“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"Estragon: Let’s go. Vladimir: We can’t. Estragon: Why not? Vladimir: We’re waiting for Godot. Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot, 1954. Let us now hark back to Waiting for Godot… with which, we started. National Green Tribunal must act, if exigencies so demand, without indefinitely waiting for metaphorical Godot to knock on its portal. NGT is […]
Read more "Environmental Jurisprudence I"Suresh Lohiya v. State of Maharashtra, (1996) 10 SCC 397 struck a ‘discordant note’, drawing a distinction between ‘nature’s gifts’ such as charcoal, mahua flowers or minerals and articles produced with aid of human labour which, according to it, was not included in ‘forest produce’ under The Kerala Forest Act, 1961. Suresh Lohiya did not […]
Read more "Nature’s Gifts"Banarsi Dass v. Teeku Dutta, (2005) 4 SCC 449 had declared, DNA test is not to be directed as a matter of routine but only in deserving cases. Bhabani Prasad Jena v. Convenor Secretary, Orissa SCW, (2010) 8 SCC 633 opined, discretion of Court must be exercised after balancing interests of parties and whether a […]
Read more "Science For Everyone: DNA IV"‘Judgment’ means a judicial opinion which tells the story of the case; what the case is about; how Court is resolving the case and why. A ‘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"Recently, Hon’ble Justice Prathiba M. Singh of Delhi High Court in Sulphur Mills Limited v. Dharmaj Crop Guard Limited, [CS(COMM) 1225/2018 & CC(COMM) 9/2019] said, to argue on basis of submissions made before Commissioner of Customs, there is no novelty or inventive step in Indian Patent Number 282429, would lead to an anomalous situation and […]
Read more "Red Herrings"“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"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. Agastya Finds a Source of Income Rishi Agastya had to repay his debt to Ancestors and so went to King of Vidarbha […]
Read more "Wooing and Marriage"The theme of ‘gradual implementation’ of law or legal principles, was also spoken about in Javed v. State of Haryana, (2003) 8 SCC 369 which held, there is no constitutional imperative that a law or policy should be implemented all at once: “when the policies have far-reaching implications and are dynamic in nature, their implementation […]
Read more "Gradual Implementation"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*"My Lord, Indian-Companies can Arbitrate outside India? Yes. It is clear, there can be more than one ratio decidendi to a Judgment. Jacobs v. London County Council, (1950) 1 All ER 737 has been followed in State of Gujarat v. M.P. Jadeja, (2013) 2 SCC 300 and in Shayara Bano v. Union of India, (2017) […]
Read more "Seat of Arbitration II"Aman Bangia completely damaged one Porsche, DL-1CJ-3577, at 02:25 AM on 22.12.2007. It is indisputable, he smelt of alcohol. There is no evidence of recording the exact nature of alcoholic drink which was consumed and there is also no material as to the quantity consumed. We cannot resist recording our disquiet at the conduct of […]
Read more "Contracts of Insurance II"Court will not debate academic matters or concern itself with intricacies of trade and commerce. Legislature should be allowed some play in the joints, because it has to deal with complex problems which do not admit of solution through any doctrinaire or straitjacket formula and this is particularly true in case of legislation dealing with […]
Read more "Unchartered Ocean of Policy Decision II"Sister Abhaya was found dead on 27.03.1992 and her body was recovered from a well. She was born on 26.02.1971. Varghese Chacko was a photographer, during 1992, in Kottayam Venus Studio. He took photographs of Sister Abhaya’s dead body, as per instruction of Kottayam West Police. He noticed nail mark injuries on either side of […]
Read more "Sacred Cows of Shadowy Doubts"The disqualification under Section 8 of The Representation of the People Act, 1951 is relatable to Article 191(1)(e). Therefore, any interpretation to Section 8 should be in sync with the constitutional scheme. Once the period of disqualification starts running, the seat, hitherto held by the person disqualified, becomes vacant by virtue of Article 190(3). His […]
Read more "Timing of Votes"Titty, alias George Kurian, a Turtle, was seized. Veterinary Surgeon identified the Turtle, on inspection, as ‘Indian Flap Shell’. The scientific name is ‘Lissemys Punctata’. Court, near immediately, directed the Turtle to be freed. Section 9 of The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 prohibits hunting of any wild animal under Schedule I, II, III and […]
Read more "Leo, Raph, Mikey, Don"Majority of 2:1 affirmed the conviction in Anant Chintaman Lagu v. State of Bombay, AIR 1960 SC 500. There is absolutely no evidence relating to poison in relation to the deceased. If it were forcible poisoning by using any kind of poison, there would be struggle and resistance. There are none. The existence of […]
Read more "Poison"It is not always affordable to approach a Court of Law. Even if approached, it may be years before a final decision. Imtiyaz Ahmad v. State of Uttar Pradesh, (2012) 2 SCC 688 had a simple answer: “Pendency is merely a localized problem… it affects some High Courts far more than others.” Imtiyaz Ahmed v. […]
Read more "The Persistent Illusion of Judge-Strength"There can be no doubt, the principle which appears to have evolved over a period of time is, the law frowns upon determining a day with reference to its fractions. The principle, ‘fractions of the day’ are eschewed from consideration, is not a universal principle which knows no exceptions. Clearly the context and the purpose […]
Read more "Day-Fraction"“We cannot obviously feed into a judicial computer all such… astrological imponderables in an imperfect and undulating society.” – Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab, (1982) 3 SCC 24. _____ Rule 55A of The Motor Vehicles Rules, 1994, framed and published by Madhya Pradesh, prescribes ₹ 10,000/- for reservation of a large series of registration […]
Read more "Life of Numbers"
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