Monstrosity of Winnability II

The nation continues to wait, and is losing patience. A political party can always give a reason, a candidate with criminal antecedents is found to be more suitable than a person who does not have criminal antecedents. If the political party is of the prima facie opinion, a candidate has been falsely implicated, it can […]

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Red Herrings

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 […]

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Last Seen Theory

We may hasten to clarify, the fact of last seen should not be weighed in isolation or be segregated from other evidence. Courts have to not only consider the factum of last seen, but also have to keep in mind the circumstances that preceded and followed. State appears to be right in relying upon State […]

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Deliberate Falsehood

K.T.M.S. Mohammad v. Union of India, 1992 3 SCC 178; Amarsang Nathaji v. Hardik Harshadbhai Patel, 2017 1 SCC 113. _____ The present case relates to 151 K.R. Pura Legislative Assembly Constituency. We do not see any deliberate falsehood uttered, much less is there any inconsistency. Mere reference to inconsistent statements alone is not sufficient […]

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Seniority in Promotion / The Revival of Ray LXVIII

The principle of equality is applicable to employment at all stages and in all respects, namely, initial recruitment, promotion, retirement, payment of pension and gratuity. _____ The seniority­-cum-­merit principle is well established in service jurisprudence and does not need much discussion. Three-Judge Bench in B.V. Sivaiah v. K. Addanki Babu, (1998) 6 SCC 720 observed: […]

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Veil of Protest

13 March, 2015 – Members of Legislative Assembly, belonging to Party in Opposition, climbed over to Speaker’s dais and damaged furniture and articles, causing a loss of Rs. 2,20,093/-. _____ A copy of the video recording of the incident was procured from the Electronic Control Room of the Legislative Assembly. The first question to be […]

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Cancellation of Bail

Section 389(1), CrPC allows Court to release a convicted person on bail. The factors that govern grant of suspension of sentence under Section 389(1) have been discussed by this Court in Atul Tripathi v. State of U.P., (2014) 9 SCC 177. Ramji Prasad v. Rattan Kumar Jaiswal, (2002) 9 SCC 366 observed, in cases involving […]

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Be Kind Rewind, Strict Liability

“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 […]

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May & Shall II

It is to be considered whether the word ‘shall’ used in Section 12 of The Disaster Management Act, 2005 is required to be interpreted and considered as ‘shall’ or ‘may’ and whether it is ‘mandatory’ or ‘directory/discretionary’. The word ‘shall’ is used twice. Cases are not wanting where the words ‘may’, ‘shall’ and ‘must’ are […]

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Retrospective Validating Statute

A competent Legislature can always validate a law which has been declared by Courts to be invalid, provided the infirmities and vitiating factors noticed in the declaratory Judgment are removed or cured. Such a validating law can also be made retrospective. All that Legislature does is to usher in a valid law with retrospective effect […]

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Dialogic Jurisdiction II

COVID-19 engulfed this country in March, 2020 and continues till date changing its face from time to time. Different mutations in the virus have made it dangerous and fatal at times. To provide food security to impoverished persons is the bounden duty of all States and Governments. Those migrant workers who possess a ration card […]

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Neena and Vivian

While we were still shooting for Batwara, I attended a dinner party hosted by the Maharani of Jaipur with a few other members of the cast. A few players from the West Indies Cricket Team were also on the guest list, including their Captain at that time, Vivian Richards. I have always been crazy about […]

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Façade of ‘Commercial Decision’

Senior Advocate, Sanjoy Ghose argued for Captain Arvind Kumar Sharma, Captain K Sai Sashanka, Captain Jeetender Yadav, Captain Jitender Singh Randhawa, Captain Adish M. Chavan, Captain Reuben James, Captain B Sujimon, Captain Vishal V Chandorkar and Captain Vijay Kumar Dahiya before Hon’ble Justice Jyoti Singh of Hon’ble High Court of Delhi. The common thread was […]

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Names in CBSE Certificates

“What’s in a name?“, said Juliet. It conveys, natural characteristics of an individual are more important than his/her artificial/acquired characteristics. A poetic statement as it certainly is, it does not go in tune with significance of a ‘name’ in marking identity of an individual in his/her societal transactions. An individual must be in complete control […]

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Dialogic Jurisdiction I

Policy-making continues to be in sole domain of Executive. Judiciary does not possess authority or competence to assume role of Executive, which is democratically accountable for its actions and has access to resources which are instrumental to policy formulation. However, this ‘separation of powers’ does not result in Courts lacking jurisdiction in conducting a judicial […]

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Gradual Implementation

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 […]

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Kapil’s 175*

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 […]

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Exaggeration

There is no bar on High Court’s power to re­appreciate evidence against acquittal [Sangappa v. State of Karnataka, (2010) 3 SCC 686]. Cambridge Dictionary defines ‘exaggeration’ as “fact of making something larger, more important, better or worse than it really is.” Concise Oxford Dictionary defines it as “enlarged or altered beyond normal proportions.” These expressions […]

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