Judgments’. It is further submitted, having regard to The Prowess of Law Clerks who are presently assisting Judges, it is often difficult to find out the true ability of a Judge to […]
Read more "The Prowess of Law Clerks"Retired, Hon’ble Chief Justice of India A.N. Ray once said, as evidenced by George H. Gadbois, Jr, “An Indian Chief Justice, like the Lord Chief Justice, in England, should not take up any Post-Retirement Positions.” Hon’ble Justice T.S. Thakur believes however, “An Indian Chief Justice, should not be a Wasted, Valuable Human Resource.” 65 is […]
Read more "A Valuable Human Resource"Hon’ble Justice Vikramajit Sen has yet again described what “holds the field” [See, The Proverbial Chickens of Destiny & Sen J I ]. The phrase “holds the field” is to Sen J what a “means and includes” definition is to Nariman J. “A Smaller and a Later Bench has no freedom other than to apply the […]
Read more "Sen J II"NJAC Order, 20:11 Forget names in Order. I should ideally be congratulating 2, and politeness invites it. This post is reserved for Mr. Prateek Chadha! Some fine suggestions. I am sure I can see a bit of you in there.
Read more "Lawyer Profiles III: Hearing Concluded, Orders Reserved"My Lord, Is there a Fundamental Distinction between a “Repeal” and an “Omission” in that in the case of a “Repeal” the Statute is obliterated from the very beginning whereas in the case of an “Omission” what gets omitted is only from the date of “Omission” and not before? No. We do not find any […]
Read more "Lawyer Profiles II: Repeal v. Omission"Tape records of speeches are “documents”, as defined by Section 3 of The Evidence Act, and stands on no different footing than photographs [See, Ziyauddin, (1976) 2 SCC 17]. They are admissible in evidence on satisfying the following conditions: (a) The voice of the person alleged to be speaking must be duly identified by the maker […]
Read more "Tape Records of Speeches"It is well settled, if a contract is in several parts, some of which are legal and enforceable and some are unenforceable, lawful parts can be enforced provided they are substantially severable and not merely textually divisible [Shin Satellite, (2006) 2 SCC 628]. Court must consider the question whether the parties could have agreed on […]
Read more "Substantial Severability v. Textual Divisibility"It is well settled that a “means and includes” definition is exhaustive in nature and that there is no scope to read anything further into the said definition. Hon’ble Justice Nariman has yet again quoted P. Kasilingam v. PSG College of Technology, 1995 Supp (2) SCC 348 to re-establish the proposition [See, State Bank of […]
Read more "A “Means and Includes” Definition III"Knowing the Judge, is the last refinement an Advocate can hope for. Gadbois Sir shall be remembered forever for his research on Judges of Supreme Court of India. What a book! I would not have realized… _____ The NJAC Judgment is still running its course and at this juncture of history it is difficult to […]
Read more "The Kesavananda Bench"“We are conscious of the principle that the word ‘or’ is normally disjunctive and ‘and’ is normally conjunctive. However, there may be circumstances where these words are to be read as vice-versa to give effect to manifest intention of Legislature as disclosed from the context. Of course, these two words normally ‘or’ and ‘and’ are […]
Read more "Disjunctive, Conjunctive I"ON THE EVE OF THE 03.11.2015 HEARING Khehar J travelled further down the Sahara Road. Chelameswar J quoted Ruma Pal J on the Independence of Judiciary. Lokur J guarded the Fragile Bastion, redeemed Ray. Goel J showed down the Law Minister for Obvious Reasons. Joseph J mentioned the Strange Turn by Bhagwati J. Shamser Singh […]
Read more "NJAC Judgment VI: The Dark Knight Rises"Hon’ble Justice Kurian Joseph has been in news: first, because of his tiff with CJI Dattu and second, for his contribution in Yakub Memon. Gold fish have no hiding place. And therefore, ‘briefest’ Judgment? “Historical, Textual, Structural, Prudential, Doctrinal, Episodic, Ethical” arguments aside, “there cannot be any legal sense of an issue, which does not […]
Read more "NJAC Judgment V: Kurian Joseph J"It is indicative that the name I chose for this Blog is the keyword in the NJAC Judgment – “The Last Word”. In some pieces, I notice the avoidance of usage of the phrase. Don’t. It must be in our consciousness, at all points of time, that The Last Word belongs to the Chief Justice […]
Read more "NJAC Judgment IV: Adarsh Kumar Goel J"Is it as easy to reach a solution, as it is to verify someone else’s result? You may think you know the answer. But I should tell you – you don’t. If you did you would have been a millionaire. A couple of times over. Should a Judge prepare his Draft Judgment in the blind? […]
Read more "NJAC Judgment III: Madan Bhimrao Lokur J"Honourable. Honourable. Honourable. Hon’ble Justice Altamas Kabir has shared the Bench with Hon’ble Justice J. Chelameswar for days on end. Hon’ble Justice Altamas Kabir was sworn in at the Hon’ble Calcutta High Court on the same day as Hon’ble Justice Ruma Pal. They are friends. It is widely rumored, Hon’ble Justice Ruma Pal facilitated Hon’ble […]
Read more "NJAC Judgment II: Jasti Chelameswar J"I have heard it in the corridors, and I must tell you Hon’ble Justice J.S. Khehar. [The centre has no sides after all.] They hate your guts. The more they hate it, the more I (and others like me) love it. They even mock how you twitch your nose. Why did you at all “toy” with the idea […]
Read more "NJAC Judgment I: Jagadish Singh Khehar J"“Writ Court while deciding a Writ Petition is required to remain alive to the nature of the claim and the unexplained delay on the part of the Writ Petitioner. Stale claims are not to be adjudicated unless non-interference would cause grave injustice. In the case at hand, the employee was dismissed from service in the […]
Read more "Stale Claims Before Writ Court"Judges are hard pressed animals. But they do not stand aloof on these chill and distant heights. Describing your Grandson as a Ninja with a Mask, is cute [on the part of Hon’ble CJI H.L. Dattu].
Read more "The Ninja"When Nariman J. and Senior Advocate, Harish Salve match wits, sparks are sure to fly. “We are of the view that the Learned Senior Advocate is attempting to raise submissions which have already been rejected by this Court. Quite apart from this, his submission is also beyond the prayer made. The Learned Senior Advocate’s argument […]
Read more "The Significant Submissions of Salve"
The Last Word 
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