Writ Jurisdiction of Supreme Court / The Revival of Ray XXXII

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"

Appointment of Justice

“I am glad, Arghya Sengupta and Ritwika Sharma have decided to publish a book dealing with appointment of Judges to Supreme Court of India. From time immemorial, mankind desired to have wise and humane Judges with the wisdom to discriminate between truth and falsehood. The legends of King Solomon and Dharmaraja and the like are […]

Read more "Appointment of Justice"

Hard Cases Make Bad Law

Hon’ble Justice L. Nageswara Rao in State of Tamil Nadu v. G. Hemalathaa, Civil Appeal No. 6669 of 2019 quoted Chief Justice John Roberts in Caperton v. A.T. Massey, 556 U.S. 868 (2009). “Extreme cases often test the bounds of established legal principles. There is a cost to yielding to the desire to correct the […]

Read more "Hard Cases Make Bad Law"

Writ Jurisdiction of High Courts I

“While the powers the High Court may exercise under its Writ Jurisdiction are not subject to strict legal principles, two clear principles emerge with respect to when a High Court’s Writ Jurisdiction may be engaged. First, the decision of the High Court to entertain or not entertain a particular action under its Writ Jurisdiction is […]

Read more "Writ Jurisdiction of High Courts I"

Sacred Games

Sacred Games, Season 1 (2018, dir. Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane) was showcased by Netflix in June, 2018. Writ Petition (Civil) No. 7123 of 2018 was filed before Delhi High Court against Sacred Games soon after. One word used in Episode 4 [‘Brahmahatya‘] deserved correction. It remains unchanged. 09.04.2019  – Writ Petition (Civil) No. 7123 of […]

Read more "Sacred Games"

Beauty of NEET, 2018

Every examination must be evaluated for what it is, what it should be and not for what it was, what it could be. Primary duty is to avoid arbitrary results. Correct answers to questions presented in NEET-UG, 2018 was one of the 4 Options offered. Bi-lingual questions were set in English with an Option of […]

Read more "Beauty of NEET, 2018"

The Writ of Quo Warranto I

“Writ of Quo Warranto cannot be issued on basis of assumptions, inferences or suspicion regarding factum of fulfillment of eligibility criteria. Being an extraordinary power, ordinarily such a Writ ought to be issued only on basis of indisputable facts leading to a singular conclusion – incumbent was in fact or in law disqualified to occupy […]

Read more "The Writ of Quo Warranto I"

Battle of the Articles II: 32/226

“The Court must necessarily abide the parameters which govern a nuanced exercise of judicial power. Hence, where an effort is made to bring issues of governance before the Court, the basic touchstone on which the invocation of jurisdiction must rest is whether the issue can be addressed within the framework of law or the Constitution. […]

Read more "Battle of the Articles II: 32/226"

Power Coupled With Duty II

Several statutes confer power on authorities and officers to be exercised by them at their discretion and they are couched in permissive language, such as, “it may be lawful”, “it may be permissible”, “it may be open to do”, et cetera. But in certain situations, such power is coupled with duty and must be exercised. […]

Read more "Power Coupled With Duty II"

The Writ of Mandamus II

“Writ of Mandamus is an extraordinary remedy and is intended to supply deficiencies in law and is thus discretionary in nature. The issuance of a Writ of Mandamus pre-supposes a clear right of the applicant and unjustifiable failure of a duty imposed on an authority otherwise obliged in law to imperatively discharge the same. The […]

Read more "The Writ of Mandamus II"

The Writ of Mandamus I

 My Lord, What is Mandamus? “Mandamus literally means a command. The essence of Mandamus in England was, it was a royal command issued by King’s Bench (now Queen’s Bench) directing performance of a public legal duty. A Writ of Mandamus is issued in favour of a person who establishes a legal right in himself. A […]

Read more "The Writ of Mandamus I"

Stale Claims Before Writ Court

“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"

Writ Court Appointed Committees

“A Writ Court should ordinarily not entertain a Writ Petition, if there is a breach of contract involving disputed questions of fact. When an issue arises whether in a particular State there are toilets for school children and there is an assertion by the State that there are good toilets, definitely the Court can appoint […]

Read more "Writ Court Appointed Committees"

Battle of the Articles I: 32/226

“No question other than relating to Fundamental Rights will be determined in a proceeding under Article 32. The difference between Article 32 and 226 is that while an application under Article 32 lies only for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights, the High Court under Article 226 has a wider power to exercise its jurisdiction not only for the […]

Read more "Battle of the Articles I: 32/226"