Pardon Jurisprudence IV

“The finest hour of rule of law is when law disciplines life and matches promise with performance.” A woman deserves respect. Bilkis Yakub Rasool, being an unfortunate victim of heinous crimes, is challenging en-masse remission granted to Respondent Nos. 3 to 13. The place of occurrence of an incident or place of imprisonment are not […]

Adani Group of Companies

‘Acceptance of a Brief by a Lawyer’ in 2007 cannot be construed to reflect ‘bias’ or even a ‘likelihood of bias’ in 2023. There is an absence of proximity both in terms of time and subject matter. Writ Petitions filed before this Court raised concerns over precipitate decline in investor wealth and volatility in share […]

The Nature of Judicial Power: Justice Dipankar Datta’s Definitive Dissent

It is essential to emphasize, while Afjal did not enumerate any material facts regarding ‘irreversible consequences’, High Courts or Supreme Court are well empowered to take judicial notice of consequences. – Hon’ble Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, Afjal Ansari v. State of Uttar Pradesh, [Criminal Appeal No. 3838 of 2023]. Surya Kant J’s Judgment […]

Referred to Larger Bench XXV Answered Again: Doctrine of Separability of Arbitration Agreement

Curative Petition (C) No. 44 of 2023 Review Petition (C) No. 704 of 2021 Civil Appeal No. 1599 of 2020 _____ Approach of Majority in N.N. Global 2 would render unstamped agreements void ab initio and not void. _____ We enter into contracts or agreements several times in our interactions with others. To hold an […]

Honourable Acquittal VI

“Expressions like ‘benefit of doubt’ and ‘honourably acquitted’ are not to be understood as magic incantations. Court of law will not be carried away by mere use of such terminology. Court is obliged to examine substance.” _____ My Lord, Ram Lal altered Date of Birth from 21.04.1974 to 21.04.1972 in 8th Standard Marksheet? No. Ram Lal was a Constable […]

Scheduled Offences

Learned Senior Counsel, Ms. Meenakshi Arora contended, Section 120B of IPC alone, in absence of any other scheduled offence, cannot sustain a charge under The Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002. Learned Additional Solicitor General argued, as Section 120B of IPC is included in Part A to Schedule, even if allegation is of making a criminal […]

Minakshi Bala, (1994) 4 SCC 142

A case for interference has been made out. The symbol for Indian National Rupee symbol [₹] was not in existence when purported ‘Memorandum of Agreement of Tenancy’ was signed. Minakshi Bala v Sudhir Kumar, (1994) 4 SCC 142: “Court cannot usurp functions of a Trial Court to delve into and decide upon respective merits.” Court […]

Contracts of Insurance VII

Notably, in earlier cases like Galada Power and Telecommunication Ltd. v. United India Insurance Co. Ltd., (2016) 14 SCC 161 and Saurashtra Chemicals Ltd. v. National Insurance Co. Ltd., (2019) 19 SCC 70 it was declared, new grounds for repudiation cannot be introduced during hearing if they were not included in repudiation letter. This legal […]

Claim of Juvenility VII

Since, at commencement of 2015 Act, proceedings were pending before High Court, Section 25 of 2015 Act would be attracted [Satya Deo v. State of Uttar Pradesh, (2020) 10 SCC 555]. It would mean, The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2007 would be applicable including Rule 12. This aspect has also been […]

Anticipatory Bail III

There can be no presumption, wealthy and mighty will submit themselves to trial and humble and poor will run away from course of justice. In this case, we are concerned with what is loosely termed as ‘transit anticipatory bail’. If ‘anticipatory bail’ is not a defined expression, it is quite natural, ‘transit anticipatory bail’ would […]

The Rules of The Game Principle IX

Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission invited applications from eligible candidates against 8 vacancies for a post of Civil Judge (Junior Division) in Himachal Pradesh Judicial Service. Out of total 8 vacancies, 6 were ‘existing vacancies’ and 2 were ‘anticipated vacancies’. The purpose of a ‘waiting list’ is only to fill shortfall of ‘clear and anticipated […]

The Rules of The Game Principle VIII

One issue in Bank of India v. Aarya K. Babu, (2019) 8 SCC 587 was, whether a particular educational qualification made eligible after issue of recruitment notification could have been considered for purposes of recruitment. Court held, if there is any change in qualification criteria after notification is issued but before completion of selection process, […]

The Fundamental Right to Marry

Supriyo @ Surpiya Chakraborty v. UoI Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1011 of 2022 My Lord, LGBTQ persons have a right to marry a person of their choice regardless of religion, gender and sexual orientation? No. A thing, an occurrence, or a practice is ‘Indian’ when it is present in India, takes place here, or is […]

Section 50 of The NDPS Act

State of Punjab v. Baldev Singh, (1999) 6 SCC 172 stated, Section 50 will come into play only in case of personal searches and not of bags. State of Himachal Pradesh v. Pawan Kumar, (2005) 4 SCC 350 stated, a bag or briefcase under no circumstances can be treated as part of the body of […]

Grounds of Arrest

The finer connotations and nuances of Section 19 of The Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002, left uncharted by this Court in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary, 2022 (10) SCALE 577, were still open to interpretation and resolution. Section 19 does not specify in clear terms as to how an arrested person is to be ‘informed’ of ‘grounds […]

Hudson, Emden, Eichleay

McDermott International Inc. v. Burn Standard Company Limited, (2006) 11 SCC 181 has referred to various methods of computation of damages. In particular, reference has been made to Hudson’s formula, Emden’s formula and Eichleay’s formula. The computation of damages should not be whimsical and absurd resulting in a windfall and bounty for one party. The […]

Review of Death Penalty XXXVIII

Our mind got clouded with suspicion. We noticed few very serious lapses. High Court completely forgot, there was juvenile-Pritam Tiwari. As per witnesses, it was Pritam Tiwari who had come. Also, Chotkau v. State of Uttar Pradesh, (2023) 6 SCC 742. If Courts are to impart justice in a free, fair and effective manner, then […]

Slight Divergence of Russell and Gary Born

Court did not in Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Ltd. v. M/s. Navigant Technologies Pvt. Ltd., 2021 (1) SCR 1135 direct, a Dissenting Opinion to be treated as an Award. This approach is correct. There appears to be a slight divergence in thinking between Russell and Gary Born. It is evident, a Dissenting Opinion cannot […]

Test Identification Parade

We are conscious, M.P. Sharma v. Satish Chandra, AIR 1954 SC 300 came to be overruled in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, (2017) 10 SCC 1. M.P. Sharma had observed, privacy is not a right guaranteed by Indian Constitution. What is prohibited by Article 20(3) is procuring by compulsion, positive volitional evidentiary acts. It […]

Preventive Detention Statute V

Learned Counsel has placed strong reliance on Cherukuri Mani v. Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh, (2015) 13 SCC 722. We may say with profound respect, Cherukuri Mani does not lay down correct law. It appears, attention of Learned Judges was not invited to T. Devaki v. Government of Tamil Nadu, (1990) 2 SCC 456 […]

The Last Word

A Diversion for Lawyers and Others

Primacy of Views