The Revival of Ray XCIV

The issue before a Seven-Judge Bench of this Court in Bar Council of Maharashtra v. MV Dabholkar, (1975) 2 SCC 702 was whether State Bar Council was an ‘aggrieved party’ to maintain an appeal under Section 38 of The Advocates Act, 1961. Chief Justice A.N. Ray, writing for Majority, held, State Bar Council was an […]

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Review of Death Penalty XL

Eknath Kisan’s Daughter, Pramila was in inter-caste marriage. Learned Counsel for State of Maharashtra, Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari would contend, Courts have rightly awarded Death Sentence. Learned Senior Counsel, Dr. Aditya Sondhi has vehemently prayed, Eknath Kisan be acquitted. In alternative, it is prayed, Courts have failed to consider mitigating circumstances in proper perspective. Eknath Kisan’s […]

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The Nature of Judicial Power: Caste in Prison Manuals

Our interpretation of the Constitution must fill silences in its text. Framers could not have anticipated every situation to arise in future. They also intentionally left certain decisions to discretion of future generations. However, choices we make today must align with broader constitutional framework and values. The fight against caste-based discrimination is not a battle […]

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Shama’s Escape

‘Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises.’ – Samuel Butler, Erewhon (1872). In present case, Appellants cleverly concocted a story of Shama escaping from their custody and created a record to buttress it. Not content therewith, Appellants also cooked up what is clearly a fabricated saga of Shama surfacing in Raipur and being convicted by a Railway […]

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Broken Phones

Doctrine of Inchoate Crimes is a cornerstone of criminal jurisprudence. It is aimed at addressing legal culpability of those who engage in preparatory conduct. If unaware about Section 15 of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, this by itself does not give rise to a corresponding legitimate or reasonable ground to believe, […]

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Most Basic Notions of Justice

Explanation 1 to Section 34(2)(b)(ii) of Arbitration Act, added through Amendment, 2015, specifies, an Arbitral Award is in conflict with public policy of India only if (i) making of Award was induced or affected by fraud or corruption or was in violation of Section 75 or Section 81; or (ii) it is in contravention with fundamental policy of […]

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Preventive Detention Statute VI

There can be no doubt, it is not necessary to furnish copies of each and every document to which a casual or passing reference may be made in narration of facts and which are not relied upon by Detaining Authority. However, failure to furnish copies of such documents as are relied on by Detaining Authority […]

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Surety

Whether it is to get individuals to stand as a guarantor for a loan transaction or as a surety in a criminal proceeding, choice for a person will very often be a close relative or a longtime friend. In a criminal proceeding, circle may get narrowed to protect one’s reputation. These are hard realities of […]

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Caution for Lust in Hollywood

“Another study of 800 Movies showed, ‘nudity’ is a negative predictor of Box Office Revenue in U.S. (A. Cerridwen and D.K. Simonton, 2009).” – Smt. K.B. Valsalakumari, I.A.S. (Retd.)-Principal Secretary (Retd.), Government of Kerala in ‘Report of Expert Committee constituted by Government of Kerala‘. _____ U.S. Domestic Gross for Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution (2007) was […]

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14,763.30 Grams of Gold

On 20.04.2021, an unaccompanied baggage of one Althaf Mossan Mukri was checked and 14,763.30 grams of contraband gold was found. On 27.12.2021, Althaf reached India. On 05.03.2022, Althaf was arrested. We are of opinion, Division Bench of HC should have followed view taken by another Division Bench of same HC, specifically when ‘grounds of detention’ […]

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Contempt Jurisdiction XII

Parashuram Detaram Shamdasani v. King-Emperor, (1945) A.C. 264; M.Y. Shareef v. Hon’ble Judges of High Court of Nagpur, (1954) 2 SCC 444; Pushpaben v. Narandas Badiani, (1979) 2 SCC 394; Babu Ram Gupta v. Sudhir Bhasin, (1980) 3 SCC 47; Reliance Petrochemicals Limited v. Proprietors of Indian Express Newspapers, Bombay Pvt. Ltd., (1988) 4 SCC […]

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Disciplinary Proceedings X

State of Andhra Pradesh v. S. Sree Rama Rao, AIR 1963 SC 1723; State of Andhra Pradesh v. Chitra Venkata Rao, (1975) 2 SCC 557; State Bank of India v. S.K. Sharma, (1996) 3 SCC 364; Union of India v. K.G. Soni, (2006) 6 SCC 794; State of Uttar Pradesh v. Man Mohan Nath Sinha, […]

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Date and Rate of Exchange

Forasol v. Oil and Natural Gas Commission, 1984 Supp SCC 263 held, “Court must select a date which puts Plaintiff in same position in which he would have been had Defendant discharged his obligation when he ought to have done, bearing in mind, rate of exchange is not a constant factor but fluctuates and very […]

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