The Nature of Judicial Power: Hon’ble Justice Antonin G. Scalia

My Lord, Courts should interpret the Constitution as it would have been understood by ordinary, reasonable citizens alive at the time the Constitution was enacted or Courts should interpret the Constitution as a living organism, one meant to evolve to suit the changing needs and values of contemporary society? A standing-room-only crowd of law students and […]

Ratio Decidendi I

My Lord, Hon’ble Justice A.P. Sen View, Paragraphs 86-87, Express Newspapers v. Union of India, (1986) 1 SCC 133 = Majority View? Yes. “We, consider it apposite to refer to The Guardians of The Poor of The West Derby Union v. The Guardians of The Poor of The Atcham, (1889) 24 QBD 117. The question […]

Arbitrariness in Arbitration Clauses

“It shall be essential, a party invoking Arbitration shall specify amount claimed and shall furnish a ‘deposit-at-call’ for 10% of amount claimed. In event of an award in favour, deposit shall be refunded to him in proportion to amount awarded w.r.t. amount claimed and balance, if any, shall be forfeited and paid to other party.” […]

Contempt Jurisdiction III

This is not the first time that Shri Nedumpara has attempted to browbeat and insult Judges of this Court. He is in the habit of using intemperate language to achieve his ends before several Judges of the Bombay High Court. Contempt when committed in the face of the Court, Judges’ hands are not tied behind […]

Contempt Jurisdiction II / The Revival of Ray XV

“It is high time we re-arranged our law so that the ancient but misleading term ‘Contempt of Court’ disappeared from the law’s vocabulary [Lord Scarman, Attorney-General v. British Broadcasting Corporation, [1980] 3 All ER 161]. It is important to remember that while considering the question of disobedience of an Order, what must be regarded is […]

Referred to Larger Bench XVI: Decades of Decay

S. Azeez Basha v. Union of India, (1968) 1 SCR 833 observed, the words “establish and administer” in Article 30(1) must be read conjunctively and so read it gives the right to a religious minority to administer an educational institution provided it has been established by it; Article 30(1) cannot be read to mean, even […]

Judicial – Bench Strength – Decorum I / The Revival of Ray XIV

Power of Judicial Review, High Court [Article 226], Supreme Court [Article 32]: Integral and Essential Feature; Basic Structure of Constitution [L. Chandra Kumar, (1997) 3 SCC 261]. Judicial Order [Ad Interim/Interim/Final] Vacated/Varied/Modified/Recalled/Reviewed by Bench of Coordinate Strength/Larger Strength or a Higher Forum. ✔ Judicial Order [Ad Interim/Interim/Final] Vacated/Varied/Modified/Recalled/Reviewed by Smaller Bench of Lesser Strength. ✘ […]

Unchartered Ocean of Policy Decision I / The Revival of Ray XIII

“For Muslims, place of birth of Hazrat Muhammed, i.e. Saudi Arabia, is the most sacred place. Visiting that place is pilgrimage for Muslim community, which is known as performing ‘Haj’. It is the desire of every person of Muslim faith, living anywhere in this world, to visit Saudi Arabia for performing Haj. Kingdom of Saudi […]

Contempt Jurisdiction I

Contempt, Yes/No ≠ Mechanical Application of Mind [Sushila Raje Holkar, (2008) 14 SCC 392]. Contempt Jurisdiction = Four Corners of Disobeyed Order [Sudhir Vasudeva, (2014) 3 SCC 373]. Contempt Jurisdiction, Disobeyed Order = Willful Disobedience, Non-Compliance. Hon’ble Justice R. Banumathi, Armugam v. Balakrishnan, [Civil Appeal No. 1510 of 2019].

Independent Bar & Independent Bench I

My Lord, Backbone of Democracy? “Independent Bar and Independent Bench. To preserve the very independence, the observance of constitutional values, mutual reverence and self-respect are absolutely necessary. Lawyers must avoid corruption and collusion of any kind, false pleadings, twisting of facts. Honesty, dedication and hard work is the only source towards perfection. The hunger for […]

Section 452 of The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

“A claim of title to the goods which have been seized is a relevant consideration while passing an order under Section 452. Where there are conflicting claims of entitlement to the property, the Magistrate may deal with them or, where it is found that the rival claims need to be resolved after an evidentiary trial, […]

The Nature of Judicial Power: Chief Justice of India No. 51

Comprehension means the unpremeditated, attentive facing up to, and resisting of, reality. The Supreme Court of India (‘SC’) has 26 Hon’ble Judges. It is difficult to comprehend the Highest Court of the Land and its Judges. The Supreme Court of the United States has 9 Judges who enjoy an appointment for a lifetime. In contrast, […]

Constituting Benches, Allocating Cases

My Lord, Constitution of Benches and the Allocation of Cases by the Chief Justice must be Regulated by a Procedure? In the Allocation of Cases and the Constitution of Benches the Chief Justice has an Exclusive Prerogative. From an Institutional Perspective the Chief Justice is placed at the Helm of the Supreme Court. The Chief […]

Rojer Mathew, SLP (Civil) 15804/2017

Issues of Tribunals: Unresolved. 07.05.2018 “The functioning of Tribunals is required to be reviewed on the test of speedy and inexpensive quality justice. L. Chandra Kumar, (1997) 3 SCC 261 noted, various Tribunals have not evolved up to the expectations which is self-evident and widely acknowledged. Drastic measures were required to elevate the standards. R. […]

The Nature of Judicial Power: 36 Rafale Fighter Jets

“The issues arising relate to procurement of 36 Rafale Fighter Jets for Indian Airforce. It is our considered opinion/view, extent of permissible judicial review in matters of contracts, procurement, etc. would vary with subject matter of contract and there cannot be any uniform standard or depth of judicial review which could be understood as an […]

Courts of Record

“High Courts are Courts of Record, set up under Article 215 of The Constitution of India. It is clear that these Constitutional Courts, being Courts of Record, the jurisdiction to recall their own Orders is inherent by virtue of the fact that they are Superior Courts of Record. This has been recognized in: National Sewing […]

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 […]

Hon’ble Justice Ashok Bhushan

Hon’ble Justice Ashok Bhushan was Elevated as a Permanent Judge of the Allahabad High Court on April 24, 2001. Circa 2005 RNR: Landmark Judgments – Hallmark of Judicial Brilliance? AB: The Judges are only known by their Judgment. They cannot have their own ideologies or perspectives in contrast to Politicians. Therefore, Judgments are the only […]

Appointment of a Chief Justice

Recent Elevations to Supreme Court of 7 Judges is interesting. None of them shall be Chief Justice of India after Hon’ble Justice Dr. Chandrachud. Seniority is neither based on age nor on experience. It is purely accidental. The following is an extract from A.R. Antulay, Appointment of a Chief Justice, (Popular Prakashan, 1973). “Many Judges […]

The Revival of Ray IX

“As early as in 1975, a Four Judge Bench of this Court in Pratap Narain Singh Deo v. Srinivas Sabata, (1976) 1 SCC 289 speaking through Shingal J. has held that an employer becomes liable to pay compensation as soon as the personal injury is caused to the workman in an accident which arose out […]

The Last Word

A Diversion for Lawyers and Others

Nature of Judicial Power